Search results for: light and health
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Sick building syndrome due to molds
PublicationThe term Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) is a combination of ailments occurring in a specific building. Building occupants complain of symptoms such as headaches and dizziness, fainting, nausea, irritation of the mucosal membranes, skin irritation and other nonspecific hypersensitivity reactions.One of the SBS causes can be molds, which are ubiquitous in the air (over 400 species). It is estimated that 30% of the health problems (related...
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Investigation of Narrow Transverse and Longitudinal Electrostatic Precipitators
PublicationDiesel engines emit fine particles, which are harmful to human and animal health. There are several methods for decrease particulate emission from a diesel engines, but up to now, these methods are not enough effective or very expensive. An electrostatic precipitation was proposed as an alternative method for control of a diesel particulate emission. Therefore, narrow electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) have become a subject of...
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Honey bees and their products - bioindicators of environmental contamination
PublicationHuman activities produce contaminants, the amounts and toxicity of which often exceed the environment’s homeostatic capacity to cleanse itself. Hence, the systematic analysis and monitoring of the environment is increasingly a matter of urgency. Honey bees, thanks to their morphological features, and also bee products are regarded as good indicators of environmental pollution by toxic substances, be these heavy metals, radioactive...
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The influence of selenium addition during germination of Brassica seeds on health-promoting potential of sprouts
PublicationThe correlation among selenium uptake, the content of bioactive compounds in sprouts, and biological activities triggered in cultured human cells by sprout extracts was investigated. Seeds of Brassica crops and rye were treated with SeO2 water solution. The selenium levels in sprouts increased from 1.0-4.1 to 53.3-382 μg/g dw with no influence on plant physiology according to the indices used. Neither the composition of glucosinolates...
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Impact of Usability Website Attributes on Users’ Trust, Satisfaction and Loyalty
PublicationThis paper presents the results of an experimental study aimed at identifying possible relationships among website usability characteristics, consumer satisfaction, trust and loyalty. These factors regard not only customer satisfaction in a transactional sense, but in the long term they may affect e-customer behavior, opinions, recommendations and attitudes toward using on-line services in general. The study was performed with...
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Granulometric characterization of Arctic driftwood sawdust from frame sawing process
PublicationArctic driftwood can be used as an alternative source of wood as construction timber and furniture material, especially in Iceland and Greenland. The use of Arctic driftwood can help in the fight against climate change, by developing land reforestation processes and reducing the volume harvested wood from forests and sustainability of harvesting processes. In this paper the results of an analysis of the effect of long-term residence...
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The Energy of Finance in Refining of Medical Surge Capacity
PublicationThe availability of resources and their concentration in the place of greatest need, will not allow us to successfully overcome a medical surge without the energy required to activate these resources and activities, and increase their quantities if necessary, that is why the staff and management of healthcare institutions are forced to making ethical crisis decisions about who wins and who loses. This study highlights the versatility...
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How to evaluate methods used in chemical laboratories in terms of the total chemical risk? – a ChlorTox Scale
PublicationReliable assessment of the health and environmental risk associated with the use of chemicals is critical to ob- jectively evaluate the greenness and whiteness of an analytical method. An objective and useful way of risk assessment should take into account all the relevant properties of used substances, their actual amounts needed for application of the method, and quantify the assessment result using a standardized unit. This...
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A probabilistic-driven framework for enhanced corrosion estimation of ship structural components
PublicationThe work proposes a probabilistic-driven framework for enhanced corrosion estimation of ship structural components using Bayesian inference and limited measurement data. The new approach for modelling measurement uncertainty is proposed based on the results of previous corrosion tests that incorporate the non-uniform character of the corroded surface of structural components. The proposed framework's basic features are outlined,...
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VOCs absorption from gas streams using deep eutectic solvents – A review
PublicationVolatile organic compounds (VOCs) are one of the most severe atmospheric pollutants. They are mainly emitted into the atmosphere from anthropogenic sources such as automobile exhaust, incomplete fuel combustion, and various industrial processes. VOCs not only cause hazards to human health or the environment but also adversely affect industrial installation components due to their specific properties, i.e., corrosive and reactivity....
