Showing papers by "Wrocław University of Technology published in 2017"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed an overarching review of national municipal waste management systems and waste-to-energy as an important part of it in the context of circular economy in selected countries in Europe.
543 citations
TL;DR: This review shines light on CPs and MOFs as optical media for state-of-the-art photonic phenomena such as multi-photon absorption, triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA) and stimulated emission, and outlines design principles, employing both intramolecular and intermolecular strategies, that are necessary for maximizing the NLO response.
Abstract: The building block modular approach that lies behind coordination polymers (CPs) and metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) results not only in a plethora of materials that can be obtained but also in a vast array of material properties that could be aimed at. Optical properties appear to be particularly predetermined by the character of individual structural units and by the intricate interplay between them. Indeed, the “design principles” shaping the optical properties of these materials seem to be well explored for luminescence and second-harmonic generation (SHG) phenomena; these have been covered in numerous previous reviews. Herein, we shine light on CPs and MOFs as optical media for state-of-the-art photonic phenomena such as multi-photon absorption, triplet–triplet annihilation (TTA) and stimulated emission. In the first part of this review we focus on the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of CPs and MOFs, with a closer look at the two-photon absorption property. We discuss the scope of applicability of most commonly used measurement techniques (Z-scan and two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF)) that can be applied for proper determination of the NLO properties of these materials; in particular, we suggest recommendations for their use, along with a discussion of the best reporting practices of NLO parameters. We also outline design principles, employing both intramolecular and intermolecular strategies, that are necessary for maximizing the NLO response. A review of recent literature on two-, three- and multi-photon absorption in CPs and MOFs is further supplemented with application-oriented processes such as two-photon 3D patterning and data storage. Additionally, we provide an overview of the latest achievements in the field of frequency doubling (SHG) and tripling (third-harmonic generation, THG) in these materials. Apart from nonlinear processes, in the next sections we also target the photonic properties of MOFs that benefit from their porosity, and resulting from this their ability to serve as containers for optically-active molecules. Thus, we survey dye@MOF composites as novel media in which efficient upconversion via triplet energy migration (TEM) occurs as well as materials for stimulated emission and multi-photon pumped lasing. Prospects for producing lasing as an intrinsic property of MOFs has also been discussed. Overall, further development of the optical processes highlighted herein should allow for realization of various photonic, data storage, biomedical and optoelectronic applications.
432 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the link between pyrolysis conditions, the chemical and mineralogical composition of their products and the benefits of pyroolysis in the waste management sector.
Abstract: The fundamentals of pyrolysis, its latest developments, the different conditions of the process and its residues are of great importance in evaluating the applicability of the pyrolysis process within the waste management sector and in waste treatment. In particular the types of residue and their further use or treatment is of extreme interest as they could become the source of secondary raw materials or be used for energy generation in waste treatments. The main area of focus of this paper is the investigation of the link between the pyrolysis conditions, the chemical and mineralogical composition of their products and the benefits of pyrolysis in the waste management sector. More specifically the paper covers the fast, intermediate and slow pyrolysis of organic waste and mixtures of inorganic and organic waste from households. The influence of catalysts during fast pyrolysis on the product yield and composition is not being considered in this review.
320 citations
TL;DR: The concerted motion of G-protein-coupled receptors and G proteins on the plasma membrane is analyzed and a quantitative model is provided that reveals the key factors that underlie the high spatiotemporal complexity of their interactions.
Abstract: G-protein-coupled receptors mediate the biological effects of many hormones and neurotransmitters and are important pharmacological targets. They transmit their signals to the cell interior by interacting with G proteins. However, it is unclear how receptors and G proteins meet, interact and couple. Here we analyse the concerted motion of G-protein-coupled receptors and G proteins on the plasma membrane and provide a quantitative model that reveals the key factors that underlie the high spatiotemporal complexity of their interactions. Using two-colour, single-molecule imaging we visualize interactions between individual receptors and G proteins at the surface of living cells. Under basal conditions, receptors and G proteins form activity-dependent complexes that last for around one second. Agonists specifically regulate the kinetics of receptor-G protein interactions, mainly by increasing their association rate. We find hot spots on the plasma membrane, at least partially defined by the cytoskeleton and clathrin-coated pits, in which receptors and G proteins are confined and preferentially couple. Imaging with the nanobody Nb37 suggests that signalling by G-protein-coupled receptors occurs preferentially at these hot spots. These findings shed new light on the dynamic interactions that control G-protein-coupled receptor signalling.
