The ways of the improvement of the method for the determination of steel losses in the electrical devices of basic types are substantiated. The method is refined by taking into account the magnetic system properties at high saturation. The presence of the interrelation between the special features of the domain structure movement and the shape of the hysteresis loop is proved for laminated cores. It enabled the explanation of the causes for the abnormally high values of the losses in the steel and the atypical shapes of the hysteresis loops at its high saturation. The empiric dependence for the determination of steel losses is obtained. It provides for the high convergence of the calculated and experimental data at the actual degree of saturation and can be used in the direct-current operation of the analyzed devices.

The lumbosacral region of the spine is the most susceptible to pathology in large breed dogs. The most common pathologies of this segment include intervertebral disc disease, distortion of vertebrae, narrowing of the lumbosacral canal and congenital defects of the spine. The aim of this study is to develop a mathematical model describing the height of each lumbosacral vertebra in the dog in relation to the position of the vertebra. For the mathematical analysis we used the results of two measurements for each lumbar vertebra. The first measurement was made from the top of the spinous process to the center of the spinal cord. The second measurement was made from the center of the body of one vertebra to the center of the body of the next one. It is possible to determine an approximate mathematical model that would be uniform for the entire species and would connect the height of the lumbar vertebrae with their location for every breed of the domestic dog. Despite the considerable differences in the constitutional type (small, medium and large breeds), the morphology of the lumbosacral region of the spine exhibits similar proportions. Therefore, it is possible to assess an anomaly of this spinal region objectively. These findings suggest that it is possible to determine an approximate mathematical model that would be uniform for the entire species. The present study was carried out as part of a larger project. This particular work is a pilot study.

This paper presents a suggested approach for forensic investigation of bridge decks in which Ground penetrating radar (GPR) consisting of two antennas is used to assess the current conditions. The methodology was tested on a bridge deck in central Sicily. The acquired data were analyzed for identifying the asphalt overlay thickness, concrete cover depth and deck thickness and location of the rebar reinforcement. In the proposed approach for assessing bridge deck conditions the GPR survey was complemented with (i) a site investigation on layer thicknesses for calibration/verification purposes of the GPR response and (ii) a Terrestrial Laser Scanning system (TLS) to verify the bridge design slab curvature. The study shows that this methodology has significant merits on accurately assessing such bridge deck components when bridge design records are non-existing, and by using non-invasive methods such as laser scanning and GPR. The great advantage provided by the TLS technique is the possibility to obtain a 3D output model of the scanned element with the accuracy of the best topographic instruments in order to complement GPR data surveys for bridge inspection.

The article discusses the expansion of the influence of the museum as a culture forming structure on the example of one of the most beautiful cities in Eastern Europe. Lviv is considered a regional metropolis, its cultural influence extends across Western Ukraine. The paper presents the evolution of the museum’s function in the spatial development of Lviv and urban conditions of expanding this function in a modern city. The need for the placement of museum complexes on the outskirts of Lviv’s city center was determined.

Campylobacter is one of the most common bacterial causes of diarrheal illness in humans. This study describes the isolation of Campylobacter lari from seabirds during 4 consecutive summers (2000-2003) in Hope Bay, Antarctic Peninsula. One hundred and twenty-two spontaneously dead Antarctic seabirds were studied. Ten Campylobacter lari isolates from 7 skuas (Stercorarius spp.), 2 kelp gulls (Larus dominicanus), and 1 Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) were identified by phenotypical characteristics. Human activity in Antarctica was identified as a possible source of infectious agents, and migratory birds could be carriers of infectious diseases. However, nothing is known about zoonotic enteropathogens causing diseases in humans living in the Antarctic region. We demonstrated that seabirds carried C. lari in their intestines, and that they were settled around the lakes where humans are supplied with fresh water. Consumption of fresh water from Antarctic lakes contaminated with feces of seabirds could be a risk of human campylobacteriosis. This is the first report of C. lari isolated from seabirds in Hope Bay, Antarctica.

