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Gdańsk University of Technology

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  • Entrained Flow Plasma Gasification of Sewage Sludge–Proof-of-Concept and Fate of Inorganics
    • Dariusz Mikielewicz
    • Paweł Ziółkowski
    • Vishwajeet Vishwajeet
    • Halina Pawlak-kruczek
    • Marcin Baranowski
    • Michał Czerep
    • Artur Chorążyczkowski
    • Krystian Krochmalny
    • Krystian Ostrycharczyk
    • Paweł Madejski
    • Tadeusz Mączka
    • Amit Arora
    • Tomasz Hardy
    • Łukasz Niedźwiecki
    • Janusz Badur
    2022 Full text ENERGIES

    Sewage sludge is a residue of wastewater processing that is biologically active and consists of water, organic matter, including dead and living pathogens, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and heavy metals, as well as organic and inorganic pollutants. Landfilling is on the decline, giving way to more environmentally friendly utilisation routes. This paper presents the results of a two-stage gasification–vitrification system, using a prototype-entrained flow plasma-assisted gasification reactor along with ex situ plasma vitrification. The results show that the use of plasma has a considerable influence on the quality of gas, with a higher heating value of dry gas exceeding 7.5 MJ/mN3, excluding nitrogen dilution. However, dilution from plasma gases becomes the main problem, giving a lower heating value of dry gas with the highest value being 5.36 MJ/mN3 when dilution by nitrogen from plasma torches is taken into account. An analysis of the residues showed a very low leaching inclination of ex-situ vitrified residues. This suggests that such a system could be used to avoid the problem of landfilling significant amounts of ash from sewage sludge incineration by turning inorganic residues into a by-product that has potential use as a construction aggregate.

  • Environmental impact of construction. Methods of conscious shaping architecture in terms of ecological solutions
    • Jan Cudzik
    • Jakub Kruk
    2022 Full text Przestrzeń i Forma

    Shaping an ecologically conscious society is a process that also affects architecture. Currently, designers are eagerly looking for solutions that are beneficial in terms of carbon footprint. For the proper multi-criteria assessment and selection of adequate solutions, it is necessary to use appropriate tools such as, for example, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method or the rules of ecological certification (BREEAM and LEED). The work presents a review of tools and methods for the objective selection of ecological solutions in the process of architectural design.

  • Environmentally Friendly Fabrication of High-Efficient Fe-ZnO/Citric Acid-Modified Cellulose Composite and the Enhancement of Photocatalytic Activity in the Presence of H2O2
    • Agnieszka Fiszka Borzyszkowska
    • Agnieszka Sulowska
    • Ivar Zekker
    • Jakub Karczewski
    • Kai Bester
    • Anna Zielińska-Jurek
    2022 Full text Catalysts

    In the present study, a novel Fe-ZnO/citric acid-modified cellulose composite (x%Fe-ZnOy% CAC) was synthesized using an environmentally friendly hydrothermal method. The obtained samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV−vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nitrogen physisorption, and electrochemical and photocurrent density analyses. The influence of the additives from the series of x%Fe-ZnO-y%CAC photocatalysts with Fe content from 0 to 5% and CAC content from 0 to 80% on photocatalytic degradation of ibuprofen (IBU) under simulated solar light was investigated. The photocatalyst 0.5%Fe-ZnO-40%CAC showed high photocatalytic activity of 0.0632 min−1 first-order kinetic rate constant and 46% TOC reduction of IBU under simulated solar light irradiation. Additionally, H2O2-assisted photocatalytic process was investigated for facilitating the IBU degradation in the presence of 0.5%Fe-ZnO-40%CAC; the first-order kinetic rate constant was 2.7 times higher compared to the process without addition of H2O2. Moreover, the effect of radical scavengers was examined to explain the degradation mechanism of IBU by synthesized photocatalysts supported with H2O2. The demonstrated system provides a low-cost and green approach to improve the photocatalytic activity of x%Fe-ZnO-y%CAC photocatalysts.

  • ESTIMATING AVERSION TO RANK INEQUALITY UNDERLYING SELECTED ITALIAN INDICES OF INCOME INEQUALITY
    • Stanisław Kot
    2022 Full text Statistica e Applicazioni

    In this paper, we estimate aversion to rank inequality (ATRI) underlying selected Italian income inequality indices, I, notably the Pietra index, the Bonferroni index and the “new” Zenga index. We measure ATRI by the parameter v of the generalised Gini index G(v). ATRI is distinct from aversion to income inequality, as measured by parameter ε of Atkinson’s index A(ε). We propose eliciting v from the equation I = GE(v). As, in general, an analytical solution to this equality can be cumbersome, we retrieve v from the empirical equation Iˆ = Gˆ (v) where the symbols Iˆ and Gˆ (v) denote the estimates of I and G(v), respectively. We also calculate the benchmark income x* such that adding a small income to it does not affect inequality. In this paper, we solve the equation using the estimates of the Italian inequality indices for Poland from 2000 to 2017. We have found, on average, v≈1.5 for the Pietra index, v ≈ 3 for the Bonferroni index, and v ≈ 11 for the Zenga index.

  • Estimation of groundwater recharge in a shallow sandy aquifer using unsaturated zone modeling and water table fluctuation method
    • Anna Gumuła-Kawęcka
    • Beata Jaworska-Szulc
    • Adam Szymkiewicz
    • Wioletta Gorczewska-Langner
    • Małgorzata Pruszkowska-Caceres
    • Rafael Angulo-Jaramillo
    • Jirka Šimůnek
    2022 Full text JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY

    Quantification of groundwater recharge is one of the most important issues in hydrogeology, especially in view of the ongoing changes in climate and land use. In this study, we use numerical models of 1D vertical flow in the vadose zone and the water table fluctuation (WTF) analysis to investigate local-scale recharge of a shallow sandy aquifer in the Brda outwash plain in northern Poland. We show that these two methods can be jointly used to improve confidence in recharge estimation. A set of preliminary numerical simulations based on soil water content measurements from 4 grassland and pine forest profiles provided a wide range of recharge estimates (263 mm to 839 mm for a 3-year period). Additional simulations were performed with the lower boundary condition specified as a functional relationship between the groundwater table elevation and the rate of groundwater outflow from the vertical profile (horizontal drains boundary condition). In this way, we could reproduce the water table fluctuations resulting from recharge and lateral discharge to nearby lakes. The agreement between simulated and observed groundwater levels differed depending on the specific set of parameters characterizing vadose zone flow, which allowed us to find the most representative parameter sets and refine the range of plausible recharge estimates (501 mm to 573 mm per 3 years). The recharge rates from WTF (410 mm to 606 mm per 3 years) were in good agreement with numerical simulations, providing that the effect of the natural recession of groundwater table due to lateral outflow was considered (master recession curve method). Our results show that: (i) the proposed approach combining 1D vadose zone modeling and WTF improves recharge estimation, (ii) multiple types of observations, including groundwater table positions, are needed to calibrate and validate vadose zone flow models, and (iii) extended periods of observations and simulations are necessary to capture year-to-year variability in the recharge rates.

  • Estimation of nonstructural stiffness in instrumented steel frames
    • Tomasz Falborski
    • Amit Kanvinde
    2022 ENGINEERING STRUCTURES

    Lateral stiffness of nonstructural components may significantly influence the initial stiffness of the entire structure and consequently alter its dynamic characteristics. While methods for simulating structural members are well-established, approaches for modeling nonstructural components that also participate in seismic response are notably less developed. In this paper a simplified, physically-intuitive approach for estimating the stiffness of nonstructural members based on vibration recordings of buildings is presented. The method comprises two components: (1) identifying the instants during the time history wherein components of interstory velocity are negligible, such that damping forces are zero, and (2) at these instants, using static analysis to estimate story shears and story torsion in the structural members by applying the recorded displacements to the entire structure, and the accelerations to all masses above the story of interest. The method derives from first-principles of dynamics and structural analysis, and is assessed against experimental data from three datasets that include shake table data on steel frames with nonstructural walls as well as quasi-static tests on the similar walls. The results are critically discussed in the context of their prospective applications in practical settings, and limitations are summarized.

