The Owadów-Brzezinki geoeducation area at Sławno

The geoeducation area (called also “Owadów-Brzezinki Geopark”) located in the north-western margin of the Holy Cross Mountains (Tomaszów Syncline) at Sławno community (Łódź Voivodeship), was established in June 2019, in close vicinity of the Owadów-Brzezinki quarry. This locality is one of the most important palaeontological sites described recently in Poland. The area consists of the exhibition pavilion, educational routs and panoramic viewing platform, which is located along the edge of the quarry. The palaeontological exhibition shows the unique Late Jurassic fossils of marine and terrestrial organisms, many of them new to science, that have been excavated in the quarry during the last eight years. Among the most important fossils are: ammonites, lobster-like decapod crustaceans, horseshoe crabs, actinopterygian fish, a cryptodiran turtle, ichthyosaurs, as well as a small terrestrial crocodyliform, pterosaurs and insects. In addition to the original fossils, the exhibition presents life-size reconstructions of animals, that inhabited the local seas and islands during the Late Jurassic. The palaeontological sites of Owadów-Brzezinki is referred to as a new “taphonomic window” of the Late Jurassic, providing insights about the evolution of life on Earth in the palaeogeographical and palaeoenvironmental context.

Metagenomic Sequencing of Multiple Soil Horizons and Sites in Close Vicinity Revealed Novel Secondary Metabolite Diversity

This study helped uncover the biosynthesis potential of forest soils via exploration of shotgun metagenome and amplicon sequencing methods and showed that both methods are needed to expose the full microbial diversity in soil. Based on our metagenome mining results, we suggest revising the historical strategy of sampling soils from far-flung places, as we found a significant number of novel and diverse BGCs and domains even in different soils that are very close to each other.

Black Hole Spin and Stellar Flyby Periastron Shift

For a scenario of a close flyby of a compact star near a spinning black hole, we provide analytical and numerical estimates for the shift of trajectory periastron due to relativistic (beyond post-Newtonian) effects. More specifically, we derived a generalized expression (not limited to quasi-circular or elliptical orbits) directly linking the periastron shift and the spin of the black hole. The expression permits the estimation of black hole spin based on astronomical tracking of locations of stars traveling along highly eccentric (parabolic and hyperbolic) trajectories in close vicinity of a black hole. We also demonstrate how stars traveling on hyperbolic or parabolic trajectories may be (temporarily) captured onto quasi-circular orbits around black holes, and we quantitatively examine conditions for such scenarios.

The Curious Case of Retained Bullets - Asymptomatic Gunshot Wounds to the Heart with Delayed Presentation and Management Strategies

Penetrating trauma to the thorax involving the heart is usually fatal. Discovery and management of intrathoracic missiles especially in the close vicinity of the heart is a major challenge. Retained intracardiac missiles are exceptionally unusual, and there are 322 reported cases over 60 years, from 1940 to 2009.1 We present two patients who presented with penetrating gunshot wounds to the chest with retained intracardiac bullets. The management of hemodynamically stable patients with retained intrapericardial foreign body remains controversial. Management options of thoracic firearm injuries are based on patient stability, course and location of the missile. We report our experience of two patients with delayed presentation of a retained intrapericardial bullet from firearm injuries. In this paper, we discuss the management strategies of such injuries in light of the available literature and summarize our clinical experience.

Mating status of coexisting conspecific individuals modulate reproduction in a ladybird, Menochilus sexmaculatus

The mating status of organisms plays a crucial role in deciphering mating decision and reproductive success of any organisms. Odour or pheromones are known to be perceived by animals through olfaction to locate mates at a distance. In this study, an attempt was made to investigate the effect of the presence of unmated and mated conspecific adults on mating and reproductive parameters of the ladybird beetle, Menochilus sexmaculatus (Fabricius, 1781). To conduct this experiment, an arena was made with the help of two Petri dishes and in such a manner that the experimental adults were only able to perceive the presence of conspecific adults of different mating status in their close vicinity. The results of the study demonstrated an early onset of mating in the presence of males compared to females. Another male in the vicinity poses competition that may force the males to establish genital contact faster. In the absence of any potential rival, copulation duration was highest. Females laid more eggs in the presence of mated females. This may be to increase offspring fitness in the presence of potential competitors for the already mated female. Females laid fewer eggs in the presence of unmated females. Unmated females nearby can be another choice for a male and thus, the male possibly limits the size of the ejaculate containing oviposition stimulants. The current study advocates that mating and reproductive behaviour are modulated according to the perceived surroundings in the form of conspecific adults of different mating status.

Thin Film Based Micro-Machined Sensor Development and Mitigation of Process Challenges

Realization of thin film based sensor employing bulk micro-machined process using wet chemistry is challenging due to lateral etching phenomena. This phenomenon of convex corner undercutting is associated with wet micromachining process where differential etching is required. The challenge of having differential etching to achieve varied depth in close vicinity imposes extra constraint on the process. The present requirement simultaneously etching of closely spaced tunnel and cavity from back side having varied depth keeping intact front side layers is the main bottleneck which was circumvented with modified process. Etching trials related combining wet and dry etching techniques for deeper etching are also carried out and critical aspects are presented in this article. Another aspect is to define process steps compatible with CMOS integration. Further study of piezo-electric layer and etch rate of various deposited layer are also presented. This article details process trials, challenges, mitigation techniques and realization aspects of the micro-machined based sensor.

Theoretical and experimental clues to a flux of Doppler transformation energies during processes with energy conservation

In a microscopic model of the photoelectric effect, it becomes clear that the conservation of energy is exclusively determined by Doppler shift processes, i.e., the whole energy of the photon vanishes by means of Doppler redshifts. Accordingly, if a photon is generated, the energy is won by Doppler blueshifts. This is supposed to be valid for all processes with energy conservation. An experiment is carried out to make this Doppler energy flow visible by means of interactions with probes. The result of this experiment is that a weak force is measurable in the vicinity of processes with energy conservation. With the aid of a twisted rubber-driven low-power device ( P ˜ = 10 W \tilde{P}=10\hspace{.5em}\text{W} ), periodic accelerations and decelerations of about 10−6 m/s2 are measurable. In the close vicinity of the device, accelerations with values up to 10−3 m/s2 can be concluded. The consequences that result from this force are discussed.