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Wyniki wyszukiwania dla: PROCESS IMPROVEMENT
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Reliability and efficiency of pollution removal during long-term operation of a one-stage constructed wetland system with horizontal flow
PublikacjaThe paper presents the results of a study of the reliability and efficiency of pollutant removal during long term operation of a one-stage constructed wetland system with horizontal flow. The flow rate of the wastewater treatment plant was 1.2 m3·d-1 during the research period. Physical and chemical analyses of raw wastewater and treated effluent were carried out in the years 1997–2010 (14 years). During this study period, 56 series...
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Estimating inequality aversion from subjective assessments of the just noticeable differences in welfare
PublikacjaResearch background: In Economics, the concept of inequality aversion corresponds with the concept of risk aversion in the literature on making decision under uncertainty. The risk aversion is estimated on the basis of subjective reactions of people to various lottery prospects. In Economics, however, an efficient method of estimating inequality aversion has not been developed yet. Purpose of the article: The main aim of this paper...
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Psychosocial risks associated with the profession of train driver
PublikacjaExcellent competencies as well as a good physical and mental health are required in train drivers’ profession. Despite the changes in the structure of employment the train drivers above 46 years and job tenure longer than 30 years are the largest group. The generation gap is becoming more pronounced, and its fulfilment will not be easy. It is related not only to training of new personnel but also promotion of healthy work environment...
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High Frequency Harmonics Emission in Smart Grids
PublikacjaPulse-width modulated rectifiers are nowadays commonly used for AC to DC power conversion. PWM rectification technology is very effective and allows for bidirectional power flow with the possibility of power factor improvement and low-order harmonic emission limitation. Unfortunately, employed PWM boost topology results with generation of input current harmonic distortions in a frequency range tightly correlated to modulation frequency....
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IRREGULARITIES IN UNIVERSITY PROCESSES CONCERNING THE LEAN MANAGEMENT TYPOLOGY. THE PILOT STUDY RESULTS
PublikacjaPurpose: Identify the attitudes regarding key irregularities in university activities of universities referring to muda, mura, and muri from the perspective of two groups of stakeholders - academic teachers and administration/service personnel. Study design/methodology/approach: A pilot quantitative study using a questionnaire containing 48 statements regarding six categories of irregularities assessed according to the 5-point...
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Deep Eutectic Solvents: Properties and Applications in CO2 Separation
PublikacjaNowadays, many researchers are focused on finding a solution to the problem of global warming. Carbon dioxide is considered to be responsible for the “greenhouse” effect. The largest global emission of industrial CO2 comes from fossil fuel combustion, which makes power plants the perfect point source targets for immediate CO2 emission reductions. A state-of-the-art method for capturing carbon dioxide is chemical absorption using...
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Recent advances in hydrogen production from biomass waste with a focus on pyrolysis and gasification
PublikacjaThis paper presents the results research on the optimal fuel compositions and the control parameters of the spark ignition engine fueled with syngas-biogas-hydrogen for the purpose of setting up a flexible electronic control unit for the engine working in a solar-biomass hybrid renewable energy system. In syngas-biogas-hydrogen mixture, the optimal content of hydrogen and biogas is 20% and 30%, respectively. Exceeding these thresholds,...
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Modeling and optimization of chemical-treated torrefaction of wheat straw to improve energy density by response surface methodology
PublikacjaToday, 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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Optimum number of actuators to minimize the cross-sectional area of prestressable cable and truss structures
PublikacjaThis paper describes a new computational method for determining the optimum number of actuators to design the optimal and economic cross-sectional area of pin-jointed assemblies based on the conventional force method. The most active members are selected to be prestressed to redistribute stress in the whole structure, resulting in regulating the internal force of bars that face high stress. Reducing stress in critical members allows...
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Irregularities in university processes concerning the Lean Management typology: The pilot study results
PublikacjaPurpose: Identify the attitudes regarding key irregularities in university activities of universities referring to muda, mura, and muri from the perspective of two groups of stakeholders - academic teachers and administration/service personnel. Study design/methodology/approach: A pilot quantitative study with the use of a questionnaire containing 48 statements regarding six categories of irregularities assessed according to the...
