Celem artykułu jest opis i ocena roli debaty akademickiej w sytuacji poważnego konfl iktu społeczno – kulturowego. Przedmiotem analiz jest wybrany przypadek – reakcje środowiska akademickiego w Polsce na kryzys migracyjny oraz kontrowersje związane z przyjęciem uchodźców. Spór o uchodźców obejmuje zarówno kwestie religijne, etyczne, społeczno-kulturowe, psychologiczne, polityczne, jak i ekonomiczne. Jest więc odpowiednim polem analizy roli szkół wyższych i badaczy reprezentujących różne dyscypliny w kształtowaniu sfery publicznej. Debatą akademicką nazywamy tutaj wymianę opinii podczas zgromadzeń z udziałem osób reprezentujących uczelnie i ośrodki badawcze. Od jesieni 2015 roku toczy się w Polsce dyskusja na temat kryzysu migracyjnego i przyjęcia uchodźców. Wiele wskazuje na to, że ta kwestia będzie już stałym tematem dyskursu publicznego. Przedmiotem naszego zainteresowania były te wydarzenia, które miały charakter akademicki (konferencje, seminaria, dyskusje organizowane przez ośrodki akademickie) lub debaty z udziałem osób reprezentujących środowiska akademickie. Analizie poddaliśmy tylko treści tych debat, których tematem zasadniczym był kryzys migracyjny. Analiza polegała na poszukiwaniu następujących informacji: (1) Kto był organizatorem i uczestnikiem debat oraz według jakich reguł one przebiegały? (2) Jakie postulaty w odniesieniu do decydentów przekazują przedstawiciele środowiska akademickiego? (3) W jakim stopniu i zakresie ta debata wpływa na dyskurs polityczny i medialny?

The article covers the systematic basis for the creation of new technological processes of corn harvesting machines. Modern corn-harvesting machines have reached certain thresholds according to their technological properties that most significantly affect the final production and economic indicators of planting corn for grain efficiency, still they do not meet modern requirements. The technological properties mentioned above are hardly adjusted for wide range of physical and mechanical properties of the plants and crop parameters. This situation is caused by new machine´s working parts being viewed by researchers and developers as complex technical systems not from the standpoint of general systems theory but in terms of the use of traditional knowledge of the laws of agricultural mechanics, thus not getting proper attention to their systematic coordination with working conditions. Based on this, the paper presents a structural scheme for the system “mechanized corn for grain harvesting”, key elements of which are: agricultural (А), engineering (В) and selectional (С) supply. Interconnection of the subsystem´s elements and their consistency determine the effectiveness of the whole process. Inconsistency of the links АВ and ВC is observed. The conceptual system “mechanized corn for grain harvesting” design relates to the field with clear NO-factors: incompleteness, uncertainty, inconsistency and lack of information for decision making, thus it is important to review tasks of conceptual design from the most general constructual standpoint. The method of describing systems at the conceptual level is suggested. This systematic representation of corn-harvesting machines allows to approach the task of their workflows modeling from the most general standpoint.

The species structure of plant parasitic nematode populations from the rhizosphere of winter wheat grown with crop rotation or in 48-year-old monoculture was analyzed and compared. Dominating species: Bitylenchus dubius, Merlinius microdorus, Paratylenchus neglectus and Heterodera avenae, in monoculture plots, had higher populations than in crop rotation plots. Heterodera avenae eggs and larvae were infected by pathogenic fungi in 68% of the monoculture crops (vs. 65–66% of the cysts from crop rotation), 12–20% of Paratylenchus sp. specimens were colonized by bacteria, mainly by Bacillus penetrans. This study shows nematological changes occurring in long-term wheat breeding, thus providing additional information necessary to fight dangerous viral vectors of the examined cereal.

