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The crack propagation and autogenous shrinkage pose a significant weakness for concrete structures. On this account, the utilization of smart materials can be viewed as a promising step to overbridge the common issues. Namely, the application of superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) can improve the autogenous shrinkage and crack sealing thanks to its great swelling capability. However, SAP particles used as water retaining admixtures have a substantial influence on the rheological properties due to fast water removal fro...

The presented work deals with the effect of maize and legume planting density within mixed cropping system (MC) on selected indicators of soil quality: (1) microbial carbon content (Cmic); (2) total soil carbon (Ctot) content and (3) total soil nitrogen (Ntot) content. To demonstrate potential effect of different plant density within MC, 4-year field experiment was established in 2017 and will continue until 2020. The field experiment consisted of two MC groups with different plant density of maize (75 000 plants/...

Acidophilic microorganisms oxidizing ferrous iron and sulfur are widely used in hydrometallurgy to extract different metals including copper, zinc, nickel, cobalt, and uranium from sulfide ores. The activity of microorganisms and screening of microbial strains capable of biooxidation of ferrous iron and sulfur compounds under different conditions, i.e. in the present of different toxicants, which may be present in treated ores, are crucial for the development of biohydrometallurgical technologies. Different factor...

The development of industry is always accompanied by an increase in the negative impact on nature. A variety of waste generated at the production stage for a long time is stored, accumulated and transformed. This is especially true for organic waste, the amount of which is steadily increasing as the industry develops. In this regard, the issue of their processing is becoming increasingly important. Currently, one of the optimal types of organic mass processing is pyrolysis. However, in most cases, thermochemical p...

Climate-change scenarios all around the world indicate that many areas of the globe will increase in aridity. Plants need a large amount of water and nutrients throughout their life cycle and all aspects of plant development are affected by a reduction in water content in the soil. This reduction in soil moisture leads to changes in the physical environment, which subsequently affect physiological and biochemical processes in plants. Based on sap flow measurements, it is possible to optimize irrigation. For our ex...

The use of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PETr) in new value-added products is problematic because, during reprocessing in the melt, it undergoes a number of chemical, mechanical, thermal and oxidative degradations, which leads to decreased intrinsic viscosity / molecular mass and implicitly to poor mechanical and thermal properties. In the literature, numerous approaches have focused on obtaining polymer blends using PETr in combination with other thermoplastic polymers. Unfortunately, such mixtures are inc...

In the present work, films based on a potato starch/gelatin composition were prepared with a different ratio of components from 100/0 to 0/100 vol.%/vol.% with increment of 10 vol.% and addition of glycerol as plasticizer. The films were obtained with different drying regimes of the film-forming solutions at 25, 35, 45 and 50 °C for 24 h. For the obtained films the influence of their composition and the drying regime of the film-forming solution on the mechanical properties at puncturing, wettability and water sor...

The biology and ecology of Daphnia (Crustacea: Cladocera) is dependent on a number of biotic and abiotic factors. One of the ways Daphnia adapts to changes in environmental conditions is their swimming behavior. In this study, we assessed the effect of temperature and light intensity on the swimming activity of Daphnia magna in laboratory experiments using computerized video analysis in real time by the hardware-software system ?TrackTox?. In experiments we simulated different levels of temperature (14.5 ± 0.2, 20...

The article deals with the effective reduction of drinking water loss in its distribution in the territory of the model municipality in the Czech Republic. Loss reduction is a long-term process that is one of the cornerstones of the strategy of each operator or owner of the water supply system. Losses of water in water network characterize not only the construction-technical condition of the distribution system in a given agglomeration, but also one of the business cards of the operator or owner of the distributio...

The aim of the paper was to determine the level and structure of material expenditures in the selected organic farms. As measures of effectiveness of use of material expenditures, relations of the total value of agricultural production and the agricultural income to material expenditures were assumed. The scope of the study covered the research in thirty certified organic farms located in the south Poland in Malopolskie, Podkarpackie, and Slaskie voivodeships. These farms held certificates of organic farms. Materi...

