Nitra Region Research Articles

Acrylamide content and antioxidant capacity in thermally processed fruit products

Acrylamide as a known processing contaminant was determined in various heat-treated plum products purchased from a local market using LC/ESI-MS-MS. The highest level of acrylamide in the range up to 60 μg/kg was detected in a plum stew known as a "povidla", and in prunes, respectively. These products typically undergo intensive heat treatment that may take from several hours to days. Using a fruit dehydrator in home production of prunes, a low level of acrylamide under LOQ (15 μg/kg) was detected in comparison to most commercial products. Only in one of the prune samples from the market was the acrylamide content near to LOQ. The highest content of acrylamide (46 μg/kg) was detected in the Slovak sample of prune originated in Nitra region. High acrylamide content, in the range from 23 to 45 μg/kg, was observed in prunes from South America. In the rest of analysed heat-treated plum products such as plum juice, plum compote or baby food with plum puree, acrylamide was not detected due to moderate conditions during thermal processing: temperature below 120 °C and a shorter time of thermal exposure. The total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of prunes were analysed using a UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometer and an electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Home-prepared prunes were characterized by the highest content of phenolics (4780 mg GAE/kg) and antioxidant capacity (14.6 mmol TEAC/kg). Commercial samples of prunes reached phenolics in the range from 1619 to 3461 mg GAE /kg, and antioxidant capacity was observed between 6.1 and 12.1 mmol TEAC/kg. Antioxidant capacity of prunes strongly correlated with total phenolic content and yellow and red colours measured in a CIELab system. However, no significant correlation between the acrylamide and antioxidative or organoleptic properties of prunes was observed. Moreover, it was noticed that bio production of plums did not demonstrate any positive impact on final acrylamide content or antioxidant capacity in comparison to conventional technology.

Developing and Piloting an Instrument for Measuring Upper Secondary Mathematics Teachers Beliefs in Nitra Region

In our contribution we present the design and piloting process of instrument for measuring mathematics teachers’ educational beliefs in Slovak educational settings. We briefly describe the theoretical framework on which the presented questionnaire is based. We also present the preliminary results of data collected from upper secondary mathematics teachers in Nitra region and the process of factor developing. For data analysis and reduction of items we used principal component analysis. Than we correlate the obtained factors to see the modules consistency. We present the particular parts of the questionnaire and some preliminary results of three selected modules of the questionnaire.

Označovanie ovocia a rozdiel medzi domácim a dovezeným ovocím mierneho pásma z pohľadu slovenského spotrebiteľa: prípadová štúdia z nitrianskeho regiónu

Fruit consumption and production in Slovakia was very low for many years and it is still decreasing. Paradoxically, population consume less fruit today as it was in 1990 although the supply of home made and imported fresh fruit has got better.The aim of the paper is to identify and analyse the attitude and behaviour of Slovak fruit consumer from Nitra region on the basis of questionnaire research. The main task is consumer perception of information about fruit and also difference between home made fruit from Slovakia and imported soft climate fruit from abroad. We have used an association analysis to find out dependence between individual answers and respondent identification characteristics (gender, age, education, residency).As a result the interest in fruit place of origin depends on the age of respondent and thereby on the previous fruit purchase experience – negative or positive one, respondent opinion of fruit qua­li­ty class labeling in stores in Slovakia depends on respondents residency, prefering of home made soft climate fruit by its purchase in comparison to imported fruit depends on the age (previous ex­pe­rien­ce) of respondent – consumer.

The human biomonitoring of occupational exposure to phthalates

Phthalates like endocrine disrupting compounds are ubiquitous environmental contaminants. Long term exposure to these chemicals at the work place has adverse effect on human health and usually leads to diseased conditions. The aim of our study was to assess, by biological monitoring, occupational exposure to di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP), diethyl phthalate (DEP) and diisononyl phthalate (DiNP) of occupationally exposed group i.e. workers from plastic manufactory with division of films and composites and injection moulding (n=37; average age 45.6±9.4) in comparison with general population i.e. students and workers from Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra (n=144; average age 28±13.12) in Nitra region of Slovakia. In response to determine human exposure to phthalates, we used high performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry analysis (HPLC-MS/MS) to estimate trace levels of 4 phthalate metabolites mono-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP), monoisononyl phthalate (MiNP), mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP) and monoethyl phthalate (MEP) in human urine. Median concentrations of the urinary metabolites in the exposed group were 35.48 µg/l for MEHP, 13.65 µg/l for MiNP, 93.79 µg/l for MEP, 108.62 µg/l for MBP and in general population were 21.62 µg/l for MEHP, 13.26 µg/l for MiNP, 84.36 for µg/l MEP and 88.99 µg/l for MBP. We observed, significantly higher urinary concentration (p≤0.001) of MEHP and on the border of the statistical significance urinary concentration of MiNP (p=0.07) in occupationally exposed group. Despite the fact that phthalates are ubiquitous environmental contaminants, there is evidence of occupational exposure of workers from plastic manufactory by DEHP a DiNP. This study was supported by project VEGA (V1/0042/12). DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n19p101

Phthalate exposure and health-related outcomes in specific types of work environment.