  • Estimation of the angular position of a two-wheeled balancing robot using a real IMU with selected filters
    • Krzysztof Laddach
    • Rafał Łangowski
    • Tomasz Zubowicz
    2022 Full text Bulletin of the Polish Academy of Sciences-Technical Sciences

    A low-cost measurement system using filtering of measurements for two-wheeled balancing robot stabilisation purposes has been addressed in this paper. In particular, a measurement system based on gyroscope, accelerometer, and encoder has been considered. The measurements have been corrected for deterministic disturbances and then filtered with Kalman, α-β type, and complementary filters. A quantitative assessment of selected filters has been given. As a result, the complete structure of a measurement system has been obtained. The performance of the proposed measurement system has been validated experimentally by using a dedicated research rig.

  • Estimation of transmission quality in cellular systems based on indicators measured by the radio module
    • Olga Błaszkiewicz
    • Robert Burczyk
    • Agnieszka Czapiewska
    • Małgorzata Gajewska
    • Sławomir Gajewski
    • Jarosław Sadowski
    2022

    The article presents a measurement stand for testing transmission quality in cellular systems such as LTE, NB-IoT, UMTS and GSM. The results of BLER and throughput measurements for various propagation conditions as well as results of quality indicators appropriate for mentioned technologies measured by commercial radio module are presented. Those measurements were utilized to analyze the possibility of estimating the transmission quality in LTE, NB-IoT, UMTS and GSM only based on the results of measurements carried out by a commercial radio module.

  • ESTYMACJA I ANALIZA STANU KANAŁU RADIOWEGO INTERFEJSU LTE NA POTRZEBY REALIZACJI HETEROGENICZNEGO ALGORYTMU MULTILINK Z UŻYCIEM GŁĘBOKIEGO UCZENIA
    • Krzysztof Cwalina
    • Olga Błaszkiewicz
    • Alicja Olejniczak
    • Piotr Rajchowski
    • Jarosław Sadowski
    2022 Przegląd Telekomunikacyjny + Wiadomości Telekomunikacyjne

    W niniejszym artykule przedstawiono estymację i analizę stanu kanału radiowego dla interfejsu LTE na potrzeby realizacji heterogenicznego algorytmu trasowania prze-syłanych pakietów pomiędzy dostępnymi interfejsami radiowymi. Udowodniono przydatność i zwiększenie efektywności predykcji metryki BLER opracowanego modelu głębokiego uczenia względem modelu liniowego. Przedstawiono także metodykę oraz przeanalizowano istotność parametrów wejściowych uzyskanego modelu głębokiego uczenia.

  • Estymacja jakości transmisji w systemie LTE na podstawie wskaźników mierzonych przez moduł radiowy
    • Olga Błaszkiewicz
    • Robert Burczyk
    • Agnieszka Czapiewska
    • Małgorzata Gajewska
    • Sławomir Gajewski
    • Jarosław Sadowski
    2022 Full text Przegląd Elektrotechniczny

    W referacie zaprezentowano stanowisko pomiarowe do badania jakości transmisji w systemie LTE. Przedstawiono także wyniki pomiarów BLER oraz przepływności dla różnych warunków propagacyjnych oraz mierzone przez moduł parametry RSRP, RSRQ, RSSI, SINR i MCS. Wyniki pomiarów posłużyły do przeprowadzenia analizy możliwości estymacji jakości transmisji w systemie LTE jedynie na podstawie wyników pomiarów realizowanych przez komercyjny moduł radiowy.

  • Estymacja parametrów kanału NB-IoT w łączu w dół.
    • Jarosław Magiera
    • Piotr Rajchowski
    • Krzysztof Cwalina
    2022 Przegląd Telekomunikacyjny + Wiadomości Telekomunikacyjne

    Artykuł dotyczy doboru metody estymacji parametrów kanału, odpowiedniej do zastosowania w terminalu wąskopasmowego Internetu Rzeczy. Przedstawiono strukturę sygnału pilotowego NRS, używanego do wyznaczenia współczynników kanału w LTE-NB. Zaproponowano cztery warianty metody wyznaczenia współczynników kanału dla całej ramki transmisyjnej. Dokonano oceny tych wariantów w oparciu o dwa wskaźniki jakościowe skojarzone z błędem odtworzonych symboli względem konstelacji odniesienia. Na tej podstawie wskazano wariant optymalny.

  • Estymacja współrzędnych kątowych w radarze trójwspółrzędnym z elektronicznym skanowaniem wiązki i obracaną anteną planarną
    • Kamil Stawiarski
    2022 Full text

    W rozprawie zawarto historię radiolokacji oraz sposób obróbki sygnałów i danych radarowych przed etapem estymacji. Przedstawiono oraz przetestowano klasyczne metody estymacji współrzędnych wraz ze wskazaniem ich słabych oraz mocnych stron. Zaproponowano uodpornione warianty estymatorów największej wiarygodności, które pozwolił poprawić jakość oszacowania przy estymacji elewacji w warunkach propagacji wielodrogowej, redukując jednocześnie odsetek estymat obarczonych grubymi błędami. Zaproponowano również rozwiązania, oparte o podejście parametryczne jak i nieparametryczne, pozwalające na szacowanie azymutu przy obracanej antenie, kiedy niestacjonarność macierzy kowariancji sygnału uniemożliwiała zastosowanie metod klasycznych. Przedstawione algorytmy zostały przetestowane w oparciu o dane symulowane jak i rzeczywiste rejestracje radarowe. Pokazano ponadto, że złożoność obliczeniowa proponowanych rozwiązań umożliwia ich implementację na urządzeniach pracujących w czasie rzeczywistym.

  • E-technologie wspomagające terapię dzieci z autyzmem
    • Agnieszka Landowska
    • Małgorzata Pykała
    • Szymon Pietkun
    2022 Przegląd Telekomunikacyjny + Wiadomości Telekomunikacyjne

    Autyzm jest zaburzeniem rozwojowym, w którym deficytowe są umiejętności komunikacyjne oraz możliwości uczenia. Edukacja i terapia dzieci z autyzmem wymaga zindywidualizowanego podejścia, gdyż występowanie i nasilenie objawów jest u nich różnorodne. Rozwiązania technologiczne, wspierające procesy terapeutyczne w autyzmie, muszą spełniać wiele kryteriów, oprócz ogólnej użyteczności czy też dopasowania do wieku dzieci. Projektowanie i specyfika rozwiązań informatycznych wspomagających terapię była i nadal jest przedmiotem badań na Politechnice Gdańskiej. W ich wyniku powstał zestaw aplikacji mobilnych, wspomagających terapię dzieci z autyzmem w nurcie behawioralnym o przełomowym znaczeniu, m. in. ze względu na istotne ograniczenia dostępnych w Polsce rozwiązań. Przyjazne Aplikacje są udostępniane nieodpłatnie w sklepie Google Play i korzystają z nich nie tylko placówki terapeutyczne, ale także indywidualni rodzice.

  • Eu2Mg3Bi4: Competing Magnetic Orders on a Buckled Honeycomb Lattice
    • Madalynn Marshall
    • Fei Wang
    • Tomasz Klimczuk
    • Ranuri S. Dissanayaka Mudiyanselage
    • Martha Greenblatt
    • David Walker
    • Weiwei Xie
    2022 CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS

    The honeycomb lattice and its derived variants provide information on modeling and designing quantum magnets. A novel magnetic material, Eu2Mg3Bi4, which stabilizes in a previously unknown buckled honeycomb lattice, was discovered by high-pressure and high-temperature methods. We report here on the synthesis exploration of pure single crystals, structural determination of the buckled honeycomb lattice of europium moments, and experimental observation of competing magnetic phases in metallic Eu2Mg3Bi4. The crystal structure of Eu2Mg3Bi4 is orthorhombic and centrosymmetric with the space group Cmce and Eu atoms in a buckled honeycomb lattice. The dominant antiferromagnetic interaction associated with magnetic coupling within the buckled honeycomb layers is confirmed based on the high Curie−Weiss fitting with TCW ∼ −24 K. However, the long-range magnetism orders are in a temperature range far below TCW. Two transitions observed at TN1 = 4.0 K and TN2 = 6.0 K likely originate from the competing magnetic interactions in Eu2Mg3Bi4. Two sharp anomalies that occur in the magnetic susceptibility, zero-field resistivity, and heat capacity all suggest successive evolution of magnetic order parameters, which is frequently observed in magnets with competing interactions. This magnetism and structure entanglement provides an ideal platform to study the interplay between honeycomb lattice rare-earths and quantum magnets, thus realizing the design and control of magnetism from the structural aspects.

