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Experimental study on effectiveness of polymer dampers in reduction of structural vibrations
PublicationVibrations of civil engineering structures, generated by dynamic loads, may be very dangerous to the structures themselves as well as may have significant influence on human perception and comfort. A number of different methods have been proposed in order to minimize such situations. This concern newly designed structures as well as those which dynamic properties have to be modified due to problems with excessive vibrations. One...
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Curing characteristics, mechanical properties and morphology of butyl rubber filled with ground tire rubber (GTR)
PublicationThe results on testing application of ground tire rubber (GTR), as potential filler for butyl rubber, are pre- sented. The GTR content variation, within the range of 10–90 phr, was studied with respect to the vulcanization process, static mechanical properties (tensile strength, elongation-at-break, hardness and resilience), dynamic mechanical properties and the morphology of the obtained vulcanizates. Butyl rubber was characterized...
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Novel nitrogen precursors for electrochemically driven doping of titania nanotubes exhibiting enhanced photoactivity
PublicationNitrogen doped titania nanotubes were successfully sensitized by electrochemical method, i.e. as-anodized titania was immersed in different amine (diethyleneamine-DETA, triethyleneamine-TEA, ethylenediamine-EDA) and urea (U) solution and a constant potential was applied. The highly ordered morphology of fabricated N-TiO2 was investigated by using scanning electron microscopy. Spectroscopic techniques, i.e. UV-Vis spectroscopy,...
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Cooperative control in production and logistics
PublicationClassical applications of control engineering and information and communication technology (ICT) in production and logistics are often done in a rigid, centralized and hierarchical way. These inflexible approaches are typically not able to cope with the complexities of the manufacturing environment, such as the instabilities, uncertainties and abrupt changes caused by internal and external disturbances, or a large number and variety...
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New Technologies Adoption and Diffusion Patterns in Developing Countries. An Empirical Study for the Period 2000-2011
PublicationIn recent years, enormous changes are noted worldwide when broad adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). These unique technologies – often perceived as economic development incentives – have a great ability to spread at high pace and low cost in world countries, bringing to people opportunities to contribute to economic development and growth. New Technologies play a special role in developing countries, where...
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Atomistic Surrogate-Based Optimization for Simulation-Driven Design of Computationally Expensive Microwave Circuits with Compact Footprints
PublicationA robust simulation-driven design methodology for computationally expensive microwave circuits with compact footprints has been presented. The general method introduced in this chapter is suitable for a wide class of N-port un-conventional microwave circuits constructed as a deviation from classic design solutions. Conventional electromagnetic (EM) simulation-driven design routines are generally prohibitive when applied to numerically...
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DETERMINATION OF OBJECTIVES FOR URBAN FREIGHT POLICY
PublicationBackground: Decisions regarding strategic planning of urban freight transport very often are based on superficial assumptions inadequately reflecting the actual character of encountered challenges. The trend may be observed to adapt isolated solutions without supporting measures and verification of expected outcomes. Selected urban freight solutions have a significant potential to alleviate transport related problems, but they...
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Teratomas of Drosera capensis var. alba as a source of naphthoquinone: ramentaceone
PublicationPlants belonging to genus Drosera (family Droseraceae) contain pharmacologically active naphthoquinones such as ramentaceone and plumbagin. Hairy root cultures obtained following Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation have been reported to produce elevated levels of secondary compounds as well as exhibit desirable rapid biomass accumulation in comparison to untransformed plants. The aim of this study was to establish...
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Membrane-SPME the best 'green' sample preparation technique for the gas chromatographic determination polar organic pollutants in polar media
PublicationOne of the most popular technique for sample preparation, which fulfill requirements of green analytical chemistry, is solid phase microextraction (SPME). Because of the undoubted advantages of SPME technique, solvent-free character of the extraction process and the enormous potential in analytical practice, a series of studies has been undertaken to develop new technical solutions, where improving the sensitivity and the extraction...
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Coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations in optic fibers theory
PublicationIn this paper a detailed derivation and numerical solutions of CoupledNonlinear Schr¨odinger Equations for pulses of polarized electromagnetic wavesin cylindrical fibers has been reviewed. Our recent work has been compared withsome previous ones and the advantage of our new approach over other methods hasbeen assessed. The novelty of our approach lies is an attempt to proceed withoutloss of information within the frame of basic...
