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Search results for: FUNCTIONAL MATERIAL
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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...
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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...
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Natural carbon-based quantum dots and their applications in drug delivery: A review
PublicationNatural carbon based quantum dots (NCDs) are an emerging class of nanomaterials in the carbon family. NCDs have gained immense acclamation among researchers because of their abundance, eco-friendly nature, aqueous solubility, the diverse functionality and biocompatibility when compared to other conventional carbon quantum dots (CDs).The presence of different functional groups on the surface of NCDs such as thiol, carboxyl, hydroxyl,...
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Variations in host surfaces morphology and biology of ciliate epibionts explaining distribution pattern of epibionts in the invasive signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus (Dana, 1852)
Publicationciliates on the signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus in relation to specialized structures of the host’s exoskeleton for the first time. This species is known to maintain a relatively clean carapace, but it is sometimes overgrown by other organisms. Epibionts cover different parts of the signal crayfish body, mainly antennae, antennules, maxillipedes III and pereiopods with inner edges of chelae; however, some parts of the...
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Phosphinophosphoranes: Mixed-Valent Phosphorus Compounds with Ambiphilic Properties
PublicationHerein, we present a simple synthesis of mixed-valent phosphinophosphoranes bearing three- and five-coordinate phosphorus centers. Compounds with phosphorus–phosphorus bonds were synthesized via a reaction of lithium phosphides RR′PLi with cat2PCl (cat = catecholate), whereas derivatives with methylene-linked phosphorus centers were obtained via a reaction of phosphanylmethanides RR′CH2Li with cat2PCl. The presence of accessible...
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RF Multi-Functional Input-Reflectionless Dispersive-Delay Structure With Sharp-Rejection Filtering Using Channelization Techniques
PublicationA class of RF multi-functional input-reflectionless dispersive-delay structure (DDS) with linear-type in-band groupdelay variation and sharp-rejection bandpass-filtering capability is reported. It exploits a two-branch-channelized/balanced-type circuit with similar low-order reflective DDS units inside its channels, which are connected through input/output 3-dB quadrature wideband couplers. The adopted DDS unit is based on a coupledresonator...
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The Way One Defines Specification Matters: On the Performance Criteria for Efficient Antenna Optimization in Aggregated Bi-Objective Setups
PublicationDesign of antenna structures for real-world applications is a challenging task that often involves addressing multiple design requirements at a time. Popular solution approaches to this class of problems include utilization of composite objectives. Although configuration of such functions has a significant effect on the cost and performance of the optimization, their specific structure is normally determined based on engineering...
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Customizing nano-chitosan for sustainable drug delivery
PublicationChitosan is a natural polymer with acceptable biocompatibility, biodegradability, and mechanical stability; hence, it has been widely appraised for drug and gene delivery applications. However, there has been no comprehensive assessment to tailor-make chitosan cross-linkers of various types and functionalities as well as complex chitosan-based semi- and full-interpenetrating networks for drug delivery systems (DDSs). Herein, various...
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Anticarcinogenic and antioxidant activities of leaves and flowers hydroalcoholic extracts of Nerium oleander L.: PCA analysis and phytochemical content by FTIR spectroscopy
PublicationAims: The aim of this work is the evaluation the anticarcinogenic effect on HT29 cancer cells lines and antioxidant effect of three extracts from different morphological parts (leaves (LE), pink flowers (PFE) and white flowers (WFE)) of Nerium oleander lin. Methods: This research provides the anticarcinogenic activity of extracts from N. oleander white flowers. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to estimate the relationship...
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Design aspects of a low-cost prosthetic arm for people with severe movement disabilities
PublicationIn this paper the main aspects of mechanical design behind the low-cost prosthetic arm are presented. The fundamentals of a proper design has been defined to obtain functional 3D printed 5 degree of freedom (DOF) prosthesis. The designed prosthetic arm is a part of the hybrid interface with eye tracking movement control. The main focus was to create affordable but usable prosthesis which corresponds in size and weights to the human...
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Visible-light-driven lanthanide-organic-frameworks modified TiO2 photocatalysts utilizing up-conversion effect
PublicationHighly efficient and quite stable composite with core-shell-like architecture reported herein, responds to the challenge of sunlight-driven photocatalysts. The Ln(ndc)/TiO2 photocatalytic system comprises active lanthanide-carboxylate coordination networks (Nd, Er, Ho, and Tm as metal ions, and 2,6-naphthalene dicar-boxylic acid as the organic linker) and inert titanium dioxide and allow to convert incompatible visible radiation...
