Search Results (9)

Background/Objectives: Seafarers are a particularly isolated workforce, as they are on-site only with their colleagues, both on and off duty. Long-term duties in the sea environment, irregular working hours, changing time zones, and lack of sleep are some of the many factors that negatively affect the physical and mental health of seafarers. This study aimed to explore the occupational stressors faced by seafarers in Lithuania using the HSE Management Standards Indicator Tool (HSE-MSIT). Methods: In 2023, a quantitative study, using a paper survey, of seafarers’ occupational stressors was conducted in Klaipeda city, Lithuania. A total of 385 Lithuanian seafarers participated in the study. Results: The greatest sources of stress at work were identified as changes at work, relationships, peer support, and management support. Role clarity, demands, and work control were not strong stressors for the seafarers. Analysis of perceived stress levels revealed notable differences between groups with different work experience and job positions. Analysis of years of service (0–11 years vs. 12+ years) found that seafarers with shorter service experienced more stress in terms of demands (p = 0.005), role clarity (p = 0.004), work control (p = 0.035), and relationships (p = 0.02). Based on job position (senior vs. junior), junior seafarers experienced significantly higher stress in the demands (p = 0.001) and role clarity (p = 0.009) subscales. The study revealed that job position and years of work had weak negative correlations with stress indicators at work. The Demands subscale was moderately positively correlated with relationships and change at work. The Relationships subscale was moderately positively correlated with peer support and change at work. Role clarity was moderately negatively correlated with change at work and relationships. Conclusions: Overall, changes at work, relationships, peer support, and management support in the working environment emerged as key factors of perceived stress among seafarers. Junior seafarers and seafarers with shorter years of service experienced higher stress at work. These findings may help in the development of targeted stress management and training strategies tailored to different profiles of seafarers. Full article

The global containerisation industry, while significantly advancing international trade, faces persistent challenges related to infrastructure capacity, environmental impact, and operational efficiency. One critical yet under-researched issue is the physical damage that containers endure during handling operations, particularly at port terminals. This paper examines the complexities of container handling, focusing on damage caused by quay crane activities, especially during corner hooking. Such damage compromises container integrity, impacts cargo safety, and increases operational costs. To address these concerns, we present the Impact Detection Methodology (IDM), a system designed to monitor and detect impacts in real time, enhancing operational precision and safety. Preliminary studies conducted at Klaipeda City port demonstrate the IDM’s effectiveness, though limited data have constrained validation. Our research underscores the need for broader experimentation to confirm the IDM’s potential in mitigating container damage. Key findings indicate that unsuccessful hooking attempts predominantly occur when containers are lifted from above-deck positions, influenced by spreader oscillations and high operational workloads. This paper also highlights the importance of integrating sway control systems with existing crane management technologies to assist operators in reducing handling errors. Enhanced monitoring and data analysis are essential for improving container handling processes, supporting sustainable growth in global containerisation, and mitigating financial risks. Full article

Background/Objectives: International studies state that older adults are at an increased risk of mental health symptoms and disorders (depression, anxiety, and stress), especially elderly women aged >65 years. The literature on this topic is scarce, and there is a need for studies that investigate the associations between mental health issues and overall health in elderly women. This study aimed to investigate depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms in elderly women in association with health status. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Klaipeda, Lithuania, in 2020. The survey included elderly women (n = 306) aged 65 to 80 years studying at the Third Age University in Klaipeda city. The DASS-21 and SHSQ-25 scales were used for the survey. Associations and correlations between both scale indicators were calculated. Results: Sociodemographic factors such as age, marital status, and place of residence were not statistically significant in terms of mental health, except for women living alone, who had slightly lower levels of depressive symptoms (p = 0.015). Mental health issues were quite common; almost half of the participants had higher than normal levels of anxiety (49.0%) and depression (48.4%), and one-third (29.8%) experienced stress. A strong positive correlation was observed between mental health symptoms and physical health, with anxiety having the greatest effect size on fatigue (Cohen’s d = 0.950, p < 0.001), cardiovascular symptoms (Cohen’s d = 0.757, p < 0.001), and mental status (Cohen’s d = 1.036, p < 0.001). Depressive symptoms had a large effect size on fatigue (Cohen’s d = 0.764, p < 0.001) and mental status (Cohen’s d = 0.816, p < 0.001), while stress had a moderate effect size on all health domains. Conclusions: The findings highlight that anxiety symptoms are a major contributor to mental health conditions and overall health in elderly women. This study’s results emphasise the need for targeted interventions to address mental health challenges in elderly women. Full article

