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Gdańsk University of Technology

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  • Electrochemical determination of neurotransmitter serotonin using boron/nitrogen co-doped diamond-graphene nanowall-structured particles
    • Suchanat Boonkaew
    • Anna Dettlaff
    • Michał Sobaszek
    • Robert Bogdanowicz
    • Martin Jönsson-Niedziółka
    2022 Full text JOURNAL OF ELECTROANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY

    Electrode fouling is a major issue in biological detection due to the adhesion of the protein itself and polymerization of biomolecules on the electrode surface, impeding the electron transfer ability and decreasing the current response. To overcome this issue, the use of anti-fouling material, especially boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrode, is an alternative way. However, the electrocatalytic activity of BDD is inadequate compared with graphene nanowalls, or other sp2 phase materials. Furthermore, the contamination from other metals during the synthesis of BDD can affect the electrochemical analysis. Herein, for the first time, we report boron/nitrogen co-doped with diamond graphene nanowalls (DGNW) integrated with the screen-printed graphene electrode (SPGE) for the detection of serotonin (5-HT) as a model system. DGNW shows the integration of sp2 and sp3 hybridized phases, leading to a high surface area, high electrocatalytic activity, wide potential window, and a low background current. DGNWs prepared under different conditions were investigated and characterized. Compared to the bare SPGEs, the DGNW modified electrode exhibited good electrochemical performance and a superior anti-fouling ability for neurotransmitter detection. A significant enhancement in current response in a concentration-dependent manner was obtained using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) in the presence of 5-HT from 1 to 500 μM (R2 > 0.99) with a low detection limit (0.28 μM). Moreover, this proposed method was applied in a synthetic urine sample to confirm its biological applicability. These results show that the DGNW modified electrode could be productively utilized as an alternative electrochemical transducer with a good anti-fouling performance.

  • Electrochemical investigations on corosivity of de-icing liquids for railway infrastructure
    • Karolina Brzóska
    • Dorota Sikorska
    • Stefan Krakowiak
    2022 Ochrona przed Korozją

    The paper presents the results of electrochemical tests of the de-icing fluid for railway infrastructure. DC and AC electrochemical tests were performed to determine the corrosion rates of structural steel, cast iron and aluminium in the newly produced fluid. The results were compared with the corrosion rates of the same materials in the fluid without corrosion inhibitors. The obtained test results indicate a low corrosion risk of the de-icing fluid in the railway infrastructure in relation to the tested materials. The components of the fluid cause the surface passivation of materials that normally corrode in the active state. The efficiency of the inhibitors contained in the tested fluids reached a value of 90%. Corrosion rates obtained for the tested materials are many times lower than acceptable. The corrosion rates in the fluid without inhibitors, due to polyols used, are also very low. Research by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) showed high values of the charge transfer resistance and increase in material resistance along with the time of action of the fluids.

  • Electrochemical oxidation of landfill leachate using boron-doped diamond anodes: pollution degradation rate, energy efficiency and toxicity assessment
    • Barbara Wilk
    • Małgorzata Szopińska
    • Michał Sobaszek
    • Mattia Pierpaoli
    • Agata Błaszczyk
    • Aneta Łuczkiewicz
    • Sylwia Fudala-Książek
    2022 Full text ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH

    Electrochemical oxidation (EO), due to high efficiency and small carbon footprint, is regarded as an attractive option for on-site treatment of highly contaminated wastewater. This work shows the effectiveness of EO using three boron-doped diamond electrodes (BDDs) in sustainable management of landfill leachate (LL). The effect of the applied current density (25–100 mA cm−2) and boron doping concentration (B/C ratio: 500 ppm, 10,000 ppm and 15,000 ppm) on the performance of EO was investigated. It was found that, of the electrodes used, the one most effective at COD, BOD20 and ammonia removal (97.1%, 98.8% and 62%, respectively) was the electrode with the lowest boron doping. Then, to better elucidate the ecological role of LLs, before and after EO, cultivation of faecal bacteria and microscopic analysis of total (prokaryotic) cell number, together with ecotoxicity assay (Daphnia magna, Thamnocephalus platyurus and Artemia salina) were combined for the two better-performing electrodes. The EO process was very effective at bacterial cell inactivation using each of the two anodes, even within 2 h of contact time. In a complex matrix of LLs, this is probably a combined effect of electrogenerated oxidants (hydroxyl radicals, active chlorine and sulphate radicals), which may penetrate into the bacterial cells and/or react with cellular components. The toxicity of EO-treated LLs proved to be lower than that of raw ones. Since toxicity drops with increased boron doping, it is believed that appropriate electrolysis parameters can diminish the toxicity effect without compromising the nutrient-removal and disinfection capability, although salinity of LLs and related multistep-oxidation pathways needs to be further elucidated.

