The annual rate of decomposition in five soil types of tundra situated in the Fugleberget drainage area (Hornsund Fjord, South Spitsbergen) was investigated by use of the method of standard cellulose samples. The rate of decomposition varied from 15% to over 65% a year and was closely connected with a contents of nitrogen in soil, amount of which varied from 0.33% to 3.44%. The results presently obtained are much higher than those obtained by the same method in other polar regions.

The paper presents modification of the method dedicated to a complex area decomposition of a set of logic functions whereas the

altered method is dedicated to implement the considered logic circuits within FPGA structures. The authors attempted to reach solutions where the number of configurable logic blocks and the number of structural layer would be reasonably balanced on the basis of the minimization principle. The main advantage of the procedure when the decomposition is carried out directly on the BDD diagram is the opportunity of immediate checking whether the decomposed areas of the diagram do not exceed the resources of logic blocks incorporated into the integrated circuits that are used for implementation of the logic functions involved.

The main goal of the considered work is to adjust mathematical modeling for mass transfer, to specific conditions resulting from presence of chemical surface reactions in the flow of the mixture consisting of helium and methanol. The thermocatalytic devices used for decomposition of organic compounds incorporate microchannels coupled at the ends and heated to 500 ◦C at the walls regions. The experiment data were compared with computational fluid dynamics results to calibrate the constants of the model’s user defined functions. These extensions allow to transform the calculations mechanisms and algorithms of commercial codes adapting them for the microflows cases and increased chemical reactions rate on the interphase between fluid and solid, specific for catalytic reactions. Results obtained on the way of numerical calculations have been calibrated and compared with the experimental data to receive satisfactory compliance. The model has been verified and the performance of the thermocatalytic reactor with microchannels under hydrogen production regime has been investigated.

The occurrence of 18 species of algae was stated in the investigated region. Among them the following were predominant: Himantothallus grandifolius, Desmarestia menziesii, Cystosphaera jacqninotii, Ascoseira mirabilis. Leptosomia simplex. Adenocystis utricularis. Monostroma hariotii, Iridaei: obovata, Hildenbrandia lecunnellieri, Plocamium coccineum and Phycodrys antarctica. Vertical stratification of the distribution of three singled out communities of algae was observed downwards to the depth of 90 m, which is the limit of the occurrence of the algae in the Bay. The process of decomposition depends on the place where it occurs, the kind of the thalluses and the season of the year. The quickest decomposition of algae was observed on the shore, in the summer and spring. The total quantity of algal matter washed ashore along 15.8 km of the coast line of Admiralty Bay, during the period between February and October 1979, was estimated at 279 metric tons of dry weight matter. From this quantity, in result of decomposition of the algae on the shore, 75 tons of the matter were released during an average time of 12 days. The remaining 204 tons of partially decomposed algal matter are driven by winds farther inshore or into the waters of the Bay or remain ashore among the stony rubble.

In the paper, an extended analysis of the polarization properties of a liquid crystal cell with a biconically tapered single-mode telecommunication optical fiber was presented. These properties are a result of a sample geometry and used LC materials. They were analyzed by using two theoretical models based on the matrix decomposition methods, i.e., polar and singular-value one. By measuring Mueller matrices, information about losses, depolarization, dichroism and birefringence was obtained. In the experiment two types of tested samples filled with well-known 6CHBT and E7 liquid crystals were prepared and all optical parameters were shown as the voltage dependence. The tested samples have dichroic properties and for both models calculated PDL is similar and it increases from 2.6 to 6.6 dB for E7 and from 0.4 to 2.7 dB for 6CHBT with voltage changes within the range of 40 – 190 V. Optical losses simultaneously decrease from 30 dB to 27 dB and from 36 dB to 28 dB, respectively. The birefringence properties cannot be directly comparable due to differences between both applied models but voltage fluctuations of these parameters are not significant. These results confirm expected dichroic properties of designed device and complete knowledge about its working principles. Moreover, presented analysis validates usefulness of the singular-value decomposition model applied to dichroic optical fiber elements.

Wavelet transform becomes a more and more common method of processing 3D signals. It is widely used to analyze data in various branches of science and technology (medicine, seismology, engineering, etc.). In the field of mechanical engineering wavelet transform is usually used to investigate surface micro- and nanotopography. Wavelet transform is commonly regarded as a very good tool to analyze non-stationary signals. However, to analyze periodical signals, most researchers prefer to use well-known methods such as Fourier analysis. In this paper authors make an attempt to prove that wavelet transform can be a useful method to analyze 3D signals that are approximately periodical. As an example of such signal, measurement data of cylindrical workpieces are investigated. The calculations were performed in the MATLAB environment using the Wavelet Toolbox.

The stability of positive linear continuous-time and discrete-time systems is analyzed by the use of the decomposition of the state matrices into symmetrical and antisymmetrical parts. It is shown that: 1) The state Metzler matrix of positive continuous-time linear system is Hurwitz if and only if its symmetrical part is Hurwitz; 2) The state matrix of positive linear discrete-time system is Schur if and only if its symmetrical part is Hurwitz. These results are extended to inverse matrices of the state matrices of the positive linear systems.

This paper presents an innovative method of technology mapping of the circuits in ALM appearing in FPGA devices by Intel. The essence of the idea is based on using triangle tables that are connected with different configurations of blocks. The innovation of the proposed method focuses on the possibility of choosing an appropriate configuration of an ALM block, which is connected with choosing an appropriate decomposition path. The effectiveness of the proposed technique of technology mapping is proved by experiments conducted on combinational and sequential circuits.

