Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz

About: Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz is a education organization based out in Bydgoszcz, Poland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Luminescence & Population. The organization has 1109 authors who have published 2923 publications receiving 19548 citations. The organization is also known as: Casimir the Great University & Uniwersytet Kazimierza Wielkiego w Bydgoszczy.

Mathability and computer aided mathematical education

Abstract: The recently introduced concept of mathability refers to a branch of cognitive infocommunications that investigates combinations of artificial and natural cognitive capabilities relevant to mathematics. In this paper, we consider some educational aspects related to the concept. We discuss questions related to the quantification of artificial mathematical capabilities and education. We also analyse how a well known taxonomy of educational objectives corresponds to a quantification of the mathability of devices.

Defuzzification and implication within ordered fuzzy numbers

Abstract: Ordered fuzzy numbers (OFN) invented by the first author and his two coworkers in 2002 make possible to utilize the fuzzy arithmetic and to construct the Abelian group of fuzzy numbers and then an ordered ring. This new model uses the extension of the parametric representation of convex fuzzy numbers and overcomes known drawbacks of the classical approach. Addition and multiplication by positive scalar are the same as in convex number case if numbers have the same orientation. However, subtraction, multiplication and division give quit different results. Several new defuzzification operations are introduced together with fuzzy implications which can play a new role in evolutionary fuzzy systems.

Connectivity restoration of floodplain lakes: an assessment based on macroinvertebrate communities

Abstract: Successful rehabilitation programmes of river–floodplain systems require understanding of environmental impacts of restoring hydrological connectivity. The present study is based on a field experiment carried out between 2008 and 2013 in a floodplain of a lowland river in northern Poland, in which two oxbow lakes isolated in the 1920s were reconnected to the main river channel. Water and macroinvertebrate samples were collected three to four times a year from six sites (n = 114). After reconnection, water quality in the oxbow lakes improved and diversity and abundance of macrozoobenthos increased, especially the density of Oligochaeta, Malacostraca, Trichoptera, Bivalvia and Gastropoda, while the density of Diptera decreased. Water flow and physico-chemical variables were the most important factors explaining their variance. A direct inflow of water into the reconnected oxbow lakes occurred only during the first 2 years of the study, followed by silting and overgrowing of the inlet to the upper arm. We propose that creating semi-lotic side channels connected to the river with one arm and only occasionally flushed with fresh river water is one of the most effective restoration strategies. However, at the whole river scale, the maintenance of diversified hydrological connections is the optimal solution.

Detection of 3-nitropropionic acid and cytotoxicity inMucor circinelloides

Abstract: Mucorales are regarded as the aetiological agents of Mucormycosis. Their capabilities to produce mycotoxins are not profoundly investigated, in contrast to those of the fungi from the generaPenicillium, Aspergillus, orFusarium. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify fungi of the order Mucorales and investigate mycotoxins production. Twelve samples of visibly moulded grass silage and eight samples of damaged whole crop maize silage were analysed. Malt extract agar plates were used for sub cultivation. Three fungal species of the order Mucorales were isolated from grass silage, which were identified by their macro-and micro-morphology asAbsidia corymbifera, Mucor circinelloides andRhizopus stolonifer. The cytotoxicity ofMucor circinelloides extract was analysed using the cytotoxicity test (MTT assay) and the result, showed a low cytotoxicity. Additionally extracts fromAbsidia corymbifera, Mucor circinelloides andRhizopus stolonifer were tested for mycotoxin-production using an LC/MS/MS-based multimycotoxin method. 3-nitropropionic acid was detected in the culture extract ofMucor circinelloides.

Enantiomeric conservation of the male-produced sex pheromone facilitates monitoring of threatened European hermit beetles (Osmoderma spp.)

Abstract: Hermit beetles of the genus Osmoderma (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae) are known for their fruity odour, which is released in large amounts by males. Two species of the genus occur in Europe, the eastern Osmoderma barnabita (Motschulsky) and the western Osmoderma eremita (Scopoli). Previous studies on Swedish populations of O. eremita showed that the compound responsible for the characteristic scent, γ-decalactone, functions as a sex pheromone for the attraction of conspecific females. Male O. eremita only release the (R)-enantiomer of the lactone, and both sexes are anosmic to the opposite enantiomer. As the distribution areas of the two hermit beetle species partly overlap, it may be expected that they use different enantiomeric compositions of γ-decalactone as pheromones to promote species discrimination. This paper reports on the identification of the sex pheromone of O. barnabita. Surprisingly, males from a Polish population produce only the (R)-enantiomer of γ-decalactone, and conspecific females show equal attraction to the (R)-enantiomer and a racemic mixture of the compound, indicating that O. barnabita is anosmic to the (S)-enantiomer, similarly to what was observed for O. eremita. A mtDNA sequence analysis of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene of Polish and Swedish beetles confirmed their taxonomical status as O. barnabita and O. eremita, respectively, with an average sequence divergence of 10.5% between beetles from the two studied areas. Although genetic data suggest that these species diverged several million years ago, they still rely on the same enantiomer of γ-decalactone for mate finding. Thus, the male-produced pheromone in Osmoderma spp. may be regarded as a territorial signal being exploited by females, rather than a cue for determining species identity. Our data show that the same compound can be used to facilitate monitoring of both beetle species, which are considered indicator species of the species-rich fauna of saproxylic insects in Europe.