The paper presents the results of experiments on the influence of the organic matter’s characteristics on the formation potential of water chlorination by-products – representatives of the following groups:

trihalomethanes, haloacetonitriles, haloketones, chloral hydrate and chloropicrin. The products of water fractionation (the hydrophobic and hydrophilic acids, hydrophobic and hydrophilic bases, and hydrophobic and

hydrophilic neutral fractions) were chlorinated with sodium hypochlorite. Its dose was adjusted to obtain a

residual free chlorine concentration between 3 and 5 mg/dm3

after 24 h. After this time, the water chlorination

by-products were analyzed with gas chromatography. The results’ analysis has defined the fractions, which have

the highest potential to form particular groups of volatile organic water chlorination by-products.

Foam fractionation process for concentration of laccases from two Basidiomycete strains under different process conditions was investigated. Culture supernatants of Cerrena unicolor and Pleurotus sapidus containing active laccase were used with and without surfactant additives. Two surfactants: cationic cetrimonium bromide (CTAB) and non-ionic Polysorbate 80 were applied in the range from 0.2 mM to 1.5 mM. The pH levels ranging from 3 to 10 were examined with particular attention to pH=4, which is close to the pI of the enzymes. Results show that the source of the enzyme is significant in terms of partitioning efficiency in a foam fractionation process. Laccase from Cerrena unicolor showed the best activity partitioning coefficients between foamate and retentate of almost 200 with yields reaching 50% for pH 7.5 and concentration of CTAB cCTAB = 0.5 mM, whereas laccase from Pleurotus sapidus showed partitioning coefficients of up to 8 with 25% yield for pH 4 and cCTAB = 0.5 mM.

The research aim was to determine the long-term impact of the mine waste stored at the coal waste dump Hałda Ruda on the content of heavy metals in the bottom sediments of the Bytomka River. It is a watercourse flowing along this coal waste dump and has been under its influence for over fifty years. The research also attempted to determine the seasonality of changes (2 years) and mobility of selected elements.

The article presents total contents of Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd and Pb in the bottom sediments collected from the Bytomka River. It also focuses on the distribution of these elements in particular geochemical fractions determined with the Tessier's sequential chemical extraction procedure. Total element contents were determined with an EDPXRF (Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence) technique. The extractants of particular Tessier's fractions were determined quantitatively with an ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) spectrometer. The research results show that the stored waste significantly influences the contents of heavy metals in the Bytomka River bottom sediments. The lowest concentration of heavy metals was observed at the B1 spot (above the dump), while the highest one was measured at the B3 spot (below the dump).

Sequential chemical extraction of the bottom sediments indicates that the Zn content in the ion-exchange and carbonate fractions diminished within a year. Nevertheless, Zn bound to Fe and Mn oxides acted in the opposite way. Mn, Zn and Pb are the most dangerous elements from the viewpoint of environmental hazards, as their total concentrations were high. Moreover, their high contents were observed in the most mobile (ion-exchange and carbonate) fractions. Extremely toxic Cd was bound to the oxide fraction to the largest extent. Cu was mainly bound to the organic fraction while environmentally hazardous Cr was bound to the residual fraction.

This paper addresses the nonlinear Cucker–Smale optimal control problem under the interplay of memory effect. The aforementioned effect is included by employing the Caputo fractional derivative in the equation representing the velocity of agents. Sufficient conditions for the existence of solutions to the considered problem are proved and the analysis of some particular problems is illustrated by two numerical examples.

The use of fractional-order calculus for system modeling is a good alternative to well-known classic integer-order methods, primarily due to the precision with which the modeled object may be mapped. In this study, we created integer and fractional discrete models of a real object – a highspeed brushless micro-motor. The accuracy of the models was verified and compared.