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Kłamliwe, udane i błędne metafory sztucznej inteligencji chatbotów
PublicationW czasach, gdy tzw. sztuczna inteligencja staje się integralną częścią dużych modeli języ-kowych, osobistych asystentów czy np. tzw. inteligentnego domu, coraz ważniejsze staje się po-znanie czynników postaw wobec niej i jej narzędzi. Obserwowany świt nowych możliwości identyfikowanych ze sztuczną inteligencją skłania do lepszego poznania metafor, którymi jest opisywana. Metafory stanowią bowiem nie tylko klucz do wyjaśniania nieznanego,...
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Fiscal decentralization in the European Countries: a cluster analysis approach
PublicationThe scope of public authority depend on many factors. One of them is a declaration, usually expressed in the constitution of a given country (Sferlea, 2014, Libman, 2010, Nehmelman, Vetzo, 2016) of the application of the decentralisation principle in the performance of public tasks. Despite this declaration, the structure of the public sector and the tasks carried out at different levels in particular countries are not identical....
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Fundamentals of Data-Driven Surrogate Modeling
PublicationThe primary topic of the book is surrogate modeling and surrogate-based design of high-frequency structures. The purpose of the first two chapters is to provide the reader with an overview of the two most important classes of modeling methods, data-driven (or approx-imation), as well as physics-based ones. These are covered in Chap-ters 1 and 2, respectively. The remaining parts of the book give an exposition of the specific aspects...
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A novel architecture of Web-GIS for mapping and analysis of echinococcosis in Poland
PublicationEchinococcosis is an infectious disease transferred through ingestion of food or water which have been contaminated with eggs of the Echinococcus tapeworm, which are spread by intermediate parasite hosts. Because the latter are primarily territorial, research related to diagnosis and prevention of echinococcosis requires investigation of environmental factors, which can be supported with the use of a Geographical Information System...
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Novel ABTS-dot-blot method for the assessment of antioxidant properties of food packaging
PublicationThe new ABTS-dot-blot method for the direct determination of antioxidant activity of active packaging that is in contact with foodstuffs has been developed. The usefulness of the new method was verified with the use of agarose, pork gelatin, bacterial cellulose and cellulose-chitosan films with incorporated standard antioxidant – Trolox or plant phytochemicals derived from three types of berry juices (chokeberry, blue-berried honeysuckle,...
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Phosphorus and nitrogen forms in liquid fraction of digestates from agricultural biogas plants
PublicationThe novelty of the presented research is the determination of the nitrogen and phosphorus fraction in the liquid fraction of digestate from agricultural biogas plants. This information is important because it can help in proposing possible further liquid fraction management or developing of new technologies for their purification. The research covered digestates from agricultural biogas plants, obtained from the fermentation of...
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Limiting distribution of the three-state semi-Markov model of technical state transitions of ship power plant machines and its applicability in operational decision-making.
PublicationThe article presents the three-state semi-Markov model of the process {W(t): t 0} of state transitions of a ship power plant machine, with the following interpretation of these states: s1 – state of full serviceability, s2 – state of partial serviceability, and s3 – state of unserviceability. These states are precisely defined for the ship main engine (ME). A hypothesis is proposed which explains the possibility of application...
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Novel 2-alkythio-4-chloro-N-[imino(heteroaryl)methyl]benzenesulfonamide Derivatives: Synthesis, Molecular Structure, Anticancer Activity and Metabolic Stability
PublicationA series of novel 2-alkythio-4-chloro-N-[imino-(heteroaryl)methyl]benzenesulfonamide derivatives, 8–24, were synthesized in the reaction of the N-(benzenesulfonyl)cyanamide potassium salts 1–7 with the appropriate mercaptoheterocycles. All the synthesized compounds were evaluated for their anticancer activity in HeLa, HCT-116 and MCF-7 cell lines. The most promising compounds, 11–13, molecular hybrids containing benzenesulfonamide...
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Ground lemon and stevia leaves as renewable functional fillers with antioxidant activity for high-density polyethylene composites
PublicationThe development of new sustainable material solutions in the processing of thermoplastic polymers concerns both the application of biopolymers and the use of valorized plant derivatives as fillers and modifiers of petrochemical polymers. Herein, the possibility of using unprocessed raw parts of two commonly used in the food industry leaves, i.e., lemon (LL) and stevia (ST), as active and functional fillers for high-density polyethylene...
