Methodology for assessment of occupational and safety level at construction sites

This paper presents the process of the development of methodologies for assessing the state of safety on construction sites. An analysis was conducted to calculate the number and causes of accidents in the construction sector over the last few years, and the main groups of factors affecting the state of occupation safety have also been defined

Gene Expression Analysis in Ovarian Cancer – Faults and Hints from DNA Microarray Study

The introduction of microarray techniques to cancer research brought great expectations for finding biomarkers that would improve patients’ treatment; however, the results of such studies are poorly reproducible and critical analyses of these methods are rare. In this study, we examined global gene expression in 97 ovarian cancer samples. Also, validation of results by quantitative RT-PCR was performed on 30 additional ovarian cancer samples. We carried out a number of systematic analyses in relation to several defined clinicopathological features. The main goal of our study was to delineate the molecular background of ovarian cancer chemoresistance and find biomarkers suitable for prediction of patients’ prognosis. We found that histological tumor type was the major source of variability in genes expression, except for serous and undifferentiated tumors that showed nearly identical profiles. Analysis of clinical endpoints [tumor response to chemotherapy, overall survival, disease-free survival (DFS)] brought results that were not confirmed by validation either on the same group or on the independent group of patients. CLASP1 was the only gene that was found to be important for DFS in the independent group, whereas in the preceding experiments it showed associations with other clinical endpoints and with BRCA1 gene mutation; thus, it may be worthy of further testing. Our results confirm that histological tumor type may be a strong confounding factor and we conclude that gene expression studies of ovarian carcinomas should be performed on histologically homogeneous groups. Among the reasons of poor reproducibility of statistical results may be the fact that despite relatively large patients’ group, in some analyses one has to compare small and unequal classes of samples. In addition, arbitrarily performed division of samples into classes compared may not always reflect their true biological diversity. And finally, we think that clinical endpoints of the tumor probably depend on subtle changes in many and, possibly, alternative molecular pathways, and such changes may be difficult to demonstrate

Composite Materials Infiltrated by Aluminium Alloys Based on Porous Skeletons from Alumina, Mullite and Titanium Produced by Powder Metallurgy Techniques

The infiltration technology with reinforcement in the form of porous skeletons fabricated with powder metallurgy methods has been presented in relation to the general characteristics of metal alloy matrix composite materials. The results of our own investigations are presented pertaining to four alternative technologies of fabrication of porous, sintered skeletons, and their structure and their key technological properties are presented. Porous skeletons made of Al2O3 aluminium are sintered reactively using blowing agents or are manufactured by ceramic injection moulding (CIM) from powder. Porous skeletons made of 3Al2O3⋅2SiO2 mullite are achieved by sintering a mixture of halloysite nanotubes together with agents forming an open structure of pores. Titanium porous skeletons are achieved by selective laser sintering (SLS). The structure and properties of composite materials with an aluminium alloy matrix—mainly EN AC-AlSi12 and also EN AC-AlSi7Mg0.3 alloys—reinforced with the so manufactured skeletons are also described. A unique structure of the achieved composite materials, together with good mechanical properties and abrasive wear resistance at low density, ensured by an aluminium alloy matrix, are indicating broad application possibilities of such composites

Simple and efficient expression of Agaricus meleagris pyranose dehydrogenase in Pichia pastoris

Pyranose dehydrogenase (PDH) is a fungal flavin-dependent sugar oxidoreductase that is highly interesting for applications in organic synthesis or electrochemistry. The low expression levels of the filamentous fungus Agaricus meleagris as well as the demand for engineered PDH make heterologous expression necessary. Recently, Aspergillus species were described to efficiently secrete recombinant PDH. Here, we evaluate recombinant protein production with expression hosts more suitable for genetic engineering. Expression in Escherichia coli resulted in no soluble or active PDH. Heterologous expression in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris was investigated using two different signal sequences as well as a codon-optimized sequence. A 96-well plate activity screening for transformants of all constructs was established and the best expressing clone was used for large-scale production in 50-L scale, which gave a volumetric yield of 223 mg L−1 PDH or 1,330 U L−1 d−1 in space–time yield. Purification yielded 13.4 g of pure enzyme representing 95.8% of the initial activity. The hyperglycosylated recombinant enzyme had a 20% lower specific activity than the native enzyme; however, the kinetic properties were essentially identical. This study demonstrates the successful expression of PDH in the eukaryotic host organism P. pastoris paving the way for protein engineering. Additionally, the feasibility of large-scale production of the enzyme with this expression system together with a simplified purification scheme for easy high-yield purification is shown

