City Of Ostrava Research Articles

Role of reclamation in the formation of functional structure of beetle communities: A different approach to restoration

The main objective of reclamation activities is to accelerate the restoration of post-industrial areas. However current ecological studies that compare reclaimed and non-reclaimed habitats evaluate these areas mainly by species richness and conservation potential. We thus tested which environmental characteristics of the spoil heap determine the structure of the beetle communities and their successional rate. During the years 1993–2007, we sampled epigeic beetles on reclaimed and non-reclaimed parts of a spoil heap in the city of Ostrava, Czech Republic. For comparison, we used multivariate methods and functional diversity indices. Our ordination models revealed that the beetle communities on the non-reclaimed part of the spoil heap were determined by forest cover and time; in contrast, the communities on the reclaimed habitat were determined by herb cover and bare ground cover. Compositional heterogeneity was significantly higher on the non-reclaimed part of the spoil heap. A comparison of the functional diversity indices showed significantly higher functional richness and evenness on the spontaneously restored part of the spoil heap. Our results provide evidence that technical reclamation is a significant disturbance that slows down the successional rate of beetle communities and negatively influences their structure. We thus recommend that at least some parts of the areas needing to be reclaimed be allowed to undergo spontaneous succession during reclamation. The areas undergoing spontaneous succession would become refuges for particular species while also supporting the heterogeneity of the habitat.

Study of corrosion processes on typical surfaces of weathering steel road bridges

The specific property of the weathering steel is its ability to create a protective patina layer on its surface in favourable environments. The weathering steel can be used without any corrosion protection and has considerably lower corrosion rate than standard carbon steel. The analytical corrosion prediction model for the calculation of corrosion losses is introduced in this paper. Methodology and results of experimental atmospheric corrosion tests are presented in this paper as well. The paper explains the high degree of correlation dependence between corrosion losses and thickness of corrosion products on a road bridge over a railway track in the city of Ostrava.

Intra-urban patterns of creative industries in polycentric city

Abstract The principal objective of this paper is to evaluate the spatial patterns of creative industries in a micro-geographic perspective. As the creative industries represent a highly heterogeneous complex, only selected creative industries were studied (culture, marketing and advertising, printing, publishing, architecture). The polycentric industrial city of Ostrava was chosen as the surveyed area. Various spatial statistical methods (e.g. nearest neighbour analysis, kernel density estimation) were applied for the needs of assessment. The results show that spatial patterns of creative industries at intra-urban level do not vary significantly from their counterparts in Western Europe. Despite the fact that Ostrava is highly industrialized polycentric city with relatively weak position of the city centre, creative industries are highly concentrated into the historical city centre and the inner city.

Underground mining hazard map including building site categories in an area affected by underground mining activities

The objective of the paper is generation of an underground mining hazard map. The method applied to create the map is based on five categories of areas with different characters of underground mining influence making use of the so-called building site categories. The individual areas with different groups represent various suitability or unsuitability for founding new structures in such influenced territories. They will also reflect a higher or lower degree of influence on already existing structures. Areas affected by underground mining of category V are suitable without any significant restrictions. Areas of the medium category represent influence of building site categories III and IV with economically acceptable measures for founding engineering purposes. The last type is areas with high influence in the category I and II and they are clearly unsuitable for new development. Structures may be founded there in exceptional cases only. This methodology was applied on four map sheets in 1:10,000 scale in a coal mining region in the town of Karvina and its environs in the direction to the City of Ostrava (Czech Republic). Extensive changes caused by underground mining have been identified in the study area and the implementation of the suggested maps may help to deal with the issue in terms of land development by means of land use planning.

Human pathogenic borreliae in Ixodes ricinus ticks in natural and urban ecosystem (Czech Republic).

A total of 1279 field-collected Ixodes ricinus ticks were screened for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) in a natural and an urban ecosystem of Ostrava city (Czech Republic) by using molecular methods. Minimal prevalence rate for Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. in ticks for the urban park Bělský les was found to be 13.8% (17.6% in males, 17.8% in females and 11.7% in nymphs), similarly for the natural site Proskovice was minimal prevalence 15% (12.5% in males, 20% in females and 14.9% in nymphs). Six proven human pathogenic genomic species have been recorded in the study: B. afzelii, B. garinii, B. burgdorferi s.s., B. valaisiana, B. lusitaniae, and B. spielmanii. Emerging B. spielmanii was detected for the first time in Ixodes ricinus ticks in the region. Our results highlight the need for surveillance of zoonotic tick-borne pathogens even in urban areas.

