Search results for: MICROSTRIP PATCH MODIFICATION
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Adhesive Monitoring with Instrumented Wedge Test
PublicationThe wedge test (sometimes called the Boeing wedge test) is amongst the most readily exploitable techniques for assessment of the rate-dependent fracture energy of adhesive materials when used to bond relatively rigid substrates. With its siblings: the double cantilever beam (DCB), and the tapered double cantilever beam (TDCB), a force is applied, essentially in cleavage, to provoke substrate separation perpendicularly to the bondline...
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Reactive extrusion of bio-based polymer blends and composites – Current trends and future developments
PublicationReactive extrusion is a cost-effective and environmentally-friendly method to produce new materials with enhanced performance properties. At present, reactive extrusion allows in-situ polymerization, modification/functionalization of polymers or chemical bonding of two (or more) immiscible phases, which can be carried out on commonly used extrusion lines. Although reactive extrusion has been known for many years, its application...
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Improving the quality of speech in the conditions of noise and interference
PublicationThe aim of the work is to present a method of intelligent modification of the speech signal with speech features expressed in noise, based on the Lombard effect. The recordings utilized sets of words and sentences as well as disturbing signals, i.e., pink noise and the so-called babble speech. Noise signal, calibrated to various levels at the speaker's ears, was played over two loudspeakers located 2 m away from the speaker. In...
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Comparison of the paracetamol electrochemical determination using boron-doped diamond electrode and boron-doped carbon nanowalls
PublicationTwo different type of electrodes, boron-doped diamond electrode (BDD) and boron-doped carbon nanowalls (B:CNW) electrode, were used for the electrochemical determination of paracetamol using the cyclic voltammetry and the differential pulse voltammetry in phosphate buffered saline, pH = 7.0. The main advantage of these electrodes is their utilization without any additional modification of the electrode surface. The peak current...
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Impedance evaluation of coatings from biobased material
PublicationThe authors propose a modification of sodium caseinate edible coating for foodstuff protection. The aim was to improve the film’s barrier properties. It was achieved by the addition of propolis, which is a natural, environmentally friendly product known from its intrinsic sealing action. In the next step, propolis-admixed sodium caseinate films were exposed to elevated temperature for 10 min. This approach was meant to improve...
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Degradation of xylose using a microbial fuel cell
PublicationIt is generally known, that many kind of microorganisms are capable of using carbohydrates as a source of carbon and energy in an environment. The biodegradation process of monosaccharides from pentoses (in this case- racemic mixture of D - and L – xylose) is an immense opportunity for an entire reduction of biological contamination to neutral compounds through MFC. The process is occurred in a single-chamber MFC, which is contained...
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Generating optimal paths in dynamic environments using RiverFormation Dynamics algorithm
PublicationThe paper presents a comparison of four optimisation algorithms implemented for the purpose of finding the shortest path in static and dynamic environments with obstacles. Two classical graph algorithms –the Dijkstra complete algorithm and A* heuristic algorithm – were compared with metaheuristic River Formation Dynamics swarm algorithm and its newly introduced modified version. Moreover, another swarm algorithm has been compared...
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Thermodynamic Cycle Concepts for High-Efficiency Power Plants. Part B: Prosumer and Distributed Power Industry
PublicationAn analysis was carried out for different thermodynamic cycles of power plants with air turbines. A new modification of a gas turbine cycle with the combustion chamber at the turbine outlet has been described in the paper. A special air by-pass system of the combustor was applied, and in this way, the efficiency of the turbine cycle was increased by a few points. The proposed cycle equipped with an effective heat exchanger could...
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Antibacterial Activity and Cytocompatibility of Bone Cement Enriched with Antibiotic, Nanosilver, and Nanocopper for Bone Regeneration
PublicationBacterial infections due to bone replacement surgeries require modifications of bone cement with antibacterial components. This study aimed to investigate whether the incorporation of gentamicin or nanometals into bone cement may reduce and to what extent bacterial growth without the loss of overall cytocompatibility and adverse effects in vitro. The bone cement Cemex was used as the base material, modified either with gentamicin...
