University of Wrocław

Agroforestry, where trees and shrubs are planted in row-alley systems, can utilize the natural ability of plants to interact with pollutants and serve as a passive biotechnological method for improving air quality. A method for programming air phytoremediation processes is presented, using appropriately shaped plant structures, considering species characteristics and the spatial configuration of plants in row-alley plantings. The main objectives of this study were: to determine the relationship between pollution reduction and the characteristics of plant communities, considering the parameters of individual plants and group characteristics, to determine strategic parameters for the interaction between plants and pollutant flows, and to identify optimization paths for each stage. The optimization of the air phytoremediation process is presented using the example of changes in the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentration pattern, analyzed through numerical experiments using micrometeorological computational fluid dynamics models (ENVI-met software). Ex-ante analysis of hypothetical scenarios showed that introducing appropriate configurations of variable vegetation structure could lead to pollution reductions of up to 19%. The effectiveness of the presented plant systems qualifies this method as a type of bioengineering technology, supporting the multifunctionality of agroforestry systems.

There is a growing interest in the role of sphingolipids in the background of multiple sclerosis (MS). The goal of this study was to evaluate the serum levels of antibodies against ceramide-1-phosphate (C1P) subclasses and their relationships with clinical status in MS. The study groups comprised 39 patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), 26 patients with other neurological diseases (OND) and 12 healthy subjects (HS). Anti-C1P IgG levels in serum were determined using ELISA test. Levels of anti-C18:0-C1P and anti-C24:1-C1P IgG were significantly increased (p = 0.003; p < 0.0001, respectively) in RRMS compared to HS, while anti-C16:0-C1P and anti-C24:0-C1P IgG – significantly lower p < 0.0001 in RRMS compared to OND, with large effect size (r ≥ 0.5) in all above cases. In both settings the acceptable discriminatory performance for RRMS subtype from HS (AUC = 78.1%, 95% CI 66.1–90.4 and AUC = 76.9%, 95% CI 60.3–93.6, respectively) as well as from OND (AUC = 79.8%, 95% CI 68.2–91.4 and AUC = 94.2%, 95% CI 88.6–99.8, accordingly) by receiver operating curve (ROC) was shown. Validation of ROC by cluster analysis confirmed the ability of these anti-C1P IgG panels to discriminate between the study groups. No relationships were found between levels of antibodies in the anti-C1P IgG panel in RRMS group and disease duration, degree of disability or Link index. These findings highlight the relevant role of C1P as a target and/or mediator of autoimmune response in MS and potential value of anti-C1P antibodies as biomarkers in differential diagnosis of this disease.

Rank aggregation is a task of combining the rankings of items from multiple users into a single ranking that best represents the users' rankings. Alabi et al. (AAAI'22) presents differentially-private (DP) polynomial-time approximation schemes (PTASes) and 5-approximation algorithms with certain additive errors for the Kemeny rank aggregation problem in both central and local models. In this paper, we present improved DP PTASes with smaller additive error in the central model. Furthermore, we are first to study the footrule rank aggregation problem under DP. We give a near-optimal algorithm for this problem; as a corollary, this leads to 2-approximation algorithms with the same additive error as the 5-approximation algorithms of Alabi et al. for the Kemeny rank aggregation problem in both central and local models.

The Niemcza Shear Zone (NSZ) represents one of the key structural elements of the Sudetic segment of the Variscan Belt, yet its tectonic significance remains under discussion. Several models have interpreted the NSZ as a major crustal boundary separating peri-Gondwanan domains. Here we present new insights into the metamorphic evolution of the NSZ based on a comparative analysis of two lithologies from its central domain: the strongly deformed Strach mylonite and the weakly deformed Buk graphitic quartzite.An integrated approach combining white-mica and garnet–biotite geothermobarometry, Zr-in-rutile thermometry, Raman spectroscopy of carbonaceous material, and major- and trace-element zoning in tourmaline was applied. Both lithologies record similar medium-pressure, high-temperature metamorphic conditions within the greenschist- to amphibolite-facies conditions. Peak metamorphism is estimated at ~6–10 kbar and 630–710 °C, corresponding to the sillimanite stability field.Tourmaline compositional zoning reveals two stages of prograde growth under predominantly internally buffered conditions, followed by retrograde rim formation linked to deformation-enhanced fluid infiltration, particularly within the mylonitic rocks.Our results support interpretation of the NSZ as a long-lived, lithospheric-scale shear zone that focused deformation, magmatism and metamorphic re-equilibration during terrane amalgamation.