  • Electrochemical synthesis of 2D copper coordination-polymers: Layer-stacking deviation induced by the solvent and its effect on the adsorptive properties
    • Arthur Felipe de Farias Monteiro
    • Stephany Larissa da Silva Ribeiro
    • Thiago Izidoro Silva Santos
    • José Daniel da Silva Fonseca
    • Natalia Łukasik
    • Joanna Kulesza
    • Bráulio Silva Barros
    2022 Full text MICROPOROUS AND MESOPOROUS MATERIALS

    A 2D Cu-based Metal-Organic Framework (MOF), namely copper-terephthalate (Cu(1,4-BDC)), was successfully synthesized by electrochemical method for effective methylene blue (MB) sorption from aqueous solutions. The composition, morphology, and the presence of functional groups in the obtained material were verified by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Powder X-Ray Diffraction (PXRD), Thermal (TGA), and Elemental (EA) analysis, as well as Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The effect of electrochemical param- eters applied in the synthesis protocol (i.e., a potentiometric or amperometric mode) on the resulting product composition was evaluated. The electric current value was determined as a variable controlling the type of crystal structure present in the obtained MOF. A structure with open channels - CuBDC1 was favored under the current higher than 0.35 A conditions. In contrast, for the lower current values and upon the amperometric mode in the material, a CuBDC2 phase with DMF molecules occupying the grids of the layers was also present. The MB sorption studies were analyzed both with kinetic and equilibrium models. The obtained results showed the time evolution could be fitted with a pseudo-second-order model with the rate constant k2 equal to 0.047 g μmol.

  • Electrolytic deposition of reactive element thin films on Crofer 22 APU and evaluation of the resulting high-temperature corrosion protection properties at 700 °C–900 °C
    • Bartłomiej Lemieszek
    • Justyna Ignaczak
    • Bartosz Kamecki
    • Jakub Karczewski
    • Mogens Mogensen
    • Sebastian Molin
    • Piotr Jasiński
    2022 Full text INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY

    This article presents electrolytic deposition of thin Rare Earth (RE) coatings on Crofer 22 APU stainless steel substrates for high temperature applications, such as interconnects in solid oxide cell stacks. The deposition of coatings based on yttrium-, gadolinium-, lanthanum-, and cerium nitrates is discussed. The high temperature corrosion properties of surface-modified steels were examined using thermogravimetry and electrical resistivity measurements. Coatings and oxide microstructures were examined by XRD and SEM of surfaces and cross-sections. The results showed that the use of the RE element oxide layers reduced the growth of oxide scale, as evidenced by lower weight gain. The layers based on Y- and Gd-oxides showed the best corrosion protection properties. The electrical measurements showed that the surface-modified samples had lower resistance than the uncoated sample.

  • Electromagnetic Control and Dynamics of Generalized Burgers’ Nanoliquid Flow Containing Motile Microorganisms with Cattaneo–Christov Relations: Galerkin Finite Element Mechanism
    • Faisal Shahzad
    • Wasim Jamshed
    • Tanveer Sajid
    • Md Shamshuddin
    • Rabia Safdar
    • Os Salawu
    • Mohamed Eid
    • Muhammad Bilal Hafeez
    • Marek Krawczuk
    2022 Full text Applied Sciences-Basel

    In our research work, we have developed a model describing the characteristics of the bio-convection and moving microorganisms in the flows of a magnetized generalized Burgers’ nanoliquid with Fourier’s and Fick’s laws in a stretchable sheet. Considerations have been made to Cattaneo–Christov mass and heat diffusion theory. According to the Cattaneo–Christov relation, the Buongiorno phenomenon for the motion of a nanoliquid in the generalized Burgers’ fluid has also been applied. Similarity transformations have been used to convert the control system of the regulating partial differential equations (PDEs) into ordinary differential equations (ODEs). The COMSOL software has been applied to obtain mathematical results of non-linear equations via the Galerkin finite element method (G-FEM). Logical and graphical measurements for temperature, velocity, and microorganisms analysis have also been examined. Moreover, nanoparticle concentrations have been achieved by examining different approximations of obvious physical parameters. Computations of this model show that there is a direct relationship among the temperature field and thermal Biot number and parameter of the generalized Burgers’ fluid. The temperature field is increased to grow the approximations of the thermal Biot number and parameter of generalized Burgers’ fluid. It is reasonable to deduce that raising the chemical reaction parameter and concentricity relaxation parameter or decreasing the Prandtl number, concentricity Biot quantity, and active energy parameter can significantly increase the nanoparticles concentration dispersion.

  • Electromagnetic Simulations with 3D FEM and Intel Optane Persistent Memory
    • Maciej Jakubowski
    • Piotr Sypek
    2022 Full text

    Abstract—Intel Optane persistent memory has the potential to induce a change in how high-performance calculations requiring a large system memory capacity are conducted. This article presents what this change may look like in the case of factorization of large sparse matrices describing electromagnetic problems arising in the 3D FEM analysis of passive highfrequency components. In numerical tests, the Intel oneAPI MKL PARDISO was used to solve relatively large electromagnetic problems defined using the finite element method.

  • Electronic nose algorithm design using classical system identification for odour intensity detection
    • Tomasz Zubowicz
    • Krzysztof Armiński
    • Bartosz Szulczyński
    • Jacek Gębicki
    2022 MEASUREMENT

    The two elements considered crucial for constructing an efficient environmental odour intensity monitoring systems are sensors and algorithms typically addressed to as electronic nose sensor (e-nose). Due to operational complexity of biochemical sensors developed in human bodies algorithms based on computational methods of artificial intelligence are typically considered superior to classical model based approaches in development of e-nose algorithms. However, in this work authors proposed an approach to derive an algorithm for e-nose using a classical approach kept in model identification framework. The benefits of the proposed solution, apart of the structural correctness of the derived algorithm model, include improved generalisation capabilities in case of low training data volume is available. To that goal the algorithm structure is derived based on available knowledge on human senses reaction to odorants. Due to the algorithm structure a random search algorithm with heuristics (evolutionary algorithm) is used to search for the required parameters of the electronic nose e-nose to be able to explain the laboratory experiment data. The evolutionary algorithm is kept in a multi-objective optimisation framework. As such, two heuristic decision making mechanisms have been proposed to select parameters for the algorithm under development. A comparison of the resulting algorithm with the one developed based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) is provided.