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Corncob-supported calcium oxide nanoparticles from hen eggshells for cadmium (Cd-II) removal from aqueous solutions; Synthesis and characterization
PublicationThis study investigated the efficient removal of cadmium ions from aqueous solutions using calcium oxide nanoparticles (CaO NPs) synthesized from waste hen eggshells using a Sol-gel method and supported on corncob bio-adsorbent. The synthesized CaO NPs were characterized using FT-IR, XRD, specific surface area, and TGA. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted to examine the influence of process parameters such as adsorbent...
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Migration of trace elements and radioisotopes to various fractions of solid wastes generated as a result of the sewage sludge incineration process
PublicationThe research was aimed at providing new knowledge in the field of chemical characteristics of solid waste generated in the process of combustion of sewage sludge in fluidized bed furnaces. The research material consisted of disposed fluidized beds (DFB), sewage sludge ash (SSA) and air pollution control residues (APC) from three Polish installations for the thermal treatment of sewage sludge. Natural radionuclides as well as anthropogenic...
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Numerical modeling of PFAS movement through the vadose zone: Influence of plant water uptake and soil organic carbon distribution
PublicationIn this study, we investigated the effects of soil organic carbon (SOC) distribution and water uptake by plant roots on PFAS movement in the vadose zone with a deep groundwater table under temperate, humid climate conditions. Two series of numerical simulations were performed with the HYDRUS computer code, representing the leaching of historical PFOS contamination and the infiltration of water contaminated with PFOA, respectively. We...
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Effect of Chitosan Solution on Low-Cohesive Soil’s Shear Modulus G Determined through Resonant Column and Torsional Shearing Tests
PublicationIn this study the effect of using a biopolymer soil stabilizer on soil stiffness characteristics was investigated. Chitosan is a bio-waste material that is obtained by chemical treatment of chitin (a chemical component of fungi or crustaceans’ shells). Using chitosan solution as a soil stabilizer is based on the assumption that the biopolymer forms temporary bonds with soil particles. What is important is that these bonds are biodegradable,...
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Environmentally Friendly Fabrication of High-Efficient Fe-ZnO/Citric Acid-Modified Cellulose Composite and the Enhancement of Photocatalytic Activity in the Presence of H2O2
PublicationIn the present study, a novel Fe-ZnO/citric acid-modified cellulose composite (x%Fe-ZnOy% CAC) was synthesized using an environmentally friendly hydrothermal method. The obtained samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV−vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nitrogen physisorption, and electrochemical and photocurrent density...
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Managing Unemployment under COVID-19 Conditions (States of Emergency or Crisis)
PublicationRising unemployment is one of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in many countries. This, in turn, has forcedpolicymakers to respond immediately with policy tools to minimize unemployment. The purpose of our study is to contribute toempirical knowledge by looking at activities of 40 local government units to counteract unemployment in the cross-border regionon the Polish side. In doing this, our study contributes to the...
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Post‐Second World War Reconstruction of Polish Cities: The Interplay Between Politics and Paradigms
PublicationBy the end of the Second World War, many of the Polish cities—and especially their historic centres—were in ruins. This was caused by both bombings and sieges conducted by the Nazis and Soviets. The particular group of cities is associated with former German lands—now called the “Recovered Territories”—which were incorporated into the borders of Poland as compensation for its Eastern Borderlands lost to the Soviet Union. These...
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Behaviour of deformed steel columns exposed to impact load during earthquakes: numerical analysis
PublicationIt has been observed during earthquakes that the so called soft-storey failure of an upper floor of a building leads to considerable vertical impact load acting on structural members of the lower storeys. The aim of this paper is to investigate numerically the behaviour of horizontally deformed columns (deformation as the result of earthquake loading) that are additionally subjected to vertical impact load. In the first stage of...
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Implementation of the Concept of Flexicurity in the Selected Countries of Central Eastern Europe
PublicationThe CEE countries have to create their own flexicurity policies which would take into account the employment policy guidelines, cultural traditions and socio-economic development. The aim of this article is to examine and evaluate the implementation of the flexicurity concept on the basis of the adopted set of composite indicators. The study covers 9 countries of the CEE region, and the research period covers the years 2007 and 2013....
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THE RISE OF FISCAL OPACITY IN POLAND IN THE ERA OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
PublicationResearch background: The quality of information provided by the fiscal authorities and the correct flow of this information between them and the society are very important especially in times of crisis, when there is an imbalance in public finances and an increasing public debt. Ensuring fiscal transparency (transparency of public finances) reduces fiscal risk and corruption and supports public acceptance of fiscal reforms. Purpose...
