Monoculture of modern cereal crops are popular due to the technical and organizationa lreasons. They are easier in crop husbandry, qua lity and product use. However, in monoculture chemical protection of crops is a norm, due to the fact that they are more susceptible to diseases, pests and sometimes weed infestation. In order to keep high and stable grain yields and quality in monoculture one has to use high inputs. Experimentally and practically it has been proved that cultivar and species mixtures can constitute an alternative to cultivar growing in pure stands. It has been found that in mixtures opperate different epidemiological and ecological factors, which lead to considerable disease reduction, pest and weed control, which finally result in higher and more stable grain yields than in barley varietes grown in pure stands. The results of two years field experiment designed to evaluate epidemiological and economical effects of winter barley cultivar mixtures are presented. The studies were carried out in two sites – experimental lStation for Variety Testing Słupia Wielka (in Wielkopolska region) and Plant Breeding Station Bąków (Opole District). This two sites were 300 km away from each other, and had different soi land meteorological conditions. In the experiment impact of different barley cultivars and their different two- and three-component mixtures were tested with reduced dosages of fungicidies on grain yield in the mixtures compared with pure stands were evaluated.

In the four-year experiment the impact of four different barley varieties and selected two-and three-component mixtures were tested. The studies were carried out at two sites: Experimental Station for Variety Testing Słupia Wlk. (Wielkopolska region) and Plant Breeding Station Bąków (Opole District) during four growing seasons (2001/2002–2004/2005). The aim of the studies was to evaluate the yield through growing barley variety mixtures in combination with reduced use of fungicide and application dose rates. Positive effects (1–15% yield increase in mixtures compared to pure stands) were observed. On the base of obtained results it can be stated that winter barley variety mixtures can constitute an alternative way of growing winter barley, especially at low-input and ecological agriculture.

Distillation boundaries originate from saddle azeotropes, dividing the composition space into distillation regions. In heterogeneous mixtures distilled in packed columns, distillation regions overlap. The common area of distillation regions is parametrically sensitive, and it determines the possibilities of crossing (at a finite reflux) the distillation boundaries defined for a total reflux or reboil ratio. This work is an extended research of the paper (Królikowski et al., 2011) conducted to scrutinize whether the distillation regions overlapped in heteroazeotropic systems distilled in staged columns. Presented studies were performed by finding such composition points of the products, for which the rectifying profiles of staged columns were ended in different distillation regions. Calculations were executed for the heterogeneous mixture classified under Serafimov's topological class as 3.1-2: ethanol - benzene - water. Distillation regions for staged columns were found to overlap each other in the heterogeneous systems. As a result, their common part was parametrically sensitive.

This article discusses results of an analysis of mechanical properties of a sintered material obtained from a mixture of elemental iron, copper and nickel powders ball milled for 60 hours. The powder consolidation was performed by hot pressing in a graphite mould. The hot pressing was carried out for 3 minutes at 900 °C and under a pressure of 35 MPa. The sintered specimens were tested for density, porosity, hardness and tensile strength. Their microstructures and fracture surfaces were also examined using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The study was conducted in order to determine the suitability of the sintered material for the manufacture of metal-bonded diamond tools. It was important to assess the effects of chemical composition and microstructure of the sintered material on its mechanical properties, which were compared with those of conventional metal bond material produced from a hot-pressed SMS grade cobalt powder. Although the studied material shows slightly lower strength and ductility as compared with cobalt, its hardness and offset yield strength are sufficiently high to meet the criteria for less demanding applications.

The study of the different engineering materials according to their mechanical and dynamic characteristics has become an area of research interest in recent years. Several studies have verified that the mechanical properties of the material are directly affected by the distribution and size of the particles that compose it. Such is the case of asphalt mixtures. For this reason, different digital tools have been developed in order to be able to detect the structural components of the elements in a precise, clear and efficient manner. In this work, a segmentation model is developed for different types of dense-graded asphalt mixtures with grain sizes from 9.5 mm to 0.0075 mm, using sieve size reconstruction of the laboratory production curve. The laboratory curve is used to validate the particles detection model that uses morphological operations for elements separation. All this with the objective of developing a versatile tool for the analysis and study of pavement structures in a non-destructive test. The results show that the model presented in this work is able to segment elements with an area greater than 0.0324 mm2 and reproduce the sieve size curves of the mixtures with a high percentage of precision.

Biological diversity within a mixture field allows for better use of habitat and agro-technical conditions by the mixtures, which can be seen by higher and more stable yields than varieties sown separately. Our studies were conducted in the growing seasons 2011/2012–2014/2015 as field experiments with four winter barley varieties (Bombaj, Gil, Gregor, Bażant) and three, two- and three-component mixtures (Bombaj/Gil, Bombaj/Gregor, Gil/Gregor/Bażant). Seven different chemical treatments with fungicides were applied. The aim of this study was to compare the different varieties of winter barley with their mixtures for resistance to powdery mildew infection. To achieve this aim the logistic model for the analysis of data was used. Of the varieties under consideration, the best and the most resistant variety was Gregor, while the weakest and the most susceptible to diseases (powdery mildew) was Gil. This variety was also significantly weaker than any of the other mixtures taken into account. Moreover, it was so weak that when it was included in mixtures with other varieties, it weakened these mixtures as well.