Thermal methods have attracted a significant attention for the extraction of high-viscosity oil and natural bitumen. One of the promising methods for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is in-situ combustion (ISC). In the reservoir, the combustion process occurred in the porous media of rock. As we all know that rock contains different minerals that may influence the crude oil combustion characteristics when air is injected into the heavy oil reservoir. Thus, it is important to determine the influence of various types of ...

The research studied the effects of solubility, disperse features (Z average diameter dav, and charge (?-potential) of the particles of heavy-metal slightly soluble compounds exemplified by aluminum (III), zinc (II) and plumbum (II) hydrates related to efficiency of their removal from aqueous solutions in the composition of 2- and 3-component systems by means of electroflotation and filtration within a wide pH-range (5 ? 12). The metals in question demonstrate various pH-values of hydrates formation and solution. ...

The study presented in this paper is related to the extraction of humic lignite substances and the separation of fulvic acids in order to introduce them into a fertilizing matrix and to evaluate the effect on tomato culture. Fulvic acids have biostimulatory effect on agricultural crops and have significant uses in agriculture. For the characterization of fulvic acids (FA), the total acidity and content of carboxylic groups were determined. The separate fulvic acids were introduced into a matrix containing nutrient...

Recently, the woodworking industry is increasingly paying attention to the effective use of wood in the production of consumer goods. The key point in resolving this issue was and remains the careful and economical use of harvested wood. Logging volumes in Russia, according to analysts of the timber industry complex, have declined everywhere by 2017, while in the North-West region they have reached 3%. One of the possible and promising areas for the effective use of wood is gluing. Glued wood is widely used in var...

Today, waste of electrical and electronic equipment is a big problem because it contains heavy metals such as copper, cadmium or nickel that cause neurological diseases. In addition, such waste also contains precious metals such as gold and silver, which makes this material really attractive for recovery. One of the fastest-generated groups of electrical and electronic waste is mobile phones. In 2008, the global sale of smartphones reached the level of 140 million units, while in 2015 it is rapidly growing to the ...

A sustainable remediation of halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons pollution such as chlorobenzenes (CB) based on the use of electro-Fenton as treatment process requires the development of reactor conditions as well as the cost of operations. A combined process coupling an electrochemical and Fenton processes with Pd catalyst in order to degrade CB was investigated with H2O2 production. The electro-Fenton treatment of CB was examined and the processes mechanism was identified for different concentrations of 5-11 mg/L ...

The study is the first experience to assess the possibility of obtaining clean garnet material from garnet-mica schist from waste Keivy area of Kola Peninsula using electric pulse disintegration. It is shown that the fraction +0.25-0.5 almandine garnet crystal crushed using electric pulse disintegration material and after it washing upward flow of fluid contains up to 94% clean garnet.

Cement-based composites belong to the most frequently used construction materials in the world which is mainly for their good mechanical properties and durability. However, production of cement exhibits significant impact on environment due to a high amount of consumed energy and CO2 emissions. Therefore, alternative environmental-friendly construction materials with comparable materials properties are currently intensively studied. Geopolymers based on alkali activation of waste precursors exhibit lower impact on...

An area prone to landslide, threatening a small accumulation dam and a near-by landfill, was investigated by means of electrical resistivity. The variation of electrical parameters (electrical resistivity and chargeability factor) of soils and rocks is seldom used as a diagnostic tool in areas prone to mass movements. When the mentioned parameters are acquired using a multielectrode measuring system, the subsurface characterization is highly enhanced, considerably decreasing the number of invasive tests necessary ...

The ability of acidophilic microorganisms to oxidize sulfide minerals is increasingly used in biohydrometallurgical technologies to produce non-ferrous and precious metals from sulfide ores. Strains of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Sulfobacillus thermotolerans often dominate heap bioleaching processes. Due to their high ability to catalyze redox processes, it has been suggested that they can be used in the technology of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). MFC allows using organic and inorganic waste as a substrate f...

