Seasonal variation of the elemental composition of particulate matter collected in a small town near Warszawa, Poland

Four seasonal sampling campaigns successively in April, July, September 2008 and February 2009 took place at Świder, a town located to the south-east of Warszawa, Poland. Three particle size fractions of particulate matter were collected by a NILU (The Norwegian Institute for Air Protection, Norway) sampler. The following elements were determined by the energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) method: K, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Br and Pb. The highest mean mass concentrations in fine and medium fractions were observed in April 2008 and February 2009. For a coarse fraction, the highest values of mass concentrations were observed in April and September 2008. Ca, Mn and Fe existed mainly in the coarse fraction. These elements probably came from the southern direction. Zn was divided between three fractions equally. In February 2009 the highest Zn concentrations were observed in the medium fraction. Pb existed mainly in the fine and medium fractions. The highest values of Pb concentrations were observed in February 2009. Bromium existed in the fine fraction. Correlations were observed between Ca, Mn and Fe concentrations. Correlation factors were about 0.8 for the coarse fraction. For other analyzed elements, the correlation coefficients were small. Basing on the backward trajectories and elemental concentrations of particulate matter (PM), it was confirmed that in winter the main influence on air quality is caused by pollution coming from coal combustion in local houses, heat and power plants working in urban areas. In summer the main influence on air quality is caused by pollution from sources in rural cultivable areas. The improvement of air quality is possible by decreasing the emission, using coal with a small level of harmful compounds and whole elimination of plant preventive agents and using fertilizers with a small content of unwanted elements

Performance Indicators and Standards for Polish Research Libraries

Performance Indicators and Standards for Polish Research Libraries Abstract: The article discusses proposed standards for Polish research libraries evaluation. At the beginning, the authors present the situation of research libraries in Poland. They write about the effects of the social-political transformation in the 90s, present selected statistical data, and describe the progress in computerisation. The following part of the article relates to the currently applied in Poland standards of library evaluation. Discussed are e.g. the presently applied tools for data collection and analysis. The last part includes proposed methods for the preparation of standards and assessments for Polish research libraries

First step toward the "fingerprinting" of brain tumors based on synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence and multiple discriminant analysis

Synchrotron-radiation-based X-ray fluorescence was applied to the elemental microimaging of neoplastic tissues in cases of various types of brain tumors. The following cases were studied: glioblastoma multiforme, gemistocytic astrocytoma, oligodendroglioma, anaplastic oligodendroglioma, ganglioglioma, fibrillary astrocytoma, and atypical transitional meningioma. Apart from neoplastic tissue, the analysis included areas of tissue apparently without malignant infiltration. The masses per unit area of P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn, Br, and Rb were used to construct a diagnostic classifier for brain tumors using multiple discriminant analysis. It was found that S, Cl, Cu, Fe, K, Br, and Zn are the most significant elements in the general discrimination of tumor type. The highest similarity in elemental composition was between atypical transitional meningioma and fibrillary astrocytoma. The smallest differentiation was between glioblastoma multiforme and oligodendroglioma. The mean percentage of correct classifications, estimated according to the a posteriori probabilities procedure, was 99.9%, whereas the mean prediction ability of 87.6% was achieved for ten new cases excluded previously from the model construction. The results showed that multiple discriminant analysis based on elemental composition of tissue may be a potentially valuable method assisting differentiation and/or classification of brain tumors