Many toxic substances in the workplace can modify human health and quality of life and there is still insufficient data on respiratory outcomes in adults exposed to phthalates. The aim of this work was to assess in waste management workers from the Nitra region of Slovakia (n = 30) the extent of exposure to phthalates and health-related outcomes. Four urinary phthalate metabolites mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP), monobutyl phthalate (MnBP), monoethyl phthalate (MEP) and monoisononyl phthalate (MiNP) were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Urinary concentration of MEHP was positively associated with ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 s to forced vital capacity % (FEV1/FVC) (r = 0.431; p = 0.018) and MiNP with fat free mass index (FFMI) (r = 0.439; p = 0.015). The strongest predictor of pulmonary function was the pack/year index as smoking history that predicted a decrease of pulmonary parameters, the FEV1/FVC, % of predicted values of peak expiratory flow (PEF % of PV) and FEV1 % of PV. Unexpectedly, urinary MEHP and MINP were positively associated with pulmonary function expressed as PEF % of PV and FEV1/FVC. We hypothesize that occupational exposure to phthalates estimated from urinary metabolites (MEHP, MiNP) can modify pulmonary function on top of lifestyle factors.

Routing of Vegetable Production in the Nitra Region in 2002–2010

Abstract The paper deals with the evaluation of the development of cultivation area and production of vegetables in different districts of the Nitra region in the period of the years 2002-2010. The region of Nitra has excellent climatic conditions for the cultivation of agricultural crops, including vegetables. Among the most widely grown vegetables belong cabbage, carrots, parsley, onions, tomatoes, peppers, red watermelons, and sweet corn.

Contribution of Garden Architecture to the Regional Development

Abstract Creative garden architecture currently afects regional development in two ways. Firstly, it results in landscape architecture outputs, horticulture arrangements, and garden projects. Secondly, it constitutes an environment for the development of certain business activities, namely tourism and horticulture. Garden architecture is able to secure the development of land-based economy, replacing the decreased production of agricultural commodities, and thus contributing to regional development. Garden architecture businesses in the Nitra region are currently limited by the lack of their potential clients’ fnancial resources as well as the barriers to entrepreneurship created in the Slovak Republic. The number of the businesses in the region enables them to develop mutual cooperation without the need for strong competition. on the contrary, it encourages the diversifcation of business activities, various levels of their specialization and potential development of partnerships in a region.

The Problems of Knowledge Economy and Innovation Processes in Agriculture Case Study of the Nitra Region

Abstract Agriculture is an important element of rural economy development, currently facing many problems. The unfinished process of economic transformation, division of land use and land ownership, disintegrated social networks, under-developed institutions – these are the problems hindering the knowledge economy enforcement. Among the agricultural enterprises there is a high level of distrust resulting into low cooperation, reluctance against partnerships and networks which represent the main instrument for knowledge economy enforcement. Moreover, the current EU agricultural policy which is adjusted for agricultural conditions in the old member states hampers innovation activities of agricultural enterprises and conserves inefficient structures in them.

Vplyv pozemkových úprav na vizuálnu charakteristiku (scenériu) krajiny

New spatial and functional rearrangement of the territory represented by the changed structure of the plots (change of the landscape structure) is one of the main and most visible results of a comprehensive landscape adaptation. Projects of comprehensive landscape adaptation are designed to accommodate for production and landscape value of the territory. Landscape structure belongs to the most important components of landscape character. The landscape structure was evaluated in three levels: historical structure (2nd military mapping), present-day structure (results of mapping survey in the frame of a comprehensive landscape adaptation) and the new landscape structure (results of the proposed plan of the functional rearrangement of the territory) based on the cadastral territory of Veľké Vozokany in Nitra region (near Zlaté Moravce), South-Western Slovakia. The changes in the landscape are identified by the rearrangement of the arable land, forests, vineyards, gardens, fruit gardens/plantations, permanent grassland, water surfaces, and other areas. In this contribution, we made an attempt to describe the role of the comprehensive landscape adaptations in the process of designing landscape changes which do significantly contribute to modification of the landscape character.

