Formulation of Cinchona Extract (Cinchona succirubra) Cream and The Safety as Hair Fertilizer

Background: cinchona extract contains quinoline alkaloids, has telangiectatic activity, is practically insoluble in water so penetration into hair follicles is low and requires a delivery system, namely cream. Objective: to determine the formula of cinchona extract cream with good activity, physical stability and safety. Methodology: cinchona bark extraction (soxhletation method), phytochemical screening, cinchona extract dosage determination, optimization of cream formula using Design Expert software version 11. Evaluation: pH, adhesion, spreadability, viscosity and cycling test stability. Activity test using guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) for 14 days, parameters of hair length/2 days, hair mass (14th day). Acute dermal irritation test using rabbit (Orycogalus cuniculus) by erythema and edema index parameters. Results: cinchona extract (13.32% yield) contained quinoline alkaloids, cinchona extract dosage was 20% (p<0.05). The optimum formula is F2 with characteristics: pH 6.48±0.07, adhesion 1.16±0.07, spreadability 4.99±0.85 and viscosity 3067±416.45, has good physical stability. Activity test: test area hair length 13.54 – 62.14% longer than normal control and 10.10 – 49.17% than negative control. The hair mass of test area was 122.91% heavier than normal control and 104.48% of negative control (p<0.05). Cinchona extract and excipients were non-irritant. Conclusion: Cinchona extract cream (20%) has hair fertilizer activity, good physical stability and safety.

Resistance of PLA Material Prepared By Additive Technology

The article studies the surface properties of PLA material prepared by additive technology, i.e. 3D printing. Samples with a square test area were printed by FFF technology. After 3D printing, the surface texture of the samples was evaluated in terms of microgeometry.Tribological tests were performed on the samples. The surface of the samples was cyclically stressed with the same load, always on the same path. Cyclic loading of the surface was performed on a UMT Bruker tribometer. The tribological properties between the sample surface and the test specimen in the shape of a ball were studied during the reciprocating motion. In particular, the coefficient of friction was measured and evaluated. The ball material was PTFE and Polypropylene.The wear parameters of samples and balls were documented and evaluated. The results of the tests are the load dependencies on the wear of the PLA material and the test specimens.

Heavy Metal Content in the Plants (Pleurozium schreberi and Picea abies) of Environmentally Important Protected Areas of the Tatra National Park (the Central Western Carpathians, Poland)

This work concerns the content of selected heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn), and determines the effect of absolute altitude on the content of metals in the plants of the Tatra National Park (TNP). The metals were determined in two species of plants, i.e., in the moss (Pleurozium schreberi (Willd.) Mitten) and in the Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst). Plant samples were collected in two test areas every 100 m of the altitude of the area, starting from 1000 m above sea level in the Lake Morskie Oko test area and from 1100 m above sea level in the Kasprowy Wierch test area, and ending at 1400 m above sea level for Lake Morskie Oko, and 1750 m above sea level (the moss) and 1550 m above sea level (the spruce) for Kasprowy Wierch. The two test areas are different from each other in terms of natural and physico-geographical conditions (geological structure, landform, climatic conditions). The conducted research showed that both plant species accumulated greater amounts of heavy metals in the Lake Morskie Oko test area than in the Kasprowy Wierch test area. The moss accumulated higher values of metals compared to the spruce. In both the moss and the spruce, the highest values, exceeding the natural content, were found for Cr, Pb, Cd, and Ni. For these metals, natural values were significantly exceeded: 20 times for Cr; 10 times for Pb; 4 times for Cd; and 3 times for Ni. For both examined areas, an increase in the quantity of accumulated metals in plants was also observed with the increase in altitude. The work focuses on the spreading around of heavy metals and their deposition on plants in protected high mountain (alpine) areas, in connection with altitude. Based on the obtained research results, Spearman’s and Kendall’s rank correlations were performed, and showed statistically significant relationships between the values for the content of metals and altitude. There are no heavy metal emission sources in the study area, so it is assumed that the metal content in the plants of the TNP is affected by long-range emissions.

Research on calibration method of uniformity of radiation interference field of intense electromagnetic pulse

With the rapid development of electronic and electrical products, the working frequency of ite products is higher and higher, the influence frequency range of interference between electronic products is also expanding, the test frequency range of radiation anti-interference is improving, at the same time, more and more attention is paid to the requirements of radiation anti-interference test site. At present, the uniformity of radiation field is mainly realized by single point multiple test, which will inevitably lead to the measurement error due to the time-varying characteristics of the radiation signal itself; In addition, the test time is greatly increased and the test efficiency is low. In order to solve these problems, this paper designs a device which can realize multi-point test at one time and can automatically adjust the test area. The simulation shows that the device can meet the requirement of 9point uniformity test of radiation field in 500mm × 500mm ~ 1500mm × 1500mm area. On this basis, experiments are carried out in 1000mm × 1000mm test area for 1.35GHz and 2.88GHz. The experiments show that the test device can meet the requirement of 9point uniformity test and greatly improve the test efficiency and automation.

