Background The beginning of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic dates back to December 31, 2019, when the first cases were reported in the People’s Republic of China. In the Czech Republic, the first three cases of infection with the novel coronavirus were confirmed on March 1, 2020. The joint effort of state authorities and researchers gave rise to a unique team, which combines methodical knowledge of real-world processes with the know-how needed for effective processing, analysis, and online visualization of data. Objective Due to an urgent need for a tool that presents important reports based on valid data sources, a team of government experts and researchers focused on the design and development of a web app intended to provide a regularly updated overview of COVID-19 epidemiology in the Czech Republic to the general population. Methods The cross-industry standard process for data mining model was chosen for the complex solution of analytical processing and visualization of data that provides validated information on the COVID-19 epidemic across the Czech Republic. Great emphasis was put on the understanding and a correct implementation of all six steps (business understanding, data understanding, data preparation, modelling, evaluation, and deployment) needed in the process, including the infrastructure of a nationwide information system; the methodological setting of communication channels between all involved stakeholders; and data collection, processing, analysis, validation, and visualization. Results The web-based overview of the current spread of COVID-19 in the Czech Republic has been developed as an online platform providing a set of outputs in the form of tables, graphs, and maps intended for the general public. On March 12, 2020, the first version of the web portal, containing fourteen overviews divided into five topical sections, was released. The web portal’s primary objective is to publish a well-arranged visualization and clear explanation of basic information consisting of the overall numbers of performed tests, confirmed cases of COVID-19, COVID-19-related deaths, the daily and cumulative overviews of people with a positive COVID-19 case, performed tests, location and country of infection of people with a positive COVID-19 case, hospitalizations of patients with COVID-19, and distribution of personal protective equipment. Conclusions The online interactive overview of the current spread of COVID-19 in the Czech Republic was launched on March 11, 2020, and has immediately become the primary communication channel employed by the health care sector to present the current situation regarding the COVID-19 epidemic. This complex reporting of the COVID-19 epidemic in the Czech Republic also shows an effective way to interconnect knowledge held by various specialists, such as regional and national methodology experts (who report positive cases of the disease on a daily basis), with knowledge held by developers of central registries, analysts, developers of web apps, and leaders in the health care sector.
Estimating the net flux direction of polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides is importantfor understanding the role of soil as a sink or source of these chemicals to the atmosphere. In this study, the soil-air equilibrium status was investigated forvarious soil categories in Central and Southern Europe using an extensive database of coupled soil and time-integrated air samples. Samples were collected from 47 sites over a period of 5 months to assess both site-specific as well as seasonal variations in fugacity fractions, calculated as a potential measure of soil-air exchange. Sampling sites were carefully selected to represent a variety of background, rural, urban, and industrial areas. Special attention was given to sites in the former Yugoslavia, a country affected by recent conflicts, where soils were found to be highly contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Industrial soils from the Czech Republic, heavily polluted as a result of previous pesticide production, were also included in the survey. Soil was found to be a sink for highly chlorinated PCBs and for dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT); for dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), the status was closer to equilibrium, with a tendency for net deposition during winter and net volatilization during summer. For lower-molecular-weight PCB congeners, as well as for alpha-HCH, soil tends to be a source of pollution to the air, especially, but not exclusively, during summer. Fugacity fractions were found to decrease during the colder seasons, especially for the more volatile compounds, although in both the war-damaged areas and the heavily contaminated industrial sites, seasonal variability was very low, with fugacity fractions close to 1, indicating strong net soil-to-air transfer for all seasons. The original assumption that residents of the Western Balkans are still exposed to higher levels of PCBs due to the recent wars was confirmed. In general, the soil-air transfer of PCBs and organochlorine pesticides was found to be site-specific and dependent on the physicochemical properties of the contaminant in question, the soil properties, the historical contamination record and a site's vicinity to sources, and the local meteorological conditions.
