The aim of these studies was to determine solubility and availability of the heavy metals in soil using single extraction procedure. The acid extractants: 1 M HCI, 10% HNO, and 0.43 M CH,COOH were tested as eluents. Extracting capacity of inorganic acids were higher than 65% of total Pb and Zn and hardly depended on their total content. Acetic acid leached less than 5% of total Cu, Ni and Pb. A statistical analysis showed that physico-chemical soil parameters affected heavy metals solubility in acids eluents. Single extraction in acid solution is a simple way to determine the soil contamination with heavy metals.

In recent years, the construct of work engagement as well as methods for its measurement have generated growing interest in the field of occupational psychology. In this study, we aim to contribute to the current work engagement literature by investigating the possible advantages of single-item measures of work engagement by analysing their psychometric feasibility. Testing the validity of a single-item measure tool within the framework of the Job Demands-Resources theory, we have found similar pattern of correlations of single-item measures of work engagement with exhaustion, disengagement, job resources and job demands as for the well-established multi-item measure the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. The reliability of single-item measures tested with factor analysis and the attenuation formula was estimated to be in the range of between .60 and .70, the figure depending on the particulars of the estimation methods. Our findings provide an initial modicum of evidence that, if a research purpose requires it, or if the use of a multi-item measurement tool is overly restrictive or costly, then a single-item measure of work engagement could be effectively adopted.

This is an extended research of the paper (Islam et al., 2011) conducted to obtain a universal set of interaction parameters of the model NRTL over the temperature range 10 - 100 °C for hexane-butanol-water system; meaning for binary pairs hexane-butanol, butanol-water and hexane-water; and for ternary system hexane-butanol-water. Thorough investigations of data selections for all binary pairs (Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium (VLE), Liquid-Liquid Equilibrium (LLE)), infinite dilution activity coefficient (γ∞), infinite dilution distribution coefficient (Dsw), excess enthalpy (HE), and for ternary system (LLE of hexane-butanol-water) were carried out. Finally quadratic temperature dependent interaction parameters were estimated regressing all the mentioned data and in each case calculated results were compared with literature values. The comparisons showed an overall percentage of error within 15% for the mentioned phase equilibrium calculations.

The paper deals with the basic set-up of single-frequency microchip laser - so called Lyot filter configuration. Description of its operation and practical realization is given. Some results obtained for Nd:YAG/KTP microchip laser are presented. The evidences of single-frequency operation and its limits are emphasized. Described construction constitutes the base for building the frequency stabilization of green 532 nm microchip laser.

An integrated Z-source inverter for the single-phase single-stage grid-connected photovoltaic system is proposed in this paper. The inverter integrates three functional blocks including maximum-power-point-tracking, step-up/down DC-side voltage and output grid-connected current. According to the non-minimum-phase characteristic presented in DC-side and the functional demands of the system, two constant-frequency sliding-mode controllers with integral compensation are proposed to guarantee the system robustness. By using two controllers, the effects caused by the non-minimum-phase characteristic are mitigated. Under the circumstance of that the input voltage or the grid-connected current changes suddenly, the notches/protrusions following the over-shoot/ under-shoot of the DC-bus voltage are eliminated. The quality of grid-connected current is ensured. Also, a small-signal modelling method is employed to analyze the close-loop system. A 300W prototype is built in the laboratory. A solar-array simulator (SAS) is used to verify the systematic responses in the experiment. The correctness and validity of the inverter and proposed control algorithm are proved by simulation and experimental results.

An evaluation method is developed for single blow experiments with liquids on heat exchangers. The method is based on the unity Mach number dispersion model. The evaluation of one experiment yields merely one equation for the two unknowns, the number of transfer units and the dispersive Peclet number. Calculations on an example confirm that one single blow test alone cannot provide reliable values of the unknowns. A second test with a liquid of differing heat capacity is required, or a tracer experiment for the measurement of the Peclet number. A modified method is developed for gases. One experiment yields the effective number of transfer units and approximate values of the two unknowns. The numerical evaluation of calculated experiments demonstrates the applicability of the evaluation methods.

