The heavy metal release experiments were conducted in the laboratory to examine the effects of 3 factors - pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), and temperature on the metal release from sediments taken from the Huangpu River. The metal concentrations in the dry sediments ranged from 0.030 to 0.296 mg g-1 for Cr, 0.021 to 0.097 mg g-1 for Ni, 0.014 to 0.219 mg g-1 for Cu, 0.035 mg to 0.521 mg g-1 for Zn, 0.0002 to 0.001 mg g-1 for Cd and 0.023 to 0.089 mg g-1 for Pb. Most of the metals found in the sediments were in the form of residual fraction, the exchangeable fraction consisted of only a small portion of total metals. The average dissolved metal concentrations in the overlying water during the 13-day period under different conditions were ranging from 0.82 to 1.93 μg L-1 for Cr, 1.08 to 4.19 μg L-1 for Ni, 40.79 to 82.28 μg L-1 for Cu, 20.30 to 29.96 μg L-1 for Zn, 1.57 to 4.07 μg L-1 for Cd, and 22.26 to 75.50 μg L-1 for Pb, respectively. Statistical interpretation of the data indicated that pH (7, 8, 9), dissolved oxygen DO (1.0 and 5.0 mg L-1) and temperature (4, 16, 25°C) had no significant effects on the heavy metal release under the studied conditions. Cu and Pb had the highest release flux, while Cd, Pb and Cu had higher mobility. The main factors controlling the metals release might be the inherent characters of metals and sediments.
The herbicide atrazine was incorporated in the granules manufactured in the process of tumbling agglomeration to obtain controlled release (CR) formulations. The formulations contained bentonite as a CRmatrix forming agent (960–974 g/kg of dry granules), atrazine (10 g/kg), citric acid (3.2 g/kg), and sodium alginate as a matrix binder and a release modifier (12.8–26.8 g/kg). The release characteristics of atrazine were studied by immersion of the granules in static water. The effects of formulations on atrazine transport through soil were studied using model soil columns irrigated with water. The release of atrazine from CR granules into water was affected by increasing the alginate concentration in a particular formulation because the time necessary for the release of 50% of the active ingredient was longer for the granules containing a higher amount of alginate. The CR formulations significantly reduced the amount of atrazine leached to the soil surface horizon in comparison with the commercial water suspension of the herbicide.
The measured rate of release of intercellular protein from yeast cells by ultrasonication was applied for evaluating the effects of sonication reactor geometry on cell disruption rate and for validation of the simulation method. Disintegration of two strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been investigated experimentally using a batch sonication reactor equipped with a horn type sonicator and an ultrasonic processor operating at the ultrasound frequency of 20 kHz. The results have shown that the rate of release of protein is directly proportional to the frequency of the emitter surface and the square of the amplitude of oscillations and strongly depends on the sonication reactor geometry. The model based on the Helmholtz equation has been used to predict spatial distribution of acoustic pressure in the sonication reactor. Effects of suspension volume, horn tip position, vessel diameter and amplitude of ultrasound waves on the spatial distribution of pressure amplitude have been simulated. A strong correlation between the rate of protein release and the magnitude of acoustic pressure and its spatial distribution has been observed. This shows that modeling of acoustic pressure is useful for optimization of sonication reactor geometry.
The investigations deal with mass transfer in simulated biomedical systems. The modification of classical diffusion chamber, sequential unit (SU) system, imitated different biomedical setups, boundary conditions. The experiments simulated: diffusion chamber (also with two barriers), transport through the membrane to the blood stream, transport from the stent eluting drug simultaneously to the vessel cells and to the blood stream. The concentrations of substances and the relative mass increases/decreases for SU systems indicate that the order of the curves follows the order of mass transfer resistances. The strong dependence of mass transfer rates versus type of diffusing substance was confirmed. The calculated drug fluxes, diffusion coefficients, permeation coefficients are convergent with literature. Permeation coefficients for complex sequential systems can be estimated as parallel connexion of constituent coefficients. Experiments approved functionality of the SU for investigations in a simulated biomedical system. Obtained data were used for numerical verification.
No adequate reaction has been observed of the decreased contaminant loads discharged by Łódź, particularly the loads of phosphorus, on its concentration in the Ner River. That’s why the im-pact of sediment on phosphorus content in the water was evaluated. Not only was the amount of phosphorus taken under consideration but also the equilibrium phosphate concentration (EPCo). The meaning of EPCo is that any phosphate concentration in the water below this value will lead to phos-phorus release from sediments. Performed study shows that in the Puczniew cross-section EPCo is higher then phosphorus concentration in water, thus with mean concentration of PO4 equal to 9.5 mg PO4·dm–3 phosphorus could be released from sediments. This concentration in Lutomiersk cross-section, however, equals 1.2 mg PO4·dm–3.