Concerns about food quality and environmental protection have led to the search for effective and safe insect control measures. This study was carried out to evaluate the efficacy of some insecticides (malathion, alpha-cypermethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin) and clove oil, alone and in combinations, to protect wheat grain against Rhyzopertha dominica. Adult mortality, progeny emergence and weight loss of treated grain were examined. The results revealed that the tested insecticides and clove oil alone showed high efficiency to R. dominica with respect to mortality, progeny of the adults and weight loss of wheat grain. The mixing of lambda-cyhalothrin and clove oil with the most effective insecticide (alphacypermethrin) enhanced its efficacy to R. dominica. It was more efficient against R. dominica than when used alone with respect to mortality and progeny of the adults. However, mixing alpha-cypermethrin with malathion reduced the efficacy of alpha-cypermethrin against R. dominica with respect to mortality and progeny of the adults. Combinations of alpha-cypermethrin and clove oil reduced wheat grain loss more than using them alone. Mixing lambda-cyhalothrin and clove oil with low concentrations of alpha-cypermethrin improved its efficacy against R. dominica and therefore may reduce environmental pollution, lower risks to human health, and delay insect resistance development.

Potato white mold caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is an important plant disease occurring in many potato-producing areas throughout the world. In this study, a specific diagnostic method was used to detect and quantify S. sclerotiorum ascospores, and its forecasting ability was assessed in potato fields during flowering periods of 2011 to 2014 in Bahar County, Hamedan Province. Using GenEMBL database, a primer pair, HZSCREV and HZSCFOR, was designed and optimized for the pathogen. After testing the sensitivity of primers, DNA was extracted from samples of outdoor Burkard traps from potato fields. A linear association was observed between pathogen DNA and the number of ascospores using the quantitative PCR (qPCR) technique in the presence of SYBR dye. The qPCR could successfully detect DNA amounts representing two S. sclerotiorum ascospores and was not sensitive to a variety of tested fungi such as Botrytis cinerea, Alternaria brassicae, Fusarium solani. In contrast to the amount of rainfall, a direct relationship was found between ascospore numbers and the incidence of potato white mold from 2011 to 2014.

Quantitative resistance in barley to four Fusarium head blight (FHB) species was investigated in vitro. Nine components involved in three assays (detached leaf, modified Petridish and seedling tests) were compared on two widely grown Syrian barley cultivars: Arabi Aswad (AS) and Arabi Abiad (AB). On AB, inoculation with FHB species resulted in a significantly shorter latent period and larger lesion length of detached leaf inoculation, more standardized area under disease progress curve (AUDPCstandard) of modified Petridish inoculation and a higher percentage of infected seedlings of pin-point inoculation than on AS. The latent period of AB was 14.89% less than AS, lesion length of AS was 6.01% less than AB, AUDPCstandard of AS was 17.07% less than AB and the percentage of infected seedlings of AS was 4.87% less than AB. Inoculation with FHB species resulted in no significant differences in the other five components measured: incubation period of detached leaf inoculation, germination rate reduction and coleoptile length reduction of modified Petridish inoculation, percentage of infected seedlings of foliar-spraying inoculation and lesion length of clip-dipping inoculation. AS was more resistant to in vitro FHB infection than AB. The latent period and AUDPCstandard recorded the highest values compared with the lowest values for lesion length and percentage of infected seedlings. It seems that measurement of the latent period and AUDPCstandard may be useful in identifying barley cultivars which are highly susceptible or resistant to FHB at early stages.

The aim of the present work was to evaluate the selectivity of nicosulfuron, alone and in combinations, applied in post-emergence (V4) of glyphosate and sulfonylurea tolerant (RR/STS) soybean. The experiments were conducted in 2015/16 and 2016/17, in Piracicaba – state of São Paulo (SP). In 2016/17, the experiment was also conducted in Palotina – state of Paraná (PR). The experiment was a randomized block design, with four repetitions and 16 treatments, with combinations of nicosulfuron, glyphosate, chlorimuron, sulfometuron and cloransulam, applied alone or in tank mixture. Crop injury and variables related to agronomic performance were evaluated. Data were subjected to analysis of variance and treatment means were compared by the Tukey test. The results obtained are significant in the positioning of herbicides in RR/STS soybean, since in the five experiments, all the treatments were selective, except for glyphosate + sulfometuron which reduced the yield of a cultivar (CD 2630 RR/STS) in the 2015/16 season.

