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Ordered TiO2 nanotubes: the effect of preparation parameters on the photocatalytic activity in air purification process
PublicationVertically ordered TiO2 nanotube arrays were synthesized by anodic oxidation of titanium foil in glycerol, ethylene glycol and water-based electrolytes. The effect of electrolyte composition, anodization voltage, ultrasonic treatment and calcination time on the morphology of the resulting thin films, as well as on their photocatalytic activity in toluene removal, used as a model volatile organic compound, was investigated. Toluene,...
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Transport properties of aqueous ionic liquid microemulsions: influence of the anion type and presence of the cosurfactant
PublicationTransport properties, viz. specific conductivity, dynamic viscosity and apparent diffusion coefficients, were measured as a function of water content in aqueous ionic liquid microemulsions containing 1-butyl-3- methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, [BMIM][PF6] and bis(trifluoromethanesulphonyl)imide, [BMIM][Tf2N], stabilized by the nonionic surfactant TX-100, or its mixture with a cosurfactant, i.e. butanol. The investigation covered...
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Impact of the Manufacturing Sector on the Export Competitiveness of European Countries – a Spatial Panel Analysis
PublicationThe purpose of this paper is to determine how changes in the export competitiveness of the EU economy (measured by exports and net exports) depend on changes in the competitiveness of processing industries, on the basis of manufacturing data from 19 EU countries over years 1995-2009 and using a spatial panel data model. The determinants of export competitiveness are selected in the light of predictions from international trade...
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Conspiracy beliefs about groups benefitting from the COVID-19 pandemic moderate the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and subjective assessment of the efficacy of preventive measures
PublicationDrawing on the protective motivation theory and parallel response model, in this cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study (N = 212) performed on the general public (age 18-65), we aimed to test the potential interaction effects of fear of COVID-19 and conspiracy beliefs about groups benefitting from the COVID-19 pandemic in predicting subjective assessment of the efficacy of three COVID-19 preventive measures. The results...
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Photoinactivation of Staphylococcus aureus using protoporphyrin IX: the role of haem-regulated transporter HrtA
PublicationLight- and photosensitiser-based antimicrobial photodynamic therapy is a very promising approach to the control of microbial infections. How the phenotypic features of a microorganism affect its response to photosensitiser-based photokilling represents an area of substantial research interest. To understand the mechanisms governing the phenomenon of a strain-dependent response to photodynamic inactivation (PDI), we analysed the...
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Micellar aggregation of Triton X-100 surfactant in imidazolium ionic liquids
PublicationIn this work we investigated aggregation behavior of a nonionic surfactant Triton X-100 in eighteen imidazolium ionic liquids (ILs) with two to eight carbon atoms in cations alkyl chain, namely 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium, [EMIM], 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium, [PrMIM], 3-methyl-1-propylimidazolium, [BMIM], 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium, [PMIM], 3-methyl-1-pentyl-imidazolium, [HMIM], and 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium, [OMIM], and with...
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Photocatalytical degradation of toluene and cyclohexane using LED illumination
PublicationA sol-gel process followed by hydrothermal reaction was used to prepare coupled WO3-TiO2 photocatalysts with varying amounts of WO3 in respect to TiO2 (3 mol% and 5 mol% respectively). Additionally, photocatalysts have been subjected to different calcination temperatures of 400ºC and 800ºC, which allowed us to compare how these affect photodegradation efficiency. Photocatalysts were characterized under a scanning electron microscope,...
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The metagenomic approach to characterization of the microbial community shift during the long-term cultivation of anammox-enriched granular sludge
PublicationA metagenomic approach was used to investigate how the microbial community composition changes when an anammox-based granular sludge reactor is seeded with nitritation-anammox biomass from a wastewater treatment plant. In the seed sample, the abundance of Candidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis was similar to Candidatus Jettenia caeni (12.63 vs. 11.68%). This biomass was typical in terms of microbial nitrogen conversion; both ammonia...
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Analysis of efficiency of phosphates sorption by different granulation of selected reactive material
PublicationIn the light of the need to find an effective way to remove phosphorus from wastewater, studies on the suitability of sorption materials in this process should be conducted. The aim of the study was to examine the potential benefits of using selected adsorbents to reduce orthophosphates from the model solution under steady conditions. The study was conducted on a laboratory scale using synthetic wastewater with concentration of...
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Pose classification in the gesture recognition using the linear optical sensor
PublicationGesture sensors for mobile devices, which have a capability of distinguishing hand poses, require efficient and accurate classifiers in order to recognize gestures based on the sequences of primitives. Two methods of poses recognition for the optical linear sensor were proposed and validated. The Gaussian distribution fitting and Artificial Neural Network based methods represent two kinds of classification approaches. Three types...