Twenty-eight two-, three-, four-, and five-component amine mixtures have been evaluated as possible activators of CO2 absorption into aqueous carbonate/bicarbonate solutions. Measurements were per- formed using a pressure autoclave with a sparger at conditions close to industrial ones. On the basis of these results, a formula for a new, more efficient amine activator named INS13 was developed. The activator was tested both in a pilot plant and on an industrial scale in an ammonia plant producing 300 tons/day of ammonia. Activator INS13 was applied in a number of ammonia plants in Poland and abroad.

Increasing environmental pressure against waste disposal, particularly fine waste surface storage and concern about mining damages have resulted in an increase in the popularity of a fly ash, tailing and binding agent mixture used as compaction grout of roof fall rocks in a gob area of longwalls. Backfilling of voids forming as a result of exploitation with the fall of roof with mixtures containing fine-grained industrial wastes is a common practice in coal mines. It is aimed at achieving numerous technological and ecological advantages as well as at controlling mining hazards. Research on hydraulic transport of fine-grained slurry conducted to date focused mainly on issues related to the analysis of the conditions related to pipeline transportation. The processes concerning the propagation of mixtures within the gob, on the other hand, remain largely unknown. The process of flow of fine-grained slurry through the caving is subject to a series of factors related, among other things, with the properties of the applied wastes and mixtures, the characteristics of the gob as well as the variability of these properties during the flow through the gob and in time. Due to the lack of sufficient knowledge pertaining to the changes taking place in the gob and in the slurry while it penetrates the gobs, no methods allowing for the design and optimization of the gob grouting process have been established so far. The paper presents the selected results of laboratory tests regarding the flow of ash and water mixtures in a model of a gob, pertaining to two selected types of fly ash produced in hard coal combustion, particularly concerning the impact of the type of the ash and the density of the slurry on the effectiveness of the gob grouting process.

In the four-year experiment the impact of four different winter barley varieties and selected two- and three-component mixtures were tested. Reduced dosages of fungicides on disease reduction in the mixtures compared with pure stands were evaluated. The studies were carried out at two sites: Experimental Station for Variety Testing Słupia Wlk. (Wielkopolska region) and Plant Breeding Station Bąków (Opole District). Observations on powdery mildew occurrence during the vegetation season were done every 7–10 days. In order to compare the disease occurrence levels on different cultivars in pure stands and on their mixtures combined with different fungicide treatments the Area Under Disease Progress Curve (AUDPC) was evaluated. On the base of the AUDPC values the reduction of powdery mildew occurring in the mixtures due to epidemiological and ecological factors functioning in mixed stands were also evaluated. On the base of obtained results it can be stated that winter barley variety mixtures combined with different fungicide treatments do reduce the powdery mildew incidence comparing to pure stands and winter barley variety mixtures can constitute an alternative way of growing winter barley, especially at low-input and ecological agriculture.

For the reason of environmental problems connected with the use of furan binders, attention is increasingly being paid to self-setting mixtures using alkali resols. A resol binder stabilized with KOH, NaOH is hardened by liquid esters with the formation of alkaline salts. The increase of their concentration affects the shortening of the mixture bench life, it also decreases strength, increases abrasive wear to moulds and cores, and results in uneconomical dilution of the reclaim with expensive new base sand. The length of life (bench life) of mixtures plays an important role in the manufacture of huge and voluminous moulds and cores in self-setting mixtures. This study aims at analyzing the function of reactive alkaline salts in the reclaim, monitors the consequences of its thermal exposure on the properties of selfsetting mixtures, and deals with development of methods evaluating its qualities.

In order to understand commands given through voice by an operator, user or any human, a robot needs to focus on a single source, to acquire a clear speech sample and to recognize it. A two-step approach to the deconvolution of speech and sound mixtures in the time-domain is proposed. At first, we apply a deconvolution procedure, constrained in the sense, that the de-mixing matrix has fixed diagonal values without non-zero delay parameters. We derive an adaptive rule for the modification of the de-convolution matrix. Hence, the individual outputs extracted in the first step are eventually still self-convolved. This corruption we try to eliminate by a de-correlation process independently for every individual output channel.