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Predicting Performance of Lightweight Concrete with Granulated Expanded Glass and Ash Aggregate by Means of Using Artificial Neural Networks
PublicationLightweight concrete (LWC) is a group of cement composites of the defined physical, mechanical, and chemical performance. The methods of designing the composition of LWC with the assumed density and compressive strength are used most commonly. The purpose of using LWC is the reduction of the structure’s weight, as well as the reduction of thermal conductivity index. The highest possible strength, durability and low thermal conductivity...
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Properties of Nanohydroxyapatite Coatings Doped with Nanocopper, Obtained by Electrophoretic Deposition on Ti13Zr13Nb Alloy
PublicationNowadays, hydroxyapatite coatings are the most common surface modification of long-term implants. These coatings are characterized by high thickness and poor adhesion to the metallic substrate. The present research is aimed at characterizing the properties of nanohydroxyapatite (nanoHAp) with the addition of copper nanoparticle (nanoCu) coatings deposited on the Ti13Zr13Nb alloy by an electrophoresis process. The deposition of...
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Multiple Reprocessing of Conductive PLA 3D-Printing Filament: Rheology, Morphology, Thermal and Electrochemical Properties Assessment
PublicationAdditive manufacturing technologies are gaining more and more attention, resulting in the development or modification of 3D printing techniques and dedicated materials. On the other hand, economic and ecological aspects force the industry to develop material recycling strategies. In this work, the multiple reprocessing of a commercially available PLA conductive composite with carbon black filler, dedicated to 3D printing, was investigated....
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Tuning of food wastes bioavailability as feedstock for bio-conversion processes by acoustic cavitation and SPC, SPS, or H2O2 as external oxidants
PublicationThe growing amount of food wastes makes them a suitable source for the generation of bioproducts through anaerobic digestion. Appropriate hydrolysis of the feedstock can enhance the efficiency of production of desired products. In this work, acoustic cavitation (AC) was employed as a pretreatment method to enhance hydrolysis stage by the modification of model (potato-based) food waste for increase in soluble chemical oxygen demand...
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Evaluating Gelatin-Based Films with Graphene Nanoparticles for Wound Healing Applications
PublicationIn this study, gelatin-based films containing graphene nanoparticles were obtained. Nanoparticles were taken from four chosen commercial graphene nanoplatelets with different surface areas, such as 150 m2/g, 300 m2/g, 500 m2/g, and 750 m2/g, obtained in different conditions. Their morphology was observed using SEM with STEM mode; porosity, Raman spectra and elemental analysis were checked; and biological properties, such as hemolysis...
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Theoretical designing of selenium heterocyclic non-fullerene acceptors with enhanced power conversion efficiency for organic solar cells: a DFT/TD-DFT-based prediction and understanding
PublicationIn this study, we have designed and explored a new series of non-fullerene acceptors for possible applications in organic solar cells. We have designed four molecules named as APH1 to APH4 after end-capped modification of recently synthesized Y6-Se-4Cl molecule. Density functional theory and time dependent-density functional theory have been employed for computing geometric and photovoltaic parameters of the designed molecules....
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Globalized Simulation-Driven Miniaturization of Microwave Circuits by Means of Dimensionality-Reduced Constrained Surrogates
PublicationSmall size has become a crucial prerequisite in the design of modern microwave components. Miniaturized devices are essential for a number of application areas, including wireless communications, 5G/6G technology, wearable devices, or the internet of things. Notwithstanding, size reduction generally degrades the electrical performance of microwave systems. Therefore, trade-off solutions have to be sought that represent acceptable...