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Failure mode prediction for composite structural insulated panels with MgO board facings
PublicationSandwich panels are readily used in civil engineering due to their high strength to weight ratio and the ease and speed of assembly. The idea of a sandwich section is to combine thin and durable facings with a light-weight core and the choice of materials used allows obtaining the desired behaviour. Panels in consideration consist of MgO (magnesium oxide) board facings and expanded polystyrene core and are characterized by immunity...
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Flicker Noise in Resistive Gas Sensors—Measurement Setups and Applications for Enhanced Gas Sensing
PublicationWe discuss the implementation challenges of gas sensing systems based on low-frequency noise measurements on chemoresistive sensors. Resistance fluctuations in various gas sensing materials, in a frequency range typically up to a few kHz, can enhance gas sensing by considering its intensity and the slope of power spectral density. The issues of low-frequency noise measurements in resistive gas sensors, specifically in two-dimensional...
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Topological extraordinary optical transmission
PublicationΤhe incumbent technology for bringing light to the nanoscale, the near-field scanning optical microscope, has notoriously small throughput efficiencies of the order of 10^4-10^5 or less. We report on a broadband, topological, unidirectionally guiding structure, not requiring adiabatic tapering and, in principle, enabling near-perfect (∼100%) optical transmission through an unstructured single arbitrarily subdiffraction slit at...
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Graphical interface adaption for children to explain astronomy proportions and distances
PublicationMobile Science Center is a Polish project that seeks to bring astronomy knowledge to wider social groups through various applications. In its development it is necessary to design a graphical interface that explains a concept that is difficult to assimilate such as spatial proportions and distances. This paper develops a framework to create graphical representations that explain this learning to the target audience of children....
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Evaluation of Medical Staff Satisfaction for Workplace Architecture in Temporary COVID-19 Hospital: A Case Study in Gdańsk, Poland
PublicationThis article analyses the architecture that was used in the temporary AmberExpo hospital in Gdańsk, Poland which was installed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The construction of this type of facility is often based on experimental approaches, aimed at caring for patients suffering from an infectious disease in emergency conditions. In order to assess the level of employee satisfaction with the architectural and technical elements...
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Review of Shoreline Extraction Methods from Aerial Laser Scanning
PublicationAutonomous technologies are increasingly used in various areas of science. The use of unmanned vehicles for hydrographic surveys in shallow coastal areas requires accurate estimation of shoreline position. This is a nontrivial task, which can be performed using a wide range of sensors and methods. The aim of the publication is to review shoreline extraction methods based solely on data from aerial laser scanning (ALS). This narrative...
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The implementation of green transformation through clusters
PublicationThe paper addresses a poorly documented issue in the literature, namely the role of clusters in green transformation, including processes related to green, low-carbon, and circular economies. The purpose was to identify and understand the practices of clusters in this area. The adopted mixed research strategy consisted of both qualitative and quantitative research. Both research phases were conducted in a group of Polish Key National...
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Methodology for Performing Bathymetric Measurements of Shallow Waterbodies Using an UAV, and their Processing Based on the SVR Algorithm
PublicationState-of-art methods of bathymetric measurements for shallow waterbodies use Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver, bathymetric Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor or satellite imagery. Currently, photogrammetric methods with the application of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are gathering great importance. This publication aims to present step-by-step methodology for carrying out the bathymetric measurements...
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Methodology for Performing Bathymetric Measurements of Shallow Waterbodies Using an UAV, and their Processing Based on the SVR Algorithm
PublicationState-of-art methods of bathymetric measurements for shallow waterbodies use Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver, bathymetric Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor or satellite imagery. Currently, photogrammetric methods with the application of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are gathering great importance. This publication aims to present step-by-step methodology for carrying out the bathymetric measurements...
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Exploring the Institutional and Bottom-Up Actions for Urban Air Quality Improvement: Case Studies in Antwerp and Gdańsk
PublicationThe article presents the results of qualitative studies concerning the presence of air quality management in the process of urban planning and in the public discourse in Antwerp, Belgium, and Gdańsk, Poland. We focused on the way urban planners, environmental experts, and stakeholders perceive the problem of air pollution, especially with respect to urban development policy, and whether they consider it one of the major factors...
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High-performance graphene-based biosensor using a metasurface of asymmetric silicon disks
PublicationIn recent years, optical biosensors widely applicable for medical applications, have received much attention. In this paper, we propose a high-performance polarization-insensitive optical biosensor based on a graphene-dielectric metasurface. The metasurface consists of an asymmetric dielectric disk array that supports a high Q-factor Fano resonance. The provided sharp Fano resonance results in an enhanced light-matter interaction...