Historical Mining Areas and Their Influence on Human Health

Aims: Impact of potentially toxic elements (PTE) on the health status of population of the Slovak Republic has been studied in two historical mining areas with ore extraction from Middle Ages (the Middle Slovak Neovolcanics, the Slovak Ore Mts.) and one historical mining area with more than hundred years brown coal mining (Upper Nitra region). Methods: The contents of PTE were analysed in groundwater/ drinking water and soils. The health status of resident population was evaluated based on 43 health indicators classified according to the international classification of diseases (ICD, 10th revision), including mainly those indicators characterizing mortality on cardiovascular and oncological diseases. In these areas the health status of population living in municipalities with increased PTE contents (As, Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, Hg and Sb) was compared with that in adjacent municipalities showing low PTE contents. Results: A total of 138 contaminated and 155 noncontaminated municipalities of similar socioeconomic, natural and geochemical-geological character were compared. PTE contents in soils of polluted municipalities reported considerably increased levels – between 2 to 10 times higher in contrast to non-contaminated municipalities. On the other hand, PTE contents in groundwater were almost identical both in contaminated as well as noncontaminated areas and in majority of cases were below limit standard values for drinking water. Conclusion: Based on the assessment of the health status of population (using 43 health indicators), no significant difference in the health status of population in contaminated and non-contaminated municipalities has been reported.

Relationship between mastitis causative pathogens and somatic cell counts in dairy cows

Milk somatic cell count is a key component of national and international regulation for milk quality and an indicator of udder health and of the prevalence of clinical and subclinical mastitis in dairy herds. The objective of this study was to evaluate the presence of mastitis pathogens in milk samples differed by somatic cell count (SCC) in microbiologically positive samples. Also frequency of distribution of samples differed by SCC were studied in non infected samples as well. The milk samples were collected from individual quarters from the dairy farms located in Nitra region with problematic udder health of herd for SCC and bacteriological analysis. Totally, 390 milk samples were examined, and 288 (73.85%) positive milk samples were detected. Four SCC groups of samples (<100, <100<SCC<200, <200<SCC<400 and >400×103/ml) were used to identify presence of microorganisms in positive samples. The most frequently isolated pathogens in samples with high SCC >400×103/ml according to year were Coagulase-negative Staphylococci (29.11 %) in 2012, followed by Staphylococcus aureus (28.0%) in 2010, yeasts (24.05%) in 2012, Escherichia coli (22.78%) in 2012, Bacillus sp. (20%) in 2010 and Pseudomonas aerugenosa (11.88%) in 2011. Coagulase-negative Staphylococci (66.67%) were the predominantly identified in the samples with low SCC <100×103 cells/ml, followed by Bacillus spp (50%), Entrococcus spp. (33.33%) and Staphylococcus aureus (16.67%) and E. coli (16.67%). The results of this study indicated that the SCC of individual milk samples corresponded with the health status of the udder of dairy cows represented by presence of mastitis microorganisms in milk. However, the contamination of milk samples could be also connected with low SCC. On the ohter side the samples with high SCC were found out without presence of microorganism. The further study is needed to identify the reason of high SCC in milk from negative samples.

Staff qualification and the quality of tourism-related services in the Nitra region

Abstract The study attempts to justify the importance of the human potential quality, one of the key factors for the development of tourism industry. Moreover, the study attempts to establish a correlation between the human potential quality and the quality of tourism-related services. Next, the study emphasizes that not only geography-related factors, such as natural, historical and cultural sights, climatic and weather conditions getting the attention and interest by tourists, are vital for tourism industry. The human potential quality, including training, qualification and expertise, is important as well. Therefore, the study analyses the human potential quality in tourism industry, and assesses its impact on the service quality related to accommodation, catering, transport, organization and provision of sports, cultural and sightseeing events.

Vplyv energetiky na životné prostredie Hornonitrianskeho regiónu

Vplyv energetiky na životné prostredie Hornonitrianskeho regiónu

Invasive plant species in the three microregions of Nitra region, South-west Slovakia

AbstractPaukova Ž.: Invasive plant species in the three microregions of Nitra region, south-west Slovakia. Ekologia (Bratislava), Vol. 32, No. 2, p. 262-266, 2013. Alien plant species were recorded by field survey in three selected microregions (submontane in district Zlate Moravce, hilly in district Nitra and lowland in districts Nove Zamky) in Nitra region, SW Slovakia in 2011. In the microregions totally 19 invasive neophytes were recorded. The most frequent and abundant species were the following: Ailanthus altissima, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Conyza canadensis, Fallopia x bohemica, Helianthus tuberosus, Iva xanthiifolia, Negundo aceroides, Robinia pseudoacacia, Solidago canadensis and Stenactis annua. On the basis of the data we can preliminary conclude that the number of species and the number of localities in the southern lowland microregion were almost twice higher than those in the northern hilly region.

