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Gdańsk University of Technology

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  • Effective Equations for the Optimum Seismic Gap Preventing Earthquake-Induced Pounding between Adjacent Buildings Founded on Different Soil Types
    • Mahmoud Miari
    • Robert Jankowski
    2023 Full text Applied Sciences-Basel

    The best approach to avoid collisions between adjacent structures during earthquakes is to provide sufficient spacing between them. However, the existing formulas for calculating the optimum seismic gap preventing pounding were found to provide inaccurate results upon the consideration of different soil types. The aim of this paper is to propose new equations for the evaluation of the sufficient in-between separation gap for buildings founded on different soil conditions. The double-difference formula has been taken into account in this study. The seismic gap depends on the correlation factor and on the top displacements of adjacent buildings. The correlation factor depends on the ratio of the periods of adjacent buildings (smaller period to larger period). The modification of the correlation factor has been introduced for buildings founded on five different soil types. Five soil types were taken into account in this study, as defined in the ASCE 7-10 code, i.e., hard rock, rock, very dense soil and soft rock, stiff soil, and soft clay soil. The normalized root mean square errors have been calculated for the proposed equations. The results of the study indicate that the error ranges between 2% and 14%, confirming the accuracy of the approach. Therefore, the proposed equations can be effectively used for the determination of the optimum seismic gap preventing earthquake-induced pounding between buildings founded on different soil types.

  • Effectiveness of various types of coating materials applied in reinforced concrete exposed to freeze–thaw cycles and chlorides
    • Ginneth Millan Ramirez
    • Hubert Byliński
    • Maciej Niedostatkiewicz
    2023 Full text Scientific Reports

    This study assesses the durability of coated and uncoated concrete surfaces protected with four Different coating materials: water-soluble (BW), solvent-based (BR), mineral (MI), and epoxy (EP). The durability assessment includes evaluating the absorption rate of water, pull-of adhesion strength, and coating material thickness. Concrete samples were subjected to immersion in regular water and a 7% urea solution, followed by cyclic freezing and thawing. Furthermore, the diffusion of chloride ions in concrete was evaluated using the impressed voltage method, with the samples exposed to the aging process, immersed in a 3.5% NaCl solution. The results indicate that EP and BW coatings were significantly affected by the presence of urea and freeze–thaw cycles, resulting in a 43% and 47% reduction in pull-of adhesion strength, respectively. Notably, the MI-coated concrete samples exposed to urea solution and the freeze–thaw cycles exhibited a significant reduction in the absorption rate due to the accumulation of crystals on the coating surface, resulting in reduced porosity of the material.

  • Effects of Storing Flux-Cored Wires under Various Conditions
    • Aleksandra Świerczyńska
    • Michał Landowski
    • Adrian Wolski
    • Grzegorz Lentka
    • Dariusz Fydrych
    • Jerzy Łabanowski
    2023 Full text Biuletyn Instytutu Spawalnictwa w Gliwicach

    Welding processes involving the use of flux-cored wires are becoming increasingly popular, particularly in shipbuilding as well as in off-shore and civil engineering. The article presents characteristics of the welding process, its areas of application as well as advantages and disadvantages (e.g. necessity of ensuring appropriate conditions for the storage of filler metal wires). The satisfaction of quality-related requirements concerning welded joints necessitates controlling the quality of flux-cored wires as their condition (apart from welding conditions) is one of the most important factors affecting the welding process and the quality of joints. The analysis of related reference publications and individual study revealed that the storage of wires under conditions inconsistent with requirements specified by producers affects welding process stability and weld deposit properties. Visual tests (VT) tasked with assessing the quality of wire surface do not always provide sufficient information as regards the usability of filler metal wires in welding processes.

  • Effects of the Covid-19 travel restrictions on metropolises mobility: empirical evidence from the Tricity metropolis (Poland)
    • Krzysztof Grzelec
    • Katarzyna Hebel
    • Romanika Okraszewska
    • Olgierd Wyszomirski
    2023 Full text Prace Komisji Geografii Komunikacji PTG

    This paper aims to assess changes in mobility and modal shift caused by COVID-19 travel restrictions among the residents of Gdańsk Bay Metropolis (Poland). Measurement’s moments were assumed in periods differing in the level of restric- tions. The computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) was carried out in November and December 2020. The results did not confirm the expected modal shift. However, significant changes in the number of trips between periods were observed. Restrictions in the first period of the pandemic resulted in a greater decrease in mobility than the restrictions at the end of the year. Moreover, significant associations were found between transport behaviour and place of residence. Nevertheless, pos- sible negative changes in the modal split after the pandemic ends should be counteracted by improving the quality of public transport services. As the most important attributes of public transport attracting passengers after the pandemic respondents recognized: high frequency of vehicles, low cost of travel, not overcrowded vehicles. However, some residents declared they will not use public transport regardless of service improvements. Consequently, to meet the objectives of sustainable mobility policy, it can be necessary to increase the share in the modal split of other sustainable modes of travel

  • Effects of thermal history on the performance of low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells with Sm0.2Ce0.8O2-δ electrolyte and LiNi0.81Co0.15Al0.04O2 electrodes
    • Sea-Fue Wang
    • Yi-Le Liao
    • Yung-Fu Hsu
    • Tsang Yu Weng
    • Piotr Jasiński
    2023 JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES

    In this study, low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells with an ∼560 μm thick Sm0.2Ce0.8O2−δ (SDC) electrolyte and ∼890 μm thick LiNi0.81Co0.15Al0.04O2−δ (NCAL) electrodes are constructed and characterized under three experimental conditions. The cell with an NCAL cathode pre-reduced under an H2 atmosphere at 550 °C presents the best electrochemical performance. This is ascribed to facts that the reduction reaction generating Ni–Co alloy particles on the NCAL surface and partial reoxidation of Ni–Co to Ni(Co)O under an air atmosphere during subsequent experiments increase the triple-phase-boundary area, improve the catalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction, and cause a low polarization resistance (0.186 Ω cm2). Also, the reduction of the Ni foam–NCAL anode triggers the formation of H+/O2− bi-ionic SDC–Li2CO3–LiOH composite electrolytes. The LiOH–Li2CO3 melt permeates and densifies the electrolyte layer; this significantly increases the electrical conductivity of the electrolyte layer to 0.291 S cm−1 and lowers the ohmic resistance of the cell (0.170 Ω cm2). The Li2CO3–LiOH phases serve as electron-blocking layers to limit the electronic conductivity of the electrolyte layer. This induces a high open-circuit voltage of 1.024 V and a high maximum power density of 611.3 mW·cm−2.

  • Efficient optimization approaches for microwave assisted extraction of high-quality antioxidant compounds from Salvia officinalis L.: UHPLC-HRMS differential analysis of phenolic profiles obtained by ultrasound and microwave extraction
    • Hamza Moussa
    • Farid Dahmoune
    • Marika Mróz
    • Hocine Remini
    • Nabil Kadri
    • Sarah Hamid
    • Barbara Kusznierewicz
    2023 Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy

    The study aims to optimize MAE of total phenolic compounds (TPC) and antioxidant capacity from Salvia officinalis L. leaves using a definitive screening design (DSD) and I-optimal design. UHPLC-HRMS analysis was used to identify and compare the composition of MAE and UAE optimal extracts. The results showed that DSD and I-optimal design were successfully applied for the optimization of MAE targeting phenolics and other antioxidants from S. officinalis L. with the following optimum conditions: 60% ethanolic solvent, time of 4.75 min, power of 600 W, and L/S ratio of 50 mL g 1. The UHPLC-MS analysis results allowed the identification of more than 80 compounds, and the differential analysis indicated that the MAE yielded a higher level of 181 substance peaks, while the UAE yielded a higher level of 87 substance peaks. This study provides valuable information for selecting the appropriate extraction technique when targeting specific compounds.

  • Efficient parallel implementation of crowd simulation using a hybrid CPU+GPU high performance computing system
    • Jakub Skrzypczak
    • Paweł Czarnul
    2023 Full text SIMULATION MODELLING PRACTICE AND THEORY

    In the paper we present a modern efficient parallel OpenMP+CUDA implementation of crowd simulation for hybrid CPU+GPU systems and demonstrate its higher performance over CPU-only and GPU-only implementations for several problem sizes including 10 000, 50 000, 100 000, 500 000 and 1 000 000 agents. We show how performance varies for various tile sizes and what CPU–GPU load balancing settings shall be preferred for various domain sizes among CPUs and GPUs of a high performance system with 2 Intel Xeon Silver multicore CPUs and 8 NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 GPUs. We then present how execution time depends on the number of agents as well as the number of CUDA streams used for parallel execution of several CUDA kernels. We discuss the design and implementation of an algorithm with CPU computational threads, GPU management threads, assignment of particular tasks to threads as well as usage of pinned memory and CUDA shared memory for maximizing performance.