  • EVALUATION OF 3D MODEL OF REBAR FOR QUANTITATIVE PARAMETERS
    • Abdul Hannan Qureshi
    • W. S. Alaloul
    • A. Murtiyoso
    • S. J. Hussain
    • Syed Saad
    • Vipin Kumar Oad
    2022 Full text

    The construction industry practices and processes are evolving constantly, and with the emergence of Industry 4.0, the use of technologies is expanding. Construction progress monitoring is an essential project lifecycle process; project success and timely completion are linked with effective progress monitoring operations and adopted tools. In the domain of automated construction progress monitoring, 3D modeling techniques have been studied a lot, with laser scanning and photogrammetry as two main methods. Although laser scanning provides precise and detailed 3D models, it is an expensive technology. Moreover, the literature reveals that for digitized construction progress monitoring, the major focus has been given to primary reinforced concrete (RC) structures compared to rebar. In contrast, rebar is a key element in RC structures, as structural integrity is dependent on steel reinforcement design, which makes rebar monitoring an essential activity. This study aimed to devise an automated monitoring digital-based methodology for effective and efficient onsite rebar monitoring considering quantitative parameters e.g., rebar length and rebar spacing. The developed module successfully interpreted photogrammetry-based 3D point cloud rebar model for the aforementioned parameters with an overall achieved accuracy ≥ 98%.

  • Evaluation of bacterial strains for developing effective plant growth promoting strain on chickpea growth and physico chemical properties of soil
    • Muhammad Adeel Ahmad
    • Hussain Sajid
    • Rahid Khan
    • Umar Farooq
    • Zubair Rehman
    • Arshad Hussain
    • Hizba Gouhar
    • Maham Saddique
    • Irfan Iftikhar
    • Amjad Tariq
    • Nimra Mushtaq
    2022 Full text Bioscience Research

    The study was intended to isolate and characterize the plant growth-promoting properties. A collection of microbial consortia called plant growth-promoting microorganisms (PGPM) work to increase crop growth and yield through a variety of direct mechanisms, including as nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, synthesis of PGH, ammonia, and siderophore, as well as indirect mechanisms. The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of bio fertilizer on Chickpea growth and soil health. Five bacterial strains were utilized for this purpose. Pot study was conducted at arid zone research center D. I. Khan. The results showed that treated pots with inoculation of rhizobium strains plus organic amendments showed greater results as compared to control treatment. The highest value of plant height, shoot fresh and root fresh weight (34.cm)(39.66g)(6.00 g)were found in treatments T2 (Mesorhizobium ceceriplus compost)T6 (Pesodomonas putida wheat straw)as compared to control treatment. The study found that rhizobacterial strains treated plots significantly increased chickpea crop growth. Treated pots showed that using Rhizobacterial strains have increase chickpea crop growth and improve soil nutrient absorption from soil. As a result, the combination with (Rhizobacteria plus organic amendments) increases soil Nitrogen and Phosphorus content. It may be concluded from the study that using PGPR Mesorhizobium ceceriplus compost and (Enterobactor moriplusLentil straw) increases soil nutrient absorption form soil while also improved chickpea growth parameters.

  • Evaluation of Decision Fusion Methods for Multimodal Biometrics in the Banking Application
    • Piotr Szczuko
    • Arkadiusz Harasimiuk
    • Andrzej Czyżewski
    2022 Full text SENSORS

    An evaluation of decision fusion methods based on Dempster-Shafer Theory (DST) and its modifications is presented in the article, studied over real biometric data from the engineered multimodal banking client verification system. First, the approaches for multimodal biometric data fusion for verification are explained. Then the proposed implementation of comparison scores fusion is presented, including details on the application of DST, required modifications, base probability, and mass conversions. Next, the biometric verification process is described, and the engineered biometric banking system principles are provided. Finally, the validation results of three fusion approaches on synthetic and real data are presented and discussed, considering the desired outcome manifested by minimized false non-match rates for various assumed thresholds and biometric verification techniques.

  • Evaluation of Medical Staff Satisfaction for Workplace Architecture in Temporary COVID-19 Hospital: A Case Study in Gdańsk, Poland
    • Agnieszka Gębczyńska-Janowicz
    • Rafał Janowicz
    • Wojciech Targowski
    • Rafal Cudnik
    • Krystyna Paszko
    • Karolina Zielińska-Dąbkowska
    2022 Full text International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

    This article analyses the architecture that was used in the temporary AmberExpo hospital in Gdańsk, Poland which was installed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The construction of this type of facility is often based on experimental approaches, aimed at caring for patients suffering from an infectious disease in emergency conditions. In order to assess the level of employee satisfaction with the architectural and technical elements used in the first period of the hospital’s activity, medical staff were asked to fill out a questionnaire. The analysis of the survey’s results indicated that the majority of employees expressed satisfaction with the architectural and technical elements, with the design of the spatial layout of the individual medical zones receiving the most positive feedback. However, frequently selected drawbacks in the design included the lack of natural daylight, the artificial light that was used and the acoustics of the facility. This detailed examination of the satisfaction and feedback from medical employees working in this type of emergency facility enables the development of solutions that in the future will allow for the improved adaptive reuse and implementation of such structures, with enhanced time and economic efficiency, and most importantly, the ability to provide a safer workplace.

  • Evaluation of mercury content in combustible tobacco products by employing cold vapor atomic absorption spectroscopy and considering the moisture content: a comprehensive study
    • Paweł Hać
    • Chintankumar Padariya
    • Bartłomiej Cieślik
    • Piotr Konieczka
    2022 Full text MONATSHEFTE FUR CHEMIE

    Plants are mainly made up of water, which constitutes between 80 and 90% of their weight. Moisture factor comes across as one of the most important in tobacco products. Rapid determination of moisture content in tobacco products comes at neces- sity in any tobacco management plants (before and after production). Therefore, the concern has been raised in this study to evaluate the moisture content in four kinds of combustible tobacco products using the gravimetric method. In addition, a total mercury content using cold vapour atomic absorption spectroscopy has been evaluated in all chosen combustible tobacco products in this study. Determining moisture content in four types of tobacco products does not show significant differences within a product group. Moisture content ranged from 7.9% in bidis to 25% in pipe tobaccos. Mercury content in tobacco ranged from 13 μg/kg to 32 μg/kg while in cigarette wrapper paper and filter from the limit of detection (LOD) < 1.3 μg/ kg to 8.2 μg/kg. As evidenced, cigarette wrapper paper and filters alone are unlikely to be a significant source of consumer exposure to mercury. However, the proposed sample preparation method provides good results for the preparation of specific material, such as tobacco products.