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Metal nanoparticles-assisted early diagnosis of diseases
PublicationEarly diagnosis is essential for the effective illness treatment, but traditional diagnostic approaches inevitably have major downsides. Recent advancements in nanoparticle-based biosensors have created new opportunities for accelerating diagnosis. High surface area, exceptional sensitivity, high specificity, and optical characteristics of metal and metal oxide nanoparticles have made it possible to detect a variety of health conditions...
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Application of deep eutectic solvents for separation and determination of bioactive compounds in medicinal plants
PublicationThe medicinal plants industry, particularly in regard to products rich in biologically active substances for maintaining health, has grown by leaps and bounds in the last decade, with sales of over-the-counter drugs containing these substances growing by billions of dollars. Attention has thus also been paid to the safety and effectiveness of these medicines. We are currently witnessing a rapid increase in the number of publications...
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Properties of Different Varieties of Durian
PublicationDurian (Durio zibethinus Murr.), like many other exotic, tropical, and conventional fruits, is important in the prevention of different diseases. In this study, the characterization of the main bioactive compounds of the most popular cultivars of durian and their properties are described. The changes in the quality indices of the antioxidant status were determined by CUPRAC, ABTS, FRAP, DPPH, and ORAC assays. The profiling of phytochemicals...
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Miniaturized Passive Emission Chambers for In Situ Measurement of Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds
PublicationThe results of many different studies have demonstrated unequivocally that the quality of indoor air is often much worse than that of atmospheric air. The presence of dangerous chemical compounds in indoor air can have an adverse impact on human health and cause numerous diseases of the respiratory and circulatory systems. Such harmful chemicals get into indoor air as a result of their emission from building and indoor materials....
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Cannabinoids: Challenges, opportunities and current techniques towards its extraction and purification for edibles
PublicationDue to the multiple health benefits associated with the consumption of cannabinoids, there is a current trend on continuing to explore their biological properties. Cannabidiol (CBD) is likely to be the most investigated endocannabinoid from the cannabis plant. Unfortunately, the purification of CBD from its natural source and psychotropic analogue (tetrahydrocannabinol, THC) is timely challenging for the research community based...
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Biological Activity of Tea-Chokeberry and Chokeberry Fermented Beverages
PublicationFermented beverages, such as kombucha are gaining more and more popularity due to their beneficial effects on human health. These products are obtained by the fermentation of tea infusion using so called tea fungus. This microbial consortium can also be used to prepare fermented fruit beverages. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the changes in the antioxidant profile of tea-chokeberry and chokeberry beverages...
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Focused crawler for trustworthy healthcare information search
PublicationArtykuł zawiera opis prac wykonanych w projekcie 6 Programu Ramowego Unii Europejskiej: Personalised Information Platform for life and health Services (PIPS). Głównym celem projektu jest zapewnienie obywatelowi Unii kompleksowego wspomagania w zakresie zagadnień ochrony zdrowia oraz odżywiania. Do realizacji tego celu konieczne jest pozyskanie i dostarczenie obywatelowi wiarygodnej, prawdziwej i aktualnej informacji z tych dziedzin....
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Propagation Characteristics of Partial Discharges in an Oil-Filled Power Transformer
PublicationPower transformers are among the most important assets in the power transmission and distribution grid. However, they suffer from degradation and possible faults causing major electrical and financial losses. Partial discharges (PDs) are used to identify the insulation health status and their degradation level. PDs are incipient, low-magnitude faults caused by localized dielectric breakdown. Those activities emit signals in many...
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How green are ionic liquids? – A multicriteria decision analysis approach
PublicationDue to various desirable physicochemical properties, ionic liquids (ILs) are still gaining in popularity. ILs have been recurrently considered green solvents. However, environmental, health and safety assessments of ILs have raised certain doubts about their benignness, and their greenness status is currently unclear. To clarify the situation on their greenness, we perform a comprehensive assessment of more than 300 commercially...
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Proposal of a mobile medical waste incinerator with automatic waste feeder and heat recovery system
PublicationThe paper presents and discusses the issue of medical waste (including hazardous ones) and their proper management. Inappropriate handling of infectious medical waste directly endangers the human being health and the environment. Infectious waste must therefore be properly disposed of – one of the most commonly used methods is the thermal treatment in the incinerators tailored for this purpose. During designing an incinerator unit,...