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Near-Field Wireless Sensing of Plastics and Papers Using Frugal Peel-Off Passive Tag
PublicationThis article presents a novel frugal approach of testing plastics and papers using a near-field microwave sensing technique with a peel-off tag. The proposed sensing technique involves two electrical entities: the sensor, which may be regarded as a reader, and a disposable tag. The reader is a modified design of a gap-coupled microstrip line (GCML) sensor, while the passive tag is a standard double-ring complementary split-ring...
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A Planar-Structured Circularly Polarized Single-Layer MIMO Antenna for Wideband Millimetre-Wave Applications
PublicationIn this paper, a simple geometry, planar-structured printed multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna utilizing dual circular polarization (CP) is presented. The proposed numerically and experimentally validated design features a fully grounded coplanar waveguide (CPW) and a systematically perturbed feedline radiator. The fringing electric (E) field along the feedline is altered by extruding periodic stubs on each side of the...
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Rapid tolerance‐aware design of miniaturized microwave passives by means of confined‐domain surrogates
PublicationThe effects of uncertainties, primarily manufacturing tolerances but also incomplete information about operating conditions or material parameters, can be detrimental to the performance of microwave components. Quantification of such effects is essential to ensure a meaningful evaluation of the structure, in particular, its reliability under imperfect fabrication procedures. The improvement of the circuit robustness can be achieved...
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Globalized Knowledge-Based Simulation-Driven Antenna Miniaturization Using Domain-Confined Surrogates and Dimensionality Reduction
PublicationDesign of contemporary antenna systems encounters multifold challenges, one of which is a limited size. Compact antennas are indispensable for the new fields of application such as inter-net of things or 5G/6G mobile communication. Still, miniaturization generally undermines elec-trical and field performance. When attempted through numerical optimization, it turns into a constrained problem with costly constraints requiring electromagnetic...
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Computationally Efficient Surrogate-Assisted Design of Pyramidal-Shaped 3D Reflectarray Antennas
PublicationReflectarrays (RAs) have been attracting considerable interest in the recent years due to their appealing features, in particular, a possibility of realizing pencil-beam radiation patterns, as in the phased arrays, but without the necessity of incorporating the feeding networks. These characteristics make them attractive solutions, among others, for satellite communications or mobile radar antennas. Notwithstanding, available microstrip...
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On Decision-Making Strategies for Improved-Reliability Size Reduction of Microwave Passives: Intermittent Correction of Equality Constraints and Adaptive Handling of Inequality Constraints
PublicationDesign optimization of passive microwave components is an intricate process, especially if the primary objective is a reduction of the physical size of the structure. The latter has become an important design consideration for a growing number of modern applications (mobile communications, wearable/implantable devices, internet of things), where miniaturization is imperative due to a limited space allocated for the electronic circuitry....
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On Improved-Reliability Design Optimization of High-Frequency Structures Using Local Search Algorithms
PublicationThe role of numerical optimization has been continuously growing in the design of high-frequency structures, including microwave and antenna components. At the same time, accurate evaluation of electrical characteristics necessitates full-wave electromagnetic (EM) analysis, which is CPU intensive, especially for complex systems. As rigorous optimization routines involve repetitive EM simulations, the associated cost may be significant....
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Rapid and Reliable Re-Design of Miniaturized Microwave Passives by Means of Concurrent Parameter Scaling and Intermittent Local Tuning
PublicationRe-design of microwave passive components for the assumed operating frequencies or substrate parameters is an important yet a tedious process. It requires simultaneous tuning of relevant circuit variables, often over broad ranges thereof, to ensure satisfactory performance of the system. If the operating conditions at the available design are distant from the intended ones, local optimization is typically insufficient, whereas...
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Modyfikacja cementu kostnego w celu uzyskania długotrwałej ochrony antybakteryjnej
PublicationNiniejsza rozprawa doktorska stanowi przewodnik po jednotematycznym cyklu publikacji, dotyczącym modyfikacji akrylowego cementu kostnego celem uzyskania długotrwałej i efektywnej ochrony antybakteryjnej. W ramach niego przeprowadzono badania eksperymentalne polegające na opracowaniu technologii wytwarzania modyfikowanego cementu kostnego oraz procedury medycznej jego stosowania. Cement kostny był modyfikowany przez zastosowanie...