Deformations of Highway over Undermined Ostrava-Svinov Area Monitored by InSAR Using Limited Set of SAR Images

Part of Czech highway D1 connecting Ostrava city with Prague and Poland, is built over an undermined area of Ostrava-Svinov, with mines closed since 1991 in the area. Soon after its opening ceremony in 2008, the highway began to exhibit various significant deformations. An attempt of InSAR monitoring using ERS, Envisat and several TerraSAR-X Spotlight acquisitions was done in order to monitor progress of deformations, to consider suitability of satellite InSAR for such purposes and to search for footprints whether the deformations were caused by fading subsidence due to undermining or by another, local, reason. Only shallow subsidence was found in the area from Envisat data ranging 2005-2010. Highway deformations in late 2011 are observable from processing of limited set of 5 TerraSAR-X images using different methods. Detected deformations are very probably due to longitudinal thermal expansion of the observed highway bridge. This publication contains issues to be taken into consideration for appropriate interpretation and processing if the available input dataset is limited and not optimal.

Mapping and monitoring unemployment hot spots towards identification of socially excluded localities: Case study of Ostrava

This paper is focused on mapping and monitoring of unemployment hot spots using registers of local authorities in the Ostrava City (Czech Republic) to identify socially excluded localities at the micro-scale. The register of unemployed persons and the population register provide data for quantification of specific indicators of a local labour situation. A share of the registered unemployed in reference to residents in productive age can substitute the rate of unemployment due to the high correlation of both indicators. The mapping of unemployment hot spots has been based on data from 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011 using kernel density estimation. Various settings of bandwidths have been tested to identify socially excluded localities in the city in hopes of identifying the most accurate way to visualise the pattern. These localities have been identified in two expert studies and the most significant sign is considered to be increased unemployment. Appropriate settings of kernel density estimations of the unemployment indicator enable to identify the majority of experts' localised spots. The hot spots have been delimited by an isoline with a suitable boundary value obtained from an optimisation technique based on a coefficient of areal correspondence and an indicator of spatial extension. This method of isolines is recommended for mapping and monitoring of the development of localities in time.

Comparison of child morbidity in regions of Ostrava, Czech Republic, with different degrees of pollution: a retrospective cohort study

BackgroundTo confirm or refute the hypothesis that the morbidity of children (since birth to age 5) born and living in the heavily polluted (PM10, benzo[a]pyrene) eastern part of Ostrava, Czech Republic, was higher than the morbidity of children living in other parts of the city.MethodsTen pediatricians in 5 districts of Ostrava abstracted the medical records of 1878 children born in 2001–2004 to list all illnesses of each child in ICD-10 codes. The children were divided into four groups according to their residence at birth and thereafter. Most of the children in the eastern area were living in the city district Radvanice and Bartovice.ResultsWe report on the incidence of acute illnesses in 1535 children of Czech ethnicity in the first 5 years of life. The most frequent acute illnesses (over 45% of all diagnoses) were upper respiratory infections (URI: J00-J02, J06). In the first year of life, the incidence of URI in 183 children in the eastern area – 372 illnesses/100 children/year – was more than twice as high as in the other 3 areas with a total number of 1352 children. From birth to the age of 5 years, the incidences of pneumonia, tonsillitis, viral infections (ICD-10 code B34) and intestinal infectious diseases were also several times higher in children living in the eastern part of Ostrava. The lowest morbidity was found in children living in the less polluted western part of the city.ConclusionsThe children born and living in the eastern part of the city of Ostrava had from birth through 5 years significantly higher incidence rates of acute illnesses than children in other parts of Ostrava. They also had a higher prevalence of wheezing, atopic dermatitis and allergic rhinitis.

Hydrocarbon-based indicators for characterizing potential sources of coal-derived pollution in the vicinity of the Ostrava City

Coaly material enters various environmental compartments from different emission sources and on diverse pathways. The complexity of both the emission processes and the quality of contamination in the Ostrava region avoids a simple source correlation for coal-derived pollution. Hence, this study focused on the application of different geochemical approaches for source apportionment using bulk parameters, aliphatic biomarkers and source-specific PAH ratios. Major aim was to prove the effectiveness of the applied methods for characterizing the impact of coal-derived contamination in complex emission systems such as in the Ostrava region. Individual emission sources were discriminated sufficiently by TOC vs. TEH relationship and two-dimensional correlations of PAH ratios. Additionally, aliphatic biomarkers revealed individual signatures for all classes of samples and pointed to a widespread distribution of fossil material also in the hydrosphere. On the contrary, indicative PAH ratios documented a dominance of pyrogenic over petrogenic-derived organic matter in the lake sediments investigated. These contradictory descriptions demonstrate clearly that only a comprehensive application of different marker systems allows a detailed view on the quality and quantity of coal-derived pollution. Lastly, it remains unclear whether coaly material in aquatic sediments acts as sink or source for PAHs. A proposed indicative marker, the ratio of phenanthrene over retene, failed.

