Typology of housing arrangements of Upper Silesia in 1848-2013 years – archetypes and their modernization flexibility

In the Polish literature of the subject granted to the residential architecture the most common is the theme of constructed environment, the problem of new trends both in form and design, most often in the context of the sustainable development. More and more frequent are the works on analyzing and describing the sociological perspective of dwelling. Basing on the long-term international and domestic publications and scientific research the spread and often interdisciplinary, complex works and articles concerning the social phenomena in architecture and its surrounding have recently appeared. Despite the huge in amount and the valuable literature as well as the scientific research being led in the last few years the lack of works presenting the complex condition of the residential stock shaped through centuries, in context of usability and needs of the residents, based on the possibilities and real modernisation activities is significant. The time range of the work covers the period from 1848-2013. The broad framework allows the recognition of the vast majority of the existing residential stock and gives the larger spectrum of evaluation in the spotted transformations. Industry initiated the process of the development of the number of contemporary cities.The work tries to gain the answer for:● what changes were done to the researched residential stock● in which period the changes were the most intensive● in which period the changes were the greatest in the area (both historically and in context of the usability)Author is also interested in the problem of similarity of the changes to the notes and descriptions of other authors concerning the values of durability and time (so the equipment, the interior divisions, installations, facades and constructions). The present article is used for a projection of these changes on the base of distinctive features of these arrangements and the attempt formulated of characteristic archetype in individual temporary sequences determined in examinationsIn the Polish literature of the subject granted to the residential architecture the most common is the theme of constructed environment, the problem of new trends both in form and design, most often in the context of the sustainable development. More and more frequent are the works on analyzing and describing the sociological perspective of dwelling. Basing on the long-term international and domestic publications and scientific research the spread and often interdisciplinary, complex works and articles concerning the social phenomena in architecture and its surrounding have recently appeared. Despite the huge in amount and the valuable literature as well as the scientific research being led in the last few years the lack of works presenting the complex condition of the residential stock shaped through centuries, in context of usability and needs of the residents, based on the possibilities and real modernisation activities is significant. The time range of the work covers the period from 1848-2013. The broad framework allows the recognition of the vast majority of the existing residential stock and gives the larger spectrum of evaluation in the spotted transformations. Industry initiated the process of the development of the number of contemporary cities.The work tries to gain the answer for:● what changes were done to the researched residential stock● in which period the changes were the most intensive● in which period the changes were the greatest in the area (both historically and in context of the usability)Author is also interested in the problem of similarity of the changes to the notes and descriptions of other authors concerning the values of durability and time (so the equipment, the interior divisions, installations, facades and constructions). The present article is used for a projection of these changes on the base of distinctive features of these arrangements and the attempt formulated of characteristic archetype in individual temporary sequences determined in examination

Energy Efficiency In Commercial Buildings With Concrete Core Activation

During the last years thermal insulation of commercial buildings has been improved resulting in a decreasing demand for heat energy. However, due to lower heat transmission through the facade in office and administration buildings, adverse effects can arise in summer. Through the better insulated facade, the nocturnal heat loss is strongly reduced. Together with the internal heat loads and the increased comfort requirements of the users a cooling demand in winter and during the transitional period is required. Therefore, more energy efficient buildings that have relatively low energy requirements for heating and cooling are in demand today. The heating and cooling of office and administrative buildings with environmental energies from soil, groundwater and outside air are energetically and economically very interesting. Conventional air conditioning systems generally require low system temperatures and are suitable only for limited use of environmental energy. To counteract this effect the thermal concrete core activation is particularly efficient. Water-carrying pipe systems for year-round temperature control of buildings are installed in the solid components with high heat storage capacity. If these pipes are directly supplied with cold from the ground or from a cooling tower in the surrounding air, only the energy to transport the cold water to the user is needed. The heat requirements in winter can also be covered in part with environmental energy by heat pumps. With the use of cooling towers the supply (low outside air temperatures during the night) and the demand of the building (cooling during the day) has a temporal shift. Therefore, the thermal storage capacity of the solid components is important for the temporal displacement of energy peaks. The large heat transfer surfaces allow for a significant heat and cooling capacity already at temperatures with small under- and overheat. Heat supply and heat discharge are under constant change throughout the year. This paper provides a guideline for planning and execution of concrete core activation systems

Architecture Change in A Post-Bologna World of Higher Education in Poland – Case Study

In 2005 Joanna Serdyńska and Jerzy Witeczek published the results of a research work which covered the first 25 years of educating students at the Faculty of Architecture, Silesian University of Technology, Poland. It aimed at measuring the attractiveness and effectiveness of studies at the Faculty, and considering how some figures, i.e. previous entrance examinations, length of studies, male-female ratio and others, have been changing in time. The research turned out to be a kind of summary of the “pre-Bologna” era in architectural education. Form 2006 on, according to Bologna process, some major changes in higher education have been made, which affected organization of studies, content of study curriculum, and ways of teaching and learning. Harmonization of studies across the Europe has left architecture with a two-cycle degree study programmes, systems of credit transfer and quality assurance, and so-called student-centered learning all in the name of better quality and a lower cost. Today, in 2013, it is possible to make first recapitulations and draw some conclusions according to the new educational pattern, and, thanks to the previous research work, one can also compare those two models in terms of educational conditions. The comparison of an old and new study curriculum complements the work. The paper deals with questions about the impact of the transition to the Bologna system on study curriculum content, changes in the ways of teaching and learning, and ways in which it affects the effectiveness of studies and the quality of education