Agricultural Cooperatives and Their Impact on the Regional Development in the Nitra Region

Agricultural Cooperatives and Their Impact on the Regional Development in the Nitra Region

Xenobiotics and biogenic elements in raw cow's milk

This paper presents the concentration some toxic and biogenic elements in milk from Nitra region. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate 30 samples of raw milk with fat contents 3.8% obtained from milk machine in the Nitra region. Samples were analyzed for metal contents using atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS). In comparison with maximum acceptable concentration for milk in the food codex of the Slovak republic, the level of contamination with cadmium was exceeded and reached the value 0.221 µg.ml-1. The copper content ranged from 1.201 µg.ml-1 to 5.810 µg.ml-1 and the average concentration reached 3.793 µg.ml-1. Iron had an average of 1.824 µg.ml-1. Overall in all milk samples high correlations were found. Between positive correlation (0.7019) and negative correlation between of nickel and potassium concentration in raw milk (-0.72) was found.

Respiratory diseases and pneumoniamanifestof seasonal variability an example from Nitra region in Slovakia

Respiratory diseases and pneumoniamanifestof seasonal variability an example from Nitra region in Slovakia The aim of this study was to analyze the incidence of some respiratory diseases in outpatient's pneumology departments along three years period and point out seasonal variation in these diseases. The number of examined ambulatory patients suffered from all causes of respiratory diseases and pneumonia on monthly basis were applied to create a time-series analysis in numerical and graphical output of data. Significant differences in all followed diseases between winter season and summer season were observed. These data are in accordance with data of other authors and epidemiological surveys on long year's basis. Possible reasons of these observations are discussed, and it may speculate about seasonally driven viral circulation. Deficiency in vitamin D levels in wintertime is another possible reason for winter peak in the incidence of respiratory diseases. Our results can aid not only in effective allocation of resources and services but can be helpful for better understanding of respiratory epidemiology, respiratory pathology with potential role of vitamin D in its possible improvement, especially in wintertime.

Implementácia destinačného manažmentu v podmienkach Nitrianskeho samosprávneho kraja

Implementácia destinačného manažmentu v podmienkach Nitrianskeho samosprávneho kraja

Brown coal and lignite issues from the perspective of sustainable development in Slovakia

This paper presents the situation of coal mining in Slovakia, focusing on the social-political aspects and environmental aspects of its sustainable development.In recent years, the mining of lignite and brown coal in Slovakia has been closely linked to the production of electricity and heat in the Novaky power plant. Domestic brown coal production covered more than three quarters of demand in the Slovak Republic in the last few years. The sustainability of coal mining in the coming years in Slovakia is closely associated with raw materials reserves, new mining technologies, the development of the Novaky power plant, and the government's commitments to national economic interests through securing the energy supply or state aid. Of course, of these factors must be considered in the context of international obligations, such as those related to climate and environment, particularly air protection.The three most important Slovak brown coal deposits are located in the Upper Nitra Basin. This territory includes areas in the 5th and 4th degrees of environmental quality, signifying a disturbed and very disturbed environment. Since coal is expected to remain the dominant fuel for electricity generation araund the world, and in particular for many of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, it is necessary to create conditions for the environmental sustainability of coal mining in the coming years within the context of international obligations. Both the security and the stability of the electricity network in Slovakia and maintaining employment levels in the Upper Nitra region play important roles in this discussion.Underground coal gasification (UCG) is a newmining technology and a technology for gas recovery in situ.A comprehensive evaluation of the impacts of underground coal gasification was carried out in addition to summarization of the expected impacts in terms of the significance and distribution of the time period.Based on a comprehensive assessment of the proposed action, it can be stated that it could bring a socially unacceptable risk to the area, specifically the significant impairment of health or the environment (groundwater and nearby hot springs in Bojnice). The implementation of operations could affect the population's health, since the partition is placed in close proximity to residential areas.

Sociálne služby pre seniorov – príkladová štúdia v obciach Nitrianskeho kraja

Sociálne služby pre seniorov – príkladová štúdia v obciach Nitrianskeho kraja