Reed woodwind instruments differ in both their geometry (mainly cylindrical or mainly conical) and their excitation mechanism (single or double reed). How much of the resulting sound is due to the single/double reed, and how much to the geometry of the instrument? Measurements done by Almeida et al. (J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 121, 1, 536-546, 2007) show that the flow vs pressure characteristic curve of an oboe reed is not that different from that of a clarinet reed, the only difference probably being due to pressure recovery inside the conical staple. Is it possible to make a single reed mouthpiece for an oboe, while keeping the conical staple, that would still give the oboe its characteristic sound? To find it out, a mouthpiece with the following characteristics was made: A standard clarinet Bb reed can be attached to it, its volume is approximately that of the missing part of the instrument cone, and a standard French oboe staple can be inserted to it, so that it can be inserted in the usual way in any french oboe. In this paper, the first prototype of the mouthpiece is shown. Also, a sound comparison of the oboe sounds played with this mouthpiece and a standard double reed by a professional player is presented.

The purpose of the paper is the investigation of possibility of utilization of a single-phase induction machine, designed and normally operating as a single-phase capacitor induction motor, as a self-excited single-phase induction generator, which can be used to generate electrical energy from non-conventional energy sources. The paper presents dq model of the self-excited single-phase induction generator for dynamic characteristics simulation and steady-state model based on double revolving field theory with two phase symmetrical components – a forward and backward revolving field for performance of the generator under resistive load. Excitation and load characteristics obtained by simulation showed considerable influence of method of capacitor configuration in the load stator winding on terminal voltage, current and output power of the generator under load. An specific construction of the stator windings together with capacitor requirements to obtain nominal output power at desired self-regulating terminal voltage over the operating range will be the aim of further research.

The paper deals with construction of single-phase line start permanent magnet synchronous motor. Circuit-field single-phase line start permanent magnet synchronous motor model based on the mass production single-phase induction motor was applied in Maxwell program. Various rotor constructions were taken into account. Influence of the rotor construction on the motor properties was examined. Running motor performances were examined.

The paper presents a modelling mathematical tool for prediction of dynamic and steady-states operation of the single-phase capacitor induction motor for different values of the capacitor capacitance and different frequency of voltage supply at no-load and rated load conditions. Developed mathematical model of the capacitor induction motor was implemented for calculation using Matlab/Simulink software. Presented simulation results may be utilized to achieve better starting quality of single-phase capacitor induction motors.

This paper presents a method of describing an airlift bioreactor, in which biodegradation of a carbonaceous substrate described by single-substrate kinetics takes place. Eight mathematical models based on the assumption of liquid plug flow and axial dispersion flow through the riser and the downcomer in the reactor were proposed. Additionally, the impact of degassing zone with assumed complete mixing on the obtained results was analyzed. Calculations were performed for two representative hydrodynamic regimes of reactor operation, i.e. with the presence of gas bubbles only within the riser and for complete gas circulation. The conclusions related to the apparatus design and process performance under sufficient aeration of the reaction mixture were drawn on the basis of the obtained results.

The theoretical basis for the indirect measurement approach of mean heat transfer coefficient for the packed bed based on the modified single blow technique was presented and discussed in the paper. The methodology of this measurement approach dedicated to the matrix of the rotating regenerative gas heater was discussed in detail. The testing stand consisted of a dedicated experimental tunnel with auxiliary equipment and a measurement system are presented. Selected experimental results are presented and discussed for selected types of matrices of regenerative air preheaters for the wide range of Reynolds number of gas. The agreement between the theoretically predicted and measured temperature profiles was demonstrated. The exemplary dimensionless relationships between Colburn heat transfer factor, Darcy flow resistance factor and Reynolds number were presented for the investigated matrices of the regenerative gas heater.

The paper stresses the issue of strong temperature influence on the gain of a Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM). High sensitivity of the detector to light (single photons) requires stable parameters during measurement, including gain. The paper presents a method of compensating the change of gain caused by temperature variations, by adjusting a suitable voltage bias provided by a precise power module. The methodology of the research takes in account applications with a large number of SiPMs (20 thousand), explains the challenges and presents the results of the gain stabilization algorithm.

Some eutectic stripes have been generated in a hexagonal (Zn) - single crystal. The stripes are situated periodically with the constant interstripes

spacing. The eutectic structure in the stripes consists of strengthening inter-metallic compound, Zn16Ti, and (Zn) – solid solution.

The rod-like irregular eutectic structure (with branches) appears at low growth rates. The regular lamellar eutectic structure is observed at

middle growth rates. The regular rod-like eutectic structure exists exclusively in the stripes at some elevated growth rates. A new

thermodynamic criterion is recommended. It suggests that this eutectic regular structure is the winner in a morphological competition for

which the minimum entropy production is lower. A competition between the regular rod-like and the regular lamellar eutectic growth is

described by means of the proposed criterion. The formation of branches within irregular eutectic structure is referred to the state of

marginal stability. A continuous transitions from the marginal stability to the stationary state are confirmed by the continuous

transformations of the irregular eutectic structure into the regular one.

