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Deep eutectic solvents microbial toxicity: Current state of art and critical evaluation of testing methods
PublicationDeep eutectic solvents (DESs) were described at the beginning of 21st century and they consist of a mixture of two or more solid components, which gives rise to a lower melting point compared to the starting materials. Over the years, DESs have proved to be a promising alternative to traditional organic solvents and ionic liquids (ILs) due to their low volatility, low inflammability, easy preparation, and usually low cost of compounds...
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Post-Pyrolytic Carbon as a Phase Change Materials (PCMs) Carrier for Application in Building Materials
PublicationThis article covers new application for char as a carrier of phase-change materials (PCM) that could be used as an additive to building materials. Being composed of bio-char and PCM, the granulate successfully competes with more expensive commercial materials of this type, such as Micronal® PCM. As a PCM carrier, char that was obtained from the pyrolysis of chestnut fruit (Aesculus hippocastanum) with different absorbances of the...
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The Influence of COD Fraction Forms and Molecules Size on Hydrolysis Process Developed by Comparative OUR Studies in Activated Sludge Modelling
PublicationThe activated sludge models (ASMs) commonly used by the International Water Association (IWA) task group are based on chemical oxygen demand (COD) fractionations. However, the proper evaluation of COD fractions, which is crucial for modelling and especially oxygen uptake rate (OUR) predictions, is still under debate. The biodegradation of particulate COD is initiated by the hydrolysis process, which is an integral part of an ASM....
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Interpretation and modeling of emotions in the management of autonomous robots using a control paradigm based on a scheduling variable
PublicationThe paper presents a technical introduction to psychological theories of emotions. It highlights a usable ideaimplemented in a number of recently developed computational systems of emotions, and the hypothesis thatemotion can play the role of a scheduling variable in controlling autonomous robots. In the main part ofthis study, we outline our own computational system of emotion – xEmotion – designed as a key structuralelement in...
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Up-conversion white emission and other luminescence properties of a YAG:Yb2O3·Tm2O3·Ho2O3@SiO2 glass-nanocomposite
PublicationWe report on a glass-nanocomposite material consisting of yttrium aluminum garnet (Y3Al5O12, YAG) nanocrystals co-doped with Yb3+, Tm3+ and Ho3+ ions as well as entrapped into a SiO2 xerogel. This 94YAG·5Yb2O3·0.8Tm2O3·0.2Ho2O3@SiO2 (abbr. YAG:YbTmHo@SiO2) nanocomposite material has been prepared by sol–gel procedure. Its structure and morphology has been characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope...
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Elicitation strategies for the improvement of essential oil content in Rhododendron tomentosum (Ledum palustre) bioreactor-grown microshoots
PublicationRhododendron tomentosum Harmaja, previously Ledum palustre L., is a fragrant plant growing in swampy areas, which is characterized by well-known repellent properties and the anti-arthritic potential. In the present study, R. tomentosum microshoots cultivated in RITA® bioreactor, providing the alternative, environment-independent source of the valuable essential oil, were treated for 7 days with copper and nickel salts, methyl jasmonate,...
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A highly thermostable, homodimeric single-stranded DNA-binding protein from Deinococcus radiopugnans
PublicationWe report the identification and characterization of the single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB) from the mesophile and highly radiation-resistant Deinococcus radiopugnans (DrpSSB). PCR-derived DNA fragment containing the complete structural gene for DrpSSB protein was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The gene consisting of an open reading frame of 900 nucleotides encodes a protein of 300 amino acids with a calculated...
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Antifungal Activity and Synergism with Azoles of Polish Propolis
PublicationThe aim of our work was to check if one of the products of natural origin, namely honey 19 bee propolis may be an alternative or supplement to currently used antifungal agents. The activity 20 of 50 ethanolic extracts of propolis (EEPs), harvested in Polish apiaries, was tested on a group of 69 21 clinical isolates of C. albicans. Most of the EEPs showed satisfactory activity, with minimum 22 fungicidal concentrations (MFC) mainly...
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Immunophenotyping and transcriptional profiling of in vitro cultured human adipose tissue derived stem cells
PublicationAdipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) have become an important research model in regenerative medicine. However, there are controversies regarding the impact of prolonged cell culture on the ASCs phenotype and their differentiation potential. Hence, we studied 10 clinical ASCs replicates from plastic and oncological surgery patients, in six-passage FBS supplemented cultures. We quantified basic mesenchymal cell surface marker transcripts...