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Effects of full displacement pile installation on the stress and deformation state of surrounding soil: review
PublikacjaSeveral field and model tests have been conducted to investigate the impact of pile installation on bearing capacity. However, little is known about how piles behave during installation, how they interact with the surrounding soil, and how this affects sandy soil properties. This review paper investigates the effect of pile driving on surrounding sandy soil as it compacts sandy soil near to the pile. For this purpose, various related...
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Flexible syngas-biogas-hydrogen fueling spark-ignition engine behaviors with optimized fuel compositions and control parameters
PublikacjaThis paper presents the results research on the optimal fuel compositions and the control parameters of the spark ignition engine fueled with syngas-biogas-hydrogen for the purpose of setting up a flexible electronic control unit for the engine working in a solar-biomass hybrid renewable energy system. In syngas-biogas-hydrogen mixture, the optimal content of hydrogen and biogas is 20% and 30%, respectively. Exceeding these thresholds,...
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A Vision of Sustainable Design Concepts for Upgrading Vulnerable Coastal Areas in Light of Climate Change Impacts: A Case Study from Beirut, Lebanon
PublikacjaRapid urbanization combined with the effects of climate change has increased the vulnerability of poor urban communities to natural hazards, particularly to informal settlements located in coastal areas. Apart from socio-economic challenges, the effects of climate change threaten the very existence of these settlements. They are particularly vulnerable due to their poor structural quality and lack of adequate infrastructure to...
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THREE-DIMENSIONAL numerical investigation of MHD nanofluid convective heat transfer inside a CUBIC porous container with corrugated bottom wall
PublikacjaSimultaneous use of porous media and nanofluid as a heat transfer improvement method has recently captivated a great deal of attention. The heat transfer and entropy production of the Cu-water nanofluid inside a cubic container with a heated bottom wavy wall and an elliptic inner cylinder were numerically analyzed in this study. The container is partitioned into two sections: the left side is filled with permeable media and...
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Metodyka badań rozwojowych nowego typu silników i pomp satelitowych
PublikacjaResearch and development of new type satellite motors and satellite pumps SM with small geometrical displacement, from 5 to 73 cm3/rev, has been conducted in cooperation with Stosowanie Maszyn company from Katowice (manufacturer of motors and pump SM). The improvement of construction of those machines, especially construction of axial compensation and construction of fluid distribution channels have been the main problem of research...
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Professional activity and women entrepreneurship in Poland – Europe 2020 Strategy perspective
PublikacjaThe level of economic activity of women in Poland is the lowest among Baltic Sea Region countries. The analysis of Europe 2020 targets, shows that at least 3 of the 5 main objectives relate, more or less, to women (e.g. participation in labor market). The objective concerning social inclusion assumes the increase in the employment rate of men and women (aged 20-64) in Poland up to 71%. To achieve this goal, support programs to...
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IDENTIFICATION AND COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF FACTORS INFLUENCING ROAD SAFETY IN US REGIONS AND IN POLISH VOIVODESHIPS
PublikacjaAnalyses of road safety at national level have been run for many years and large number of publications concerning them appeared so far. How interdisciplinary the issue is, has been shown by literature studies done by the author of the paper. It appears that economists, mathematicians, doctors as well as engineers have studied the issue. It is not an easy one, as results of many analyses lead to conflicting conclusions and...
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Effect of kenaf fibre modification on morphology and mechanical properties of thermoplastic polyurethane materials
PublikacjaThe presented study examined the morphology and mechanical properties of biocomposites obtained from kenaf natural fibre and thermoplastic polyurethane. Kenaf was modified using various methods, namely: acetylation, blocked isocyanate, maleic anhydride and permanganate treatment. Those methods and ways of carrying out of surface modifications were not studied before on kenaf/thermoplastic polyurethane composites. Different fibre...
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Multi-layered tissue head phantoms for noninvasive optical diagnostics
PublikacjaExtensive research in the area of optical sensing for medical diagnostics requires development of tissue phantoms with optical properties similar to those of living human tissues. Development and improvement of in vivo optical measurement systems requires the use of stable tissue phantoms with known characteristics, which are mainly used for calibration of such systems and testing their performance over time. Optical and mechanical...
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Low Frequency Conducted Emissions of Grid Connected Static Converters
PublikacjaPulse-width modulated rectifiers are nowadays commonly used for AC to DC power conversion. PWM rectification technology is very effective and allows for bidirectional power flow with the possibility of power factor improvement and low-order harmonic emission limitation. Unfortunately, employed PWM boost topology results with generation of input current harmonic distortions in a frequency range tightly correlated to modulation frequency....