Health impact of air pollution to children

Health impact of air pollution to children was studied over the last twenty years in heavily polluted parts of the Czech Republic during. The research program (Teplice Program) analyzed these effects in the polluted district Teplice (North Bohemia) and control district Prachatice (Southern Bohemia). Study of pregnancy outcomes for newborns delivered between 1994 and 1998 demonstrated that increase in intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) was associated with PM10 and c-PAHs exposure (carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) in the first month of gestation. Morbidity was followed in the cohort of newborns (N=1492) up to the age of 10years. Coal combustion in homes was associated with increased incidence of lower respiratory track illness and impaired early childhood skeletal growth up to the age of 3years. In preschool children, we observed the effect of increased concentrations of PM2.5 and PAHs on development of bronchitis. The Northern Moravia Region (Silesia) is characterized by high concentrations of c-PAHs due to industrial air pollution. Exposure to B[a]P (benzo[a]pyrene) in Ostrava-Radvanice is the highest in the EU. Children from this part of the city of Ostrava suffered higher incidence of acute respiratory diseases in the first year of life. Gene expression profiles in leukocytes of asthmatic children compared to children without asthma were evaluated in groups from Ostrava-Radvanice and Prachatice. The results suggest the distinct molecular phenotype of asthma bronchiale in children living in polluted Ostrava region compared to children living in Prachatice. The effect of exposure to air pollution to biomarkers in newborns was analyzed in Prague vs. Ceske Budejovice, two locations with different levels of pollution in winter season. B[a]P concentrations were higher in Ceske Budejovice. DNA adducts and micronuclei were also elevated in cord blood in Ceske Budejovice in comparison to Prague. Study of gene expression profiles in the cord blood showed differential expression of 104 genes. Specifically, biological processes related to immune and defense response were down-regulated in Ceske Budejovice. Our studies demonstrate that air pollution significantly affect child health. Especially noticeable is the increase of respiratory morbidity. With the development of molecular epidemiology, we can further evaluate the health risk of air pollution using biomarkers.

In-situ remediation of the contaminated soils in Ostrava city (Czech Republic) by steam curing/vapor

This study deals with an application of vapor in the remediation of soils in an extensive part of the Ostrava city center (Czech Republic) needed to be decontaminated from abundant tar (wash oil). The source of contamination was the Karolína Coking Plant (operating between 1842 and 1985), which was situated in the center of the Ostrava City, the largest industrial center of the Czech Republic and former Czechoslovakia. The problem was that a large part of the contaminated ground could not be remediated by extraction and soil treatment, but the area needed to be remediated without disrupting its structure by reason of impossibility of the changes to the important Road of 28 Října and Na Karolíně Street and historical buildings in the city center. The main scientific contribution of this article is to point at a possible application of this unique solution in localities where no soils/rocks can be extracted during remediation. The remediation process in this study was successfully completed and the monitoring results confirmed that the unsuitable conditions were improved. Successful application of the vapor in remediation of contaminated soils in this study may expand new horizons in applications for numerous contaminated city quarters world-wide.

Gender Wage Gap

This paper was written as a part of a research project studying problem of wage determinant measuring and wage discrimination considering different wage requirements of men and women. The wage determinants and gender wage discrimination are analyzed using a probit model. The whole analysis is methodologically based on Mincer’s Wage Regression and Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition of gender wage gap. The wage variables include, aside from standard personal characteristics, dummies for institutional and firm characteristics and dummies for family status and family roles. The data were gained by a questionnaire survey carried out in Ostrava city. The results of the analysis, representative for the city, show statistically significant differences between wage determinants of men and women. The survey concluded in 2 statements: (1) family role is an important wage determinant and its inclusion to Mincer’s Wage Regression leads to better explanation of wages; and (2) including family characteristics in Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition can significantly reduce unexplained part of gender wage gap, i.e., a part of a wage difference usually ascribed to gender wage discrimination can be explained by different preferences of men and women on a labor market.