The aim of this study was to reconstruct the location mechanism of a Triassic sandstone wedge within folded Palaeozoic rocks. A vertically oriented Buntsandstein succession (Lower Triassic) from Józefka Quarry (Holy Cross Mountains, central Poland), steeply wedged within folded Devonian carbonates, is recognised as an effect of normal faulting within a releasing stepover. The sandstone succession, corresponding to the Zagnańsk Formation in the local lithostratigraphic scheme, is represented by two complexes, interpreted as deposits of a sand-dominated alluvial plain (older complex), and coarse-grained sands and gravels of a braided river system (younger complex). The sandstone complex was primarily formed as the lowermost part of the several kilometres thick Mesozoic cover of the Holy Cross Mountains Fold Belt (HCFB), later eroded as a result of the Late Cretaceous/Paleogene uplift of the area. Tectonic analysis of the present-day position of the deformed sandstone succession shows that it is fault-bounded by a system of strike-slip and normal faults, which we interpret as a releasing stepover. Accordingly, the formation of the stepover in the central part of the late Palaeozoic HCFB is evidence of a significant role of strike-slip faulting within this tectonic unit during Late Cretaceous/Paleogene times. The faulting was probably triggered by reactivation of the terminal Palaeozoic strike-slip fault pattern along the western border of the Teisseyre–Tornquist Zone.
The article describes the results of combustion of a mixture of PCOME (purified cooking oil esters) and bioethanol in the compression ignition Perkins 1104C-44 engine. The engine was prepared for use with the classic type of fuel – diesel oil, not biofuels. That is why bioethanol was added to ester in tests so that the basic physicochemical properties of the obtained mixture were as close as possible to diesel fuel. Thanks to this, the use of such fuel in the future would not require reworking or adjusting the settings of selected elements of the engine power supply system. During this case study, the engine performance and heat release rate were analyzed. For comparison, tests were carried out while powering the engine with ester fuel, 10 and 20 per cent mixtures of bioethanol and PCOME. The speed and load characteristics for each fuel were determined. This article presents selected characteristics where the biggest differences were noticed.
The aim of the study is to examine the importance of economic argumentation in international maritime disputes. The paper first explains what the international maritime disputes, their sources and types are, what principles they are subjected to. It also established what should be understood by economic arguments, emphasizing their relative nature, as well as showing the potential of the Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982 as a basis for formulating economic argumentation. The importance of economic argumentation was considered in relation to international disputes regarding the legal status of maritime territories, delimitation of maritime zones, power over the sea and use of the sea.
Research, carried out, leads to the following conclusions: 1) economic arguments are present in the reasoning of the parties as well as dispute settlement bodies. However, their probative value is limited; 2) in disputes related to the status of maritime features economic reasoning appears in the context of necessity to demonstrate that they can be a basis for delimitation; 3) in delimitation disputes, addressing economic arguments is more complex and contradictory. Economic arguments may be useful in the second phase of delimitation when relevant circumstances are considered. However, the existing practice shows that the range of economic arguments is limited (they cannot serve as a reason for correction of natural inequalities). International jurisprudence denies taking into account arguments based on level of economic development or economic or financial difficulties of a state (except for the catastrophic repercussions for the livelihood and economic wellbeing of the population), the needs of economic development or performance of economic activities (mining, fishing, shipping). An argument associated with assurance of deposit unity is of some importance (when resources are known or readily ascertainable); 4) in disputes concerning the power over the sea some weight is held by an argument associated with the establishment of economic authority, in particular, of a regulatory and control nature; 5) in disputes related to the use of the sea, the importance of economic reasoning is varied. In disputes concerning the prompt release, the role of the economic argument is limited. On the contrary, it is relevant in disputes related to the violation of rights and economic interests of States and people, if they are protected by international law.
The damage zones of exhumed strike-slip faults dissecting Jurassic carbonates in the south-western part of the Late Palaeozoic Holy Cross Mountains Fold Belt reveal second-order faults and fractures infilled with syntectonic calcite. The subsequent development of a structural pattern of microscopic fault-related structures and calcite infillings reflects the activity of strike-slip faults that began in the Late Cretaceous (Late Maastrichtian) and lasted until the early Miocene (Langhian). The fabric of the syntectonic veins provides insights into the evolution of the permeable fault-related structures that were the main pathways for fluid flow during fault activity. Microstructural study of calcite veins coupled with stable isotope and fluid inclusion data indicates that calcite precipitated primarily in a rock-buffered system related to strike-slip fault movement, and secondarily in a partly open system related to the local activity of the releasing Chmielnik stepover or the uplift of the area. The presence of meteoric fluids descending from the surface into damage zones suggest that the strike-slip faulting might have taken place in a nonmarine, continental environment.