Control failure of pests and selectivity of insecticides to beneficial arthropods are key data for the implementation of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the control failure likelihood of Plutella xylostella and the physiological selectivity active ingredients to parasitoid Oomyzus sokolowskii (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) and to predators Polybia scutellaris (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) and Lasiochilus sp. (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae). In bioassays, P. xylostella larvae and O. sokolowskii, P. scutellaris and Lasiochilus sp. adults were used. Concentration-mortality curves of six insecticides for P. xylostella were established. These curves were used to estimate the mortality of P. xylostella at the recommended concentration, in order to check a control failure of insecticides to this pest. Furthermore, the lethal concentration for 90% of populations (LC90) and the half of LC90 were used in bioassays with the natural enemies to determine the selectivity of these insects to insecticides. All tested insecticides showed control failure to P. xylostella, indicated by high LC90 and low estimated mortalities (less than 80%). The cartap insecticide was selective in half of LC90 to Lasiochilus sp. and moderately selective in LC90 and the half of LC90, to Lasiochilus sp. and P. scutellaris, respectively. Deltamethrin was moderately selective in the half of LC90 to predator Lasiochilus sp. Cartap, carbaryl, and deltamethrin reduced the mortality of Lasiochilus sp. in the half LC90. The results also showed that the insecticides methamidophos, carbaryl, parathion methyl and permethrin were not selective to any of the tested natural enemies. The role of insecticides in IPM systems of Brassica crops is discussed based on their control failures to P. xylostella and selectivity to their natural enemies.

In August 2016, tomato plants grown during a hot, wet summer with heavy soil flooding, displaying symptoms of wilting, dead plant, root rot with crown and stem rot, at Beni Suef and Fayoum governorates were examined. A number of 16 fungal isolates were isolated from tomato plants displaying the above symptoms. These isolates were classified as belonging to six species, namely: Alternaria solani, Chaetomium globosum, Fusarium solani, Fusarium oxysporum, Pythium spp. and Rhizoctonia solani. Isolates of Pythium spp. were prevalent and were found to be more pathogenic than the other fungal isolates. This species causes damping-off, root rot, sudden death, stem rot and fruit rot. The pathogen was identified as Pythium aphanidermatum based on morphological, cultural, and molecular characteristics. Biogenic silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were produced using the F. oxysporum strain and characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The size of these spherical particles ranged from 10 to 30 nm. In vitro, biogenic AgNPs showed antifungal activity against P. aphanidermatum. In greenhouse and field experiments, AgNPs treatment significantly reduced the incidence of dead tomato plants due to root rot caused by P. aphanidermatum compared to the control. All of the investigated treatments were effective and the treatment of root dipping plus soil drenching was the most effective. To the best of our knowledge, this study describes P. aphanidermatum on tomato in Egypt for the first time. Also, biogenic AgNPs could be used for controlling root rot disease caused by this pathogen.

Severe leaf spot disease was observed on Aloe vera plants in the winters of 2011 and 2012 during a survey of various nurseries of Gwalior, India. Irregular, sunken, dark creamish brown spots having reddish brown margin were noticed on both surfaces of the leaves. The causal organism was consistently isolated from symptomatic leaves on potato dextrose agar media (PDA). A total 59 isolates of fungi were recovered from diseased A. vera leaves, and 37 isolates were identified as belonging to the genus Fusarium. On the basis of morphological characteristics and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of rDNA amplified using the primers ITS4/ITS5 the pathogen was identified as Fusarium proliferatum (Matsushima) Nirenberg and pathogenicity of the isolate was confirmed by using Koch’s postulates. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of leaf spot disease caused by Fusarium proliferatum on A. vera plants in India.