What Can Cultural and Creative Industries Do for Urban Development? Three Stories from the Postsocialist Industrial City of Ostrava

Abstract This paper is focused on the role of cultural and creative industries in the regeneration of the inner city of Ostrava. The first part outlines the basic relationship of cultural and creative industries and urban areas in market economies, with emphasis on industrial cities. Ostrava is a post-socialist city, therefore essential characteristics of one are briefly given. The empirical part presents three case studies demonstrating the impact of cultural and creative industries on the regeneration of the inner city of Ostrava. In the conclusion, the case studies are discussed in a comparative perspective with special accent on the role of the public sector as an actor of culture-led regeneration in Ostrava.

Phenotypic characterization of pseudomonas bacteria isolated from polluted sites of Ostrava, Czech Republic

Abstract The environment of industrial cities is usually exposed to extreme impacts of anthropogenic contamination originating from fossil fuel combustion, road traffic, industry, ore mining and dressing. The degradation potential of contaminated soils greatly depends on the diversity and function of the microbial ecosystem in the given locality; in individual communities, it is possible to diagnose identical as well as different characteristics of specific bacterial strains. From the real soil samples within the City of Ostrava, namely localities strained by industrial activities, new strains were isolated and compared on the grounds of biochemical identification results using a modern system of BIOLOG MicroStation. Basic characteristics of the new isolated strains are stated, which document their phenotypic diversity not only on the level of the Pseudomonas genus but also on the level of the individual species. The differences in the physiological parameters of isolated strains are attributed to the capacities of the soil microorganisms to adapt to the polluted environment conditions. The paper offers an overview of the significance of phenotypic characterization for identification of microorganisms and their correct taxonomic classification.

Research of significant anthropogenic changes in Ostrava city area (Czech Republic)

This study aimed to widen the knowledge on landscape element changes in areas exposed to the effects of mining and other industries, which represent one of the most affected types of landscape in terms of environmental changes. It provides results of analyses of landscape element changes in the selected area of Ostrava Basin (city of Ostrava) in the North-east of Czech Republic. The study was compiled for nine model areas. All the analyses of landscape element changes were executed on the basis of geographical information systems, study of archives and terrain observation. In the monitored area, there were significant changes in the landscape character. Four landscape elements increased (built-up area, forests, anthropogenic shapes and water areas) and two elements lost their percentages (fields and meadows, and water courses). The surface area of the built-up area grew by 44 km2, which represents a rise of 99.7%, though the anthropogenic shapes enlarged by 160%. Both the largest surface area and the most significant percentage drop were registered with the landscape element of fields and meadows (decrease of 59 km2, that is, of 48%). The main cause of this was expansion of the built-up area. Key words: Landscape elements, anthropogenic changes, mining, aerial photos, geographic information system (GIS).

Evaluation of engineering-geological conditions for conurbation of Ostrava (Czech Republic) within GIS environment

The main aim of the presented study was to create a new type of engineering-geological maps for relative costs for foundation engineering. The newly proposed map in this paper can replace the formerly used maps of the suitability for foundation engineering which shows only the suitable and/or unsuitable sites and suggests the use of suitable areas for construction only. However, there are developed technologies that they can overcome the potential problems in unsuitable areas by relatively high costs. It means that unsuitable areas can also be used as construction areas. Therefore, the use of the newly proposed map of relative costs, which reflects the complexity of geo-factors by proportional category of larger, or smaller relative costs is satisfactory. Another part of this research was to assess various geo-factors (engineering-geological zones, workability of rocks, pre-Quaternary bedrock, flood land, radon hazard, mining subsidence and slope movements), which affect the foundation of future buildings. This study was carried out in the large industrial city of Ostrava in the Czech Republic with complicated engineering geological conditions and high anthropogenic influence factors including undermining. The use of complicated relationships is also generally difficult to be taken into account by the planners. Therefore, the use of the newly created synthetic map by planners is simple; even planners who are not geologists will be able to apply it easily.

Screening of Platinum Group Metals from Automobile Catalysts in Soils of Ostrava City

Screening of Platinum Group Metals from Automobile Catalysts in Soils of Ostrava City

Implementation of selected geobarriers for the landscape planning purposes in Slezska Ostrava (Czech Republic)