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Gesture Recognition With the Linear Optical Sensor and Recurrent Neural Networks
PublicationIn this paper, the optical linear sensor, a representative of low-resolution sensors, was investigated in the multiclass recognition of near-field hand gestures. The recurrent neural network (RNN) with a gated recurrent unit (GRU) memory cell was utilized as a gestures classifier. A set of 27 gestures was collected from a group of volunteers. The 27 000 sequences obtained were divided into training, validation, and test subsets....
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Modeling and optimization of chemical-treated torrefaction of wheat straw to improve energy density by response surface methodology
PublicationToday, torrefaction is important technique for extending the potential of biomass for improvement of energy density. The independent variables investigated for torrefaction study were temperature, retention time, acid concentration, and particle size. The experiment was designed by central composite design (CCD) method using design expert (version 11). The three dependent variables were higher heating value (HHV), energy enhancement...
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Unveiling the Pool of Metallophores in Native Environments and Correlation with Their Potential Producers
PublicationFor many organisms, metallophores are essential biogenic ligands that ensure metal scavenging and acquisition from their environment. Their identification is challenging in highly organic matter rich environments like peatlands due to low solubilization and metal scarcity and high matrix complexity. In contrast to common approaches based on sample modification by spiking of metal isotope tags, we have developed a two-dimensional...
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A Robust Random Forest Model for Classifying the Severity of Partial Discharges in Dielectrics
PublicationPartial Discharges (PDs) are a common source of degradation in electrical assets. It is essential that the extent of the deterioration level of insulating medium is correctly identified, to optimize maintenance schedules and prevent abrupt power outages. Temporal PD signals received from damaged insulation, collected through the IEC-60270 method is the gold standard for PD detection. Temporal signals may be transformed to the frequency...
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INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE IN “SACRIFICE ZONES”. THE POTENTIAL OF BOCAMINA I & II THERMOELECTRIC IN CORONEL, CHILE
PublicationThis work aims to present the recovery potential of the Chilean Sacrifice Zones, urban areas affected by high amounts of pollution caused by industrial activities. It centers in the case of “Bocamina I & II”, two Thermoelectric based in the city of Coronel, southern Chile. A settlement historically related to the mining processes. These plants operated for decades supplying the national energy grid and are seen as both symbols...
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g-C3N4 for Photocatalytic Degradation of Parabens: Precursors Influence, the Radiation Source and Simultaneous Ozonation Evaluation
PublicationGraphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is a promising catalyst for contaminants of emerging concern removal applications, especially as a visible-light-driven material. In this study, g-C3N4 catalysts were effectively synthesized through a simple thermal polymerization method, using melamine, urea, and thiourea as precursors to elucidate the influence of these compounds on the final product’s photocatalytic performance. The degradation...
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Rapid Design of 3D Reflectarray Antennas by Inverse Surrogate Modeling and Regularization
PublicationReflectarrays (RAs) exhibit important advantages over conventional antenna arrays, especially in terms of realizing pencil-beam patterns without the employment of the feeding networks. Unfortunately, microstrip RA implementations feature narrow bandwidths, and are severely affected by losses. A considerably improved performance can be achieved for RAs involving grounded dielectric layers, which are also easy to manufacture using...
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Analytical applications of smartphones for agricultural soil analysis
PublicationSoil is one of the most important farming resources. Appropriate managing of its quality promotes productive and sustainable agriculture. The valuable farm practice in soil quality managing is based on regular soil analysis with the aim to determine the exact amount of nutrients or other chemical, physical and biological soil properties. Soil analysis usually requires samples collection at desired sampling depth following by samples...
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Development of a new green analytical methodology for the determination of phthalates in single-use babies diapers using ultrasound-assisted extraction and polypropylene porous membrane
PublicationA green extraction strategy was developed and utilized for the extraction and determination of phthalates. The extraction is based on ultrasound-assisted extraction and a polypropylene porous membrane. The Box-Behnken model was performed to optimize the extraction condition. The optimal extraction conditions are 5.5 mL of ethyl acetate, 10 min of extraction time and 55 C for extraction temperature. The developed green extraction...
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Compliance tests of the polymer layers used as hydrodynamic bearing coatings
PublicationOperational experience and scientific investigations results showed that polymer lined hydrodynamic bearings can withstand more severe operating conditions compared than white metal bearings. PTFE and PEEK-based coatings are the most frequently used as Babbitt alternatives. Both polymers differ significantly from the each other in material properties. According to catalogue data compression modulus of PTFE, it is about an order...