This study deals with the behavior of composite blends constituted of rigid and impervious grainsincluded in saturated clay paste of kaolin, considered as permeable and deformable. Permeabilitytests performed during standard oedometr tests (before each load step) highlight the key role ofthe original and actual state of the clay paste, and show the existence of a threshold of sandgrain concentration above which a structuring effect influences its permeability. In the light ofthese experiments some usual homogenization methods (with simplifying assumptions to make theproblem manageable) are considered in order to model the mixture permeability. Qualitative andquantitative comparisons with experimental data point out their respective domain of interest andlimitations of such approaches.

The exploitation and processing of lignite in the Bełchatów region is connected with the formation of various mineral waste materials: varied in origin, mineral and chemical composition and raw material properties of the accompanying minerals, ashes and slags from lignite combustion and reagipsum from wet flue gas desulphurisation installations. This paper presents the results of laboratory tests whose main purpose was to obtain data referring to the potential use of fly ashes generated in the Bełchatów Power Plant and selected accompanying minerals exploited in the Bełchatów Mine in the form of self-solidification mixtures. The beidellite clays were considered as the most predisposed for use from the accompanying minerals , due to pozzolanic and sorption properties and swelling capacity. Despite the expected beneficial effects of clay minerals from the smectite group on the self-settling process as well as the stability of such blends after solidification, the results of physical-mechanical tests (compressive strength and water repellence) were unsatisfactory. It was necessary to use Ca (OH)2, obtained from the lacustrine chalk as an activator of the self-settling process It was necessary to use lacustrine chalk as an activator of the self-solidification process. The presence of calcium will allow the formation of cement phases which will be able to strongly bond the skeletal grains. Also, the addition of reagipsum to the composition of the mixture would contribute to the improvement of the physico-mechanical parameters. The elevated SO4 2– ion in the mixture during the solidification allows for the crystallization of the sulphate phases in the pore space to form bridges between the ash and clay minerals. The use of mixtures in land reclamation unfavourably transformed by opencast mining in the Bełchatów region would result in measurable ecological and economic benefits and would largely solve the problem of waste disposal from the from the operation and processing of lignite energy.

Fly-ash is a form of production waste produced as a result of the burning of coal for energy production. Millions of tonnes of this waste are produced worldwide every year; hence it is extremely important to dispose of it in a useful way, including through treating the initial raw material to obtain a material of higher quality. The aim of the present work is to determine the suitability of processed fly-ash from lignite for reinforcing (stabilizing) soils used in the building of road foundations and embankments. The results provide a method of recycling this waste while at the same time obtaining new materials and technologies for use in road building. This is an important issue both environmentally and in terms of the positive effect that processed fly-ash can have on the stability of road structures.

This article presents the results of experiments carried out using fly-ash produced from lignite at the P¹tnów Power Plant. This ash was first modified (activated) using a Wapeco magnetic activator, and then used to produce hydraulic binders (with the addition of cement) and soil-binder mixtures. These mixtures were made using natural soils from seven different deposits in the Lubuskie region (western Poland). They were stabilized using two hydraulic binders (strength ratings 3 MPa and 9 MPa) added in different amounts (6% and 8% relative to the mass of the soil). During the experiment, a determination was made of the increase in the strength of the analysed samples (after 14, 28, and 42 days) and the increase in the bearing ratio (immediately after consolidation and after 7 days).

Interpretation of the results of the experiment made it possible to assess the dynamics of the increase in compression strength and load-bearing capacity of various soils stabilized with hydraulic binders produced from lignite ash, and to indicate possibilities for the use of these materials.

The analysis showed that it is possible to use these binders for the stabilisation of soils, enabling soils formerly considered to have weak load-bearing capacity (clayey sand; clayey, sandy gravel; clays) to be classified as fully usable in road construction.

In agriculture, the mixing of pesticides in tanks is a common practice. However, it is necessary to previse possible physical-chemical implications of this practice, which may affect the efficiency of the treatments performed. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the addition of acaricide to insecticidal spray mixtures on the formation of spray droplets and the interaction with citrus leaves. The experimental design was totally randomized, in a (2 × 3 + 1) factorial scheme for seven treatments. Factor A corresponded to the spray mixture used (isolate or in the mixture). Factor B corresponded to the insecticides tested (lambda-cyhalothrin + thiamethoxam, phosmet, and imidacloprid) and the control consisted of a spray mixture with spirodiclofen only. Nine replications were performed for characterization of the spray droplet size spectrum and four replications for the analysis of the surface tension and the contact angle. The mixture of pesticides showed positive results in terms of application safety. The addition of acaricide to insecticide spray mixtures reduced the surface tension and contact angle of droplets on the adaxial surface of orange leaves. There was an increment in volume median diameter (VMD), a significant reduction in the volume of droplets with drift-sensitive size and improvement in the uniformity of droplet size. Therefore, the addition of acaricide to an insecticide spray mixture positively influenced spray droplet formation and the interaction with citrus leaves providing better coverage and droplet size fractions with an appropriate size for safe and efficient application.