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Novel nitrogen precursors for electrochemically driven doping of titania nanotubes exhibiting enhanced photoactivity
PublikacjaNitrogen 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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Ionic liquids-based microextraction techniques
PublikacjaIn recent years, the development of highly efficient analytical techniques is of great importance, however, the direct analysis of complex sample matrix is still impossible in many cases. Therefore, the step of sample preparation is commonly involved in an analytical procedure. Over the years, it has been realized that the major source of inaccuracy and imprecision on general analysis results from the operations associated to sample...
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A facile approach to fabricate load-bearing porous polymer scaffolds for bone tissue engineering
PublikacjaBiodegradable porous scaffolds with oriented interconnected pores and high mechanical are load-bearing biomaterials for bone tissue engineering. Herein, we report a simple, non-toxic, and cost-effective method to fabricate high-strength porous biodegradable scaffolds, composed of a polymer matrix of polycaprolactone (PCL) and water-soluble poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) as a sacrificial material by integrating annealing treatment,...
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Analysis of temporary steel grandstand with different bracing systems exposed to crowd load
PublikacjaGrandstands are structures which are regularly subjected to dynamic loads generated by crowd motions. It is a dangerous situation when spectators induce rhythmic jumping, dancing, stamping, etc. If the synchronized movement of spectators excites a natural frequency of the structure, resonant response might occur. To avoid such situations, temporary steel grandstands are commonly strengthened using additional elements that create...
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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
PublikacjaThe 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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Determination of long-chain aldehydes using a novel quartz crystal microbalance sensor based on a biomimetic peptide
PublikacjaThere is an increasingly popular trend aimed at improvement of fundamental metrological parameters of sensors via implementation of materials mimicking biological olfactory systems. This study presents investigation on usefulness of the peptide mimicking HarmOBP7 region as a receptor element of the piezoelectric sensor for selective analysis of long-chain aldehydes. Identification of odorant binding proteins creates new possibilities...
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Psychological capital and happiness at work: The mediating role of employee thriving in multinational corporations
PublikacjaWorking in multicultural work environments of multinational corporations (MNCs) creates challenges whose expected impact on happiness is equivocal. In the following paper, we examine the relationship between psychological capital and happiness at work in the specific MNCs’ context. We assume that thriving (eudemonic well-being) at work fosters individuals’ development and enhances their happiness composed of both the affective...
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An Analysis of Neural Word Representations for Wikipedia Articles Classification
PublikacjaOne of the current popular methods of generating word representations is an approach based on the analysis of large document collections with neural networks. It creates so-called word-embeddings that attempt to learn relationships between words and encode this information in the form of a low-dimensional vector. The goal of this paper is to examine the differences between the most popular embedding models and the typical bag-of-words...
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Physicochemical properties of Mn1.45Co1.45Cu0.1O4 spinel coating deposited on the Crofer 22 H ferritic steel and exposed to high-temperature oxidation under thermal cycling conditions
PublikacjaThe Crofer 22 H ferritic steel substrate was coated with an Mn1.45Co1.45Cu0.1O4 spinel by means of electrophoresis. After high-temperature oxidation under thermal cycling conditions, the physicochemical properties of the obtained system were evaluated. During 48-h cycles that involved heating the samples up to temperatures of either 750 or 800 °C, the oxidation kinetics of both coated and unmodified steel approximately obeyed...
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Ukrainian Market of Electrical Energy: Reforming, Financing, Innovative Investment, Efficiency Analysis, and Audit
PublikacjaThe aim of this research is to determine the influence of electrical energy market regulation reform in Ukraine on the competitive environment, the reproduction processes of financial and innovative support, and the energy efficiency of the national economy. The authors have put forward and verified the hypothesis that, under conditions of institutional maturity of the Ukrainian electrical energy market, its liberalization and...
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The Effectiveness of Basic Resuscitation Activities Carried out by Combat Paramedics of the Police, as Exemplified by Polish Counterterrorist Units
PublikacjaThe tasks carried out by Police officers are often accompanied by dangerous situations that threaten the life and health of the people involved, the police themselves, and bystanders. It concerns especially counter-terrorism police units whose activities are aimed at terrorists and particularly dangerous criminals, and their course is violent and aggressive. In conjunction with the inability to bring civilian rescue services into...
