Study of a plate modelling a dock gate

Computer aided finite element analysis has been applied to evaluate the structural behavior of a solid plate representing statically certain box-type construction of a dry dock gate. Possible comparison of particular results following from different procedures, valid for constant plate stiffness and rigid supports, has been performed and the distribution of reactions for variable plate stiffness, within two different numerical accuracies, has been studied. For practical requirements the nonlinear elastic flexibility of dock gate packing has been taken into account and an adequate numerical step-by-step approach, satisfying the considered material characteristics, developed. For last case the deflections, reactions, and internal forces have been examined in detail and a comparison with those for rigid supports presented.     

A study of the electrical conductivity processes in amorphous semiconductors using the computer simulation method III. Three-dimensional case

A numerical model for the hopping conductivity in 3-D disordered systems is presented. The relation between variable-range hopping conductivity and temperature for the low-temperature range is found. The advantage of the proposed model is that the size of the system investigated is not limited by the computer memory.     

Ground- and excited-state tautomerism in porphycenes

Owing to short distances between the inner nitrogen atoms and, therefore, strong intramolecular hydrogen bonds, porphycenes display completely different tautomeric properties than porphyrins, their constitutional isomers. Tunneling splitting caused by delocalization of two inner hydrogen atoms is observed for porphycenes isolated in supersonic jets. The barrier to tautomerization is higher in the lowest excited singlet state than in the ground state. Still, rapid exchange of inner hydrogen atoms is detected in S1. The mechanism of tautomerization involves synchronous double hydrogen tunneling, activated by excitation of a low-frequency mode, which modulates the NH...N separation. This separation can also be strongly altered by peripheral substitution. In porphycenes with alkyl substituents on the ethylene bridges, the NH...N distances become extremely small. For these derivatives, both trans and cis tautomeric forms are detected. Tautomerism in porphycenes was also monitored on a single-molecule level.     

An experimental analysis of effects of various material tool’s wear on burr during generator sheets blanking

Blanking is one of the most frequently used processes in sheet metal forming. Unlike other forming processes, such as stamping, blanking not only deforms the metal plastically to give the appropriate size and shape, but also ruptures the sheet metal in the desired zones. Among the others, blanking enables manufacturing of electric motor components, such as rotor or stator parts. The parts of the low power commutator motor of rotor and stator are made of generator sheets, which are really difficult to do from the machining point of view. The shock loads and high reaction of the sheet metal of separation surface to the punch surface are presented during the blanking process. In this paper, an investigation has been made to study the effects of punch–die clearance, tool materials, and tool coatings on the wear of blanking tools. In the paper, the feasibility analysis for various materials used for production of the tools for punching the generator sheets is presented.     

Controversies about the occurrence of chloral hydrate in drinking water

Besides trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs), chloral hydrate (CH) is the next most prevalent disinfection by-product (DBP) in drinking water, formed as a result of the reaction between chlorine and natural organic matter (NOM). Chloral hydrate (trichloroacetaldehyde) should be limited in drinking water because of its adverse health effect. The controversies concerning the appearance of CH in disinfected water found in literature are discussed in the present paper. According to some authors the CH yield during chlorination of water depends only on TOC. However, there are other data available that do not confirm this relationship. Another fact requiring clarification is the dependence of CH formation on pH. In the present study, CH formation is analysed in different types of water disinfected with different doses of chlorine. Formation of CH is correlated with the dose of Cl₂ and the contact time. The formation of chloral hydrate takes place as long as chlorine is available in the water. Total organic carbon (TOC) is not considered the main factor influencing the production of chloral hydrate in water treated with Cl₂ as the production depends also on the nature of NOM. Higher levels of CH are observed at alkaline conditions (pH > 7). A significant correlation (R² > 0.9) between the concentrations of chloral hydrate and chloroform has been observed. The preozonation increases significantly the chloral hydrate formation potential in the water treated. Biofiltration process does not remove all of CH precursors and its efficiency depends strongly on the contact time. Chloral hydrate was analyzed by gas chromatography with electron capture detector with the detection limit 0.1 μg L⁻¹.     