  • Evaluation of pounding effects between reinforced concrete frames subjected to far-field earthquakes in terms of damage index
    • S. H. Hosseini
    • H. Naderpour
    • R. Vahdani
    • Robert Jankowski
    2022 Full text Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering

    In this paper, three different damage indexes were used to detect nonlinear damages in two adjacent Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures considering pounding effects. 2-, 4- and 8-story benchmark RC Moment Resisting Frames (MRFs) were selected for this purpose with 60%, 75%, and 100% of minimum separation distance and also without any in-between separation gap. These structures were analyzed using the incremental dynamic analysis method under 44 far-field ground motion records. Comparison of the results between the MRFs with and without considering pounding effects show that collisions lead to a decrease in the values of coefficient of determination and the nonlinear damage occurs in lower seismic intensity. As a result, using the damage indexes, nonlinear damages can be detected during a specific seismic intensity. Moreover, considering a minimum separation distance leads to an increase in the coefficient of determination between the damage index and the maximum story drift ratio. Furthermore, due to pounding, shorter MRFs are damaged more significantly than the taller structures.

  • Evaluation of Sicilian landraces of broccoli (B. oleracea var. italica Plenck) for quality traits
    • M.c. Di Bella
    • S. Treccarichi
    • D. Arena
    • R. Nicotra
    • A. Mazzaglia
    • M.g. Melilli
    • Agnieszka Bartoszek-Pączkowska
    • Barbara Kusznierewicz
    • Karol Parchem
    • F. Branca
    2022

    Brassica oleracea L. var. italica Plenck is one of the most popular vegetables which belong to Brassicaceae family. It is getting attention as an important source of bioactive compounds such as glucosinolates, and many other phytochemicals. In the frame of the H2020 BRESOV project, we evaluated three landraces (‘Broccolo nero', ‘Ramoso calabrese' and ‘Sparaceddu') and two commercial F1 hybrid cultivars (‘Marathon' and ‘Naxos'). The seedlings were transplanted in Mojo-Alcantara (Sicily) in November 2020 (4 plant m-2) to monitor plant phenological stages and biometric, sensorial, and biochemical traits of the produce. Plants were characterized through bio-morphometric parameters using the following descriptors: stem and basal diameter, grain size, colour, soluble solid content; sensorial analysis by panel test was performed using fresh inflorescence appearance and leaves portions. Biochemical analysis of glucosinolates (GLSs) amount and their profile were carried out using freeze-dried samples of the evaluated accession. The results showed significant differences, among genotypes, in plant habitus, sprouting/branching and flowering time. The most performing genotype in term of inflorescence weight was ‘Naxos' (415.6 g), followed by ‘Marathon' (112.7 g). The Sicilian landraces ‘Broccolo nero' and ‘Sparaceddu' showed lower curd diameter (35.6 and 21.5 mm, respectively) than commercial F1 hybrids ‘Marathon' and ‘Naxos' (84.3 and 151.3 mm, respectively). Concerning soluble solid content, it was high in ‘Sparaceddu' (8.53 °Brix), ‘Naxos' F1(8.30 °Brix) and ‘Broccolo nero' (8.14 °Brix), while it was low in ‘Marathon' F1 (6.12 °Brix). The ANOVA results of the sensory data showed significant differences (p≤0.05) in the attributes colour intensity and overall. Among the Sicilian landraces, the accession ‘Sparaceddu' had the highest content of total GLSs (20.21 µmol dw1), and its profile was very articulated in comparison to the hybrid F1 ‘Naxos'.

  • Evaluation of the Cathodic Electrodeposition Effectiveness of the Hydroxyapatite Layer Used in Surface Modification of Ti6Al4V-Based Biomaterials
    • Michalina Ehlert
    • Aleksandra Radtke
    • Michał Bartmański
    • Piotr Piszczek
    2022 Full text Materials

    The important issue associated with the design and the fabrication of the titanium and titanium alloy implants is the increase of their biointegration with bone tissue. In the presented paper, the research results concerning the conditions used in the cathodic deposition of hydroxyapatite on the surface Ti6Al4V substrates primarily modified by the production of TiO2 nanoporous coatings, TiO2 nanofibers, and titanate coatings, are discussed. Despite excellent biocompatibility with natural bone tissue of materials based on hydroxyapatite (HA), their poor adhesion to the substrate caused the limited use in the implants’ construction. In our works, we have focused on the comparison of the structure, physicochemical, and mechanical properties of coating systems produced at different conditions. For this purpose, scanning electron microscopy images, chemical composition, X-ray diffraction patterns, infrared spectroscopy, wettability, and mechanical properties are analyzed. Our investigations proved that the intermediate titanium oxide coatings presence significantly increases the adhesion between the hydroxyapatite layer and the Ti6Al4V substrate, thus solving the temporary delamination problems of the HA layer.

  • Evaluation of the Impact of Different Types of Uncoupling on the Processing Capacity of Hump Yards
    • Miroslava Mikusova
    • Matljuba Khajimuhamedova
    • Joanna Żukowska
    • Tomasz Mackun
    2022 Full text Periodica Polytechnica Transportation Engineering

    The paper considers the issue of evaluating the impact of different types of uncoupling to increase the processing capacity of hump yards to ensure high technical-economic indicators in the conditions of limited capital funds. Moreover it describes the mathematical formulation of the sorting slide. For the mathematical formulation, the sorting slide is taken as a surface that is uniquely projected onto a horizontal plane. Based on the results of calculations, more accurate data on the speeds of movement along the downhill part of the slide are determined. This data is compared with experimental results.

  • Evidence of the impact of sport policies on physical activity and sport participation: a systematic mixed studies review
    • Kevin Volf
    • Liam Kelly
    • Enrique García Bengoechea
    • Bláthín Casey
    • Peter Gelius
    • Sven Messing
    • Sarah Forberger
    • Jeroen Lakerveld
    • Nicolette R. Den Braver
    • Joanna Żukowska
    • Catherine Woods
    2022 Full text International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics

    Participation in sport contributes to increased physical activity (PA) levels. Increasing PA is a public health concern due to its recognised impact on health outcomes. International policy actors such as the Council of Europe, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Society for Physical Activity and Health (ISPAH) have recommended that ‘sport for all’ is promoted both for public health and as a basic right. This review aims to evaluate sport related policies aimed at maximising the opportunity to participate in PA and sporting activity. Six electronic databases were systematically searched for quantitative, qualitative and review studies investigating how public sport policy affects PA outcomes. The scientific literature was screened according to predetermined eligibility criteria. Following study selection and data extraction, the quality was assessed using modified versions of existing quality assessment tools. Results were synthesised and the context in which policy actions occurred analysed using the Context and Implementation of Complex Interventions (CICI) framework. Database searches identified 3705 unique articles. A total of 93 full-text articles were assessed, with 22 meeting our inclusion criteria. Seven unique ‘policy actions’ were identified and were categorised into the ‘policy areas’ Facilities, Financial, Collaboration and Exhortation. Policy actions to promote PA and sport participation have demonstrated qualified success but there is limited evidence of success in engaging hard to reach groups. Therefore, policymakers utilising sport to increase PA should treat it as a complementary intervention alongside other policy actions based on a systems perspective.

  • Evolutionary Algorithm for Selecting Dynamic Signatures Partitioning Approach
    • Marcin Zalasiński
    • Łukasz Laskowski
    • Tacjana Niksa-Rynkiewicz
    • Krzysztof Cpałka
    • Aleksander Byrski
    • Krzysztof Przybyszewski
    • Paweł Trippner
    • Shi Dong
    2022 Full text Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Soft Computing Research

    In the verification of identity, the aim is to increase effectiveness and reduce involvement of verified users. A good compromise between these issues is ensured by dynamic signature verification. The dynamic signature is represented by signals describing the position of the stylus in time. They can be used to determine the velocity or acceleration signal. Values of these signals can be analyzed, interpreted, selected, and compared. In this paper, we propose an approach that: (a) uses an evolutionary algorithm to create signature partitions in the time and velocity domains; (b) selects the most characteristic partitions in terms of matching with reference signatures; and (c) works individually for each user, eliminating the need of using skilled forgeries. The proposed approach was tested using Biosecure DS2 database which is a part of the DeepSignDB, a database with genuine dynamic signatures. Our simulations confirmed the correctness of the adopted assumptions.