The morphology, chemical composition and formation mechanism of non-metallic inclusions in magnetic alloy of Fe-Co-Ni-Cu-Al-Ti-Hf system were investigated. These alloys are used in manufacturing single-crystal permanent magnets. Modern methods for the identification of non-metallic inclusions, as well as computer simulation of the processes of their formation by Thermo Calc software were used in the work. It was found that studied alloy contains (Ti, Hf)S titanium and hafnium sulfides, (Ti, Hf)2SC titanium and hafnium carbosulfides, Ti2O2S titanium oxisulfide, HfO2 hafnium oxide, and Al2O3 aluminum oxide. No titanium and hafnium nitrides were found in the alloy. The bulk of nonmetallic inclusions are (Ti, Hf)2SC carbosulfides and (Ti, Hf)S sulfides. All carbides and many oxides are within carbosulfides and sulfides. When the sulfur content in the alloy is no more than 0.2%, and carbon content does not exceed 0.03%, carbosulfides are formed in the solidification range of the alloy and has an faceted compact form. If the sulfur content in the alloy becomes more than 0.2% and carbon content more than 0.03%, the carbosulfide formation begins before the alloy solidification or at the beginning stages of solidification. In this case, carbosulfides are dendritic and coarse. Such carbosulfides actively float in the solidified melt and often come to the surface of the castings. In this case, specific surface defects are formed in single-crystal magnets, which are called sulfide stains. All titanium and hafnium sulfides are formed at the lower part of solidification range and have elongated shape.

For non-sinusoidal single-phase systems, the classical apparent power has been divided into various components using different techniques. These power resolutions generally aim at to provide a tool for the accurate determination of the maximum power factor achievable with a passive compensator and to measure the load.s nonlinearity degree. This paper presents a current decomposition-based methodology that can be employed for computationally efficient implementation of the widely recognized non-sinusoidal power resolutions. The proposed measurement method and the original expressions of the power resolutions are comparatively evaluated by considering their computational complexity. The results show that the proposed method has a significant advantage in terms of computational efficiency for the simultaneous measurements of the powers when compared with the original expressions. Finally, in this paper, a PC-based power meter is developed using the proposed measurement method via the LabVIEW programme.

The orientations of recrystallization nuclei and their adjacent as-deformed regions have been characterised in deformed single crystals of different metals (Ag, Cu, Cu-2%wt.Al and Cu-8%wt.Al) in which twinning and/or shear banding occur. {112}<111> oriented crystals of these metals have been compressed to different strains, then lightly annealed, and the crystallographic aspects of the recrystallization process along shear bands examined by local orientation measurement in TEM and SEM. The results clearly show the existence of a well-defined crystallographic relation between the local deformation substructure and the first recrystallized areas of uniform orientation. The first-formed nuclei always exhibit near 25–400(<111>–<112>) type misorientations, in the direction of highest growth, with respect to one of the two main groups of the deformation texture components. The rotation axes can be correlated with the slip plane normal of highest activity. As recrystallization proceeds, recrystallization twinning develops strongly and facilitates rapid growth; the first and higher generations of twins then tend to obscure the initial primary crystallographic relation between the shear bands and recrystallization nuclei .

In the paper, a solution of the time-fractional single-phase-lagging heat conduction problem in finite regions is presented. The heat conduction equation with the Caputo time-derivative is complemented by the Robin boundary conditions. The Laplace transform with respect to the time variable and an expansion in the eigenfunctions series with respect to the space variable was applied. A method for the numerical inversion of the Laplace transforms was used. Formulation and solution of the problem cover the heat conduction in a finite slab, hollow cylinder and hollow sphere. The effect of the fractional order of the Caputo derivative and the phase-lag parameter on the temperature distribution in a slab has been numerically investigated.