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Mechanism of Li nucleation at graphite anodes and mitigation strategies
PublicationLithium metal plating is a critical safety issue in Li-ion cells with graphite anodes, and contributes significantly to ageing, drastically limiting the lifetime and inducing capacity loss. Nonetheless, the nucleation mechanism of metallic Li on graphite anodes is still poorly understood. But in-depth understanding is needed to rationally design mitigation measures. In this work, we conducted FirstPrinciples studies to elucidate...
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Graphene-Coated PVDF Membranes: Effects of Multi-Scale Rough Structure on Membrane Distillation Performance
PublicationGraphene-coated membranes for membrane distillation have been fabricated by using a wet-filtration approach. Graphene nanoplatelets have been deposited onto PVDF membrane surfaces. Morphology and physicochemical properties have been explored to evaluate the changes in the surface topography and related effects on the membrane performance in water desalination. The membranes have been tested in membrane distillation plants by using...
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Principles of target DNA cleavage and the role of Mg2+ in the catalysis of CRISPR–Cas9
PublicationAt the core of the CRISPR–Cas9 genome-editing technology, the endonuclease Cas9 introduces site-specific breaks in DNA. However, precise mechanistic information to ameliorate Cas9 function is still missing. Here, multimicrosecond molecular dynamics, free energy and multiscale simulations are combined with solution NMR and DNA cleavage experiments to resolve the catalytic mechanism of target DNA cleavage. We show that the conformation...
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Antibacterial Porous Systems Based on Polylactide Loaded with Amikacin
PublicationThree porous matrices based on poly(lactic acid) are proposed herein for the controlled release of amikacin. The materials were fabricated by the method of spraying a surface liquid. Description is given as to the possibility of employing a modifier, such as a silica nanocarrier, for prolonging the release of amikacin, in addition to using chitosan to improve the properties of the materials, e.g., stability and sorption capacity....
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Hierarchical predictive control of integrated wastewater treatment systems
PublicationThe paper proposes an approach to designing the control structure and algorithms for optimising control of integrated wastewater treatment plant-sewer systems (IWWTS) under a full range of disturbance inputs. The optimised control of IWWTS allows for significant cost savings, fulfilling the effluent discharge limits over a long period and maintaining the system in sustainable operation. Due to the specific features of a wastewater...
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Hardware-Software Implementation of Basic Principles Simulator of Nuclear Reactor Processes
PublicationThe paper presents implementation process of basic principle simulators of a nuclear reactor processes. Simulators are based on point-models of processes: kinetics of neutrons, heat generation and exchange, poisoning and burning-up nuclear fuel. Reference simulator was developed in MATLAB/Simulink without taking into account real-time operation. Second simulator was built using the toolbox xPC with hard real-time requirements....
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Enhanced photocatalytic properties of lanthanide-TiO2 nanotubes: An experimental and theoretical study
PublicationA series of Er-, Yb-, Ho-, Tb-, Gd-, Pr-TiO2 nanotubes (RE-NTs) was prepared via an electrochemical method. The as-prepared photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV–vis absorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and luminescent spectroscopy. The experiments demonstrated that toluene in the gas phase was successfully degraded under visible light (LEDs λmax = 465...
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Tailoring optical constants of few-layer black phosphorus coatings: Spectroscopic ellipsometry approach supported by ab-initio simulation
Publication2D black phosphorus (BP) has attracted extensive attention as an anisotropic platform for novel optoelectronic and polarizing optics applications. Insight into the factors that tune the optical and polarizing properties of 2D BP reveals their essential influence on BP-based photonic and optoelectronic devices. In this work, studies of the optical constants of few-layer black phosphorus coatings are studied and discussed, with particular...
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Functionalization of Parylene During Its Chemical Vapor Deposition
PublicationTwo possible mechanisms for the reaction of four halogenated (metha)acrylate-based molecules with Parylene [poly (paraxylylene)] during its chemical vapor deposition were proposed. The chemical reactivity of acrylate double bond with the paraxylylene biradical was calculated for all four (metha)acrylate-based molecules. These calculations allowed the evaluation of the energetically favorable mechanism and indeed a direct correlation...
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„Space, architecture and infrastructure “in-between cities”.