  • Electronic States of Tris(bipyridine) Ruthenium(II) Complexes in Neat Solid Films Investigated by Electroabsorption Spectroscopy
    • Daniel Pelczarski
    • Oleksandr Korolevych
    • Błażej Gierczyk
    • Maciej Zalas
    • Małgorzata Makowska-janusik
    • Waldemar Stampor
    2022 Full text Materials

    We present the electric field-induced absorption (electroabsorption, EA) spectra of the solid neat films of tris(bipyridine) Ru(II) complexes, which were recently functionalized in our group as photosensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells, and we compare them with the results obtained for an archetypal [Ru(bpy)3]2+ ion (RBY). We argue that it is difficult to establish a unique set of molecular parameter values by discrete parametrization of the EA spectra under the Liptay formalism for non-degenerate excited states. Therefore, the experimental EA spectra are compared with the spectra computed by the TDDFT (time-dependent density-functional theory) method, which for the first time explains the mechanism of electroabsorption in tris(bipyridine) Ru complexes without any additional assumptions about the spectral lineshape of the EA signal. We have shown that the main EA feature, in a form close to the absorption second derivative observed in the spectral range of the first MLCT (metal-to-ligand charge transfer) absorption band in Ru(bpy)3(PF6)2, can be attributed to a delocalized and orbitally degenerate excited state. This result may have key implications for the EA mechanism in RBY-based systems that exhibit similar EA spectra due to the robust nature of MLCT electronic states in such systems.

  • Electrophoretic co-deposition of Mn1.5Co1.5O4, Fe2O3 and CuO: Unravelling the effect of simultaneous addition of Cu and Fe on the microstructural, thermo-mechanical and corrosion properties of in-situ modified spinel coatings for solid oxide cell interconnects
    • Elisa Zanchi
    • Justyna Ignaczak
    • Sebastian Molin
    • Grzegorz Cempura
    • A Boccaccini
    • Federico Smeacetto
    2022 JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN CERAMIC SOCIETY

    A systematic microstructural, thermo-mechanical and electrical characterization of simultaneous Fe–Cu doped Mn–Co spinel coatings processed by electrophoretic co-deposition on Crofer 22 APU is here reported and discussed. An innovative approach for the simultaneous electrophoretic deposition of three spinel precursors is designed, conceived and optimised, with the aim of outlining time- and energy-saving spinel modification routes. The effect of different levels of Cu and Fe co-doping is observed on the stability of the modified Mn–Co spinel phase, the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), the corrosion resistance and on the densification behaviour of the obtained coatings. Cu determines an increase of CTE, while Fe has the opposite behavior. The synergic effect of the simultaneous Fe and Cu co-doping results in an improved densification and the stabilization of the MnCo2O4 cubic phase. The most interesting results in terms of corrosion resistance are obtained for the Mn1.28Co1.28Fe0.15Cu0.29O4 spinel.

  • Elektrochemiczne magazyny energii - baterie przepływowe typu "redox flow"
    • Joanna Krakowiak
    • Krzysztof Rafał
    2022

    Rozwój i wzrost udziału energii odnawialnej, ze względu na kurczące się zasoby konwencjonalnych źródeł energii i ochronę środowiska, jest możliwy tylko dzięki współpracującym z nimi odpowiednim stacjonarnym magazynom energii. Technologia baterii przepływowych (ang. redox flow batteries, RFB) pozwala świetnie zaspokoić tego typu potrzeby ze względu na: (i) wyjątkowo dużą skalowalność układów; (ii) niezależny dobór mocy i pojemności energetycznej; (iii) możliwość rozbudowy w czasie eksploatacji; (iv) łatwość i bezpieczeństwo obsługi; (v) długi czas eksploatacji niezależny od głębokości rozładowania; (vi) wysoką sprawność; (vii) możliwość regeneracji elektrolitu; (viii) pomijalnie mały stopień samorozładowania niezależnie od stopnia naładowania baterii. Niniejsza praca ma na celu przybliżenie obecnego stanu wiedzy nt. baterii przepływowych oraz ich zastosowań komercyjnych.

  • Elucidating the impact of enzymatic modifications on the structure, properties, and applications of cellulose, chitosan, starch and their derivatives: a review
    • Zahra Shokri
    • Farzad Seidi
    • Mohammad Saeb
    • Yongcan Jin
    • Chengcheng Li
    • Huining Xiao
    2022 Materials Today Chemistry

    Polysaccharides, as one of the most prominent natural biopolymers, display numerous biological activities and industrial applications. Nevertheless, some polysaccharides lack biological properties or display weak biological activities. Besides, practical usages of polysaccharides still remain challenging because of their poor solubility and inappropriate hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance. Hence, enzymatic or chemical modifications have been emerged to improve physicochemical and biological properties of polysaccharides by altering their structural and conformational features, and consequently to enlarge their industrial applications. Compared to chemical methods, enzymatic modifications have drawn more attention owing to decreasing the input energy and environmental pollution, as well as high specificity and selectivity. The present review describes different reactions, including hydrolysis, esterification, transesterification, polymer, and phenolics grafting, for the modification of cellulose, chitosan, starch and their derivatives by catalysis with free and immobilized enzymes. Beyond the reaction types and the enzymes, the properties and potential applications of the obtained products are also reviewed.