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EXTREME RAINFALLS AS A CAUSE OF URBAN FLASH FLOODS; A CASE STUDY OF THE ERBIL-KURDISTAN REGION OF IRAQ
PublicationAim of the study The current paper aims to give a detailed evaluation and analysis of some extreme rainfall events that happened in the last decade in terms of spatial and temporal rainfall distribution, intensity rate, and exceedance probability. Moreover, it examines the effects of each analysed aspect on the resulting flash floods in the studied area. Material and methods In their glossary of meteorology, American Meteorology...
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Photoinduced electron transfer in 5-bromouracil labeled DNA. A contrathermodynamic mechanism revisited by electron transfer theories
PublicationThe understanding of the 5-bromouracil (BrU) based photosensitization mechanism of DNA damage is of large interest due to the potential applications in photodynamic therapy. Photoinduced electron transfer (ET) in BrU labeled duplexes comprising the 50 -GBrU or 50 -ABrU sequence showed that a much lower reactivity was found for the 50 -GBrU pattern. Since the ionization potential of G is lower than that of A, this sequence selectivity...
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Stone cutting industry waste-supported zinc oxide nanostructures for ultrasonic assisted decomposition of an anti-inflammatory non-steroidal pharmaceutical compound
PublicationPowdered stone waste (PSW) obtained from a stone cutting industrial unit was applied as support for the immobilization of nano-sized ZnO to be utilized as an effective catalyst for the catalytic conversion of acetaminophen (ACE) under ultrasonication. The incorporation of ZnO nanostructures into PSW structure enhanced the specific surface area and pore volume of the as-prepared nanocompound. The change in the value of zero point...
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Effective Drug Concentration and Selectivity Depends on Fraction of Primitive Cells
PublicationPoor efficiency of chemotherapeutics in the eradication of Cancer Stem Cells (CSCs) has been driving the search for more active and specific compounds. In this work, we show how cell density-dependent stage culture profiles can be used in drug development workflows to achieve more robust drug activity (IC50 and EC50) results. Using flow cytometry and light microscopy, we characterized the cytological stage profiles of the HL-60-,...
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Portable exhaled breath analyzer employing fluctuation-enhanced gas sensing method in resistive gas sensors
PublicationThis paper presents a portable exhaled breath analyser, developed to detect selected diseases. The set-up employs resistive gas sensors: commercial MEMS sensors and prototype gas sensors made of WO3 gas sensing layers doped with various metal ingredients. The set-up can modulate the gas sensors by applying UV light to induce physical changes of the gas sensing layers. The sensors are placed in a tiny gas chamber of a volume...
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A High-Efficient Measurement System With Optimization Feature for Prototype CMOS Image Sensors
PublicationIn this paper, a gray-scale CMOS image sensor (CIS) characterization system with an optimization feature has been proposed. By using a very fast and precise control of light intensity, based on the pulsewidth-modulation method, it is avoided to measure the illuminance every time. These features accelerate the multicriteria CIS optimization requiring many thousands of measurements. The system throughput is 2.5 Gb/s, which allows...
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Down-Sampling of Large LiDAR Dataset in the Context of Off-Road Objects Extraction
PublicationNowadays, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is used in many fields, such as transportation. Thanks to the recent technological improvements, the current generation of LiDAR mapping instruments available on the market allows to acquire up to millions of three-dimensional (3D) points per second. On the one hand, such improvements allowed the development of LiDAR-based systems with increased productivity, enabling the quick acquisition...
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The Origins of the Concept of Ideology
PublicationThe concept of "ideology" as, firstly, a term that points at non-epistemological conditioning of cognitive processes, and, secondly, as a term which aimed at disclosing the ancillary role of given ideas in regard to specific political interests of certain groups, has long history. Since Francis Bacon's theory of idols modern philosophy endavoured to create a comprehensive classification of systematic cognitive errors which divert...
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Micelle formation of Tween 20 nonionic surfactant in imidazolium ionic liquids
PublicationAggregation behavior of polyoxyethylene (POE)-type nonionic surfactant Tween 20 in imidazolium ionic liquids with varying chain length and different anions, such as tetrafluoroborate, hexafluorophosphate, bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, and trifluoromethanesulfonate, was investigated by means of surface tension, conductivity and dynamic light scattering measurements. The role of the chain length, anion size as well as interactions...