250 citations
TL;DR: A practical methodology to generate probabilistic load forecasts by performing quantile regression averaging on a set of sister point forecasts and it leads to dominantly better performance as measured by the pinball loss function and the Winkler score.
Abstract: The majority of the load forecasting literature has been on point forecasting, which provides the expected value for each step throughout the forecast horizon. In the smart grid era, the electricity demand is more active and less predictable than ever before. As a result, probabilistic load forecasting, which provides additional information on the variability and uncertainty of future load values, is becoming of great importance to power systems planning and operations. This paper proposes a practical methodology to generate probabilistic load forecasts by performing quantile regression averaging on a set of sister point forecasts. There are two major benefits of the proposed approach. It can leverage the development in the point load forecasting literature over the past several decades and it does not rely so much on high-quality expert forecasts, which are rarely achievable in load forecasting practice. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach and make the results reproducible to the load forecasting community, we construct a case study using the publicly available data from the Global Energy Forecasting Competition 2014. Compared with several benchmark methods, the proposed approach leads to dominantly better performance as measured by the pinball loss function and the Winkler score.
242 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review the properties of pyrolysis gas for energy recovery because it is a good gaseous fuel and identify possible implications of possible implications in the future.
197 citations
TL;DR: The results of analyses of the Type 1 error efficiency and power of standard parametric and non-parametric statistical tests when applied to non-normal data sets are summarised.
Abstract: There have been many changes in statistical theory in the past 30 years, including increased evidence that non-robust methods may fail to detect important results. The statistical advice available to software engineering researchers needs to be updated to address these issues. This paper aims both to explain the new results in the area of robust analysis methods and to provide a large-scale worked example of the new methods. We summarise the results of analyses of the Type 1 error efficiency and power of standard parametric and non-parametric statistical tests when applied to non-normal data sets. We identify parametric and non-parametric methods that are robust to non-normality. We present an analysis of a large-scale software engineering experiment to illustrate their use. We illustrate the use of kernel density plots, and parametric and non-parametric methods using four different software engineering data sets. We explain why the methods are necessary and the rationale for selecting a specific analysis. We suggest using kernel density plots rather than box plots to visualise data distributions. For parametric analysis, we recommend trimmed means, which can support reliable tests of the differences between the central location of two or more samples. When the distribution of the data differs among groups, or we have ordinal scale data, we recommend non-parametric methods such as Cliff's ź or a robust rank-based ANOVA-like method.
192 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, Wroclaw University of Technology (Wroclaw, Poland) and Brunel University London (UK) conducted a joint research in collaboration between WROCL and BUL.
Abstract: This research was conducted in collaboration between Wroclaw University of Technology (Poland) and Brunel University London (UK). The support for the Polish team was by the Ministry of Science and HigherEducationunderGrantno.50532.
173 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a commercial graphite oxides with different oxygen contents and specifications were prepared by different versions of the Hummers method and by oxidation with sodium dichromate, and the results showed that even using the same oxidizing method, the chemical structure can be tailored by changing reaction conditions.
161 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a review of available waste management systems for households is presented, where the authors identify the best available waste disposal systems for domestic use and compare the most important features of each system.
139 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the synthesis of four perovskite-type metal formate frameworks, [CH3NH2NH2][M(HCOO)3] (MHyM) with M = Mn, Mg, Fe, and Zn, was reported.
Abstract: We report the synthesis of four perovskite-type metal formate frameworks, [CH3NH2NH2][M(HCOO)3] (MHyM) with M = Mn, Mg, Fe, and Zn. These compounds exhibit two structural phase transitions. The first transition temperature depends weakly on a type of divalent metal and is observed at 310–327 K on heating. X-ray diffraction, DSC, and vibrational studies revealed that it has a second-order character. It is associated with partial ordering of the methylhydrazinium (MHy+) cations and change of symmetry from nonpolar R3c to polar R3c. Pyroelectric measurements suggest the ferroelectric nature of the room-temperature phase. The second, low-temperature phase transition has a first-order character and is associated with further ordering of the MHy+ cations and distortion of the metal formate framework. Magnetic susceptibility data show that MHyMn and MHyFe exhibit ferromagnetic-like phase transitions at 9 and 21 K, respectively. Since the low-temperature phase is polar, these compounds are possible multiferroic ...