  • EM-Driven Size Reduction and Multi-Criterial Optimization of Broadband Circularly-Polarized Antennas Using Pareto Front Traversing and Design Extrapolation
    • Ullah Ubaid
    • Muath Al-hasan
    • Sławomir Kozieł
    • Ismail Mabrouk
    2022 Full text Scientific Reports

    Maintaining small size has become an important consideration in the design of contemporary antenna structures. In the case of broadband circularly polarized (CP) antennas, miniaturization is a challenging process due to the necessity of simultaneous handling of electrical and field properties (reflection, axial ratio, gain), as well as ensuring sufficient frequency range of operation, especially at the lower edge of the antenna bandwidth. An additional difficulty is that—for the sake of reliability—the design process has to be based on full-wave electromagnetic (EM) simulation tools. This is a computationally expensive endeavor because rendering the minimum-size design under the assumed constraints concerning the operating frequencies requires rigorous numerical optimization, which entails massive evaluations of the structure at hand. This paper describes an algorithmic framework for efficient identification of broadband CP antenna designs that realize the best possible trade-offs (Pareto set) between the antenna size and its operating bandwidth. The designs are generated sequentially by solving local optimization tasks targeting explicit reduction of the antenna footprint with implicit constraints imposed on the reflection and axial ratio characteristics. The data accumulated during the previous iterations is employed to yield good initial points for further stages by means of inverse surrogates and extrapolation. Low cost of the process is ensured by sparse sensitivity updates within the trust-region gradient-based algorithm being the main optimization engine. The proposed methodology is demonstrated using three examples of wide-slot CP structures with the trade-off designs representing broad ranges of achievable antenna sizes and operating bandwidth. The framework can be used to assess the antenna suitability for particular application areas as well to conclusively compare alternative CP geometries from the point of view of achievable miniaturization rate and capability of fulfilling given performance requirements.

  • Emergency condition of the ceramic facade of a residential building
    • Maciej Niedostatkiewicz
    2022 Full text Modern Engineering

    The paper presents a description of the technical condition of the ceramic cladding of a residential building, the technical condition of which deteriorated significantly after only a few years of operation. The analysis of the influence of the applied design and working solutions on the façade failure frequency was analyzed. The article presents a conceptual solution to bring the building to the proper technical condition in terms of defects and damage to the facade.

  • Emergency condition of the ceramic facade of a residential building
    • Maciej Niedostatkiewicz
    2022 Full text Inżynieria Bezpieczeństwa Obiektów Antropogenicznych

    The paper presents a description of the technical condition of the ceramic cladding of a residential building, the technical condition of which deteriorated significantly after only a few years of operation. The analysis of the influence of the applied design and working solutions on the façade failure frequency was analyzed. The article presents a conceptual solution to bring the building to the proper technical condition in terms of defects and damage to the facade.

  • EMI mitigation of GaN power inverter leg by local shielding techniques
    • Paweł Derkacz
    • Jean-Luc Schanen
    • Pierre-Olivier Jeannin
    • Piotr Chrzan
    • Piotr Musznicki
    • Mickael Petit
    2022 Full text IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS

    This paper presents local shielding techniques applied to a half-bridge inverter leg with the aim to reduce the common mode (CM) current noise at converter’s DC input. The research study is conducted for 650V Enhancement mode Gallium Nitride (GaN) power transistor switches. Main contributors of parasitic capacitances referred to the inverter-leg middle point node are identified. Then, shielding solutions are proposed to reduce CM current emission by these capacitances. Respecting the precautions concerning the isolation of CM currents of the half-bridge inverter leg, the electromagnetic compatibility measurement setup is developed. Experimental step-by-step addition of local shielding copper layers to different contributors of middle point capacitance shows progressive attenuation of CM noise spectra.

  • Emission Profiles of Volatiles during 3D Printing with ABS, ASA, Nylon, and PETG Polymer Filaments
    • Wojciech Wojnowski
    • Mariusz Marć
    • Kaja Kalinowska
    • Paulina Kosmela
    • Bożena Zabiegała
    2022 Full text MOLECULES

    In this short communication we characterize the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printing using four polymer materials, namely polyethylene terephthalate glycol-modified (PETG), acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA), Nylon, and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). Detailed emission profiles are obtained during thermal degradation of the polymers as a function of temperature and also in real-time during 3D printing. Direct quantitative measurement was performed using proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-ToF-MS). Qualitative determination of the volatiles emitted from the printed elements at various temperatures was accomplished using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The emission rates of VOCs differ significantly between the different polymer filaments, with the emission from Nylon and PETG more than an order of magnitude lower than that of ABS.