The efficient, stable and reliable operation of the blast furnace secures the proper quality of coke, which is one of the basic components of the blast furnace charge. In modern blast-furnace technology, when using substitute fuels, i.e. coal dust, the role of coke is extremely important. For this reason, the demands placed on its quality increase. Domestic coking plants have a limited base of Polish high quality coking coals at their disposal, therefore the full use of their coking properties is extremely important. The grain composition of the coal blend is one of the basic factors affecting the quality of the produced coke. This influence depends on the quantity and quality of coal components that make up the blend. In the conducted research, 21 coking coals, differing significantly in the degree of rank and origin (Polish and overseas coals), it was shown that the separated grain classes differ in properties, both coking properties and the degree of devolatalization during heating. In analyzing the obtained results, it was observed that the grain volume growth occurs essentially in the temperature range between the beginning and the maximum of fluidity. It has been shown that there is a linear correlation between the temperature corresponding to maximum fluidity and the temperature at which the maximum rate of evolution of volatiles enters. The presented phenomena accompany the emergence of coal expansion pressure during the coking process and they are its primary causes. The presented results can be an important guide for preparing the milling of coal for the coking process.

In our recent study we demonstrated that the holding of fresh semen in fractionated seminal plasma (SP1, >40 kDa; SP2, <40 kDa), obtained by gel filtration chromatography, significantly improved the sperm quality characteristics following cryopreservation (Wasilewska-Sakowska et al. 2019). In this study we investigated the effect of post-thaw (PT) supplementation of fractionated SP (SP1 and SP2) on the survival of spermatozoa from boars with good and poor semen freezability, GSF and PSF, respectively. Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) analysis showed distinct differences in the protein profiles of SP1 and SP2 from boars with GSF or PSF regarding the number of protein spots. Sperm motility characteristics and the motion patterns, assessed using the computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) system, were markedly higher in PT semen supplemented with SP1 and SP2 from boars with GSF. Post-thaw supplementation of either SP1 or SP2 from boars with GSF significantly improved mitochondrial function, plasma membrane and acrosome integrity, and viability during storage. The findings of this study have confirmed that the presence of protective protein components in varying abundance in either fractionated SP from boars with good freezability ejaculates significantly improved the sperm survival following PT storage.

The global stability of positive continuous-time standard and fractional order nonlinear feedback systems is investigated. New sufficient conditions for the global stability of these classes of positive nonlinear systems are established. The effectiveness of these new stability conditions is demonstrated on simple examples of positive nonlinear systems.

The global stability of discrete-time nonlinear systems with descriptor positive linear parts and positive scalar feedbacks is addressed. Sufficient conditions for the global stability of standard and fractional nonlinear systems are established. The effectiveness of these conditions is illustrated on numerical examples.

The stability analysis for discrete-time fractional linear systems with delays is presented. The state-space model with a time shift in the difference is considered. Necessary and sufficient conditions for practical stability and for asymptotic stability have been established. The systems with only one matrix occurring in the state equation at a delayed moment have been also considered. In this case analytical conditions for asymptotic stability have been given. Moreover parametric descriptions of the boundary of practical stability and asymptotic stability regions have been presented.

Antarctic krill carbohydrate content was followed during 1983—84 Eighth Polish Antarctic Expedition. The Admiralty Bay (King George Island) was th area of study. The following average values of three estimated fractions were obtained: 3.77 +- 1.51%, 0.47 +- 0.34% and 3.30 +- 1.33% for total, TCA-soluble and TCA-insoluble carbohydrates, respectively. Percentage contribution of the estimated fractions to dry weight varied seasonally (1.48—7.41%, 0.15—1.83%, and 1.28—6.28%, respectively). The carbohydrate content showed a clearcut cycle of changes over the calender year, with a minimum in autumn-winter and a maximum in spring-summer.

Changes in the amount of basic nitrogen fractions (total, protein and non-protein nitrogen) were studied in an annual cycle. Significant seasonal changes were noted, minima occurring in Antarctic winter and maxima during spring-summer season. These changes are due mainly to high fluctuations of water content in krill in the annual cycle.