Twenty-three unsolved problems in hydrology (UPH) – a community perspective

This paper is the outcome of a community initiative to identify major unsolved scientific problems in hydrology motivated by a need for stronger harmonisation of research efforts. The procedure involved a public consultation through on-line media, followed by two workshops through which a large number of potential science questions were collated, prioritised, and synthesised. In spite of the diversity of the participants (230 scientists in total), the process revealed much about community priorities and the state of our science: a preference for continuity in research questions rather than radical departures or redirections from past and current work. Questions remain focussed on process-based understanding of hydrological variability and causality at all space and time scales. Increased attention to environmental change drives a new emphasis on understanding how change propagates across interfaces within the hydrological system and across disciplinary boundaries. In particular, the expansion of the human footprint raises a new set of questions related to human interactions with nature and water cycle feedbacks in the context of complex water management problems. We hope that this reflection and synthesis of the 23 unsolved problems in hydrology will help guide research efforts for some years to come

QRI

The Questionnaire of Religious Insights (QRI) presented in this paper was constructed in order to challenge the current model of religious orientations, especially the Quest Scale, by providing insight into different kinds of motivation that can influence religious seeking. The QRI contains two scales: Doubt (D) and Quest (Q). The latter consists of three subscales: searching for the solution of dilemmas (Qsd), searching as the expansion of self (QI), and searching for novelty (Qn). Validation of the internal reliability of the QRI and external criteria analysis was examined within two exploratory studies, both conducted on a group of 120 Polish students. The results of the first study provided evidence for the internal reliability of QRI, as well as it’s criterion validity with use of Religious Orientation Scales. The results of the second study in turn suggested that most of the external validity criteria have been met. In conclusion, the proposed model of exploring motivation factors that may influence religious questing is a topic worth pursuing. we propose studies that can follow this exploratory study, that can be undertaken on larger and demographically more diverse samples

religious quest as a defense mechanism

The aim of the initiated project was to define a role and mechanism of spiritual and religious quest in the face of the human existential situation. The scientific goal of the pilot study was to verify a way of falsification of the research hypothesis, which assumes that a spiritual and religious quest will increase after exposure to stimuli concerning perspectives of death, the sense of human insignificance against the vastness of the universe, the forces of nature as well cultural change. Hypothesis assume that this effect measured directly after the exposure will be greater than after 30 min of break, what indicate rather defense mechanism (automatically and unconsciously triggered defense mechanism), than coping strategy (a religious quest as an intentional way to mastery of anxiety) (Kramer, 2010). Subjects filled the Questionnaire of Religious Insight (Krzysztof-Świderska et al., 2017) and the Polish adaptation of the Scale of Religious Orientation (Socha, 2009) twice: before and after exposure to the indicated stimulus: visual stimuli (a series of photos) as well as audiovisual stimuli (a short documentaries). There were also two control conditions in which the stimuli exposed are neutral (photos of flowers and trees). Each experimental and control condition included aproximetly 15 people, that is, a total of 117 people were involved in the pilot study. Due to the universal nature of postulated dependencies, study group consisted of students with only control of the sex factor. Results are interesting; the procedure seems worthy of further use and development.THIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV

Raman and IR Spectroelectrochemical Methods as Tools to Analyze Conjugated Organic Compounds

In the presented work, two spectroelectrochemical techniques are discussed as tools for the analysis of the structural changes occurring in the molecule on the vibrational level of energy. Raman and IR spectroelectrochemistry can be used for advanced characterization of the structural changes in the organic electroactive compounds. Here, the step-by-step analysis by means of Raman and IR spectroelectrochemistry is shown. Raman and IR spectroelectrochemical techniques provide complementary information about structural changes occurring during an electrochemical process, i.e. allows for the investigation of redox processes and their products. The examples of IR and Raman spectroelectrochemical analysis are presented, in which the products of the redox reactions, both in solution and solid state, are identified

Tandem rigidification and π-extension as a key tool for the development of a narrow linewidth yellow hyperfluorescent OLED system.

