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Monitoring progress in the water sector requires an interdisciplinary approach and involves quantitative and qualitative assessment. This need must be integrated in such a way as to allow the solution of a wide range of tasks. In addition, the process should allow the inclusion of views and evaluations of water users. To evaluate the progress of a municipality, country or region, it is necessary to build a monitoring system based on simplified indicators. In this context, the purpose of this publication is to adap...

Local latitude is formed in the North-South with the beginning at characteristic 290 points at the source of the Irka River, the river itself is in a rectangle 23.89 minutes long (in latitude) and 18.89 minutes wide (in longitude). The starting point at the source of the river is given a zero rank. The purpose of the article is the analysis of asymmetric wavelets of changing one coordinate - local latitude reduced to the Irovka River from source to mouth. After identifying the universal wave equation, 25 terms wer...

Moving towards a circular economy requires well-functioning recycling systems but also the implementation of effective product-life cycle extension schemes such as re-use, repair or refurbishment. A web-based analysis of the websites dedicated to informing the citizen about the private delivery of recyclables to the local recyclables collection centre (recycling centre) was conducted. All cities in Germany with a population of more than 100,000 inhabitants were considered (80 cities in total). Clarity of informati...

Application of image processing recognition in the agricultural field is a difficult and intensive task. Recent years developments of technologies such as GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) and the fast development of artificial intelligence algorithms allows the reliability of using computer vision technology to be used for recognition of plants, including weeds, ensuring the efficiency of intelligent agricultural systems. Computer vision technology uses a camera and a computer to identify and measure objects in th...

Academic rankings can be referred to as a tool of external evaluation of university performance, and a crucial role that the rankings play now in government decisions to fund university research around the world is undoubtful, despite all the ambiguity and skewness of rankings methodologies. Having said that the publication productivity and citation impact are important criteria of rankings evaluation, not only university management needs to be sure that the rankings trajectory is well applied, or incorporated int...

Due to the changes in global climate patterns, wildfires have recently become a significantly greater threat to both human settlements and the corresponding activities. The same degree of threats is applicable for numerous species of fauna and vegetation, all across the world, especially in arid climate areas. Scientists that have conducted research on the subject revealed that climate significantly influences the probability of certain areas towards being affected by wildfires, especially taking into consideratio...

The Sea of Azov is characterized not only by small sizes and depths for oceanic waters, but also by intensive water exchange with river waters and the waters of the Black sea. These features of the reservoir are superimposed by wind activity, which contributes to the formation of wind surges phenomena. Under their influence, the upper layer of bottom sediments is agitated, accompanied by the transition of previously deposited material into the water column. After the wind action is weakened, the reverse flow of re...

In this study, a procedure was developed for the synthesis of WO3-containing catalysts based on zeolites of the ZSM-5 type. Zeolites with different Si/Al ratios and different numbers of acid sites were used: ZSM-5-CVM, ZSM-5-CVN and ZSM-5-Acros. The synthesized catalysts were characterized and tested in the reaction of the conversion of fructose and glucose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and levulinic acid. It was shown that the introduction of tungsten (VI) oxide into the composition of ZSM-5 leads to a noticeable in...

The article describes a long-term and seasonal dynamics of zooplankton species diversity and its relationships with hydrologic factors were investigated on Lake Fish located in Samoylov Island on the northeast of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia. This lake was chosen as a research object due to its mixed type of origin: thermokarst-polygonal. Zooplankton was sampled at three locations: on the pelagic and littoral zones of the thermokarst part and polygonal part of the lake. In total, 90 taxa (80 species) of...

As a result of mining activity on the earth?s surface the phenomena that have negative effect on the objects in area of influence of extracted area exist. Depending on geomechanical qualities of hanging wall and surrounding rocks, geological conditions of depositing, seam and depth of position of deposit, critical angle of influence, way and time course of mining and other parameters the horizontal and vertical movements always appear to a greater or lesser extent. They can be described by inclination, proportiona...