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Dynamic Route Discovery Using Modified Grasshopper Optimization Algorithm in Wireless Ad-Hoc Visible Light Communication Network
PublicationIn recent times, visible light communication is an emerging technology that supports high speed data communication for wireless communication systems. However, the performance of the visible light communication system is impaired by inter symbol interference, the time dispersive nature of the channel, and nonlinear features of the light emitting diode that significantly reduces the bit error rate performance. To address these problems,...
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The concept of stream and system reliability on the example of the bakery industry
PublicationThis article presents a new concept of technological system reliability based on the analysis of the relationship of associations of elements of energy streams, matter, information, time and finance. The method of stream specification and the method of determining the reliability values of significant and supporting relationships are given. Relevant relationships between elements of system streams were defined as having one-time...
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A natural deep eutectic solvent - protonated L-proline-xylitol - based stationary phase for gas chromatography
PublicationThe paper presents a new kind of stationary phase for gas chromatography based on deep eutectic solvents (DES) in the form of a mixture of L-proline (protonated with hydrochloric acid) as a hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA) and xylitol as a hydrogen bond donor (HBD) in a molar ratio of HBA:HBD 5:1. DES immobilized on a silanized chromatographic support was tested by gas chromatography (GC) in order to determine its resolving power for...
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Determinants and effects of Poland’s road accidents in the context of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development – poviat level analysis for the years 2010-2019
PublicationThe objective of the research was to assess how selected factors influence road safety in Poland’s poviats. To that end, an analysis was conducted of road accident determinants and effects in the poviats in the years 2010-2019. The time horizon fits in with Goal 3.6. of Agenda 2030, which is to halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2020. The article pres-ents the analysis results for the...
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Investigation into the Effect of Spinel Pigments on the Photostability and Combustion Properties of Ethylene-Norbornene Copolymer
PublicationMulticolor ethylene-norbornene (EN) composites filled with three different spinel pigments (Cobalt Green-PG50, Zinc Iron Yellow-PY 119, Praseodym Yellow-PY159) were prepared by melt mixing and characterized in terms of their stability under destructive environmental conditions. The EN films were subjected to accelerated aging by ultraviolet (UV) photooxidation for 300 h, 600 h, or 900 h. The mechanical performance of the EN composites...
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Entrepreneurial competencies and intentions among students of technical universities
PublicationThe study investigates the entrepreneurial competencies and intentions of students. Their formation is a requirement of modern times. The question arises whether students of modern technical universities get entrepreneurial competencies and whether they transform these competencies into their entrepreneurial intentions. More than 3.6 thousand students from six technical universities from Poland, Ukraine, Latvia, Bulgaria, and Lithuania...
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The potential interaction of environmental pollutants and circadian rhythm regulations that may cause leukemia
PublicationTumor suppressor genes are highly affected during the development of leukemia, including circadian clock genes. Circadian rhythms constitute an evolutionary molecular machinery involving many genes, such as BMAL1, CLOCK, CRY1, CRY2, PER1, PER2, REV-ERBa, and RORA, for tracking time and optimizing daily life during day-night cycles and seasonal changes. For circulating blood cells many of these genes coordinate their proliferation,...
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Using Convolutional Neural Networks for Corneal Arcus Detection Towards Familial Hypercholesterolemia Screening
PublicationFamilial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a highly undiagnosed disease. Among FH patients, the onset of premature coronary artery disease is 13 times higher than in the general population. Early diagnosis and treatment is essential to prevent cardiovascular diseases and their complications, and to prolong life. One of the clinical criteria of FH is the occurrence of a corneal arcus (CA) among patients, especially those under 45 years...
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Mathematical Modeling of Ice Thrusting on the Shore of the Vistula Lagoon (Baltic Sea) and the Proposed Artificial Island
PublicationCoastal lagoons are inland and shallow water bodies, separated from the ocean by a barrier. In cold regions, ice phenomena in shallow water coastal lagoons occur every winter season. Ice is predominantly formed on the surface due to density stratification and surface cooling. The ice dynamics in such areas are dominantly affected by winds. Water dynamics also cause ice movement, but due to the large areal scale of lagoons, the...
