The standard PN-EN_1993-1-5:_2008 (Eurocode 3) compared with the standard (PN-B-03200:_1990) used previously in Poland, introduces extended rules referring to the computations of the bearing capacity of the plated structural elements including the shear lag effect. The stress distribution in the width flanges is variable. Therefore in the case of the beam with the shear lag effect cannot be calculated by the classic beam theory.

In this article a comparison of the results of the calculations of forces distribution, stresses and displacement according to the rule presented in PN-EN_1993 and results of the numerical computations for_3D model (using finite element method) is presented. The elastic shear lag effects, the elastic shear lag effects including effects of the plate buckling and the elastic-plastic shear lag effects including the local instabilities were analysed. The calculations were performed for beams with a small and a large span and an influence of stiffeners was analysed.

The article presents the results of the investigations performed on high manganese austenitic steel which underwent the test of uniaxial tension, with the application of electric current impulses. The application of low voltage impulse alternating current of high intensity during the plastic deformation of the examined steel caused the occurrence of the electroplastic effect, which changed the shape of the stress-strain curve. A drop of flow stress and elongation of the tested material was observed in the case of the application of electric current impulses, in respect of the material stretched without such impulses and stretched at an elevated temperature. The analysis of the morphology of the fractures showed differences between the samples tested under the particular conditions. An analysis of the alloy’s microstructure was also performed under different conditions. The application of electric current impulses can have a significant influence on the reduction of the forces in the plastic forming processes for this type of steel.

In this paper we discuss some physical limits for scaling of transistors and conducting paths inside of semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs). Since 40 years only a semiconductor technology, mostly the CMOS and the TTL technologies, are used for fabrication of integrated circuits on an industrial scale. Miniaturization of electronic devices in integrated circuits has technological limits and physical limits as well. In 2010 best parameters of commercial ICs shown the Intel Core i5-670 processor manufactured in the technology of 32 nm. Its clock frequency in turbo mode is 3.73 GHz. A forecast of the development of the semiconductor industry (ITRS 2011) predicts that sizes of electronic devices in ICs circuits will be smaller than 10 nm in the next 10 years. At least 5 physical effects should be taken into account if we discuss limits of scaling of integrated circuits.

The protection of Polish architectural heritage in the former eastern borderlands, accomplished through the conservation and technical securing of historical structures, constitutes one of the main programmes that are implemented by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Currently, many Polish historical buildings in the former eastern borderlands are in a very bad technical condition. The load-bearing systems of these elements, as well as elements of their finish, require immediate emergency securing work. The basic steps that precede conservation work are emergency structural works, which guarantee the durability and stability of the entire historical substance. The specifics and complexity of the problem of the failure of historical buildings often demands an in-depth analysis of a series of factors that are difficult to measure and which are responsible for the cause and effect relationship during the early stage of the technical evaluation of a structure. The analyses of failures of numerous historical structures, for instance that were carried out by the authors, have become the inspiration for the search for effective methods of analysis that would allow for an in-depth analysis of the causes and effects of the failures in question. The DEMATEL method (Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) that has been presented in this work, and its fuzzy extension, has lately become one of the more popular methods used in the cause-and-effect analysis of various phenomena. The authors demonstrated how this method works on the example of the evaluation and securing of the load-bearing system of the XVII Collegiate church of the Holy Trinity in the town of Olykha in the Volhynskiy Oblast, Ukraine.

This paper proposes a self-excited induction generator model with saturation effect for power generating mode in a remote site. The model is led through the space vector mathematical formalism and allows one to analyze the steady and dynamic states. It is developed for a squirrel cage induction machine. This model provides magnetizing inductance variation able to influence the build-up and the stabilization of voltage generation when the load changes. The final result is a realistic approach model which takes into con- sideration the dependency of the magnetizing inductance versus magnetizing current. This novel model is validated through experimental measurements to demonstrate its validity and practicability.

The paper concerns the problem of treatment of the systematic effect as a part of the coverage interval associated with the measurement result. In this case the known systematic effect is not corrected for but instead is treated as an uncertainty component. This effect is characterized by two components: systematic and random. The systematic component is estimated by the bias and the random component is estimated by the uncertainty associated with the bias. Taking into consideration these two components, a random variable can be created with zero expectation and standard deviation calculated by randomizing the systematic effect. The method of randomization of the systematic effect is based on a flatten-Gaussian distribution. The standard uncertainty, being the basic parameter of the systematic effect, may be calculated with a simple mathematical formula. The presented evaluation of uncertainty is more rational than those with the use of other methods. It is useful in practical metrological applications.