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Determination of Thermophysical Parameters Involved in The Numerical Model to Predict the Temperature Field of Cast-In-Place Concrete Bridge Deck
PublicationThe paper dealswith a concept of a practical computationmethod to simulate the temperature distribution in an extradosed bridge deck. The main goal of the study is to develop a feasible model of hardening of concrete consistent with in-situ measurement capabilities. The presented investigations include laboratory tests of high performance concrete, measurements of temperature evolution in the bridge deck and above all, numerical...
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Integrated development plans of the functional urban areas in Pomeranian region in Poland
PublicationThe European Commission put a growing emphasis on the territorial and integrated app roach to policy support addressed in the frame of regional policy. In a special way this process refers to cities along with their functional environment. In Poland the National Spatial Development Concept 2030 has introduced the concept of functional areas, among others – Functional Urban Areas (FUAs). There is...
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Determination of cyanide in urine and saliva samples by ion chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection
PublicationCommonly known as a highly toxic chemical, cyanide is also an essential reagent for many industrial processes. It naturally occurs in plant seeds as a cyanogenic glycosides. Another relatively common mode of cyanide exposure is inhalation of environmental tobacco smoke. This study concerns importance to determine cyanide ion in human biological samples. Urine and saliva samples were collected healthy volunteers exposed to tobacco...
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Long-term comparative evaluation of an acoustic climate in selected schools before and after the acoustic treatment
PublicationThe results of long-term continuous noise measurements in two selected schools are presented in the paper. Noise characteristics were measured continuously there for approximately 16 months. Measurements started eight months prior to the acoustic treatment of the school corridors of both schools. An evaluation of the acoustic climates in both schools, before and after the acoustic treatment, was performed based on comparison of...
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The usefulness of birch saps from the area of Podkarpacie to produce birch syrup
PublicationIn northern European countries, as well as in North America tree saps of maples and birches are used for the production of syrups. Birch syrups are characterized by a specific aromatic taste and can be used as an addition to sweets, desserts, salads and meats. Attention is paid to the health benefits of birch syrups, mainly for high mineral content. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of birch saps obtained from...
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Levels of 13 multi-class pesticide residues in Polish honeys determined by LC-ESI-MS/MS
PublicationLevels of 13 pesticides in 40 honey samples form Poland are reported. A rapid and sensitive method was developed for the LC-ESI-MS/MS determination of multi-class pesticide residues in honey samples. Liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) on a diatomaceous earth support (requiring the use of small amounts of organic solvent), followed by chromatographic separation on a C18 column and gradient elution were employed. The method quantifies...
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Speciation of heavy metal compounds in samples of biota from marine ecosystems
PublicationIt has become increasingly evident that the toxicity, mobility, bioavailability and bioaccumulation of metals are dependent on the particular physico-chemical form in which the element occurs in the environment. Special attention is paid to metals, which are essential for the proper functioning of organisms if present in appropriate amounts but are toxic if in excess (i.e. Se, Cr, Zn), and also to non-essential elements (i.e. Hg,...
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Miniaturized passive emission test chamber for in-situ measurement of emissions of organic compounds
PublicationThe results of many different studies have demonstrated unequivocally that the quality of indoor air is often much worse than that of atmospheric air (outdoor). One of the main groups of chemical compounds present in indoor air, with proven harmfulness to health,are volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs present indoor comprise a wide variety of hydrocarbons and hydrocarbons derivatives including aliphatic, aromatics, alkylbenzens,...
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AN ALTERNATIVE WAY OF DETERMINING MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD BY MEASURING CUTTING FORCES
PublicationThe cutting force is an energetic effect of splitting material, and might be therefore considered from a point of view of modern fracture mechanics. The dedicated mathematical model developed for description of the wood cutting has been developed here on the base of fracture theory, and includes work of separation (fracture toughness) in addition to the material plasticity and friction. The effect of the cutting edge dullness is...
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New Trends in Sample Preparation Techniques for the Analysis of the Residues of Pharmaceuticals in Environmental Samples
PublicationPharmaceutical residues in the environment is a field of special interest due to the adverse effects to either human health or aquatic and soil environment. Pharmaceuticals have been already detected in underground, surface and wastewaters, soils, manure and sediments. The growing awareness of environmental pollution arising from human activity forces the need for their comprehensive determination. Environmental samples are complex...