TL;DR: Two classes of macrocyclic-peptide inhibitors directed at the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway are characterized and it is shown that they are capable of antagonizing PD- L1 signaling and, similarly to antibodies, can restore the function of T-cells.
Abstract: Blockade of the immunoinhibitory PD-1/PD-L1 pathway using monoclonal antibodies has shown impressive results with durable clinical antitumor responses. Anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 antibodies have now been approved for the treatment of a number of tumor types, whereas the development of small molecules targeting immune checkpoints lags far behind. We characterized two classes of macrocyclic-peptide inhibitors directed at the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway. We show that these macrocyclic compounds act by directly binding to PD-L1 and that they are capable of antagonizing PD-L1 signaling and, similarly to antibodies, can restore the function of T-cells. We also provide the crystal structures of two of these small-molecule inhibitors bound to PD-L1. The structures provide a rationale for the checkpoint inhibition by these small molecules, and a description of their small molecule/PD-L1 interfaces provides a blueprint for the design of small-molecule inhibitors of the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway.
TL;DR: In this paper, a facile two-step synthesis of polypyrrole/Fe 2 O 3 /reduced graphene oxide (PFG) ternary composite was presented.
Abstract: Herein, we present a facile two-step synthesis of polypyrrole/Fe 2 O 3 /reduced graphene oxide (PFG) ternary composite. It includes the preparation of the binary Fe 2 O 3 /reduced graphene oxide (FG) composite under hydrothermal conditions, followed by oxidative polymerization of pyrrole on the FG composite surface. X-ray diffraction measurements revealed the presence of the α-Fe 2 O 3 phase in both composites. The electrochemical measurements performed using the composite electrodes in a 1 M Na 2 SO 4 solution revealed that the binder-free PFG electrode exhibits a high specific capacitance of 140 F g −1 with an excellent capacitance retention of 93% after 5000 cycles at 1 A g −1 which can be attributed to the synergistic effect between polypyrrole and FG composite.
TL;DR: This work proposes a novel approach to FDR control that is based on prescreening to identify the level of resolution of distinct hypotheses and shows how FDR-controlling strategies can be adapted to account for this initial selection both with theoretical results and simulations that mimic the dependence structure to be expected in GWAS.
Abstract: With the rise of both the number and the complexity of traits of interest, control of the false discovery rate (FDR) in genetic association studies has become an increasingly appealing and accepted target for multiple comparison adjustment. While a number of robust FDR-controlling strategies exist, the nature of this error rate is intimately tied to the precise way in which discoveries are counted, and the performance of FDR-controlling procedures is satisfactory only if there is a one-to-one correspondence between what scientists describe as unique discoveries and the number of rejected hypotheses. The presence of linkage disequilibrium between markers in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) often leads researchers to consider the signal associated to multiple neighboring SNPs as indicating the existence of a single genomic locus with possible influence on the phenotype. This a posteriori aggregation of rejected hypotheses results in inflation of the relevant FDR. We propose a novel approach to FDR control that is based on prescreening to identify the level of resolution of distinct hypotheses. We show how FDR-controlling strategies can be adapted to account for this initial selection both with theoretical results and simulations that mimic the dependence structure to be expected in GWAS. We demonstrate that our approach is versatile and useful when the data are analyzed using both tests based on single markers and multiple regression. We provide an R package that allows practitioners to apply our procedure on standard GWAS format data, and illustrate its performance on lipid traits in the North Finland Birth Cohort 66 cohort study.
TL;DR: In this article, a mode-locking in holmium-doped all-fiber laser based on black phosphorus saturable absorber is reported, where the generated solitons are centered at 2094 nm with bandwidth reaching 4.2 nm and pulse duration of 1.3 ps.