Accurate prediction of power loss distribution within an electrical device is highly desirable as it allows thermal behavior to be evaluated at the early design stage. Three-dimensional (3-D) and two-dimensional (2-D) finite element analysis (FEA) is applied to calculate dc and ac copper losses in the armature winding at high-frequency sinusoidal currents. The main goal of this paper is showing the end-winding effect on copper losses. Copper losses at high frequency are dominated by the skin and proximity effects. A time-varying current has a tendency to concentrate near the surfaces of conductors, and if the frequency is very high, the current is restricted to a very thin layer near the conductor surface. This phenomenon of nonuniform distribution of time-varying currents in conductors is known as the skin effect. The term proximity effect refers to the influence of alternating current in one conductor on the current distribution in another, nearby conductor. To evaluate the ac copper loss within the analyzed machine a simplified approach is adopted using one segment of stator core. To demonstrate an enhanced copper loss due to ac operation, the dc and ac resistances are calculated. The resistances ratio ac to dc is strongly dependent on frequency, temperature, shape of slot and size of slot opening.

The aim of this paper is to derive an analytical equations for the temperature dependent optimum winding size of inductors conducting high frequency ac sinusoidal currents. Derived analytical equations are useful designing tool for research and development engineers because windings made of foil, square-wire, and solid-round-wire windings are considered. Temperature dependent Dowell’s equation for the ac-to-dc winding resistance ratio is given and approximated. Thermally dependent analytical equations for the optimum foil thickness, as well as valley thickness and diameter of the square-wire and solid-round-wire windings are derived from approximated thermally dependent ac-to-dc winding resistance ratios. Minimum winding ac resistance of the foil winding and local minimum of the winding ac resistance of the solid-round-wire winding are verified with Maxwell 3D Finite Element Method simulations.

The aim of the paper is to compare reactions of two stock markets, the German and the French, to releases of macroeconomic fundamentals emanating from Germany and the U.S. We examine the reaction of intraday returns and volatility of the CAC40 and the DAX indices to macroeconomic surprises. We find that both American and German macroeconomic releases cause an immediate response in returns and volatility of the German and the French stock market sampled at a five-minute frequency. The reaction to the American macroeconomic surprises is stronger than to the German ones.

In the study we introduce an extension to a stochastic volatility in mean model (SV-M), allowing for discrete regime switches in the risk premium parameter. The logic behind the idea is that neglecting a possibly regimechanging nature of the relation between the current volatility (conditional standard deviation) and asset return within an ordinary SV-M specication may lead to spurious insignicance of the risk premium parameter (as being ‛averaged out’ over the regimes). Therefore, we allow the volatility-in-mean eect to switch over dierent regimes according to a discrete homogeneous two-state Markov chain. We treat the new specication within the Bayesian framework, which allows to fully account for the uncertainty of model parameters, latent conditional variances and hidden Markov chain state variables. Standard Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods, including the Gibbs sampler and the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm, are adapted to estimate the model and to obtain predictive densities of selected quantities. Presented methodology is applied to analyse series of the Warsaw Stock Exchange index (WIG) and its sectoral subindices. Although rare, once spotted the switching in-mean eect substantially enhances the model t to the data, as measured by the value of the marginal data density.

The abrupt depreciation of the zloty during the subprime crisis and fastrising prices are serious problems, because Poland, having to fulfil five Maastricht criteria, makes the dependence of her domestic inflation on price increases in the EU countries the central point of the discussion about the optimal monetary and fiscal policy rules for the next few years. The primary objective of the paper is to test out some hypotheses about the main sources of the volatility of the Polish zloty / euro exchange rate and inflation in Poland. Because several competing theoretical models describing inflationary processes are widely used, special attention is paid to their empirical verification. The working-hypotheses allowing for the country-specific features of the consumer and producer price inflation are formulated and verified in the paper.

The literature is undisputed regarding the impact of mental health on public health, and there has been an increase in the use of primary healthcare, in particular, the consultations of general practitioners (GPs), with issues at this level. In the literature on the subject, the psychological intervention has been indicated as a positive factor in reversing this trend, and it is in this context that the present study was developed. We intend to explore the differences in the number of GP consultations prior to and after the psychology consultation in a Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC). To this end, data from 845 healthcare center users were collected between June 2004 and September 2014. Student’s t-test and mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed. The results point out a decrease in the number of GP consultations in the period subsequent to the first psychological consultation. We discuss that psychological intervention seems to have a positive effect, not only in improving the mental health of the population but also in the containment of costs in the health sector. The importance of the role of psychology in PHC was assumed.

A biotic interaction between fungi from soil within and outside the rhizosphere of potato and fungi responsible for black scurf – Rhizoctonia solani Kühn and silver scurf – Helminthosporium solani (Dur., Mont.). It was found that fungi population connected with crop environment under investigation promoted the growth of Rhizoctonia solani, thus indicating no resistance of this environment to this pathogen. These fungi, however, inhibited the growth of Helminthosporium solani.

