Wyniki wyszukiwania dla: UBIQUITOUS SYSTEMS
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The Sonocatalytic Activation of Persulfates on Iron Nanoparticle Decorated Zeolite for the Degradation of 1,4-Dioxane in Aquatic Environments
PublikacjaIn the chemical industry, 1,4-diethylene dioxide, commonly called dioxane, is widely used as a solvent as well as a stabilizing agent for chlorinated solvents. Due to its high miscibility, dioxane is a ubiquitous water contaminant. This study investigates the effectiveness of catalyst- and ultrasound (US)-assisted persulfate (PS) activation with regard to degrading dioxane. As a first step, a composite catalyst was prepared using...
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Development and validation of an eco-compatible UV–Vis spectrophotometric method for the determination of Cu2+ in aqueous matrices
PublikacjaCu 2+ are ubiquitous ions in the ecosystem and are responsible of serious environmental pollution. Indeed, the development of sensitive methods for Cu 2+ detection is an urgent demand. In this work, we proposed a new spectrophotometric method for Cu 2+ determination in different water matrices (distilled water, drinking water, wastewater, and river water). The method employs a bio-based organic ligand namely tetrasodium iminodisuccinate...
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Reduced-Cost Constrained Modeling of Microwave and Antenna Components: Recent Advances
PublikacjaElectromagnetic (EM) simulation models are ubiquitous in the design of microwave and antenna components. EM analysis is reliable but CPU intensive. In particular, multiple simulations entailed by parametric optimization or uncertainty quantification may considerably slow down the design processes. In order to address this problem, it is possible to employ fast metamodels. Here, the popular solution approaches are approximation...
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Analysis of Transparent Concrete as an Innovative Material Used in Civil Engineering
PublikacjaSince the dawn of history concrete has been, right behind stone and brick, one of the oldest building materials. The ancient Romans took advantage of its opportunities. They constructed amazing architectural objects, which survived centuries as whole buildings or parts of them. Concrete is so ubiquitous, that when we are walking in a newer districts of cities we are virtually surrounded by concrete from everywhere. Sometimes...
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On geometry parameterization for simulation-driven design closure of antenna structures
PublikacjaFull-wave electromagnetic (EM) simulation tools have become ubiquitous in antenna design, especially final tuning of geometry parameters. From the reliability standpoint, the recommended realization of EM-driven design is through rigorous numerical optimization. It is a challenging endeavor with the major issues related to the high computational cost of the process, but also the necessity of handling several objectives and constraints...
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Review of International Standards and Policy Guidelines for Smart Sustainable Cities
PublikacjaSmart cities are often criticized for preoccupation with technology, for ignoring the negative effects of technology, for irrelevance to the needs of the poor, and for ubiquitous data collection creating perfect conditions for surveillance societies and autocratic states. In response, cities pursue smartness and sustainability simultaneously, becoming global (by participation in global digital networks) and local (by addressing...
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Efficient Gradient-Based Algorithm with Numerical Derivatives for Expedited Optimization of Multi-Parameter Miniaturized Impedance Matching Transformers
PublikacjaFull-wave electromagnetic (EM) simulation tools have become ubiquitous in the design of microwave components. In some cases, e.g., miniaturized microstrip components, EM analysis is mandatory due to considera¬ble cross-coupling effects that cannot be accounted for otherwise (e.g., by means of equivalent circuits). These effects are particularly pronounced in the structures in¬volving slow-wave compact cells and their numerical...
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α-Pinene, 3-carene and d-limonene in indoor air of Polish apartments: The impact on air quality and human exposure
PublikacjaMonoterpenes are among most ubiquitous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to be detected in indoor air. Since the quality of indoor air is considered important for inhabitants' well-being, the present study aimed at investigating impact of human activity on levels of selected monoterpenes applying passive sampling technique followed by thermal desorption and gas chromatography coupled mass spectrometry. One of the objectives of...
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Occurrence and levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in house dust and hair samples from Northern Poland; an assessment of human exposure
PublikacjaPolybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are among most ubiquitous compounds to be found in indoor environment and ingestion of household dust is considered an important route of exposure to PBDEs, especially in toddlers and young children. The present work reported concentration levels of PBDE congeners (PBDE-28, -47, -99, -100, -153, -154, -183 and -209) in hair and dust samples from selected households from Northern Poland. The...
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Analytical progress on emerging pollutants in the environment: An overview of the topics
PublikacjaThis overview discusses the ideas behind a collection of articles by invited authors on a diverse range of complex chemical mixtures and analytical methods which represent some of the most relevant and interesting issues on emerging contaminants of environmental health concerns. These chemicals, including those in high volume production, are released on an ongoing basis as a result of various human activities. Moreover, these emerging contaminants...
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Time for temporariness! Temporary architecture - whim or necessity?
PublikacjaWhat are the qualities of temporary architectural objects that make them helpful instruments for evolving the image of contemporary urban space? Six hypotheses provide rationales for why current temporary architecture seems to be a remedy for dysfunctional city structures. The research was limited to the temporary architectural objects constructed in open-air city zones, including the architecture of events. The temporary objects'...
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Assessment of cytotoxic and endocrine potential of selected xenobiotics commonly present in food products
PublikacjaMore and more increased intensity of anthropopressure processes can be observed, among other things, in the release of great quantities of synthetic substances into the environment, including the Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (EDC). A vast number of chemical substances is considered to belong to the this group, including substances which occur naturally in the environment, such as mycotoxins and phytoestrogens, and substances...
