Filters
total: 1178
filtered: 874
Search results for: SPARSE MATRIX FACTORIZATION
-
Determination of organophosphorus and organonitrogen pesticides in water samples
PublicationPesticides are among the most dangerous environmental pollutants because of their stability, mobility and long-term effects on living organisms. Their presence in sources of drinking water, essential to life, is a particular danger. In water, these compounds can undergo transformations, leading to the production of substances of even greater toxicity. Legal regulations are in force, stipulating the highest permissible level of...
-
Colored Tattoo Ink Screening Method with Optical Tissue Phantoms and Raman Spectroscopy
PublicationDue to the increasing popularity of tattoos among the general population, to ensure their safety and quality, there is a need to develop reliable and rapid methods for the analysis of the composition of tattoo inks, both in the ink itself and in already existing tattoos. This paper presents the possibility of using Raman spectroscopy to examine tattoo inks in biological materials. We have developed optical tissue phantoms mimicking...
-
The influence of polypropylene-block/graft-polycaprolactone copolymers on melt rheology, morphology, and dielectric properties of polypropylene/polycarbonate blends
PublicationThe paper discusses the relationship between rheology and morphology of immiscible polypropylene (matrix))/polycarbonate (dispersed phase) blends compatibilized with novel polypropylene-polycaprolactone block and graft copolymers. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) experiments revealed uniform droplet morphologies and a reduction of the average size of the dispersed phase upon addition of the compatibilizer. The results suggested...
-
Chemical surface etching methods for ground tire rubber as sustainable approach for environmentally-friendly composites development– a review
PublicationGround tire rubber (GTR) has been used as a sustainable low-cost modifier in various composites. However, due to the hydrophobic nature of GTR, it is in compatible with most matrices and results in deterioration in both mechanical and physical properties of composites. This necessitates pre-modification of the powdered rubber to improve the interfacial bonding at the rubber-matric interface. The most common GTR modification research...
-
Density functional LCAO calculations of vibrational modes and phonon density of states in the strained single-layer phosphorene
PublicationThe paper presents an investigation of phosphorene under axial strain on the phonon density of states and vibrational modes. The studies were performed by means of density functional theory (DFT) within the linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO). The strained models were constructed using optimised supercell techniques. The vibrational mode spectra were estimated for strains applied for both the zigzag and armchair directions...
-
Kriging metamodels and design re‐utilization for fast parameter tuning of antenna structures
PublicationThe paper addresses the problem of computationally efficient electromagnetic (EM)‐driven design closure of antenna structures. The foundations of the presented approach are fast kriging interpolation metamodels, utilized for two purposes: (a) producing a good starting point for further parameter tuning, and (b) yielding a reasonable Jacobian matrix estimate to jump‐start the optimization procedure. The models are rendered using...
-
Inhibition of Polymer Photodegradation by Incorporation of Coffee Silverskin
PublicationOver the last years, the trend associated with the incorporation of materials from renewable resources into polymer technology is getting significantly more vital. Researchers are trying to transfer the properties of natural raw materials into the polymer world. Therefore, different natural materials are more often investigated as potential additives for polymers. Such an effect is noted for the coffee industry by-products, such...
-
Shear fracture of longitudinally reinforced concrete beams under bending using Digital Image Correlation and FE simulations with concrete micro-structure based on X-ray micro-computed tomography images
PublicationThe paper presents experimental and numerical investigations of the shear fracture in rectangular concrete beams longitudinally reinforced with steel or basalt bar under quasi-static three point bending. Shear fracture process zone formation and development on the surface of beams was investigated by Digital Image Correlation (DIC) whereas thorough analyses of 3D material micro-structure, air voids, width and curvature of shear...
-
A general isogeometric finite element formulation for rotation‐free shells with in‐plane bending of embedded fibers
PublicationThis article presents a general, nonlinear isogeometric finite element formulation for rotation-free shells with embedded fibers that captures anisotropy in stretching, shearing, twisting, and bending - both in-plane and out-of-plane. These capabilities allow for the simulation of large sheets of heterogeneous and fibrous materials either with or without matrix, such as textiles, composites, and pantographic structures. The work...
-
Super tough interpenetrating polymeric network of styrene butadiene rubber‐poly (methyl methacrylate) incorporated with general purpose carbon black ( N660 )
PublicationA classic set of polymeric interpenetrating polymeric network (IPN) microcomposites has been fabricated using an elastomer—styrene butadiene rubber [SBR], a thermoplastic poly(methyl methacrylate)-PMMA and with carbon black (CB)-N660 as a filler and reinforcing agent. This synthesized IPN composite can be promisingly employed as a toughened plastic and vibrational damper in a wide service range with excellent thermal stability,...