Water samples were collected from irrigation ditches and drainage canals surrounding fields in southern Greater Poland. Initially, the samples were subjected to low and highspeed centrifugation and obtained pellets were used to perform biological assays. Viral identification involved biological, electron microscopic as well as molecular methods. The occurrence of Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and Tomato mosaic virus (ToMV) was demonstrated in 12 of the 17 examined water sources. The molecular analysis results showed TMV and ToMV co-infections in the analysed water samples. To our knowledge, this is the first report of tobamoviruses being found in environmental water in Poland.

Our research provides novel information concerning the insecticidal activity of Brassica alba mustard oil applied to the intestinal tract via insects’ diet against pests from the order Lepidoptera: Cydia pomonella, Dendrolimus pini, and Spodoptera exigua. The LC50 value of the oil against C. pomonella was 0.422 mg ⋅ ml–1. The LC50 of the plant oil against D. pini was 11.74 mg ⋅ ml–1. The LC50 of the botanical product against S. exigua was 11.66 mg ⋅ ml–1. The plant substance was the most active against C. pomonella in comparison with D. pini and S. exigua. The LC50 values of the oil against D. pini and S. exigua were similar. The plant oil exhibited high insecticidal activity against pests from the order Lepidoptera and may prove to be an effective biopesticide.

Potato virus Y (PVY) is one of the most destructive viruses infecting potato in Egypt and worldwide. Recent research has shown that a necrotic PVY-NTN strain is infecting potato in Upper Egypt. Chemical control is not effective to control this viral pathogen. An alternative to control PVY infecting potato is using a mild PVY strain to elicit systemic cross protection in potato plants against infection with a severe necrotic strain of PVY. Results of this study showed that a PVY necrotic strain produced a significant lesser number of local lesions on diagnostic plants (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) when these plants were treated first with a mild PVY strain. Data obtained from greenhouse and field experiments indicated that treatment of potato plants (variety Burna) with a mild PVY strain significantly protected potato from infection with a severe necrotic PVY strain, and resulted in a significant increase in tuber yield compared with infected plants without prior treatment with a mild PVY strain. The highest increase in potato tuber yield was obtained when potato plants were inoculated with a mild PVY strain 3 days before challenging with the severe necrotic PVY strain. This study proved that using a mild strain of PVY can significantly protect potato plants from infection with a severe strain of this virus under both greenhouse and field conditions and can present a potential method to reduce losses due to infection of this virus in Assiut governorate and Upper Egypt.

Biological control of plant diseases is strongly emerging as an effective alternative to the use of chemical pesticides and fungicides. Stress tolerance is an important attribute in the selection of bacteria for the development of microbial inoculants. Fourteen salt-tolerant bacteria showing different morphological features isolated from the rhizosphere of maize were evaluated for different plant growth-promoting activities. All isolates showed auxin production ranging from 5 to 24 μg ⋅ ml–1 after 48 h incubation in tryptophan supplemented media. Phosphate solubilization ranged from 15 to 419 μg ⋅ ml–1. 1-aminocycloproprane- 1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase activity was shown by 6 isolates, ammonia production by 9 isolates, siderophore production by 8 isolates while HCN production by 4 isolates. Four bacterial isolates with all plant growth-promoting properties also showed strong antagonistic activities against Fusarium oxysporum, F. verticillioides, Curvularia lunata and Alternaria alternata and abiotic stress tolerance against salinity, temperature, pH and calcium salts. Two selected bacterial isolates significantly enhanced the growth of pea and maize test plants under greenhouse conditions. The bacterial isolate M1B2, which showed the highest growth promotion of test plants, was identified as Bacillus sp. based on phenotypic and 16S rDNA gene sequencing. The results indicated that Bacillus sp. M1B2 is a potential candidate for the development of microbial inoculants in stressful environments.