  • Emotion Recognition from Physiological Channels Using Graph Neural Network
    • Tomasz Wierciński
    • Mateusz Rock
    • Robert Zwierzycki
    • Teresa Zawadzka
    • Michał Zawadzki
    2022 Full text SENSORS

    In recent years, a number of new research papers have emerged on the application of neural networks in affective computing. One of the newest trends observed is the utilization of graph neural networks (GNNs) to recognize emotions. The study presented in the paper follows this trend. Within the work, GraphSleepNet (a GNN for classifying the stages of sleep) was adjusted for emotion recognition and validated for this purpose. The key assumption of the validation was to analyze its correctness for the Circumplex model to further analyze the solution for emotion recognition in the Ekman modal. The novelty of this research is not only the utilization of a GNN network with GraphSleepNet architecture for emotion recognition, but also the analysis of the potential of emotion recognition based on differential entropy features in the Ekman model with a neutral state and a special focus on continuous emotion recognition during the performance of an activity The GNN was validated against the AMIGOS dataset. The research shows how the use of various modalities influences the correctness of the recognition of basic emotions and the neutral state. Moreover, the correctness of the recognition of basic emotions is validated for two configurations of the GNN. The results show numerous interesting observations for Ekman’s model while the accuracy of the Circumplex model is similar to the baseline methods.

  • Empirical Analysis of Forest Penalizing Attribute and Its Enhanced Variations for Android Malware Detection
    • Abimbola G. Akintola
    • Abdullateef O. Balogun
    • Luiz Fernando Capretz
    • Hammed Mojeed
    • Shuib Basri
    • Shakirat A. Salihu
    • Fatima E. Usman-Hamza
    • Peter O. Sadiku
    • Ghaniyyat B. Balogun
    • Zubair O. Alanamu
    2022 Full text Applied Sciences-Basel

    As a result of the rapid advancement of mobile and internet technology, a plethora of new mobile security risks has recently emerged. Many techniques have been developed to address the risks associated with Android malware. The most extensively used method for identifying Android malware is signature-based detection. The drawback of this method, however, is that it is unable to detect unknown malware. As a consequence of this problem, machine learning (ML) methods for detecting and classifying malware applications were developed. The goal of conventional ML approaches is to improve classification accuracy. However, owing to imbalanced real-world datasets, the traditional classification algorithms perform poorly in detecting malicious apps. As a result, in this study, we developed a meta-learning approach based on the forest penalizing attribute (FPA) classification algorithm for detecting malware applications. In other words, with this research, we investigated how to improve Android malware detection by applying empirical analysis of FPA and its enhanced variants (Cas_FPA and RoF_FPA). The proposed FPA and its enhanced variants were tested using the Malgenome and Drebin Android malware datasets, which contain features gathered from both static and dynamic Android malware analysis. Furthermore, the findings obtained using the proposed technique were compared with baseline classifiers and existing malware detection methods to validate their effectiveness in detecting malware application families. Based on the findings, FPA outperforms the baseline classifiers and existing ML-based Android malware detection models in dealing with the unbalanced family categorization of Android malware apps, with an accuracy of 98.94% and an area under curve (AUC) value of 0.999. Hence, further development and deployment of FPA-based meta-learners for Android malware detection and other cybersecurity threats is recommended.

  • End-of-life management of single-use baby diapers: Analysis of technical, health and environment aspects
    • Justyna Płotka-Wasylka
    • Patrycja Makoś-Chełstowska
    • Aleksandra Kurowska-Susdorf
    • María José Santoyo Treviño
    • Sergio Zarazúa Guzmán
    • Heba Mostafa
    • Mauro Cordella
    2022 Full text SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT

    Single-use baby diapers belongs to an important group of products used in the parenting journey because of their high performance and convenience. Single-use baby diapers are normally thrown away after one-time use, resulting in a waste management problem. The goal of this paper was to better understand main environmental concerns of different types of diapers and address how to reduce them, with a special consideration of waste management strategies and user behaviour practices. Furthermore, health and environmental hazards potentially associated with materials included in diapers, or substances formed from diapers during the waste treatment stage, are also analysed (e.g., phthalates, pesticides, dioxins, pesticides). Three main types of baby diapers have been analysed: single-use baby diapers, reusable baby diapers, and biodegradable single-use diapers. Each type of diaper comes with technical characteristics and environmental concerns and challenges, which are discussed in this paper to support the development of measures for the safe(r) and sustainable design, use and end of life management of baby diapers.

  • .Energia a rozwój gospodarki
    • Waldemar Kamrat
    2022

    Przedstawiono uwarunkowania rozwoju gospodarki krajowej vs rozwój sektora energii. Wskazano na koniecznosc transformacji energetycznej

  • ENERGY AND EMISSION QUALITY RANKING OF NEWLY PRODUCED LOW-SULPHUR MARINE FUEL
    • Zbigniew Korczewski
    2022 Full text Polish Maritime Research