-
Performance Analysis of the OpenCL Environment on Mobile Platforms
PublicationToday’s smartphones have more and more features that so far were only assigned to personal computers. Every year these devices are composed of better and more efficient components. Everything indicates that modern smartphones are replacing ordinary computers in various activities. High computing power is required for tasks such as image processing, speech recognition and object detection. This paper analyses the performance of...
-
A novel method for drop in drop edible oils encapsulation with chitosan using a coaxial technique
PublicationThe presented work concerns a novel one step method for oil encapsulation. In this coaxial system the oil constitutes the core of the capsule, while the chitosan solution is the polymer shell surrounding the core to provide separation of the core from the external environment. The paper contains a diagram of the encapsulation equipment and explains the principle of its operation. The experimental results showed the impact of the...
-
Integration of protein tethering in a rapid and label-free SERS screening platform for drugs of abuse
PublicationSurface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has emerged as a promising technique for the rapid and ultrasensitive detection of molecular species such as drugs of abuse in biofluids. Yet, it remains a significant challenge to create a viable screening tool for multiple drug classes, owing to the lack of affinity of certain species for the SERS substrate and to the matrix interference in complex media. Here we report a protein tethering...
-
Automatic audio signal mixing system based on one-dimensional Wave-U-Net autoencoders
PublicationThe purpose of this dissertation is to develop an automatic song mixing system that is capable of automatically mixing a song with good quality in any music genre. This work recalls first the audio signal processing methods used in audio mixing, and it describes selected methods for automatic audio mixing. Then, a novel architecture built based on one-dimensional Wave-U-Net autoencoders is proposed for automatic music mixing. Models...
-
The effect of hybridization of fire retarded epoxy/flax-cotton fiber laminates by expanded vermiculite: Structure-property relationship study
PublicationThe study describes the hybridization of epoxy/flax-cotton (EP/FF) composites containing ammonium polyphosphate (APP) with micrometric expanded vermiculite (VMT) (1–10 wt%). The efficiency of hybridization of flame retarded epoxy/flax-cotton composites was assessed by performing static tensile and flexural strength evaluation, supplemented by impact strength measurements of the composites. Moreover, thermal and thermomechanical...
-
Quasi-Global Optimization of Antenna Structures Using Principal Components and Affine Subspace-Spanned Surrogates
PublicationParametric optimization is a mandatory step in the design of contemporary antenna structures. Conceptual development can only provide rough initial designs that have to be further tuned, often extensively. Given the topological complexity of modern antennas, the design closure necessarily involves full-wave electromagnetic (EM) simulations and—in many cases—global search procedures. Both factors make antenna optimization a computationally...
-
Analysis of nonlinear eigenvalue problems for guides and resonators in microwave and terahertz technology
PublicationThis dissertation presents developed numerical tools for investigating waveguides and resonators' properties for microwave and terahertz technology. The electromagnetics analysis requires solving complex eigenvalue problems, representing various parameters such as resonant frequency or propagation coefficient. Solving equations with eigenvalue boils down to finding the roots of the determinant of the matrix. At the beginning, one...
-
Modelling of some stealth features for a small navy ship at the concept design stage.
PublicationIn this paper the basic research problems associated with modelling the basic stealth features for a small navy ship at the concept design stage are introduced. Amongst the major stealth features considered are: the modification of the immersed ship hull form by a rapid change of the ship loading condition, and modification of the ship boundary layer by the hull skin cover. The other stealth features of the ship are not presented...
-
Secure Quaternion Feistel Cipher for DICOM Images
PublicationAn improved and extended version of a quaternion-based lossless encryption technique for digital image and communication on medicine (DICOM) images is proposed. We highlight and address several security flaws present in the previous version of the algorithm originally proposed by Dzwonkowski et al. (2015). The newly proposed secure quater- nion Feistel cipher (S-QFC) algorithm...
-
Electron Scattering from Methyl Formate (HCOOCH3): A Joint Theoretical and Experimental Study
PublicationElastic low-energy electron collisions with methyl formate have been studied theoretically at the level of various theories. The elastic integral cross section was calculated using Schwinger multichannel and R-matrix methods, in the static-exchange and static-exchange plus polarization levels of approximations for energies up to 15 eV. The absolute total cross section for electron scattering from methyl formate has been measured...