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Mitigating the seismic pounding of multi-story buildings in series using linear and nonlinear fluid viscous dampers
PublikacjaSeismic-induced pounding between adjacent buildings may have serious consequences, ranging from minor damage up to total collapse. Therefore, researchers try to mitigate the pounding problem using different methods, such as coupling the adjacent buildings with stiff beams, connecting them by using viscoelastic links, and installing damping devices in each building individually. In the current paper, the effect of using linear and...
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Optimization of thermal backfill configurations for desired high-voltage power cables ampacity
PublikacjaThe ampacity of high-voltage power cables depends, among others, on their core cross-sectional area as well as thermal resistivity of the thermal backfill surrounding the cables. The cross-sectional area of the power cables’ core is selected according to the expected power to be transferred via the cable system. Usually, the higher the power transfer required, the higher the cross-sectional area of the core. However, the cost of...
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Improving the Performance of a Graphite Foil/Polyaniline Electrode Material by a Thin PEDOT:PSS Layer for Application in Flexible, High Power Supercapacitors
PublikacjaIn this study, we present a novel strategy for enhancing polyaniline stability and thus obtaining an electrode material with practical application in supercapacitors. A promising (graphite foil/polyaniline/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) GF/PANI/PEDOT:PSS) electrode material was characterized and used in the construction of a symmetric supercapacitor that provides an outstanding high power density. For this...
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Dynamic Route Discovery Using Modified Grasshopper Optimization Algorithm in Wireless Ad-Hoc Visible Light Communication Network
PublikacjaIn 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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Ground tire rubber thermo-mechanically devulcanized in the presence of waste engine oil as asphalt modifier
PublikacjaCross-linked elastomers network is main limitation for industrial usage of ground tire rubber (GTR) as asphalts’ and road pavements modifier. GTR was thermo-mechanically devulcanized via extrusion in the presence of waste engine oil (WEO) at temperature ranges from 150 to 280 °C. Combined impact of WEO content and extruder barrel temperature on the change of cross-linked structure of degraded GTR (DTGR) was investigated through...
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Investigation of Weigh-in-Motion Measurement Accuracy on the Basis of Steering Axle Load Spectra
PublikacjaWeigh-in-motion systems are installed in pavements or on bridges to identify and reduce the number of overloaded vehicles and minimise their adverse eect on road infrastructure. Moreover, the collected trac data are used to obtain axle load characteristics, which are very useful in road infrastructure design. Practical application of data from weigh-in-motion has become more common recently, which calls for adequate attention to...
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Fast Machine-Learning-Enabled Size Reduction of Microwave Components Using Response Features
PublikacjaAchieving compact size has emerged as a key consideration in modern microwave design. While structural miniaturization can be accomplished through judicious circuit architecture selection, precise parameter tuning is equally vital to minimize physical dimensions while meeting stringent performance requirements for electrical characteristics. Due to the intricate nature of compact structures, global optimization is recommended,...
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Rational designing of TiO2-X@Cs3Bi2X9 nanocomposite for boosted hydrogen evolution
PublikacjaHalide perovskites are known as compounds possessing interesting properties, including visible light-induced photoactivity, however, they suffer from instability. Herein, a novel technique for reducing the decomposition rate of halide bismuth-based perovskites Cs3Bi2X9 (X=I, Br, Cl) in the aqueous environment by combining with different types of TiO2 (anatase TiO2-I, anatase/rutile TiO2-B, and rutile TiO2-C synthesized using HI,...
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Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from glycerol-water mixture under visible light over zinc indium sulfide (ZnIn2S4) nanosheets grown on bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) microplates
PublikacjaZnIn2S4 (ZIS) is one of the widely studied photocatalyst for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution applications due to its prominent visible light response and strong reduction ability. However, its photocatalytic glycerol reforming performance for hydrogen evolution has never been reported. Herein, the visible light driven BiOCl@ZnIn2S4 (BiOCl@ZIS) composite was synthesized by growth of ZIS nanosheets on a template-like hydrothermally...