Local adaptation is a key concept in biology: shift of genetic structures of populations due to differential survival of genotypes is expected to lead to phenotypes providing an advantage in the local environment. Variation of sequences of twelve candidate genes was investigated in 13 Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) provenances originating from sites distributed along an altitudinal gradient from 550 to 1300 m a.s.l. Signals of selection were assessed in 103 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP). The Bayesian FST-outlier identification methods as implemented in the programs BayeScan and Arlequin did not identify any SNP with a clear evidence of selection. The approaches relying on SNP-climate associations (spatial analysis method based on logistic regression of allele frequencies with environmental variables, Bayesian method applied in BayEnv2) identified several relationships but none of them remained significant after correction for multiple testing. Gene flow, epigenetic inheritance and former management of the studied populations are discussed as potential reasons for this weak evidence of selection signals.

The paper presents the results of investigating the effect of increase of observation correlations on detectability and identifiability of a single gross error, the outlier test sensitivity and also the response-based measures of internal reliability of networks. To reduce in a research a practically incomputable number of possible test options when considering all the non-diagonal elements of the correlation matrix as variables, its simplest representation was used being a matrix with all non-diagonal elements of equal values, termed uniform correlation. By raising the common correlation value incrementally, a sequence of matrix configurations could be obtained corresponding to the increasing level of observation correlations. For each of the measures characterizing the above mentioned features of network reliability the effect is presented in a diagram form as a function of the increasing level of observation correlations. The influence of observation correlations on sensitivity of the w -test for correlated observations (Förstner 1983,Teunissen 2006) is investigated in comparison with the original Baarda’s w -test designated for uncorrelated observations, to determine the character of expected sensitivity degradation of the latter when used for correlated observations. The correlation effects obtained for different reliability measures exhibit mutual consistency in a satisfactory extent. As a by-product of the analyses, a simple formula valid for any arbitrary correlation matrix is proposed for transforming the Baarda’s w -test statistics into the w -test statistics for correlated observations.

The purpose of this two-wave longitudinal study was to investigate cross-lagged relations between sexual attitudes, perception of love and sex, and young adults’ relationship status over a period of one year. The current study tested two hypotheses: the first hypothesis assuming that sexual attitudes, perception of love and sex can be predictive of relationship status after a one-year interval; and the second hypothesis assuming that relationship status at T1 can be predictive of sexual attitudes and perception of love and sex after a one-year interval. Results from 117 Polish young adults (94 females and 23 males) aged 20–33 (M = 21.42, SD = 1.79) indicated that the conviction that sex is no longer as much a part of the relationship as it used to be (i.e., Sex is Declining scale) measured in the first assessment was a significant predictor of relationship status after a one-year interval. Furthermore, sexual attitudes and perception of love and sex at T1 were found to be predictive of sexual attitudes and perception of love and sex at T2. In addition, gender at T1 was predictive of instrumentality at T2, while being female at T1 related to higher instrumentality at T2.

In this paper, a robust and perceptually transparent single-level and multi-level blind audio watermarking scheme using wavelets is proposed. A randomly generated binary sequence is used as a watermark, and wavelet function coding is used to embed the watermark sequence in audio signals. Multi-level watermarking is used to enhance payload capacity and can be used for a different level of security. The robustness of the scheme is evaluated by applying different attacks such as filtering, sampling rate alteration, compression, noise addition, amplitude scaling, and cropping. The simulation results obtained show that the proposed watermarking scheme is resilient to various attacks except cropping. Perceptual transparency of watermark is measured by using Perceptual Evaluation of Audio Quality (PEAQ) basic model of ITU-R (PEAQ ITU-R BS.1387) on Speech Quality Assessing Material (SQAM) given by European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Average Objective Difference Grade (ODG) measured for this method is -0.067 and -0.080 for single-level and multi-level watermarked audio signals, respectively. In the proposed single-level digital audio watermarking scheme, the payload capacity is increased by 19.05% as compared to the single-level Chirp-Based Digital Audio Watermarking (CB-DAWM) scheme.

The sompoton is one of famous traditional musical instruments in Sabah. This instrument consists of several parts with the vibrator being the most important one. In this paper, the vibrator is modeled as a clamped bar with a uniformly distributed mass. By means of this model, the fundamental frequency is analyzed with the use of an equivalent single degree of freedom system (SDOF) and exact analysis. The vibrator is made of aluminum in different sizes and is excited using a constant air jet to obtain its fundamental resonance frequency. The fundamental frequency obtained from the experimental measurement is compared with the theoretical values calculated based on the equivalent SDOF and exact analysis theories. It is found that the exact analysis gives a closer value to the experimental results as compared to the SDOF system. Although both the experimental and theoretical results exhibit the same trend, they are different in magnitude. To overcome the differences in both theories, a correction factor is added to account for the production errors.