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Air pollution detection in Dimitrovgrad has not been done yet. In this work different lichen have been used as a bioindication to establish different air pollution levels. At 18 investigated points 22 lichen taxa have been found. Using the Index of Atmospheric Purity (IAP) it has been found that there are 3 different air pollution zones in Dimitrovgrad: 'lichen desert', 'transitional' and 'normal zone'. The most sensitive lichen taxa in Dimitrovgrad are Evernia prunastra, Ochrolechia pallescens, Parmelia sulcata, and Physcia tenella and the most tolerant are Phaeophyscia orbicularis, Physcia adscendens, Physconia distorta, Physconia grisea, and Xanthoria parietina. .

Epiphytic lichens were used dor bioindication of air pollution in the city of Vranje for the first time. In 43 investigated places, the authors established the presence of 38 lichen taxa from 20 genera. By calculating the index of atmospheric purity (IAP), they established three zones with different air pollution levels (a "lichen desert zone", a "transitional zone", and a "normal zone") and two subzones (a "narrow transitional zone", and a "wider transitional zone"). The species Melanelia exasperatula, M. glabra, Lecanora allophana, Lecidella elaechroma, Ochrolechia sp, Ramalina sp., and Parmelina quercina were established as the most sensitive. On the other hand, Phaeophyscia orbicularis, Xanthoria parietina, and Parmelia sulcata were the most tolerant.

Bioindication of air pollution in the city of Niš, by using epiphytic lichens, was performed for the first time in 1992. In this paper the authors present the results of repeated investigations in 2002, by using new, modern method, and their comparison with the former investigations. In repeated investigations, on 59 investigated spots, the authors established the presence of 42 lichen taxa, 3 zones with different air pollution level ("lichens desert", "transitional zone" and "normal zone") and two subzones ("narrow transitional zone" and "wider transitional zone"), as well. As the most sensitive, some Melanelia-species (M. elegantula, M. exasperata, M. glabra), Evernia prunastr and Flavoparmelia caperata, were established while on the other hand, Phaeophyscia orbicularis, Physcia adscendens, Ph. stellaris and Lecanora argentata were the most tolerant.

Numerous studies of urban environment impact on wildlife imply urbanization can have both negative and positive effects. Phenotypic variation of pileus in the common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) was analysed to determine whether urbanization levels can be associated with developmental instability induced by environmental stress. Pileus developmental pathways and instability in natural, suburban and urban populations were quantified by patterns of size and shape, fluctuating asymmetry (FA), modular organization and integration, allometric trajectories and frequency of phenodeviants. Our results show high asymmetry and modular structure of pileus with the high frequency of phenodeviants for natural, suburban and urban populations indicating elevated developmental instability in all three habitat types. However, some peculiarities were observed comparing habitats – the lowest level of FA and integration in urban populations and unexpectedly high level of FA and frequency of phenodeviants in the natural population. In addition, significant correlations between symmetric and asymmetric shape patterns, and presence of modular organization for all three habitat types suggest that genetic/environmental and developmental parcellation are somewhat aligned. Our results indicate that pileus morphology varies in a complex manner and future studies that link physiological, behavioural and morphological parameters to demographic parameters and fitness are necessary to fully understand how environmental stress affects developmental instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Oil and gas industry workers appear to suffer from anxiety and depression more frequently than the general population. Aims To establish the prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms among offshore workers working for an oil and gas company and to identify the main stressors that lead to symptoms of these disorders. Methods One thousand seven hundred and forty-seven workers employed in an offshore oil and gas company in the Middle East completed the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) and Patient Health (PHQ-9) questionnaires. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were estimated from these surveys. Results Anxiety and depression symptoms were reported by nearly 15% of workers surveyed. Ordered logistic regression analyses showed that age, rotation length, years of service and local origin (versus expatriate) were significant predictors for symptoms of anxiety. With adjustment for age, older local workers had a lower risk of anxiety symptoms than expatriates. Conclusions Younger workers, workers with longer rotations and those with fewer years of service were more likely to report anxiety symptoms. In addition, older local workers and expatriates had a lower prevalence of anxiety symptoms than younger local workers. Future recommendations should address improvements in psychological health of offshore workers in the gas and oil industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of fluctuating asymmetry (FA) as a measure of developmental instability and its relationship to stress and fitness is highly controversial. We examined whether the selection of different FA indices and traits influences the results of FA analysis. We chose four meristic traits and three FA indices (two single-trait and two multiple-trait indices) to assess FA levels in the common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) from three different habitat types (urban, suburban and natural). Urbanization has already been linked to developmental instability in P. muralis. We therefore expected to detect different FA levels among the habitats. However, we also wanted to see whether we obtained the same patterns using different indices and traits. Our results showed that different traits can yield different FA patterns between habitats. The only statistically significant difference between habitats was detected for the FA2 index in femoral pores. The highest level of FA was detected in the urban population, while the lowest level was in the natural population. It is clear that caution must be exerted when deciding on which traits and indices are to be used for FA analysis. [Projects of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. OI173043, Grant no. III43001]

This paper treats the long-term changes in area of the "lichen desert" of town Zvečan. Comparison of results obtained in 1926, when 67 lichen species where present, through the results in 1983 and 1988 when the "lichen desert", low or no lichen diversity was established because of the air pollution, with investigations carried out in 2014, 16 lichen species were identified. The "lichen desert" is no existing any more. The main reason that the lichens are present now is termination of operation of the "Trepča" company and cessation primary pollutants emissions. Using lichens as a bio-indicators in this investigation it was established the average air pollution, which is lichen "struggle zone", meaning increase air quality.