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Shared processor scheduling of multiprocessor jobs
PublicationWe study a problem of shared processor scheduling of multiprocessor weighted jobs. Each job can be executed on its private processor and simultaneously on possibly many processors shared by all jobs. This simultaneous execution reduces their completion times due to the processing time overlap. Each of the m shared processors may charge a different fee but otherwise the processors are identical. The goal is to maximize the total...
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Neural Architecture Search for Skin Lesion Classification
PublicationDeep neural networks have achieved great success in many domains. However, successful deployment of such systems is determined by proper manual selection of the neural architecture. This is a tedious and time-consuming process that requires expert knowledge. Different tasks need very different architectures to obtain satisfactory results. The group of methods called the neural architecture search (NAS) helps to find effective architecture...
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Innovative Research Into Road Restraint Systems
PublicationKey to understanding the needs and building road infrastructure management tools to prevent and mitigate run-off-road accidents is to identify hazards and their sources which are a result of wrong design, construction, installation and maintenance of road restraint systems [1]. Building such tools requires advanced studies with field tests, simulations and models to demonstrate the effects of selected parameters on road user safety...
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Chromatographic behavior of a new hybrid type RP material containing silica bonded 1,3-alternate 25,27-bis-[cyanopropyloxy]-26,28-bis-[3-propyloxy]-calix[4]arene
PublicationA novel 1,3-alternate 25,27-bis-[cyanopropyloxy]-26,28-bis-[3-propyloxy]-calix[4]arene-bonded silica gel stationary phase (CalixPrCN) was prepared and it's structure was confirmed by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The CalixPrCN phase was characterized in terms of their surface coverage, hydrophobic selectivity, aromatic selectivity, shape selectivity, hydrogen bonding capacity, residue metal content, and silanol...
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Implementation of Addition and Subtraction Operations in Multiple Precision Arithmetic
PublicationIn this paper, we present a digital circuit of arithmetic unit implementing addition and subtraction operations in multiple-precision arithmetic (MPA). This adder-subtractor unit is a part of MPA coprocessor supporting and offloading the central processing unit (CPU) in computations requiring precision higher than 32/64 bits. Although addition and subtraction operations of two n-digit numbers require O(n) operations, the efficient...
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The influence of small intestinal mucus structure on particle transport ex vivo
PublicationMucus provides a barrier to bacteria and toxins while allowing nutrient absorption and waste transport. Unlike colonic mucus, small intestinal mucus structure is poorly understood. This study aimed to provide evidence for a continuous, structured mucus layer and assess the diffusion of different sized particles through it. Mucus structure was assessed by histology and immunohistochemistry. Ultra-structure was assessed by scanning...
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Estimating the Impact of Inflow on the Chemistry of Two Different Caldera Type Lakes Located on the Bali Island (Indonesia)
PublicationThis paper is a preliminary attempt to assess the composition of pollutants in two different caldera lakes situated in the Indonesian Archipelago: Batur and Bratan. Both lakes are characterized by largely different physico-chemical regimes; Batur Lake is located in an area that is currently volcanically active, unlike Bratan Lake. The latter is much smaller and shallower than Batur Lake. The concentration of pollutants in the Indonesian...
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A Method for the Evaluation of Urban Freight Transport Models as a Tool for Improving the Delivery of Sustainable Urban Transport Policy
PublicationThe article presents a method which helps local authorities to evaluate urban freight transport models. Given the complex requirements for input data and the inability to supply them for most cities, a proper quantitative evaluation of model functionality may be quite difficult for local authorities. Freight transport models designed to support sustainable urban freight transport objectives are a particular example. To overcome...
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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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Fabrication and photoactivity of ionic liquid–TiO2 structures for efficient visible-light-induced photocatalytic decomposition of organic pollutants in aqueous phase
PublicationTo investigate the effect of the ionic liquid (IL) chain length on the surface properties and photoactivity of TiO2, a series of TiO2 microspheres have been synthesized via a solvothermal method assisted by 1-methyl-3-octadecylimidazolium chloride ([ODMIM][Cl]) and 1-methyl-3-tetradecylimidazolium chloride ([TDMIM][Cl]). All as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy...
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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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Corrosivity of environment and the current state of the steel elements at the former Auschwitz concentration camp
PublicationThe objective of this study was to assess corrosivity of the atmospheric environment in the former Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp, and to identify the protective properties of existing corrosion products in order to estimate the actual corrosion rate of original steel elements located there. The current atmospheric corrosivity of the former Auschwitz camp, specified during one year of exposure...