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Recent years have witnessed an increased interest in the cultivation and consumption of peppers. Therefore, new solutions are being sought to provide pepper plants with the most favorable conditions for growth and development. In view of the above, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of selected biostimulants on the biometric parameters, yield and nutritional value of Capsicum annuum fruit. The research hypothesis postulates that biostimulants can increase the yield and improve the nutritional quality of pepper fruit. The experiment was conducted in an unheated plastic tunnel. The experimental materials comprised three sweet (‘Solario F 1 ’, ‘Turbine F 1 ’ and ‘Whitney F 1 ’) and two hot (‘Cyklon’ and ‘Palivec’) cultivars of C. annuum . It was found that the combined application of environmentally-friendly microbial-based biostimulants (BB Soil, BB Foliar, Multical, MK5 and Biocin F) did not clearly improve the morphological traits of pepper fruit, yield or the concentrations of sugars and organic acids in fruit, therefore their use is not economically justified. Hot peppers had a higher content of dry matter, total sugars and L-ascorbic acid than sweet peppers. The analyzed biostimulants increased nitrate (V) concentrations in the fruit of both hot and sweet peppers. ‘Turbine F 1 ’ and ‘Solario F 1 ’ were particularly prone to nitrate (V) accumulation in fruit, therefore the use of biostimulants should be limited in their cultivation. Pepper fruits with the largest horizontal diameter and the thickest skin should be preferred because these traits are associated with high sugar content.

We demonstrate a genuine method for three-dimensional pictorial reconstructions of two-dimensional, three-dimensional, and hybrid specimens based on confocal Raman data collected in a back-scattering geometry of a 532-nm setup. The protocol, or the titular PRISM ( P hase- R esolved I maging S pectroscopic M ethod), allows for sub-diffractive and material-resolved imaging of the object’s constituent material phases. The spacial component comes through either the signal distal attenuation ratio (direct mode) or subtle light-matter interactions, including interference enhancement and light absorption (indirect mode). The phase component is brought about by scrutinizing only selected Raman-active modes. We illustrate the PRISM approach in common real-life examples, including photolithographically structured amorphous Al 2 O 3 , reactive-ion-etched homoepitaxial SiC, and Chemical Vapor Deposition graphene transferred from copper foil onto a Si substrate and AlGaN microcolumns. The method is implementable in widespread Raman apparatus and offers a leap in the quality of materials imaging. The lateral resolution of PRISM is stage-limited by step motors to 100 nm. At the same time, the vertical accuracy is estimated at a nanometer scale due to the sensitivity of one of the applied phenomena (interference enhancement) to the physical property of the material (layer thickness).

The ability to precisely measure magnetic fields under extreme operating conditions is becoming increasingly important as a result of the advent of modern diagnostics for future magnetic-confinement fusion devices. These conditions are recognized as strong neutron radiation and high temperatures (up to 350 °C). We report on the first experimental comparison of the impact of neutron radiation on graphene and indium antimonide thin films. For this purpose, a 2D-material-based structure was fabricated in the form of hydrogen-intercalated quasi-free-standing graphene on semi-insulating high-purity on-axis 4H-SiC(0001), passivated with an Al2O3 layer. InSb-based thin films, donor doped to varying degrees, were deposited on a monocrystalline gallium arsenide or a polycrystalline ceramic substrate. The thin films were covered with a SiO2 insulating layer. All samples were exposed to a fast-neutron fluence of ≈7×1017 cm−2. The results have shown that the graphene sheet is only moderately affected by neutron radiation compared to the InSb-based structures. The low structural damage allowed the graphene/SiC system to retain its electrical properties and excellent sensitivity to magnetic fields. However, InSb-based structures proved to have significantly more post-irradiation self-healing capabilities when subject to proper temperature treatment. This property has been tested depending on the doping level and type of the substrate.

Soilless plantations under cover constitute a significant part of horticulture. This study aimed at determining the qualitative composition of wastewater generated from the soilless cultivation of tomato under cover. This is important for managing the wastewater, which may be recirculated to allow the or employ a partial or complete recovery of minerals. Two plantations located in north-eastern Poland, which differed in the type of substratum (coconut fiber or rockwool), were studied. The generated wastewater was characterized by a low content of organic matter and a high concentration of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and salinity (EC). Over 99% of the TN was constituted by nitrates. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) changed from 50.07 to 75.82 mgO2·L−1 (greenhouse 1), and from 37.35 to 78.12 mgO2·L−1 (greenhouse 2); the content of TN changed from 403.59 to 614.89 mgN·L−1 (greenhouse 1), and from 270.00 to 577.40 mgN·L−1 (greenhouse 2); that of TP changed from 35.44 to 78.00 mgP·L−1 (greenhouse 1), and from 54.10 to 104.00 mgP·L−1 (greenhouse 2); and the EC changed from 3.53 to 6.93 mS·cm−1 (greenhouse 1), and from 4.94 to 6.94 mS·cm−1 (greenhouse 2). No statistically significant correlations were noted between TN and TP, or between TP and EC.