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Response of a New Low-Coherence Fabry-Perot Sensor to Hematocrit Levels in Human Blood
PublicationIn this paper, a low-coherence Fabry-Perot sensor with a spectrally measured signal processing response to the refractive index of liquids is presented. Optical fiber sensors are potentially capable of continuous measuring hematocrit levels in blood. Low-coherence Fabry-Perot interferometric sensors offer a robust solution, where information about the measurand is encoded in the full spectrum of light reflected from the sensing...
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The Impact of urban Localizations on the Growth Possibilities for Small Firms
PublicationThe purpose of this study was to identify the differences in the profiles of firms and their owners in urban and non-urban locations and also to asses the impact of those differences on the possibilities of growth for firms from both types of locations. Findings: urban entrepreneurs are better educated, more experienced and more positively motivated. Their firms are more innovative, with more qualified employeesadn better access...
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Sense of safety and opinions about COVID-19 vaccinations in Polish school teachers: The role of conspiracy theories belief and fear of COVID-19
PublicationThe co-occurrence of COVID-19 conspiracy theories (CCT) and fear of the coronavirus (FCV) can be linked to how safe people feel and how much they endorse vaccinations. School teachers were one of the vaccination priority groups in Poland. We conducted three cross-sectional studies (N1 = 1006; N2 = 1689; N3 = 627) to find out the potential interactive effects of CCT belief and FCV in predicting sense of safety (SoS; Studies 1-3),...
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Phage-Directed Synthesis of Photoluminescent Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles under Benign Conditions
PublicationBiological systems, especially bacteriophages and peptides, are an attractive green alternative to other known methods of nanoparticle synthesis. In this work, for the first time, bacteriophages were employed to synthesize a specific peptide, capable of producing nanoparticles (NPs). Derivatives of M13 bacteriophage exposing a ZnO-binding peptide (TMGA-LGLKWPV) on either pIII or pVIII phage coat protein were constructed and used...
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Estimation of the amplitude of the signal for the active optical gesture sensor with sparse detectors
PublicationIn this paper we deal with the problem of precise gesture recognition for the active optical proximity sensor with sparse 8 photodiodes. We particularly focus on developing the method of estimating the real, usually not observable, maximum signal value representing maximum intensity of light reflected from an obstacle present in the front of the sensor. Different configurations of the fingers were used as an obstacle. The Monte Carlo...
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Application of polymer element in reduction of temporary steel grandstand vibrations
PublicationThe numerical analysis focused on reduction of vibrations of a temporary steel scaffolding grandstand has been conducted in this paper. These types of structures are regularly subjected to dynamic loads which, in conjunction with light and quite slender structural members, may induce dangerous vibrations. To increase their safety, temporary steel grandstands are usually strengthened with the diagonal stiffeners of tubular cross...
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The Review of the Selected Challenges for an Incorporation of Daylight Assessment Methods into Urban Planning in Poland
PublicationThe main objectives of this research it to find out if modern daylight assessment and design methods can be useful for urban residential planning in Poland. The study gives a chance to describe and appraise modern daylight design techniques. The other purpose is to illustrate how daylight knowledge could be used as an incentive to rethink the way urban environments are created. Although daylight design is acknowledged in literature...
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IMPACT-TOUGHNESS INVESTIGATIONS OF DUPLEX STAINLESS STEELS
PublicationDuplex stainless steels are very attractive constructional materials for use in aggressive environments because of their several advantages over austenitic stainless steels. Duplex steels have excellent pitting and crevice corrosion resistance, are highly resistant to chloride stress-corrosion cracking and are about twice as strong as common austenitic steels. Better properties are associated with their microstructures consisting...
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Enhanced photoelectrochemical performance of inorganic-organic hybrid consisting of BiVO4 and PEDOT:PSS
PublicationThe PEDOT:PSS (poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate)) was electrodeposited on a thin layer of bismuth vanadate (BiVO 4 ) prepared using the pulsed laser deposition technique onto FTO. The inorganic-organic junction was characterized by Raman spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy and sc anning electron microscopy. Chronoamperometry curves, recorded under simulated solar light illumination,...
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Road texture influence on tyre rolling resistance
PublicationTyre performance, one of the critical factors for vehicle users, is strongly related to theroad surface characteristics, most notably to the pavement texture. Phenomena that occur at the tyre/road interface affect tyre friction (skid resistance), rolling resistance, tyre wear and tyre/road noise. This article deals with relationship between surface texture and rolling resistance of light and heavy vehicle tyres. Mean profile depth...