The contribution deals with the energy performance of variants of the building with the glazed cladding. Nowadays, glass facades on commercial buildings are a big fashion hit. Correct adjustment of the glazed surfaces helps us to warm the interior in the cold months, but in the summer months, the interior space becomes overheated. These buildings then look truly original, modern and architecturally interesting. The paper offers possibilities of the structural design of facade shielding and compares the results of ...

The main waste dump "Vrtliste" (Kakanj Municipality, Bosnia and Herzegovina) is formed in the Ribnica river valley at the edge of the open pit. During its construction it was necessary to relocate the stream of Ribnica river, which included the construction of a hydrotechnical tunnel, river dam, spillway and other elements needed for introducing Ribnica into the Bosna River, as well as the overflow channel over the open pit. The area on which the hydrotechnical tunnel is located comprises of several lithological c...

In modern times, new methods of building foundations, laying pipelines for various purposes, and building roads require detailed study of engineering-geological processes and the material composition of geological complexes. Valid maps show a weak degree of knowledge of the territory of Karelia. At the same time, this region is characterized by the complex structure of the cover of Quaternary sediments, which cover the Archean and Proterozoic complexes. The influence of neotectonic post-glacial deformations and gr...

In order to substantiate the location of a production platform, engineering surveys on the shelf have to provide a complex investigation of the geotechnical conditions of the area. The licensed area (LA) is situated within borders of the Kara Sea shelf. There are a coastal gently sloping and sloping plain and a tectonic bench in the relief of the floor. Geological structure of the region include Mesozoic and Cainozoic slab complex rocks covered by the latest geological deposits. Down to the depth of 50 m they are ...

Latest economic research has been overloaded with discussion of socio-economic crisis and its complexity, or even impossibility of rapid recovery. We have considered the state of environmental security of the region and the key factors affecting it. There are two main approaches to the assessment of the environmental security: an economic and geographical approach, and a geo-ecological approach. The first one suggests considering the environmental infrastructure as an object of the nature protection and restoratio...

In 20-21 the Century the environment protection is central topic and the countries of Eastern Europe has a large opportunity vs Western European countries but the last one has stronger environment mindfulness. The article researches the basics of EU environment policy and its successes and the Eastern European countries? analyses and conditions what did and what to do in the future to survive and reaches goals. The conditions of soil, water air would be good but the methodology and technology is much more worse th...

In article, we present results of health survey in urbanized industrial areas. Environmental and economic conditions are successfully identified on the base of population? elemental status. Using the open press sources, we established cause-effect relations between micro and macro element consumption (lack or abundance) and public health in North-West Federal District of Russian Federation. We made data capturing and visualization, spatial digital maps presenting element consumption for non-personalized groups as ...

The rapid growth of blockchain technologies in the world drew attention to the environmental aspects of its production. Blockchain technology is based on the use of significant computing power, which consumes a large amount of electricity. In most cases, traditional non-renewable energy sources are used, which leads to the depletion of natural resources. The scale of operations of the mining process of blockchain increased dramatically during the last years. By the end of 2017, the amount of electricity spent on m...

The article deals with the environmental consequences of testing the method of biological remediation of the closed typical municipal solid waste landfill of the administrative district. The essence of the method consists in the introduction of adapted composites from aboriginal, adapted or modified biological systems, primarily microorganisms for catalysis of the decomposition process of the organic component of waste landfills and subsequent separation of valuable recyclable materials. The article presents the r...

There is a substantial deficit in proteins of plant origin in the EU countries ? the selfsufficiency level in feed use of soybean meal, which is one of the best plant protein sources, reaches only 5%. It causes the EU to import large quantities of soybeans (~14 million tonnes) and soybean meal (~18 million tonnes), the majority of which comes from Argentina and Brazil, resulting in very long soya delivery chain and associated GHG emissions from its transportation. At the same time, different statistical data confi...