-
Acceleration of Electromagnetic Simulations on Reconfigurable FPGA Card
PublicationIn this contribution, the hardware acceleration of electromagnetic simulations on the reconfigurable field-programmable-gate-array (FPGA) card is presented. In the developed implementation of scientific computations, the matrix-assembly phase of the method of moments (MoM) is accelerated on the Xilinx Alveo U200 card. The computational method involves discretization of the frequency-domain mixed potential integral equation using...
-
Tunable emission and energy transfer of B2O3–Bi2O3–AlF3 glass system doped with Eu3+/Dy3+
PublicationThe structure and luminescent properties of the B2O3–Bi2O–AlF3 glass system doped with Eu3+/Dy3+ ions in different molar ratios were studied. A series of glasses were synthesized by the conventional melt quenching technique. Glass transition and crystallization temperatures were examined by Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA) measurements. The amorphous character of the prepared samples was confirmed by the X-ray diffraction (XRD)...
-
Methodology of generation of CFD meshes and 4D shape reconstruction of coronary arteries from patient-specific dynamic CT
PublicationDue to the difficulties in retrieving both the time‑dependent shapes of the vessels and the generation of numerical meshes for such cases, most of the simulations of blood flow in the cardiac arteries use static geometry. The article describes a methodology for generating a sequence of time‑dependent 3D shapes based on images of different resolutions and qualities acquired from ECG‑gated coronary artery CT angiography. The precision...
-
Visualization of short-term heart period variability with network tools as a method for quantifying autonomic drive
PublicationWe argue that network methods are successful in detecting nonlinear properties in the dynamics of autonomic nocturnal regulation in short-term variability. Two modes of visualization of networks constructed from RR-increments are proposed. The first is based on the handling of a state space. The state space of RR-increments can be modified by a bin size used to code a signal and by the role of a given vertex as the representation...
-
Optimization of parallel implementation of UNRES package for coarse‐grained simulations to treat large proteins
PublicationWe report major algorithmic improvements of the UNRES package for physics-based coarse-grained simulations of proteins. These include (i) introduction of interaction lists to optimize computations, (ii) transforming the inertia matrix to a pentadiagonal form to reduce computing and memory requirements, (iii) removing explicit angles and dihedral angles from energy expressions and recoding the most time-consuming energy/force terms...
-
Analysis of multi-class pharmaceuticals in fish tissues by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry
PublicationA new sensitive method based on pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) and purification by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) prior to ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC–MS/MS) was developed for the determination in fish homogenate, liver and muscle of twenty pharmaceuticals compounds and metabolites from seven commonly used therapeutic families. An extensive matrix effect evaluation...
-
Hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents as “green” extraction media for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in aqueous samples
PublicationThe paper presents novel nonionic and hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents which were synthesized from natural compounds, i.e., thymol, ±camphor, decanoic and 10-undecylenic acids. Fundamental physicochemical properties of the synthesized deep eutectic solvents were determined, followed by their application as extractants in ultrasound-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction to isolate and enrich polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons...
-
Synthesis and thermal studies of flexible polyurethane nanocomposite foams obtained using nanoclay modified with flame retardant compound
PublicationThis work presents thermal studies of nanocomposites based on the flexible polyurethane (PU) matrix and filled using montmorillonite organically modified with organophosphorus flame retardant compound. Flexible PU nanocomposite foams were prepared in the reaction carried out between reactive alcoholic hydroxyl and isocyanate groups with the ratio of NCO to OH groups equal to 1.05. The amount of an organoclay ranging from 3 to 9...
-
Impact Behaviour of Glass Fribre /Epoxy Composites with Nano-Enhanced Resin after Water Exposure
PublicationImpact behaviour of glass fibre /epoxy composites with nano- SiO2 modified resin was studied in terms of low velocity impact after water exposure. Nanocomposites with 1%, 2%, 3% 5% 7% nano-SiO2 (Nanopox- Evonic) were investigated. Peak impact load and impact damage area as a function of nanoparticle contents were compared for dry specimens and for samples exposed to water (0.7 %wt. 1.7% water absorbed) at 1J, 2J 3J impact energies....
-
Four-state stochastic model of changes in the reliability states of a motor vehicle
PublicationThe properties of semi-Markov processes have been generally characterized and the applicability of the theory of such processes to the determining of the reliability of motor cars and other road vehicles has been explained. A formal description of the process of changes in the motor vehicle technical states considered as reliability states and a model of this process in the form of a one-dimensional stochastic process have been...
-
Determining pesticide contamination in honey by LC-ESI-MS/MS - Comparison of pesticide recoveries of two liquid-liquid extraction based approaches
PublicationHoney, a valuable food product, may be contaminated by xenobiotics during its production and/or harvest. The determination of trace levels of contaminants in a complex matrix like honey still presents a challenge to analytical chemists. The aim of this work was to assess and compare the extraction efficiencies of 30 pesticide residues (acaricides, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides), belonging to over 15 different chemical classes....