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Noise sources in Raman spectroscopy of biological objects
PublicationWe present an overview of noise sources deteriorating the quality of the recorded biological Raman spectra and the ability to determine the specimen composition. The acquired Raman spectra exhibit intense additive noise components or drifts because of low intensity of the scattered light. Therefore we have to apply expensive or bulky measurement setups to limit their inherent noise or to apply additional signal processing to reduce...
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Graphene oxide, reduced graphene oxide and composite thin films NO2 sensing properties
PublicationA graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxytiophene)- reduced graphene oxide (PEDOT-RGO composite) gas sensors were successfully fabricated using an electrodeposition method. The electrodeposition was carried out in aqueous GO dispersions. In order to obtain RGO and PEDOT-RGO, the electrochemical reduction of GO and PEDOT-GO was carried out in 0.1 M KCl at constant potential of −0.85 V. The GO, RGO...
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The OptD-multi method in LiDAR processing
PublicationNew and constantly developing technology for acquiring spatial data, such as LiDAR (light detection and ranging), is a source for large volume of data. However, such amount of data is not always needed for developing the most popular LiDAR products: digital terrain model (DTM) or digital surface model. Therefore, in many cases, the number of contained points are reduced in the pre-processing stage. The degree of reduction is determined...
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Searching for road deformations using mobile laser scanning
PublicationMillions of people use roads every day all over the world. Roads, like many other structures, have an estimated durability. In Poland a lot of the roads were built at the turn of the 20th and 21st c., especially for light cars. Many of these roads carry traffic and heavy goods vehicles which were not predicted when the traffic was first estimated. It creates a lot of problems with technical conditions and the infrastructure must...
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A white phosphor based on oxyfluoride nano-glass-ceramics co-doped with Eu3+ and Tb3+: Energy transfer study
PublicationStrontium fluoride nanocrystals doped separately with Ln3+ = Eu3+ or Tb3+ ions (95SrF2·5LnF2), as well as co-doped with both the ions (95SrF2·Eu4Tb) were synthesized for comparison. Then, glass-ceramics consisting of the mono-doped or di-doped SrF2 nanocrystals incorporated into amorphous silica (90SiO2·9.5SrF2·0.5Ln or 90SiO2·9.5SrF2·0.1EuF3·0.4Tb) were prepared by sol-gel procedure. The studied materials were characterized by...
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Gender approaches to evolutionary multi-objective optimization using pre-selection of criteria
PublicationA novel idea to perform evolutionary computations (ECs) for solving highly dimensional multi-objective optimization (MOO) problems is proposed. Following the general idea of evolution, it is proposed that information about gender is used to distinguish between various groups of objectives and identify the (aggregate) nature of optimality of individuals (solutions). This identification is drawn out of the fitness of individuals...
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The electrical, morphological and optical properties of heavily boron-doped diamond sheets as a function of methane concentration in the gas phase
PublicationBoron-doped diamonds (BDD) are known for their excellent properties such as high thermal conductivity, high mobility, low absorption in visible light, and biocompatibility. In this work, we investigated the electrical, morphological and optical properties of heavily boron-doped diamond thin sheets as a function of methane concentration in the gas phase. Free-standing diamond sheets were fabricated using a microwave plasma-assisted...
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The Effect of Sodium Tetrafluoroborate on the Properties of Conversion Coatings Formed on the AZ91D Magnesium Alloy by Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation
PublicationMagnesium and its alloys are widely used in many areas because of their light weight, excellent dimensional stability, and high strength-to-weight ratio. However, the material exhibits poor wear and corrosion resistance, which limits its use. Plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) is an effective surface modification method for producing ceramic oxide layers on Mg and their alloys. The influence of the additions of sodium tetrafluoroborate...
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Applying molecular dynamics simulation to take the fracture fingerprint of polycrystalline SiC nanosheets
PublicationGraphene-like nanosheets are the key elements of advanced materials and systems. The mechanical behavior of the structurally perfect 2D nanostructures is well documented, but that of polycrystalline ones is less understood. Herein, we applied molecular dynamics simulation (MDS) to take the fracture fingerprint of polycrystalline SiC nanosheets (PSiCNS), where monocrystalline SiC nanosheets (MSiCNS) was the reference nanosheet....
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Silicon oxycarbide-tin nanocomposite derived from a UV crosslinked single source preceramic precursor as high-performance anode materials for Li-ion batteries
PublicationIn this work, we report an innovative and facile UV light-assisted synthesis of a nanocomposite based on silicon oxycarbide (SiOC) and tin nanoparticles. SiOC ceramic matrix, containing a conductive free carbon phase, participates in lithium-ion storage, and buffers the volume changes of Li-alloying/de-alloying material. The reported synthesis procedure through a polymer-derived ceramic route involves the preparation of a single-source...