This article deals with the analysis of engineering-geological zones, flood lands and radon hazard. The main reason of the study is the insufficient use of engineering-geological data for land planning and designing activities of competent authorities. The applied method makes use of the possibilities of geographical information systems, terrain research, documentation and study of archives. The research is localized in the selected area of the city of Ostrava affected by former mining of black coal. An appreciable factor for the characterization of engineering-geological conditions in the monitored areas is an analysis of potential flooding of the current and future development. The potential danger characterized by the 100-years flood concerns 5.2% of the studied area, while 18.1% of this area is currently built up and the rest are fields and meadows (28.3%) and forests (24.8%). This implies that neither people nor state administration respected the natural conditions in the interest area. For future developers, investors, building offices, it is also important to pay more attention to the radon hazard because of health safety for the future users of the environment. It can be orientation determined, based on the radon hazard maps that can be used along with other specific purpose maps, especially the map of engineering-geological zoning for the foundation engineering needs. The significance of the radon hazard evaluation in the form of maps permits consideration of this geo-factor further during the selection of places of future constructions. In the study area there are two categories of radon index, that is, one is medium and one transient, while the medium category is bound to the indiscriminate flysch sediments zone and the rest falls in the category with a transient radon index. Based on the observed orientation map category, vital attention must be paid to the implementation of measures preventing radon leaks from the bedrock (special insulation of foundations, etc.). Key words: Engineering-geological zones, flood lands, radon hazard, mining area, landscape planning, geographical information systems (GIS).

Abstract 4648: Biomarkers of exposure and effecft short-term vs. chronic environmental exposure to carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Abstract Background. Ostrava Region in the Northern Moravia (Silesia) is the most polluted region in the Czech Republic by particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) and carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (c-PAHs) as benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P). Sources of this pollution are industry (steel production, coke oven), traffic and local heating. In the most polluted district of Ostrava City Bartovice in the year 2009 was PM10 47.6±42.1 μg/m3, B[a]P was 9.2±4.2 ng/ m3. Objectives. The aim of the study is to gain new knowledge on the mechanisms of the effects of complex mixtures bound on dust particles (c-PAHs) in the ambient air on biomarkers of exposure and effect during the period of inversion in January-February 2010. Molecular epidemiology study. In the Ostrava City were selected 78 volunteers- working in the office, 31 city policemen from the near town Karvina, 12 city policemen from the near town Havirov, and 28 volunteers from Ostrava-Bartovice. As controls were city policemen from Prague (N=65). All volunteers were nonsmokers. The personal monitoring to c-PAHs was carried on in January-February 2010. The determined concentration of B[a]P was in the Ostrava region vs. Prague 14.8±13.3 vs. 2.80±1.87 ng/ m3. The impact of these concentration to biomarkers as DNA adducts, chromosomal aberrations, 8-oxodG, lipid peroxidation, genetic polymorphisms (metabolic and DNA repair genes) and gene expression profiles are followed. DNA adducts were analysed in lymphocytes by 32P-postlabeling assay, chromosomal aberrations by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) by whole chromosome painting #1 and #4, and by the determination of micronuclei, oxidative damage as 8-oxodG and 15-F2t-IsoP. Obtained results indicate no differences between the level of biomarkers determined in the Ostrava region and Prague. But different results were observed in four subjects from Prague, who spent 3 weeks in Ostrava during this inversion (exposed), compared to controls from Prague. Analyzing 6000 cells/subject, the frequency of micronuclei in exposed group increased from 7.96±4.92 to 12.91±6.49 MN/1000 vs. 8.32±1.63 and 8.47±1.55 MN/1000 in controls (p<0.05). Similar tendency was observed using FISH and analysing 5000 cells/subject, genomic frequency of translocations (FG/100) in exposed group increased from 1.44±0.66 to 2.44±1.82 FG/100 vs. 1.51±0.61 and 1.45±0.0.52 FG/100. Conclusion: We may speculate, that high environmental exposure to B[a]P does not correspond to DNA damage according to dose effect relationship in a population affected by these concentrations for years, probably due to a possible adaptive response. Acknowledgement: Supported by the Czech Ministry of Environment (SP/1b3/8/08) and the Czech Ministry Education (2B08005). Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4648. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-4648

Wage Determination with Special Reference to Role in a Family

Wage Determination with Special Reference to Role in a Family The paper has arisen as a part of the project dealing with the questions of measuring of wage determinants and wage discrimination on the basis of different subjective requirements of women and men on their wages. Using the ordered-response model (Ordered Probit), it analysed wage determination on the basis of Mincer's Wage Regression including dummies for role in a family. The analysis was carried out with the total sample of respondents and subsequently separately for men and women. The data were gained from a questionnaire survey carried out in Ostrava city, Czech Republic. In general, the analysis did not prove previous conclusions of theories or empirical studies about prevailing influence of family characteristics on the wage rate. Nevertheless, it proved statistically significant differences in the wage determination between men and women, and showed that in the case of men, some family characteristics may have been important for determining the wages.