Search results for: GROUP ACTION
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Amphotericin B and Its New Derivatives - Mode of Action
PublicationAmphotericin B (AmB) is a well known antifungal and antiprotozoal antibiotic used in the clinic for several decades. Clinicalapplications of AmB, however, are limited by its nephrotoxicity and many other acute side effects which are not acceptable by patientswhen their life is not threaten. In order to improve the therapeutic index of this drug, lipid formulations have been introduced and manyefforts have been made to obtain less...
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The Effect of Sterols on Amphotericin B Self-Aggregation in a Lipid Bilayer as Revealed by Free Energy Simulations
PublicationAmphotericin B (AmB) is an effective but toxic antifungal drug, known to increase the permeability of the cell membrane, presumably by assembling into transmembrane pores in a sterol-dependent manner. The aggregation of AmB molecules in a phospholipid bilayer is, thus, crucial for the drug’s activity. To provide an insight into the molecular nature of this process, here, we report an atomistic molecular dynamics simulation study...
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Multimode systems of nonlinear equations: derivation, integrability, and numerical solutions
PublicationWe consider the propagation of electromagnetic pulses in isotropic media taking a third-order nonlinearityinto account. We develop a method for transforming Maxwell's equations based on a complete set ofprojection operators corresponding to wave-dispersion branches (in a waveguide or in matter) with thepropagation direction taken into account. The most important result of applying the method is a systemof equations describing the...
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THE PANTOGRAPH AND ITS GEOMETRIC TRANSFORMATIONS - A FORMER POPULAR TOOL FOR COPYING AND SCALING
PublicationDevelopment of digital technology has resulted in significant transformations of designer workshops. Computer applications replaced the previously existing tools and methods for drawing up of projects. Professional, sophisticated drawing instruments and tools for manual plotting, as well as basic drawing aids, have gradually fallen into oblivion and become relicts of a bygone era - the objects of collectors' interest. Gdansk University...
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The Neural Knowledge DNA Based Smart Internet of Things
PublicationABSTRACT The Internet of Things (IoT) has gained significant attention from industry as well as academia during the past decade. Smartness, however, remains a substantial challenge for IoT applications. Recent advances in networked sensor technologies, computing, and machine learning have made it possible for building new smart IoT applications. In this paper, we propose a novel approach: the Neural Knowledge DNA based Smart Internet...
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A Model-Driven Solution for Development of Multimedia Stream Processing Applications
PublicationThis paper presents results of action research related to model-driven solutions in the area of multimedia stream processing. The practical problem to be solved was the need to support application developers who make their multimedia stream processing applications in a supercomputer environment. The solution consists of a domain-specific visual language for composing complex services from simple services called Multimedia Stream...
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"Food Oxidants and Antioxidants" Book review
PublicationThe book is the 14th title in the CRC series Chemical and Functional Properties of Food Components, edited since 2001 by Zdzisław E. Sikorski. The editor of the book, a professor in the University of Łódź and member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, is an internationally recognized authority in biochemistry and biophysics of reactive oxygen species. In Poland Grzegorz Bartosz has a reputation as the author of his most interesting...
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Reactive extrusion of biodegradable aliphatic polyesters in the presence of free-radical-initiators: A review
PublicationNowadays, growing attention is being paid to the environment and sustainability, what fully justified research works focused on modification of biodegradable polymers and their composites. In this field of research reactive extrusion seems to be the most promising approach, which fits well to sustainable development strategy. In In the present work, the in-situ modification of biodegradable aliphatic polyesters and the compatibilization...
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Tire/Road Noise On Poroelastic Road Surfaces - Results Of Laboratory Measurements
PublicationTire/road noise is the most important part of traffic noise for medium and high speed driving both in the case of passenger cars and trucks. The potential to make modification of tires that significantly reduce tire/road noise in nearly over, at least for conventional tires so the only promising action is to improve road pavements. One of the innovative solutions is poroelastic road pavement (PERS) that reduces airflow related...
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Analysis of the Environmental Impact of the Hull Construction of a Small Vessel Based on LCA
PublicationIn recent years, issues related to the impact of human activity on the natural environment have become pressing, and the challenge of global warming necessitates immediate action. To support environmental protection efforts, it has become imperative to adopt a broader perspective when evaluating various products and systems. A valuable tool for such assessments is a life cycle assessment (LCA), which enables a comprehensive analysis...