Microstructure and corrosion resistance of magnesium alloys with galvanic coatings

AbstractThe article presents the technology of obtaining the galvanic coatings on the ready structural elements made of Mg-Al magnesium alloys. The technology was developed in NTP CIBIS Ltd in cooperation with the Silesian University of Technology. The influence of the mechanical surface preparation and deposition on the basis of sulfamate nickel and copper plating on the layer quality and corrosion resistance were described. The final galvanic layer with a new type of intermediate sulfamate nickel layer is characterized by high uniformity irrespective of an observation location. Corrosion resistance of the elements with the coatings deposited on the surfaces vibro-abrasively machined is much higher than that of the coatings deposited on the surfaces ground and polished

Erklärt die Methodenwahl höhere Suizidraten bei Männern?

Suizid gehört in den meisten Ländern weltweit zu den zehn führenden Todesursachen und wird laut Studien der WHO im Jahr 2020 2,4% des weltweiten „Burden of Disease“ ausmachen (1998:1,8%). Auch Suizidversuche, deren Zahl auf das 10-20fache der Suizide geschätzt wird, stellen eine starke Belastung und einen hohen Kostenfaktor für die Gesundheitssysteme dar. Bezüglich der vollendeten Suizide sind Männer ungefähr 2 bis 3mal so häufig betroffen wie Frauen, bei Suizidversuchen verhält es sich umgekehrt. Mit dem Ziel, dieses Phänomen zu verstehen und effektivere Suizidpräventionsmethoden zu finden, wurden diverse Gründe für die Geschlechtsunterschiede diskutiert und beforscht. Die geschlechtsspezifische Methodenwahl, verschiedene Rollenmodelle, Suchterkrankungen und soziale Unterstützung werden unter anderem als Gründe benannt. Das Ziel dieser Dissertation ist zu untersuchen, ob die Geschlechtsunterschiede in Suizidraten alleine durch die Wahl letalerer Suizidmethoden durch Männer erklärt werden können. Es wird in vielen Studien angenommen, dass Männer zu harten Suizidmethoden wie Erschießen oder Erhängen und Frauen zu weichen Suizidmethoden wie Vergiften neigen. Anhand eines Datensatzes zu Suiziden und Suizidversuchen soll die methodenspezifische „Case Fatality“ (Suizide/Suizide+Suizidversuche) ermittelt werden. Die Hypothese lautet, dass unterschiedliche „Case Fatality rates“ darauf hinweisen, dass über die Methodenwahl hinaus weitere zentrale Gründe die höheren männlichen Suizidraten erklären bzw. dass gleiche „Case Fatality rates“ annehmen lassen, dass die Methodenwahl der Hauptgrund für die Geschlechtsunterschiede ist. In dem Artikel, welcher den Kern der Dissertation ausmacht, wird gezeigt, dass die Methodenwahl bei Männern nicht der ausschlaggebende Faktor für höhere Suizidraten ist. Vielmehr scheinen Männer einzelne Suizidmethoden mit einer höheren Letalität durchzuführen. Auch nach der Kontrolle von Alterseinflüssen zeigt sich dieses Ergebnis signifikant, speziell bei den Methoden Erhängen und Vergiften, Beispiele für eine harte und eine weiche Methode. Dies weist darauf hin, dass dahinterstehende Gründe, z.B. die Intention zu sterben, eine größere Rolle spielen und in zukünftigen Studien weiter beforscht werden sollten.Background: In most countries worldwide suicide rates are higher for males whereas attempted suicide rates are higher for females. The aim is to investigate if the choice of more lethal methods by males explains gender differences in suicide rates. Methods: Data on completed and attempted suicides were collected (n=3235, Nuremberg and Wuerzburg, years 2000–2004). The research question was analyzed by comparing the methodspecific case fatality (= completed suicides /completed+attempted suicides) for males and females. Results: Among the events captured, men chose high-risk methods like hanging significantly more often than women ( =−0.27; pb0.001). However, except for drowning, case fatalities were higher for males than for females within each method. This was most apparent in “hanging” (men 83.5%, women 55.3%; =−0.28; pb0.001) and “poisoning by drugs” (men 7.2%, women 3.4%; =−0.09; pb0.001). Limitations: The sample size (n=3235) was not enough for comparing method and gender specific case fatalities with a fine-meshed stratification regarding age. Conclusions: Higher suicide rates in males not only result from the choice of more lethal methods. Other factors have to be considered

Evaluation von Kandidatenmarkern für die Progression des östrogenrezeptor-positiven Mammakarzinoms