  • Efficient uncertainty quantification using sequential sampling-based neural networks
    • Pavankumar Koratikere
    • Leifur Leifsson
    • Sławomir Kozieł
    • Anna Pietrenko-Dąbrowska
    2023

    Uncertainty quantification (UQ) of an engineered system involves the identification of uncertainties, modeling of the uncertainties, and the forward propagation of the uncertainties through a system analysis model. In this work, a novel surrogate-based forward propagation algorithm for UQ is proposed. The proposed algorithm is a new and unique extension of the recent efficient global optimization using neural network (NN)-based prediction and uncertainty (EGONN) algorithm which was created for optimization. The proposed extended algorithm is specifically created for UQ and is called uqEGONN. The uqEGONN algorithm sequentially and simultaneously samples two NNs, one for the prediction of a nonlinear function and the other for the prediction uncertainty. The uqEGONN algorithm terminates based on the absolute relative changes in the summary statistics based on Monte Carlo simulations (MCS), or a given maximum number of sequential samples. The algorithm is demonstrated on the UQ of the Ishigami function. The results show that the proposed algorithm yields comparable results as MCS on the true function and those results are more accurate than the results obtained using space-filling Latin hypercube sampling to train the NNs.

  • Ekspertyza dotycząca stanu zachowania drzewostanu. Osiedle domów jednorodzinnych.
    • Maura Zaworska
    2023

    Badanie wpływu inwestycji na stan zachowania drzewostanu rosnącego w rejonie bezpośredniego oddziaływania prac budowlanych.

  • Ekspertyza naukowo-techniczna dotycząca analizy i oceny rozwiązań projektowych oraz aspektów wykonawczych posadowienia na kolumnach przemieszczeniowych FDC budynku usługowo-apartamentowego przy ul. Bulwar Gdański 9 w Szczecinie
    • Adam Krasiński
    • Andrzej Słabek
    2023

    Ustalenie przyczyn projektowych i wykonawczych wadliwej jakości kolumn fundamentowych do posadowienia budynku biurowo-mieszkalnego

  • Ekspertyza polegająca na wykonaniu analiz space syntax dla oddziału Onkologii w szpitalu w Gliwicach.
    • Weronika Dettlaff
    2023

    Ekspertyza dotyczy wykorzystania analizy syntaktycznej przestrzeni (space syntax analysis) w procesie planowania przestrzeni. Metoda ta pozwala prognozować wpływ konfiguracji przestrzennej na zachowanie użytkowników. Jest przydatna na każdym etapie planowania, zarówno w przypadku przestrzeni miejskich, jak i w budynkach. Miary syntaktyczne opisujące konfigurację przestrzenną umożliwiają opisanie i wyjaśnienie relacji przestrzennych oraz przewidywanie skutków decyzji projektowych. Mimo że metoda ta cieszy się dużą popularnością wśród zagranicznych urbanistów, socjologów, planistów, projektantów wnętrz i informatyków, w Polsce jest jeszcze mało znana i nie jest powszechnie stosowana. Dokument zawiera omówienie genezy analizy syntaktycznej przestrzeni, wyjaśnienie podstawowych pojęć z nią związanych oraz analizę przypadku jej stosowania w procesie planowania poprawy znajdowania drogi (wayfindingu) oraz poruszania się w Narodowym Instytucie Onkologii w Gliwicach.

  • Ekspertyza techniczna dotycząca przyczyn zawilgocenia ścian Katedry w Kwidzynie oraz wpływu zabudowy dwóch kwartałów mieszkalno-usługowych przy Katedrze realizowanych w latach 2010-2011 oraz 2018-2020 na stan zawilgocenia murów Katedry
    • Adam Krasiński
    • Michał Nitka
    • Andrzej Słabek
    2023

    Przedmiotem opracowania jest ekspertyza dotycząca przyczyn zawilgocenia ścian Katedry pw. św. Jana Ewangelisty w Kwidzynie oraz wpływu zabudowy dwóch kwartałów mieszkalno-usługowych przy katedrze, zrealizowanych w latach 2010-2011 oraz 2018-2020 na stan zawilgocenia murów budynku katedry. Ekspertyza swoim zakresem obejmuje ocenę zawilgocenia murów oraz ścian na zewnątrz oraz wewnątrz katedry, jak również wskazuje potencjalne przyczyny oraz czynniki wpływające na taki stan rzeczy np. zmiana stosunków wodnych po zrealizowaniu zabudowy części obszaru Starego Miasta. W ekspertyzie przedstawiono także zalecenia mające na celu wyeliminowanie lub znaczne ograniczenie gromadzenia się wody bezpośrednio przy fundamentach oraz jej wnikania w mury katedry. Opracowanie wykonano na podstawie analiz dostępnych dokumentacji oraz opracowań tj. głównie wcześniejszych ekspertyz, przekazanych przez Zamawiającego. Ponadto podczas odbytych dwóch wizji lokalnych przeprowadzono oględziny oraz nieinwazyjne pomiary wilgotnościowe murów katedry, jak również dokonano wierceń podłoża gruntowego w pobliżu katedry oraz pomiarów geodezyjnych części terenu wokół celem określenia spadów terenu i kierunków spływu wód opadowych.

  • Eksperymentalna analiza wpływu ruchu posuwisto-zwrotnego i obrotowego oraz miejscowych zmian geometrii na skuteczność wypierania cieczy wiertniczych z przestrzeni pierścieniowej
    • Paweł Szewczuk
    2023 Full text

    Rozprawa przedstawia analizę wpływu ruchu kolumny rur stosowanego w wiertnictwie oraz miejscowych zmian geometrii przestrzeni pierścieniowej na skuteczność procesu wypierania się cieczy. Jest to pierwsze badanie w otwartej literaturze omawiające te czynniki, w którym opisano wyniki eksperymentów na dedykowanym stanowisku badawczym. W pracy omówiony został wpływ węglowodorów na współczesną cywilizację, jak również wpływ skuteczności procesu wypierania cieczy wiertnicznych na powodzenie całej operacji ich pozyskiwania. W dalszej części omówione zostały kroki milowe w zrozumieniu procesu wypierania się cieczy wiertniczych jak i podstawowe zależności matematyczne definiujące ruch cząsteczek płynu. W rozdziale 3 postawione zostały cztery tezy nawiązujące do tematu rozprawy, które w rozdziale 4 zostały potwierdzone opisanymi wynikami eksperymentalnymi. Udowodniono: - zwiększenie wydajności wypierania cieczy z przestrzeni pierścieniowej przy implementacji ruchu posuwisto-zwrotnego; - zwiększenie wydajności procesu przy implementacji ruchu obrotowego; - dalsze zwiększenie wydajności procesu przy implementacji ruchu posuwisto-zwrotnego i obrotowego; - zmniejszenie wydajności procesu w sąsiedztwie zwężeń otworu. Dodatkowo, negatywny wpływ zwężeń został potwierdzony analizą wyników płytkich otworów eksperymentalnych jak i otworów komercyjnych przedstawioną w rozdziale 5.

  • Elastic scattering of electrons by water: An ab initio study
    • Francesca Triggiani
    • Tommaso Morresi
    • Simone Taioli
    • Stefano Simonucci
    2023 Full text Frontiers in Materials

    In this work we devise a theoretical and computational method to compute the elastic scattering of electrons from a non-spherical potential, such as in the case of molecules and molecular aggregates. Its main feature is represented by the ability of calculating accurate wave functions for continuum states of polycentric systems via the solution of the Lippmann-Schwinger equation, including both the correlation effects and multi-scattering interference terms, typically neglected in widely used approaches, such as the Mott theory. Within this framework, we calculate the purely elastic scattering matrix elements. As a test case, we apply our scheme to the modelling of electron-water elastic scattering. The Dirac-Hartree-Fock self-consistent field method is used to determine the non-spherical molecular potential projected on a functional space spanned by Gaussian basis set. By adding a number of multi-centric radially-arranged s-type Gaussian functions, whose exponents are system-dependent and optimized to reproduce the properties of the continuum electron wave function in different energy regions, we are able to achieve unprecedented access to the description of the low energy range of the spectrum (0.001 < E < 10 eV) up to keV, finding a good agreement with experimental data and previous theoretical results. To show the potential of our approach, we also compute the total elastic scattering cross section of electrons impinging on clusters of water molecules and zundel cation. Our method can be extended to deal with inelastic scattering events and heavy-charged particles.