In this paper we present a case study on the identification and contouring of a gas deposit, placed mainly in Pontian formations. This study is based on some geological landmarks as well as the interpretation of filtered gravimetric and magnetometric data. The gas deposits determine minimum gravimetric anomalies, under the specific geological conditions of the Transylvanian Basin. Such gravimetric minimum is determined on the one hand by the rise of the salt, and on the other hand by the mass deficit within the sa...

As an effect of globalization on natural resources demand, the need for an increasingly detailed knowledge of the geological structure of a territory and of the characteristics of these resources have also emerged. This has been the context when the administrative boundaries and the specific national policies and legislation have differentiated the current knowledge of a geological unit. For the authors of this paper, the western part of Romania is the most recent case studies where the harmonization of Romanian g...

More than thirty percent of deaths from stroke, lung cancer, and heart disease are due to air pollution. Due to the current economic global situation where half of the world has no access to clean energy, furthermore, it seems highly unlikely that IC engines will go out of business anytime soon, we face the reality that our engines will continue to pump out harmful emissions. The main pollutants are particulate matter, a mix of solid and liquid droplets arising mainly from fuel combustion and road traffic. Thus, w...

For increasing the volumes of the grain production and quality it is necessary to restore and extend sowing area, enlarge the yield growth at the expense of intensive technologies of cultivation, effective selection and decrease of losses while harvesting. One of the main reasons of yield shortage is lodging of sowings. This paper compares extent of grain crops lodging. The investigation was carried out using mathematic analysis of variety features of the stem resistance for winter and spring wheat, barley, rye, t...

In this paper, a computational method to predict the dimensional changes in some powder metallurgy materials is used. The samples prepared from pre-alloyed iron base powders produced by atomization (< 45, 45-63, 63-100, 100-150, >150?m) were the materials analyzed in this paper. The analyzed powders were compressed in a mold using uniaxial pressing at 400 and 600 MPa with the disc dimensions of ? 8 ? 6 mm. The sintering temperature was approximately 1.150 °C for 60 and 90 minutes. The density in green and sintered...

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) use energy consulting as an important instrument for reducing information deficits when investigating savings potentials and measures for improving enterprises? energy efficiency. Since 2012, Germany has implemented a government support program to help cover the costs of energy consulting for small and medium-sized enterprises that have an energy audit carried out by a qualified consultant. This work examines the results of over 290 companies with energy balances in the pe...

Forest fires consist a continuous threat for Greece and Mediterranean countries and one of the most serious environmental hazards. Nowadays, the perspective of forest opening up as being an important preventive measure of forest protection, which is a basic pillar of a multipurpose forestry system of the Greek Mediterranean mountains, is gaining ground. The public forest complex in the region of Vria - Ritini of the Pieria Prefecture has been selected as the research area. The present investigation seeks to captur...

Vulnerability may be considered one of the most important components of the seismic risk, as it is the only one that human society may act upon in order to reduce the risk. As seismic vulnerability implies multiple dimensions, from the physical one to the social and economic ones, a multi-criteria decision-making approach proves to be appropriate for its assessment. The uncertainty inherently involved in the assessment process is addressed using fuzzy logic theory. This paper aims to assess the seismic vulnerabili...

Optimization plays a key role in various fields of science specially engineering to simplify the decision making process. Long-term production scheduling (LTPS) of open pit mines is a large-scale optimization problem to determine the block extraction sequence to maximize the net present value considering technical, economic constraints. For many optimization problems, finding the best solution is intricate and time-consuming. In such cases, a combination of mathematical methods and meta-heuristic techniques provid...

Currently there is no uniform method for the economic evaluation of construction and exploitation costs of underground structures that would incorporate not only construction costs, but also costs associated with possible accidents and damage during exploitation. At the same time, we believe that in such cases costs should be evaluated in advance, because these situations often result in catastrophes with incredibly high liquidation costs. In this paper our method for evaluation of costs of underground constructio...