  • Examination of advanced isotropic constitutive laws under complex stress states in plain and reinforced concrete specimens
    • Jerzy Bobiński
    • Patryk Chodkowski
    • Jakub Schönnagel
    2022

    The performance of advanced isotropic constitutive laws under complex stress states in plain and reinforced concrete specimens is investigated. Three different formulations are chosen: original Mazars model, Mazars mi model and model proposed by Pereira and coworkers. The degradation of the material in all formulations is described via a single variable, but a strain/stress state is taken into account via quite sophisticated relationships. In order to better reproduce experimentally observed stress-strain curves in uniaxial tension and compression, some modifications and extensions are proposed. An integral non-local approach is used to ensure FE mesh insensitive results. Two benchmarks are simulated. Nooru-Mohamed test is chosen to analyse numerically the growth of cracks in plain concrete under mixed-mode stress conditions. A geometrically scaled set of longitudinally reinforced beams under four-point bending load serves to assess the ability of reproducing different failure mechanisms. All results obtained from calculations are compared with experimental outcomes.

  • Examination of epigenetic inhibitor zebularine in treatment of skin wounds in healthy and diabetic mice
    • Piotr Sass
    • Paweł Sosnowski
    • Jolanta Kamińska
    • Milena Deptuła
    • Aneta Skoniecka
    • Jacek Zieliński
    • Sylwia Rodziewicz‐Motowidło
    • Michał Pikuła
    • Paweł Sachadyn
    2022 Full text Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

    DNA methyltransferase inhibitor zebularine was proven to induce regeneration in the ear pinna in mice. We utilized a dorsal skin wound model to further evaluate this epigenetic inhibitor in wound healing. Full-thickness excisional wounds were made on the dorsum of 2 and 10-month-old healthy BALB/c and 3 and 8-month-old diabetic (db/db) mice, followed by topical or intraperitoneal zebularine delivery. Depending on the strain, age, dose, and delivery, the zebularine treatments either had no effect or accelerated or delayed wound closure. In principle, zebularine applied topically moderately promoted wound closure in the healthy but markedly delayed in the diabetic mice, which was in line with decreased viability of cultured keratinocytes from diabetic patients exposed to zebularine. The histological analysis revealed an improvement in the architecture of restored skin in zebularine-treated mice, manifested as a distinct layered pattern resembling panniculus carnosus. The finding corresponds with the zebularine-mediated activation of the Wnt5a gene, an essential regulator of Wnt signaling, the pathway involved in hair follicle development, the process which in turn is connected with regenerative skin healing. Although zebularine did not remarkably accelerate wound healing, zebularine and other epigenetic inhibitors deserve further testing as potential drugs to improve the quality of restored skin.

  • Examining Impact of Speed Recommendation Algorithm Operating in Autonomous Road Signs on Minimum Distance between Vehicles
    • Andrzej Sroczyński
    • Adam Kurowski
    • Szymon Zaporowski
    • Andrzej Czyżewski
    2022 Full text Remote Sensing

    An approach to a new kind of recommendation system design that suggests safe speed on the road is presented. Real data obtained on roads were used for the simulations. As part of a project related to autonomous road sign development, a number of measurements were carried out on both local roads and expressways. A speed recommendation model was created based on gathered traffic data employing the traffic simulator. Depending on the traffic volume and atmospheric conditions prevailing on the road, as well as the surface conditions, the proposed system recommends the safe speed for passing vehicles by influencing the distance from the preceding vehicle to prevent collisions. The observed effect of the system application was an increase in the minimal distance between vehicles in most simulations.

  • Expedited Gradient-Based Design Closure of Antennas Using Variable-Resolution Simulations and Sparse Sensitivity Updates
    • Anna Pietrenko-Dąbrowska
    • Sławomir Kozieł
    2022 Full text IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION

    Numerical optimization has been playing an increasingly important role in the design of contemporary antenna systems. Due to the shortage of design-ready theoretical models, optimization is mainly based on electromagnetic (EM) analysis, which tends to be costly. Numerous techniques have evolved to abate this cost, including surrogate-assisted frameworks for global optimization, or sparse sensitivity updates for speeding up local search. In the latter, CPU-heavy updates of the system response sensitivity through finite differentiation are suppressed based on, e.g., the magnitude of design variability during the optimization run. Another approach is to incorporate variable-resolution simulations. Recently, a technique exploiting a continuous spectrum of admissible model fidelity levels has been reported, thereby allowing for a considerable reduction of the computational expenditures. Seeking further savings, this work introduces an accelerated gradient-based algorithm with sparse sensitivity updates and variable-resolution EM simulations. Our technique is validated using four broadband antennas, and demonstrated to offer substantial (around eighty percent) savings over the benchmark while maintaining acceptable design quality.

  • Expedited Optimization of Passive Microwave Devices Using Gradient Search and Principal Directions
    • Sławomir Kozieł
    • Anna Pietrenko-Dąbrowska
    • Leifur Leifsson
    2022

    Over the recent years, utilization of numerical optimization techniques has become ubiquitous in the design of high-frequency systems, including microwave passive components. The primary reason is that the circuits become increasingly complex to meet ever growing performance demands concerning their electrical performance, additional functionalities, as well as miniaturization. Nonetheless, as reliable evaluation of microwave device characteristics requires full-wave electromagnetic (EM) analysis, optimization procedures tend to be computationally expensive, to the extent of being prohibitive when using conventional algorithms. Accelerating EM-driven optimization is therefore a matter of practical necessity. This paper proposes a novel approach to reduced-cost gradient-based parameter tuning of passive microwave circuits with numerical derivatives. Our technique is based on restricting the finite-differentiation (FD)-based sensitivity updates to a small set of principal directions, identified as having the most significant effect on the circuit responses over the frequency bands of interest. The principal directions are found in the form of an orthonormal basis, using an auxiliary optimization process repeated before each iteration of the optimization algorithm. Extensive verification experiments conducted using a com-pact branch-line coupler and a dual-band power divider demonstrate up to fifty percent speedup obtained over the reference algorithm (using full FD sensitivity updates), as well as a considerable improvement over several accelerated algorithms. The computational savings are obtained with negligible degradation of the design quality.

  • Expedited Variable-Resolution Surrogate Modeling of Miniaturized Microwave Passives in Confined Domains
    • Sławomir Kozieł
    • Anna Pietrenko-Dąbrowska
    2022 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES

    Design of miniaturized microwave components is largely based on computational models, primarily, full-wave electromagnetic (EM) simulations. EM analysis is capable of giving an accurate account for cross-coupling effects, substrate and radiation losses, or interactions with environmental components (e.g., connectors). Unfortunately, direct execution of EM-based design tasks such as parametric optimization or uncertainty quantification, may turn prohibitively expensive in computational terms. A workaround has been offered by surrogate-assisted procedures that capitalize on replacing expensive EM simulations by fast metamodels, notably data-driven ones. However, construction of general-purpose metamodels is impeded by the curse of dimensionality as well as a limited capability of approximation techniques to represent highly nonlinear responses of microwave devices. This paper proposes a novel technique that integrates the performance-driven modeling paradigm as well as variable-resolution EM simulations. The former focuses the construction of the surrogate in the parameter space subset encompassing high-quality designs, which effectively addresses the dimensionality issues. The latter—realized through co-kriging—contributes to further computational savings by executing the majority of circuit evaluations at the level of coarse-discretization EM analysis. Verification experiments conducted for three microstrip components demonstrate superiority of the proposed approach over existing performance-driven techniques, let alone conventional modeling procedures, both with respect to accuracy and computational cost of the surrogate construction.