This research addresses a gap in localized air quality assessments by measuring pollution levels in Klaipeda, a Baltic port city, using passive solid particle collectors and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) diffusion tubes. Passive sampling techniques were employed due to their cost-effectiveness and ease of deployment, allowing for practical monitoring over short-term periods. By targeting diverse functional zones, this study aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of air pollution patterns and seasonal variations in the region. Air pollution, primarily from NO₂ and particulate matter (PM), poses significant risks to public health, especially in densely populated urban areas. Air quality was assessed by measuring total suspended particulates (TSP) and NO₂ concentrations across 19 strategically chosen sites, covering key functional zones, such as industrial areas, green spaces, residential neighborhoods, transport hubs, and the port. Results show elevated pollution levels near major roads and the port area, likely driven by heavy traffic, industrial emissions, and port activities. These patterns correlate with areas of higher population density, highlighting the intersection of air quality challenges with human health risks in urbanized zones. Seasonal data reveal a notable peak in NO₂ concentrations during winter, likely due to increased heating demand and reduced atmospheric dispersion. These findings suggest that air quality management strategies should be adaptive to seasonal fluctuations, particularly by addressing emissions from heating sources in colder months. The study underscores the necessity of integrating sustainable urban planning with targeted air quality interventions. Expanding green spaces, enhancing traffic regulation, and establishing protective zones near industrial areas are critical strategies for mitigating pollution. These insights are essential for guiding both urban development and public health policies in Klaipeda and other coastal cities facing similar environmental challenges. Full article

During various marine container handling operations, performed mainly in larger-scale container terminals, containers get damaged regularly. Our previous studies showed that each physical impact results in some form of physical deformation of the backbone structure. Even at low accelerations, the spreaders of the quay cranes impact the containers with enough force to substantially bend the metal parts of the corners of the containers, when additional hooking procedures are required. This means that the first time resulted in the metal rods hitting the metal frame with an average 15-ton mass at the average speed of 1.7 m/s. The metal rods of the hooking mechanisms’ impact areas of the containers are structurally important, and each impact surely damages the containers, diminishing their total operational time. We have already proposed the Impacts Detection Methodology (IDM) and its application system, tested in Klaipeda City port, and it proved to be efficient in real-time operations, detecting concurrent impacts with each new handling cycle. In this paper, we provide a summarisation of a larger number of detections using the IDM, and as a result of this analysis, we have detected that more impact events happen when containers are taken from the upper parts of the ship, in comparison to the ones taken from the shafts. Results suggest that more critical events occur due to operator actions and experiences working with the machinery, yet the same operators tend to make fewer impact mistakes taking the containers from the shafts as the vertical cell guides tend to direct the movements and lower the levels of the natural sway of the spreader inside closed environments. This surely damages the metal infrastructure of the shafts, as seen in our previous study, but minimizes the chances of secondary impacts occurring during hooking. Full article

Microplastic concentrations in surface water and wastewater collected from Daugavpils and Liepaja cities in Latvia, as well as Klaipeda and Siauliai cities in Lithuania, were measured in July and December 2021. Using optical microscopy, polymer composition was characterized using micro-Raman spectroscopy. The average abundance of microplastics in surface water and wastewater samples was 16.63 ± 20.29 particles/L. The dominant shape group of microplastics in water was fiber, with dominant colors found to be blue (61%), black (36%), and red (3%) in Latvia. Similar distribution in Lithuania was found, i.e., fiber (95%) and fragments (5%) with dominant colors, such as blue (53%), black (30%), red (9%), yellow (5%), and transparent (3%). The micro-Raman spectroscopy spectra of visible microplastics were identified to be polyethylene terephthalate (33%) and polyvinyl chloride (33%), nylon (12%), polyester (PS) (11%), and high-density polyethylene (11%). In the study area, municipal and hospital wastewater from catchment areas were the main reasons for the contamination of microplastics in the surface water and wastewater of Latvia and Lithuania. It is possible to reduce pollution loads by implementing measures such as raising awareness, installing more high-tech wastewater treatment plants, and reducing plastic use. Full article