Die vorliegende Studie untersucht die Relevanz der Kandidatengene BMPR-IB, Dermcidin, 14-3-3 zeta, Tab-2 und SLBP für die Progression des ER-positiven Mammakarzinoms. In einer früheren Arbeit waren ER-positive, invasiv duktale Mammakarzinome mit ähnlichen immunhistochemischen und zytogenetischen Charakteristika auf ihre differenzielle Genexpression untersucht und o.g. Kandidatengene definiert worden. Für diese wurde eine immunhistochemische Verifizierung mittels der Tissue-Microarray-Technik durchgeführt. Der Expressionsgrad von BMPR-IB korrelierte signifikant mit dem Tumorgrad, der Anzahl zytogenetischer Alterationen, dem Auftreten von Fernmetastasen und der allgemein schlechten Prognose einer Subgruppe ER-positiver, invasiv duktaler Karzinome. Die Signifikanzen verstärkten sich bei einer Co-Expression von BMPR-IB und Dermcidin. Insgesamt ergaben sich Hinweise auf eine zentrale Rolle des BMP/SMAD-Signaltransduktionsweges bei der Progression östrogenrezeptorpositiver Mammakarzinome

Identification of novel PANDAR protein interaction partners involved in splicing regulation

Interactions of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) with proteins play important roles in the regulation of many cellular processes. PANDAR (Promotor of CDKN1A Antisense DNA damage Activated RNA) is a lncRNA that is transcribed in a p53-dependent manner from the CDKN1A promoter and is involved in the regulation of proliferation and senescence. Overexpression of PANDAR has been observed in several tumor species and correlated with a poor prognosis for patient survival rate. Depending on the cellular state, PANDAR is known to interact with proteins such as the nuclear transcription factor Y subunit A (NF-YA) and the scaffold attachment factor A (SAF-A). However, a comprehensive analysis of the PANDAR interactome was missing so far. Therefore, we applied peptide nucleic acid (PNA)-based pull-downs combined with quantitative mass spectrometry to identify new protein binding partners. We confirmed potential candidates like U2AF65 and PTBP1, known to be involved in RNA processing. Furthermore, we observed that overexpression of PANDAR leads to a reduced level of the short proapoptotic BCL-X splice variant (BCL-XS) which is regulated by PTBP1. Simultaneous overexpression of PTBP1 was able to rescue this effect. Overall, our data suggest a role for PANDAR in the regulation of splicing events via its interaction partner PTBP1

Spatial correlations between MRI-derived wall shear stress and vessel wall thickness in the carotid bifurcation

BACKGROUND: To explore the possibility of creating three-dimensional (3D) estimation models for patient-specific wall thickness (WT) maps using patient-specific and cohort-averaged WT, wall shear stress (WSS), and vessel diameter maps in asymptomatic atherosclerotic carotid bifurcations. METHODS: Twenty subjects (aged 75 ± 6 years [mean ± standard deviation], eight women) underwent a 1.5-T MRI examination. Non-gated 3D phase-contrast gradient-echo images and proton density-weighted echo-planar images were retrospectively assessed for WSS, diameter estimation, and WT measurements. Spearman's ρ and scatter plots were used to determine correlations between individual WT, WSS, and diameter maps. A bootstrapping technique was used to determine correlations between 3D cohort-averaged WT, WSS, and diameter maps. Linear regression between the cohort-averaged WT, WSS, and diameter maps was used to predict individual 3D WT. RESULTS: Spearman's ρ averaged over the subjects was - 0.24 ± 0.18 (p < 0.001) and 0.07 ± 0.28 (p = 0.413) for WT versus WSS and for WT versus diameter relations, respectively. Cohort-averaged ρ, averaged over 1000 bootstraps, was - 0.56 (95% confidence interval [- 0.74,- 0.38]) for WT versus WSS and 0.23 (95% confidence interval [- 0.06, 0.52]) for WT versus diameter. Scatter plots did not reveal relationships between individual WT and WSS or between WT and diameter data. Linear relationships between these parameters became apparent after averaging over the cohort. Spearman's ρ between the original and predicted WT maps was 0.21 ± 0.22 (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: With a combination of bootstrapping and cohort-averaging methods, 3D WT maps can be predicted from the individual 3D WSS and diameter maps. The methodology may help to elucidate pathological processes involving WSS in carotid atherosclerosis

Utilization and biodegradation of starch stillage (distillery wastewater)

Stillage (distillery wastewater) is the main by-product originating in distilleries, and its volume is approximately 10 times that of ethanol produced. It is not surprising that the utilization of the stillage raises serious problems, and that many attempts have been made all over the world to solve them. In Poland most of the ethanol (about 90%) is produced from starch-based feedstocks, i.e. grains and potatoes. Starch feedstocks are widely used for spirit production also in other European countries, as well as outside Europe. The manuscript provides an overview of global fuel ethanol production and information on methods used for starch-based stillage biodegradation and utilization. The methods presented in this paper have been classified into two major groups. One of these includes the mode of utilizing starch stillage, the other one comprises methods, both aerobic and anaerobic, by which the stillage can be biodegraded