Analysis of driver reaction to sudden stimulus

Diplomová práca sa zapodievala akými spôsobmi vodiči reagujú na náhly podnet. V teoretickej časti sa rozobrala analýza súčasného stavu, reakčná doba, spôsoby reakcie vodiča, podnety z okolia, vozidlo a jeho asistenčné systémy. Analytická časť práce bola uskutočnená jazdnými skúškami, kde sa zistilo, že spôsob reakcie vodičov závisí od vzdialenosti, na ktorú im vznikne prekážka a od rýchlosti vozidla. Preto sa spracovala analýza závislosti TTC. Zistilo sa, že vodiči pri nízkych hodnotách TTC volili skôr vyhýbanie, pretože v prípade brzdenia potrebujú presunúť nohu z akceleračného pedálu na brzdový pedál a musia brzdiť prudšie. Pri stredných hodnotách TTC vodiči najčastejšie brzdili. V prípade kombinácii vodiči pri nižších hodnotách TTC volili brzdenie s vyhýbaním. Prišlo sa aj na závislosť spôsobu reakcie od vodičských skúsenosti. Neskúsení vodiči skôr volili brzdenie, pri skúsenejších vodičoch boli používané kombinácie.The diploma thesis deal with what ways drivers react to an unexpected stimulus. In the theoretical part, the analysis of the current state, reaction time, methods of reaction of the driver, stimuli from the environment and finally is being analyzed, the vehicle and its assistance systems. The analytical part of the diploma thesis was performed by driving tests, where it was found that the way the driver reacts from the distance to which they are obstructed and the speed of the vehicle. For that reason, a TTC dependency analysis was performed. It was found that drivers at low TTC values chose an obstacle in which they brake the need to move their foot from the accelerator pedal to the brake pedal and they have to brake sharply. At medium TTC values, drivers brake most often. In the case of a combination of conductors, they chose braking with avoiding at lower TTC values and avoiding with braking at medium TTC values. There was also a dependence of the method of reaction on driving experience. Inexperienced drivers rather choose braking, experienced drivers use combinations.

Graphitic carbon nitride for photocatalytic air treatment

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is a conjugated polymer, which recently drew a lot of attention as a metal-free and UV and visible light responsive photocatalyst in the field of solar energy conversion and environmental remediation. This is due to its appealing electronic band structure, high physicochemical stability and earth-abundant nature. In the present work, bulk g-C(3)N(4)was synthesized by thermal decomposition of melamine. This material was further exfoliated by thermal treatment. S-doped samples were prepared from thiourea or further treatment of exfoliated g-C(3)N(4)by mesylchloride. Synthesized materials were applied for photocatalytic removal of air pollutants (acetaldehyde and NOx) according to the ISO 22197 and ISO 22197-1 methodology. The efficiency of acetaldehyde removal under UV irradiation was negligible for all g-C(3)N(4)samples. This can be explained by the fact that g-C(3)N(4)under irradiation does not directly form hydroxyl radicals, which are the primary oxidation species in acetaldehyde oxidation. It was proved by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy that the dominant species formed on the irradiated surface of g-C(3)N(4)was the superoxide radical. Its production was responsible for a very high NO(x)removal efficiency not only under UV irradiation (which was comparable with that of TiO2), but also under visible irradiation.Web of Science1313art. no. 303

Mechanochemical Synthesis of Visible Light Sensitive Titanium Dioxide Photocatalyst

Phase transition of anatase nanoparticles into the phases TiO2-II and rutile under grinding was studied. The addition of ammonium carbamate to the reaction mixture inhibits the phase conversion and the cold welding of particles. The UV-visible absorption spectrum showed narrowing the band gap width after grinding with an ammonium carbamate additive resulting in shift of the light absorption of the ground sample towards the visible region. By EPR, intensive formation of OH• radical at irradiation of the sample with both UV (λ > 300 nm) and visible (λ > 435 nm) light was observed. High photocatalytic activity of the ground sample in visible light region was demonstrated also by measurement of kinetics of the photocatalytic decomposition of 4-chlorophenol

Discovery of small molecule inhibitors of xyloglucan endotransglucosylase (XET) activity by high-throughput screening

AbstractSmall molecules (xenobiotics) that inhibit cell-wall-localised enzymes are valuable for elucidating the enzymes’ biological roles. We applied a high-throughput fluorescent dot-blot screen to search for inhibitors of Petroselinum xyloglucan endotransglucosylase (XET) activity in vitro. Of 4216 xenobiotics tested, with cellulose-bound xyloglucan as donor-substrate, 18 inhibited XET activity and 18 promoted it (especially anthraquinones and flavonoids). No compounds promoted XET in quantitative assays with (cellulose-free) soluble xyloglucan as substrate, suggesting that promotion was dependent on enzyme–cellulose interactions. With cellulose-free xyloglucan as substrate, we found 22 XET-inhibitors – especially compounds that generate singlet oxygen (1O2) e.g., riboflavin (IC50 29μM), retinoic acid, eosin (IC50 27μM) and erythrosin (IC50 36μM). The riboflavin effect was light-dependent, supporting 1O2 involvement. Other inhibitors included tannins, sulphydryl reagents and triphenylmethanes. Some inhibitors (vulpinic acid and brilliant blue G) were relatively specific to XET, affecting only two or three, respectively, of nine other wall-enzyme activities tested; others [e.g. (−)-epigallocatechin gallate and riboflavin] were non-specific. In vivo, out of eight XET-inhibitors bioassayed, erythrosin (1μM) inhibited cell expansion in Rosa and Zea cell-suspension cultures, and 40μM mycophenolic acid and (−)-epigallocatechin gallate inhibited Zea culture growth. Our work showcases a general high-throughput strategy for discovering wall-enzyme inhibitors, some being plant growth inhibitors potentially valuable as physiological tools or herbicide leads

Transparent titania-zirconia thin films for self-cleaning and photocatalytic application

Thin films were prepared by sol-gel process, where different amount of zirconia were added to titania. Photocatalytic activity of thin films was measured by two methods i) determination of degradation ration of methyl stearate with measuring the contact angle and ii) formation of hydroxyterephthalic acid was measured by spectrofluorometer. Prepared samples were characterized by UV-Vis spectrophotometer, SEM, XRD, FT-IR ATR, and BET. The result of measurements of photocatalytic activity shows that the highest activity has a sample without addition of zirconia, but mechanical stability of that sample is worse

Radical Intermediates in Photoinduced Reactions on TiO2 (An EPR Spin Trapping Study)

The radical intermediates formed upon UVA irradiation of titanium dioxide suspensions in aqueous and non-aqueous environments were investigated applying the EPR spin trapping technique. The results showed that the generation of reactive species and their consecutive reactions are influenced by the solvent properties (e.g., polarity, solubility of molecular oxygen, rate constant for the reaction of hydroxyl radicals with the solvent). The formation of hydroxyl radicals, evidenced as the corresponding spin-adducts, dominated in the irradiated TiO2 aqueous suspensions. The addition of 17O-enriched water caused changes in the EPR spectra reflecting the interaction of an unpaired electron with the 17O nucleus. The photoexcitation of TiO2 in non-aqueous solvents (dimethylsulfoxide, acetonitrile, methanol and ethanol) in the presence of 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline N-oxide spin trap displayed a stabilization of the superoxide radical anions generated via electron transfer reaction to molecular oxygen, and various oxygen- and carbon-centered radicals from the solvents were generated. The character and origin of the carbon-centered spin-adducts was confirmed using nitroso spin trapping agents