Roczniki Państwowego Zakładu Higieny
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Rocz Panstw Zakl Hig · Jan 1991
Comparative Study[Changes in psychophysical load of high school students as a result of educational reform].
The material comprised 2679 secondary school pupils (1959 girls and 1020 boys) from several Polish big cities, among whom 1281 pupils took up the old school program and 1968--the new program. The present studies were initiated in school year 1985/86 and were completed in 1989/1990. The psychophysical load of pupils was evaluated by means of a standard questionnaire comprising 77 questions grouped into problems, allowing us to determine the pupil's psychophysical load associated with school education, extra school occupations, daily time-table, situation in the class and family as well as psychic general feeling. ⋯ After the educational reform, the load was heaviest in the second class of secondary school. The psychophysical load of girls exceeded that of boys. Likewise, the loads associated with the objectively prevailing load-causing situations as well as those associated with subjective feeling of the burden of these loads were heavier in girls than in boys, both before and after the introduction of changes in school programs.
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Selenium belongs to the group of elements which may be regarded as useful only in a very narrow range, while in excess doses they exert a harmful action. The content of the element in soil is usually from 0.1 to 2 mg/kg, with the Scandinavian soils have a low level of selenium, not exceeding 0.3 mg/kg. The highest level, exceeding 3000 mg/kg was noted in Northern Ireland. ⋯ The toxic effects of selenium in the environment include inflammatory processes of the extremities in herbivorous animals (the so called Degnal disease in India and the Alkali disease in Great Britain). Selenium deficiency in the environment leads to the so called white muscle disease in these animals in Great Britain. Selenium is considered also to protect the organism in case of poisoning with lead, mercury or cadmium.
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Rocz Panstw Zakl Hig · Jan 1989
Comparative Study[Changes in sanitary conditions at elementary schools in Poland 1985-1988].
In the years 1985 and 1988 using a scoring system the health conditions were evaluated in a representative sample of 448 elementary schools in Poland for determining the changes occurring in them during that time. The evaluation included the environment, school building, school functioning and education organization. The study demonstrated unsatisfactory health conditions, especially in village schools, due mainly to poor lighting of schools, poor equipment with furniture, toilet facilities, conditions of feeding, and recreational facilities. During three years this situation was slightly improved, but is still far from satisfactory.