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Mangiferin: A comprehensive review on its extraction, purification and uses in food systems
PublicationWith the target of fabricating healthier products, food manufacturing companies look for natural-based nutraceuticals that can potentially improve the physicochemical properties of food systems while being nutritive to the consumer and providing additional health benefits (biological activities). In this regard, Mangiferin joins all these requirements as a potential nutraceutical, which is typically contained in Mangifera indica...
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Crack monitoring in concrete beams under bending using ultrasonic waves and coda wave interferometry: the effect of excitation frequency on coda
PublicationConcrete is one of the most widely used construction materials in the world. In recent years, various non-destructive testing (NDT) and structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques have been investigated to improve the safety and control of the current condition of concrete structures. This study focuses on micro-crack monitoring in concrete beams. The experimental analysis was carried out on concrete elements subjected to three-point...
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Chitosan-based electrospun nanofibers for encapsulating food bioactive ingredients: A review
PublicationToday, society has been more aware of healthy food products and related items containing bioactive compounds, which potentially contribute to human health. Unfortunately, the long-term stability and bioactivity of biologically active compounds against environmental factors compromise their target and effective action. In this way, lab-designed vehicles, such as nanoparticles and nanofibers, provide enough properties for their preservation...
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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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Membrane distillation assisting food production processes of thermally sensitive food liquid items: a review
PublicationPhysical separation technologies have become important tool for processing in the current food manufacturing industries, especially for the products containing bioactive compounds thanks to their health benefits in costumers. As for the processing of bioactive food ingredients implies the implementation of integrated systems oriented to their separation, fractionation, and recovery. In this field, membrane distillation (MD), which...
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Chemical Composition of Atmospheric Air in Nemoral Scots Pine Forests and Submountainous Beech Forests: The Potential Region for the Introduction of Forest Therapy
PublicationStudies show that forests are one of the main recreational destinations. This can be explained by their beneficial effects on the health of their visitors, which can be attributed to compounds from the terpene group. The aim of this research was to determine the chemical composition of air in the interiors of Nemoral Scots pine forests and submountainous beech forests, with the determination of compounds of the terpene group. Samples...
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Insights into the Thermo-Mechanical Treatment of Brewers’ Spent Grain as a Potential Filler for Polymer Composites
PublicationThis paper investigated the impact of twin-screw extrusion parameters on the properties of brewers’ spent grain. The chemical structure, antioxidant activity, particle size, and color properties, as well as the emission of volatile organic compounds during extrusion, were investigated. The main compounds detected in the air during modifications were terpenes and terpenoids, such as α-pinene, camphene, 3-carene, limonene, or terpinene....
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The effect of external load on ultrasonic wave attenuation in steel bars under bending stresses
PublicationThe stress state in deformed solids has a significant impact on the attenuation of an ultrasonic wave propagating through the medium. Measuring a signal with certain attenuation characteristics can therefore provide useful diagnostic information about the stress state in the structure. In this work, basic principles behind a novel attenuation-based diagnostic framework are introduced. An experimental study on steel bars under three-point...
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Young shoots of red cabbage are a better source of selected nutrients and glucosinolates in comparison to the vegetable at full maturity
PublicationCruciferous vegetables are a valuable source of ingredients with health benefits. The most characteristic compounds of cruciferous vegetables with identified anticancer properties are glucosinolates. Young shoots and sprouts of red cabbage are becoming a popular fresh food rich in nutrients and bioactive compounds. The objective of this research was to determine, for the first time in a comprehensive approach, whether young shoots...
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Interaction of human serum albumin with volatiles and polyphenols from some berries
PublicationHeadspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC GCeTOFMS) identified 19 and quantified 6 monoterpenes in gooseberries, blueberries and cranberries. As a protein model human serum albumin (HSA) was used in interaction with terpenes. Specific binding of terpenes to HSA under the physiological conditions was a result of the formation...
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End-of-life management of single-use baby diapers: Analysis of technical, health and environment aspects
PublicationSingle-use baby diapers belongs to an important group of products used in the parenting journey because of their high performance and convenience. Single-use baby diapers are normally thrown away after one-time use, resulting in a waste management problem. The goal of this paper was to better understand main environmental concerns of different types of diapers and address how to reduce them, with a special consideration of waste...
