Filters
total: 1424
filtered: 970
Search results for: RAILROAD TIES
-
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....
-
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...
-
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,...
-
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...
-
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...
-
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...
-
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,...
-
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...
-
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...
-
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...
-
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...
-
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...
-
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...
-
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...
-
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,...
-
Analizy ilości i jakości odpływu wód deszczowych i roztopowych z kontrolowanej zlewni zurbanizowanej
PublicationIstotnym problemem Gdańska staje się bezpieczeństwo ekologiczne związane ze spływami miejskimi odprowadzanymi bezpośrednio do wód powierzchniowych, często akwenów użyteczności publicznej. W latach 2011÷2013, Katedra Hydrotechniki Wydziału Inżynierii Lądowej i Środowiska Politechniki Gdańskiej, we współpracy z Wojewódzkim Funduszem Ochrony Środowiska i Gospodarki Wodnej w Gdańsku oraz Gdańskimi Melioracjami, podjęła się wdrożenia...
-
W stronę spersonalizowanego miasta?
PublicationOd czasów Platona i Witruwiusza nie ustają wysiłki na rzecz dążenia do prawdy, dobra i piękna skupione wokół miasta jako idei politycznej i przestrzeni fundamentalnie egzystencjalnej. Towarzyszy im od wieków myślenie o idealnej organizacji i kompozycji miasta, o poczuciu podmiotowości mieszkańców i użytkowników, doświadczaniu przez nich czasu i przestrzeni. Szczególnie w ostatnich dekadach, gdy już nie przestrzeń, a czas i jego...
-
Heat transfer enhancement of modular thermal energy storage unit for reversible heat pump cooperation
PublicationThe following article presents experimental comparison research on a hexagonal shelland-tube latent thermal energy storage (TES). Such shape of a shell was deliberately chosen instead of a cylindrical one due to its high modularity and with intent for future applications in automobiles (EV and PHEV) air conditioning systems (HVAC). Two geometries of helical coils, acting as tubes, were studied in this article. One was a simple...
-
Zarządzanie terminowością w projektach. Wskaźniki i narzędzia
PublicationCzas jest istotnym elementem tzw. trójkąta projektu, dlatego też terminowość, rozu-miana, jako realizacja przedsięwzięcia w zadanym czasie, to parametr, który powinien podle-gać szczególnemu nadzorowi, a ryzyko nieterminowej realizacji powinno być wykrywane niezwłocznie. Istniejące już metody, takie jak np. wartość wypracowana (j.ang Earned Value - EV) pozwalają zaadresować te wyzwania, jednak ze względu na swoją złożoność mogą...
-
The impact of global value chains on wages, employment, and productivity: a survey of theoretical approaches
PublicationThis study presents a systematic literature review to provide a collection of theories explaining the impact of global value chains (GVCs) on labour market outcomes. Due to the complex nature of GVCs and the interconnectedness of wages, employment, and productivity, many direct and indirect effects are at play. To ensure a transparent and systematic flow of the review process, I follow the PRISMA guide. Eventually, 36 records out...
-
Impact of high-pressure processing on the bioactive compounds of milk - A comprehensive review
PublicationHigh-pressure processing (HPP) is a promising alternative to thermal pasteurization. Recent studies highlighted the effectivity of HPP (400–600 MPa and exposure times of 1–5 min) in reducing pathogenic microflora for up to 5 logs. Analysis of modern scientific sources has shown that pressure affects the main components of milk including fat globules, lactose, casein micelles. The behavior of whey proteins under HPP is very important...
-
Reverberation divergence in VR applications
PublicationThis project aimed to investigate the correlation between virtual reality (VR) imagery and ambisonic sound. With the increasing popularity of VR applications, understanding how sound is perceived in virtual environments is crucial for enhancing the immersiveness of the experience. In the experiment, participants were immersed in a virtual environment that replicated a concert hall. Their task was to assess the correspondence between...
-
Variable Data Structures and Customized Deep Learning Surrogates for Computationally Efficient and Reliable Characterization of Buried Objects
PublicationIn this study, in order to characterize the buried object via deep-learning-based surrogate modeling approach, 3-D full-wave electromagnetic simulations of a GPR model has been used. The task is to predict simultaneously and independent of each characteristic parameters of a buried object of several radii at different positions (depth and lateral position) in various dispersive subsurface media. This study has analyzed variable...
