Evaluation of existing condition of the social infrastructure based on the questionnaire survey conducted in schools

W artykule przedstawiono stan infrastruktury społecznej ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem szkolnictwa. Badaniami objęto wybrane sołectwa w gminach znajdujących się w województwach: małopolskim, łódzkim oraz podkarpackim. Poziom wyposażenia infrastrukturalnego w tych rejonach określono na podstawie danych zebranych w ankietach, skierowanych do uczniów szkół podstawowych klas 4–6. Badania przeprowadzono wśród uczniów szkół w miejscowościach Przyłęk i Jaźwiny – teren wiejski, Więcławice Stare obszar podmiejski i miasto Kraków. Ankieta zawierała pytania zamkniętych i otwarte. Kwestionariusz dotyczył dwóch zagadnień, pierwsza jego część dotyczyła infrastruktury komunikacyjnej druga, zaś zaplecza technicznego do prowadzenia zajęć poza lekcyjnych. W pytaniach otwartych uczniowie mieli możliwość zaproponowania własnych rozwiązań problemu i sugestii. Przeprowadzona analiza infrastruktury może przyczynić się do wszczęcia procedur przez gminy, ubiegania się o dofinansowania inwestycji w dziale edukacji jak również korzystania z funduszy pomocowych UE. Obraz jakości potencjału infrastrukturalnego daje podstawę do podejmowania strategicznych decyzji przez jednostki zarządzające. Rola i znaczenie programowania rozwoju regionalnego oraz wszelkich związanych z nim procedur planistycznych systematycznie wzrasta. Wprowadzony od stycznia 1999 roku nowy podział administracyjny kraju wymaga nowej inwentaryzacji lokalnych zasobów, w tym infrastruktury. Powstaje również konieczność dostosowania polskiego modelu sterowania rozwojem regionalnym do warunków wymaganych w Unii Europejskiej [Gruszczyński 1999a], [Gruszczynski, Kwapisz 2000a].The paper presents condition of the social infrastructure allowing of education. The researches were carried in chosen rural administrative units in the following Provinces: Malopolska, Lodz, and Podkarpackie. The level of infrastructural equipment in these regions was fixed on the open-ended questionnaire. It was directed to the pupils of primary schools. The researches were carried in Przylek and Jazwiny (rural area), Wieclawice Stare (suburban zone) and city of Krakow. The survey form has open-ended and closed-ended questions. There were two important problems. The first concerns the social infrastructure, the second a technical backup for the additional classes/lessons. The pupils could propose their own ideas and suggestions in the open-ended questions. Such infrastructural analysis is a good basis to apply for co-financing of the leaded educational investments from commune’s resources or EU funds. Recognition of the quality of infrastructural equipment is fundamental for strategic decision making in managing bodies. The role and significant of regional development and planning procedures are systematically rising. From the 1999 there is a new territorial division in Poland. It requires a new, actual stocktaking of local resources, in particular- infrastructure. There is also a need to adapt a Polish model of regional development steering to the conditions required in the European Union [Gruszczyński 1999a], [Gruszczynski, Kwapisz 2000a]

Single-step synthesis of a polyelectrolyte complex hollow-fiber membrane for forward osmosis

We present the simultaneous synthesis of a hollow fiber membrane with a selective layer created by means of polyelectrolyte complexation (PEC), to be used as a membrane in forward osmosis. The aim of this single-step approach was to create a defect-free robust selective layer and circumvent the challenges associated with coating via interfacial polymerization. The nascent hollow fiber membrane with a PEC layer was characterized by SEM imaging as well by determining the streaming potential and pure water permeance. We also evaluated several electrolytes as potential draw solutes in combination with the developed membrane and selected trisodium citrate (TSC) as it showed a very high rejection of 97 ± 2%. Using 1 M TSC as draw solution showed promising osmotic performance in selective layer facing feed solution (FO) mode, having a water flux of 7.8 ± 0.2 (L·m−2⋅h−1) and a reverse salt flux of 2.1 ± 0.7 (g·m−2⋅h−1). A significantly higher reverse salt flux of was gained in PRO mode which was attributed to the high ionic strength of the charged draw solute near the PEC layer. It is highlighted that the choice of draw solute as well as process orientation (FO or PRO mode) are crucial for charged selective layers such as our PEC selective layer. We conclude that our approach shows substantial promise for use in FO processes using TSC as the draw solution. In addition, the taken approach successfully eliminates the time-consuming and challenging extra step of coating hollow fibers through interfacial polymerization, opening up opportunities for the cost-effective synthesis of FO hollow-fiber membranes

Increasing the success rate of interfacial polymerization on hollow fibers by the single-step addition of an intermediate layer

In this paper, we introduce a single-step process that incorporates an intermediate layer on a hollow fiber to enhance the final membrane performance after interfacial polymerization (IP). This intermediate layer is applied during hollow-fiber spinning by complexation of two oppositely charged polyelectrolytes. Specifically, in this study, we consider the IP coating process an experimental success for a membrane sample with a NaCl rejection >85%. The IP success rate is defined as the percentage of the samples with a NaCl rejection of >85% within a studied group. The purpose of the intermediate layer is to increase the success rate of IP on the inner surface of the hollow fibers, typically a challenging task due to the cylindrical shape of the fibers. After the application of IP, the pure water permeance and NaCl rejection of the nascent membranes were tested to determine the success rate of IP. The IP success rate was 86–100% for the hollow fibers (HF) with intermediate layer, significantly higher than the 29% success rate achieved for IP on the support without intermediate layer. This surface modification approach is simple, time-efficient, and effective without any need for post-IP optimization that opens up new avenues for further developments for IP based dense hollow fiber membranes

Incorporation of an Intermediate Polyelectrolyte Layer for Improved Interfacial Polymerization on PAI Hollow Fiber Membranes

In a single-step spinning process, we create a thin-walled, robust hollow fiber support made of Torlon® polyamide-imide featuring an intermediate polyethyleneimine (PEI) lumen layer to facilitate the integration and covalent attachment of a dense selective layer. Subsequently, interfacial polymerization of m-phenylenediamine and trimesoyl chloride forms a dense selective polyamide (PA) layer on the inside of the hollow fiber. The resulting thin-film composite hollow fiber membranes show high NaCl rejections of around 96% with a pure water permeability of 1.2 LMH/bar. The high success rate of fabricating the thin-film composite hollow fiber membrane proves our hypothesis of a supporting effect of the intermediate PEI layer on separation layer formation. This work marks a step towards the development of a robust method for the large-scale manufacturing of thin-film composite hollow fiber membranes for reverse osmosis and nanofiltration