In the last decade, many researchers have asked themselves whether it is possible to have a different economic model from the so-called linear one, i.e. to move from the linear to the circular economy. The linear economy is based on the concept that the goods we use must follow a life cycle consisting of three phases. The first phase consists of the extraction of raw materials (or production of agricultural products). The second phase is the transformation of the raw material into semi-finished products. The final...

Long-term production scheduling (LTPS) is an important and vital part of the planning process of open pit mines. It defines an extraction sequence of the mineralized material that produces maximum possible net present value (NPV) while satisfying a physical and operational constraints. LTPS of open pit mines is a large scale and intricate optimization problem that has been widely discussed in the technical literature since 1960s. Production scheduling problems are NP-hard and there is a need to improve the plannin...

The area of interest is the synthesis and study of properties of new types of hydrogels made from pelt waste, in order to recover waste from tanneries. The research paper shows that exploratory research as a starting point to obtain new polymeric complex products -multicomponent - called hydrogels, by processing organic waste with applications in agriculture. Hydrogels that are based on biopolymers, compared with hydrogels based on synthetic polymers, have the advantage of biodegradability and a low level of toxic...

Economic analysis was performed for a new process that will be adapted to an existing coal-fired power plant process in order to recycle bottom ash with the objective of obtaining synthetic graphite. Synthetic graphite is a valuable raw material with many industrial applications. It can replace successfully natural graphite, saving capital and environmental costs associated to graphite extraction. Bottom ash resulting from combustion of low quality lignite at a Romanian coal-fired power plant contains significant ...

The application of ultrawideband signals and large apertures provides a high detailed radar image, where a vast majority of terrain objects may be considered as spatially distributed. The examples of such spatially distributed targets are different types of agricultures, forests, infrastructural objects, which could be recognized against the background of vegetation or bare soils. Another example of a spatially distributed target are ships and glaciers against the background of the water surface. The main purpose ...

Heat exchangers are important components of cryogenic installations. The modern and advanced cryogenic systems have bulky heat exchangers, weigh tens of tons, are made of copper and its alloys, stainless steel or aluminum. The main challenge in the field is related to the need to reduce size and weight of the heat exchangers by using appropriate construction shape and modern materials. Heat exchangers used in cryogenics can be divided into three main groups: tubular, spiral and efficient or compact exchangers. In ...

In this paper will be indicated the different behaviour of buildings in Bucharest, mistakes in design and execution, state of codes and regulations in the XXth century, revealing what went wrong. Several national and international research programs were done in the past to understand the causes for the Vrancea seismicity, to study the seismic wave propagation in the region and to assess seismic hazard for Bucharest and other communities. Especially in Bucharest, high-quality seismic data were acquired obtaining a ...

Forest fires occur for natural and anthropogenic reasons. In the vicinity of settlements, forest fires occur mainly as a result of human activity. The occurrence of a forest fire is characterized by the presence of a person in a forested area (anthropogenic load), the presence of ignition sources and the process of forest fuel ignition. It is important to understand how the anthropogenic load is distributed around the locality and to simulate it using computer technology. The purpose of the work is a numerical stu...

The paper focuses on interconnectedness of human and environment with rapidly rising urban space developments in Lahore ? the second largest city of Pakistan. The city has a long history of more than 2000 years. It reflects the developmental aspects of Mughal Era and remnants of British colonial rule. From 1999 to 2011 the growth rate of the city in terms of built up area has doubled. Thus, mounting a huge pressure on the city administration responsible of managing infrastructure and slum settlements. Due to rapid...

A problem of presence or absence small changes determining on the reflecting surface during the observation session is often occurring while solving many problems of space monitoring. Examples of such problems are the ice situation forecasting, emergencies forecasting and detecting (i.e., fires, floods, landslides, mudflows, etc.), detection of forest areas unauthorized logging, forecasts of agricultural yields, analysis the sea surfaces, and many others. For reliable detection in reviewed situations, they recomme...