  • Expedited Yield-Driven Design of High-Frequency Structures by Kriging Surrogates in Confined Domains
    • Anna Pietrenko-Dąbrowska
    • Sławomir Kozieł
    2022

    Uncertainty quantification is an important aspect of engineering design, also pertaining to the development and performance evaluation of high-frequency structures systems. Manufacturing tolerances as well as other types of uncertainties, related to material parameters (e.g., substrate permittivity) or operating conditions (e.g., bending) may affect the characteristics of antennas or microwave devices. For example, in the case of narrow- or multi-band antennas, this usually leads to frequency shifts of the operating bands. Quantifying these effects is imperative to adequately assess the design quality, either in terms of the statistical moments of the performance parameters or the yield. Reducing the system sensitivity to parameter deviations is even more essential when increasing the probability of the system satisfying the prescribed requirements is of concern. The prerequisite of such procedures is statistical analysis, normally carried out at the level of full-wave electromagnetic (EM) analysis. Although necessary to ensure reliability, it entails considerable computational expenses, often prohibitive. Following the recently fostered concept of constrained modeling, this chapter discusses a simple technique for rapid surrogate-assisted yield optimization of high-frequency structures. The keystone of the approach is an appropriate definition of the optimization domain. This is realized by considering a few pre-optimized designs that represent the directions featuring maximum variability of the circuit responses (particularly the parts thereof that affect the yield value in the most significant way) with respect to its geometry parameters. Due to a small volume of such a domain, an accurate replacement model can be established therein using a small number of training samples, and employed to improve the yield. The implementation details are tailored to a particular type of device. Verification results obtained for several antenna structures and a miniaturized rat-race coupler indicate that the optimization process can be accomplished at low cost of a few dozen of EM simulations. The result reliability is validated through comparisons with EM-based Monte Carlo simulations.

  • Experience-based Intelligence Augmentation with Decisional DNA: Upcoming direction
    • Edward Szczerbicki
    • Cesar Sanin
    2022 Full text

    Intelligence amplification systems and technologies have gained significant interest from academia and industry during the past few decades. One of the main reasons behind this trend is the fact that most experts agree that truly intelligent artificial system is yet to be developed. The question increasing often asked is this: Is full replication of human intelligence desirable key aim in intelligence related technology and research? In this context, the concept of Augmented Intelligence, also known as Cognitive Augmentation or Intelligence Amplification (IA) comes into play. One of the main reasons behind this interest in this concept is the potential of such technologies to revolutionize human life as they intend to work under complex decision-making environments, adapting to a comprehensive range of unforeseen changes, and exhibiting prospective behavior. The combination of these properties aims to enhance human capabilities and create more intelligent and efficient human-centered environments. In this paper we discuss how Decisional DNA (DDNA), a multi-domain knowledge structure that has the Set of Experience Knowledge Structure (SOEKS) at its core can be utilized as an experience-based intelligence augmentation in a number of different domains.

  • Experimental and numerical identification of corrosion degradation of ageing structural components
    • Beata Zima
    • Krzysztof Wołoszyk
    • Yordan Garbatov
    2022 Full text OCEAN ENGINEERING

    The study presents experimental and numerical identification of corrosion degradation of thin-walled structural components employing guided wave propagation. The steel structural components are subjected to through-thickness varying corrosion degradation levels. The developed approach using the non-destructive guided wave-propagation quantifies the equivalent average corrosion degradation level by exploring a limited number of transducers. A group velocity dispersion curve reconstruction has been used to determine the corrosion-induced plate thickness reduction. Two case studies are used to examine experimentally the newly developed approach. In the first one, the dispersion curve and the assessment of the corrosion thickness reduction have been made using wave signals of various excitation frequencies. In the second one, the analysis was conducted only for two wave propagation signals and one excitation frequency which allowed for reconstructing the dispersion curve in a limited frequency range. A good agreement between the natural and estimated corrosion degradation levels was observed in both case studies. The present study develops a signal processing methodology, which can be used in the SHM systems. Several aspects still need to be further investigated before the developed approach can be applied to the complex ship hull structures' large size and complex geometry.

  • Experimental and numerical investigations on RC beams with stirrups scaled along height or length.
    • Ireneusz Marzec
    • Andrzej Tejchman-Konarzewski
    2022 Full text ENGINEERING STRUCTURES

    Belki żelbetowe (RC) ze zbrojeniem poprzecznym (strzemiona) poddane czteropunktowemu zginaniu zostały zbadane eksperymentalnie i numerycznie. Belki były skalowane wzdłuż wysokości lub długości. Były przezbrojone, aby uniknąć płynięcia zbrojenia podłużnego. W pierwszej kolejności przeprowadzono badania laboratoryjne na belkach żelbetowych ze strzemionami. Ze względu na brak podobieństwa geometrycznego zaobserwowano dwa odrębne tryby zniszczenia w zależności od relacji rozpiętości ścinania do wysokości belki. W eksperymentach dominował tryb zniszczenia przy ścinaniu-ściskaniu dla małych wartości tej relacji oraz kruszenie betonu w strefie ściskania dla dużych wartości. Następnie wykonano obliczenia metodą elementów skończonych (MES) do bezpośredniej symulacji doswiadczeń. Zastosowano dla betonu sprzężony izotropowy sprężysto-plastyczny model konstytutywny z degradacją sztywności w warunkach stanu płaskich naprężeń. Konstytutywny model został wzbogacony o nielokalność typu integralnego w reżimie osłabienia, aby zapewnić obiektywne wyniki numeryczne. Założono prawo kontaktu typu poślizgowego pomiędzy betonem a prętami podłużnymi. Symulacje numeryczne w warunkach naprężeń płaskich warunki realistycznie odtworzyły eksperymentalne wytrzymałości na ścinanie i tryby zniszczenia dla wszystkich belek dla tego samego zestawu parametrów wejściowych. Wykonano szerokie badania parametryczne dotyczące numerycznego wpływu zbrojenia podłużnego i poprzecznego oraz relacji rozpiętości ścinania do wysokosci na wytrzymałości belek i sposoby ich zniszczenia. Dodatkowo wykonano również w celach porównawczych jedno pełne obliczenie trójwymiarowe.

  • Experimental investigations and damage growth modeling of EN‐AW 2024 aluminum alloy under LCF loading accounting creep pre‐deformation
    • Adam Tomczyk
    • Andrzej Seweryn
    2022 Full text FATIGUE & FRACTURE OF ENGINEERING MATERIALS & STRUCTURES

    This article presents the results of experimental tests of creep rupture and of low-cycle fatigue (LCF) of EN-AW 2024 aluminum alloy devoid of damage and having preliminary damage. The preliminary damage was dealt in the process of creep at elevated temperature 100C, 200C, and 300C until achievement of two different strain values at each temperature. Samples with preliminary damage were subjected to fatigue tests at room temperature. Based on the results of experimental tests, a simple damage accumulation model was proposed for creep at different temperatures. In this model, growth of the damage state variable was made dependent on the current value of axial stress and on growth of plastic strain. This model was also adapted for description of damage accumulation in the process of LCF for both as-received material and material with creep pre-deformation. In both cases, that is, creep and LCF, the model's parameters were determined and it was experimentally verified.

  • Experimental research on a hydrodynamic thrust bearing with hydrostatic lift pockets: Influence of lubrication modes on bearing performance
    • J. Bouyer
    • Michał Wodtke
    • Michel Fillon
    2022 TRIBOLOGY INTERNATIONAL

    The aim of the study is to investigate the performance of a thrust bearing equipped with hydrostatic lift pockets under different lubrication modes. Three types of flat land bearing lubrication modes are studied experimentally: hydrostatic lubrication (HS; forced oil injection to the pockets), hybrid lubrication (HS + HD; hydrostatic lubrication combined with the external forced bearing oil supply) and hydrodynamic lubrication (HD; external forced bearing lubrication acting alone). Tests are performed for steady and transient states of bearing operation. The obtained results confirmed that the load- carrying capacity of the flat land bearing is poor, and the introduction of hydrostatic lubrication improves its performance. The speed is found to be a critical parameter: as it increases, the hydrostatic effect is affected and the film thickness is educed.