The current trend in the formation and development of united territorial communities is characterized by the desire of the rural population to join regional administrative and industrial centers, which puts negative changes in the socio-economic development of administrative cities. The need for such desire is due to the lack of real economic incentives in the development of rural areas and the constant rise in prices and tariffs for energy and electricity. The article proposes conducting informational-explanatory...

The world population will demand twice as many resources as our planet can provide by year 2030 [13]. Therefore, there is a need for more creative problem solving and understanding the situation. To address complex environmental challenges, the education about the environment is necessary. If in the 21st century we want successful general management with the right business fundamentals and decisions, then we cannot exclude the knowledge of the environment. The new business leaders must fundamentally take a respons...

This article presents a case of reclamation of excavations after exploitation of gravel located in the Vistula River near Oswiecim. Gravel deposits are located there shallowly below the surface and they are associated with river accumulation. This area is characterized by a very high level of groundwater vulnerability. After depletion of the gravel field, the excavations are liquidated by backfilling with waste, usually mine waste. The material to be used underwent a formal assessment of its impact on the aquatic ...

In Russia, industrial policy is the strategic effort of the government to encourage the development and growth of the manufacturing sector aimed at making it innovative, internationally competitive and sustainable. New regulatory instruments have been gradually developed and used for 5-7 years; this period is sometimes addressed as ?the national neo-industrialisation?. In advanced industrial countries, environmental modernisation theory is often considered as a possible solution to the key environmental problems. ...

Environmental management is aimed at the safe use of natural processes, taking into account the biological features of management and the socio-economic possibilities of the management company. Responsible business contains a set of principles, methods, means and forms of production management, developed and applied at an enterprise in order to improve the environmental efficiency of production. Environmental management includes an assessment of the social and environmental performance of the organization. Environ...

Population growth in coastal areas worldwide call for new challenges to be solved. Blue growth initiatives are elaborated and developed in order to prevent sea resources depletion unsustainably by fishing, mining, transportation, tourism, and waste. The EU Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), EU Groundwater Directive (2002/118/EC) as well as EU Waste Framework Directive (2006/12/EC) are the legislative tools that base the pillars for more detailed action plans that prevents contamination spread, promote clean-u...

In Russia, the national Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Act introducing the concept of Best Available Techniques (BAT) was adopted in 2014. Since then, applying BATs and complying with BAT-associated Emission Levels (BAT-AELs) has become an issue of great importance for the industries concerned and has implied obligations at two levels. Firstly, the Ministry for Industry and Trade (MIT) and the Ministry for Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) had to set out the appropriate process for drawi...

In modern conditions, the main problem is the threat of loss of natural resistance. Environmental responsibility implies the maintenance of a rational system. Such a system contributes to the preservation of natural heritage for future generations. Environmental resources include climate, biosphere, landscape, aquifer. These resources are used to form innovative clusters. They set the conditions and limitations of business activities [1]. Corporate environmental management is designed to effectively manage the ent...

Application of sorbents is one of most promising methods for removal oil spills from water surface. Plant fibres (kapok, straw, rice husks, nutshells) are very popular due to their availability and biodegradability. The disadvantage of these materials is their low selectivity towards water. One of the methods of modifying the surface properties of materials is the immobilization of controlled nanoparticles on the surface. In this way, plant fibres are used as a cheap carrier and the introduced nanoparticles improv...

The studied area is the North Dobrogea Orogen, Pricopan Massif. Compared to the other massive from the North Dobrogea, the Pricopan massif has a more rugged relief. The Pricopan massif is mostly a granite plutonic body with a lenticular shape, with the long axis (AL) oriented NNW-SSE and the transverse axis (AT). In the southern part, the Pricopan Massif is made up of diagenized sedimentary rocks, named the "Carapelit series". In the ridge area of the granite sector, there are alternations of peaks and saddles, st...

