Search results for: PROCESS IMPROVEMENT
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Improvements to the STEAM-based teaching of architectural drawing
PublicationThe author of this article presents a systemic approach to improving the teaching of architectural drawing courses for engineers in the 21st Century. In this era of rapid development of digital technologies, the traditional teaching structure should be redefined to a purpose-oriented dynamic model. The existing, generally accepted teaching models have already proved successfully based on the practice-oriented STEAM programme, which...
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Potential and Use of the Googlenet Ann for the Purposes of Inland Water Ships Classification
PublicationThis article presents an analysis of the possibilities of using the pre-degraded GoogLeNet artificial neural network to classify inland vessels. Inland water authorities monitor the intensity of the vessels via CCTV. Such classification seems to be an improvement in their statutory tasks. The automatic classification of the inland vessels from video recording is a one of the main objectives of the Automatic Ship Recognition and...
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Interactions between hydration spheres of two different solutes in solution: The least squares fitting with constraints as a tool to determine water properties in ternary systems
PublicationBiological systems are complex and the problem of their description lies in mutual interactions between their components. This paper is focused on model experiment-based studies which can reduce these difficulties. The ternary aqueous N-methylacetamide (NMA)–Na2HPO4 system has been studied by means of the FTIR spectroscopy. A novel difference spectra method aimed to extract the spectral contribution of water affected simultaneously...
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Enhancement of the Magnetoresistance in the Mobility‐Engineered Compensated Metal Pt 5 P 2
PublicationThe magnetoresistance (MR) in nonmagnetic materials continues to be a fertile research area in materials science. The search for giant, positive MR has been limited to a rather small window of materials such as high-mobility semimetals in single-crystalline form. Here, the observation of a very large positive MR in metallic Pt5P2 in polycrystalline form is reported. The observations reveal that improvement of the crystallinity...
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Critical review of electronic nose and tongue instruments prospects in pharmaceutical analysis
PublicationElectronic nose (enose, EN) and electronic tongue (etongue, ET) have been designed to simulate human senses of smell and taste in the best possible way. The signals acquired from a sensor array, combined with suitable data analysis system, are the basis for holistic analysis of samples. The efficiency of these instruments, regarding classification, discrimination, detection, monitoring and analytics of samples in different types...
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Some geomechanical properties of a biopolymer treated medium sand
PublicationSome geomechanical properties of a biopolymer treated medium sand. This paper presents a laboratory assessment of geomechanical properties of sandy soil improved by biopolymer application. Additives (biosubstance) consist of polysaccharides and water. Biosubstance used in the project was xanthan gum, which comes from bacteria Xanthomonas campestris. Triaxial shear compression tests and unconfi ned compression tests were carried...
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Experimental verification of visual method for measuring displacements of contact line elements
PublicationThe increase of rail vehicles speed, as well as the increase of their power, puts high demands on the power delivery system for traction vehicles The most critical point in the vehicle's power supply circuit is the contact between the current collector and contact wires. Ensuring a reliable co-operation of the current collector and contact line, requires technical development...
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Hydraulic conductivity of a biopolymer treated sand
PublicationThis paper presents results of laboratory assessment of creating seepage barriers in a sandy soil using biopolymer additives (bio substance), which consist of polysaccharides and water. Polysaccharides strongly interact with water to produce a viscous suspension. The aim of the conducted work was to investigate the influence of a biosubstance employed in a highly permeable sandy soil. The amount of the biopolymer used in a sample...
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Methods of liquid biofuels production - the bioethanol example.
PublicationEthanol is used in chemical and food industry, mainly either in the synthesis or as a solvent. The newest application of ethanol is as a fuel. This alcohol, produced on an industrial scale from crop waste, is widely known under the name bioethanol. It could be used as a fuel by itself or in a mixture with gasoline. Today, there are several technologies for bioethanol production known. The relatively simple method of obtaining bioethanol...
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METHODS OF LIQUID BIOFUEL PRODUCTION – THE BIOETHANOL EXAMPLE
PublicationEthanol is used in chemical and food industry, mainly either in the synthesis or as a solvent. The newest application of ethanol is as a fuel. This alcohol, produced on an industrial scale from crop waste, is widely known under the name bioethanol. It could be used as a fuel by itself or in a mixture with gasoline. Today, there are several technologies for bioethanol production known. The relatively simple method of obtaining bioethanol...
