Mental Health in the Workplace: Situation Analyses, Poland

[From Introduction] The workplace is an appropriate environment in which to educate and raise individuals’ awareness about mental health problems. For example, encouragement to promote good mental health practices, provide tools for recognition and early identification of the symptoms of problems, and establish links with local mental health services for referral and treatment can be offered. The need to demystify the topic and lift the taboos about the presence of mental health problems in the workplace while educating the working population regarding early recognition and treatment will benefit employers in terms of higher productivity and reduction in direct and in-direct costs. However, it must be recognised that some mental health problems need specific clinical care and monitoring, as well as special considerations for the integration or re-integration of the individual into the workforce

Design Patterns for Web Applications

S nástupem webu se začal objevovat zcela nový typ klient-server aplikací založených na standardních webových technologiích. Tyto technologie jsou dostupné na drtivé většině klientských stanic a není tak nutná instalace dalšího softwaru. Z tohoto důvodu si získaly webové aplikace mezi uživateli i vývojáři značnou oblibu a jsou nasazovány nejen na Internet, ale i na firemní intranety. Vzhledem k současnému rozšíření těchto aplikací je důležité sumarizovat vyzkoušené a ověřené postupy využitelné při jejich návrhu. A právě tato práce popisuje vybrané návrhové vzory aplikovatelné při vývoji webových aplikací a demonstruje jejich použití na konkrétních existujících systémech stejně jako na vlastní ukázkové aplikaci.With the coming of the web a brand new type of client-server applications based on standard web technologies has started to appear. These technologies are available on an overwhelming majority of client stations and don't need any additional software to be installed. As a result web applications have gained popularity among both users and developers and are currently deployed not only on the Internet, but also on company intranets. Considering present expansions of such applications it is important to summarize tested and approved approaches usable in their design. And it is this particular work that describes the chosen design patterns applicable in web applications development and demonstrates their usage on both concrete existent systems and a custom sample application.

Ferroelectromagnetic Smart Structures (1-x)Pb(Fe0.5Nb0.5)O3-(x)BiFeO3

In this work an attempt was made to obtain three compositions of the solid solution (1¡x)Pb(Fe0:5Nb0:5)O3– (x)BiFeO3 for x = 0:8, 0.7 and 0.6. The obtained specimens were subjected to microstructure and dielectric examinations and temperature dependences of the internal friction Q¡1(T) and Young’s modulus E(T)

No evidence that siblings’ gender affects personality across nine countries

Does growing up with a sister rather than a brother affect personality? In this article, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the effects of siblings’ gender on adults’ personality, using data from 85,887 people from 12 large representative surveys covering nine countries (United States, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, Mexico, China, and Indonesia). We investigated the personality traits of risk tolerance, trust, patience, locus of control, and the Big Five. We found no meaningful causal effects of the gender of the next younger sibling and no associations with the gender of the next older sibling. Given the high statistical power and consistent results in the overall sample and relevant subsamples, our results suggest that siblings’ gender does not systematically affect personality

No Evidence That Siblings’ Gender Affects Personality Across Nine Countries

Does growing up with a sister rather than a brother affect personality? In this article, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the effects of siblings’ gender on adults’ personality, using data from 85,887 people from 12 large representative surveys covering nine countries (United States, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, Mexico, China, and Indonesia). We investigated the personality traits of risk tolerance, trust, patience, locus of control, and the Big Five. We found no meaningful causal effects of the gender of the next younger sibling and no associations with the gender of the next older sibling. Given the high statistical power and consistent results in the overall sample and relevant subsamples, our results suggest that siblings’ gender does not systematically affect personality