-
Nanostructure and dielectric behavior of vanadate glasses containing BaTiO3
PublicationThe ac and dc electrical conductivity of barium titanate doped bismuth-vanadate as-quenched and heat-treated materials was measured in the frequency range from 1 mHz to 1 MHz and in the temperature range from 153 K to 423 K with the impedance spectroscopy method. The microstructure was investigated by means of XRD, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and confocal microscopy. The obtained results showed...
-
Comparative Greenness Evaluation
PublicationGreenness of analytical procedure is multivariable aspect as many greenness criteria should be taken into consideration. On the other hand, modern analytical chemistry offers dozens of analytical procedures, based on different sample preparation and final determination techniques that are used for the determination of a given analyte in a given matrix. For such complex decision-making processes, multi-criteria decision analysis...
-
Discrete element method simulations of fracture in concrete under uniaxial compression based on its real internal structure
PublicationThe paper describes experimental and numerical results of concrete fracture under quasi-static uniaxial compression. Experimental uniaxial compression tests were performed on concrete cubic specimens. Fracture in concrete was detected at the aggregate level by means of three non-destructive methods: three-dimensional X-ray microcomputed tomography, two-dimensional scanning electron microscope and manual two-dimensional digital...
-
Photophysical processes in the selected white organic light-emitting diodes
PublicationThe first part discusses history of organic emitters, the scope of the work, phenomena in molecular systems, types of architectures in OLEDs, types of OLEDs emitting white light with examples from the literaturę and a description of the parameters chcracterizing LEDs. The second part describes materials, production of the samples, the measurement systems and results. In chapter 8.1 the results for the OLEDs based on emission from...
-
GTR/NBR/Silica Composites Performance Properties as a Function of Curing System: Sulfur versus Peroxides
PublicationIn this work, conventional sulfur and two types of organic peroxides (dicumyl peroxide (DCP) and di-(2-tert-butyl-peroxyisopropyl)-benzene (BIB)) curing systems were used to investigate the possibility for tailoring of the performance properties of GTR/NBR blends reinforced with a variable content of highly dispersive silica (0–30 phr). The curing characteristics, static mechanical and acoustical properties, swelling behavior,...
-
Experimental and DFT insights into an eco-friendly photocatalytic system toward environmental remediation and hydrogen generation based on AgInS2 quantum dots embedded on Bi2WO6
PublicationBismuth tungstate (Bi2WO6) can work as a photocatalyst but suffers from rapid recombination of photogenerated charge carriers. Herein, density functional theory (DFT) simulations revealed that the formation of a thermodynamically stable AgInS2(112)/Bi2WO6(010) heterojunction could promote charge separation and enhance the photoactivity of Bi2WO6. To confirm these theoretical predictions, a new type of photocatalysts in the form...
-
Wear Resistance Enhancement of Al6061 Alloy Surface Layer by Laser Dispersed Carbide Powders
PublicationIn this paper, results of the experimental study on improving wear resistance in sliding friction of Al-based alloy are presented. The technique used involves the formation of a metal matrix composite (MMC) in the alloy surface layer by laser dispersion of carbide powders such as WC, TiC and SiC. For WC and TiC MMC surface coatings fabricated under conditions typical for most of the technologically relevant solid-state lasers (wavelength...
-
Multiparameter sensitivity analysis of a GFRP composite footbridge of a sandwich structure and U-shaped cross-section
PublicationThe paper deals with multiparameter sensitivity analysis of a composite footbridge. A shell‐like structure is 14.5 m long shows U‐shaped cross‐section and inner service dimensions 1.3 × 2.5 m. Glass fiber reinforced polymer GFRP laminate constitutes faces of a sandwich structure while PET foam received from recycled bottle builts a core. The structure was divided into 285 independent areas where the thickness of laminates and stiffness...
-
Analysis
PublicationNew food products and diverse formulations containing the regulated steviol glycoside(s) as well as Stevia extracts or Stevia leaves have been brought on the global market. The upcoming multitude of such food products, but also their falsification and adulteration, does have impact on food analysis. Robust high-throughput methods that cope with different food matrices are required for food control to ensure food safety. The analysis...
-
Utilizing pulse dynamics for non-invasive Raman spectroscopy of blood analytes
PublicationNon-invasive measurement methods offer great benefits in the field of medical diagnostics with molecular-specific techniques such as Raman spectroscopy which is increasingly being used for quantitative measurements of tissue biochemistry in vivo. However, some important challenges still remain for label-free optical spectroscopy to be incorporated into the clinical laboratory for routine testing. In particular, non-analyte-specific...