The report summarizes the results of research on the topic of the report carried out by the authors in 2017-2019 as part of the study of climate change problem. The purpose of the research is the approximate physical and cost assessment of ecosystem services of binding, long-term deposition and fossilization of excess atmospheric carbon dioxide by marine ecosystems. The object of research is dissolved organic matter (DOM) as a large reservoir of atmospheric carbon deposition in the seas of Northern Pacifica. The s...

Development of the effective education systems and their constant improvement lays a basis for stable function of any state. Economic strategy of Russia and achievement of high living standard for majority of population possible only when educational system in the country will reach international levels. It is well known, that in Russia any University must pass the rigid system of accreditation to satisfy and match federal the educational standards. The main aim of such accreditation is to test quality and depth o...

The aim of work was to evaluate the influence of the grown locality on heavy metal intake (Zn, Cu, Cr, Co, Ni, Pb and Cd) from the soil to the soybean seeds. The research was realised in five different localities of Slovakia using the same soybean cultivar (Mentor). The total content of heavy metals and their mobile forms in individual soils was compared with the limit values according to Law 220/2004 and the European Commission (2006). In all soil samples the determined total content of Cd and in one locality als...

The elements content (Fe, Mn, Al, Zn, Cu, Cr, Pb, Ni, Cd, Ba, Sr, V) in the tissues of fish (muscles, liver, gills) of various trophic level (bream (Abramis brama) and a pike perch (Zander lucioperca) from the Sheshma River (the Middle Volga Region, Russia) is given. A lot of different technologies, including solvent cyclic steam-assisted gravity drainage and cyclic steam stimulation, are used for oil production in the catchment area of the Sheshma River. It was shown that both species of fish accumulated Pb (musc...

The content of pollutants in the bottom sediments of coastal waters with limited water exchange characterize the total load on the water area and catchment of bays. This paper presents the definition of the total content of trace elements such as Cr, Co, Ni, Pb, Zn, V, Sr (mg/kg) and metal oxides TiO2, MnO, Fe2O3 (%). Samples were taken in the surface layer of bottom sediments of the Sevastopol Bay in 2016. The bottom sediments of the Sevastopol bays accumulate a wide range of organic and inorganic pollutants ente...

In the NW part of the Romania, there are geological conditions that allow to geothermal phenomena to manifest on the surface of the Earth. The limited exploitation of this energy resource is still limited by existing technologies and by the high cost of deep-water equipment. For a good image of the Romania's geothermal potential, we present, in our paper, the temperature map at 3000 m deep and the geothermal flow map on the surface. These maps were made with the Surfer program, based on the data obtained through d...

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) belong to the family of zinc metalloprotenases, whose function is related to the metabolism of the extracellular matrix proteins. These enzymes play an important role in the development of physiological processes such as morphogenesis, resorption and tissue remodeling, migration, adhesion, cell differentiation and proliferation, as well as in pathological conditions (rheumatoid arthritis, glomerulonephritis, periodontitis, ulceration of the cornea, etc.). To the first, the most stud...

During the last years, under Schlumberger brand, several methods have been refined for determining detailed characteristics of geological formations, as they are necessary in the assessment of shale gas potential based on drilling core investigations, wells diagraphies investigations, seismic investigations, and combination of all these. The correct determination of lithofacies of the cores leads to a quality diagnosis of shales reservoirs. The accurate mineralogy input is obtained by Litho Scanner in the sCore li...

The establishment of a special regime of nature management in the Baikal natural territory is the main form of organization of environmental activities and state regulation of the water bodies quality in the Baikal region. At the same time, the rationing of admissible impacts on the ecosystem of Lake Baikal is the main tool for regulating economic and other activities. The implementation of increased requirements in terms of guaranteed preservation of the Lake Baikal water quality was carried out in the period 196...

The article focusses on ageing cycling infrastructure and issues of sustainability from the perspective of pavement management system and economic implications. Light cycling paths pavements are well suited to bear non-motorised traffic without suffering plastic deformations. Given that draining is maintained and adjacent vegetation is regularly cut, these pavements can perform well for very long periods. That said, the pavements still succumb to climatic effects acting on the pavement?s surfacing. Chemical proper...