The response of the Mi-1 gene to different densities of Meloidogyne incognita race 2 was investigated under controlled conditions. Susceptible and resistant tomato seedlings were inoculated with 25, 50, 100, 200, 400, 1000, 2000, 5000 and 10000 second-stage juveniles of M. incognita. Plants were uprooted 8 weeks after inoculation and the numbers of egg masses and galls on the roots, and second-stage juveniles in 100 g soil per pot were counted. In susceptible plants, there was a correlation between the number of egg masses on roots until 2000 J2 inoculum densities. In resistant plants, when inoculum densities increased, the number of egg masses and galls also increased. The reproduction factor ratio was >1 in the susceptible plant and <1 in the resistant plant. The data showed that the 5000 J2 inoculum was a critical limit, and 10000 J2s were above threshold for resistant plants. The data indicate that densities of M. incognita can seriously affect the performance of the Mi-1 gene.

In this paper, a new simple method for determination of flow parameters, axial dispersion coefficients DL and Péclet numbers Pe was presented. This method is based on an accurate measurement model considering pulse tracer response. Our method makes it possible to test the character of gas flow motion and precisely measure flow parameters for different pressures and temperatures. The idea of combining the transfer function, numerical inversion of the Laplace transform and optimisation method gives many benefits like a simple and effective way of finding solution of inverse problem and model coefficients. The calculated values of flow parameters (DL and/or Pe) suggest that in the considered case the gas flow is neither plug flow nor perfect mixing under operation condition. The obtained outcomes agree with the gas flow theory. Calculations were performed using the CAS program type, Maple®.

Comparative calculations with a mathematical model designed by the authors, which takes into consideration energy transfer from gas flowing through a given channel to gas which penetrates this channel from an adjacent channel, as well as a model which omits this phenomenon, respectively, were made for the process of separating gas mixtures carried out with an inert sweep gas in the fourend capillary membrane module. Calculations were made for the process of biogas separation using a PMSP polymer membrane, relative to helium as the sweep gas. It was demonstrated that omitting the energy transfer in the mathematical model might lead to obtaining results which indicate that the capacity of the process expressed by the value of feed flux subjected to separation is by several percent higher than in reality.

Activation of tyre pyrolysis char (TPC) can significantly increase its market value. To date, it has been frequently carried out in different reactors. In this work, thermogravimetric analysis was used instead. The performance of activated pyrolysis chars was tested by adsorption of acetone vapour and comparison of the equilibrium adsorption capacities for all samples. The highest equilibrium adsorption capacity was observed for the carbon burn-off of  60%. In addition, the equilibrium adsorption capacity of activated TPC decreases by about 10% after eleven adsorption/desorption cycles. Moreover, activation changed the porous structure of pyrolysis chars from mesoporous to micro-mesoporous.

The paper is aimed at presenting a study of the main limitations and problems influencing the robustness of diagnostic algorithms used in diagnostics of complex chemical processes and to present the selected exemplary solutions of how to increase it. The five major problems were identified in the study. They are associated with: uncertainties of fault detection and reasoning, changes of the diagnosed process structure, delays of fault symptoms formation and multiple faults. A brief description and exemplary solutions allowing increase of the robustness of diagnostic algorithms were given. Proposed methods were selected keeping in mind applicability for the on-line monitoring and diagnostics of complex chemical processes.

In order to assess the influence of hydrodynamic effects on the recovery of n-butanol by means of pervaporation, a commercial PERVAP 4060 membrane was investigated. Laboratory pervaporation experiments were carried out providing a comparison of the permeation fluxes and enrichment factors. While the enrichment factors achieved in both modules under the same process conditions were comparable, the permeation fluxes differed from each other. In order to explain the observed differences, hydrodynamic conditions in the membrane module were examined by means of CFD simulation performed with ANSYS Fluent 14.5 software. Two different modules having membrane diameters of 80 mm and 150 mm were analyzed. As a result, different velocity profiles were obtained, which served to estimate the mass transfer coefficients of butanol, ethanol and acetone.