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EFFICIENCY OF GAS MIXTURES DETECTION BY RESISTIVE GAS SENSORS
PublicationResistive gas sensors are very popular and are commonly used to detect various gases and their mixtures. Their main disadvantage is very limited selectivity. Practical use of gas sensors in environmental applications (e.g., in sewage systems to protect workers, in air conditioning systems to monitor atmosphere quality) requires determination of concentration of a few mixed gases at the same time. We would like to present recent...
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Evaluating experimental molecular physics studies of radiation damage in DNA*
PublicationThe field of Atomic and Molecular Physics (AMP) is a mature field exploring the spectroscopy, excitation, ionisation of atoms and molecules in all three phases. Understanding of the spectroscopy and collisional dynamics of AMP has been fundamental to the development and application of quantum mechanics and is applied across a broad range of disparate disciplines including atmospheric sciences, astrochemistry, combustion and environmental...
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Numerical study on seismic response of a base-isolated building modelled with shell elements
PublicationSeismic isolation is counted among the most popular and effective means of protecting structures against earthquake forces. Base isolators, like Lead-Rubber Bearings (LRB), High-Damping Rubber Bearings (HDB) or Friction Pendulum Systems (FPS) are extensively used in practice in many earthquake-prone regions of the world. The present paper reports the results obtained from the numerical study on seismic response of a base-isolated...
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ADT in mammography
PublicationWe discuss limitations of the known methods of IR imaging in diagnostics of breast cancer. In conclusion we show that for practical reasons one requires new approaches because the known methods based on simple observation of external temperature distribution are not fully effective. Even advanced pattern recognition could not help too much for static images. We ask the question: may active dynamic thermography, known in nondestructive...
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Modulo N Backoff Scheme for effective QoS differentiation and increased bandwidth utilization in IEEE 802.11 networks
PublicationThe paper presents a new "modulo N" channel access scheme for wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). The novel solution derives from the Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) of the IEEE 802.11 standard, further elaborated as Enhanced Distribution Channel Access (EDCA) by the 802.11e draft specification. The main innovation concerns improvement of the binary exponential backoff scheme used for collision avoidance in 802.11 networks....
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Review of Cybersecurity Assessment Methods: Applicability Perspective
PublicationCybersecurity assessments are crucial in building the assurance that vital cyberassets are effectively protected from threats. Multiple assessment methods have been proposed during the decades of the cybersecurity field. However, a systematic literature search described in this paper reveals that their reviews are practically missing. Thus, the primary objective of this research was to fulfil this gap by comprehensively identifying...
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Effect of TiO2 Concentration on Microstructure and Properties of Composite Cu–Sn–TiO2 Coatings Obtained by Electrodeposition
PublicationIn this work, Cu–Sn–TiO2 composite coatings were electrochemically obtained from a sulfate bath containing 0–10 g/L of TiO2 nanoparticles. The effect of TiO2 particles on kinetics of cathodic electrodeposition has been studied by linear sweep voltammetry and chronopotentiometry. As compared to the Cu–Sn alloy, the Cu–Sn–TiO2 composite coatings show rougher surfaces with TiO2 agglomerates embedded in the metal matrix. The highest...
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Nano-engineered diamond-based materials for supercapacitor electrodes: A review
PublicationOwing to the popularity of carbon-based supercapacitors, diamond has also been examined as a potential candidate with unique advantages such as a wide electrochemical potential window and stable capacitive behavior in both aqueous and non-aqueous electrolytes. Moreover, its chemical stability in harsh environments at extreme applied potential and current provides rare opportunities for designing new supercapacitors. Owing to the...
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Economics of credit scoring management
PublicationCredit scoring models constitute an inevitable element of modern risk and profitability management in retail financial lending institutions. Quality,or separation power of a credit scoring model is usually assessed with the Gini coefficient. Generally, the higher Gini coefficient the better, as in this way a bank can increase number of good customers and/or reject more bad applicants. In...
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Using Moodle as a Solution to Interdisciplinary E-collaboration Issues
PublicationRapid technological development in recent years has contributed to numerous changes in many areas of life, including education and communication. Establishing interdisciplinary collaboration brings many benefits, however, it is often associated with numerous problems and inconveniences, as well as the need of constant improvement, lifelong learning, professional development (CPD) and finding an effective way of information transferring....