CONSTRUCTION WASTE MANAGEMENT – TECHNOLOGIES APPLIED

The aim of this paper is to presents the waste management processes, which are implemented on Polish territory, with particular emphasis on solutions applied in large agglomerations. According to many sources (both Waste Management Plan as well as the Statistical Yearbook) the amount of generated waste continues to increase, in the construction industry, as well as other branches, while the development of new waste- recycling technologies is not able to meet the current needs. This paper covers waste management solutions, which are used by smaller, specialized institutions collecting and processing waste, or by municipal Waste Processing Facilities. Criteria for comparing waste treatment methods are: the scale of their use, versatility, as well as profitability for manufacturers and processing enterprises (the recipients) dealing with waste coming from building demolitions or renovations. Known information about recycling does not always coincide with the actual actions taken to protect our environment, because awareness is not enough, appropriate action is needed. Waste treatment processes presented in this paper are just a small fraction of the technologies used in Europe or worldwide. Many of the methods of waste treatment will not be introduced in Poland because of high (capital expenditures?) expenses associated with their processing technology. In such case low level of costs generated by storing waste in disposal landfills remains unrivaled, posing potential threat to the environment

CONSTRUCTION WASTE MANAGEMENT – TECHNOLOGIES APPLIED

The aim of this paper is to presents the waste management processes, which are implemented on Polish territory, with particular emphasis on solutions applied in large agglomerations. According to many sources (both Waste Management Plan as well as the Statistical Yearbook) the amount of generated waste continues to increase, in the construction industry, as well as other branches, while the development of new waste- recycling technologies is not able to meet the current needs. This paper covers waste management solutions, which are used by smaller, specialized institutions collecting and processing waste, or by municipal Waste Processing Facilities. Criteria for comparing waste treatment methods are: the scale of their use, versatility, as well as profitability for manufacturers and processing enterprises (the recipients) dealing with waste coming from building demolitions or renovations. Known information about recycling does not always coincide with the actual actions taken to protect our environment, because awareness is not enough, appropriate action is needed. Waste treatment processes presented in this paper are just a small fraction of the technologies used in Europe or worldwide. Many of the methods of waste treatment will not be introduced in Poland because of high (capital expenditures?) expenses associated with their processing technology. In such case low level of costs generated by storing waste in disposal landfills remains unrivaled, posing potential threat to the environment

Planktic foraminifera and stable isotope record of sediment core OCE2017-GR02-GC

The dataset consists of the total abundance of planktic foraminifera, the relative abundances of planktic foraminiferal species, and planktic and benthic oxygen and carbon stable isotope ratios of the uppermost 18.5 cm of gravity core OCE2017-GR02-GC. The core was retrieved from a plateau on the northeastern Greenland continental slope (77º05'11 N, 5º19'53 W, 1200 m water depth) during an expedition of R/V Oceania in August 2017. Here we present the record from the uppermost 18.5 cm of the total 135 cm of core length. The core was sampled at 0.5 cm intervals in the uppermost 10.5 cm and at 2 cm intervals in the remaining part. Samples were freeze-dried, weighed, wet-sieved through a 63 μm sieve, and subsequently split into size fractions using 100 and 500 μm sieves. Counts of planktic foraminiferal assemblages were conducted on representative splits (>300 specimens) of the 100–500 μm size fraction. Individual species were identified and counted. The number of planktic foraminifera per 1 g dry sediment as well as the percentage of individual species was calculated. Stable oxygen and carbon isotope analyses were conducted on planktic species Neogloboquadrina pachyderma and benthic species Cassidulina neoteretis. Approximately 25 pristine specimens of planktics and 10 specimens of benthics were picked from the 100–500 μm size fraction. All stable isotope analyses were performed at the Light Stable Isotope Mass Spec Laboratory, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Florida, USA using a Kiel III carbonate preparation device coupled with a Finnigan-Mat 252 isotope ratio mass spectrometer. Each batch of samples was measured with 8 NBS-19 and 2 NBS-18 standards. Standard masses were 30-50 µg. Samples and standards were loaded in individual glass Kiel vials (round bottom with socket tops) and placed in a carousel which was inserted in the Kiel oven. Phosphoric acid with a specific gravity of 1.92 (at 25°C) was used. The reaction temperature was 70°C and the reaction time was 10 minutes. Results are expressed in the δ notation referring to the PDB standard and are given as δ18O and δ13C with an analytical accuracy of 0.04 and 0.02 ‰, respectively. The stable isotope data were not corrected for vital effect nor global ice volume. The data were acquired in 2020