The bactericidal properties of silver and its compounds are known for a long time. Silver has antimicrobial properties against a wide range of microorganisms, not only bacteria, but also some fungi, as well as viruses. However, several mechanisms have been identified for the formation of resistance to silver in bacteria. It?s relevant to search for new reagents, which would increase the aggressive stability of the argentum?s compounds. Purpose is study of the influence of various chemical nature SAS on the aggrega...

Economic activities in the Black Sea basin are various and multiple. Seaborne trade between countries from Asia, Africa, and Europe together with exploiting continental shelf hydrocarbon resources involve an intense maritime transport activity. Harmful gas emissions from ships unavoidably accompany these activities. The latest reports indicate that ships' emissions are the primary air pollutant with a destructive impact on climate change and human health. In this respect, the most sensitive area is the coastal one...

Taking into account the increase of maritime activities in the port of Constanta, the largest port of Romania and also one of the most important of the European Union (EU), the air quality evaluation is necessary. Moreover, the port is located very close to the city with the same name and this favouring the risk to affect a very large number of inhabitants of the city with the exhaust gases resulting from the port activities. The goal of this study is to evaluate the influence of maritime activities on air quality...

It is well known that soil polluted with different pollutants, including oil, can naturally remediate. Primarily, the process of oil utilization starts with the degradation of saturated alkanes by microorganisms. Alkane monooxygenase is the major enzyme involved in the degradation of alkanes and it is classified into three groups, each catalyzing the degradation of n-alkanes with different chain lengths. In this study, we investigated abundance of alkane monooxygenases genes in the soil contaminated with oil durin...

Romanian economy is based, to a certain extent, on chemical industry and its approximately 300 SEVESO operators present on its territory. This situation implies numerous transports of raw materials or final products between operators in the chemical industry and/or other economic entities. A considerable number of cargos may consist in actual shipments of hazardous materials (HAZMAT), fact that can lead to an important issue: in Romania, a developing country, the current road transport infrastructure for dangerous...

The article presents standard and alternative methods of managing sewage sludge and the biodegradable fraction of municipal waste. The work focuses on sewage sludge and bio-waste not contaminated with heavy metals. The absence of the abovementioned impurities enables their processing that they can become a valuable product with high fertilizer value. In the work, special emphasis was placed on techniques similar to natural, i.e. composting and vermicomposting. These two methods are most widely described because th...

This article discusses the formation and development of the American and Russian intelligentsia in the first half of the 19th century. An attempt is made to determine the basic prerequisites and sources of formation of the intelligentsia as a special social layer within the national structure of American and Russian society. The characteristic of its separate representatives and specific features of development of their views are presented. Special attention is paid to the American literary intelligentsia, aboliti...

The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the capacity of an activated zeolite for ammonium removal in fixed-bed column. The influence of process parameters, such as activated natural zeolite quantity (1 - 6 g) and ammonium initial concentration (10 - 70 mg/L) was investigated. The experimental results were analyzed using the most common sorption kinetic models, such as Thomas, Adam-Bohart, as well Clark, by linear regression analysis in order to characterize the removal process. The obtained values showed th...

The comprehensive description of ground motions induced by seismic and paraseismic phenomena requires collecting data of six components of seismic wave. Three of them, so-called translational waves, comprise two horizontal and one vertical ground motions. These types of ground movements have been well identified and investigated. Unfortunately, until recently, the remaining three components named as rotational waves were generally estimated with the use of indirect methods based on recorded translational ground mo...

Alzheimer`s diseases (AD) is the most common age-related dementia, being characterized by accumulation of extracellular amyloid plaques in AD brains. The principal constituent of these plaques are fibrils which are primarily composed of amyloid-? peptides (A?), with 39-42 amino acid residues in length, which are the proteolysis products derived from the amyloid precursor peptide (APP). Several factors, such as oxidative stress, inflammation, metal ions or genetic factors are associated with AD. Even if metal ions ...