Liber passus Klemensa Stanisława Herki – panegiryk z okazji awansu akademickiego. Problemy komunikacji literackiej poprzez poezję kunsztowną

Udostępnienie publikacji Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego finansowane w ramach projektu „Doskonałość naukowa kluczem do doskonałości kształcenia”. Projekt realizowany jest ze środków Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Wiedza Edukacja Rozwój; nr umowy: POWER.03.05.00-00-Z092/17-00

A composite measure to determine a host country's attractiveness for foreign direct investment

We contribute to the question of why some countries are more attractive for foreign direct investment (FDI) than others by constructing a composite measure that describes a host country's attractiveness for receiving FDI. This index considers all identified major, measurable and, for our scope, comparable aspects that affect FDI decisions. As a result, we can rank 127 countries with respect to their FDI attraction. The index provides the possibility of conducting detailed strength and weakness analyses for all of our sample countries and regions. These analyses provide support to policy-makers to improve their country's attractiveness for receiving inward FDI. They also enhance the discussion of why FDI flows still remain concentrated in advanced economies and, additionally, in which areas emerging and developing economies have to improve in order to narrow the existing gap. We provide correlation and sensitivity analyses to test the quality of our composite measure. Additionally, we benchmark our index with several alternative indices. Thereby, we show that no other index tracks actual FDI activity more closely.Country Comparison; Composite Measure; Index; FDI;

High-performance liquid chromatography analysis of mezlocillin, piperacillin, their degradation products, and of ioxitalamic acid in plasma and urine of healthy volunteers

In plasma and urine of 10 healthy volunteers after intravenous administration of 4 g mezlocillin and piperacillin, respectively, the parent compounds as well as degradation products were assayed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Ioxitalamic acid, a renal contrast medium, was administered simultaneously, in order to measure the glomerular filtration rate, and to control the collection of 24-h urine. As metabolite of mezlocillin the corresponding penicilloic acid only was found, whereas in the case of piperacillin a further degradation product was observed. Half of the doses given was recovered in the urine as unchanged drugs, and in addition 5-10% as metabolites. No differences were found in the pharmacokinetic behaviour of both antibiotics

Antibacterial surface modification of titanium implants in orthopaedics

The use of biomaterials in orthopaedics for joint replacement, fracture healing and bone regeneration is a rapidly expanding field. Infection of these biomaterials is a major healthcare burden, leading to significant morbidity and mortality. Furthermore, the cost to healthcare systems is increasing dramatically. With advances in implant design and production, research has predominately focussed on osseointegration; however, modification of implant material, surface topography and chemistry can also provide antibacterial activity. With the increasing burden of infection, it is vitally important that we consider the bacterial interaction with the biomaterial and the host when designing and manufacturing future implants. During this review, we will elucidate the interaction between patient, biomaterial surface and bacteria. We aim to review current and developing surface modifications with a view towards antibacterial orthopaedic implants for clinical applications

Addressing environmental and atmospheric challenges for capturing high-precision thermal infrared data in the field of astro-ecology

Using thermal infrared detectors mounted on drones, and applying techniques from astrophysics, we hope to support the field of conservation ecology by creating an automated pipeline for the detection and identification of certain endangered species and poachers from thermal infrared data. We test part of our system by attempting to detect simulated poachers in the field. Whilst we find that we can detect humans hiding in the field in some types of terrain, we also find several environmental factors that prevent accurate detection, such as ambient heat from the ground, absorption of infrared emission by the atmosphere, obscuring vegetation and spurious sources from the terrain. We discuss the effect of these issues, and potential solutions which will be required for our future vision for a fully automated drone-based global conservation monitoring system.Comment: Published in Proceedings of SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018. 8 pages, 3 figure

Acoustic models of orangutan hand-assisted alarm calls

B.d.B. was funded by the European research council starting grant ABACUS project and the Innoviris ‘Brains back to Brussels’ programme. S.A.W. was funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research NWO. A.R.L. was funded by the Menken Funds (University of Amsterdam).Orangutans produce alarm calls called kiss-squeaks, which they sometimes modify by putting a hand in front of their mouth. Through theoretical models and observational evidence, we show that using the hand when making a kiss-squeak alters the acoustics of the production in such a way that more formants per kilohertz are produced. Our theoretical models suggest that cylindrical wave propagation is created with the use of the hand and face as they act as a cylindrical extension of the lips. The use of cylindrical wave propagation in animal calls appears to be extremely rare, but is an effective way to lengthen the acoustic system; it causes the number of resonances per kilohertz to increase. This increase is associated with larger animals, and thus using the hand in kiss-squeak production may be effective in exaggerating the size of the producer. Using the hand appears to be a culturally learned behavior, and therefore orangutans may be able to associate the acoustic effect of using the hand with potentially more effective deterrence of predators.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