  • Electrically Conductive Carbon‐based (Bio)‐nanomaterials for Cardiac Tissue Engineering
    • Negin Jalilinejad
    • Mohammad Rabiee
    • Nafiseh Baheiraei
    • Ramin Ghahremanzadeh
    • Reza Salarian
    • Navid Rabiee
    • Omid Akhavan
    • Payam Zarrintaj
    • Aleksander Hejna
    • Mohammad Saeb
    • Ali Zarrabi
    • Esmaeel Sharifi
    • Sattar Yousefiasl
    • Ehsan Nazarzadeh Zare
    2023 Full text Bioengineering & Translational Medicine

    A proper self-regenerating capability is lacking in human cardiac tissue which along with the alarming rate of deaths associated with cardiovascular disorders makes tissue engineering critical. Novel approaches are now being investigated in order to speedily overcome the challenges in this path. Tissue engineering has been revolutionized by the advent of nanomaterials, and later by the application of carbon-based nanomaterials because of their exceptional variable functionality, conductivity, and mechanical properties. Electrically conductive biomaterials used as cell bearers provide the tissue with an appropriate microenvironment for the specific seeded cells as substrates for the sake of protecting cells in biological media against attacking mechanisms. Nevertheless, their advantages and shortcoming in view of cellular behavior, toxicity, and targeted delivery depend on the tissue in which they are implanted or being used as a scaffold. This review seeks to address, summarize, classify, conceptualize, and discuss the use of carbon-based nanoparticles in cardiac tissue engineering emphasizing their conductivity. We considered electrical conductivity as a key affecting the regeneration of cells. Correspondingly, we reviewed conductive polymers used in tissue engineering and specifically in cardiac repair as key biomaterials with high efficiency. We comprehensively classified and discussed the advantages of using conductive biomaterials in cardiac tissue engineering. An overall review of the open literature on electroactive substrates including carbon-based biomaterials over the last decade was provided, tabulated, and thoroughly discussed. The most commonly used conductive substrates comprising graphene, graphene oxide, carbon nanotubes, and carbon nanofibers in cardiac repair were studied.

  • Electrochemical Production of Sodium Hypochlorite from Salty Wastewater Using a Flow-by Porous Graphite Electrode
    • Ahmed A. Afify
    • Gamal K. Hassan
    • Hussein Al-Hazmi
    • Rozan M. Kamal
    • Rehab M. Mohamed
    • Jakub Drewnowski
    • Joanna Majtacz
    • Jacek Mąkinia
    • Heba A. El-Gawad
    2023 Full text ENERGIES

    The production of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) from salty wastewater using an electrochemical cell has several advantages over other methods that often require hazardous chemicals and generate toxic waste, being more sustainable and environmentally friendly. However, the process of producing sodium hypochlorite using an electrochemical cell requires careful control of the operating conditions, such as the current density, flow rate, inert electrode spacing, and electrolyte concentration, to optimize the conversion efficiency and prevent electrode fouling and degradation. In this study, NaOCl was produced via a bench-scale electrochemical cell using a flowing porous graphite electrode in a continuous flow system from salty wastewater collected from the Suez Canal in Egypt. The aim of the investigation was to examine the factors that affect the concentration of NaOCl and energy consumption, such as anodic current density, salinity, inert electrode spacing, and influent feed flow rate. A lab-scale reactor with two electrodes was used to conduct the experiments. The highest NaOCl yield of 20.6% was achieved with a graphite electrode, which had high current efficiency and rigidity at a flow rate of 4.5 mL/min, a current density of 3.183 mA/cm2, an electrode space of 0.5 cm, salinity of 40,000 ppm, and a pH of 6.4. The power consumption under these conditions was 0.0137 kwh. Additionally, a statistical and least square multivariate regression technique was employed to establish a correlation for predicting the % NaOCl production. The obtained correlation had an R2 value of 98.4%. Overall, this investigation provides valuable insights into the production of NaOCl using a continuous flow system from salty wastewater, which could have potential for industrial applications in various sectors such as textiles, detergents, paper, and pulp.

  • Electrochemistry/mass spectrometry (EC/MS) for fast generation and identification of novel reactive metabolites of two unsymmetrical bisacridines with anticancer activity.
    • Agnieszka Potęga
    • Valentin Göldner
    • Erik Niehaves
    • Ewa Paluszkiewicz
    • Uwe Karst
    2023 JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL AND BIOMEDICAL ANALYSIS

    The development of a new drug requires knowledge about its metabolic fate in a living organism, regarding the comprehensive assessment of both drug therapeutic activity and toxicity profiles. Electrochemistry (EC) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) is an efficient tool for predicting the phase I metabolism of redox-sensitive drugs. In particular, EC/MS represents a clear advantage for the generation of reactive drug transformation products and their direct identification compared to biological matrices. In this work, we focused on the characterization of novel electrochemical products of two representative unsymmetrical bisacridines (C-2028 and C-2045) with demonstrated high anticancer activity. The electrochemical thin-layer flow-through cell μ-PrepCell 2.0 (Antec Scientific) was used here for the effective metabolite electrosynthesis. The electrochemical simulation of C-2028 reductive and C-2045 oxidative metabolism resulted in the generation of new products that were not observed before. The formation of nitroso [M-O+H]+ and azoxy [2M-3O+H]+ species from C-2028, as well as a series of hydroxylated and/or dehydrogenated products, including possible quinones [M-2H+H]+ and [M+O-2H+H]+ from C-2045, was demonstrated. For the latter, a glutathione S-conjugate (m/z 935.3130) was also obtained in measurements supplemented with the excess of reduced glutathione. For the identification of the products of interest, structural confirmation based on MS/MS fragmentation experiments was performed. Novel products of electrochemical conversions of unsymmetrical bisacridines were discussed in the context of their possible biological effect on the human organism.

  • Electron Scattering from Methyl Formate (HCOOCH3): A Joint Theoretical and Experimental Study
    • Natalia Tańska
    • Edvaldo Bandeira
    • Alessandra Souza Barbosa
    • Kuba Wójcik
    • Sylwia Dylnicka
    • Elżbieta Ptasińska-Denga
    • Czesław Szmytkowski
    • Márcio H F Bettega
    • Paweł Możejko
    2023 Full text JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY A

    Elastic low-energy electron collisions with methyl formate have been studied theoretically at the level of various theories. The elastic integral cross section was calculated using Schwinger multichannel and R-matrix methods, in the static-exchange and static-exchange plus polarization levels of approximations for energies up to 15 eV. The absolute total cross section for electron scattering from methyl formate has been measured in a wide energy range (0.2−300 eV) using a 127° electron spectrometer working in the linear transmission configuration. The integral elastic and the absolute total cross sections display a π* shape resonance at around 1.70−1.84 eV, which can be related to the resonance visible for formic acid, and a broad structure located at 7−8 eV, which can be associated to a superposition of σ* shape resonances. Our results were compared with theoretical and experimental results available in the literature and with the results of electron collisions with formic acid. The additivity rule was used to estimate the total cross section of methyl formate and the results agree well with the experimental data.

  • Electronic structure of intertwined kagome, honeycomb, and triangular sublattices of the intermetallics MCo2Al9 ( M = Sr, Ba)
    • Chiara Bigi
    • Sahar Pakdel
    • Michał Winiarski
    • Pasquale Orgiani
    • Ivana Vobornik
    • Jun Fujii
    • Giorgio Rossi
    • Vincent Polewczyk
    • Phil D. C. King
    • Giancarlo Panaccione
    • Tomasz Klimczuk
    • Kristian Sommer Thygesen
    • Federico Mazzola
    2023 PHYSICAL REVIEW B

    Intermetallics are an important playground to stabilize a large variety of physical phenomena, arising from their complex crystal structure. The ease of their chemical tunabilty makes them suitable platforms to realize targeted electronic properties starting from the symmetries hidden in their unit cell. Here, we investigate the family of the recently discovered intermetallics MCo2Al9 (M=Sr, Ba) and we unveil their electronic structure. By using angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations, we discover the existence of Dirac-like dispersions as ubiquitous features in this family, coming from the hidden kagome and honeycomb symmetries embedded in the unit cell. Finally, from calculations, we expect that the spin-orbit coupling is responsible for opening energy gaps in the electronic structure spectrum, which also affects the majority of the observed Dirac-like states. Our study constitutes an experimental observation of the electronic structure of MCo2Al9 and proposes these systems as hosts of Dirac-like physics with intrinsic spin-orbit coupling. The latter effect suggests MCo2Al9 as a future platform for investigating the emergence of nontrivial topology.

