Changes in temperature extremes and their possible causes at the SE boundary of the Alps

Summary A trend analysis is performed on the years 1954 to 1995 annual and seasonal mean maximum and minimum temperature, diurnal temperature range, air pressure, and occurrence of different weather types, grouped according to the related diurnal temperature ranges for two mountain stations in Croatia. During the last 42 years an increase in annual mean maximum and mean minimum temperature has occurred. At both stations the increase in mean maximum was faster than in the mean minimum, resulting in an increase in mean diurnal temperature range. At the same time mean annual air pressure shows a significant increase both at Zavian and at Puntijarka. An increase in occurrence of weather types with high diurnal temperature range appears at both locations, but is significant only at the inland station of Puntijarka.With 5 Figures     

Determination of type of honey produced in the different climatic regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the environmental characteristics of a particular climate areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the type of honey produced in those areas. Physical, chemical and sensory characteristics of honey and pollen content in honey are the subject of ongoing research in the world, but still there is no universal method for classification of honey. Pollen analysis of honey in combination with other tests, e.g., pH, electrical conductivity and sensory properties, is often used for determination of type of honey. Acceptability of honey by consumers is based on the evaluation of sensory characteristics in the first place, which depend on the origin of plants from which the nectar (pollen) or honeydew was collected. Consumers and manufacturers are interested in classification of honeys because the most important characteristics of honey are dependent on its botanical and geographical origin. In this study were examined sensory properties, pH, electrical conductivity and pollen composition of honey samples collected from different climate regions, at different altitudes and at different vegetation season of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Laboratory analyses were carried out in three parallel determinations of the same sample of honey. In this research, 48 samples of honey were examined, out of which 29 were nectar (pollen) honey, 11 were mixed honey and 8 were honeydew.     

Occupational hazards in printing industry

This paper, through certain printing techniques, examines the types of occupational pollutants and the adverse impacts of the printing process. Also, it proposes the measures for better preservation and environmental protection. The paper analyzes the results of the quantitative identification of hazardous materials from various printing techniques: pad, screen, offset, flexographic, and digital. The study included the analysis of waste printing inks and purification of printing wastewater with adsorption methods. Besides that, the preliminary monitoring of ambient indoor air quality was performed. The multiple regression analysis was applied on the obtained experimental results, in order to determine the mutual correlation between the ozone and the total volatile organic compounds and microclimate parameters. It was observed that a quantitative correlation exists between the investigated occupational hazards, which also indicate the strength of the agreement. The obtained results could be useful to evaluate the tendency of hazardous air pollutants in printing industries worldwide.     

A development of spatiotemporal queries to analyze the simulation outcomes from a voxel automata model

The raster and vector spatial data models are the most commonly used in geographic information systems (GIS) practice but are insufficient for the representation of dynamic spatiotemporal phenomena that operates in multiple dimensions. Although numerous improvements to the spatial data models have been proposed and various prototype implementations have been developed in order to address this limitation, the problem has persisted. One of the proposals for spatial data representation is the geoatom data model which is a theoretical concept used for conceptualizing geographic information as it pertains to the four-dimensional (4D) space-time continuum. The objective of this study is to develop and apply the spatiotemporal queries in order to analyze and explore the evolution of the 4D geospatial process. The geo-atom data model and voxel automata have been used for the simulation of a dynamic 4D process of snow cover retreat in order to test the developed theoretical concepts. The developed queries for spatio-temporal analysis are volume, surface area, rate of change and temporal ordering. The data used have spatial, temporal and attribute components and represent the voxels units generated from the simulation of the process. Obtained results are the outcomes of various spatio-temporal queries that permit the analysis of the snow retreat process in 4D. This study contributes to conceptual and applied advancements in the field of 4D GIS and multidimensional analysis, and is relevant to geography, earth and environmental sciences, the disciplines where the phenomena need to be studied in 4D.