PublicationThe article presents contemporary city problems, like division of the city, infrastructural barriers, empty spaces, chaotic development, cuting-off areas, threatening the city image and functioning. These problems can be best observed in the areas in-between cities. One of the main questions for urban planners and architects seems thus to be: how to connect the city spaces instead of creating the barriers, how to create the areas...
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Simulation-driven size-reduction-oriented design of multi-band antennas by means of response features
PublicationThis study addresses the problem of explicit size reduction of multi-band antennas by means of simulation-driven optimisation. The principal difficulty of electromagnetic (EM)-based miniaturisation of multi-band antennas is that several resonances have to be controlled independently (both in terms of their frequency allocation and depth) while attempting to reduce physical dimensions of the structure at hand. The design method...
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Typology of low developed non-metropolitan sub-regions in the European Union
PublicationThis paper shows a typology of 319 NUTS-3 sub-regions in the European Union. The selected sub-regions are non-metropolitan sub-regions, whose gross domestic product per capita in 2011 was below 75% of the EU average. The objective of this typology was to recognize diversity in the examined sub-regions as a starting point for the selection of areas for future comparative research. The typology takes into account 24 variables related...
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The potential of imogolite nanotubes as (co-)photocatalysts: a linear-scaling density functional theory study
PublicationWe report a linear-scaling density functional theory (DFT) study of the structure, wall-polarization absolute band-alignment and optical absorption of several, recently synthesized, open-ended imogolite (Imo) nanotubes (NTs), namely single-walled (SW) aluminosilicate (AlSi), SW aluminogermanate (AlGe), SW methylated aluminosilicate (AlSi-Me), and double-walled (DW) AlGe NTs. Simulations with three different semi-local and dispersion-corrected...
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Extractive detoxification of feedstocks for the production of biofuels using new hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents – Experimental and theoretical studies
PublicationThe paper presents a synthesis of novel hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents (DESs) composed of natural components, which were used for removal of furfural (FF) and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) from lignocellulosic hydrolysates. The main physicochemical properties of DESs were determined, followed by explanation of the DES formation mechanism, using 1H NMR, 13C NMR and FT-IR analysis and density functional theory (DFT). The most...
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‘Acridines’ as New Horizons in Antifungal Treatment
PublicationFrequent fungal infections in immunocompromised patients and mortality due to invasive mycosis are important clinical problems. Opportunistic pathogenic Candida species remain one of the leading causes of systemic mycosis worldwide. The repertoire of antifungal chemotherapeutic agents is very limited. Although new antifungal drugs such as lanosterol 14α-demethylase and β-glucan synthase inhibitors have been introduced into clinical...
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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...
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The imidazoacridinone C-1311 induces p53-dependent senescence or p53-independent apoptosis and sensitizes cancer cells to radiation
PublicationC-1311 is a small molecule, which has shown promise in a number of preclinical and clinical studies. However, the biological response to C-1311 exposure is complicated and has been reported to involve a number of cell fates. Here, we investigated the molecular signaling which determines the response to C-1311 in both cancer and non-cancer cell lines. For the first time we demonstrate that the tumor suppressor, p53 plays a key role...
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Correlation–polarization effects in electron/positron scattering from acetylene: A comparison of computational models
PublicationDifferent computational methods are employed to evaluate elastic (rotationally summed) integral and differential cross sections for low energy (below about 10 eV) positron scattering off gas-phase C2H2 molecules. The computations are carried out at the static and static-plus-polarization levels for describing the interaction forces and the correlation–polarization contributions are found to be an essential component for the correct...
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Flow cytometric approach to evaluate the impact of hydro-technical concrete compounds’ release to the freshwater microbiome
PublicationThe aim of this research was to test the potential of applying a flow cytometric procedure to evaluate the impact of concrete compounds’ release to the freshwater microbiome. Cells from the collected samples were stained with a fluorogenic redox indicator dye that measures the redox potential of microbial cells. This novel approach was combined with the assessment of microorganisms’ penetration into the internal structures of concrete...
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Neural Approximators for Variable-Order Fractional Calculus Operators (VO-FC)
PublicationThe paper presents research on the approximation of variable-order fractional operators by recurrent neural networks. The research focuses on two basic variable-order fractional operators, i.e., integrator and differentiator. The study includes variations of the order of each fractional operator. The recurrent neural network architecture based on GRU (Gated Recurrent Unit) cells functioned as a neural approximation for selected...