Soil erosion is a natural process that models the land surface, building large geological ensembles and erosion relief from the most trivial to the most obvious forms of erosion that gives the characteristic note of geographical landscapes. Subjected to a continuous disintegration, fragments of rock and fine particles of soil are detached and transported by the movement of diverse masses of material: blown or taken from rainwater, and then transported by streams and rivers and finally submitted along river valleys...

Assessment of spatial and temporal distribution of groundwater recharge is critical for long-term water resource management and planning. The spatial distribution of groundwater recharge depends on the climate conditions, topography, slope, soil textural, land cover, and distributed groundwater depth. In this paper, the monthly steady-state water balance model, WetSpass-M, was applied to estimate the groundwater recharge in the Cun-Szaporca oxbow of Drava floodplain, Hungary. The model inputs data are prepared in ...

An effective method to enhance productivity of gas drainage wells in gas-bearing coal seams is hydraulic fracturing. Proppants are usually used in the hydraulic fracture to maintain its aperture, long conductivity and gas recovery from developed coal seams. In the paper the experimental results of gas permeability of the solid coal cores, coal specimens with non-propped and propped artificial longitudinal fractures are presented. The data were received for different stress conditions: effective stress varied from ...

This paper presents the combined method of determining the deflection of vertical components ? and ? based on the precise levelling and GNSS measurements. In general, there are several methods, but the combined method simplifies data collecting and subsequent processing of results in comparison with other methods. Components determination was performed on the high precision levelling network in Serbia, by calculating undulation on each point, so as azimuth and length for each side of the network starting from refe...

Climate change exerts influence on water resources and runoff directly ? by altering natural factors (precipitation, temperature, evapotranspiration) and indirectly ? by induced as a result of climate change land use alterations (forests, wetlands, etc.). The report presents the methodological approach for estimation of the cumulative impact of both climate and land use changes on the availability of water resources. For calculation of water balance a Model of monthly water balance, created in the United States Ge...

This paper aims to investigate the European bioeconomy policy and bio-based business development in Latvia both from the perspective of existing business practices as well from the perspective of students? attitudes towards setting up new businesses in view of the bioeconomic challenges. The research was based on the theoretical concepts of bioeconomics and a bioeconomy, collected examples of bioeconomic business practices in Latvia, as well as the data gained from an interview of Latvia University of Life Science...

The paper deals with the inefficiency of data normalization in media stream processing applications. In the classical approaches, while building a relational database architecture, developers strive to maximize the normalization of the database and bring the business logic of the system to external applications. Normalization and business logic separation have reached their apogee in object-relational mapping systems. Telecommunication systems have their own specifics. Due to the requirements for the quality of se...

South Africa has massive Platinum Group Metal (PGM) deposits found in Bushveld Igneous Complex (BIC). Due to depletion of Merensky reef, many companies are now treating UG2 reef which has a high chromite content which has negative impact in the smelting process of the platinum concentrates. Generally, PGMs are processed by rougher followed by cleaner and re-cleaner flotation banks and the final concentrate must contain less than 3% chromite. The effect of residence time and depressant dosage on PGM recovery and ch...

Plants have been considered as materials for alternative medicine and sources of pharmaceutical drugs. Despite the therapeutic advantages of medicinal plants, some of their constituents may be potentially toxic, mutagenic, carcinogenic, or teratogenic potentials. Therefore, the aim of our study is to determine the cytogenetic and genotoxic potentials of aqueous extract of Plantago lanceolata regarding quality, safety and efficiency. The cytogenetic effects were studied by the calculation of the mitotic index, by t...

Statistics analyses confirm that the most common reason of dam failures and accidents is overflow and seepage. The issue of seepage is related to the reliability of the sealing elements in the body and the foundation of the dams. So far, 290 dams have been built in Slovakia, of which 50 are included in the ICOLD register. Most of them have a grout curtain in the foundation. Many of these dams were designed between 1950 and 1980. Lugeon or Jahde's water pressure test criterion was applied to optimize the parameters...