Tallinn University of Technology

About: Tallinn University of Technology is a education organization based out in Tallinn, Estonia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: European union & Oil shale. The organization has 3688 authors who have published 10313 publications receiving 145058 citations. The organization is also known as: Tallinn Technical University & Tallinna Tehnikaülikool.

Financial development, institutions, and poverty alleviation: an empirical analysis

Abstract: The aim of this article is to analyse empirically whether the level of institutional quality influences how financial development affects poverty for a sample of developing countries covering the period from 1984 to 2012. Using an interaction term constructed as a product between financial development and institutional quality we find that the pro-poor impact of financial development decreases as the quality of institutions rises. Such a differential effect can be ascribed to the capacity of banks to provide functions that mimic those performed by an institutional framework that works well. The results of this article can be used for policy management.

Extremes and Decadal Variations of the Northern Baltic Sea Wave Conditions

Abstract: Average wave conditions, their seasonal cycle and decadal variations, and extreme wave storms in the northern Baltic Sea are studied on the basis of long-term time series from Almagrundet (1978–2003) and Vilsandi (1954–2005), and wave statistics from the middle of the northern Baltic Proper. The typical wave periods are 3–4 s in coastal areas and 4–6 s on the open sea. The monthly mean wave height varies from about 0.4 (0.5) m in April–July to 0.8 (1.3–1.4) m in January at Vilsandi (Almagrundet). The annual mean wave height varied insignificantly in the 1960s–1970s, considerably increased in the 1980s, was at highest in the mid-1990s, and rapidly decreases in 1998–2005. Significant wave heights H S ≥ 4m occur with a probability of about 1%. Extreme wave conditions with H S ≥ 7m have been registered five times since 1978. The records overlook 2–3 such cases. The overall recorded maximum H S is 7.8 m. The estimated maximum of H S was 9.5 m in cyclone Gudrun in January 2005.

A portable capillary electropherograph equipped with a cross-sampler and a contactless-conductivity detector for the detection of the degradation products of chemical warfare agents in soil extracts.

Abstract: A fully portable CE device equipped with a capacitively coupled contactless-conductivity detector and a cross-injection device is put to the test in laboratory conditions. The portable device is capable of working on batteries for at least 4 h. After that, its performance is strongly affected by the drop in the high-voltage output and analysis may be interrupted if its length exceeds a reasonable time. The concentration of the BGE affects both ionic strength and conductivity. Choosing an optimal concentration of BGE is therefore about finding a good compromise between selectivity and sensitivity. All experiments were performed using a mixture of histidine and MES with a concentration of 15 mM as BGE. The performance of the cross-injection device is optimized by the use of internal standards. Satisfactory reproducibility is gained as the RSD of peak areas is reduced to 8% or less. LODs for different phosphonic acids are in the range of 2.5-9.7 microM. For the analysis of adsorption of phosphonic acids in sand and loamy soil samples, calibration curves are constructed. Linearity in a measured concentration range of 10-100 microM is excellent, as the squares of correlation constants are approximately 1. The concentration analysis of phosphonic acids in soil extracts demonstrates that their adsorption curves in sand and loamy soil follow different adsorption isotherms.

Achieving nitritation and anammox enrichment in a single moving-bed biofilm reactor treating reject water

Abstract: A biofilm with high nitrifying efficiency was converted into a nitritating and thereafter a nitritating–anammox biofilm in a moving-bed biofilm reactor at 26.5 (±0.5)°C by means of a combination of intermittent aeration, low dissolved oxygen concentration, low hydraulic retention time, free ammonia and furthermore, also by elevated HCO concentration. Nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) were more effectively suppressed by an enhanced HCO concentration range of 1200–2350 mg/L as opposed to free-ammonia-based process control where NOBs recovered from inhibition; the respective total-nitrogen removal rates were 0.3 kg N/(m3·d) and 0.2 kg N/(m3·d). The biofilm modification strategies resulted in a shift in bacterial community as the NOB Nitrobacter spp. were replaced with NOB belonging to the genus Nitrospiraspp. and were closely related to Candidatus Nitrospira defluvii. A community of anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing microorganisms –uncultured Planctomycetales bacterium clone P4 (closely related to Candidatus Broca...