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The Use of Direct Shear Test for Optimization of Interlayer Bonding Under a Poroelastic Layer
PublicationPoroelastic Road Surfaces (PERS) are characterised by porous structure with air void content of 20% or higher and stiffness almost 10 times lower than that of a standard asphalt course. Such properties enable noise reduction by up to 12 dB in comparison to SMA 11 mixture. However, the disadvantage of a poroelastic pavement is its low durability, which partially results from delamination from the lower layer. The paper aims to investigate...
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Ground Tire Rubber Filled Flexible Polyurethane Foam—Effect of Waste Rubber Treatment on Composite Performance
PublicationThe application range of flexible polyurethane (PU) foams is comprehensive because of their versatility and flexibility in adjusting structure and performance. In addition to the investigations associated with further broadening of their potential properties, researchers are looking for new raw materials, beneficially originated from renewable resources or recycling. A great example of such a material is ground tire rubber (GTR)—the...
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Modular Approach for Modelling Warming Up Process in Water Installations with Flow-Regulating Elements
PublicationThe paper presents a new method for modelling the warming up process of a water system with elements regulating the flow in a stochastic manner. The paper presents the basic equations describing the work of typical elements which the water installation is composed of. In the proposed method, a new computational algorithm was used in the form of an iterative procedure enabling the use of boundary conditions that can be stochastically...
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Antibacterial properties of laser-encapsulated titanium oxide nanotubes decorated with nanosilver and covered with chitosan/Eudragit polymers
PublicationTo provide antibacterial properties, the titanium samples were subjected to electrochemical oxidation in the fluoride-containing diethylene glycol-based electrolyte to create a titanium oxide nanotubular surface. Afterward, the surface was covered by sputtering with silver 5 nm film, and the tops of the nanotubes were capped using laser treatment, resulting in an appearance of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) of around 30 nm in diameter...
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SFEM Analysis of Beams with Scaled Lengths including Spatially Varying and Cross-Correlated Concrete Properties
PublicationThis paper presents the results obtained for plain concrete beams under four-point bending with spatially varying material properties. Beams of increasing length but constant depth were analyzed using the stochastic finite element method. Spatial fluctuation of a uniaxial tensile strength, fracture energy and elastic modulus was defined within cross-correlated random fields. The symmetrical Gauss probability distribution function...
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Heat exchange enhancement of jet impingement cooling with the novel humped-cone heat sink
PublicationJet impingement cooling technology is applicable to control temperature of devices, where very high heat flux is generated within a small area. This paper is about the improvement of the jet impingement cooling efficiency by the heat sink geometry modification. Two reference cases were sourced from the literature – flat heat sink and modified one with cone in the jet stagnation region. Such a change improves cooling capability...
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Autistic Employees’ Technology-Based Workplace Accommodation Preferences Survey—Preliminary Findings
PublicationBackground: There has been an increase in the number of research studies focused on the design of accommodations aimed at improving the well-being and work performance of autistic employees. These accommodations took various forms; some of them were based on modification of management practices, for example, support in the area of effective communication, or involved modifications to the physical working environment aimed at limiting...
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Regulated Control of the Assembly and Diversity of LPS by Noncoding sRNAs
PublicationThe outer membrane (OM) of Gram-negative bacteria is asymmetric due to the presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) facing the outer leaflet of the OM and phospholipids facing the periplasmic side. LPS is essential for bacterial viability, since it provides a permeability barrier and is a major virulence determinant in pathogenic bacteria. In Escherichia coli, several steps of LPS biosynthesis and assembly are regulated by the RpoE...