-
Towards sustainable catalyst-free biomass-based polyurethane-wood composites (PU-WC): From valorization and liquefaction to future generation of biocomposites
PublicationA substantial aspect of materials engineering lies in the responsible process of designing polymer-based materials. Due to environmental pollution, excessive consumption of natural resources, and increasing environmental awareness of society, there is a massive need for polyurethane (PU) materials with reduced environmental impact. To date, research on catalyst-free polyurethane-wood composites (PU-WC) has demonstrated a huge potential...
-
Uncertainty of Postmortem Time Estimation Based on Potassium Ion Determination in Vitreous Humor Using Potentiometric Ion-Selective Electrode and Microwave-Induced Plasma with Optical Emission Spectrometry Methods
PublicationThere is a need for a reliable and independent evaluation and confirmation of the post-mortem interval (PMI) based on objective factors other than only postmortem changes or temperature measurements. Estimating the PMI by examining the concentration of potassium ions in the vitreous humor (VH) has a tradition in forensic toxicology dating back to the mid-20th century. So far, the methods for determining the presence of potassium...
-
Enhancing Renal Tumor Detection: Leveraging Artificial Neural Networks in Computed Tomography Analysis
PublicationRenal cell carcinoma is one of the most common cancers in Europe, with a total incidence rate of 18.4 cases per 100 000 population. There is currently significant overdiagnosis (11% to 30.9%) at times of planned surgery based on radiological studies. The purpose of this study was to create an artificial neural network (ANN) solution based on computed tomography (CT) images as an additional tool to improve the differentiation of...
-
Topological-numerical analysis of a two-dimensional discrete neuron model
PublicationWe conduct computer-assisted analysis of a two-dimensional model of a neuron introduced by Chialvo in 1995 [Chaos, Solitons Fractals 5, 461–479]. We apply the method of rigorous analysis of global dynamics based on a set-oriented topological approach, introduced by Arai et al. in 2009 [SIAM J. Appl. Dyn. Syst. 8, 757–789] and improved and expanded afterward. Additionally, we introduce a new algorithm to analyze the return times...
-
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...
-
Using Decisional DNA to Enhance Industrial and Manufacturing Design: Conceptual Approach
PublicationDuring recent years, manufacturing organizations are facing market changes such as the need for short product life cycles, technological advancement, intense pressure from competitors and the continuous customers’ expectation for high quality products at lower costs. In this scenario, knowledge and its associated engineering/management of every stage involved in the industrial design has become increasingly important for manufacturing...
-
Processing, mechanical and thermal behavior assessments of polycaprolactone/agricultural wastes biocomposites
PublicationIn this paper, brewer’s spent grain (BSG) was applied as potential lignocellulose biofiller in biocompos-ites based on polycaprolactone (PCL). The PCL/BSG biocomposites filled with varying content of biofillerswere prepared via low-temperature melt-compounding. These conditions allow limiting thermal degra-dation of used biofillers during processing. The influence of biofiller content (ranging from 25 to 200parts by weight on 100...
-
Fast Low-fidelity Wing Aerodynamics Model for Surrogate-Based Shape Optimization
PublicationVariable-fidelity optimization (VFO) can be efficient in terms of the computational cost when compared with traditional approaches, such as gradient-based methods with adjoint sensitivity information. In variable-fidelity methods, the directoptimization of the expensive high-fidelity model is replaced by iterative re-optimization of a physics-based surrogate model, which is constructed from a corrected low-fidelity model. The success...
-
A comparison of geometric analogues of holographic reduced representations, original holographic reduced representations and binary spatter codes
PublicationGeometric Analogues of Holographic Reduced Representations (GA HRR) employ role-filler binding based on geometric products. Atomic objects are real-valued vectors in n-dimensional Euclidean space and complex statements belong to a hierarchy of multivectors. The paper reports a battery of tests aimed at comparison of GA HRR with Holographic Reduced Representation (HRR) and Binary Spatter Codes (BSC). Firstly, we perform a test of...
-
The issues of participation in didactics of design. Case studies
PublicationThis article seeks to present and assess the usefulness of didactic methods aimed at preparing future architects for their role in the process of social participation. The article focuses on [a] a general overview of selected participation methods and tools, along with the examples of their application in the context of spatial management in Poland; [b] an overview of teaching methods used with a view to enhancing participation...