  • Electron-Induced Decomposition of 5-Bromo-4-thiouracil and 5-Bromo-4-thio-2′-deoxyuridine: The Effect of the Deoxyribose Moiety on Dissociative Electron Attachment
    • Farhad Izadi
    • Adrian Szczyrba
    • Magdalena Datta
    • Olga Ciupak
    • Sebastian Demkowicz
    • Janusz Rak
    • Stephan Denifl
    2023 Full text INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES

    When modified uridine derivatives are incorporated into DNA, radical species may form that cause DNA damage. This category of molecules has been proposed as radiosensitizers and is currently being researched. Here, we study electron attachment to 5-bromo-4-thiouracil (BrSU), a uracil derivative, and 5-bromo-4-thio-20 -deoxyuridine (BrSdU), with an attached deoxyribose moiety via the N-glycosidic (N1-C) bond. Quadrupole mass spectrometry was used to detect the anionic products of dissociative electron attachment (DEA), and the experimental results were supported by quantum chemical calculations performed at the M062X/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory. Experimentally, we found that BrSU predominantly captures low-energy electrons with kinetic energies near 0 eV, though the abundance of bromine anions was rather low compared to a similar experiment with bromouracil. We suggest that, for this reaction channel, proton-transfer reactions in the transient negative ions limit the release of bromine anions.

  • Electro-optical transducer based on indium-tin-oxide-coated optical fiber for analysis of ionized media
    • Petr Sezemsky
    • Marcin Koba
    • Pavel Curda
    • Robert Bogdanowicz
    • Vitezslav Stranak
    • Mateusz Śmietana
    2023 MEASUREMENT

    The paper introduces a concept of an optical fiber based electro-optical transducer for monitoring of ionized media, such as low-temperature plasma. It utilizes optical fiber with a section of a core coated with tailored indium tin oxide (ITO) thin film and thus combines the optical phenomena of lossy-mode resonance (LMR) with the electrostatic probe. ITO is an optically transparent and electrically conductive material and if its properties such as thickness, as well as optical and electrical properties are optimized, the ITO-LMR sensor is sensitive to changes in properties of both the film and its close vicinity. The ITO-LMR sensor, with its conductive surface, corresponds well by shape and geometry to electrostatic Langmuir probe. In this work, ITO-LMR sensor was employed for simultaneous optical (LMR spectrum) and electrical (current–voltage) interrogation of ionized media, where low-temperature plasma was used as an example. It has been found that optical and electrical responses highly correspond to one another and are attributed to changes in the properties of a plasma sheath surrounding the sensor. The charged species in the sheath influence not only its electrical and optical properties, but also optical properties of ITO. Thus, the sensor allows for real-time, optical monitoring of properties of the ionized media and obtaining optical readout that can be delivered directly to distant locations via an optical fiber without interference of electromagnetic noise.

  • Electrophoretically deposited titanium and its alloys in biomedical engineering: Recent progress and remaining challenges
    • Balbina Makurat-Kasprolewicz
    • Agnieszka Ossowska
    2023 Full text JOURNAL OF BIOMEDICAL MATERIALS RESEARCH PART B-APPLIED BIOMATERIALS

    Over the past decade, titanium implants have gained popularity as the number of performed implantation operations has significantly increased. There are a number of methods for modifying the surface of biomaterials, which are aimed at extending the life of titanium implants. The developments in this field in recent years have required a comprehensive discussion of all the properties of electrophoretically deposited coatings on titanium and its alloys, taking into account their bioactivity. The development that took place in this field in recent years required a comprehensive discussion of all the properties of coatings electrophoretically deposited on titanium and its alloys, with particular emphasis on their bioactivity. Herein, we attempt to assess the influence of the electrophoretic deposition (EPD) process parameters on these coatings' biological and mechanical properties. Particular attention has been addressed to the in-vitro and in-vivo studies conducted hitherto. We have seen an increased interest in using titanium alloys without the addition of toxic compounds and gaps in the EPD field such as the uncommon endeavors to develop a “Design of experiments” approach as well as the lack of assessment of the surface free energy and detailed topography of electrophoretically deposited coatings. The exact correlation of coating properties with EPD process parameters still seems explicitly not understood, necessitating more future investigations. Ipso facto, the exact mechanism of particle agglomeration and Hamaker's law need to be fathomable.

  • Ellipticity in couple-stress elasticity
    • Victor Eremeev
    • Daria Scerrato
    • Violetta Konopińska-Zmysłowska
    2023 Full text ZEITSCHRIFT FUR ANGEWANDTE MATHEMATIK UND PHYSIK

    We discuss ellipticity property within the linear couple-stress elasticity. In this theory, there exists a deformation energy density introduced as a function of strains and gradient of macrorotations, where the latter are expressed through displacements. So the couple-stress theory could be treated as a particular class of strain gradient elasticity. Within the micropolar elasticity, the model is called Cosserat pseudocontinuum or medium with constrained rotations. Applying the classic definitions of ordinary ellipticity and strong ellipticity to static equations of the couple-stress theory, we conclude that these equations are neither elliptic nor strongly elliptic. As a result, one should be aware of extending properties of full strain gradient models such as Toupin–Mindlin strain gradient elasticity to models with incomplete set of second derivatives.

  • Ellipticity of gradient poroelasticity
    • Victor Eremeev
    2023 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING SCIENCE

    We discuss the ellipticity properties of an enhanced model of poroelastic continua called dilatational strain gradient elasticity. Within the theory there exists a deformation energy density given as a function of strains and gradient of dilatation. We show that the equilibrium equations are elliptic in the sense of Douglis–Nirenberg. These conditions are more general than the ordinary and strong ellipticity but keep almost all necessary properties of equilibrium equations. In particular, the loss of the ellipticity could be considered as a criterion of a strain localization or material instability.

  • Elucidation of chemical compounds in different extracts of two Lavandula taxa and their biological potentials: Walking with versatile agents on the road from nature to functional applications
    • Gokhan Zengin
    • Sakina Yagi
    • Selami Selvi
    • Zoltán Cziáky
    • József Jeko
    • Kouadio Ibrahime Sinan
    • Asena Ayyüce Topcu
    • Fatih Erci
    • Grzegorz Boczkaj
    2023 INDUSTRIAL CROPS AND PRODUCTS

    Due to their health-promoting and nutraceutical properties, lavenders are frequently employed in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Here, we focused on investigate the chemical profile of hexane, MeOH, and water extracts of leaf, flower, and root of L. pedunculata and L. stoechas and to assess their antioxidant, enzyme inhibitory, and antibacterial properties. The highest total polyphenolic and flavonoids contents were recorded from the water and MeOH extracts of the leaf and flower of L. stoechas, respectively. Our HPLC/MS/MS analysis detected over 90 secondary metabolites, consisting of both known and novel terpenoids, polyphenols, flavonoids, and their derivative. Water leaf extract of L. stoechas displayed significantly (p < 0.05) the highest antiradical, Cu2+ and Fe3+ reducing capacity while hexane extract of the leaf and MeOH extract of the flower of L. pedunculata revealed the best metal chelating ability and total antioxidant activity respectively. The hexane extract of the leaf of L. pedunculata exerted the highest acetylcholinesterase and tyrosinase inhibition activity, whereas the hexane extracts from L. stoechas leaf and L. pedunculata root recorded the highest ability to inhibit the butyrylcholinesterase and ⍺-amylase enzymes respectively. The water extracts of the leaf of the two species, besides the hexane extract of the leaf of L. pedunculata exerted the best inhibition effect against the α-glucosidase. The sensitivities of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria species against different extracts at two different concentrations were tested based on agar well diffusion assay. According to the result, we found that the n-hexane extract of L. stoechas-flowers showed the highest antibacterial activity. In conclusion, the results suggest that both Lavandula species have promising potential as sources of bioactive agents for various industrial applications.

  • Emerging Processes for Sustainable Processing of Food Ingredients and Products
    • Roberto Castro Munoz
    2023 Full text Foods

    In recent decades, traditional food processing processes, such as homogenization, pasteurization, canning, drying, and smoking, among others, have been successfully applied to obtain, to some extent, acceptable food items. However, with the increasing food demand, as a consequence of the growing population worldwide, new, tunable, and enriched food products are demanded, requiring the implementation of emerging technologies in different areas of food processing. Such technologies offer the possibility of tuning the properties of food ingredients and several products and byproducts from traditional transformation processes [1,2]. Additionally, innovative technologies are providing relevant insights regarding reducing their waste, representing a promising alternative to environmental issues as well [3]. Therefore, we point out the importance of innovative and emerging techniques for processing food ingredients, products, and new food formulations.