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Cancer immune escape: the role of antigen presentation machinery
PublicationThe mechanisms of antigen processing and presentation play a crucial role in the recognition and targeting of cancer cells by the immune system. Cancer cells can evade the immune system by downregulating or losing the expression of the proteins recognized by the immune cells as antigens, creating an immunosuppressive microenvironment, and altering their ability to process and present antigens. This review focuses on the mechanisms...
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Electrochemical investigations on corosivity of de-icing liquids for railway infrastructure
PublicationThe paper presents the results of electrochemical tests of the de-icing fluid for railway infrastructure. DC and AC electrochemical tests were performed to determine the corrosion rates of structural steel, cast iron and aluminium in the newly produced fluid. The results were compared with the corrosion rates of the same materials in the fluid without corrosion inhibitors. The obtained test results indicate a low corrosion risk...
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Jeffreys heat conduction in coupled semispaces subjected to interfacial heating
PublicationA Jeffreys heat conduction problem for coupled semispaces subjected to the action of an interfacial heat source was defined. An analytical solution of the problem was derived for a polynomial specific power of the heat source using the Laplace transform approach. The asymptotic and parametric analysis was performed for different ratios of thermal conductivities , thermal diffusivities , thermal relaxation times and coefficients...
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Molecular Imaging and Nanotechnology—Emerging Tools in Diagnostics and Therapy
PublicationPersonalized medicine is emerging as a new goal in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. This approach aims to establish differences between patients suffering from the same disease, which allows to choose the most effective treatment. Molecular imaging (MI) enables advanced insight into molecule interactions and disease pathology, improving the process of diagnosis and therapy and, for that reason, plays a crucial role in personalized...
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Failures and a concept of corrosion protection system for spiral classifiers at KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. Ore Concentration Plant
PublicationThe Ore Concentration Plant, where the process of flotation is carried out as well as the final production of copper concentrate, plays a key role in the entire production line of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. Majority of operations related to the run-of-mine preparation to copper flotation enrichment are carried out in a water environment. The maintaining of production process continuity requires to pursue minimisation of many production...
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Luminescence recognition material as an INHIBIT logic gate in presence of Pb2+ and Cu2+ ions in aqueous solutions
PublicationA recognition material consisting of silica xerogel with amino-modified surface selectively recognizes Pb2+ and Cu2+ (but only in presence of Pb2+ ions) in aqueous solutions of other metal ions. The analytical action of the material is based on a significant change in luminescence emission spectra of the material after chemisorption of Pb2+ ions. In the presence of Pb2+ in octahedral coordination environment, a new broad and strong...
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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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Silver nanoparticles induce premutagenic DNA oxidation that can be prevented by phytochemicals from Gentiana asclepiadea
PublicationAmong nanomaterials, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have the broadest and most commercial applications due to their antibacterial properties, highlighting the need for exploring their potential toxicity and underlying mechanisms of action. Our main aim was to investigate whether AgNPs exert toxicity by inducing oxidative damage to DNA in human kidney HEK 293 cells. In addition, we tested whether this damage could be counteracted...
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Utilization of fuzzy rules in computer character animation
PublicationThe chapter presents a method for automatic enhancement of computer character animation utilizing fuzzy inference. First the user designs a prototype version of animation, with keyframes only for important poses, roughly describing the action. Then animation is enriched with new motion phases calculated by the fuzzy inference system using descriptors given by the user. Various degrees of motion fluency and naturalness are possible...
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Cyanogenic Compounds and Estrogen Disruptors
PublicationBalanced diet consists largely of plants containing cyanogenic compounds in the form of the more common cyanogenic glycosides and sometimes lipids. Maize, wheat, rye, apples, barley, oats, sugar cane and yet many other plants consumed by humans contain cyanogenic compounds. However the risk of poisoning is negligible as it is very easy to remove the toxic HCN by grinding and drying in air or soaking in water and an additional...