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Investigating the effects of structural pounding on the seismic performance of adjacent RC and steel MRFs
PublicationAn insufficient separation distance between adjacent buildings is the main reason for structural pounding during severe earthquakes. The lateral load resistance system, fundamental natural period, mass, and stiffness are important factors having the influence on collisions between two adjacent structures. In this study, 3-, 5- and 9-story adjacent reinforced concrete and steel Moment Resisting Frames (MRFs) were considered to investigate...
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Injectable bone cement based on magnesium potassium phosphate and cross-linked alginate hydrogel designed for minimally invasive orthopedic procedures
PublicationBone cement based on magnesium phosphate has extremely favorable properties for its application as a bioactive bone substitute. However, further improvement is still expected due to difficult injectability and high brittleness. This paper reported the preparation of novel biocomposite cement, classified as dual-setting, obtained through ceramic hydration reaction and polymer cross-linking. Cement was composed of magnesium potassium...
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The pulsed laser ablation synthesis of colloidal iron oxide nanoparticles for the enhancement of TiO2 nanotubes photo-activity
PublicationThe rapid, only a few minutes long synthesis of FeO, Fe3O4, and Fe2O3nanoparticles mixture utilizing the pulsedlaser ablation using simply pure iron target and water was demonstrated. The size and crystal phase of Fe-basedNPs were characterized using DLS and HR-TEM techniques, respectively. The metastable suspension of FeO,Fe3O4, and Fe2O3nanoparticles was used to the decoration of anodized TiO2nanotubes (TiO2-NTs) by means ofthe...
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Improving the Quality of Magnetic Signature Reproduction by Increasing Flexibility of Multi-Dipole Model Structure and Enriching Measurement Information
PublicationThe paper presents the construction of a multi-dipole model that allows reproducing magneticsignatures of ferromagnetic objects. The virtual object used in the paper is an ellipsoid, which is the sourceof synthetic data. To make the situation more realistic, noise is added to the synthetic data. Two significantimprovements compared to previous work are presented. Three-axial magnetometers are introduced insteadof uniaxial magnetometers....
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Visible light activity of pulsed layer deposited BiVO4/MnO2 films decorated with gold nanoparticles: The evidence for hydroxyl radicals formation
PublicationThin films containing BiVO4 and MnO2 deposited on FTO and modified by Au nanoparticles were studied towards their photoelectrochemical and photocatalytical activities in an aqueous electrolyte. Electrodes were prepared by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method. The surfactant-free ablation process was used for preparation of the gold nanoparticles (GNP) water suspension. Obtained layers of varied thicknesses (27–115 nm) were...
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Evaluation of Asphalt Mixture Low-Temperature Performance in Bending Beam Creep Test
PublicationLow-temperature cracking is one of the most common road pavement distress types in Poland. While bitumen performance can be evaluated in detail using bending beam rheometer (BBR) or dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) tests, none of the normalized test methods gives a comprehensive representation of low-temperature performance of the asphalt mixtures. This article presents the Bending Beam Creep test performed at temperatures from −20...
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Recent advances in rapid multiobjective optimization of expensive simulation models in microwave and antenna engineering by Pareto front exploration
PublicationPractical engineering design problems are inherently multiobjective, that is, require simultaneous control of several (and often conflicting) criteria. In many situations, genuine multiobjective optimization is required to acquire comprehensive information about the system of interest. The most popular solution techniques are populationbased metaheuristics, however, they are not practical for handling expensive electromagnetic...
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The effect of reduced pressure on carbon dioxide flow boiling heat transfer in minichannels
Publication. In the paper presented are the results of the study on the effect of reduced pressure on flow boiling heat transfer data in minichannels as well as conventional ones. That effect renders that most of heat transfer correlations fail to return appropriate results of predictions. Mostly they have been developed for the reduced pressures from the range 0.1-0.3. The special correction has been postulated to the in-house model of flow...