Abstract: We report mode-locking in holmium-doped all-fiber laser based on black phosphorus saturable absorber. The generated solitons are centered at 2094 nm with bandwidth reaching 4.2 nm and pulse duration of 1.3 ps. In harmonic mode-locking, up to 10th harmonic (290 MHz) was obtained. Properties of black phosphorus saturable absorber are investigated. Our findings validate black phosphorus suitability for ultrafast applications in mid-infrared.
TL;DR: The total PL intensity decreases moderately in WSe2 and WS2, strongly in MoS2 and dramatically in MoSe2, and it is proposed that the line interpreted previously in PL spectra of WSe 2 andWS2 as related to the biexciton emission is a superposition of the bIExciton, trion and localized exciton emission.
Abstract: We report on detailed temperature dependent (T = 7-295 K) optical spectroscopy studies of WSe2, WS2, MoSe2 and MoS2 monolayers exfoliated onto the same SiO2/Si substrate. In the high energy region of absorption type (reflectivity contrast-RC) and emission (photo-luminescence-PL) spectra of all the monolayers resonances related to the neutral and charged excitons (X and T) are detected in the entire measured temperature range. The optical amplitudes of excitons and trions strongly depend on the temperature and two dimensional carrier gas (2DCG) concentration. In the low energy PL spectra of WSe2 and WS2 we detect a group of lines (L) which dominates the spectra at low temperatures but rapidly quenches with the increase in the temperature. Interestingly, in the same energy range of the RC spectra recorded for WS2, we observe an additional line (L 0), which behaves in the same way as the L lines in the PL spectra. The optical amplitude of L 0 and T resonances in the RC spectra strongly increases with the growth of the 2DCG concentration. On the base of these observations we identify the L 0 resonance in the RC spectra as arising from the fine structure of the trion. We also propose that the line interpreted previously in PL spectra of WSe2 and WS2 as related to the biexciton emission is a superposition of the biexciton, trion and localized exciton emission. We find that with the temperature increase from 7-295 K the total PL intensity decreases moderately in WSe2 and WS2, strongly in MoS2 and dramatically in MoSe2.
TL;DR: In this article, Nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxides (N-rGOs) have been synthesized at various temperatures by a facile hydrothermal route involving the doping of an aqueous graphene oxide dispersion with amitrole.
TL;DR: A long-sought route through ribose aminooxazoline to the pyrimidine β-ribonucleosides and their phosphate derivatives is described that involves an extraordinarily efficient photoanomerization of α-2-thioribocytidine.
Abstract: Although ribose aminooxazoline has been shown to be a potential intermediate in prebiotic pyrimidine ribonucleotide synthesis, a route by which this could occur has remained elusive. Now, a remarkably efficient photoanomerization reaction has been investigated by theory and experiment. The new route affords enantiomerically pure ribonucleotides when the starting material is enantioenriched.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors proposed the mitigation of DG impact on DOCR coordination employing adaptive protection scheme (APS) using differential evolution algorithm while improving overall sensitivity of relays, which is the most implemented protective device in the electrical network, also suffers performance degradation in the presence of DG.
Abstract: Distributed generation (DG) brought new challenges for protection engineers since standard relay settings of traditional system may no longer function properly under increasing presence of DG. The extreme case is coordination loss between primary and backup relays. The directional overcurrent relay (DOCR), which is the most implemented protective device in the electrical network, also suffers performance degradation in the presence of DG. Therefore, this paper proposes the mitigation of DG impact on DOCR coordination employing adaptive protection scheme (APS) using differential evolution algorithm while improving overall sensitivity of relays. The impacts of DG prior and after the application of APS are presented based on interconnected 6 bus and IEEE 14 bus system. As a consequence, general sensitivity improvement and mitigation scheme is proposed.
TL;DR: In this article, Ni(II)-concentration and pH were measured by N2 and CO2 sorption measurements, and the results showed that the Ni-ion adsorption process and multi-ion anchorage mechanism improved the Ni (II)-adhesive adhesion.