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Deep Eutectic Solvents or Eutectic Mixtures? Characterization of Tetrabutylammonium Bromide and Nonanoic Acid Mixtures
PublicationDeep eutectic solvents have quickly attracted the attention of researchers because they better meet the requirements of green chemistry and thus have the potential to replace conventional hazardous organic solvents in some areas. To better understand the nature of these mixtures, as well as expand the possibilities of their use in different industries, a detailed examination of their physical properties, such as density, viscosity,...
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Religious social action and its organizational profiles
PublicationPurpose Social action implemented by the Church via its affiliated entities, foundations and associations may be viewed as a uniform activity. In reality, however, several organizational profiles exist that depend on the origin of these organizations (lay or religious), the scope of their activities (local or general) and their dependence on resources (whether from public administration or civil society). The paper aims to discuss...
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Unprecedented Adhesive Performance of Propylene-Based Hydroxyl Functionalized Terpolymers
PublicationThe synthesis of hydroxyl functionalized propylene-based terpolymers and their performance as hot melt adhesives were investigated. The products comprise uniformly distributed butyl and 4-hydroxyl-butyl branches along the polypropylene backbone. Despite the low hydroxyl-functionality level of ≤ 0.5 mol%, hydroxyl functionalized terpolymers show formidable adhesion to aluminum and steel providing an adhesive strength exceeding 16...
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Physics augmented classification of fNIRS signals
PublicationBackground. Predictive classification favours performance over semantics. In traditional predictive classification pipelines, feature engineering is often oblivious to the underlying phenomena. Hypothesis. In applied domains such as functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), the exploitation of physical knowledge may improve the discriminative quality of our observation set. Aims. Give exemplary evidence that intervening the...
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Stress Relaxation Behaviour Modeling in Rigid Polyurethane (PU) Elastomeric Materials
PublicationPolyurethane (PU) has been used in a variety of industries during the past few years due to its exceptional qualities, including strong mechanical strength, good abrasion resistance, toughness, low-temperature flexibility, etc. More specifically, PU is easily “tailored” to satisfy particular requirements. There is a lot of potential for its use in broader applications due to this structure–property link. Ordinary polyurethane items...
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More than just a beer—the potential applications of by-products from beer manufacturing in polymer technology
PublicationBeer is the most popular alcoholic beverage in the world, and its popularity is continuously growing. Currently, global beer production is estimated at around 2 billion hectoliters. Nevertheless, the increasing production capacity implicates the rising issue of generated by-products—brewers’ spent grain, spent hops, spent yeast, and wastewater. They are generated in massive amounts, so having in mind the current pro-ecological...
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Overview of Approaches for Compensating Inherent Metamaterials Losses
PublicationMetamaterials are synthetic composite structures with extraordinary electromagnetic properties not readily accessible in ordinary materials. These media attracted massive attention due to their exotic characteristics. However, several issues have been encountered, such as the narrow bandwidth and inherent losses that restrict the spectrum and the variety of their applications. The losses have become the principal limiting factor...
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Cognitive motivations and foundations for building intelligent decision-making systems
PublicationConcepts based on psychology fit well with current research trends related to robotics and artificial intelligence. Biology-inspired cognitive architectures are extremely useful in building agents and robots, and this is one of the most important challenges of modern science. Therefore, the widely viewed and far-reaching goal of systems research and engineering is virtual agents and autonomous robots that mimic human behavior in...
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Deep eutectic solvents based highly efficient extractive desulfurization of fuels – Eco-friendly approach
PublicationThe developed process is based on alternative, green and cheap solvents for efficient desulfurization of fuels. Several deep eutectic solvents (DESs) were successfully synthesized and studied as extraction solvents for desulfurization of model fuel containing thiophene (T), benzothiophene (BT) and dibenzothiophene (DBT). The most important extraction parameters (i.e. kind of DES, DES: fuel volume ratio, hydrogen bond acceptor:...
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Band Gap Engineering toward Semimetallic Character of Quinone-Rich Polydopamine
PublicationSemiconductor|melanin interfaces have received increasingly more attention in the fields of photocatalysis and applied electrochemistry because of their facile synthesis, unique electrical properties, and strong capability toward photosensitization. In this work, we describe the electropolymerization of quinone-rich polydopamine (PDA) on the surface of hydrogenated TiO2 nanotubes with enhanced photoactivity in the visible spectrum....