Marine rock-accumulative terraces at 2-230 m a.s.l. in the southern Sörkapp Land are typical for glacioisostaticly uplifted areas. The Holocene terraces reach up to 19 m a.s.l. An outstanding coastal ridge at 9-10 m a.s.l. was radiocarbon-dated at 6580±160 years B.P. No marine transgression during the Holocene on higher and older terraces was noted, what is also confirmed by well preserved raised storm ridges. Any of glacial advances during the Holocene were more extensive than the one of the Little Ice Age. However the Pleistocene glaciations were more extensive. Among glacial landforms in the area there are: ice-cored frontal and lateral moraines up to 70 m high, plains of ground, ablation and fluted moraines, complexes of glaciofluvial fans. The glaciers retreated 0.3-2 km since 1936 i.e. ca 10 m a year on the average. There are large consequent structural landslides on eastern slopes of Keilhaufjellet.

Polish law oil wastes divides them according to their origins. In general, wastes can he divided into communal and industrial, and vessel wastes undoubtedly belong to both groups. The authors report in this work that the list of wastes and the means of their disposal comply fully with European Union directives that have been implemented successively. The introduction to Polish environmental protection law of the integrated permit and the best available technologies should permit the better processing of waste management and ensure compliance with the requirements described in the Second Polish Ecological Policy for 2003-2010. This policy assumes that there will be a decrease in hazards posed by asbestos, the average amount of communal wastes will remain stable, and the pi'oduction of wastes will be limited, including that aboard vessels.

In 1993–1997 the occurrence of cabbage aphid (Brevicoryne brassicae L.) and predators from Cecidomyiidae, Coccinellidae and Chrysopidae was observed on the nine different late cabbage vegetables; Savoy cabbage cv. ‘Vertus’, white cabbage cv. ‘Amager’, red cabbage cv. ‘Langendijker’, brussel sprouts cv. ‘Maczuga’, cauliflower cv. ‘Pionier’, blue kohlrabi cv. ‘Masłowa’, white kohlrabi cv. ‘Delikates’, kale cv. ‘Zielony Kędzierzawy’ and broccoli cv. ‘Piast’. Among the examined predators only the cecidomyiid – Aphidoletes aphidimyza Rond. (Cecidomyiidae) played an important role in reducing the number of cabbage aphids. The cruciferous species had no impact on the density of A. aphidimyza population, and females laying eggs. The size of aphid colonies on cabbage leaves played the most important role.

Gaeumannomyces graminis is an etiologic agent of take-all, economically important disease of cereals worldwide. A polymerase chain reaction with variety-specific primers was successfully used for detection of G. graminis var. tritici in plant tissue. Obtained results showed that this diagnostic method is a very sensitive and useful tool for detection of the pathogen even before disease symptoms arise. DNA polymorphism revealed by RAPD-PCR with three arbitrary primers was suitable for assessing genetic variation among Ggt isolates originating from wheat and rye.

This paper presents an experimental study on chicken egg white solution ultrafiltration, where membrane fouling has been the main point of concern. Separation process has been performed with a 150 kDa tubular ceramic TiO2/Al2O3 membrane. The operating parameters have been set as follows: transmembrane pressure 105–310 kPa, cross-flow velocity 2.73–4.55 m/s, pH 5 and constant temperature of 293 K. Resistance-in-series model has been used to calculate total resistance and its components. The experimental data have been described with four pore blocking models (complete blocking, intermediate blocking, standard blocking and cake filtration). The results obtained show that the dominant fouling mechanism is represented by cake filtration model.

The breadth first signal decoder (BSIDE) is well known for its optimal maximum likelihood (ML) performance with lesser complexity. In this paper, we analyze a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) detection scheme that combines; column norm based ordering minimum mean square error (MMSE) and BSIDE detection methods. The investigation is carried out with a breadth first tree traversal technique, where the computational complexity encountered at the lower layers of the tree is high. This can be eliminated by carrying detection in the lower half of the tree structure using MMSE and upper half using BSIDE, after rearranging the column of the channel using norm calculation. The simulation results show that this approach achieves 22% of complexity reduction for 2x2 and 50% for 4x4 MIMO systems without any degradation in the performance.