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Method for Assessing Rail Transport Competitiveness in Poland and the United Kingdom
PublicationBoth in Poland and United Kingdom, as well as worldwide, railways have to compete with other modes of transport, and the rail industry seeks for possibilities of achieving a competitive advantage over them. Thus, there is a need for methods for assessment of rail transport competitiveness and detection of areas for improvement. This paper presents a method developed for the Polish regional transport market and verified according...
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Information Retrieval in Wikipedia with Conceptual Directions
PublicationThe paper describes our algorithm used for retrieval of textual information from Wikipedia. The experiments show that the algorithm allows to improve typical evaluation measures of retrieval quality. The improvement of the retrieval results was achieved by two phase usage approach. In first the algorithm extends the set of content that has been indexed by the specified keywords and thus increases the Recall value. Then, using the...
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Histogram of Oriented Gradients with Cell Average Brightness for Human Detection
PublicationA modification of the descriptor in a human detector using Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) is presented. The proposed modification requires inserting the values of average cell brightness resulting in the increase of the descriptor length from 3780 to 3908 values, but it is easy to compute and instantly gives ≈ 25% improvement of the miss rate at 10‒4 False Positives Per Window (FPPW). The...
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Soxhlet Extraction and New Developments Such as Soxtec in: Comprehansive Sampling and Sample Preparation
PublicationSoxhlet extraction is one of the most popular techniques for extraction of analytes from solid materials. Since its discovery in 1879, the standard Soxhlet technique has been routinely applied in almost every analytical laboratory. Up to this day, Soxhlet extraction technique remains a standard technique to which the performance of modern extraction techniques is compared.Over the years, an intensive research on different modifications...
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Benefit of the doubt approach to assessing the research performance of Australian universities
PublicationThis paper proposes a benefit of the doubt (BoD) approach to assess the research performance of 37 public Australian universities based on data from 2015. The primary activities of Higher Education institutions are teaching and research, but the prestige of a university depends mainly on the results of its research activities. The BoD method is rooted in the data envelopment analysis methodology, which enables the flexible and...
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seafloor characterisation combined approach using multibeam sonar echo signal processing and image analysis
PublicationThe authors propose the approach to seafloor characterisation which relies on the combined, concurrent use of two different techniques: (i) multibeam sonar image analysis and (ii) multibeam seabed echoes processing. The first technique is based on constructing the grey-level sonar images of the seabed extracted from the echoes received in the consecutive soundings. Then, the set of parameters describing the local region of sonar...
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Polymeric Bearings – A New Base Isolation System to Reduce Structural Damage during Earthquakes
PublicationBase isolators, like lead rubber bearings, high damping rubber bearings or friction pendulum systems are extensively used in practice in many seismically active regions to protect structures against earthquake forces. The present paper reports the results obtained from the experimental study aimed to determine the effectiveness of the Polymeric Bearings in suppressing structural vibrations during dynamic excitations and therefore...
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Pendant Proton-Relays Systematically Tune the Rate and Selectivity of Electrocatalytic Ammonia Generation in a Fe-Porphyrin Based Metal-Organic Framework
PublicationElectrocatalytic nitrite reduction (eNO2RR) is a promising alternative route to produce ammonia (NH3). Until now, several molecular catalysts have shown capability to homogeneously reduce nitrite to NH3, while taking advantage of added secondary-sphere functionalities to direct catalytic performance. Yet, realizing such control over heterogeneous electrocatalytic surfaces remains a challenge. Herein, we demonstrate that heterogenization...
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Electrocatalytic gas sensor with reference layer
PublicationIn recent years electrochemical gas sensors based on solid state electrolytes have been intensively developed. They are easy to obtain, use and relative durable. Nasicon is one of the most promising materials, which have been used in construction of gas sensors. Most of these devices work in potentiometric or amperometric mode. However, some works are dedicated to sensors working in electrocatalytic mode. Principle of operation...
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Reduction of vibrations of steel structure models with Polymeric Bearings - experimental study
PublicationEarthquake-induced ground motions are the most severe and unpredictable threats to the structures all around the world. Therefore, designing earthquake protective systems has become an extremely challenging problem in civil engineering. Base isolation is one of the most popular and widely adopted methods of protecting structures against earthquake forces. The present paper reports the results obtained from the shaking table experimental...