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Computational Study of Molecular Interactions in ZnCl2(urea)2 Crystals as Precursors for Deep Eutectic Solvents
PublicationDeep eutectic solvents (DESs) are now enjoying an increased scientific interest due to their interesting properties and growing range of possible applications. Computational methods are at the forefront of deciphering their structure and dynamics. Type IV DESs, composed of metal chloride and a hydrogen bond donor, are among the less studied systems when it comes to their understanding at a molecular level. An important example...
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Structural insights, biocatalytic characteristics, and application prospects of lignin-modifying enzymes for sustainable biotechnology
PublicationLignin modifying enzymes (LMEs) have gained widespread recognition in depolymerization of lignin polymers by oxidative cleavage. LMEs are a robust class of biocatalysts that include lignin peroxidase (LiP), manganese peroxidase (MnP), versatile peroxidase (VP), laccase (LAC), and dye-decolorizing peroxidase (DyP). Members of the LMEs family act on phenolic, non-phenolic substrates and have been widely researched for valorization...
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Electronic structure and charge distribution in DyBa2Cu3O7: The ab initio approach
PublicationW pracy wykonano obliczenia kwantowomechaniczne struktury elektronowej nadprzewodzącego materiału DyBa2Cu3O7 (Dy123) metodą FP-LAPW (full potential - linearized augmented plane wave) w ramach formalizmu DFT (density functional theory) stosując przybliżenie GGA (generalized gradient approximation). Ze względu na silne oddziaływania korelacyjne elektronów 4f w atomie Dy zastosowano dodatkowo poprawkę kulombowską U w ramach modelu...
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Synthesis, spectroscopy and computational studies of some novelphosphorylated derivatives of quinoline-5,8-diones
PublicationThe neutral phosphorus nucleophiles such as R2P(=Y)M allowed the radical addition to 2-methyl-5,8-dioxo-5,8-dihydroquinoline-7-amine and N-(2-methyl-5,8-dioxo-5,8-dihydroquinolin-7-yl)acetamide giving exclusively O-phosphorylated products. All products were quantitatively prepared and characterized by microanalysis, and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy. Seven of them, have been characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction method....
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Mechanical characteristics of welded joints between different stainless steels grades
Publicationnvestigation of mechanical characteristics of welded joints is one of the most important tasks that allow determining their functional properties. Due to the very high, still rising, cost of some stainless steels it is justified, on economic grounds, welding austenitic stainless steel with steels that are corrosion-resistant like duplex ones. According to forecasts the price of...
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Study of pH and temperature effect on lipophilicity of catechol-containing antioxidants by reversed phase liquid chromatography
PublicationLipophilicity of selected antioxidant phytochemicals, including flavonoids, phenolic acids and xanthonoids, was determined by reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography with UV detection (RP-HPLC-UV). The analyses run at different temperature and pH conditions in isocratic mode suggested that lipophilicity as distribution coefficient (logD) between aqueous and organic phase decreases with increasing temperature. For...
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Performance of extended Lagrangian schemes for molecular dynamics simulations with classical polarizable force fields and density functional theory
PublicationIterative energy minimization with the aim of achieving self-consistency is a common feature of Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) and classical molecular dynamics with polarizable force fields. In the former, the electronic degrees of freedom are optimized, while the latter often involves an iterative determination of induced point dipoles. The computational effort of the self-consistency procedure can be reduced by re-using...
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Evolutionary Sets of Safe Ship Trajectories Within Traffic Separation Schemes
PublicationThe paper presents the continuation of the author's research on Evolutionary Sets of Safe Ship Trajectories (ESoSST) methodology. In an earlier paper (Szlapczynski, 2011) the author described the foundations of this methodology, which used Evolutionary Algorithms (EA) to search for an optimal set of safe trajectories for all the ships involved in an encounter. The methodology was originally designed for open waters or restricted...
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A Novel Ru(II) Polypyridine Black Dye Investigated by Resonance Raman Spectroscopy and TDDFT Calculations
PublicationThe optical properties of a new(bipyridine)2Ru(4H-imidazole) complex presenting a remarkablebroad absorption in the visible range are investigated. Thestrong overlap of the absorption with the solar radiationspectrum renders the studied complex promising as a blackabsorber and hence as a starting structure for applications inthe field of dye-sensitized solar cells. The correlations betweenstructural and electronic features for...