  • Emotions and Their Relation with Knowledge Risks in Organizations
    • Małgorzata Zięba
    2023 Full text

    The aim of this chapter is to analyze and present knowledge risks from the perspective of emotions. Every year, new studies are published, where novel aspects of knowledge management field are examined and tested. One of such aspects that is worth examination and exploration is the role of emotions (both positive and negative) experienced by employees and managers that can contribute to their behaviors concerning knowledge risks (e.g., knowledge hiding, knowledge loss) and, therefore, knowledge management in organizations. Examples of positive emotions are love, joy, satisfaction, contentment, interest, amusement, happiness, serenity, or awe, while the most commonly felt negative emotions are fear, anger, disgust, sadness, rage, loneliness, melancholy, and annoyance. In this chapter, the potential influence of those emotions on the behaviors related to knowledge risks will be examined. The chapter lays theoretical grounds for the future studies related to emotions and their role in knowledge risks behaviors manifested by employees and managers.

  • Empirical analysis of tree-based classification models for customer churn prediction
    • Fatima E. Usman-Hamza
    • Abdullateef O. Balogun
    • Salahdeen K. Nasiru
    • Luiz Fernando Capretz
    • Hammed Mojeed
    • Shakirat A. Salihu
    • Abimbola G. Akintola
    • Modinat Abolore Mabayoje
    • Joseph B. Awotunde
    2023 Full text Scientific African

    Customer churn is a vital and reoccurring problem facing most business industries, particularly the telecommunications industry. Considering the fierce competition among telecommunications firms and the high expenses of attracting and gaining new subscribers, keeping existing loyal subscribers becomes crucial. Early prediction of disgruntled subscribers can assist telecommunications firms in identifying the reasons for churn and in deploying applicable innovative policies to boost productivity, maintain market competitiveness, and reduce monetary damages. Controlling customer churn through the development of efficient and dependable customer churn prediction (CCP) solutions is imperative to attaining this goal. According to the outcomes of current CCP research, several strategies, including rule-based and machine-learning (ML) processes, have been proposed to handle the CCP phenomenon. However, the lack of flexibility and robustness of rule based CCP solutions is a fundamental shortcoming, and the lopsided distribution of churn datasets is deleterious to the efficacy of most traditional ML techniques in CCP. Regardless, ML-based CCP solutions have been reported to be more effective than other forms of CCP solutions. Unlike linear-based, instance-based, and function-based ML classifiers, tree-based ML classifiers are known to generate predictive models with high accuracy, high stability, and ease of interpretation. However, the deployment of tree-based classifiers for CCP is limited in most cases to the decision tree (DT) and random forest (RF). Hence, this research investigated the effectiveness of tree-based classifiers with diverse computational properties in CCP. Specifically, the CCP performances of diverse tree-based classifiers such as the single, ensemble, enhanced, and hybrid tree-based classifiers are investigated. Also, the effects of data quality problems such as the class imbalance problem (CIP) on the predictive performances of tree-based classifiers and their homogeneous ensemble variants on CCP were assessed. From the experimental results, it was observed that the investigated tree-based classifiers outperformed other forms of classifiers such as linear-based (Support Vector Machine (SVM)), instance-based (K-Nearest Neighbour (KNN)), Bayesian-based (Naïve Bayes (NB)) and function-based (MultiLayer Perceptron (MLP)) classifiers in most cases with or without the CIP.

  • Empirical Relationship Describing Total Convective and Radiative Heat Loss in Buildings
    • Michał Ryms
    • Grzegorz J. Kwiatkowski
    • Witold Lewandowski
    2023 Full text International Journal of Heat and Technology

    On the basis of theoretical considerations of convective-radiative heat transfer, a relationship was developed enabling the total convective and radiative heat flux QC+R emitted from any object at tw and its surroundings at t∞ to be calculated from known values of the surface temperature of such an object, i.e., the known temperature difference Δt=tw - t∞ and average air temperature Tav. This relationship is applied to thermal imaging cameras with the aim of developing appropriate software to enhance their measurement capabilities. They can then be used not only for monitoring and measuring temperature, local overheating, heat losses through insulation materials, thermal bridges, constructional defects, moisture, etc., but also for measuring the heat losses from any object, such walls and buildings. This empirical relationship includes constants relating to the object itself, such as its characteristic dimension l, surface area A, emissivity ε and temperature parameters, which depend on tw, t∞, Δt and Tav and on the physical properties of air. Experimental validation of the proposed relationship, performed for two values of the surface emissivity ε, showing the discrepancies ΔQC+R=1.75% (for ε=0.884) and 4.85% (for ε=0.932), has confirmed its correctness and its practicability.

  • Employee Well-Being and its Potential Link With Human Knowledge Risks
    • Martyna Gonsiorowska
    • Małgorzata Zięba
    2023 Full text

    Employee well-being is an essential component of any organisation organisation. Conscious companies make every effort to create a healthy work environment. The well-being of employees and their overall emotional, physical and economic health is affected by various internal and external factors. When employees feel well, they tend to perform better. Therefore, the impact of employee well-being on the organisation is a fact and has been proven in many studies. People with a high level of well-being have greater self-confidence and self-esteem, which means that they are not afraid to look for new solutions and innovations. They are also generally more committed to their work and more dedicated to the organisationorganizational goals (Kim, 2021). Finally, they are more productive, which affects the whole performance of the company. Despite the high importance of employee well-being for the success of organisations organisations, little is known about how this well-being might influence human knowledge risks appearing in organisations. The article aims to present the potential link between employee well-being and human knowledge risks. The paper presents theoretical insights related to employee well-being, as well as human knowledge risks, organisations and organisations.This study has allowed us to identify the potential link between employee well-being and human knowledge risks, which brings several implications for organisations and organisations. showsThe ability to create conditions by managers to increase the well-being of their employees might be useful, in the trial of minimising human knowledge risks in organisations. The study is of theoretical character, and thus its findings should be further examined in practise research studies. The study provides useful information for managers and owners of organisations in need of dealing with various human knowledge risks threatening their organizations. The paper is enriched with a number of sample solutions that they may apply to increase the well-being of their employees and, therefore, mitigate those risks. The paper lays the ground for a better understanding of human knowledge risks and its relationship with employee well-being. As such, the paper offers food for thought for researchers dealing with the topic of human knowledge risks and human resource management, in general.

  • Employment of a Nonlinear Adaptive Control System for Improved Control of Dissolved Oxygen in Sequencing Batch Reactor
    • Michał Banach
    • Michał Kolankowski
    • Robert Piotrowski
    • Tomasz Ujazdowski
    2023

    A proper control in a complex system, such as Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) with each year is becoming increasingly important. High quality control can minimize an environmental impact as well as reduce operational costs of the WWTP. One of the core issues is providing adequate dissolved oxygen (DO) concetration for microorganisms used in a treatment process. An aeration process of the wastewater realised by an system consisting of blowers, pipelines and dif-fusers generates a large proportion of the costs. This paper presents an employ-ment of a nonlinear adaptive control algorithm Extremum Seeking Control for improved control of DO. For the control design process, models of the aeration system and the biological processes are implemented. The control results based on performed simulation tests are presented.

  • EMULACJA ŚRODOWISKA DLA ZASTOSOWANIA PROTOKOŁU IN-BAND NETWORK TELEMETRY
    • Sylwester Kaczmarek
    • Mateusz Krasoń
    2023 Przegląd Telekomunikacyjny + Wiadomości Telekomunikacyjne

    Określenie jakości obsługi strumieni pakietów w sieci przełączników wymaga odpowiedniego środowiska badawczego w którym prowadzi się doświadczenia i pomiary wybranych wielkości. Protokół In-band Network Telemetry jest jednym z narzędzi, które można wykorzystać do realizacji tych zadań. W pracy zaproponowano zwirtualizowane środowisko badawcze w którym można emulować sieć przełączników programowalnych w języku P4 wraz z implementacją tego protokołu. Przeprowadzone testy wykazały poprawność działania zaproponowanego rozwiązania.