Effect of water activity on the inactivation kinetics of Escherichia coli O157:H7 by electron beam in ground beef, chicken breast meat, and trout fillets

Water activity (a_w) of ground beef, chicken breast meat, and trout fillets was modified to intermediate (a_w 0.98–0.99) and lowest (a_w 0.94–0.96) levels. The meat samples with modified and unaltered (native, a_w 1.00) a_w were inoculated with Escherichia coli O157:H7 and subjected to electron beam (e‐beam). Survivor curves were plotted and the D₁₀‐values were calculated. The D₁₀‐values ranged from 0.22 kGy for trout at native a_w to 0.33 kGy for beef at intermediate, and chicken and trout at lowest a_w. Regardless of the species, a_w reduction increased E. coli resistance to e‐beam, suggesting that even small depletion of unbound water from food increases survival. The difference of the D₁₀‐values between the samples at intermediate and lowest a_w was insignificant. E‐beam could be used before a_w‐reducing techniques are applied to food products. However, this would require stringent microbial control following e‐beam processing. The ‘tailing’ of survivors was observed for some samples with reduced a_w.     

The thermostability, bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of some vegetables subjected to different durations of boiling: Investigation in vitro

This research was performed in order to compare the water and acetone extracts of raw and boiled for 10, 20, 40 and 60 min Korean lotus roots (KLR) and Polish white onion (PWO) in the contents of their bioactive compounds, antioxidant activity and thermostability.It was found that polyphenols (mg GAE/g), flavanols (μg GAE/g), flavonoids (mg CE/g), anthocyanins (mg CGE/kg) and tannins (mg CE/g) in water extract of raw lotus roots were 14.18 ± 0.7, 8.41 ± 0.5, 1.09 ± 0.06, 21.3 ± 1.2 and 7.29 ± 0.4, and of white onion - 11.11 ± 0.6, 6.78 ± 0.3, 0.71 ± 0.03, 17.00 ± 0.9 and 1.64 ± 0.08, respectively, and significantly higher in KLR (P < 0.05). The antioxidant activity of raw KLR water extract (139.4 ± 6.1, 53.1 ± 3.6 and 89.3 ± 4.6 μmol TE/g for DPPH, CUPRAC and ABTS, respectively) was significantly higher than in white onion (23.84 ± 1.8, 31.9 ± 2.1 and 38.14 ± 2.6 for DPPH, CUPRAC and ABTS, respectively, P < 0.05).The thermostability of the water KLR extract’s of polyphenols, flavanols, flavonoids, anthocyanins and tannins was high and even after 60 min of boiling remains as 40.0, 42.3, 50.5, 41.4 and 41.0%, respectively. After 60 min of boiling the most thermostable compounds were flavonoids - remaining at 50.5% in water extract of KLR. Also after 60 min of boiling the thermostability of the antioxidant activity of water extracts of KLR remained significantly high: 40.6, 42.3, 46.3 and 43.6%, according to DPPH, FRAP, ABTS and CUPRAC assays, respectively.Similar relationship was obtained with acetone extracts, but the value was lower than with the water ones. In conclusion, the contents of some bioactive compounds, the antioxidant activity and the thermostability in water and acetone extracts of KLR are significantly higher than the same indices in PWO. FTIR and fluorimetry can be used as additional markers for the characterization of bioactive compounds in vegetables.     

Acute Kidney Injury in COVID-19

COVID-19 is mainly considered a respiratory illness, but since SARS-CoV-2 uses the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 receptor (ACE2) to enter human cells, the kidney is also a target of the viral infection. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is the most alarming condition in COVID-19 patients. Recent studies have confirmed the direct entry of SARS-CoV-2 into the renal cells, namely podocytes and proximal tubular cells, but this is not the only pathomechanism of kidney damage. Hypovolemia, cytokine storm and collapsing glomerulopathy also play an important role. An increasing number of papers suggest a strong association between AKI development and higher mortality in COVID-19 patients, hence our interest in the matter. Although knowledge about the role of kidneys in SARS-CoV-2 infection is changing dynamically and is yet to be fully investigated, we present an insight into the possible pathomechanisms of AKI in COVID-19, its clinical features, risk factors, impact on hospitalization and possible ways for its management via renal replacement therapy.