W pracy tej rozważam problem sensowności bytu jako takiego, a w tym – jako pierwszoplanowy – egzystencji ludzkiej. Streszczając rzecz najogólniej: dochodzę do przekonania, że sensowność całego obszaru bytowości ujawnia się jako możliwość realizacji przez obdarzone wolną wolą istoty rozumne wartości autotelicznych („perfekcyjnych”), które mają swoje umocowanie w istnieniu absolutnym – w osobowym Bogu jako gwarancie najwyższej i ostatecznej sensowności wszechbytu. W dużej mierze książka ta stanowi polemikę z próbami czysto humanistycznego (antropocentrycznego) oraz naturalistycznego uzasadnienia sensowności bytu, prowadzoną z perspektywy myśli (religii, teologii i filozofii) chrześcijańskiej. Ponieważ wiele z prezentowanych tu ustaleń (chociaż nie wszystkie ani nawet nie większość) opartych jest na przekonaniach religijnych, a książka ta w zamyśle moim nie ma charakteru konfesyjnego, ustalenia te należy traktować jako pewne prawdy warunkowe. W tych przypadkach chodzi o to, aby wyciągnąć logiczne konsekwencje z myśli (religii oraz teologii) chrześcijańskiej.

The Kamieniec Metamorphic Belt (KMB), exposed in the Sudetes and forming part of the northeastern margin of the Bohemian Massif, represents one of the outermost exposures of the crystalline basement of the Variscan belt in Europe. It experienced an initial episode of high pressure low temperature (HP-LT) metamorphism reaching conditions of around 15 to 18 kbar and 470 to 570 °C, followed by a low pressure middle temperature (LP-MT) metamorphic event at pressures of 3 to 8 kbar and temperatures of 500 to 600°C (Szczepański et al., 2022a; Szczepański and Goleń, 2022). These metamorphic episodes were investigated using phase equilibria modelling, Raman barometry, and conventional geothermobarometry. Although, metamorphic ages of ca. 347 to 337 Ma have been reported from neighbouring units (Jastrzębski et al., 2020; Szczepański et al., 2022b), precise timing constraints for the metamorphic events within the KMB are still lacking.In this study, we analysed zoned garnets from mica schists of the KMB. We used the GDIFF software (Moulas, 2023) to simulate compositional diffusion profiles and estimate the corresponding timescales related to the last thermal event experienced by the rocks. Our diffusion approach was supplemented by the use of Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (HMC) to rigorously estimate the statistical uncertainties of the inferred timescales. We successfully calculated the compositional profiles and were able to provide quantitative data on the time evolution of the KMB, which fit the overall known geodynamical history. ReferencesJastrzębski, M., Żelaźniewicz, A., Budzyń, B., Sláma, J., and Konečny, P.: Age constraints on the Pre-Variscan and Variscan thermal events in the Kamieniec Ząbkowicki Metamorphic belt (the Fore-Sudetic Block, SW Poland), Ann. Soc. Geol. Pol., 90, 27–49, https://doi.org/10.14241/asgp.2020.05, 2020.Moulas, E.: GDIFF: a Finite Difference code for the calculation of multicomponent diffusion in garnet, Zenodo[code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8224137, 2023.Szczepański, J. and Goleń, M.: Tracing exhumation record in high-pressure micaschists: A new tectonometamorphic model of the evolution of the eastern part of the Fore Sudetic Block, Kamieniec Metamorphic Belt, NE Bohemian Massif, SW Poland, Geochemistry, 82, 125859, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemer.2021.125859, 2022.Szczepański, J., Zhong, X., Dąbrowski, M., Wang, H., and Goleń, M.: Combined phase diagram modelling and quartz‐in‐garnet barometry of HP metapelites from the Kamieniec Metamorphic Belt (NE Bohemian Massif), J. Metamorph. Geol., 40, 3–37, https://doi.org/10.1111/jmg.12608, 2022a.Szczepański, J., Anczkiewicz, R., and Marciniak, D.: P-T conditions and chronology of the Variscan collision in the easternmost part of the Saxothuringian crust (Bohemian Massif, Fore-Sudetic Block, Poland), Mineralogia, Special Papers 50, 88, 2022b.