The electronic structure of TEMPO, its cation and anion

The electronic structure of TEMPO (2,2,6,6-Tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxyl) and its cation and anion were studied experimentally using the electron spectroscopy techniques, dissociative electron attachment (DEA) spectroscopy, electron energy-loss spectroscopy, measurement of elastic and vibrational excitation (VE) cross sections and HeI photoelectron spectroscopy. The experiments were supplemented by quantum-chemical calculations of excitation energies, ionisation potential and the Franck–Condon profile of the first photoelectron band. Electron energy-loss spectra were recorded up to 12 eV and revealed a number of bands that were assigned to two valence and a number of Rydberg transitions. VE cross sections reveal a broad band in the 3–12 eV range, assigned to σ* shape resonances and signals in the 0–1 eV range, assigned to a shape resonance corresponding to a temporary capture of the incident electron in the (already singly occupied) π* orbital. Narrow threshold peaks in the VE cross sections are assigned to dipole-bound resonances. The major DEA fragment was found to be O−, with bands at 5.0 and 6.87 eV, assigned to core excited resonances

Ocena wpływu warunków klimatycznych na bilans energetyczny górotworu na poligonach badawczych Wyższej Szkoły Górniczej w Ostrawie

VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava (VŠB-TU Ostrava) has unique conditions for analysing temperature changes in the rock mass while borehole heat exchangers have been operational for a long time. The Auditory building is heated with a system of heat pumps (borehole heat exchangers). It is one of the largest such objects in the Czech Republic. The heat of the rock mass is provided by a system of technological boreholes. The research boreholes are used for monitoring temperature changes in the rock mass while using the Auditory’s heating system. The system for monitoring boreholes within the area of technological borehole activity is called Large Research Polygon (LRP). Apart from LRP, the university also possesses another research polygon – Small Research Polygon (SRP) located at a distance from the LRP near the Energy Research Centre (ERC). All boreholes performed within both research fields are equipped with sensors monitoring the temperature changes while the Auditory building is being heated (thermal energy is recovered from the rock mass in winter) or cooled (thermal energy is transmitted to the rock mass in summer). The main objective of the research carried out in both research fields is checking the functionality and efficiency of the entire system. Certain aspects of thermal energy recuperation from the rock mass are described. The paper is closed with the results of monitoring and calculation of temperature in the surface layers to about 20 m of depth.Wyższa Szkoła Górnicza w Ostrawie ma niepowtarzalną możliwość badania zmian temperatury w górotworze podczas eksploatacji pomp ciepła. Budynek audytorium jest ogrzewany właśnie za pomocą systemu pomp ciepła. Obiekt ten jest największym w Republice Czeskiej z punktu widzenia liczby otworów (110) i mocy pomp ciepla (700 kW). Na obszarze zestawu otworów głębinowych w okolicy audytorium znajdują się otwory monitoringowe wyposażone w czujniki temperatury, które umożliwiają zapis zmiany temperatury górotworu podczas działania systemu pomp ciepła w otworach wiertniczych. Instalacja ta jest nazywana Wielkim Poligonem Badawczym, a jej głównym celem jest badanie zmian stanu cieplnego górotworu podczas eksploatacji tak dużego systemu. Druga instalacja jest nazywana Małym Poligonem Badawczym, który jest umieszczony w pobliżu audytorium. Składa się z dwóch pomp ciepła oraz pięciu otworów monitoringowych umieszczonych w okolicy otworów wykonanych pod pompy ciepła. Wszystkie otwory zostały wyposażone w czujniki temperatury (analogicznie jak na poligonie Wielkim). Mały poligon jest wykorzystywany do monitorowania zmian temperatury w górotworze podczas ogrzewania (magazynowania nadmiaru ciepła z klimatyzacji podczas lata) oraz chłodzenia (odbioru ciepła z górotworu za pomocą pompy ciepła w zimie). Głównym celem badań jest weryfikacja parametrów pracy tego systemu. Autorzy niniejszego artykułu posiadają bogate doświadczenia w budowie i eksploatacji poligonów badawczych eksploatowanych na VŠB. W artykule zaprezentowano możliwości działania obu poligonów badawczych oraz zachowanie górotworu na głębokości 20 m w otworze monitoringowym, na który oddziaływały zewnętrzne warunki klimatyczne

Drivers of functional and taxonomical diversity within fragmented grasslands

Seminatural grasslands are biodiversity hotspots in the increasingly fragmented Central European landscape. In consequence vegetation scientists and conservationists are looking for factors maintaining such diversity under the threat of land-use changes. In our study, we surveyed around 1200 grassland patches within a  region of 400 km2 in the Železné hory Mts. (Czech Republic). According to field measures and remote sensing information these patches varied in terms of productivity, wetness, disturbance, size and connectivity and different historical trajectories. We evaluated the effects of these factors on both taxonomical and functional biodiversity, and community functional properties. As expected, taxonomic diversity was positively correlated with grassland area and connectivity and was also higher on traditionally managed meadows. This effect of management is nevertheless meadow type specific and is much more pronounced on wet compare to dry meadows. Functional diversity, such as taxonomical, is positively affected by meadow size, but on the contrary, is higher on dry meadows. Mown meadows host less clonal, smaller, earlier flowering species with lighter seeds, however there are considerable differences among habitat types. In addition, the decrease in meadow size has more negative effect on species richness in unmanaged meadows in contrast to managed ones. This indicates the high importance of traditional management for maintaining species diversity of smaller grassland patches which often represent important landscape elements maintaining connectivity but are mostly omitted in conservation planning

Spatiotemporal variation in the role of floral traits in shaping tropical plant-pollinator interactions.

The pollination syndrome hypothesis predicts that plants pollinated by the same pollinator group bear convergent combinations of specific floral functional traits. Nevertheless, some studies have shown that these combinations predict pollinators with relatively low accuracy. This discrepancy may be caused by changes in the importance of specific floral traits for different pollinator groups and under different environmental conditions. To explore this, we studied pollination systems and floral traits along an elevational gradient on Mount Cameroon during wet and dry seasons. Using Random Forest (Machine Learning) models, allowing the ranking of traits by their relative importance, we demonstrated that some floral traits are more important than others for pollinators. However, the distribution and importance of traits vary under different environmental conditions. Our results imply the need to improve our trait-based understanding of plant-pollinator interactions to better inform the debate surrounding the pollination syndrome hypothesis

Dispersion of light and heavy pollutants in urban scale models: CO2 laser photoacoustic studies

The distribution of pollutants in two urban scale models (point emission source and street canyon with extensive transport) was investigated by means of CO2 laser photoacoustic spectroscopy in the region of the atmospheric window (9–10 μm). The experimental results of physical modeling are in a good agreement with the numerical calculations performed in the frame of computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling. Methanol, ethanol, and ozone (examples of light pollutants), as well as sulfur hexafluoride and 1,2 dichlorethane (examples of heavy pollutants), were selected on the basis of their high resolution spectra acquired by Fourier transform and laser diode spectroscopy