    The article describes the methodology of engine tests on new types of low-sulphur marine fuels in laboratory conditions in order to conduct a comprehensive assessment of their suitability for powering full-size marine engines. The innovativeness of the proposed solution consists of adapting the laboratory Diesel Engine Test Bed to carry out experimental tests using residual and alternative fuels so that it is possible to imitate the real operating conditions of the ship engine. The main aim of the research program was to assess the energy efficiency of six different low-sulphur marine fuels and their impact on the chemical emissivity of engine exhaust gases and air pollution with toxic and harmful chemical compounds. In order to achieve the research purpose formulated in this way, it was necessary to: (1) equip the constructed laboratory stand with highly specialised measuring equipment and (2) develop a technology for determining diagnostic parameters representing the basis for developing a ranking of the energy and emission quality of the tested marine fuels according to the proposed physical model. The model distinguishes 10 diagnostic parameters that, after normalisation, form two subsets of evaluation parameters - stimulant and destimulant. Determining their values made it possible to estimate a synthetic variable, according to which all the tested fuels were adjusted in the order from the “best” to the “worst”, in accordance with the adopted qualitative criteria of such an assessment. The results of the laboratory tests show that among the considered fuels, i.e., MDO, MGO, RMD 80/L, RMD 80/S, RME 180, and RMG 380 type, the best solution is to use MDO distillate fuel to power full-size marine engines. However, taking into account its high purchase price, a rational alternative decision is to choose RMG 380 type residual fuel, which ranks second in the ranking of the functional quality of the tested marine fuels.

  • Energy and valuable organic products recovery from anaerobic processes
    • Ewa Zaborowska
    • Mojtaba Maktabifard
    • Xiang Li
    • Xianbao Xu
    • Jacek Mąkinia
    2022

    Chapter 8 contains: Introduction, Energy balance in wastewater treatment plants and potential energy recovery, Potential valuable products recovery, Anaerobic processes focused on liquid products recovery; Anaerobic digestion (AD) processes focused on gaseous products recovery, Processes enhancing energy and valuable organic products recovery, Conclusions and perspectives. Anaerobic processes offer different pathways for the recovery of a wide variety of valuable products, both in liquid and gaseous form. These processes can be directed through the appropriate selection of substrates and methods of their pretreatment, process conditions and upgrading in order to obtain valuable products of the expected quality. Both well-established and emerging technologies can be applied and combined to implement the principles of circular economy and sustainability in wastewater treatment and organic waste management. In response to scientific achievements and technological development, promoted and stimulated by global trends, policies and favorable economic conditions, wastewater treatment plants are gradually transforming into water resource recovery facilities.

  • Energy Management for PV Powered Hybrid Storage System in Electric Vehicles Using Artificial Neural Network and Aquila Optimizer Algorithm
    • Namala Narasimhulu
    • R. S. R. Krishnam Naidu
    • Przemysław Falkowski-Gilski
    • Parameshachari Bidare Divakarachari
    • Upendra Roy
    2022 Full text ENERGIES

    In an electric vehicle (EV), using more than one energy source often provides a safe ride without concerns about range. EVs are powered by photovoltaic (PV), battery, and ultracapacitor (UC) systems. The overall results of this arrangement are an increase in travel distance; a reduction in battery size; improved reaction, especially under overload; and an extension of battery life. Improved results allow the energy to be used efficiently, provide a comfortable ride, and require fewer energy sources. In this research, energy management between the PV system and the hybrid energy storage system (HESS), including the battery, and UC are discussed. The energy management control algorithms called Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Aquila Optimizer Algorithm (AOA) are proposed. The proposed combined ANN–AOA approach takes full advantage of UC while limiting the battery discharge current, since it also mitigates high-speed dynamic battery charging and discharging currents. The responses’ behaviors are depicted and viewed in the MATLAB simulation environment to represent load variations and various road conditions. We also discuss the management among the PV system, battery, and UC to achieve the higher speed of 91 km/h when compared with existing Modified Harmony Search (MHS) and Genetic Algorithm-based Proportional Integral Derivative (GA-PID). The outcomes of this study could aid researchers and professionals from the automotive industry as well as various third parties involved in designing, maintaining, and evaluating a variety of energy sources and storage systems, especially renewable ones.

  • Energy Security of Polish Consumers in 2004-2021
    • Krystyna Gomółka
    • Piotr Kasprzak
    2022 Full text Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska, Sectio H Oeconomia

    Theoretical background: Energy security is one of the most important components of economic security. It is influenced not only by access to energy sources and the economic situation of the state and the individual consumer. The authors adopted the definition of energy security of an individual consumer as included in the UN report. It states that energy security of an individual consumer is guaranteed when the average consumer has access to energy at all times, in various forms, in sufficient quantity and at a reasonable price, with the simultaneous development of support mechanisms for socially and economically sensitive consumers, and after implementation of independent mechanisms for resolving disputes with the energy company, which eliminate or at least alleviate the economic advantage of the enterprises

  • Engineering and Management of Space Systems (EMSS) - an international joint Master's double-degree program
    • Jasminka Matevska
    • Justyna Szostak
    • Zbigniew Łubniewski
    • Szymon Krawczuk
    • Marek Chodnicki
    2022 Full text