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Optimization of the Hardware Layer for IoT Systems using a Trust Region Method with Adaptive Forward Finite Differences
PublikacjaTrust-region (TR) algorithms represent a popular class of local optimization methods. Owing to straightforward setup and low computational cost, TR routines based on linear models determined using forward finite differences (FD) are often utilized for performance tuning of microwave and antenna components incorporated within the Internet of Things systems. Despite usefulness for design of complex structures, performance of TR methods...
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Reverberation divergence in VR applications
PublikacjaThe aim of this project was 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. By examining the relationship between visual scenes and sound scenes, this research attempts to explore how the interaction between vision and...
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Synthesis, characterization and application of cross-linked functional terpolymer through epoxy group as sorbent for extraction of cadmium from waters and foods: Multivariate optimization
PublikacjaThe purpose of this study was to develop a selective sorbent for cadmium ions (Cd(II)) enrichment in orbital shaker assisted solid phase microextraction (OS-SPME) from different aqueous and food samples. A maleic anhydride-styrene-glycidyl methacrylate (MA-St-GMA) terpolymer was synthesized and characterized in detail. Experimental variables of sample preparation step were optimized using a central composite design (CCD). The final...
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Impact of AlphaFold on structure prediction of protein complexes: The CASP15‐CAPRI experiment
PublikacjaWe present the results for CAPRI Round 54, the 5th joint CASP-CAPRI protein assembly prediction challenge. The Round offered 37 targets, including 14 homodimers, 3 homo-trimers, 13 heterodimers including 3 antibody–antigen complexes, and 7 large assemblies. On average 70 CASP and CAPRI predictor groups, including more than 20 automatics servers, submitted models for each target. A total of 21 941 models submitted by these groups...
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Evaluation of adhesion strength, corrosion, and biological properties of the MWCNT/TiO2 coating intended for medical applications
PublikacjaMulti-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) coatings are gaining increasing interest because of their special properties used in many science fields. The titania coatings are known for their improvement of osteoblast adhesion, thus changing the surface architecture. Bi-layer coatings comprising 0.25 wt% of the MWCNTs and 0.30 wt% of titania (anatase structure) were synthesized in a two-stage procedure using the electrophoretic deposition...
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Approximation algorithms for job scheduling with block-type conflict graphs
PublikacjaThe problem of scheduling jobs on parallel machines (identical, uniform, or unrelated), under incompatibility relation modeled as a block graph, under the makespan optimality criterion, is considered in this paper. No two jobs that are in the relation (equivalently in the same block) may be scheduled on the same machine in this model. The presented model stems from a well-established line of research combining scheduling theory...
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Advancing sustainable hybrid bitumen systems: A compatibilization solution by functionalized polyolefins for enhanced crumb rubber content in bitumen
PublikacjaPolymer waste pollution has a profound effect on the environment and, consequently, on the lifestyle of hu- mankind. The massive production and disposal of cross-linked polymers clearly exemplify the challenges of recycling. Increasing efforts are being undertaken to introduce recycled polymers, especially crumb rubber (CR), into asphalt formulations. Due to the rather poor processability and phase separation associated with CR- modified...
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PVA-Based Films with Strontium Titanate Nanoparticles Dedicated to Wound Dressing Application
PublikacjaBioactive materials may be applied in tissue regeneration, and an example of such materials are wound dressings, which are used to accelerate skin healing, especially after trauma. Here, we proposed a novel dressing enriched by a bioactive component. The aim of our study was to prepare and characterize poly(vinyl alcohol) films modified with strontium titanate nanoparticles. The physicochemical properties of films were studied,...
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How can the work environment be redesigned to enhance the well-being of individuals with autism?
PublikacjaPurpose – This article examines the opportunities to create optimal conditions for individuals with autism, to work successfully within the contemporary workplace and improve their well-being. These opportunities arise from digital technology (DT) development, enabling the work environment to be remodeled by providing new possibilities and ways of working. The author discusses both technology-based as well as non-technological accommodations...
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Tolerance-Aware Optimization of Microwave Circuits by Means of Principal Directions and Domain-Restricted Metamodels
PublikacjaPractical microwave design is most often carried out in the nominal sense. Yet, in some cases, performance degradation due to uncertainties may lead to the system failing to meet the prescribed specifications. Reliable uncertainty quantification (UQ) is therefore important yet intricate from numerical standpoint, especially when the circuit at hand is to be evaluated using electromagnetic (EM) simulation tools. Tolerance-aware...