A volatilization chamber, designed for direct measurements of the soil-air exchange of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) was applied for determination of the volatilization fluxes of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). The volatilization fluxes were determined for 13 model compounds at 3-5 concentration levels, for two soil organic carbon contents, and two wind velocities. The flux values were strongly correlated with physicochemical properties of the compounds. The higher fluxes were measured for soils with lower organic carbon contents, for higher contamination, and higher wind velocities. Experimentally derived values were compared to those predicted by the fugacity model. In general, the fugacity model underestimated the volatilization fluxes, especially for the compounds with higher molecular weights, and soils with higher organic carbon contents. It has been demonstrated that variability of the wind velocities as an important parameter for quantification of the soil-air exchange should be better considered in current models. Presented results draw the attention to often overlooked secondary sources of the atmospheric pollution and point out that their impact can be much greater than indicated by the fugacity models.
Abstract:Red basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) cv. Red Rubin was cultivated in model pot experiment in the soil amended by arsenic, cadmium and lead solutions in stepwise concentrations representing the soil concentration levels of former mining area in the vicinity of Příbram, Czech Republic. The element levels added to the soil reached up to 40 mg Cd, 100 mg As, and 2000 mg Pb per kg of soil. Moreover, essential macro-and microelements as well as cyanidine contents were investigated to assess their potential interactions with the risk elements. The extractable element portions in soils determined at the end of vegetation period differed according to the individual elements. Whereas the plant-available (extractable with 0.11M CH 3 COOH) content of Cd represented 70-100% of the added Cd, the mobile portion of Pb did not exceed 1%. The risk element content in plants refl ected the increasing element contents in soil. The dominant element portions remained in plant roots indicating the limited translocation ability of risk elements to the aboveground biomass of this plant species. Although the risk element contents in amended plants signifi cantly increased, no visible symptoms of phytotoxicity occurred. However, the effect of enhanced risk element contents on the essential element uptake was assessed. Considering inter-element relationships, elevated sulphur levels were seen in amended plants, indicating its possible role of phytochelatin synthesis in the plants. Moreover, the molybdenum contents in plant biomass dropped down with increasing risk element uptake by plants confi rming As-Mo and Cd-Mo antagonism. The increasing content of cyanidine in the plant biomass confi rmed possible role of anthocyanins in detoxifi cation mechanism of risk element contaminated plants and suggested the importance of anthocyanin pigments for risk element tolerance of plants growing in contaminated areas.
BACKGROUND The beginning of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic dates back to December 31, 2019, when the first cases were reported in the People’s Republic of China. In the Czech Republic, the first three cases of infection with the novel coronavirus were confirmed on March 1, 2020. The joint effort of state authorities and researchers gave rise to a unique team, which combines methodical knowledge of real-world processes with the know-how needed for effective processing, analysis, and online visualization of data. OBJECTIVE Due to an urgent need for a tool that presents important reports based on valid data sources, a team of government experts and researchers focused on the design and development of a web app intended to provide a regularly updated overview of COVID-19 epidemiology in the Czech Republic to the general population. METHODS The cross-industry standard process for data mining model was chosen for the complex solution of analytical processing and visualization of data that provides validated information on the COVID-19 epidemic across the Czech Republic. Great emphasis was put on the understanding and a correct implementation of all six steps (business understanding, data understanding, data preparation, modelling, evaluation, and deployment) needed in the process, including the infrastructure of a nationwide information system; the methodological setting of communication channels between all involved stakeholders; and data collection, processing, analysis, validation, and visualization. RESULTS The web-based overview of the current spread of COVID-19 in the Czech Republic has been developed as an online platform providing a set of outputs in the form of tables, graphs, and maps intended for the general public. On March 12, 2020, the first version of the web portal, containing fourteen overviews divided into five topical sections, was released. The web portal’s primary objective is to publish a well-arranged visualization and clear explanation of basic information consisting of the overall numbers of performed tests, confirmed cases of COVID-19, COVID-19-related deaths, the daily and cumulative overviews of people with a positive COVID-19 case, performed tests, location and country of infection of people with a positive COVID-19 case, hospitalizations of patients with COVID-19, and distribution of personal protective equipment. CONCLUSIONS The online interactive overview of the current spread of COVID-19 in the Czech Republic was launched on March 11, 2020, and has immediately become the primary communication channel employed by the health care sector to present the current situation regarding the COVID-19 epidemic. This complex reporting of the COVID-19 epidemic in the Czech Republic also shows an effective way to interconnect knowledge held by various specialists, such as regional and national methodology experts (who report positive cases of the disease on a daily basis), with knowledge held by developers of central registries, analysts, developers of web apps, and leaders in the health care sector.
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