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Treatment innovation using solar/UV In book: The Treatment of Pharmaceutical Wastewater: Innovative Technologies and the Adaptation of Treatment Systems
PublicationSince ancient times, sunlight irradiation has been widely used for water purification. Apart from solar water disinfection techniques, UV irradiation is of particular interest when considering the photodegradation of various classes of emerging pollutants. Pharmaceutically active compounds are one of the largest classes of micropollutants. The main sources of these contaminants in wastewater and aqueous environments are households,...
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Assessment and design of greener deep eutectic solvents – A multicriteria decision analysis
PublicationDeep eutectic solvents (DES) are often considered as green solvents because of their properties, such as negligible vapor pressure, biodegradability, low toxicity or natural origin of their components. Due to the fact that DES are cheaper than ionic liquids, they have gained many applications in a short period of time. However, claims about their greenness sometimes seem to be exaggerated. Especially, bearing in mind lots of data...
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Unexpected Z/E isomerism of N-methyl-O-phosphothioyl benzohydroxamic acids, their oxyphilic reactivity and inertness to amines
PublicationThiophosphinoylation of N-methyl p-substituted benzohydroxamic acids using disulfanes (method A) or diphenylphosphinothioyl chloride (method B) provides only one conformer of the respective O-phosphothioyl derivative (Xray and NMR analysis). Undergoing the P-transamidoxylation reaction is an evidence of the reversibility of thiophosphinoylation. Only those products containing strong EWG substituents in the aroyl residue or bulky...
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Laser-assisted modification of titanium dioxide nanotubes in a tilted mode as surface modification and patterning strategy
PublicationElectrochemical anodization is regarded as a facile and easily scalable fabrication method of titania nanotubes (TiO2NTs). However, due to the extended duration of calcination and further modifications, much faster alternatives are highly required. As a response to growing interest in laser modification of nanotube arrays, a comprehensive investigation of pulsed-laser irradiation and its effect onto TiO2NT properties has been carried out....
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Development of different methods for drugs and psychoactive substances extraction from hair samples and their identification based on HPLC-ESI-QTOF analysis
PublicationOver the past decade, the use of non-controlled designer drugs and drug of abuse has rapidly increased. Hair, as a human matrix, enables detection of drugs incorporated into its structure. Studies of presence and identification of drug metabolites in human hair samples has been performed using liquid chromatography electrospray ionization quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS) with steady alternation of...
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Fundamental Schemes to Determine Disjoint Paths for Multiple Failure Scenarios
PublicationDisjoint path routing approaches can be used to cope with multiple failure scenarios. This can be achieved using a set of k (k> 2) link- (or node-) disjoint path pairs (in single-cost and multi-cost networks). Alternatively, if Shared Risk Link Groups (SRLGs) information is available, the calculation of an SRLG-disjoint path pair (or of a set of such paths) can protect a connection against the joint failure of the set of links...
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A model of fuel combustion process in the marine reciprocating engine work space taking into account load and wear of crankshaft-piston assembly and the theory of semi-Markov processes
PublicationThe ar ticle analyses the operation of reciprocal internal combu stion engines, with mar ine engines u sed a s an example. The analysis takes into account types of energy conversion in the work spaces (cylinders) of these engines, loads of their crankshaft-piston assemblies, and types of fuel combustion which can take place in these spaces during engine operation. It is highlighted that the analysed time-dependent loads of marine...
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Recuperator with microjet technology as a proposal for heat recovery from low-temperature sources
PublicationA tendency to increase the importance of so called dispersed generation, based on the local energy sources and the working systems uti- lizing both the fossil fuels and the renewable energy resources is observed nowadays. Generation of electricity on industrial or domestic scale together with production of heat can be obtained for example through employment of the ORC systems. It is mentioned in the EU directive 2012/27/EU for...
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Możliwości zastosowania zasobnikowych jednostek trakcyjnych na liniach kolejowych na przykładzie Pomorskiej Kolei Metropolitalnej
PublicationW artykule zwrócono uwagę, że zasobniki stosowane głównie do rekuperacji energii, mogą być również wykorzystane do zasilania pociągów na niezelektryfikowanych i zelektryfikowanych odcinkach linii kolejowych. Innowacyjność tego rozwiązania wykazano na podstawie dwóch aplikacji kolejowych elektrycznych zasobnikowych jednostek trakcyjnych: pierwszej funkcjonującej od 2014 roku na linii Utsunomiya – Karasuyama w Japonii oraz drugiej,...
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Convenient and efficient N-methylation of secondary amines under solvent-free ball milling conditions
PublicationIn the present work, we report the development of a rapid, efcient, and solvent-free procedure for the N-methylation of secondary amines under mechanochemical conditions. After optimization of the milling parameters, a vibrational ball mill was used to synthesize 26 tertiary N-methylated amine derivatives in a short time of 20 min (30 Hz frequency) and high yields ranging from 78 to 95%. An exception was compounds having a hydroxyl...