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The impact of interactions between polyphenolic antioxidants on the redox-related chemical and biological properties of their mixtures – the extension of food synergy concept.
PublicationThe results of studies indicate that chemopreventive efficiency of isolated phytochemicals is lower than that of polyphenol-rich foods. This discrepancy has been ascribed to the food synergy concept that assumes additive or even synergistic influence of different food ingredients on human health. The results presented in the dissertation made it possible to propose an alternative and innovative explanation of these observations. The...
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Alternative treatment approaches of urinary tract infections caused by uropathogenic Escherichia coli strains
PublicationUrinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most widespread and annoying infections affecting millions of people every year annually. The biggest problem of urinary diseases are recurrences, the increasing resistance of uropathogens to commonly used antibiotics, as well as the high health care costs of afflicted persons. Uropathogenic Escherichia coli strains (UPECs) are the most dominant etiologic agent of community-acquired infections...
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Application of ion chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection for the determination of trace cyanide in biological samples, including breast milk
PublicationCyanide (CN) is the biomarker of exposure to the components of tobacco smoke, although its presence in biological samples is also due to the consumption of products containing cyanogenic glycosides. In this work, we determine the concentration of the free cyanide in urine, saliva and breast milk matrices, using ion chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (IC-PAD). IC-PAD is an emerging method, with only few documented...
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Effect of Hydroxypropylation and Beta-Amylase Treatment on Complexation of Debranched Starch With Naringenin
PublicationNaringenin exhibits many health benefits but it has limited water solubility and consequently low bioavailability. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of hydroxypropylation and enzymatic treatments on starch complexation with naringenin. Potato starch and Hylon VII are hydroxypropylated to two substitution degrees and then debranched or debranched/β‐amylase treated prior to complexing with naringenin. Both...
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Towards Digital Anti-Corruption Typology for Public Service Delivery
PublicationDigital anti-corruption refers to a family of digital technology tools that are used to fight corruption. Many such tools have not performed well in practice due to their non-alignment with forms of corruption they are supposed to fight against and persistence of corruption-enabling conditions. The aim of this paper is to contribute to filling this gap by offering a typology of digital anti-corruption in public service delivery...
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Comprehensive determination of flavouring additives and nicotine in e-cigarette refill solutions. Part II: Gas-chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis
PublicationFlavouring compounds are an essential part of e-liquid products for cigarettes. In general, they are regarded as safe for ingestion, but they may have unrecognized risks when they are inhaled. In some cases, manufactures do not currently abide by the Tobacco Products Directive (2014/40/EU) and do not declare the detailed contents of e-liquids on their labels. To help evaluate the health impact of flavouring substances, there is...
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Chromatographic analyses of Lavandula angustifolia and Rosmarinus officinalis extracts and their biological effects in mammalian cells and cell-free systems
PublicationKnowledge of biological properties of natural compounds allows to understand their therapeutic value, efficacy and security. We investigated: composition of Lavandula angustifolia (LA) and Rosmarinus officinalis (RO) extracts, their antioxidant capacity, cytotoxicity and genotoxicity, their DNA-protective potential against DNA damage induced in hamster V79 cells by several genotoxins or in plasmid DNA by Fe2+ ions and activity...
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Relevance of the EU Structural Funds’ Allocation to the Needs of Combating Air Pollution in Poland. Analysis of the Operational Programmes of Regions Threatened With Critical Air Pollution from Distributed Energy Sources
PublicationRecent years, the European Environmental Agency, has been reporting air quality parameters in Poland, as the poorest among all the EU countries. Despite of adoption of the EU legislation on energy efficiency and energy performance of buildings, existing legal solutions occur insufficient in reducing air pollution in Polish regions. Lack of an effective schemes supporting complex thermal renovation of buildings, exchange of inefficient...
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Report for the Short Term Scientific Mission within COST Action FP1101: development of the in-field sensor for estimation of fracture toughness and shear strength by measuring cutting forces
PublicationKnowledge on the fracture properties of materials is essential to assure structural integrity and proper design of mechanical connections in timber constructions. Measurement of this property is, however, a very challenging task. The linear fracture mechanics is usually used for its assessment assisted with experimental data acquired by means of various techniques, usually of destructive nature. The cutting force is an energetic...