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Applicability of phenolic acids as effective enhancers of cocrystals solubility of methylxanthines
PublicationApplicability of phenolic acids as potential cocrystal formers for methylxanthine derivatives was analyzed both in terms of cocrystallization probabilities and solubility advantage. The cocrystal formation abilities were evaluated using mixing enthalpy estimated within the conductor like screening model for real solvents (COSMO-RS) framework. The solubility improvement of potential cocrystals was estimated by formulation of the...
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The impact of the AC922 Architecture on Performance of Deep Neural Network Training
PublicationPractical deep learning applications require more and more computing power. New computing architectures emerge, specifically designed for the artificial intelligence applications, including the IBM Power System AC922. In this paper we confront an AC922 (8335-GTG) server equipped with 4 NVIDIA Volta V100 GPUs with selected deep neural network training applications, including four convolutional and one recurrent model. We report...
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Energy Losses Due to Imperfect Payment Infrastructure and Payment Instruments
PublicationOne of the strategic objectives of the European Union is a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and improvement of energy efficiency by at least 32.5% in different areas of the economy by 2030. However, little is known about the impact of payment in retail on energy consumption. The purpose of this paper is to assess the chain of losses of time and energy, and therefore financial losses, that occur due to the imperfection of payment...
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Molecular targets for antifungals in amino acid and protein biosynthetic pathways
PublicationFungi cause death of over 1.5 million people every year, while cutaneous mycoses are among the most common infections in the world. Mycoses vary greatly in severity, there are long-term skin (ringworm), nail or hair infections (tinea capitis), recurrent like vaginal candidiasis or severe, life-threatening systemic, multiorgan infections. In the last few years, increasing importance is attached to the health and economic problems...
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Polymodal Method of Improving the Quality of Photogrammetric Images and Models
PublicationPhotogrammetry using unmanned aerial vehicles has become very popular and is already commonly used. The most frequent photogrammetry products are an orthoimage, digital terrain model and a 3D object model. When executing measurement flights, it may happen that there are unsuitable lighting conditions, and the flight itself is fast and not very stable. As a result, noise and blur appear on the images, and the images themselves can...
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New insights on lithium storage in silicon oxycarbide/carbon composites: Impact of microstructure on electrochemical properties
PublicationIn this work, we study the impact of the preceramic precursor vinyltriethoxysilane (VTES) on the electrochemical performance of silicon oxycarbide (SiOC) glass/graphite composites. We apply an innovative approach based on high-power ultrasounds in order to obtain highly homogenous composites with a uniform distribution of small graphitic flakes. This procedure enhances gelation and drying of VTES-based preceramic polymer/graphite...
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Polish experience with cold in-place recycling
PublicationDeep cold in-place recycling using cement and asphalt emulsion has been used for reconstruction of existing roads since the beginning of the 1990s. This paper describes the first Polish requirements for mineral-cement-emulsion mixtures. As requirements stated for the strength of the mineral-cement-emulsion mixtures were quite high, most of the mixtures were designed using high amount of cement and aggregate added for the improvement...
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Cellulose Nanofibers Isolated from the Cuscuta Reflexa Plant as a Green Reinforcement of Natural Rubber
PublicationIn the present work, we used the steam explosion method for the isolation of cellulose nanofiber (CNF) from Cuscuta reflexa, a parasitic plant commonly seen in Kerala and we evaluated its reinforcing efficiency in natural rubber (NR). Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) techniques...
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MORPHOLOGY OF BUILDING DEVELOPMENT AS AN ELEMENT OF URBAN VENTIALTION SYSTEM
PublicationProblems related to air quality in large urban agglomerations (e.g., high concentration of pollutants, the urban heat island phenomenon) make it necessary to take comprehensive measures to improve air exchange in urban areas.The article concerns the relationship between wind phenomena observable in cities and the geometrical features of building development. The knowledge on the subject is already well-founded and has been intensively...
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Styrene-Butadiene Rubber/Modified Ground Tire Rubber Blends Co-Vulcanization: Effect of Accelerator Type
PublicationGround tire rubber was thermo-mechanically modified with using a co-rotating twin screw extruder. Modification of GTR was conducted in autothermal conditions. Styrene-butadiene rubber and modified ground tire rubber blends were prepared via two-roll milling. Obtained compounds were cured with conventional system (sulfur/vulcanization accelerator ratio was 2:1). During this research three commonly vulcanization accelerators (MBT,...