    Dynamic development of the space sector of European, and especially of Polish and German economies results in a necessity for suitable Higher Education Institution graduates. The increasing digitization, distribution and networking of technical systems leads to the necessity of a degree programme teaching “the systems view” and “interdisciplinarity” methods and skills. Furthermore, it is necessary to consider the entire life cycle of the systems starting with the analysis of the requirements, through design, integration, verification, to operation and maintenance, with supplementation of management, social and intercultural skills. Since interdisciplinarity and internationality are essential for engineering and management of space systems, the international project was launched early last year by two universities – Hochschule Bremen (Bremen City University of Applied Sciences, HSB, Germany) and Politechnika Gdańska (Gdańsk University of Technology, Gdańsk Tech, Poland) establishing an international interdisciplinary joint Master's double-degree program - Engineering and Management of Space Systems (EMSS). It consists of three different fixed three- or four-semester study paths of several mobility schemes, though individual educational pathways adjusted to students' preference are also allowed. Each path includesa joint academic year – first semester is conducted in Gdańsk, the second in Bremen. The remaining semesters can be studied at either of the universities. All of the EMSS curricula meet the highest education standards of both countries. Several mandatory modules and many elective courses are included in the EMSS curricula. Upon graduation, students of the program are awarded two Master’s degrees - in Space and Satellite Technologies, issued by Gdańsk Tech, and, depending on the chosen study path, in Aerospace Technologies, Computer Science, or Electronics Engineering issued by HSB. Work on the establishment of a new, international, joint field of study - Engineering and Management of Space Systems, run by both universities is currently in progress. The curriculum of the new study programme will be based on the recommendations of the International Council On Systems Engineering (INCOSE) and its German Chapter, Gesellschaft für Systems Engineering (GfSE), and will offer the possibility of certification as a Systems Engineering Professional, Associate Level. This paper includes the lecturers’ and students’ perspective

  • Enhanced aging resistance of poly(ε-caprolactone)/brewers’ spent grain composites
    • Aleksander Hejna
    • Krzysztof Formela
    • Mateusz Barczewski
    • Tairong Kuang
    • Mohammad Saeb
    2022 Full text Polimery

    The presented paper investigated the influence of brewers’ spent grain (BSG) extrusion pa-rameters on the photo-oxidative resistance of poly(ε-caprolactone)-based wood polymer composites. Filler samples characterized by the higher melanoidin content were more efficient in hindering of poly-mer degradation, inhibiting the decomposition of the polymer amorphous phase. As aresult, deteriora-tion of mechanical performance was limited, which was expressed by the higher values of aging factor for samples containing BSG extruded at higher temperatures.

  • Enhanced solar light photocatalytic performance of Fe-ZnO in the presence of H2O2, S2O82−, and HSO5− for degradation of chlorpyrifos from agricultural wastes: Toxicities investigation
    • Noor S. Shah
    • Jibran Iqbal
    • Murtaza Sayed
    • Ayman A. Ghfar
    • Javed Ali Khan
    • Zia Ul Haq Khan
    • Behzad Murtaza
    • Grzegorz Boczkaj
    • Farrukh Jamil
    2022 CHEMOSPHERE

    This study reported Fe doped zinc oxide (Fe-ZnO) synthesis to degrade chlorpyrifos (CPY), a highly toxic organophosphate pesticide and important sources of agricultural wastes. Fourier transform infrared, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopic analyses showed successful formation of the Fe-ZnO with highly crystalline and amorphous nature. Water collected from agricultural wastes were treated with Fe-ZnO and the results showed 67% degradation of CPY by Fe-ZnO versus 39% by ZnO at 140 min treatment time. Detail mechanism involving reactive oxygen species production from solar light activated Fe-ZnO and their role in degradation of CPY was assessed. Use of H2O2, peroxydisulfate (S2O82−) and peroxymonosulfate (HSO5−) with Fe-ZnO under solar irradiation promoted removal of CPY. The peroxides yielded hydroxyl (radical dotOH) and sulfate radical (Image 1) under solar irradiation mediated by Fe-ZnO. Effects of several parameters including concentration of pollutant and oxidants, pH, co-existing ions, and presence of natural organic matter on CPY degradation were studied. Among peroxides, HSO5− revealed to provide better performance. The prepared Fe-ZnO showed high reusability and greater mineralization of CPY. The GC-MS analysis showed degradation of CPY resulted into several transformation products (TPs). Toxicity analysis of CPY as well as its TPs was performed and the formation of non-toxic acetate imply greater capability of the treatment technology.

  • Enhanced stability of electrochemical performance of few-layer black phosphorus electrodes by noncovalent adsorption of 1,4-diamine-9,10-anthraquinone
    • Paweł Jakóbczyk
    • Anna Dettlaff
    • Grzegorz Skowierzak
    • Tadeusz Ossowski
    • Jacek Ryl
    • Robert Bogdanowicz
    2022 Full text ELECTROCHIMICA ACTA

    In this paper, the novel noncovalent functionalisation strategy of few-layer black phosphorus by 1,4-diamine-9,10-anthraquinone electrode was proposed and studied. The degradation of few-layer black phosphorus under exposure to oxygen and water is a significant obstacle to its use as an electroanalytical electrode. The anthraquinone compound adsorbed at black phosphorus flakes results in improved prevention of the phosphorus surface against degradation and electrode decomposition. Furthermore, a large concentration of amino group present in 1,4-diamine-9,10-anthraquinone enhances the electrochemical performance of electrode revealed by a faster rate of heterogeneous electron transfer observed in cyclic voltammetry studies. The designed electrode exhibits stable redox peaks over 100 cycles with separation between the peaks of 79 ± 2 mV and the formal redox potential reaching 257 ± 3 mV. The differential pulse voltammetry was utilised for the detection of ascorbic acid, revealing a limit of detection equal to 3.29 ppm (18.68 µM) and a limit of quantification of 9.98 ppm (56.66 µM). The linear range of 1–20 ppm was achieved, allowing for the detection of ascorbic acid in real conditions. Thus, anthraquinone-modified few-layer black phosphorus may be an attractive novel electrode material for sensitive electroanalytical applications.