  • Experimental-Numerical Analysis of the Effect of Bar Diameter on Bond in Pull-Out Test
    • Marcin Burdziński
    • Maciej Niedostatkiewicz
    2022 Full text Buildings

    Bar diameter is one of the basic factors affecting bond behavior, which is still of interest due to opposing opinions regarding its effect on bond behavior in the pull-out test. This paper presents an experimental and numerical bond analysis of ribbed reinforcing bar in concrete. The aim was to experimentally evaluate the effect of bar diameter on the bond behavior in the pull-out test and to perform numerical simulations of the conducted experiments in ABAQUS to verify their convergence to the obtained experimental results. The experiments used concrete of C35/45 grade and B500SP reinforcing steel bars of three diameters: 10, 12, and 16 mm. FEA simulations employed the Concrete Damaged Plasticity (CDP) material model and the Contact Cohesive Behavior (CCB) method to model the concrete–bar interface. The study shows that bar diameter significantly affects the bond, both on the bond stress–slip relationship and the type of bond failure, as well as on the bond strength. FEA simulations correctly reflected the bond behavior observed in the specimens. The analytical models presented estimates that were too conservative regarding the maximum bond stress relative to the experimental results.

  • Experiment-Based Study of Heat Dissipation from the Power Cable in a Casing Pipe
    • Romuald Masnicki
    • Janusz Mindykowski
    • Beata Pałczyńska
    2022 Full text ENERGIES

    The paper deals with the important challenges in terms of electricity transmission by means of underground cable lines. The power cable’s performance is characterized by an ampacity that represents its maximum electric current-carrying capacity. The ampacity of power cables depends on their ability to diffuse the heat generated by the current flow into the environment. In the performed research, the analysis of the efficiency of heat dissipation from the cable is based on the measurement of temperatures at selected points in individual sections of the cable. As a consequence, the proposed test stand and applied research methodology are vital for the experimental evaluation of the analyzed thermal phenomena in the investigated underground cable lines. The research program covers an in-depth analysis based on the results related to the vital parameters of the investigated cable. The experimental methodology was used to analyze the influence of the properties of the medium surrounding the cable on its temperature, and thus on the ampacity of the cable. A novelty of this paper concerns the carrying out of the experimental laboratory research with actual measurements of the temperature distribution in specific points of the casing pipe based on the original test stand. The paper presents the novel concept of the developed stand for testing heat dissipation from the cable in a casing pipe with pipe sections filled with various media, equipped with a power supply system ensuring easy control of the power dissipated in the cable. The preliminary results of the comparative tests, in which the temperature distribution in the sections of the casing pipes was recorded, indicate that the findings are satisfactorily consistent with the assumptions related to the purpose of the research. The use of appropriate materials surrounding the cable contributes to more effective heat dissipation, and as it has been shown for the examined case in originally planned and conducted tests, it can lower the cable temperature by more than 20 °C, contributing to a significant increase in the ampacity of the cable. For example, it was recorded that for different media filling the pipes, the cable reached 30 °C with different currents flowing through cables of 60 A and 120 A, respectively.

  • Experiments and calibration of a bond-slip relation and efficiency factors for textile reinforcement in concrete
    • Adam Ścięgaj
    • Fredrik Larsson
    • Karin Lundgren
    2022 Full text CEMENT & CONCRETE COMPOSITES

    Textile reinforcement yarns consist of many filaments, which can slip relative each other. At modelling of the global structural behaviour, interfilament slip in the yarns, and slip between the yarns and the concrete can be considered by efficiency factors for the stiffness and strength of the yarns, and by applying a bond-slip relation between yarns and concrete. In this work, an effective and robust method for calibration of such models was developed. Two-sided asymmetrical pull-out tests were carried out, with varying embedment lengths designed to obtain both pull-out and rupture of the textile as failure mode. The efficiency factors for strength and stiffness of the textile were very similar, 34% and 35% respectively. This indicates the stress distribution within a yarn to be uneven in a similar manner for small and large stress levels, and that interfilament slip has a larger influence than variation of filaments’ strength.

  • Experiments on compression ignition engine powered by nano-fuels
    • Janusz Cieśliński
    • Jan Krzyżak
    • Jacek Kropiwnicki
    • Zbigniew Kneba
    2022 Full text Combustion Engines

    The use of nanoparticles in fuels provides new opportunities for modification of fuel properties, which may affect the operational parameters of engines, in particular the efficiency and fuel consumption. The paper presents comparison of compression ignition engine performance fuelled with neat diesel and nano-diesel. Alumina (Al2O3) was used as nanoparticles. Surface-active substances, including Span 80 surfactant, as well as water admixture were used to improve the stability of the produced fuel. Measurements of the thermal conductiv-ity and dynamic viscosity of the produced mixtures were conducted. In this study was used naturally aspirated, water cooled, four-stroke diesel engine. Addition of Al2O3 nanoparticles result in 4% reduced fuel consumption, addition of TiO2 nanoparticles result in 10% reduced fuel consumption with respect to neat diesel fuel.

  • Expert System and Decision Support System for Electrocardiogram Interpretation and Diagnosis: Review, Challenges and Research Directions
    • Kayode S. Adewole
    • Hammed Mojeed
    • James A. Ogunmodede
    • Lubna A. Gabralla
    • Nasir Faruk
    • Abubakar Abdulkarim
    • Emmanuel Ifada
    • Yusuf Y. Folawiyo
    • Abdukareem A. Oloyede
    • Lukman A. Olawoyin
    • Ismaeel A. Sikiru
    • Musa Nehemiah
    • Abdulsalam Ya’u Gital
    • Haruna Chiroma
    2022 Full text Applied Sciences-Basel

    Electrocardiography (ECG) is one of the most widely used recordings in clinical medicine. ECG deals with the recording of electrical activity that is generated by the heart through the surface of the body. The electrical activity generated by the heart is measured using electrodes that are attached to the body surface. The use of ECG in the diagnosis and management of cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been in existence for over a decade, and research in this domain has recently attracted large attention. Along this line, an expert system (ES) and decision support system (DSS) have been developed for ECG interpretation and diagnosis. However, despite the availability of a lot of literature, access to recent and more comprehensive review papers on this subject is still a challenge. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the application of ES and DSS for ECG interpretation and diagnosis. Researchers have proposed a number of features and methods for ES and DSS development that can be used to monitor a patient’s health condition through ECG recordings. In this paper, a taxonomy of the features and methods for ECG interpretation and diagnosis were presented. The significance of the features and methods, as well as their limitations, were analyzed. This review further presents interesting theoretical concepts in this domain, as well as identifies challenges and open research issues on ES and DSS development for ECG interpretation and diagnosis that require substantial research effort. In conclusion, this paper identifies important future research areas with the purpose of advancing the development of ES and DSS for ECG interpretation and diagnosis.

  • Explicit solvent repulsive scaling replica exchange molecular dynamics ( RS‐REMD ) in molecular modeling of protein‐glycosaminoglycan complexes
    • Mateusz Marcisz
    • Margrethe Gaardløs
    • Krzysztof Bojarski
    • Till Siebenmorgen
    • Martin Zachariasen
    • Sergey A. Samsonov
    2022 JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY

    Glycosaminoglcyans (GAGs), linear anionic periodic polysaccharides, are crucial for many biologically relevant functions in the extracellular matrix. By interacting with proteins GAGs mediate processes such as cancer development, cell proliferation and the onset of neurodegenerative diseases. Despite this eminent importance of GAGs, they still represent a limited focus for the computational community in comparison to other classes of biomolecules. Therefore, there is a lack of modeling tools designed specifically for docking GAGs. One has to rely on existing docking software developed mostly for small drug molecules substantially differing from GAGs in their basic physico-chemical properties. In this study, we present an updated protocol for docking GAGs based on the Repulsive Scaling Replica Exchange Molecular Dynamics (RS-REMD) that includes explicit solvent description. The use of this water model improved docking performance both in terms of its accuracy and speed. This method represents a significant computational progress in GAG-related research.