Results of the study examining carbon monoxide and nitric oxide concentrations while burning different types of agricultural biomass: coffee husk pellets alone or in combination with wheat straw pellets and cherry stones, sewage sludge pellets, corn stover briquettes and a mixture of rye straw briquettes and miscanthus briquettes were presented. The combustion was performed in a 50 kW boiler type Biowarmer with a cast-iron moving step grate. The temperature in the combustion chamber did not exceed 800 ◦C. For all biomass types, only brittle slag was generated in the furnace, which was easily broken by a reciprocating movement of the grate. Carbon monoxide concentration in the flue gas except for the case of sewage sludge pellet firing did not exceed the permitted value of 3000 mg/m3 and nitric oxide concentration 515 mg/m3, both presented for 10% O2 concentration in the flue gas based in dry gas. Hydrocarbon concentrations for all test runs were close to zero.

This paper presents ultrafiltration results of model BSA (bovine serum albumin) and MB (myoglobin) solutions prepared with or without NaCl addition. The protein concentrations in the solutions were equal to 0.05 g
dm􀀀3 for MB and 0.5 g
dm􀀀3 for BSA. The ultrafiltration tests were performed using a laboratory scale unit equipped with 90 mm ceramic disc membranes with a filtration area of 5:610􀀀3 m2 and cut-off of 50 or 150 kDa. The tests were run under constant process conditions, i.e. a cross flow volume (CFV) of 5 m
s􀀀1, transmembrane pressure (TMP) of 0.2 MPa, temperature of 20 ◦C and NaCl concentration of 0 or 10 wt%. The installation worked in a semi-open mode with a continuous permeate discharge and retentate recycle. The performance of the membranes was measured with the permeate volumetric flow rate, JV (m3m􀀀2s􀀀1) while their selectivity was determined by the protein rejection, R. The paper evaluates and discusses the protein rejection mechanisms as well as the influence of the membrane cut-off and sodium chloride concentration in the feed on the flux decline during the ultrafiltration of BSA and MB. Moreover, it provides an analysis of the first fouling phase by applying usual filtration laws.

The aim of this paper was to demonstrate the feasibility of using a Computational Fluid Dynamics tool for the design of a novel Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell and to investigate the performance of serpentine micro-channel flow fields. A three-dimensional steady state model consisting of momentum, heat, species and charge conservation equations in combination with electrochemical equations has been developed. The design of the PEMFC involved electrolyte membrane, anode and cathode catalyst layers, anode and cathode gas diffusion layers, two collectors and serpentine micro-channels of air and fuel. The distributions of mass fraction, temperature, pressure drop and gas flows through the PEMFC were studied. The current density was predicted in a wide scope of voltage. The current density – voltage curve and power characteristic of the analysed PEMFC design were obtained. A validation study showed that the developed model was able to assess the PEMFC performance.

The results of investigations of sand shooting into the core box are presented in the hereby paper. The investigations concern the formation of the diphase sand-air flux, its motion, flowing and compaction in the cavity during the core forming. Conditions deciding on the course of individual phases of the process are discussed with taking into consideration the influence of such factors as: the shot pressure, shooting hole diameter, number and distribution of deaerating vents in experimental core boxes (of a single cavity and of multi cavities) on the core sand compaction state. Investigations were performed by means of the modernised experimental shooting machine SR-3D, of the shooting chamber volume of 3.3 dm3, connected with the system of pneumatic supply ensuring the stable pressure supply of values: 0.4 MPa, 0.5 MPa and 0.6 MPa. Two diameters of the shooting hole, equal 10 mm and 20 mm, were applied for filling three experimental core boxes differing in dimensions of cavities and in number and distribution of deaerating vents. The filling process of core boxes was recorded by means of the digital camera PHANTOM V210 with the filming rate of 3000 pictures in second. Simultaneously, during the shot, other values allowing to determine the intensity of the core sand outflow from the shooting chamber to the core box, were tested. The presented in this publication results constitute the important element of the experimental verification of the blowing process simulation calculations which will be performed.