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Process layout planning and optimised product range selection in manufacture of wooden construction sets
PublicationThis paper introduces a systematic deterministic framework for planning and the analysis of facility layouts aimed at manufacturing a variety of parts, as components of specific end products. The essence of the proposed approach lies in the decomposition of a traditional job-shop into layout modules of generic material flow patterns, that inherently yields improved efficiency of the entire system. It entails the use of a relevant...
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Binary Mixtures of Selected Bisphenols in the Environment: Their Toxicity in Relationship to Individual Constituents
PublicationBisphenol A (BPA) is one of the most popular and commonly used plasticizer in the industry. Over the past decade, new chemicals that belong to the bisphenol group have increasingly been used in industrial applications as alternatives to BPA. Nevertheless, information on the combined effects of bisphenol (BP) analogues is insufficient. Therefore, our current study aimed to find the biological response modulations induced by the...
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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...
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Self-assembly, stability and conductance of amphotericin B channels: bridging the gap between structure and function
PublicationAmphotericin B (AmB), one of the most powerful but also toxic drugs used to treat systemic mycoses, is believed to selectively permeabilize fungal cell membranes to ions in a sterol-dependent manner. Unfortunately, the structure of the biologically active AmB channels has long eluded researchers, obstructing the design of safer alternatives. Here, we investigate the structural and thermodynamic aspects of channel formation, stability,...
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Hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents in microextraction techniques–A review
PublicationOver the past decade, deep eutectic solvents (DES) have been widely studied and applied in sample preparation techniques. Until recently, most of the synthesized DES were hydrophilic, which prevented their use in the extraction of aqueous samples. However, after 2015 studies on the synthesis and application of hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents (HDES) has rapidly expanded. Due to unique properties of HDES i.e. density, viscosity,...
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Potential energy curves, transition and permanent dipole moments of KRb
PublicationWe present extensive calculations of 48 adiabatic potential energy curves of the KRb molecule. Efforts have been focused on preparing the appropriate basis sets. Compared to previous approaches, the set of new potential energy curves is extended to higher excitations, including the single-excited K(4s2S)+Rb(5d2D) and double-excited K(4p2P)+Rb(5p2P) atomic limits. Larger distances between nuclei are also taken into account. New...
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UPDRS tests for diagnosis of Parkinson's disease employing virtual-touchpad
PublicationThis paper presents a new approach to diagnosing Parkinson's disease. The progression of the disease can be measured by the UPDRS (Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale) scale which is used to evaluate motor and behavioral symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Hitherto the evaluation of the advancement of the disease in the UPDRS scale was made by a specialist through medical observation. The authors suggest a partial automation of...
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TEST FOR ASSESSING THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF VEHICLES WITH INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
PublicationThe most popular method for assessing the energy efficiency of vehicles is to compare the fuel consumption achieved in the conditions of selected approval test. Operating conditions are defined using the speed profiles, usually for only two categories: urban and extra-urban driving. Assessing the energy efficiency of vehicles should be performed using a more detailed classification of conditions. Presented results of comparison...
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Gas Turbine Cycle with External Combustion Chamber for Prosumer and Distributed Energy Systems
PublicationThe use of various biofuels, usually of relatively small Lower Heating Value (LHV), affects the gas turbine efficiency. The present paper shows that applying the proposed air by-pass system of the combustor at the turbine exit causes tan increase of efficiency of the turbine cycle increased by a few points. This solution appears very promising also in combined gas/steam turbine power plants. The comparison of a turbine set operating...
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Robust estimation of deformation from observation differences for free control networks
PublicationDeformation measurements have a repeatable nature. This means that deformation measurements are performed often with the same equipment, methods, geometric conditions and in a similar environment in epochs 1 and 2 (e.g., a fully automated, continuous control measurements). It is, therefore, reasonable to assume that the results of deformation measurements can be distorted by both random errors and by some non-random errors, which...
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Bounds on the Cover Time of Parallel Rotor Walks
PublicationThe rotor-router mechanism was introduced as a deterministic alternative to the random walk in undirected graphs. In this model, a set of k identical walkers is deployed in parallel, starting from a chosen subset of nodes, and moving around the graph in synchronous steps. During the process, each node maintains a cyclic ordering of its outgoing arcs, and successively propagates walkers which visit it along its outgoing arcs in...