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Integration of Lean Manufacturing with ISO Management Systems in Enterprise
PublicationLean manufacturing [LM], quality management system and environmental management system are clear initiatives with a goal of improving effectiveness and efficiencies of organizations. Many organisations tackle lean philosophy, ISO standards individually but this kind of attempt do not focus on the synergy and the advantage from the potential collaboration. This paper aims to present the possibility of integration Lean Management...
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Environmental risk assessment of Polish wastewater treatment plant activity
PublicationWastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) play an extremely important role in shaping modern society's environmental wellbeing and awareness, however only well operated and supervised systems can be considered as environmentally sustainable. For this reason, an attempt was undertaken to assess the environmental burden posed by WWTPs in major Polish cities by collecting water samples prior to and just after wastewater release points....
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A concept of Signal Equalization Method Based on Music Genre and the Listener's Room Characteristics
PublicationA research study that investigates the influence of the room acoustics environment on the frequency characteristic of the audio signal playback is presented. First, a novel spectral equalization method of the room acoustic conditions is introduced. On the basis of the frequency response of the room, a system for room acoustics compensation based on eight-band equalizer is proposed. The system settings depend on music genre. In...
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Analysis of Signalized Intersections in the Context of Pedestrian Traffic
PublicationGdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivod e ship of Poland with a population of about 250,000. It faces a growing motorization rate th at needs to be addressed. Car ownership in Gdynia now exceed s 500 vehicles per 1000 residents. Travel by public transport is decreasing and the rate of walking and cycling remains low. It is necessary to reverse these negative trends by implementing solu tions based...
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Corporate social responsibility in reference to environmental statements within EMAS system in small and medium enterprises
PublicationAccording to the corporate social responsibility concept, organisations should apply any mechanisms available supporting their business actions contributing i.e. to the improvement of natural environment. Among them is EMAS eco-management and audit scheme. The prove of its implementation is environmental statement and entering the organisation into a national EMAS register. The aim of the statement is informing the society and...
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Digitalization of Building Site Management in the Construction Industry
PublicationWith Industry 4.0, a digital transformation has started in the construction industry. However, 4.0 technologies have difficulties in the integration of digital systems due to the diversity and complexity of the processes in the construction industry. Multidisciplinary work in architectural projects and the need for high productivity require digital renovation planning in the construction industry. The application of the technologies...
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New achievements in the field of extraction of trace analytes from samples characterized by complex composition of the matrix
PublicationWithout any doubt, the monitoring of compounds present in samples at trace or ultra-trace level usually requires a preliminary step of isolation and/or enrichment of analytes due to the fact that majority of analytical techniques are not sensitive enough for direct determination of trace compounds. On the other hand, sample preparation is considered as crucial part of whole analytical procedures, in particular in samples characterized...
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Optimized Hydrodynamic Vortex Separator
PublicationThe invention discloses an optimized hydrodynamic vortex separator which comprises an outer cylinder (1), an inner cylinder (2), a sludge hopper (3), an inlet (4), an outlet (5) and a conical structure (7), wherein the outer cylinder (1) is the boundary of the outer wall of the separator; wherein the inner cylinder (2) is arranged in an inner cavity of the outer cylinder (1); the sludge hopper (3)is taken as the bottom of the...
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Application of the Chimney Cap as a Method of Improving the Effectiveness of Natural Ventilation in Buildings
PublicationAdequately designed natural ventilation is the cheapest and easiest way to effectively remove indoor pollutants and keep the air inside a building fresh. A prediction of the performance and effectiveness of ventilation in order to determine the design of a ventilation system can provide real and long-term cost savings. The worst time in terms of the efficiency of natural ventilation is the spring-autumn transition period [7]. In...
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Influence of hydrochloric acid concentration and type of nitrogen source on the electrochemical performance of TiO2/N-MoS2 for energy storage applications
PublicationIn this work, nitrogen-doped molybdenum sulfide was directly deposited on titanium dioxide nanotubes substrate (TiO2/N-MoS2) during hydrothermal synthesis. The study focuses on the influence of hydrochloric acid concentration used for the synthesis, with the results indicating its essential role in thioacetamide hydrolysis and thus in the effectiveness of the N-MoS2 deposition. The electrode material itself is characterized by...