No abstract

Current trends in environmental care are characterised by the principles of comprehensiveness, integration, interdisciplinarity and transregionality. It is in this spirit that the methodological, legislative and economic instruments develop, and this whole trend is referred to using the term 'environmental management'. Environmental management constitutes a set of technical instruments and methods for managing the environment, based upon an identification of the environmental aspects of products, activities and services of any type of organisation, with the aim to adopt and implement effective proactive measures to reduce their negative impact on the environment. These measures, along with their level, relate to an organisation's possibilities, the market's pressure on it, and primarily with the organisation's management's awareness, maturity and ability to anticipate the introduction of stricter requirements. Environmental management, in the industrial production and service sectors, is one of the the most effective instruments for achieving the priority goal, which is to minimise the negative impact of production activities on the individual elements of the environment as part of the global trend of reducing the negative impact of human activity on the environment. The objective of this article is to indicate possibilities to improve the environment through the basic principles and techniques of integrated environmental management.

In this study, the adsorption of Fe(III) from aqueous solution on zeolite and bentonite was investigated by combining batch adsorption technique, Atomic adsorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses. Although iron is commonly found in water and is an essential bioelement, many industrial processes require efficient removal of iron from water. Two types of zeolite and two types of bentonite were used. The results showed that the maximum adsorption capacities for removal of Fe (III) by Zeolite Micro 20, Zeolite Micro 50, blue bentonite, and brown bentonite were 10.19, 9.73, 11.64, and 16.65 mg.g−1, respectively. Based on the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses of the raw samples and the solid residues after sorption at low and high initial Fe concentrations, the Fe content is different in the surface layer and in the bulk of the material. In the case of lower initial Fe concentration (200 mg.dm−3), more than 95% of Fe is adsorbed in the surface layer. In the case of higher initial Fe concentration (4000 mg.dm−3), only about 45% and 61% of Fe is adsorbent in the surface layer of zeolite and bentonite, respectively; the rest is adsorbed in deeper layers.

Blood analyses can be used to assess the health and physiological conditions of wild animals and may provide a precise picture of disease, habitat quality, and other environmental factors. The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between the age and the selected biochemical parameters of the female mouflon (Ovis musimon L.). This study creates a possible reference range of biochemical parameter concentrations in mouflon and aims to extend the knowledge of this wild game species within our geographical region. There have not been many studies dealing with this issue in our geographical region. A total of 57 female mouflons aged between 1 and 6 years (1–3 years n = 32, 4–6 years n = 25) and in good physical condition, with an average live weight between 32 and 40 kg were included in the research experiment between the two years. A total of 15 selected biochemical parameters were analyzed. Using statistical analysis, we noticed significant effects of age on almost three-quarters of analyzed biochemical parameters. A statistically significant correlation was observed between age and the parameters of glucose, alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, bilirubin, cholesterol, creatinine, high-density lipoprotein, calcium, triglycerides, and urea. An evaluation of the European mouflon’s biochemical parameters during the whole year may be a reliable method for judging a herd’s condition, diagnosing medical disorders, and preventing the etiology of their occurrence. An analysis of biochemical parameters tells us about the functioning of individual organs as well as the animals’ metabolism. Knowledge of the values of blood parameters is of special importance because they allow us to gather more information on mouflons.

Population grows fastest in the world’s urban and metropolitan cities, the number of inhabitants in so-called metropolitan cities and in urban and suburban zones are expanding into the surrounding natural landscape. Consequence of these changes is the gradual displacement of natural greenery and nature from cities and newly created residential satellites designed to build residential and public amenities. In recent years, is more commonly used sustainable development phenomenon which has become as a responding trend to of cities and municipalities and the implementation of so-called urban gardens intended for growing crops within the communities of the population. In view of mentioned facts the presented article focuses on ecological urban agriculture in terms of the main components of sustainability as an element contributing to the sustainable development of cities and suburban zones.