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Therapeutic intervention by the simultaneous inhibition of DNA repair and type I or type II DNA topoisomerases: one strategy, many outcomes
PublicationMany anticancer drugs reduce the integrity of DNA, forming strand breaks. This can cause mutations and cancer or cell death if the lesions are not repaired. Interestingly, DNA repair-deficient cancer cells (e.g., those with BRCA1/2 mutations) have been shown to exhibit increased sensitivity to chemotherapy. Based on this observation, a new therapeutic approach termed 'synthetic lethality' has been developed, in which radiation...
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JamesBot - an intelligent agent playing StarCraft II
PublicationThe most popular method for optimizing a certain strategy based on a reward is Reinforcement Learning (RL). Lately, a big challenge for this technique are computer games such as StarCraft II which is a real-time strategy game, created by Blizzard. The main idea of this game is to fight between agents and control objects on the battlefield in order to defeat the enemy. This work concerns creating an autonomous bot using reinforced...
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Special techniques and future perspectives: Simultaneous macro- and micro-electrode recordings
PublicationThere are many approaches to studying the inner workings of the brain and its highly interconnected circuits. One can look at the global activity in different brain structures using non-invasive technologies like positron emission tomography (PET) or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which measure physiological changes, e.g. in the glucose uptake or blood flow. These can be very effectively used to localize active patches...
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SMART AND RESILIENT CITIES – NEW CHALLENGES FOR POLISH CITIES IN TERMS OF 2020 BUILDING ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION.
PublicationGlobal climate change action along with energy efficiency optimizations are becoming increasingly pressing principles in terms of moving towards sustainable development. As a member of EU and UN Poland is also obliged to follow restricted rules concerning energy efficiency of buildings which come to force in 2020. To meet new goals, innovative approaches - like moving towards smart and resilient cities -may be required. Through...
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Genetic and Epigenetic Aspects of Atopic Dermatitis
PublicationAtopic dermatitis is a heterogeneous disease, in which the pathogenesis is associated with mutations in genes encoding epidermal structural proteins, barrier enzymes, and their inhibitors; the role of genes regulating innate and adaptive immune responses and environmental factors inducing the disease is also noted. Recent studies point to the key role of epigenetic changes in the development of the disease. Epigenetic modifications...
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An algorithm to generate high dense packing of particles with various shapes
PublicationDiscrete Element Method (DEM) is one of available numerical methods to compute movement of particles in large scale simulations. The method has been frequently applied to simulate the cases of grain or bulk material as the major research issue. The paper describes a new method of generating high dense packing with mixed material of two different shape used in DEM simulation. The initial packing is an important parameter to control,...
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Recycling of photovoltaic modules - legal status, technology, market prospects
PublicationThe increase in the number of manufactured and installed photovoltaic modules and the growing concern about the insufficient supply of pure silicon imply the need to take action to develop infrastructure for recycling PV modules. The article presents a multifaceted analysis of the current state of development of the photovoltaic module recycling sector from a global and national perspective. The essence of the issue was introduced...
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A novel hierarchically-porous diamondized polyacrylonitrile sponge-like electrodes for acetaminophen electrochemical detection
PublicationA novel composite electrode material consisting of tangled fibrous polyacrylonitrile-based hierarchically-struc- tured nanocomposites has been produced by wet-spinning, carbonized and decorated with a carbon nano- architecture by microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and investigated as a metal-free electrode for the enhanced electrochemical detection of acetaminophen. Surprisingly, the hierarchical fiber ar- chitecture...
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Targeting DNA Topoisomerase II in Antifungal Chemotherapy.
PublicationTopoisomerase inhibitors have been in use clinically for the treatment of several diseases for decades. Although those enzymes are significant molecular targets in antibacterial and anticancer chemotherapy very little is known about the possibilities to target fungal topoisomerase II (topo II). Raising concern for the fungal infections, lack of effective drugs and a phenomenon of multidrug resistance underlie a strong need to expand...
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Duhem and Natanson: Two Mathematical Approaches to Thermodynamics
PublicationIn this article, the previously unrecognized contributions of Pierre Duhem and Ladislavus Natanson in thermodynamics are shown. The mathematical remodelling of a few of their principal ideas is taken into consideration, despite being neglected in the literature. To emphasize these ideas in an appropriate epistemological order, it would be crucial to first revalue and reconstruct some underrepresented parts of the proceedings process...