Hyperfluorescence (HF), a relatively new phenomenon utilizing excitons transfer between two luminophores, requires careful pairwise tuning of molecular energy levels and is proposed to be the crucial step toward the development of new, highly effective OLED systems. To date, barely a few HF yellow emitters with desired narrowband emission but moderate external quantum efficiency (EQE <20%) have been reported. This is because a systematic strategy embracing both Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) and triplet to singlet (TTS) transition as complementary mechanisms for effective excitons transfer has not yet been proposed. Herein, we present a rational approach, which allows to through subtle structural modification, a pair of compounds built from the same donor and acceptor subunits, but with varied communication between these ambipolar fragments, to be obtained. The TADF-active dopant is based on a naphthalimide scaffold linked to the nitrogen of a carbazole moiety, which through the introduction of an additional bond leads not only to π-cloud enlargement but also rigidifies and inhibits rotation of the donor. This structural change prevents TADF, and allows to guide bandgaps and excited states energies to simultaneously pursue FRET and TTS process. New OLED devices utilizing the presented emitters show excellent external quantum efficiency (up to 27%) and narrow full width at half maximum (40nm), which is a consequence of very good alignment of energy levels. The presented design principles prove that only a minor structural modification is needed to obtain commercially applicable dyes for HF OLED devices

Elastography of Endometrium in Women Taking Tamoxifen: A New Approach to an Old Diagnostic Problem

Tamoxifen is a commonly used selective estrogen receptor modulator applied in the treatment for breast cancer. However, in the endometrium, Tamoxifen stimulates tissue growth, cellular transformation, the migration of the cells, and metastatic potential in endometrial cancer. Considering that uterine cancer is the most common neoplasm of the reproductive tract and the third most common neoplastic disease in women, the aim of this study was to investigate if applying elastography in examining the endometrium was beneficial for uterine cancer screening protocols in women on selective estrogen receptor modulator therapy. This study was based on the execution of a classic assessment of the endometrium that included the evaluation of the following: echogenicity, central endometrial stripe, presence of fluid in the uterine lumen, myometrium&ndash;endometrium interface, intensity of vascularization and vascular pattern. An ultrasound presentation was then processed and analyzed with elastography. The values of the elastography parameters demonstrated good consistency for the measurement of the softest endometrial layer thickness in elastography. A strong positive correlation (R = 0.56) was demonstrated between the endometrial thickness, as determined by ultrasound examination, and the softest endometrial layer in elastography (p &lt; 0.001). The research showed that the elastography measurements of the width of the softest endometrium layer, based on a population of women taking Tamoxifen, appeared to be a promising option for endometrial cancer screening

Decellularization of Dense Regular Connective Tissue—Cellular and Molecular Modification with Applications in Regenerative Medicine

Healing of dense regular connective tissue, due to a high fiber-to-cell ratio and low metabolic activity and regeneration potential, frequently requires surgical implantation or reconstruction with high risk of reinjury. An alternative to synthetic implants is using bioscaffolds obtained through decellularization, a process where the aim is to extract cells from the tissue while preserving the tissue-specific native molecular structure of the ECM. Proteins, lipids, nucleic acids and other various extracellular molecules are largely involved in differentiation, proliferation, vascularization and collagen fibers deposit, making them the crucial processes in tissue regeneration. Because of the multiple possible forms of cell extraction, there is no standardized protocol in dense regular connective tissue (DRCT). Many modifications of the structure, shape and composition of the bioscaffold have also been described to improve the therapeutic result following the implantation of decellularized connective tissue. The available data provide a valuable source of crucial information. However, the wide spectrum of decellularization makes it important to understand the key aspects of bioscaffolds relative to their potential use in tissue regeneration

Electrochemically induced synthesis of poly(2,6-carbazole)

The formation of a poly(2,6-carbazole) derivative during an electrochemical polymerization process is shown. Comparison of 3,5-bis(9-octyl-9H-carbazol-2-yl)pyridine and 3,5-bis(9-octyl-9H-carbazol-3-yl)pyridine by electrochemical and UV-Vis-NIR spectroelectrochemical measurements and DFT (density functional theory) calculation prove the formation of a poly(2,6-carbazole) derivative. Both of the compounds form stable and electroactive conjugated polymers