Speech enhancement in strong noise condition is a challenging problem. Low-rank and sparse matrix decomposition (LSMD) theory has been applied to speech enhancement recently and good performance was obtained. Existing LSMD algorithms consider each frame as an individual observation. However, real-world speeches usually have a temporal structure, and their acoustic characteristics vary slowly as a function of time. In this paper, we propose a temporal continuity constrained low-rank sparse matrix decomposition (TCCLSMD) based speech enhancement method. In this method, speech separation is formulated as a TCCLSMD problem and temporal continuity constraints are imposed in the LSMD process. We develop an alternative optimisation algorithm for noisy spectrogram decomposition. By means of TCCLSMD, the recovery speech spectrogram is more consistent with the structure of the clean speech spectrogram, and it can lead to more stable and reasonable results than the existing LSMD algorithm. Experiments with various types of noises show the proposed algorithm can achieve a better performance than traditional speech enhancement algorithms, in terms of yielding less residual noise and lower speech distortion.

This paper focuses on the thermal behavior of the starch-based binder (Albertine F/1 by Hüttenes-Albertus) used in foundry technology of molding sand. The analysis of the course of decomposition of the starch material under controlled heating in the temperature range of 25-1100°C was conducted. Thermal analysis methods (TG-DTG-DSC), pyrolysis gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRIFT) were used. The application of various methods of thermal analysis and spectroscopic methods allows to verify the binder decomposition process in relation to conditions in the form in both inert and oxidizing atmosphere. It was confirmed that the binder decomposition is a complex multistage process. The identification of CO2 formation at set temperature range indicated the progressive process of decomposition. A qualitative evaluation of pyrolysis products was carried out and the course of structural changes occurring in the presence of oxygen was determined based on thermo-analytical investigations the temperature of the beginning of binder degradation in set condition was determined. It was noticed that, significant intensification of Albertine F/1 sample decomposition with formation of more degradation products took place at temperatures above 550ºC. Aromatic hydrocarbons were identified at 1100ºC.

The binary classifiers are appropriate for classification problems with two class labels. For multi-class problems, decomposition techniques, like one-vs-one strategy, are used because they allow the use of binary classifiers. The ensemble selection, on the other hand, is one of the most studied topics in multiple classifier systems because a selected subset of base classifiers may perform better than the whole set of base classifiers. Thus, we propose a novel concept of the dynamic ensemble selection based on values of the score function used in the one-vs-one decomposition scheme. The proposed algorithm has been verified on a real dataset regarding the classification of cutting tools. The proposed approach is compared with the static ensemble selection method based on the integration of base classifiers in geometric space, which also uses the one-vs-one decomposition scheme. In addition, other base classification algorithms are used to compare results in the conducted experiments. The obtained results demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.

Changes in chemical composition of the surface waters percolated through the soil and running off from the penguin rookeries are described. It was found, that the chemical composition of waters flowing from the breeding places depends on the size and rate of precipitation, and also on the location of rookeries. The longer and more complicated is the run off route of waters from the terrain of rookery, the more diluted are the solutions that reach the sea. In such case a significant part of phosphorus contained in the fecal materials may be retained on land, while most of ammonia volatilizates into the atmosphere.

The paper discusses Bayesian productivity analysis of 27 EU Member States, USA, Japan and Switzerland. Bayesian Stochastic Frontier Analysis and a two-stage structural decomposition of output growth are used to trace sources of output growth. This allows us to separate the impacts of capital accumulation, labour growth, technical progress and technical efficiency change on economic development. Since estimates of the growth components are conditioned upon model parameterisation and the underlying assumptions, a number of possible specifications are considered. The best model for decomposing output growth is chosen based on the highest marginal data density, which is calculated using adjusted harmonic mean estimator.

Poland is expected to enter the Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II). The European Central Bank recommends that the ERM II central rate should reflect the best possible assessment of the equilibrium exchange rate. Since the equilibrium rate is changing in time, it is important to identify the pushing and pulling forces of the exchange rate. This knowledge will let the authorities to defend only the exchange rate that is in equilibrium and to assess outcomes of their actions. We use the VEC approach of Johansen to estimate the behavioral equilibrium exchange rate and to identify the pushing forces of the Polish zloty/euro rate. We apply the Gonzalo-Granger decomposition to calculate the permanent equilibrium exchange rate and to identify the pulling forces of the zloty exchange rate. We demonstrate that this approach may be useful for Polish authorities while entering the ERM II as well as within that mechanism.

This paper studies the long-run relationship between consumption, labour income and asset wealth in Poland. Within cointegrated VAR model dynamic responses of the variables in the system to shocks are studied. In addition, series are decomposed into permanent and transitory components on the basis of the cointegrating relation found in the system.

Main conclusion of this paper is that deviations of the three variables from their estimated long-run relationship are better explained with uctuations of labour income than assets. A tentative explanation of this nding is presented. Additionally, the magnitude of the asset wealth eect in Poland is calculated and compared with other studies for European countries and for the U.S.

Various quantile regression approaches are implemented to analyze thecharacteristics of Italian data on earnings in the tails. A changing coefficientspattern across quantiles shows increasing returns to education along the wagedistribution. A quantile decomposition approach shows that higher educationgrants higher return at all quantiles, thus implying additional, non-linear returnsto higher education throughout the entire pattern of the earning distribution.Wage gender gap displays a decreasing pattern across quantiles, and it doesnot disappear at the higher quantiles. The southern workers penalty decreasesacross quantiles as well for highly educated workers.