CALIBRATION OF NON-METRIC UAV CAMERA USING DIFFERENT TEST FIELDS

The paper deals with the calibration of a non-metric digital camera Nikon EOS 6D with a 50 mm lens that could be adapted as a potential UAV sensor for the purposes of aerial inspections. The determination of the internal orientation parameters and the image errors of the non-metric digital camera involved self-calibration with Agisoft Metashape software solving the network of the images obtained from different test fields: a chessboard field, a professional laboratory field and a spatially diverse research area. The results of the control measurement for the examined object distance of 6 meters do not differ significantly. The RMSE from the control measurement for the second analyzed object distance of 15 meters was calculated on the basis of the internal orientation elements. The images from the laboratory field, the spatial test area and the chessboard field were used, and the obtained results amounted to 7.9, 9.9 and 11.5 mm, respectively. The conducted studies showed that in the case of very precise photogrammetric measurements performed by means of the Nikon EOS 6D camera equipped with a 50 mm lens, it is optimal to conduct calibration in a laboratory test field. The greatest RMSE errors were recorded for the control images with the elements of the internal camera orientation calculated on the basis of the chessboard area. The results of the experiments clearly show a relation between the accuracy of the Nikon EOS 6D camera calibrations and the percentage of the frame area filled with the test field. This explains why the weakest calibration results were obtained from the chessboard test field.

Implementation of the ProHeritage project in 2018 and 2019

The paper presents information on the implementation of the project Cultural Landscape – a Model of Valorisation, Protection, Management and Use of Cultural Heritage - ProHeritage (UIP-2017-05-2152) in 2018 and 2019. The project is carried out in the area of the municipality of Jasenice and the town of Obrovac. It encompasses a segment of southern and southeastern Velebit and western part of Bukovica. The aim of the project is valorisation of cultural and archaeological heritage at the landscape level, in contrast to the model focused on monuments as a dominant approach in Croatia. Research area represents a test area for developing models of work for valorisation of landscape as a heritage resource.

Polytrichum formosum and Vaccinium myrtillus as Phytoindicators of Pollutants from Long-Range Emissions of Environmentally Important Protected Areas (The Tatra National Park, the Central Western Carpathians, Poland)

The study determined the influence of altitude on the content of heavy metals in selected plant species of the Tatra National Park (TNP). The metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) were identified in two species of plants, i.e., in the moss (Polytrichum formosum Hedw.) and in the blueberry leaves (Vaccinium myrtillus L.). Plant samples were collected in two test areas every 100 meters of altitude of the area, starting from 1,000 m above sea level in the Lake Morskie Oko test area and from 1,100 m above sea level in the Kasprowy Wierch test area, and ending at 1,400 m above sea level for Lake Morskie Oko and 1,550 m above sea level for Kasprowy Wierch. The two test areas are different from each other in terms of natural and physico-geographical conditions (geological structure, landform, climatic conditions, etc.). The conducted research shows that the content of heavy metals in the studied species of plants increases with the altitude above sea level. Both P. formosum Hedw and V. myrtillus L. can be good phytoindicators in mountainous areas. In the tested plant species, the contents of heavy metals were also found to be higher than the natural contents, which is most likely related to long-range emission. Long-distance transport of pollutants causes that important natural protected areas, such as the Tatra National Park, are exposed to excessive pollution, including the accumulation of heavy metals in plants.

Using Satellite Data to Estimate Risk of Mercury Exposure in the Amazonian Wayana Language Territory between Suriname, French Guiana, and Brazil

BackgroundThere is a need for methods that measure the public and environmental health risks of mercury from small-scale gold mines (SSGMs) at a regional scale in tropical forests. Mercury is poisonous, with mercury toxicity in humans most commonly affecting the neurologic, gastrointestinal and renal organ systems at the individual, community and population scale. Economic development policies and projects responsible for SSGM in regions held by indigenous people are developed at the regional scale.MethodsThe synoptic regional-scale perspective of overhead remote imaging technology was used to supplement previous ground-level community risk and health assessment studies. The objective was to evaluate the usefulness of remote sensing as a method for measuring mercury impacts over large areas and test whether regional-level vegetation index values are lower in a test area where mercury contamination from SSGMs are known to impact human health compared to index values in a pristine reference area.ResultsLow vegetation index values were obtained in the test area compared to the high index values at the pristine reference location where vegetation stress is low. Public policy solutions to system-level causes of indigenous health issues caused by natural resource extraction projects are limited in this region where policymakers and economists perform cost-benefit analyses, ostensibly to develop rational economic development policies, that are built on the legal principle terra nullius codified in Western civil law as the Doctrine of Discovery. This principle designates the land and resources held by indigenous people as vacant and empty thus rendering the value of the lives of indigenous people equal to zero. Conclusions Vegetation index values were lower in the test area where there was mercury contamination from SSGMs when compared to a pristine reference area. These results suggest that remote sensing methods can be useful for measuring mercury contamination at scales that support the supranational policy development processes and address health issues caused by factors that lie outside the health sector and are economically formed. At this scale, the ratio comparing the cost of prevention to the benefits is revealed to be an irrational number when the benefit value of the lives saved is set at zero.