  • Enhanced susceptibility of SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD protein assay targeted by cellular receptors ACE2 and CD147: Multivariate data analysis of multisine impedimetric response
    • Mateusz Brodowski
    • Mattia Pierpaoli
    • Monika Janik
    • Marcin Kowalski
    • Mateusz Ficek
    • Paweł Ślepski
    • Bartosz Trzaskowski
    • Greg N. Swain
    • Jacek Ryl
    • Robert Bogdanowicz
    2022 Full text SENSORS AND ACTUATORS B-CHEMICAL

    Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) enters the cells through the binding of spike protein to the host cell surface-expressing angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) or by endocytosis mediated by extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer (CD147). We present extended statistical studies of the multisine dynamic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (DEIS) revealing interactions between Spike RBD and cellular receptors ACE2 and CD147, and a reference anti-RBD antibody (IgG2B) based on a functionalised boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrode. The DEIS was supported by a multivariate data analysis of a SARS-CoV-2 Spike RBD assay and cross-correlated with the atomic-level information revealed by molecular dynamics simulations. This approach allowed us to study and detect subtle changes in the electrical properties responsible for the susceptibility of cellular receptors to SARS-CoV-2, revealing their interactions. Changes in electrical homogeneity in the function of the RBD concentration led to the conclusion that the ACE2 receptor delivers the most homogeneous surface, delivered by the high electrostatic potential of the relevant docking regions. For higher RBD concentrations, the differences in electrical homogeneity between electrodes with different receptors vanish. Collectively, this study reveals interdependent virus entry pathways involving separately ACE2, CD147, and spike protein, as assessed using a biosensing platform for the rapid screening of cellular interactions (i.e. testing various mutations of SARS-CoV-2 or screening of therapeutic drugs).

  • Enhanced Toxicity of Bisphenols Together with UV Filters in Water: Identification of Synergy and Antagonism in Three-Component Mixtures
    • Błażej Kudłak
    • Natalia Jatkowska
    • Wen Liu
    • Michael Williams
    • Damia Barcelo
    • Helgi B. Schiöth
    2022 Full text MOLECULES

    Contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) localize in the biome in variable combinations of complex mixtures that are often environmentally persistent, bioaccumulate and biomagnify, prompting a need for extensive monitoring. Many cosmetics include UV filters that are listed as CECs, such as benzophenone derivatives (oxybenzone, OXYB), cinnamates (2-ethylhexyl 4-methoxycinnamate, EMC) and camphor derivatives (4-methylbenzylidene-camphor, 4MBC). Furthermore, in numerous water sources, these UV filters have been detected together with Bisphenols (BPs), which are commonly used in plastics and can be physiologically detrimental. We utilized bioluminescent bacteria (Microtox assay) to monitor these CEC mixtures at environmentally relevant doses, and performed the first systematic study involving three sunscreen components (OXYB, 4MBC and EMC) and three BPs (BPA, BPS or BPF). Moreover, a breast cell line and cell viability assay were employed to determine the possible effect of these mixtures on human cells. Toxicity modeling, with concentration addition (CA) and independent action (IA) approaches, was performed, followed by data interpretation using Model Deviation Ratio (MDR) evaluation.

  • Enhancing Customer Engagement in Social Media with AI – a Higher Education case study
    • Edyta Gołąb-Andrzejak
    2022 Full text

    Purpose. The study aims to demonstrate the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) and examples of tools based on it in the process of enhancing (building, measuring, and managing) customer engagement (CE) in social media in the higher education industry. CE is one of the current essential non-financial indicators of company performance in Digital Marketing strategy. The article presents a decision support system (DSS) based on social media engagement management with the use of AI-based tools in a higher education industry case study. Methodology. The study was based on an analysis of the literature on AI in conjunction with CE, the results of research – 2022 Social Media Industry Benchmark – prepared by Rival IQ, and qualitative research (in-depth interviews with experts) at selected universities in Poland. At a later stage, the interviews were transcribed, thematically analyzed, and open coding with NVivo was performed. Findings. The conducted study was of an introductory and exploratory nature. It recognises the significant role of AI in enhancing CE in social media. At the same time, examples of AI-based tools that can be used for this have been indicated. It was unequivocally stated that by implementing AI in marketing, universities can act more effectively and consequently enhance their non-financial performance. For them, it is a system that assists decision-making in the field of social media engagement management. Research limitations. Due to its preliminary nature, the study used secondary sources (Rival IQ Report 2022) and individual indepth interviews with three managers of promotion/marketing departments, which does not give a complete picture of the situation under analysis. However, it is the first step in research on this subject that is to be continued. The theoretical contribution. The conducted research demonstrated the role of AI in enhancing customer engagement in social media in higher education while at the same time showing its auxiliary role in the decision-making process. Practical implications. Specific tools such as Sprout Social or Rival IQ were identified that, when applied in universities, can measure the engagement rate and effective CE management in social media used by the university.

  • 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.