Abstract: Adsorption of Ni(II) on low cost activated carbon (AC) from spent coffee (SAC) and coffee husk (HAC) has been studied. Porous textures of adsorbents were characterized by N2 and CO2 sorption measurements. Batch adsorption experiments were performed as a function of adsorbent dose, Ni(II)-concentration and pH. Adsorption of Ni(II) was evaluated using different adsorption isotherm models (Langmuir, Freundlich, Monolayer Model for Single-Compound Adsorption and Dubinin – Radushkevich) and thermodynamics and kinetics parameters were determined. Both adsorbents show high affinity for Ni(II), however both the surface area and the pore size of the ACs do not seem to be the determining factor in the adsorption process. These ACs are microporous in nature. In contrast, the higher oxygen amount associated to the mineral matter as K2O and carbon functionalities corresponding with O H in HAC are determining for the Ni-ion adsorption process and multi-ion anchorage mechanism. In addition, the exchange of potassium present in the ACs improves the Ni(II) adsorption process. Thermodynamics and kinetics evidence a fast and endothermic adsorption process. The maximum adsorption capacity using the Langmuir isotherm model was found to be 57.14 mg/g and 51.91 mg/g for HAC and SAC, respectively. The sorption efficiency was higher for HAC as adsorbent. At low concentrations of Ni(II) (30 mg/L) and higher temperatures (308–328 K), removals >94% were measured for HAC, achieving safe discharge concentration values.
TL;DR: A straightforward synthesis of bis(CAAC)Ru indenylidene complexes, which are highly effective in the formation of both terminal and internal C=C bonds at loadings as low as 1 ppm, is reported.
Abstract: The state-of-the-art in olefin metathesis is application of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-containing ruthenium alkylidenes for the formation of internal C=C bonds and of cyclic alkyl amino carbene (CAAC)-containing ruthenium benzylidenes in the production of terminal olefins. A straightforward synthesis of bis(CAAC)Ru indenylidene complexes, which are highly effective in the formation of both terminal and internal C=C bonds at loadings as low as 1 ppm, is now reported.
01 Feb 2017
TL;DR: In this paper, a rate equation model for the dark and bright excitons kinetics is proposed which explains the wide variation in the observed degree of circular polarization of the PL emission in different TMDs monolayers.
Abstract: A rate equation model for the dark and bright excitons kinetics is proposed which explains the wide variation in the observed degree of circular polarization of the PL emission in different TMDs monolayers. Our work suggests that the dark exciton states play an important, and previously unsuspected role in determining the degree of polarization of the PL emission. A dark exciton ground state provides a robust reservoir for valley polarization, which tries to maintain a Boltzmann distribution of the bright exciton states in the same valley via the intra valley bright dark exciton scattering mechanism. The dependence of the degree of circular polarization on the detuning energy of the excitation in MoSe2 suggests that the electron–hole exchange interaction dominates over two LA phonon emission mechanism for inter valley scattering in TMDs.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focused on the thermal characterisation of biomass ashes especially of mineral phase transformation and showed that ash generated during combustion can deposit and consequently cause serious operating problems such as slagging, fouling and corrosion of metal surface limiting heat transfer.
TL;DR: A small-molecule chemical toolbox consisting of activity-based probes with different fluorophore-detecting groups with minimal wavelength overlap and highly selective natural and unnatural amino acid recognition sequences is generated to gain insight into the regulation of NSP activity.
Abstract: Neutrophils, the front line defenders against infection, express four serine proteases (NSPs) that play roles in the control of cell-signaling pathways and defense against pathogens and whose imbalance leads to pathological conditions. Dissecting the roles of individual NSPs in humans is problematic because neutrophils are end-stage cells with a short half-life and minimal ongoing protein synthesis. To gain insight into the regulation of NSP activity we have generated a small-molecule chemical toolbox consisting of activity-based probes with different fluorophore-detecting groups with minimal wavelength overlap and highly selective natural and unnatural amino acid recognition sequences. The key feature of these activity-based probes is the ability to use them for simultaneous observation and detection of all four individual NSPs by fluorescence microscopy, a feature never achieved in previous studies. Using these probes we demonstrate uneven distribution of NSPs in neutrophil azurophil granules, such that...
TL;DR: In this paper, an artificial intelligence approach for the optimization study of a Tri-bed twin-evaporator adsorption chiller using low-temperature heat from cogeneration is presented.