A preliminary assessment of using conservation drones for Sumatran orang-utan (Pongo abelii) distribution and density

To conserve biodiversity scientists monitor wildlife populations and their habitats. Current methods have constraints such as the costs of ground or aerial surveys, limited resolution of freely-available satellite images, and expensive high resolution satellite images. Recently researchers started to use unmanned aerial vehicles (aka UAVs or drones) for wildlife and habitat monitoring. Here we tested whether we could detect nests of the critically endangered Sumatran orang-utan on imagery acquired from camera mounted drone to determine distribution and density. Our results show that the distribution of nests compares well between aerial and ground based surveys and that relative density (nest/km) shows a significant correlation between these two survey types. The results also indicate that both methods can be used to detect significant differences in relative density between previously degraded reforested and enriched areas. We conclude that orang-utan nest surveys from drones are a promising survey method to determine distribution and (relative) density of this and perhaps other ape species

Assessment of Chimpanzee Nests Detectability on Drone-Acquired Images

As with other species of great apes, chimpanzee numbers have declined during the past decades. Proper conservation of the remaining chimpanzees requires accurate and frequent data on their distribution and density. In Tanzania, 75% of the chimpanzees live at low densities on land outside national parks and little is known about their distribution, density, behavior or ecology. Given the sheer scale of chimpanzee distribution across western Tanzania (>20,000 km2), we need new methods that are time and cost efficient while providing precise and accurate data across broad spatial scales. Scientists have recently demonstrated the usefulness of drones to detect wildlife, including apes. Whilst direct observation of chimpanzees is unlikely given their elusiveness, we investigated the potential of drones to detect chimpanzee nests in the Issa valley, western Tanzania. Between 2015 and 2016, we tested and compared the capabilities of two fixed-wing drones. We surveyed twenty-two plots (50x500m) in gallery forests and miombo woodlands to compare nest observations from the ground with those from the air. We performed mixed-effects logistic regression models to evaluate the impact of image resolution, seasonality, vegetation type, nest height and color on nest detectability. An average of 10% of the nests spotted from the ground were detected from the air. From the factors tested, only image resolution significantly influenced nest detectability on drone-acquired images. We discuss the potential, but also the limitations of this technology for determining chimpanzee distribution and density and provide guidance for future investigation on the use of drones for ape population surveys. Combining traditional and novel technological methods of surveying allows more accurate collection on animal distribution and habitat connectivity that has important implications for apes conservation in an increasingly anthropogenically disturbed landscape

A simple alternative to line transects of nests for estimating orangutan densities

We conducted a validation of the line transect technique to estimate densities of orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) nests in a Bornean swamp forest, and compared these results with density estimates based on nest counts in plots and on female home ranges. First, we examined the accuracy of the line transect method. We found that the densities based on a pass in both directions of two experienced pairs of observers was 27% below a combined sample based on transect walks by eight pairs of observers, suggesting that regular line-transect densities may seriously underestimate true densities. Second, we compared these results with those obtained by nest counts in 0.2-ha plots. This method produced an estimated 15.24nests/ha, as compared to 10.0 and 10.9, respectively, by two experienced pairs of observers who walked a line transect in both directions. Third, we estimated orangutan densities based on female home range size and overlap and the proportion of females in the population, which produced a density of 4.25-4.5 individuals/km2 . Converting nest densities into orangutan densities, using locally estimated parameters for nest production rate and proportion of nest builders in the population, we found that density estimates based on the line transect results of the most experienced pairs on a double pass were 2.82 and 3.08 orangutans/km2, based on the combined line transect data are 4.04, and based on plot counts are 4.30. In this swamp forest, plot counts therefore give more accurate estimates than do line transects. We recommend that this new method be evaluated in other forest types as wel