  • Encouraging Pro-environmental Behaviour Through an Educational Mobile Application: Preliminary Insights from Early Adopters
    • Ewa Duda
    • Helena Anacka
    • Jolanta Kowal
    • Hanna Obracht-Prondzynska
    • Iwona Nowakowska
    • Hanne Cecilie
    • Kacper Radziszewski
    • Małgorzata Romanowska
    • Aleksandra Wyciszkiewicz
    • Jakub Zawieska
    2023 Full text International Journal of Pedagogy, Innovation and New Technologies

    This article aims to explore the extent to which the educational mobile application PULA supports and promotes pro-environmental behaviours, identify the most utilised functionalities by early adopters, and explore the least engaged functionalities. The study employs a quantitative approach based on data collected from the application. The analysis provides a comprehensive understanding of users' experiences and behaviours within the application, contributing valuable insights into its potential to foster pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours. The results suggested that the users, especially women, were generally interested in the learning activities. Pro-environmental transport-related activities were also frequently undertaken by the users. While women tended to split their time into various functionalities of the application, men focused mainly on the transport-related ones. This research contributes to the emerging field of using educational mobile applications for promoting pro-environmental behaviour. The study's focus on early adopters provides unique perspectives on the mechanisms behind behaviour change and offers implications for future interventions. The findings of this study can impact environmental conservation efforts. By encouraging pro-environmental behaviour through an accessible mobile application, a broader audience can be reached and motivated to adopt greener habits. The insights gained from this research can inform the design and development of future applications to foster sustainable practices, benefiting society and contributing to building a more sustainable future.

  • Endocrine disrupting compounds in the baby's world - A harmful environment to the health of babies
    • Justyna Płotka-Wasylka
    • Ewa Mulkiewicz
    • Hanna Lis
    • Klaudia Godlewska
    • Aleksandra Kurowska-Susdorf
    • Muhammad Sajid
    • Dimitra Lambropoulou
    • Natalia Jatkowska
    2023 SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT

    Globally, there has been a significant increase in awareness of the adverse effects of chemicals with known or suspected endocrine-acting properties on human health. Human exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) mainly occurs by ingestion and to some extent by inhalation and dermal uptake. Although it is difficult to assess the full impact of human exposure to EDCs, it is well known that timing of exposure is of importance and therefore infants are more vulnerable to EDCs and are at greater risk compared to adults. In this regard, infant safety and assessment of associations between prenatal exposure to EDCs and growth during infancy and childhood has been received considerable attention in the last years. Hence, the purpose of this review is to provide a current update on the evidence from biomonitoring studies on the exposure of infants to EDCs and a comprehensive view of the uptake, the mechanisms of action and biotransformation in baby/human body. Analytical methods used and concentration levels of EDCs in different biological matrices (e.g., placenta, cord plasma, amniotic fluid, breast milk, urine, and blood of pregnant women) are also discussed. Finally, key issues and recommendations were provided to avoid hazardous exposure to these chemicals, taking into account family and lifestyle factors related to this exposure.

  • Endothelial dysfunction due to eNOS uncoupling: molecular mechanisms as potential therapeutic targets
    • Anna Janaszak-Jasiecka
    • Agata Płoska
    • Joanna M. Wierońska
    • Lawrence W. Dobrucki
    • Leszek Kalinowski
    2023 Full text CELLULAR & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY LETTERS

    Nitric oxide (NO) is one of the most important molecules released by endothelial cells, and its antiatherogenic properties support cardiovascular homeostasis. Diminished NO bioavailability is a common hallmark of endothelial dysfunction underlying the patho‑ genesis of the cardiovascular disease. Vascular NO is synthesized by endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) from the substrate L‑arginine (L‑Arg), with tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) as an essential cofactor. Cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, aging, or smoking increase vascular oxidative stress that strongly affects eNOS activity and leads to eNOS uncoupling. Uncoupled eNOS produces superoxide anion (O2−) instead of NO, thus becoming a source of harmful free radicals exacerbat‑ ing the oxidative stress further. eNOS uncoupling is thought to be one of the major underlying causes of endothelial dysfunction observed in the pathogenesis of vascular diseases. Here, we discuss the main mechanisms of eNOS uncoupling, including oxida‑ tive depletion of the critical eNOS cofactor BH4, deficiency of eNOS substrate L‑Arg, or accumulation of its analog asymmetrical dimethylarginine (ADMA), and eNOS S‑glu‑ tathionylation. Moreover, potential therapeutic approaches that prevent eNOS uncou‑ pling by improving cofactor availability, restoration of L‑Arg/ADMA ratio, or modulation of eNOS S‑glutathionylation are briefly outlined.

  • Energetics of formation and stability in high pressure steam of barium lanthanide cobaltite double perovskites
    • Aleksandra Mielewczyk-Gryń
    • Shuhao Yang
    • Maria Balaguer
    • Ragnar Strandbakke
    • Magnus H. Sørby
    • Iga Szpunar
    • Agnieszka Witkowska
    • Sebastian Wachowski
    • Jose M. Serra
    • Alexandra Navrotsky
    • Maria Gazda
    2023 Full text DALTON TRANSACTIONS

    This study concerns energetics of formation and the stability in high water partial pressure of BaLnCo2O6−δ, (Ln = La, Pr, Nd, and Gd) (BLnC) and BaGd1−xLaxCo2O6−δ, where x = 0.2, 0.5, and 0.7 (BGLC) double perovskite cobaltites. Those materials are extensively studied due to their potential applications as a positrode in electrochemical devices. Therefore, their stability under such conditions is a key issue. All investigated materials are thermodynamically stable relative to binary oxides and exhibit strongly exothermic enthalpies of formation. Moreover, BaGd0.3La0.7Co2O6−δ and BaGd0.8La0.2Co2O6−δ remain the main perovskite structure up to 3 bars of water vapor at 400 °C. At higher steam pressure, reaching 10 bar at 300 °C, the partial decomposition to constituent oxides and hydroxides was observed. The BGLC compounds exhibit higher negative formation enthalpies in comparison to single-Ln compositions, which does not translate into higher chemical stability under high steam pressures since the BLnC series retained the main perovskite structure at higher temperatures as well as in higher water vapor pressures.

  • Energy consumption optimization in wastewater treatment plants: Machine learning for monitoring incineration of sewage sludge
    • Behrouz Adibimanesh
    • Sylwia Polesek-Karczewska
    • Faramarz Bagherzadeh
    • Piotr Szczuko
    • Torkan Shafighfard
    2023 Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments

    Biomass management in terms of energy consumption optimization has become a recent challenge for developed countries. Nevertheless, the multiplicity of materials and operating parameters controlling energy consumption in wastewater treatment plants necessitates the need for sophisticated well-organized disciplines in order to minimize energy consumption and dissipation. Sewage sludge (SS) disposal management is the key stage of this process, such that incineration due to the high costs of drying remains a matter of concern. Thus, a combination of experimental investigations and data analysis is required for an efficient plant design. Herein, we propose an intelligent tool based on Machine Learning (ML) algorithms (A: Parallel, B: Artificial Neural Network (ANN), and C: Chained, ML models) by employing SciKit-Learn library in Python, followed by hyper-parameter tuning and the k-fold cross-validation implementation. The optimizer receives simulation data from ASPEN PLUS software, and imitates the behavior of system outputs (namely, Y_i : fluidized bed temperature, steam heat transfer rate, and dryer residence time in the SS) to yield optimal changing variables (namely, X_i: feed temperature, air temperature, fume temperature, steam flow rate, moisture content in the feedstock, and steam inlet temperature to dryer). The authenticity and precision of our intelligent optimizer was validated in terms of optimum heat transfer amount (the higher the better) and dryer residence time (the lower the better) by data collected from wastewater treatment plant in Gdynia (Poland), demonstrating excellent predictability of the algorithm. The R^2 values for A, B, and C ML models were 0.85, 0.94, and 0.91, respectively. The B model, though slightly revealed better prediction than the C model, estimated the outputs in much lower time than the former. Thus, C model was selected as the computational tool for the optimization purpose. Overall, we claim that the methodology developed herein takes the advantage of ca. 6% saving in the total amount of energy required for incineration unit of SS disposal plant, which is well justified considering the energy crisis raised by the geopolitical issues in the area and also the high cost of energy worldwide.

  • Energy conversion in systems-contained laser irradiated metallic nanoparticles - comparison of results from analytical solutions and numerical methods
    • Piotr Radomski
    • Paweł Ziółkowski
    • Dariusz Mikielewicz
    2023 Full text Acta Mechanica et Automatica

    This work introduces the theoretical method of metallic nanoparticles’ (NPs’) heat and mass transfer where the particles are coated on a surface (base), together with considering the case wherein nanoparticles move freely in a pipe. In order to simulate the heat transfer, energy and radiative transfer equations are adjusted to the considered issue. NPs’ properties are determined following the nanofluidic theories, whereas absorption and scattering coefficients are described using either Mie-Lorenz theory or Rayleigh-Drude approximation. Thermal boundary conditions are implemented based on the microscale heat transfer and Smoluchowski theory. Results are compared with the classical Fourier transport differential solutions that have been adjusted to laser irradiation.