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Silicon Oxycarbide (SiOC) Ceramic Materials as Anodes for Lithium Ion Batteries
PublicationPolymer derived ceramics (PDCs) have attracted attention as alternative anode material for Li-ion batteries. It has been found that ternary SiOC and SiCN ceramics obtained through pyrolysis of various preceramic polymers display high reversible capacities of 500 – 650 mAh/g. In this work we try to correlate the electrochemical performance of polymer derived silicon oxycarbide with its chemical composition and microstructural features....
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SILICA AEROGEL TOWARDS ANODES FOR LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES
PublicationAn increasing demand for electrochemical energy storage and conversion devices stimulates progress in research on electrode and electrolyte materials. In the field of electrodes materials, silicon is the one of the most promising anode materials for Li-ion batteries. However silicon has the drastic volume variation (around 3 times lower on extraction) during insertion and extraction of lithium ions. As an alternative, nanocomposites...
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The New LM-PCR/Shifter Method for the Genotyping of Microorganism
PublicationTechniques relies on the ligation of appropriates adapters (LM-PCR) as AFLP, PCR MP and ADSRRS are successfully used for epidemiological studies for prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms. In this study we propose a new method, called the LM-PCR/Shifter, based on the use of a Class IIS restriction enzyme giving restriction fragments with different 4 base 5' overhangs (Shifter) and the ligation of appropriate oligonucleotide...
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Removal of indicator bacteria from treated wastewater using physical and chemical methods. Pilot plant study.
PublicationEven after highly efficient biological processes the effluents from wastewater treatment plants may contain significant number of fecal bacteria, from 104 to 106 CFU/100 mL. Since no standards are set on the bacteriological quality of treated wastewater in Poland the elimination of bacterial contaminants is not a priority in wastewater treatment policy. Thus microbiological hazards become particularly significant in the situation...
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Determination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in house dust using standard addition method and gas chromatography with electron capture and mass spectrometric detection
PublicationMonitoring of the environmental fate of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) involves determination of their concentration in air, airborne particles and settled dust. This requires the implementation of appropriate analytical tools like measuring instruments, reference materials and analytical procedures. In this study an analytical procedure was developed for determining PBDEs in samples with a complex matrix composition. The...
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Application of dispersive liquid - liquid microextraction for determination of pesticides from various chemical groups in water samples
PublicationPesticides are a global risk because they move with the wind, rain and sea currents from other regions, which makes getting to places which were never used before. Their presence was detected in all types of water circulating in the ecosystem, which is an easy source of exposure to life and health of all living organisms. Currently, it is considered one of the most dangerous and toxic pollutants, which fate and function is still...
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Novel single-stranded DNA-binding proteins from extreme psychrophilic bacterium Psychromonas ingrahamii 37
PublicationWe report the identification and characterization of the single-stranded DNA binding protein (SSB) from extreme psychrophilic bacterium Psychromonas ingrahamii 37 (PinSSB) that grows expotentially at -12°C and may well grow at even lower temperatures. PinSSB is one of the largest known bacterial SSB protein consisting 222 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular mass of 25.1 kDa. The analysis by gel filtration chromatography...
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Characterization of exceptionally thermostable single-stranded DNA-binding proteins from Thermotoga maritima and Thermotoga neapolitana
PublicationBACKGROUND: In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in SSBs because they find numerous applications in diverse molecular biology and analytical methods.RESULTS: We report the characterization of single-stranded DNA binding proteins (SSBs) from the thermophilic bacteria Thermotoga maritima (TmaSSB) and Thermotoga neapolitana (TneSSB). They are the smallest known bacterial SSB proteins, consisting of 141 and 142 amino...
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Improving denitrification efficiency at the "Wschod" WWTP in Gdansk (Poland) - effects of different carbon sources
PublicationCelem badań było określenie wpływu dawkowania trzech różnych źródeł węgla (ścieków po oczyszczaniu mechanicznym, metanolu, ścieków gorzelnianych) na szybkość denitryfikacji, mierzoną w warunkach laboratoryjnych z osadem czynnym z oczyszczalni ścieków Gdańsk-Wschód. Największą szybkość procesu (4.8-5.2 mgN/(g*h)) zaobserwowano dla ścieków przemysłowych. Dodatkowo przeprowadzono badanie długości fazy adaptacji osadu do metanolu w...
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Application of foam made of post-consumer pet materials for the construction of footbridges
PublicationThe article presents the possibility of application in civil engineering of highly ecological PET foam, manufactured from 100% recycled plastic packaging. It may find uses in construction of numerous engineering structures, such as pedestrian and cycle footbridges. Properly processed waste from post-consumer PET packaging may constitute a quality structural core for use in multilayered composite materials, commonly referred to...