-
What should we know when choosing feather, blood, egg or preen oil as biological samples for contaminants detection? A non-lethal approach to bird sampling for PCBs, OCPs, PBDEs and PFASs
PublicationBirds are considered as good bio-monitors and they can provide highly valuable data about the level of contamination in their habitat. During the design of biomonitoring studies one of the first issues after choosing species is the choice of biological material. Non-lethally collected samples have recently been gaining greater attention as they offer several ethical and practical advantages. However, not all sample matrices are...
-
Ultra Low Noise Poroelastic Road Surfaces
PublicationNoise is one of the most important environmental problems related to road traffic. During the last decades, the noise emitted by the engines and powertrains of vehicles was greatly reduced and tires became a clearly dominant noise source. The article describes the concept of low noise poroelastic road surfaces that are composed of mineral and rubber aggregate bound by polyurethane resin. Those surfaces have a porous structure and...
-
Electro-thermal buckling of elastically supported double-layered piezoelectric nanoplates affected by an external electric voltage
PublicationPurpose Thermal buckling of double-layered piezoelectric nanoplates has been analyzed by applying an external electric voltage on the nanoplates. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach Double-layered nanoplates are connected to each other by considering linear van der Waals forces. Nanoplates are placed on a polymer matrix. A comprehensive thermal stress function is used for investigating thermal buckling....
-
Ultrasound assisted dispersive solid phase microextraction using polystyrene-polyoleic acid graft copolymer for determination of Sb(III) in various bottled beverages by HGAAS
PublicationA new polyoleic acid-polystyrene (PoleS) block/graft copolymer was synthesized and applied as adsorbent for ultrasound assisted dispersive solid phase microextraction (UA-DSPME) of Sb(III) in different bottled beverages and analysis using hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (HGAAS). Adsorption capacity of the PoleS was 150 mg g−1. Several sample preparation parameters such as sorbent amount, solvent type, pH, sample...
-
On implementation of fibrous connective tissues’ damage in Abaqus software
PublicationConnective fibrous tissues, such as tendons and ligaments, in humans and animals exhibit hyperelastic behaviour. The constitution of the material of these tissues is anisotropic due to the presence of the collagen fibres, where one family of fibres is the typical case. Traumatic events and/or aging may sometimes lead to the damage of the tissue. The study of motion of affected joints or limbs is usually not permitted in vivo. This...
-
Ferromagnetic nanocrystallites in the SiO2 - PbO - Fe2O3 glass system
PublicationThe structure of 50% SiO2 - 35% PbO - 15% Fe2O3, 50% SiO2 - 30% PbO - 20% Fe2O3 and 50% SiO2 - 25% PbO - 25% Fe2O3 (in mol%) glass was investigated by the means of AFM microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Observation by the atomic force microscopy shows that each of prepared iron oxide glass doesn't have homogeneous structure and some nanocrystallites were detected. Next, test with neodymium magnet found out strong magnetic properties...
-
Synthesis and characterization of novel renewable polyesters based on 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid and 2,3-butanediol
PublicationNovel polyesters from 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid or 2,5-dimethyl-furandicarboxylate and 2,3-butanediol have been synthesized via bulk polycondensation catalyzed by titanium (IV) n-butoxide, tin (IV) ethylhexanoate, or zirconium (IV) butoxide. The polymers were analyzed by size exclusion chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), matrix-assisted laser ionization-desorption...
-
Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) concentrations in dust from various indoor environments in Gdańsk, Poland: Prediction of concentrations in indoor air and assessment of exposure of adults
PublicationMonitoring of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in indoor environments involves the determination of their concentrations in air, airborne particles, and settled dust. Each of these is a source of human exposure to PBDEs. In this study, we attempted to model PBDEs concentrations in various typical indoor environments on the basis of real PBDEs measurements in dust collected from them. The analytical procedure for determining...
-
Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Carboxylated Nitrile Butadiene Rubber/Epoxy/XNBR-grafted Halloysite Nanotubes Nanocomposites
PublicationThe effect of various amounts of carboxylated nitrile butadiene rubber (XNBR) functionalized halloysite nanotubes (XHNTs) on the cure characteristics, mechanical and swelling behavior of XNBR/epoxy compounds was experimentally and theoretically investigated. The morphology of the prepared XNBR/epoxy/XHNTs nanocomposites was imaged using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effects of various XNBR-grafted nanotubes on the damping...