  • Energy Efficiency and Economic Policy: Comprehensive Theoretical, Empirical, and Policy Review
    • Muhammad Mushafiq
    • Muzammil Muhammad Khan Arisar
    • Hanan Tariq
    • Stanisław Czapp
    2023 Full text ENERGIES

    In this paper, we analyze the role of economic policy in prompting energy efficiency. This study reviews three aspects, theoretical, empirical, and existing policies to evaluate the relationship of energy efficiency and economic policy. This study furthermore identifies the existing issues from a policy perspective in energy efficiency. Although not all public policies may be justified, it suggests that these types of financial incentives, particularly those based on economic instruments, can play a crucial role in advancing energy efficiency. Additionally, this study identifies existing issues in energy efficiency target achievement and proposes solutions based on the literature review. Finally, it provides possible future research pathways from the aspect of economic policy tools in energy efficiency.

  • Energy efficiency of electric multiple units in suburban operation
    • Aleksander Jakubowski
    2023 Full text

    This thesis presents approach to analysis of energy efficiency of a suburban rail network, using novel models developed on the Matlab/Simulink basis. Necessary features and requirements for such models were determined thru in-depth review of the source literature in all applicable fields: electrified transportation systems, electric multiple units construction, vehicle drivetrains and finally, existing simulation methods. Existing and applied methods for improvement energy efficiency of electrified transportation were identified. Original model of electrified transportation system was developed. It can be characterized by unique implementation of the data bus structure that allows for simulating complex transport systems in a straightforward way while retaining high computation performance. Because every part of the program is an independent sub-model, the only limitation to size and complexity of analyzed system is the available computing power. Parameters of the analyzed transport system were assumed using technical datasheets, catalogues, tender documentation and a large set of recorded run data. Energy efficiency analysis for suburban railway system of SKM Trójmiasto was carried out, limiting the scope to railway line no. 250 between stations Gdańsk Śródmieście and Gdynia Redłowo. Practical and easy to implement approach to velocity profile optimization for electric multiple unit was proposed. Presented method allows for energy savings of about 8% while retaining the same travel time, simultaneously reducing drivetrain losses. Possibilities of further energy consumption reduction were suggested. Conducted research demonstrated that implementing model structure inspired by industrial communication networks improves model scalability and versatility, as it was used for two different electrified urban transport systems, with different power supply layouts. Moreover, proposed approach to energy consumption optimization, based on trackside signs and manageable by human driver was shown to improve energy efficiency of the whole system. This work also includes implementation of passenger flow and variable velocity profiles, which allowed for improvement of calculation accuracy.

  • Energy efficient beam control for 5G antennas
    • Damian Duraj
    • Luiza Leszkowska
    • Weronika Kalista
    • Kamil Trzebiatowski
    • Łukasz Kulas
    • Krzysztof Nyka
    2023

    The rapid development of 5G and beyond systems demands improvement in communication speed, latency and safety to maintain the required quality of service. This paper presents an overview of different concepts of energy-efficient antenna systems, which offer beam-shaping and beam-steering functionalities, that enhance connectivity performance and can be used in 5G applications. Different designs for 5.9 GHz, 39 GHz and 60 GHz frequency bands are proposed to further improve the capabilities of 5G MIMO systems or reduce energy consumption, i.e. antennas with low-power CMOS switches, antenna arrays that can be integrated with 3D-printed lenses, patch antennas with lenses, antennas with planar reconfigurable superstrate to focus the beam and a multi-beam antenna based on a multiport patch array producing beams de ected by an integrated 3D-printed lens.

  • Energy-Aware Scheduling for High-Performance Computing Systems: A Survey
    • Bartłomiej Kocot
    • Paweł Czarnul
    • Jerzy Proficz
    2023 Full text ENERGIES

    High-performance computing (HPC), according to its name, is traditionally oriented toward performance, especially the execution time and scalability of the computations. However, due to the high cost and environmental issues, energy consumption has already become a very important factor that needs to be considered. The paper presents a survey of energy-aware scheduling methods used in a modern HPC environment, starting with the problem definition, tackling various goals set up for this challenge, including a bi-objective approach, power and energy constraints, and a pure energy solution, as well as metrics related to the subject. Then, considered types of HPC systems and related energy-saving mechanisms are described, from multicore-processors/graphical processing units (GPU) to more complex solutions, such as compute clusters supporting dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS), power capping, and other functionalities. The main section presents a collection of carefully selected algorithms, classified by the programming method, e.g., machine learning or fuzzy logic. Moreover, other surveys published on this subject are summarized and commented on, and finally, an overview of the current state-of-the-art with open problems and further research areas is presented.

  • Engineering boron and nitrogen codoped carbon nanoarchitectures to tailor molecularly imprinted polymers for PFOS determination
    • Mattia Pierpaoli
    • Małgorzata Szopińska
    • Adrian Olejnik
    • Jacek Ryl
    • Sylwia Fudala-Książek
    • Aneta Łuczkiewicz
    • Robert Bogdanowicz
    2023 Full text JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

    Per- 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) electrochemical sensor tailored by chemically vapour-deposited boron and nitrogen codoped diamond-rich carbon nanoarchitectures for the selective determination of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). This approach allows for a multiscale reduction of MIP heterogeneities, leading to improved selectivity and sensitivity in PFOS detection. Interestingly, the peculiar carbon nanostructures induce a specific distribution of binding sites in the MIPs that exhibit a strong affinity for PFOS. The designed sensors demonstrated a low limit of detection (1.2 μg L-1) and exhibited satisfactory selectivity and stability. To gain further insights into the molecular interactions between diamond-rich carbon surfaces, electropolymerised MIP, and the PFOS analyte, a set of density functional theory (DFT) calculations was performed. Validation of the sensor’s performance was carried out by successfully determining PFOS concentrations in real complex samples, such as tap water and treated wastewater, with average recovery rates consistent with UHPLC-MS/MS results. These findings demonstrate the potential of MIP-supported diamond-rich carbon nanoarchitectures for water pollution monitoring, specifically targeting emerging contaminants. The proposed sensor design holds promise for the development of in situ PFOS monitoring devices operating under relevant environmental concentrations and conditions.

  • Engineering TADF, Mechanochromism, and Second Harmonic Up- conversion Properties in Regioisomeric Substitution Space
    • Subrahmanyam Sappati
    • Abhijit Chatterjee
    • Chatterjee Joy
    • Mazurka Lahiri
    • Mandal Pankaj
    • Partha Hazra
    2023 Full text Chemical Science

    This research article explores the distinct TADF efficiency of three donor-acceptor based regio-isomers: DPAOCN (ortho- isomer), DPAMCN (meta-isomer), and DPAPCN (para-isomer). DPAPCN exhibits maximum TADF efficiency in both solution and solid-state with an impressive reverse inter-system crossing (RISC) rate of ~ 106 s-1; the underlying cause being the minimum singlet-triplet splitting energy or ∆EST and maximum SOC (spin-orbit coupling) between the S1 & T1 states. Apart from TADF, differences in crystal packing of the regio-isomers result in intriguing bulk phase properties. DPAOCN, with its non-centrosymmetric P212121 space group and substantial crystal void volume, enchants with reversible tri-color mechanochromic luminescent behavior, while the meta and para isomers, due to their centrosymmetric packing and diminished crystal void volume, remain inert to mechanical pressure. Expanding the horizon of possibilities, the non- centrosymmetric nature of ortho-isomer further renders it an excellent SHG material, with the χ(2) value of 0.19 pm/V at 1220 nm and laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) value of 13.27 GW/cm2. Overall, a comprehensive investigation into the regio-isomers has been carried out, encompassing their TADF, SHG, and mechanochromic luminescent properties.