-
Heat treatment effect on Eu3+ doped TeO2-BaO-Bi2O3 glass systems with Ag nanoparticles.
PublicationGlass systems of 73TeO2-4BaO-3Bi2O3-2Eu2O3-xAg ( in molar ratio where x= 0, 1, 2, 3) compositions have been successfully synthesized. Silver nanoparticles were obtained with the employment of heat treatment (HT) procedure executed at 350 °C. Glass transition temperatures of different compositions have been determined through DSC measurements. XRD measurement results presented characteristic amorphous halo indicating lack of long...
-
Analysis of pavement structure sensitivity to passage of oversized heavy duty vehicle in terms of bearing capacity
PublicationOversized heavy duty vehicles occur in traffic very rarely but they reach extremely high weights, even up to 800 tonne. The detrimental impact of these vehicles on pavement structure is much higher than in case of commercial vehicles that comprise typical traffic, thus it is necessary to assess the sensitivity of pavement structure to passage of oversized vehicles. The paper presents results of sample calculations of load equivalency factor...
-
The effect of gold shape and size on the properties and visiblelight-induced photoactivity of Au-TiO2
PublicationtIn the present investigation, TiO2modified with a different geometry and size of gold particles, suchas nanospheres (NSPs), nanostars (NSTs) and nanorods (NRs), were prepared by the immobilizationmethod. The effect of the gold shape, size and TiO2matrix type (TiO2microspheres or rutile TIO-6 TiO2)were systematically investigated. The obtained photocatalysts were thoroughly characterized by UV–visdiffuse-reflectance spectroscopy...
-
Combining X-ray tomogrpahy imaging and DEM simulations to investigate granular material flow during silo discharging
PublicationEven after few decades of research, the study of particle motion taking place during silo discharging hasn’t been fully addressed, both experimentally and numerically, because of nontrivial behaviors that occur during associated flow patterns. For instance, discrete element method (DEM) has shown good qualitative prediction potential of velocity profile, but, on the other hand, frequently failed to match quantitatively experimental...
-
3D mesoporous α-Co(OH)2 nanosheets electrodeposited on nickel foam: A new generation of macroscopic cobalt-based hybrid for peroxymonosulfate activation
PublicationCobalt-based catalysts with high stability and facile recovery for heterogeneous peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation are still rather sparse and therefore highly desirable. Herein, 3D mesoporous α-Co(OH)2 nanosheets was created on robust nickel foam (NF) via facile electrodeposition approach at 6 mA/cm2 for only 400 s. Almost complete removal of phenol can be achieved within 7 min with a degradation rate of 0.39 min−1, 2 times higher...
-
Mitigation of the Flow Maldistribution in Minichannel and Minigap Heat Exchangers by Introducing Threshold in the Manifolds
PublicationIn the present paper, a detailed numerical investigation has been carried out to analyze the flow maldistribution in 50 parallel rectangular cross-section (1 mm depth and 1 mm width) minichannels and minigap section (1 mm depth and 99 mm width) with rectangular/trapezoidal manifolds in Z-type flow configuration. The author carried out numerical investigation with various mass flowrates, namely 0.05 kg/s, 0.1 kg/s and 0.2 kg/s which...
-
Synthesis, structural characterization, and thermal properties of Ca‐ and La‐doped soda‐lime glasses by laser melting
PublicationLaser melting techniques have been used in the preparation of unconventional glass compositions with high melting temperatures. Thus, we wanted to test the feasibility of using a CO2 laser in the preparation of nitrogen-rich oxynitride glasses and nitride silicate glasses. Melting from oxides and metallic raw materials, we wanted to study first glass formation and possible evaporation losses of the glass components. Two glass series...
-
Emission profile of butan-2-one oxime from commercially available neutral silicone sealant
PublicationThe paper presents results of research on emission profile of butan-2-one oxime (methyl ethyl ketoxime, MEKO) released from two types of commercially available neutral silicone sealants: silicone type ‘S’ and silicone type ‘T’. To determine the emissions from silicone samples, the system consists of a stationary emission chamber, and the thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry system was applied. First, the research...
