The aim of the study was to evaluate the combined effect of noise exposure and additional risk factors on permanent hearing threshold shift. Three additional risk factors were: exposure to organic solvents, smoking and elevated blood pressure.

The data on exposure and health status of employees were collected in 24 factories. The study group comprised of 3741 noise male exposed workers of: mean age 39±8 years, mean tenure 16±7 years and LEX,8h = 86 ± 5 dB. For each subject, hearing level was measured with pure tone audiometry, blood pressure and noise exposure were assessed from the records of local occupational health care and obligatory noise measurements performed by employers. Smoking and solvent exposure were assessed with questionnaire. The study group was divided into subgroups with respect to the considered risk factors. In the analysis, the distribution of hearing level of each subgroup was compared to the predicted one which the standard calculation method described in ISO 1999:1990. For each of the considered risk factors, the difference between measured and calculated hearing level distribution was used to establish, by the least square method, a noise dose related correction square function for the standard method. The considered risk factors: solvent exposure, smoking and elevated blood pressure combined with noise exposure, may increase degree of hearing loss.

Introduction: Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is a Gram-positive, anaerobic rod-shaped bacteria, widely spread in the human environment. In the last decade, the frequency and severity of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) have been increasing, making this particular disease one of the most significant nosocomial infections. The aim of our study was an analysis of CDI risk factors, its course and consequences.

Materials and Methods: Medical documentation of the patients treated for CDI in the University Hospital in Cracow and St Anne’s Hospital in Miechów has been analysed. The analysis focused on epidemiological data, blood parameters, comorbidities, recurrence rate, and complication rate (deaths included). As part of risk factors analysis, antibiotic use or hospitalisation in a period of 3 months before the episode of infection was considered relevant. Blood tests have been performed using routinely employed, standard methods.

Results: We evaluated data of 168 people infected with C. difficile, out of which there were 102 women (61%) and 66 men (39%). Th e median age of the patients was 74 years for the entire population with 76 years for women and 71 years for male patients. One hundred thirteen people (67%) had been previously hospitalised, and 5 person was a pensioner of a nursing home. 99 people (59%) were treated with antibiotics within 3 months before the first episode of infection. An average length of the hospital stay because of CDI was 11 days. One hundred thirty persons (77%) experienced only 1 episode whereas 38 people (23%) had more than 1 episode of infection. The person with the largest number of recurrences had 9 of them.

Conclusions: The development of CDI is an increasing problem in a group of hospitalised persons, particularly of an old age. The general use of beta-lactam antibiotics is the cause of a larger number of infections with C. diffi cile. Vast majority of patients have had at least one typical risk factor of CDI development.

This paper presents the innovative activity of enterprises as a process that is risky but necessary for the survival of a company in a competitive market, and as a way to maximize the long-term value for the owners. Risks and benefits were analysed, and the possible sources of added value in innovative projects were identified in the context of the capital market equilibrium and the budgeting of investments. Innovative projects become a source of added value for investors if the financial effects such as changes in the residual cash flow and higher growth rate outweigh the combined impact on the risk generated by two factors: increase of systematic risk and emerging specific risks.

Theileriosis is a hemoparasitic disease that affects a wide range of different animal species and is caused by various species of Theileria. This study aimed to determine the molecular epidemiology of Theileria annulata through microscopy and PCR, in crossbred cattle in some districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. For this study, a total of 384 blood samples were collected from cattle in the Peshawar (n=120), Charsadda (n=94), Nowshera (n=84), and Swabi (n=86) districts. Microscopy and PCR were used to determine the overall prevalence of theileriosis, which was found to be 15.8 and 22.6%, respectively. Theileria annulata was detected in blood samples through PCR in the study area, and the target gene i.e., Tams 1, of positive samples was sequenced. The sequences in the current study revealed high sequence homology (ranging from 96 to 100%) with Tams 1 sequences of neighboring countries present in the NCBI database. Season, breed, age, and sex were found to be important risk factors among the several risk factors examined, whereas, among different clinical manifestations, lymphadenopathy showed a strong association with theileriosis. According to Cohen’s kappa and ROC analysis, microscopy was proven to be a fair diagnostic test for detecting theileriosis in cattle, and may be used in combination with molecular techniques for screening a large number of animals.

Construction work on buildings covered by the revitalization program of historic urban development represents a special type of construction project in which, in the execution phase, difficult technical situations and other risk sources are being encountered. An important source of risk is the necessity to preserve a part of the historic substance, which results, among others, from the recommendations of the conservator, legal regulations or from the vision of the architect/investor. The risk is also associated with difficulties and complications in construction works resulting from the location of these objects in dense urban development. The aim of the article is to identify risk factors and reactions of contractors, i.e. applied risk management methods and techniques, based on the example of a complex of buildings constructed in the historic district of Krakow. The elimination of sources of risk, especially of a technical nature, requires the construction management to be highly skilled and experienced, to carefully prepare the construction work and to design additional solutions to ensure safety at work. The experience gained may serve as a basis for risk analysis and identification during the implementation of projects involving the use of an existing building and historic substance in areas subject to revitalization programs.

Isolated internal iliac artery aneurysms are rarely described in the available literature. The paper presents a case of a 70-year-old female with idiopathic thrombocytopenia, squamous cell cervical carci-noma, and saccular aneurysm of the left internal iliac artery, detected in magnetic resonance. The review of aneurysm of the common, external and internal iliac arteries is added.

Cost overrun during construction is one of the most common problems occur in construction projects around the world, which also includes the area of Chongqing in China. At present, there are few studies related to cost overruns at the construction stage of high-rise residential building projects (HRBPs) in Chongqing. The purpose of this study is to develop effective control measures from the contractor’s perspective to help projects to minimize cost overruns during the construction phase of HRBPs in Chongqing. Firstly, through the literature review and semi-structured interviews, 65 cost overrun-related risk factors in construction projects were identified. All the risk factors have been prioritized through the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) based on their importance to project success. Out of the 65 factors identified, 12 were classified as the critical ones that have a great potential to instigate a cost overrun during construction to take place in the real project. There were four risk factors that have the greatest impact on cost overruns, and their weights were 0.04 or above, including low bid, force majeure, undetailed/inaccurate geological survey data, and increased loan interest rates. Finally, control measures were developed for these four critical cost overrun risk factors (CCORFs). The measures developed provided a guideline to control the risk of cost overruns and clear control key points to help contractors minimize cost overruns on construction projects.