  • Enhanced gas sensing by graphene-silicon Schottky diodes under UV irradiation
    • Katarzyna Drozdowska
    • Adil Rehman
    • Janusz Smulko
    • Sergey Rumyantsev
    • Bartlomiej Stonio
    • Aleksandra Krajewska
    • Mateusz Słowikowski
    • Maciej Filipiak
    • Pavlo Sai
    • Grzegorz Cywinski
    2023 SENSORS AND ACTUATORS B-CHEMICAL

    The effect of ultraviolet (UV) or blue irradiation on graphene/n-doped silicon Schottky junctions toward gas sensing was investigated. Schottky diodes were subjected to oxidizing nitrogen dioxide (NO2, 1–3 ppm) and reducing tetrahydrofuran (THF, 50–200 ppm), showing significantly different responses observed on the currentvoltage (I-V) characteristics, especially under UV light (275 nm). NO2 affected the resistive part of the forward region of the I-V curves, where graphene’s resistance dominates, and increased the junction current. A low detection limit of 75 ppb was obtained for NO2 detection at a 4 V voltage bias. THF influenced the reverse and forward regions, shifting the exponential parts of the characteristics, indicating the impact on the Schottky barrier height, and reducing the detection limit to 31 ppm. The adsorption of organic molecules increased the Schottky barrier height by up to tens of meV due to the dominating photogating effect. The width of the junction area may be crucial for optimizing graphene-silicon Schottky-based sensors and improving their performance, together with irradiation-induced modulation, to become one of the most advanced gas mixture sensors. The ease of fabrication of large-area graphene and forming stable graphene-silicon junctions determine a simple method for developing efficient gas sensing platforms.

  • Enhanced supercapacitor materials from pyrolyzed algae and graphene composites
    • Mariusz Szkoda
    • Malgorzata Skorupska
    • Jerzy P. Lukaszewicz
    • Anna Ilnicka
    2023 Full text Scientific Reports

    This study focuses on the synthesis and characterization of supercapacitor materials derived from pyrolyzed natural compounds. Four compounds were investigated: methylcellulose with lysine (ML), methylcellulose with lysine-graphene composite (MLG), algae (A), and algae-graphene composite (AG). The pyrolysis process was utilized to convert these natural compounds into carbon-based materials suitable for supercapacitor applications. The properties of the resulting materials were analyzed extensively to evaluate their potential as supercapacitor electrodes. The electrochemical performance, including specific capacitance, cyclic stability, and rate capability was measured using various characterization techniques. The effects of incorporating graphene into the lysine-methylcellulose and algae matrices were also studied to explore the enhancements in supercapacitor performance. In both cases, the addition of graphene resulted in a positive effect. Among all the materials investigated, the algae-graphene composite exhibited the most favorable properties, demonstrating a specific capacitance of 192 F g−1 after 10,000 galvanostatic charge–discharge cycles at a current of 5 A g−1 in K2SO4 electrolyte. This exceptional performance underscores the potential of the algae-graphene composite as a highly efficient and durable electrode material for supercapacitor applications.

  • Enhancement of photocatalytic-based processes by mono- and bimetallic (CuPd) rutile loaded nanoparticles for antibiotic resistance genes and facultative pathogenic bacteria removal
    • Marta Gmurek
    • Johannes Alexander
    • Paweł Mazierski
    • Magdalena Miodyńska
    • Maciej Fronczak
    • Tomasz Klimczuk
    • Adriana Zaleska-Medynska
    • Harald Horn
    • Thomas Schwartz
    2023 Full text CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL

    The aim of the study was the strong reduction of facultative pathogenic bacteria (FPB), and clinically relevant antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) from secondary effluent. To evaluate the ARGs removal efficiency comparative study of individual unit processes and combined AOPs has been performed. The present work investigated: i) removal of selected ARGs, namely blaTEM, ermB, qnrS, tetM, five FPB as well as 16S rDNA and the integrase gene intl1 involved in horizontal gene transfer; ii) bacterial regrowth potential after treatment; (iii) the removal of the total genomic DNA content, by mono- and bimetallic TiO2-CuPd rutile photocatalysts under visible light radiation in real secondary effluent. The nanoparticles were characterized by UV–vis, XRD, HRTEM, Raman and XPS. TiO2-CuPd/VIS inactivation gives the highest (more than 2 log units removal) efficiency for almost all targets (blaTEM, ermB, tetM, intl 1, and 16S rRNA) compared to monometallic catalysts. The highest efficiency toward blaTEM was achieved after ozonation and TiO2-CuPd/O3/VIS (3.22 and 3.23 LRV, respectively). It was found that despite similar FPB inactivation, lower DNA destruction was found after O3 compared to TiO2-CuPd/O3/VIS treatment. The blaTEM and enterococci were completely removed during TiO2-CuPd/O3/Vis and TiO2-Cu/O3/Vis. While, catalytic ozonation leads to only slightly blaTEM removal (0.64 and 0.44 LRV for TiO2-CuPd/O3 and TiO2- Cu/O3, respectively). Photocatalytic ozonation with the application of TiO2-CuPd leads to significant removal of FPB and ARGs due to synergistic effect between Pd and Cu, which leads to acceleration of ozone – catalysts reaction. Photocatalytic ozonation has the greatest potential giving promising possibilities for eliminating AMR.

  • Enhancement of the Magnetoresistance in the Mobility‐Engineered Compensated Metal Pt 5 P 2
    • Alex H. Mayo
    • Hidefumi Takahashi
    • Shintaro Ishiwata
    • Jan Jaroszynski
    • Robert J. Cava
    • Weiwei Xie
    • Tomasz Klimczuk
    • Karolina Górnicka
    • Michał Winiarski
    2023 Full text Advanced Electronic Materials

    The magnetoresistance (MR) in nonmagnetic materials continues to be a fertile research area in materials science. The search for giant, positive MR has been limited to a rather small window of materials such as high-mobility semimetals in single-crystalline form. Here, the observation of a very large positive MR in metallic Pt5P2 in polycrystalline form is reported. The observations reveal that improvement of the crystallinity results in a significant enhancement of the positive MR, exceeding 10 000% at 9 T, comparable to high-mobility semimetals. Based on first-principles calculations combined with magnetotransport and thermoelectric measurements, the Fermi surface of Pt5P2 is found to consist of a collection of multiple electron and hole pockets compensating one another, along with a characteristic pocket continuously connected to the adjacent Brillouin zone, together with possible topologically protected band crossings. This work extends the landscape of high MR candidate materials to polycrystalline metals, which demonstrates the importance of crystallinity and purity of the samples for the optimization of the MR.

  • Enhancing Economic Development Through ICT-Based Governance: Evidence for Developing Countries
    • Ewa Lechman
    2023

    his shows novel empirical evidence on how e-government solutions enhance the emergence of inclusive societies, increase institutional quality, and through that channels dynamize economic development in developing countries. With this aim we examine digital development inequalities adopting 2 core ICT indicators: mobile cellular telephony and Internet users; and gross per capita income and Human Development Index to show the level of economic development, and these indicators are then with e-governments developments. Adopted empirical strategy involves graphical identification of changes in digital and economic development as well as it aims to identify changes in e-governance development, using kernel densities functions, time trends analysis, and panel regression approach. Our empirical sample combines 40 developing economies, and the time span for the analysis is 1990–2019. Statistical data are entirely extracted from World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database 2020 and World Band Development Indicators 2021. Our major conclusions unveil that e-government solutions are positively associated with economic growth and development. We claim that these results are poorly robust and massive cross-country disparities exist in regard to the state of deployment of electronic government mainly due to uneven diffusion of digital technologies in developing economies.

  • Enhancing Renal Tumor Detection: Leveraging Artificial Neural Networks in Computed Tomography Analysis
    • Mateusz Glembin
    • Aleksander Obuchowski
    • Barbara Klaudel
    • Bartosz Rydziński
    • Roman Karski
    • Paweł Syty
    • Patryk Jasik
    • Wojciech Józef Narożański
    2023 Full text Medical Science Monitor

    Renal 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 malignant and benign renal tumors and to aid active surveillance. A retrospective study based on CT images was conducted. Axial CT images of 357 renal tumor cases were collected. There were 265 (74.2%) cases histologically proven to be malignant, while 34 (9.5%) cases were benign. Radiologists diagnosed 58 (16.3%) cases as angiomyolipoma (AML), based on characteristic appearance, not confirmed histopathologically. For ANN training, the arterial CT phase images were used. A total of 7207 arterial-phase images were collected, then cropped and added to the database with the associated diagnosis. For the test dataset (ANN validation), 38 cases (10 benign, 28 malignant) were chosen by subgroup randomization to correspond to statistical tumor type distribution. The VGG-16 ANN architecture was used in this study. Trained ANN correctly classified 23 out of 28 malignant tumors and 8 out of 10 benign tumors. Accuracy was 81.6% (95% confidence interval, 65.7-92.3%), sensitivity was 82.1% (63.1-93.9%), specificity was 80.0% (44.4-97.5%), and F1 score was 86.8% (74.7-94.5%). The created ANN achieved promising accuracy in differentiating benign vs malignant renal tumors.