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Studies on novel BiyXz-TiO2/SrTiO3 composites: Surface properties and visible light-driven photoactivity
PublicationA series of novel BiyXz-TiO2/SrTiO3 composites were prepared by multistep synthesis route. The asprepared photocatalysts were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), Raman spectra and BET analysis. The photocatalytic activity test was performed in aqueous solution of phenol under...
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On energy, exergy, and environmental aspects of a combined gas-steam cycle for heat and power generation undergoing a process of retrofitting by steam injection
PublicationThe paper presents a study of retrofitting of a combined heat and power (CHP) plant aimed to increase the electric to heating power ratio. The modification would involve diverting part of the steam to the gas turbine, instead of letting it go to the steam turbine, using injection technique into a combustion chamber. Therefore, two potential retrofitting approaches are analyzed: steam injection gas turbine (STIGT) and combined steam...
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Heat transfer intensification by enlarged surface roughness in the plate heat exchanger
PublicationIn the paper an experimental analysis of passive heat transfer intensification technique employed in the case of the plate heat exchanger is presented. The passive intensification was obtained by a modification of the heat transfer surface. The roughness of surface was increased by a use of glass micro-beads. Single-phase convective heat transfer in the water-water system was studied. The experiment was accomplished in two stages....
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Polyurethanes modified with natural polymers for medical application. I. Polyurethanes/ Chitosan and polyurethane/collagen.
PublicationFor over three decades polyurethanes (PUR or PU) have been reported for application in a variety of medical devices. These polymers consist of hard and soft segments, which allow for more subtle control of their structure and properties. By varying the composition of the different segments, properties of PURcan be tuned up for use in many areas of medicine. Recently there is a great interest in modification of biomedical PUR with...
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Distortion of speech signals in the listening area: its mechanism and measurements
PublicationThe paper deals with a problem of the influence of the number and distribution of loudspeakers in speech reinforcement systems on the quality of publicly addressed voice messages, namely on speech intelligibility in the listening area. Linear superposition of time-shifted broadband waves of a same form and slightly different magnitudes that reach a listener from numerous coherent sources, is accompanied by interference effects...
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Curing epoxy with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) surface-functionalized Co Fe3-O4 magnetic nanoparticles
PublicationIn this work, the bulk and surface composition of Fe3O4 supermagnetic nanoparticles were modified for efficient epoxy curing. The bare, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) capped, and cobalt (Co)-doped EDTA capped Fe3O4 nanoparticles were synthesized electrochemically. The crystalline structure and phase information, surface capping, morphology and magnetization behavior of nanoparticles were studied by X-Ray diffraction (XRD),...
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An energetic analysis of a gas turbine with regenerative heating using turbine extraction at intermediate pressure - Brayton cycle advanced according to Szewalski's idea
PublicationIn this paper, a modification of a simple gas turbine into the Brayton cycle with regenerative heating, using turbine extraction at intermediate pressure, is presented. The main concept of the retrofitting is based on the transfer of heat from the turbine exhaust gases to the air entering the combustion chamber. The extracted gas transfers heat to air via the divided regenerative heat exchanger and after that is compressed and...
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Stability Assessment of Coastal Cliffs Incorporating Laser Scanning Technology and a Numerical Analysis
PublicationWe investigated the cli coast in Jastrzebia Gora, Poland. The measurements that were taken between 2014 and 2018 by applying terrestrial, mobile, and airborne laser scanning describe a huge geometric modification involving dislocations in a 2.5 m range. Dierential maps and a volumetric change analysis made it possible to identify the most deformed cli’s location. Part of the monitoring of coastal change involved the measurement...
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Application of GC-MS/MS technique for the determination of benzodiazepines in blood samples
PublicationAbstract Benzodiazepines (BZD) are widely used as pharmaceuticals in medicine. However, due to psychostimulatory effect of BZD, in the last decade, they are more and more often used as drugs of abuse. These compounds produce similar effects to classical illicit drugs and are sold as “legal” alternatives to them as new psychoactive substances (NPS). Currently new BZD, named designer benzodiazepines (DBZD), are synthesized each year...