-
THE ROLE OF DAYLIGHT IN ARCHITECTURAL CREATIONS OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURAL FACILITIES
PublicationThe paper studies the role of light in architectural creations of contemporary buildings of representative function. Based on the selected projects and completed buildings dedicated to culture and art, it analyzes and systematizes the examples of using light to obtain visual effects that mark the architecture with a universal and timeless message. The method of research is case study and critical analysis of literature. Light plays...
-
Open-Source Coprocessor for Integer Multiple Precision Arithmetic
PublicationThis paper presents an open-source digital circuit of the coprocessor for an integer multiple-precision arithmetic (MPA). The purpose of this coprocessor is to support a central processing unit (CPU) by offloading computations requiring integer precision higher than 32/64 bits. The coprocessor is developed using the very high speed integrated circuit hardware description language (VHDL) as an intellectual property (IP) core. Therefore,...
-
Effect of Thermal Treatment of Birch Wood by Saturated Water Vapor on Granulometric Composition of Chips from Sawing and Milling Processes from the Point of View of Its Processing to Composites
PublicationThe goal of this work is to investigate the impact of thermal modification of birch wood with saturated steam on the particle size distribution of the sawing and milling process. Birch wood (Betula pendula Roth) is an excellent source to produce plywood boards. Wastes from mechanical processing of birch wood are suitable to produce composite materials. Granulometric analyses of chips from sawing processes on the PRW 15M frame saw,...
-
The effect of Ag, Au, Pt, and Pd on the surface properties, photocatalytic activity and toxicity of multicomponent TiO2-based nanomaterials
PublicationMulticomponent TiO2-based nanomaterials (MC-NMs) show better physicochemical properties than their individual components or bulk materials. However, the same unique properties that offer innovative applications might also pose unknown risks to human health and the environment. In this context, TiO2- based nanomaterials with a mixture of noble metal precursors (Ag, Au, Pt, and Pd) for large-scale technological applications in air...
-
Seasonal and spatial differences in metal and metalloid concentrations in the snow cover of Hansbreen, Svalbard
PublicationMetals and metalloids in snow on glaciers, depending on the season of deposition, may come from various sources: local rock dust (erosion of the geological substratum), marine aerosol, local human activity (e.g. fuel combustion, waste incineration) and long-range atmospheric transport. Hansbreen glacier, located close to the Polish Polar Station in Svalbard, is a perfect site to study metals and metalloids: it has complex geological...
-
First deep eutectic solvent-based (DES) stationary phase for gas chromatography and future perspectives for DES application in separation techniques
PublicationThe paper presents the first application of deep eutectic solvents (DES) as stationary phases for gas chromatography. DES obtained by mixing tetrabutylammonium chloride (TBAC) as a hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA) with heptadecanoic acid being a hydrogen bond donor (HBD) in a mole ratio of HBA:HBD equal to 1:2 was characterized by its ability to separate volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The Rohrschneider – McReynolds constants determined...
-
The accretion of the new ice layer on the surface of hexagonal ice crystal and the influence of the local electric field on this process
PublicationThe process of creation of a new layer of ice on the basal plane and on the prism plane of a hexagonal ice crystal is analyzed. It is demonstrated that the ordering of water molecules in the already existing crystal affects the freezing. On the basal plane, when the orientations of water molecules in the ice block are random, the arrangement of the new layer in a cubic manner is observed more frequently — approximately 1.7 times...
-
Quantitative study of free convective heat losses from thermodynamic partitions using Thermal Imaging
PublicationThe following paper presents a simple method of determining the presence, distribution and values of heat losses from external building walls as thermodynamic partitions using a Thermal Imaging Camera (TIC). According to Fourier's equation, the value of heat loss is proportional to the temperature gradient ∂t/∂y|y=0 in air in the y direction perpendicular to the heated surface. Unfortunately, air temperature cannot be measured...
-
Workers, Firms and Task Heterogeneity in International Trade Analysis: An Example of Wage Effects of Trade Within GVC.
PublicationObjective: The main aim of this article is to present how the heterogeneity of workers, firms, and tasks can be incorporated into empirical international trade analysis. In particular, we provide an empirical example in which we aim to quantify the reliance on foreign value added (FVA) within Global Value Chains (GVC) on wages. Research Design & Methods: We estimate a Mincerian wage model augmented with a measure of foreign value...