TL;DR: Two manifestations of ergodicity breaking are unraveled in the dynamics of membrane proteins in the somatic surface of hippocampal neurons: transient confinement effects and dynamical functional estimator.
Abstract: Stochastic motion on the surface of living cells is critical to promote molecular encounters that are necessary for multiple cellular processes. Often the complexity of the cell membranes leads to anomalous diffusion, which under certain conditions it is accompanied by non-ergodic dynamics. Here, we unravel two manifestations of ergodicity breaking in the dynamics of membrane proteins in the somatic surface of hippocampal neurons. Three different tagged molecules are studied on the surface of the soma: the voltage-gated potassium and sodium channels Kv1.4 and Nav1.6 and the glycoprotein CD4. In these three molecules ergodicity breaking is unveiled by the confidence interval of the mean square displacement and by the dynamical functional estimator. Ergodicity breaking is found to take place due to transient confinement effects since the molecules alternate between free diffusion and confined motion.
TL;DR: In this paper, the sensor network is perceived as the fundamental layer of the smart habitat, and inference is provided not only by direct operation on acquired signals, but also network model is identified for recorded ozone data in 100 measurement points deployed in Poland.
Abstract: This paper initiates a discussion on the application of the graph signal processing to exploration of complex and heterogeneous data and systems, and especially for the case of environmental monitoring in smart habitat of city, country, and continent. This emerging approach relates to the objects, which can be represented by a networked structure, but enables also the reconstruction of network-like associations from data when this kind of structured organization is not apparent. In this paper, the sensor network is perceived as the fundamental layer of the smart habitat, and inference is provided not only by direct operation on acquired signals, but also network model is identified for recorded ozone (O3) data in 100 measurement points deployed in Poland. It means that a graph as a mathematical representation of the complex network is generated, which links system features and behaviors coded in measured data sets. Results of multiscale projections are commented for ozone data sets. Furthermore, in opposite to the classical signal processing, the spectral analysis for graph signals is demonstrated, including reconstruction of graph Laplacian and Fourier transform calculation for signals spanned on graph vertices. Finally, local (related to the location of sensor in network) properties and behaviors are clustered based on spectral maps generated for graph signals.
TL;DR: In this paper, the results of six experimental configurations of solar-thermal collectors are presented and analyzed, and the results showed that the hybrid solar collectors would be able to cover approximately 60% of the dwelling's hot water needs for days with low levels of solar radiation.
TL;DR: The synthesis and screening of HyCoSuL for human caspases and legumain is described and possible modifications and adaptations of this approach are discussed that make it a useful tool for developing highly active and selective reagents for a wide variety of proteolytic enzymes.
Abstract: Many biologically and chemically based approaches have been developed to design highly active and selective protease substrates and probes. It is, however, difficult to find substrate sequences that are truly selective for any given protease, as different proteases can demonstrate a great deal of overlap in substrate specificities. In some cases, better enzyme selectivity can be achieved using peptide libraries containing unnatural amino acids such as the hybrid combinatorial substrate library (HyCoSuL), which uses both natural and unnatural amino acids. HyCoSuL is a combinatorial library of tetrapeptides containing amino acid mixtures at the P4-P2 positions, a fixed amino acid at the P1 position, and an ACC (7-amino-4-carbamoylmethylcoumarin) fluorescent tag occupying the P1' position. Once the peptide is recognized and cleaved by a protease, the ACC is released and produces a readable fluorescence signal. Here, we describe the synthesis and screening of HyCoSuL for human caspases and legumain. We also discuss possible modifications and adaptations of this approach that make it a useful tool for developing highly active and selective reagents for a wide variety of proteolytic enzymes. The protocol can be divided into three major parts: (i) solid-phase synthesis of the fluorescence-labeled HyCoSuL, (ii) screening of protease P4-P2 preferences, and (iii) synthesis of the optimized activity probes equipped with an AOMK (acyloxymethyl ketone) reactive group and a biotin label for easy detection. Beginning with the library design, the entire protocol can be completed in 4-8 weeks (HyCoSuL synthesis: 3-5 weeks; HyCoSuL screening per enzyme: 4-8 d; and activity-based probe synthesis: 1-2 weeks).