The molluscicidal activity of six monoterpenes and two phenylpropenes against Theba pisana adults was evaluated using fumigation and direct contact methods. In the fumigant toxicity assay, (-)-citronellal showed the highest toxicity with LC50 value of 7.79 μl · l−1 air after 24 h of treatment, followed by (-)-terpinen-4-ol (LC50 = 12.06 μl · l−1), (-)-menthone (LC50 = 12.28 μl · l−1 air) and p-cymene (LC50 = 16.07 μl · l−1 air). Eugenol and trans-cinnamaldehyde were the most potent contact toxicants against T. pisana. Their LD50 values were 0.18 and 0.29 mg · snail−1 after 24 h of treatment, respectively. These two compounds were more toxic than a reference molluscicide, methomyl. In contrast, α-terpinene and (-)-citronellal were the least toxic compounds. In another experiment, the synergistic effect of piperonyl butoxide (PBO) on tested monoterpenes and phenylpropenes by topical application was examined. The results showed that the toxicity of the tested compounds was increased when mixed with PBO at a ratio [compound/PBO (1 : 2)] except for α-pinene and (-)-terpinen-4-ol in which the toxicity of binary mixtures was less than for single compounds. The synergistic effect of PBO improved with increased exposure time. The highest synergistic effect was observed with (-)-menthone and α-terpinene with synergistic ratios of 9.25 and 4.37, respectively. Monoterpenes and phenylpropenes and their mixtures with PBO described herein merit further studies as potential T. pisana control agents.

Highly active antagonistic actinomycete Streptomyces griseoviridis and entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana were applied to the soil separately and together (in association) in the laboratory experiments. We assessed survival rate, insecticidal and fungistatic activity of these strains. We also tested the influence of synthetic insecticide Regent 25® (fipronil 25g/l) on investigated parameters. Additionally, insecticidal activity of both strains was compared with insecticidal activity of Regent. It was shown that both strains, especially S. griseoviridis, good survived in soil. Population density of S. griseoviridis in the association with B. bassiana increased 2–3 times compared to initial density. Regent considerably reduced population density of S. griseoviridis and B. bassiana. Insecticidal efficiency of S. griseoviridis was comparable with the effect of synthetic incecticide Regent and reached 89.2% and 86.8% respectively. Fungistatic activity towards Fusarium oxysporum showed only S. griseoviridis and it was observed that this activity decreased in time course.

The aim of this paper is presentation and comparison of calculation methods of the inductance matrix of a 3-column multi-winding autotransformer. Main and leakage autotransformer inductance was obtained using finite elements method. Static calculations were made at the current supply for 2D and 3D models, and mono-harmonic calculations were made at the voltage supply. In the mono-harmonic calculations the eddy current losses were taken into account, this made it possible to study relationship between the autotransformer parameters and the frequency. Calculations were made using Ansys and the authors' own programs in Matlab.

The 15-winding and 3-column autotransformer supplying an 18-pulse rectifier circuit was developed. Presented methods can be used also for the autotransformers of other topologies supplying different kinds of converters. Presented methods make it possible to exactly calculate main and leakage inductances of the multi-winding autotransformer. The presented analysis of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the inductance matrix makes it possible to identify the influence nature of individual modes on the inductance matrix, and to compare the calculation results obtained using the presented methods. Frequency dependence of autotransformer parameters was shown. Also modes of the impedance matrix of the multi-winding autotransformer was investigated, this made it possible to identify the influence nature of individual modes on the inductance matrix. Using presented methods one can exactly calculate main and leakage inductances of the autotransformer. Thanks to this, one can design in optimal way autotransformers for supplying, for example, rectifier circuits, THD coefficients. The results of the measurements and simulations were also shortly presented at the end of the article.

In many practical situations fluids are normally blended with additives (viscosity index improvers, viscosity thickeners, viscosity thinners) due to which they show pseudoplastic and dilatant nature which can be modelled as cubic stress model (Rabinowitsch model). The cubic stress model for pseudoplastic fluids is adopted because Wada and Hayashi have shown that the theoretical results with this model are in good agreement with the experimental results. The present theoretical analysis is to investigate the pseudoplastic effect along with the effect of rotational inertia on the pressure distribution, frictional torque and fluid flow rate of externally pressurised flow in narrow clearance between two curvilinear surfaces of revolution. The expression for pressure has been derived using energy integral approach. To analyse and discuss the effects of pseudoplasticity and fluid inertia on the pressure distribution, fluid flow rate and frictional torque, the examples of externally pressurised flow in the clearance between parallel disks and concentric spherical surfaces have been considered.