The main problem presented in this paper is the safety inlet navigation of the waterway below the bridge in the city of Kaunas in Lithuania. The analyzed reach is located in the Nemunas river downstream of the Kaunas dam. It is a part of the waterway E–41 leading to the Klaipeda harbor on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. The work was initiated by the Lithuanian company UAB “Inžinerinis projektavimas” with funds from the project called European Union Trans-European Transport Network (EU TEN-T). The main requirement imposed along this reach is to keep sufficient depth even in the range of the lowest flows. The depth is sufficient if it is not lower than 1.15 m for minimum flows such as Q_95% and Q_95% with ice. The hydraulic conditions for maximum flow Q_50%, Q_5%, and Q_1% are also taken into account for control because the threat of hydraulic jump generation was also noticed. The research is based on georeferenced data from public and non-public sources. The hydrologic data were received from the Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service. The physical model was created in the Water Laboratory of the Department of Hydraulic and Sanitary Engineering at Poznan University of Life Sciences, Poland. The preprocessing of spatial data in ArcGIS 10.8.2 and rules of hydraulic similarity were implemented in the process of physical model preparation. Three experiments were conducted in the laboratory with scaled values of Q_95%, Q_5%, and Q_1%. The measurements of the water surface and evaluations of the average velocity were used to validate the 2D numerical model prepared in HEC-RAS 6.3.1. The basic layers of the HEC-RAS model were preprocessed in ArcGIS 10.8.2 by ESRI company. The numerical model was implemented to test different values of unknown roughness of the channel bottom. The simulations were conducted for the real values of Q_95% and Q_95% with ice and Q_50%. The results of the simulations were depth and Froude number maps. These maps were classified into zones of no risk, middle risk, and high risk. ArcGIS in the post-processing phase was applied to identify the locations of the hazards. The magnitude of risk was expressed in terms of minimum depth achieved, maximum Froude number, as well as the length of the reaches with high risk related to these two factors. The threat of hydraulic jump formation below the bridge was also noticed. Conducted results confirmed that the combination of hydrodynamic simulations and geoprocessing in the pre- and post-processing stages could be a powerful tool in hydraulic engineering analyses. Additionally, it is worth noting that numerical modeling enables a wider analysis of potential conditions than could be possible with a physical model only. Full article

Global natural gas resources are growing and are increasingly geographically diverse. A Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) is one of the most commonly used vessel types in the global ship fleet due to the possibility of storage, reloading to another ship, and regasifying it for re-injection into the natural gas grid. It is important to control system parameters for reliable technological processes such as tank hydrostatic pressure, vapor pressure, LNG density, LNG temperature, and phase changes between liquid and gas states. Additionally, pressure monitoring is important to control during transit in port and bunkering to prevent the pressure in the tanks from exceeding the tank design pressure. In this research study, a comprehensive hydrodynamic model for an LNG storage tank in a real-life regasification terminal (Floating Storage and Regasification Unit, LNG Terminal of Klaipeda City, Lithuania), operating in transportation mode to the regasification unit, was created. For this research, LNG is investigated as a compressible liquid and the speed of sound in LNG is evaluated. A complex mathematical model of the system allows the analysis of high-speed hydrodynamic and dynamic processes at cryogenic temperature (110 K) and evaluates the geometric parameters (tank geometry, electric motors and pumps, pipe geometric parameters, and roughness of internal surfaces) and the characteristics of pumps and electric motors. The complex mathematical model of the system was implemented using Fortran programing language and MATLAB R28a. It determined the parameters (pressure, velocity, liquid level of LNG in the tanks, electric motor angular velocity, torques, hydraulic energy losses, etc.) of the system during its start-up mode (until 5 s). It was found that hydraulic energy losses in all pipes contain 1.7% of the whole system power (the total power of the electric motors is 3132 kW). In case of increasing energy costs, this model could be used to control energy losses during the operation of the FSRU in various technological modes. Full article

Sexual harassment is a crucial public health issue among adolescents. In order to develop school health promotion programs, there is a need to involve adolescents themselves paying particular attention to their perceptions, beliefs, attitudes and practices. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the adolescents’ perceptions about sexual harassment as well as the ways it could be prevented. Four focus groups were conducted during an online “camp” in autumn 2021, facilitated by members of SHEHAP project research team. Participants were secondary school students from Finland, Greece, Lithuania and Portugal. The qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. Concerning how participants perceive sexual harassment, the themes that emerged were: physically expressed sexual harassment; verbally expressed sexual harassment; virtually expressed sexual harassment; violation of self-determination. Virtual environment; school environment; public environment; familiar environment, were identified as the places where sexual harassment may occur. Finally, in regard to the participants’ views on the prevention of sexual harassment, the following themes emerged: youth education; adult education aiming teachers and parents; professional, peer and family support; official consequences; health education methods. The findings of the current study can be used for the development of school-based programs aiming to prevent sexual harassment among adolescents. Full article