Development and Characterization of Polyamide-Supported Chitosan Nanocomposite Membranes for Hydrophilic Pervaporation

An experimental protocol of preparation of homogeneous and nanocomposite chitosan (Ch) based membranes supported on polyamide-6 (PA6) films was developed and described in detail. Montmorillonite (MMT) and Cloisite 30B (C30B) nanoclays were used as nanofillers to improve mechanical properties of chitosan films. The surface, mechanical, and transport properties of PA6 supported Ch, Ch/MMT and Ch/C30B membranes were studied and compared with a pristine, non-supported chitosan membrane. Implementation of advanced analytical techniques e.g., SEM reveal the clays nanoparticles are well dispersed in the chitosan matrix. According to AFM images, composite chitosan/nanoclay membranes possess higher roughness compared with unfilled ones. On the other hand, an incorporation of clay particles insignificantly changed the mechanical and thermal properties of the membranes. It was also found that all membranes are hydrophilic and water is preferentially removed from EtOH/H2O and iPrOH/H2O mixtures by pervaporation. Supporting of chitosan and chitosan/nanoclay thin films onto PA6 porous substrate enhanced permeate flux and pervaporation separation index, in comparison to the pristine Ch membrane. Concerning separation factor (β), the highest value equal to 4500 has been found for a chitosan composite membrane containing Cloisite 30B contacting 85/15 wt % iPrOH/H2O mixture. The mentioned membrane was characterized by the normalized flux of 0.5 μm·kg·m−2·h−1. Based on the established data, it was possible to conclude that chitosan membranes are meaningful material in dehydration of azeotropic mixtures. Nevertheless, to boost up the membrane efficiency, the further modification process is required

Impact of shelf-transformed waters (STW) on foraminiferal assemblages in the outwash and glacial fjords of Adventfjorden and Hornsund, Svalbard

A new dataset of benthic foraminiferal assemblages from Adventfjorden (tributary fjord of Isfjorden, West Spitsbergen) was compared with the results of a study conducted by Zajączkowski et al. (2010) in Hornsund (West Spitsbergen). According to Nilsen et al. (2016), Atlantic water inflow to the Isfjorden Trough occurs more readily than to anywhere else along the shelf of Spitsbergen; thus, we compared the foraminiferal assemblages of the outwash Adventfjorden fjord, located in the Isfjorden system, with glacial Hornsund, located in southwest Spitsbergen. Despite the juxtaposition of Adventfjorden and Hornsund the data revealed varying impacts of shelf-transformed water (STW) on the benthic foraminiferal assemblages. Outer and central Adventfjorden was dominated by Adercotryma glomerata, Recurvoides turbinata and Spiroplectammina sp., reflecting the presence of STW, while abundant Melonis barleeanus in the central area of the fjord indicated a large flux of unaltered organic matter. Only the head of the fjord was dominated by the glaciomarine taxa Cassidulina reniforme and Elphidium clavatum. Foraminiferal fauna characteristic of STW-influenced environments (i.e., Nonionellina labradorica and R. turbinata) were also observed in outer Hornsund. However, the glacier-proximal taxa E. clavatum and C. reniforme were dominant throughout the fjord, demonstrating the impacts of meltwater and high sedimentation. Therefore, it is likely that in Hornsund, glacial impact is a major environmental factor, which is stronger than the influence of STW