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NLITED - New Level of Integrated Techniques for Daylighting Education: Preliminary Data on the Use of an E-learning Platform
PublicationProject NLITED – New Level of Integrated Techniques for Daylighting Education - is an educational project for students and professionals. The project's objective is to create and develop an online eLearning platform with 32 eModules dedicated to daylight knowledge. The project also offers e-learners two summer school training where the theory is put into practice. The platform was launched on January 31, 2022. The paper...
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Towards an Understanding of the Stability Assessment of Floating Buildings
PublicationOne of the most important aspects of the design of floating facilities such as ships, floating offshore structures or floating houses is stability. Its impact on both general safety and operational aspects renders it a fundamental consideration already in preliminary design stages. Usually, the concept of sufficient stability of floating buildings is associated with the ability to keep an allowed heel angle and residual freeboard,...
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Towards Greater Citizen Participation in Financing Public Cultural Institutions—Legal Barriers and Proposed Solutions
PublicationThe paper contains a conceptual proposal that aims at indicating new models of participatory financing of cultural institutions as well as actions towards supporting culture. It presents results of a qualitative study in the form of action research, on identifying legal barriers of financing of cultural institutions in Poland. Additionally, it presents practical suggestions to the encountered problems that were worked out after...
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Impact of the Artificial Strait in the Vistula Spit on the Hydrodynamics of the Vistula Lagoon (Baltic Sea)
PublicationIn the Vistula Lagoon, storm surges are induced by variable sea levels in the Gulf of Gdańsk and wind action. The rising of the water level in the southern part of the basin, exceeding 1.0 m above mean sea level, can be dangerous for the lowland area of Żuławy Elbląskie, causing the inundation of the polders adjacent to the lagoon. One of the potential possibilities to limit the flood risk is to decrease the water level in the...
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Basic sensitivity analysis of a telecommunication tower complementing standard reinforcement design process
PublicationThis paper presents straightforward sensitivity assessment of a telecommunication tower. The analysis is set toidentify the elements of the tower which may be reinforced with the greatest structural advantage. As current expertopin ions on structural redesign of similar structures due to a planned addition of extra loads are mainly based ondeterministic computations or engineering intuition,...
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On the Modern and Postmodern Paradigms of Ideology and Social Criticism
PublicationThe article takes on the problem of ideology, critical consciousness and social criticism and distinguishes two ways of thematizing it. The first approach is developed within the post-Hegelian framework. According to this paradigm, critique of ideology is a means of transgressing the antagonistic forms of socialization and emancipating humanity from the false forms of consciousness and corresponding irrational and oppressive social...
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Impact of selected drugs and their binary mixtures on the germination of Sorghum bicolor (sorgo) seeds
PublicationThe aim of this study was to assess the toxicological potential of binary drug mixtures and individual drugs under different pH conditions with different inorganic ion additions on the germination of Sorghum bicolor (sorgo) seeds. To assess whether the given drug mixtures were more phytotoxic than the individual compounds, concentration addition (CA) and independent action (IA) approaches were applied to estimate the predicted...
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Are the short cationic lipopeptides bacterial membrane disruptors? Structure-Activity Relationship and molecular dynamic evaluation
PublicationShort cationic lipopeptides are amphiphilic molecules that exhibit antimicrobial activity mainly against Grampositives. These compounds bind to bacterial membranes and disrupt their integrity. Here we examine the structure-activity relation (SAR) of lysine-based lipopeptides, with a prospect to rationally design more active compounds. The presented study aims to explain how antimicrobial activity of lipopeptides is affected by...
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The Impact of Hybrid Flame Retardant Compositions on the Performance of Foamed Flexible Polyurethane/Ground Tire Rubber Composites
PublicationCurrent sustainability-oriented trends affect polyurethane (PU) materials and stimulate the incorporation of recycled or waste-based materials as fillers. Ground tire rubber (GTR) poses as an auspicious candidate due to the excellent performance of car tires. Despite the benefits related to the mechanical performance, it contributes to the increasing flammability of the resulting composites. Herein, presented work assessed the...