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Green and Sustainable Membranes: A review
PublikacjaMembranes are ubiquitous tools for modern water treatment technology that critically eliminate hazardous materials such as organic, inorganic, heavy metals, and biomedical pollutants. Nowadays, nano-membranes are of particular interest for myriad applications such as water treatment, desalination, ion exchange, ion concentration control, and several kinds of biomedical applications. However, this state-of-the-art technology suffers...
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A global multinational survey of cefotaxime-resistant coliforms in urban wastewater treatment plants
PublikacjaThe World Health Organization Global Action Plan recommends integrated surveillance programs as crucial strategies for monitoring antibiotic resistance. Although several national surveillance programs are in place for clinical and veterinary settings, no such schemes exist for monitoring antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment. In this transnational study, we developed, validated, and tested a low-cost surveillance and...
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Bisphenol A analogues and metabolic syndrome in women with polycystic ovary syndrome
PublikacjaBisphenols (BPs) have become a chemical group of special interest due to their ability to interfere with the endocrine system and their ubiquitous presence in the environment. As some of them possess mild estrogenic and anti-androgenic effects, they might be associated with the diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Acting on multiple tissues, BPs exposure may lead to metabolic derangements characteristic for metabolic...
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Robust and Efficient Machine Learning Algorithms for Visual Recognition
PublikacjaIn visual recognition, the task is to identify and localize all objects of interest in the input image. With the ubiquitous presence of visual data in modern days, the role of object recognition algorithms is becoming more significant than ever and ranges from autonomous driving to computer-aided diagnosis in medicine. Current models for visual recognition are dominated by models based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), which...
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Iron–Sulfur Cluster Biogenesis Chaperones: Evidence for Emergence of Mutational Robustness of a Highly Specific Protein–Protein Interaction
PublikacjaBiogenesis of iron–sulfur clusters (FeS) is a highly conserved process involving Hsp70 and J-protein chaperones. However, Hsp70 specialization differs among species. In most eukaryotes, including Schizosaccharomyces pombe, FeS biogenesis involves interaction between the J-protein Jac1 and the multifunctional Hsp70 Ssc1. But, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and closely related species, Jac1 interacts with the specialized Hsp70 Ssq1,...
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Engineering boron and nitrogen codoped carbon nanoarchitectures to tailor molecularly imprinted polymers for PFOS determination
PublikacjaPer- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have gained significant attention as emerging contaminants due to their persistence, abundance, and adverse health effects. Consequently, the urgent need for ubiquitous and effective sensors capable of detecting and quantifying PFAS in complex environmental samples has become a priority. In this study, we present the development of an ultrasensitive molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)...
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Advanced Oxidation Processes for the Treatment of Contaminants of Emerging Concern
PublikacjaThe application of contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), pesticides, plasticizers, endocrine disruptors, surfactants, flame retardants and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) became an indispensable requirement of the current era. Although the CEC are useful for wide-spectrum purposes, they can also result in undesirable effects on human health and other animals....
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Toward the next generation of air quality monitoring: Mercury
PublikacjaMercury is a global pollutant that is ubiquitous in the environment. Enrichment of mercury in the biosphere as the result of human activities and subsequent production of methylmercury (MeHg) has resulted in elevated concentrations in fish, wildlife and marine mammals globally. Elemental mercury (Hg0) is the most common form of mercury in the atmosphere, and the form that is most readily transported long distances from its emission...
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Reduced-Cost Microwave Design Closure by Multi-Resolution EM Simulations and Knowledge-Based Model Management
PublikacjaParameter adjustment through numerical optimization has become a commonplace of contemporary microwave engineering. Although circuit theory methods are ubiquitous in the development of microwave components, the initial designs obtained with such tools have to be further tuned to improve the system performance. This is particularly pertinent to miniaturized structures, where the cross-coupling effects cannot be adequately accounted...
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Prime-Boost Vaccination with Toxoplasma Lysate Antigen, but Not with a Mixture of Recombinant Protein Antigens, Leads to Reduction of Brain Cyst Formation in BALB/c Mice
PublikacjaIntroduction Infection with the ubiquitous parasite Toxoplasma gondii is a threat for immunocompro- mised patients and pregnant women and effective immune-prophylaxis is still lacking. Methods Here we tested a mixture of recombinant T . gondii antigens expressed in different develop- mental stages, i.e., SAG1, MAG1 and GRA7 (SMG), and a lysate derived from T . gondii tachyzoites (TLA) for prophylactic vaccination against cyst formation....
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On Nature-Inspired Design Optimization of Antenna Structures Using Variable-Resolution EM Models
PublikacjaNumerical optimization has been ubiquitous in antenna design for over a decade or so. It is indispensable in handling of multiple geometry/material parameters, performance goals, and constraints. It is also challenging as it incurs significant CPU expenses, especially when the underlying computational model involves full-wave electromagnetic (EM) analysis. In most practical cases, the latter is imperative to ensure evaluation reliability....
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Daily diet containing canned products significantly increases serum concentrations of endocrine disruptor bisphenol A in young women
PublikacjaNowadays, exposure to environmental factors is considered to be one of the possible causes of several lifestyle diseases, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Particularly noteworthy are endocrine‑disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which affect the metabolism of hormones and interact with their receptors, thus exerting adverse health effects. One of the most ubiquitous EDC in daily life is bisphenol A...