Influence of the Nb and Ba dopands on the properties of the PZT type ceramics

Investigations of an influence of an admixture of ions Ba2+ and Nb5+ on dielectric and piezoelectric properties of the Pb(Zr0:53Ti0:47)O3 (PZT) ceramics were conducted. The PZT type ceramics was synthesized by a conventional method, and compacted by a free sintering method. The PZT type specimens were poling by a low and high temperature method. It was found that there was a positive influence of adding 10mol%Ba and 2mol%Nb simultaneously on a set of dielectric and piezoelectric parameters, which are important for practical applications of this PZT type ceramics.[1] E.G. F e s e n k o, A.Ya. D a n c i g e r, O.N. R o z u -m o v s k a y a, Novye piezokeramicheskye materialy, Izd. RGU, Rostov na Donu, 49-70 (1983). [2] I. F r a n k e, K. R o l e d e r, L. M i t o s e r i u, R. P i t i c e s c u, Z. U j m a, High-temperature macroscopic piezoelectricity in Nb-doped PbZr1 x Ti x O3 ceramics driven by the existence of polar regions, Phys. Rev. B 73, 144114-1-5 (2006). [3] B. J a f f e, W.R. C o o k, H. J a f f e, Piezoelectricheskaya keramica, Izd. “Mir” Moskva, 139-147 (1974). [4] B. N o h e d a, J.A. G o n z a l o, L.E. C r o s s, R. G u o, S.-E. P a r k, D.E. C o x, G. S h i r a n e, Tetragonal-to-monoclinic phase transition in a ferroelectric perovskite: The structure of PbZr0:52Ti 0:48O3, Phys. Rev. B 61, 8687-9695 (2000). [5] J. D u d e k, D. B o c h e n e k, M.F. K u p r i y a n o v, Z. S u r o w i a k, Wpływ składu chemicznego i warunków otrzymywania na stabilność parametrów piezoceramiki typu PZT, Ceramics 65, 93-100 (2001). [6] T. I k e d a, Studies on (Ba-Pb)(Ti-Zr)O3 System, Journal of Physical Society of Japan, 14, 2 168-174 (1959). [7] G. L i, G. H a e r t l i n g, Dielectric, ferroelectric and electric field-induced strain properties of (Pb1 x Bax )(Zr1 y Tiy )O3 ceramics, Ferroelectrics 166, 31 (1995). [8] Z. S u r o w i a k, D. B o c h e n e k, Modyfikowanie składu chemicznego elektroceramiki PZT, Materiały ceramiczne/ Ceramic Materials/, 4, 124-134 (2004). [9] R. Z a c h a r i a s z, D. B o c h e n e k, Properties of the PZT type ceramics admixed with barium and niobium, Archives of Metallurgy and Materials, 54, 895-902 (2009). [10] K. O k a d z a k i, Technologia ceramicznych dielektryków, Izd. “Energia”, Moskva, 233-235 (1976). [11] I. F r a n k e, K. R o l e d e r, J. K l i m o n t k o, A. R a t u s z n a, A. S o s z y ń s k i, Anomalus piezoelectric and elastic properties of a tetragonal PZT ceramic near morfotropic phase boundary, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 38, 749 (2005). [12] J. D u d e k, D. B o c h e n e k, Z. S u r o w i a k, V.G. G a v r i l y c h e n k o, Wpływ warunków technologicznych na stabilność właściwości piezoelektrycznych ceramiki typu PZT, Ceramics, 79, 130-136 (2003). [13] M. A d a m c z y k, Z. U j m a, L. S z y m c z a k, Effect of Nb doping on the relaxor behaviour of (Pb0:75 Ba0:25)(Zr0:70 Ti0:30)O3 ceramics, Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 26, 331-336 (2006)

The influence of passivation type on corrosion resistance of Ti15Mo alloy in simulated body fluids

This work reports on determination of the influence of passivation type of Ti15wt.%Mo implant alloy surface on its corrosion resistance in simulated body fluids. The alloy under investigation was subjected to natural self-passivation in air, and forced passivation by autoclaving in steam, boiling in 30 % solution of H2O2, and electrochemical passivation in 0.9 % NaCl solution. Resistance of the passivated Ti15Mo alloy to pitting corrosion was studied at 37°C in 0.9 % NaCl solution using open circuit potential method, anodic polarization curves, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Comparative estimation of the determined parameters of corrosion resistance revealed that the obtained passive layers improve anticorrosive properties of the tested alloy. Surface of the alloy subjected to passivation in steam autoclave reveals the highest protection against pitting corrosion. Anodic potentiodynamic curves showed that the Ti15Mo alloy after different passivation types of the surface is characterized by a lack of susceptibility to pitting corrosion up to potential of 9 V. Based on the EIS investigations, the thickness of the formed oxide layers (TiO2, anatase) was determined to be in the range from 2.0 to 7.8 nm in dependence on the applied type of passivation. It was ascertained that electrochemical properties of the Ti15Mo alloy and possibility of its surface passivation using simple methods, make it an attractive material for use in biomedicine for long-term implants

SEM, EDS and XPS analysis of the coatings obtained on titanium after plasma electrolytic oxidation in electrolytes containing copper nitrate

In the paper, the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) results of the surface layer formed on pure titanium after plasma electrolytic oxidation (micro arc oxidation) at the voltage of 450 V are shown. As an electrolyte, the mixture of copper nitrate Cu(NO3)2 (10–600 g/L) in concentrated phosphoric acid H3PO4 (98 g/mol) was used. The thickness of the obtained porous surface layer equals about 10 m, and it consists mainly of titanium phosphates and oxygen with embedded copper ions as a bactericidal agent. The maximum percent of copper in the PEO surface layer was equal to 12.2 0.7 wt % (7.6 0.5 at %), which is the best result that the authors obtained. The top surface layer of all obtained plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) coatings consisted most likely mainly of Ti3(PO4)4 nH3PO4 and Cu3(PO4)2 nH3PO4 with a small addition of CuP2, CuO and Cu2O.Web of Science95art. no. 31

Microbial growth inhibition by oximes derived from natural volatile carbonyl compounds

Drug resistance rates in healthcare and community systems are induced by some bacterial and fungal pathogens. The answer to the challenge of antimicrobial resistance is searching for new alternatives to antibiotics.                The aim of our work was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of low-molecular oximes, which have not been extensively studied with regard to this issue. Fifty-three oximes were screened in vitro for their growth inhibitory activity against seven strains of microorganisms: Escherichia coli (ATCC 10536), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538), Enterococcus hirae (ATCC 10541), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 15442), Legionella pneumophila (ATCC 33152), Aspergillus brasiliensis (ATCC 16404), and Candida albicans (ATCC 10231). The growth inhibition of microorganisms was tested using the paper disc diffusion method. Three antibiotics, netilmicin, fluconazole, and ofloxacin, were used as reference controls for the tested microorganisms. The oximes’ antimicrobial activity was evaluated by measuring the diameters of the inhibitory zones. Oximes of trans-cinnamaldehyde, propiophenone, (±)-citronellal, and piperitone showed strong antifungal activity, while the oximes of α-hexyl cinnamaldehyde, hydroxycinnamaldehyde, α-isomethyl ionone, pseudoionone, (-)-fenchone, and (+)-fenchone oximes showed strong antibacterial activity