IEEE Access Special Section: Cyber-Physical Systems

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Assessment of the effectiveness of communication between the participants of a construction project utilizing meta-network theory: a case study

This paper investigates the fact that construction projects, due to their specificity, are complex, temporary and dynamic. Over their course, participants change, successive construction works are done and new information becomes available. This carries over to difficulties in communication. In the literature, numerous studies note the fact that a network-based approach to the analysis and monitoring of communication as a part of complex construction projects is commendable. Relations between agents, knowledge and tasks in the context of communication within a construction project can be visualized in the form of a meta-network, and suitably developed structural measures can be used to analyze them. In this paper, the authors used meta-network theory to analyze relations between project participants, knowledge and tasks in the context of communication within a construction project, on the basis of the construction of a housing estate located in Katowice, Poland. Meta-network structural analysis allowed for a deeper understanding of these relations and the detection of essential information about the level of communication in the project under investigation, which was a basis for further discussion. The authors also stress the benefits from the approach presented and argue that it should be a starting point for effective management in the sphere of communication in construction companies

Current advances in~information quantum technologies - critical issues

This article reviews chosen topics related to the development of Information Quantum Technologies in the major areas of measurements, communications, and computing. These fields start to build their ecosystems which in the future will probably coalesce into a homogeneous quantum information layer consisting of such interconnected components as quantum internet, full size quantum computers with efficient error corrections and ultrasensitive quantum metrology nodes stationary and mobile. Today, however, the skepticism expressing many doubts about the realizability of this optimistic view fights with a cheap optimism pouring out of some popular press releases. Where is the truth? Financing of the IQT by key players in research, development and markets substantially strengthens the optimistic side. Keeping the bright side with some reservations, we concentrate on showing the FAST pace of IQT developments in such areas as biological sciences, quantum evolutionary computations, quantum internet and some of its components

Validation of the Polish-language version of the COPD Assessment Test

INTRODUCTION The COPD Assessment Test (CAT) is a standardized patient–completed tool dedicated to assessment of symptom severity. While the Polish CAT version has been used for a few years, it has not been validated so far. OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to validate the Polish‑language version of the CAT questionnaire by assessing its reproducibility and reliability. PATIENTS AND METHODS Validation of the Polish‑language version of the CAT questionnaire was a substudy of the international multicenter observational cross‑sectional POPE survey of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Central and Eastern European countries. The study was completed in 395 outpatients with stable disease at least 4 weeks before the survey. Validation was performed with the use of the Spearman correlation and Cronbach α coefficients, Cohen κ test, and the Bland–Altman procedure. RESULTS The internal consistency assessed by the Cronbach α coefficient was 0.87 for the questionnaire and 0.84 to 0.86 for its separate items. The repeatability of the questionnaire was good to very good (Cohen κ, 0.76–0.85; P <0.01). The Spearman coefficient for the sum of scores of test–retest responses was 0.95 (P <0.01). The Bland–Altman analysis revealed very good test–retest and interrater reliability, with the mean difference between test I and test II results of –0.556 (95% CI, –0.345 to 0.767). CONCLUSIONS The Polish version of the CAT questionnaire is a reproducible and reliable instrument for evaluation of patients with COPD and should be recommended for use in clinical practice

Przyczynek do rozmieszczenia pluskwiaków różnoskrzydłych (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) w Polsce - III

[A contribution to the distribution of true bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) in Poland – III]. This paper is a continuation of a series of publications on the distribution of true bugs in Poland and includes new faunistic data for 306 species of true bugs. In total, data on 62 species previously unreported in 21 zoogeographical regions of Poland is presented, including some rarely collected: Brachyarthrum limitatum, Eurydema fieberi, Peritrechus gracilicornis, Stephanitis pyri, Tingis crispata. It is also noteworthy that this paper was largely prepared using citizen science, where many people (non-specialists in Heteroptera) collected data constituting almost 25% of the presented records. Importantly, the true bugs recorded in this way include species very rarely collected in Poland, and species alien to Polish fauna (e.g. Oxycarenus lavaterae, Nezara viridula and Halyomorpha halys). Due to the lack of funding being a significant obstacle to biodiversity studies in Poland, citizen science seems to be the only way to effectively monitor all the dynamic changes taking place in national entomofauna

Evaluation of the usefulness of positron emission tomography with [18F]fluorodeoxylglucose performed to detect non-radioiodine avid recurrence and/or metastasis of differentiated thyroid cancer — a preliminary study

Background: About 30% of patients with disseminated differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) may experience a loss of iodine uptake. It is associated with higher aggressiveness of the tumour and a reduced 10-year survival rate. The diagnosis of non-radioiodine avid DTC metastases remains a diagnostic challenge. A helpful technique for this diagnosis is positron emission tomography with 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (PET/CT with [18F]FDG). On the other hand, there are still discussions about the clinical value of using exogenous thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) stimulation before PET/CT with [18F]FDG. The aim of the study was the assessment of the usefulness of PET/CT with [18F]FDG under TSH suppression and stimulation of TSH performed in the detection of non-radioiodine avid DTC metastases, as well as determination of the thyroglobulin concentration under suppression and stimulation of TSH, which influences the result of PET/CT with [18F]FDG in patients with non-radioiodine avid DTC. Material and methods: Retrospective analysis of 37 PET/CT with [18F]FDG performed in patients with DTC diagnosed and treated at the Department of Endocrinology and Isotope Therapy of the Military Institute of Medicine from January 2018 to July 2020. Of these, PET/CT with [18F]FDG under exogenous rhTSH stimulation was performed in 22 patients and PET/CT with [18F]FDG under TSH suppression in 15 was performed. In all analyzed patients, the result of diagnostic whole-body scintigraphy (WBS) using 80 MBq 131I under rhTSH stimulation was negative, and the concentration of thyroglobulin after stimulation (sTg) was greater than 1.0 ng/mL. Results: In the group of patients examined under TSH suppression, non-radioiodine avid in PET/CT with [18F]FDG were found in 6 out of 15 patients (40%) and in the group of patients examined under rhTSH stimulation in 10 out of 22 patients (45%). The differences between the groups were not statistically significant. The analysis of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves allowed to determine the cut-off point for the positive result of PET/CT performed under TSH suppression with sTg concentration of 11.03 ng/mL. In the group of studies performed under rhTSH stimulation, the cut-off point for sTg was 6.3 ng/mL. There was no statistically significant difference between the baseline thyroglobulin (natTg) and sTg levels and the positive PET/CT result. The administration of rhTSH before the PET/CT examination also had no statistically significant effect on the maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax) of the dominant lesion identified in the PET/CT. Conclusions: 1) PET/CT with [18F]FDG is a useful tool for detection of non-radioiodine avid recurrence and/or metastases of DTC. 2) The concentration of natTg and sTg is highly correlated with a positive result of PET/CT with [18F]FDG. 3) The concentration of natTg is comparable with sTg in predicting a positive result of PET/CT with [18F]FDG. 4) The cut-off point for a positive result of PET/CT for natTg was 1.36 ng/mL and for sTg was 7.05 ng/mL