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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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Growth inhibition of cultured cancer cells by Ribes nigrum leaf extract
PublicationThe present article includes data on the possible selective cytotoxic effect of extract of Ribes nigrum L. growing at high Armenian landscape. For this purpose, different non-cancer (microglial BV-2 wild type (Wt), acyl-CoA oxidase 1 (ACOX1) deficient (Acox1-/-) and cancer (human colon adenocarcinoma HT29 and human breast cancer MCF7) cell lines were applied. R. nigrum leaf ethanol extract showed a growth inhibition effect towards...
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Unusual divergence of magnetoacoustic beams
PublicationTwo-dimensional magnetosonic beams directed along a line forming a constant angle h with the equilibrium straight magnetic field are considered. Perturbations in a plasma are described by the system of ideal magnetohydrodynamic equations. The dynamics of perturbations in a beam are different in the cases of fast and slow modes, and it is determined by h and equilibrium parameters of a plasma. In particular, a beam divergence may...
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Enhanced Toxicity of Bisphenols Together with UV Filters in Water: Identification of Synergy and Antagonism in Three-Component Mixtures
PublicationContaminants of emerging concern (CEC) localize in the biome in variable combinations of complex mixtures that are often environmentally persistent, bioaccumulate and biomagnify, prompting a need for extensive monitoring. Many cosmetics include UV filters that are listed as CECs, such as benzophenone derivatives (oxybenzone, OXYB), cinnamates (2-ethylhexyl 4-methoxycinnamate, EMC) and camphor derivatives (4-methylbenzylidene-camphor,...
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Is Digital Government Advancing Sustainable Governance? A Study of OECD/EU Countries
PublicationInternational bodies and numerous authors advocate a key role for Digital Government (DG) in improving public governance and achieving other policy outcomes. Today, a particularly relevant outcome is advancing Sustainable Governance (SG), i.e., the capacity to steer and coordinate public action towards sustainable development. This article performs an empirical study of the relationship between DG and SG using data about 41 OECD/EU...
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Novel chalcone-derived pyrazoles as potential therapeutic agents for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer
PublicationLung cancer is considered to account for approximately one-fifth of all malignant tumor-related deaths worldwide and is therefore one of the most lethal malignancies. Pyrazole scaffold possesses a wide range of biological and pharmacological activities, which play important roles in medicinal chemistry. The present study reports the synthesis and in vitro biological characterization of nine pyrazoles derived from chalcones as potential...
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Perfect thermal contact of hyperbolic conduction semispaces with an interfacial heat source
PublicationThe problem of thermal contact between two bodies with a heat source at their interface presents great scientific and practical interest. On the time scale of a nanosecond or shorter, heat propagation should be considered in the form of thermal waves of finite speeds. This study investigated the thermal behaviour of hyperbolic conduction semispaces in perfect thermal contact subjected to the action of an interfacial heat source....
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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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Edgewise Compressive Behavior of Composite Structural Insulated Panels with Magnesium Oxide Board Facings
PublicationEdgewise compression response of a composite structural insulated panel (CSIP) with magnesium oxide board facings was investigated. The discussed CSIP is a novel multifunctional sandwich panel introduced to the housing industry as a part of the wall, floor, and roof assemblies. The study aims to propose a computational tool for reliable prediction of failure modes of CSIPs subjected to concentric and eccentric axial loads. An advanced...
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Bisphenols (A, S, and F) affect the basic hormonal activity determined for pharmaceuticals – Study of Saccharomyces cerevisiae
PublicationPharmaceuticals and analogs of bisphenol A (BPA) are increasingly threatening environmental pollutants. In this study, mixtures of selected pharmaceuticals (diclofenac sodium salt, chloramphenicol, oxytetracycline hydrochloride, fluoxetine hydrochloride, estrone, ketoprofen, progesterone, gemfibrozil and androstenedione) were prepared with BPA and its two analogs (namely, bisphenols F and S) at such ratios to reflect environmentally...
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Analysis and improvement attempt of prof. Alan Fowler’s negotiation game
PublicationThe main goal of the following article is to design an improved version of the negotiation game created by prof. Alan Fowler (Fowler, 1997). I have tried to achieve this by constructing four separate versions of the game which represent different approaches while preserving rules, chosen basic technical assumptions and the simplicity of the base game. Each version of the game is supposed to i.a. make it less obvious, create new...