The presented paper concerns the technological aspects of the interface evolution in the nickel-silicon carbide composite during the sintering process. The goal of our investigation was to analyse the material changes occurring due to the violent reaction between nickel and silicon carbide at elevated temperatures. The nickel matrix composite with 20 vol pct SiC particles as the reinforcing phase was fabricated by the spark plasma sintering technique. The sintering tests were conducted with variable process conditions (temperature, time, and pressure). It was revealed that the strong interaction between the individual components and the scale of the observed changes depends on the sintering parameters. To identify the microstructural evolution, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy were used. The silicon carbide decomposition process progresses with the extension of the sintering time. As the final product of the observed reaction, new phases from the Ni-Si system and free carbon were detected. The step-by-step materials evolution allowed us to reveal the course of the reaction and the creation of the new structure, especially in the reaction zone. The detailed analysis of the SiC decomposition and formation of new components was the main achievement of the presented paper.

Semiconductor devices based on silicon carbide play an important role as components for power electronic systems. Nowadays it's recognized that at least 50 percent of electricity distribution all over the world is controlled by such elements. It's also expected that within a decade, the power devices' share in electricity conversion will rise from today's 30 to 80 %. This will require next generation of energy-efficient devices for power electronics.

In this paper, using a quasi-classical statistical approach based on the Langevin equation, we simulate the fission dynamics of selected even-even \\(\\rm U\\), \\(\\rm Pu\\), \\(\\rm Cm\\), \\(\\rm Cf\\) and \\(\\rm Fm\\) actinide nuclei. As a preparatory part of the work, before solving the Langevin equations, the determination of transport parameters such as inertia and friction tensors within the hydrodynamic model is performed. Potential energy surfaces are calculated within a macroscopic-microscopic approach in a three-dimensional space of deformation parameters defined within the Fourier decomposition of the surface radius function in cylindrical coordinates. Using the Lublin-Strasbourg drop model, Strutinsky shell correction and BCS-like pairing energy model with the projection onto good particle number, we calculate the nuclear total potential energy surfaces (PES). The restoration of the particle number in the superfluid approach is realized within the Generator Coordinate Method (GCM) with the so called Gaussian Overlap Approximation (GOA). The final study is concerned with the effect of the starting point of the stochastic Langevin trajectory on its time evolution and, more importantly, the conditions for judging whether such a trajectory for a given time moment describes an already passed fission nucleus or not. Collecting a large number of such stochastic trajectories allows us to assess the resulting fragment mass distributions, which appear to be in good agreement with their experimental counterparts for light and intermediate actinides. More serious discrepancies are observed for single isotopes of californium and fermium.

Potential energy surfaces of even-even superheavy nuclei are evaluated within the macroscopic-microscopic approximation. A very rapidly converging analytical Fourier-type shape parametrization is used to describe nuclear shapes throughout the periodic table, including those of fissioning nuclei. The Lublin Strasbourg Drop and another effective liquid-drop type mass formula are used to determine the macroscopic part of nuclear energy. The Yukawa-folded single-particle potential, the Strutinsky shell-correction method, and the BCS approximation for including pairing correlations are used to obtain microscopic energy corrections. The evaluated nuclear binding energies, fission-barrier heights, and Q-alpha energies show a relatively good agreement with the experimental data. A simple one-dimensional WKB model a la Swiatecki is used to estimate spontaneous fission lifetimes, while alpha-decay probabilities are obtained within a Gamow-type model.

Deformation-energy surfaces of 54 even-even isotopes of Pt, Hg and Pb nuclei with neutron numbers up to 126 are investigated within a macroscopic-microscopic model based on the Lublin-Strasbourg-Drop macroscopic energy and shell plus pairing-energy corrections obtained from a Yukawa-folded mean-field potential at the desired deformation. A new, rapidly converging Fourier shape parametrization is used to describe nuclear shapes. The stability of shape isomeric states with respect to non-axial and higher-order deformations is investigated.