  • Exploring the Reactivity of Unsymmetrical Diphosphanes toward Heterocumulenes: Access to Phosphanyl and Phosphoryl Derivatives of Amides, Imines, and Iminoamides
    • Natalia Szynkiewicz
    • Jarosław Chojnacki
    • Rafał Grubba
    2022 Full text INORGANIC CHEMISTRY

    We present a comprehensive study on the diphosphanation of iso(thio)cyanates by unsymmetrical diphosphanes. The reactions involving unsymmetrical diphosphanes and phenyl isocyanate or phenyl thioisocyanate gave rise to phosphanyl, phosphoryl, and thiophosphoryl derivatives of amides, imines, and iminoamides. The structures of the diphosphanation products were confirmed through NMR spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. We showed that unsymmetrical diphosphanes could be used as building blocks to synthesize phosphorus analogues of important classes of organic molecules. The described transformations provided a new methodology for the synthesis of organophosphorus compounds bearing phosphanyl, phosphoryl, or thiophosphoryl functional groups. Moreover, theoretical studies on diphosphanation reactions explained the influence of the steric and electronic properties of the parent diphosphanes on the structures of the diphosphanation products.

  • Extended micropolar approach within the framework of 3M theories and variations thereof
    • Elena Vilchevskaya
    • Wolfgang Müller
    • Victor Eremeev
    2022 Full text CONTINUUM MECHANICS AND THERMODYNAMICS

    As part of his groundbreaking work on generalized continuum mechanics, Eringen proposed what he called 3M theories, namely the concept of micromorphic, microstretch, and micropolar materials modeling. The micromorphic approach provides the most general framework for a continuum with translational and (internal) rotational degrees of freedom (DOF), whilst the rotational DOFs of micromorphic and micropolar continua are subjected to more and more constraints. More recently, an “extended” micropolar theory has been presented by one of the authors: Eringen’s 3M theories were children of solid mechanics based on the concept of the indestructible material particle. Extended micropolar theory was formulated both ways for material systems as well as in spatial description, which is useful when describing fluid matter. The latter opens the possibility to model situations and materials with a continuum point that on the microscale consists no longer of the same elementary units during a physical process. The difference culminates in an equation for the microinertia tensor, which is no longer a kinematic identity. Rather it contains a new continuum field, namely an independent production term and, consequently, establishes a new constitutive quantity. This makes it possible to describe processes of structural change, which are difficult if not impossible to be captured within the material particle model. This paper compares the various theories and points out their communalities as well as their differences.

  • Extreme weather layer method for implementation of nature-based solutions for climate adaptation: Case study Słupsk
    • Karolina Fitobór
    • Rafał Ulańczyk
    • Katarzyna Kołecka
    • Klara Ramm
    • Iwona Włodarek
    • Piotr Zima
    • Dominika Kalinowska
    • Paweł Wielgat
    • Małgorzata Mikulska
    • Danuta Antończyk
    • Krzysztof Krzaczkowski
    • Remigiusz Łyszyk
    • Magdalena Gajewska
    2022 Full text SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT

    One of the most severe climate risks that is expected to affect all regions is related to stormwater. Climate models, constructed based on long-term trends, show that extreme weather events such as storms, cloudbursts and a large rise in sea level will be significant in the coming decades. Moreover, even the frequency and intensity of “normal” rainfall events, such as microbursts, are expected to be remarkably higher than today in some regions. The efficiency of urban drainage systems is affected by the land use in its whole catchment. In addition to the climate stress, there is ongoing continuous densification of urban space, resulting in more buildings and larger areas being covered with impervious surfaces. Planning decisions today approving such compaction do not consider the impacts beyond the close proximity of the land parcel. As a result, by following the current planning practices, cities are becoming extremely vulnerable to stormwater flooding (flash floods). This study presents a holistic and dynamic planning method – the Extreme Weather Layer (EWL) – that makes it possible to analyse the impact of a single development (e.g. paving a gravel parking lot with asphalt or turning an area of urban greenery into a shopping centre) on the performance of the urban drainage system and therefore on the flooding risk of the whole catchment. The EWL is based on a widely accepted drainage modelling engine coupled with GIS system and other databases which provide spatial information. Thus, the EWL combined with the systemic approach of turning from grey to green infrastructure could be a smart tool for implementing NBS solutions for stormwater management in climate adaptation in urban areas. This smart tool could indicate how much more green infrastructure is needed and which places in the city the mitigative NBS measures would help significantly.

  • Eye-tracking everywhere - software supporting disabled people in interaction with computers
    • Klaudia Solska
    • Tomasz Kocejko
    2022

    In this paper we present comprehensive system for communication with computer by gaze. One of the main assumptions behind this work was to provide solution that can be used with standard RGB webcam. The proposed comprehensive system included the eye tracking module and user interface for convenient gaze interaction with computer. As a result a fully functional application was developed. The average accuracy of the eye tracking module was 4.1°while precision was 0.042°.

  • Failure analysis of a high-speed induction machine driven by a SiC-inverter and operating on a common shaft with a high-speed generator
    • Łukasz Breńkacz
    • Paweł Bagiński
    • Marek Adamowicz
    • Sebastian Giziewski
    2022 Full text Eksploatacja i Niezawodność - Maintenance and Reliability

    Due to ongoing research work, a prototype test rig for testing high-speed motors/generators has been developed. Its design is quite unique as the two high- speed machines share a single shaft with no support bearings between them. A very high maximum operating speed, up to 80,000 rpm, was required. Because of the need to minimise vibration during operation at very high rotational speeds, rolling bearings were used. To eliminate the influence of higher harmonics of supply voltage and current on the formation of torque oscillations on the shaft and excessive losses in the form of heat, a voltage source inverter with high switching silicon carbide (SiC) power transistors characterizing high precision of the output voltage generation with a fundamental harmonic frequency of several kilohertz has been used. During the first start-ups, it turned out that the system was not stable, and a failure occurred. The paper presents the consequences that may arise when a machine operating at a speed of about 70,000 rpm fails. The article contains pictures of a generator failure that occurred at a high rotational speed.

  • Family Tree for Aqueous Organic Redox Couples for Redox Flow Battery Electrolytes: A Conceptual Review
    • Peter Fischer
    • Petr Mazur
    • Joanna Krakowiak
    2022 Full text MOLECULES

    Redox flow batteries (RFBs) are an increasingly attractive option for renewable energy storage, thus providing flexibility for the supply of electrical energy. In recent years, research in this type of battery storage has been shifted from metal-ion based electrolytes to soluble organic redox-active compounds. Aqueous-based organic electrolytes are considered as more promising electrolytes to achieve “green”, safe, and low-cost energy storage. Many organic compounds and their derivatives have recently been intensively examined for application to redox flow batteries. This work presents an up-to-date overview of the redox organic compound groups tested for application in aqueous RFB. In the initial part, the most relevant requirements for technical electrolytes are described and discussed. The importance of supporting electrolytes selection, the limits for the aqueous system, and potential synthetic strategies for redox molecules are highlighted. The different organic redox couples described in the literature are grouped in a “family tree” for organic redox couples. This article is designed to be an introduction to the field of organic redox flow batteries and aims to provide an overview of current achievements as well as helping synthetic chemists to understand the basic concepts of the technical requirements for next-generation energy storage materials.

  • Fast Design Optimization of Waveguide Filters Applying Shape Deformation Techniques
    • Michał Baranowski
    • Łukasz Balewski
    • Adam Lamęcki
    • Michał Mrozowski
    2022 Full text

    This paper presents an efficient design of microwave filters by means of geometry optimization using shape deformation techniques. This design procedure allows for modelling complex 3D geometries which can be fabricated by additive manufacturing (AM). Shape deforming operations are based on radial basis function (RBF) interpolation and are integrated into an electromagnetic field simulator based on the 3D finiteelement method (FEM). The optimization controls two sets of design variables, i.e. the geometrical parameters of the structure and the parameters that determine the shape deformation. This approach provides great design flexibility at marginal additional cost since shape deformations require very little computational effort. A complete design procedure of a Ku-band RX waveguide bandpass filter is shown to verify this approach. The designed filter is fabricated with selective laser melting (SLM) technology. Measurements are presented in comparison with simulation