The comparison of using satellite SAR and optical data in the process of urban growth monitoring.

The aim of this project was to monitor the temporal growth of the urban areas, on the example of the Krakow city (Poland). In recent years more frequent use of satellite data in environmental monitoring can be observed. Definitely the optical data are the most popular type of it.  This kind of data are commonly used in many applications like land cover change detection, biomass study and in the map preparation process. Despite their many advantages they are very sensitive on the weather conditions. Thus they can not be gathered in cloudy or rainy day. This case doesn’t occur when the satellite SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) system are used. The ability of SAR and optical systems in monitoring the temporal growth of the urban areas were presented in the past (Opido 2015, Al Rawashdeh 2006). In these projects SAR and optical satellite systems were compered.            The presented here study were performed on fifty archival SAR and optical images acquired between years 1992 and 2010. The images were grouped into five two-year time intervals.  Each interval contain data stack of eight SAR and 2 Landsat images. For each group the analysis of land cover were performed. Each optical image was classified into the three classes: water, urban and green areas. The study of SAR data were based on the analysis of coherent scatterers (Porzycka-Strzelczyk 2015). The most common used methods of coherent scatterer’s identification were tested: dispersion of amplitude, Log-Cumulant (Nicolas 204), Signal-to-cluter ratio (Ulander 2010) and coherency method (Touzi 1999).            The growth of urban area was calculated by studying changes in the number of coherent scatterers on the SAR images. For the Landsat images the changes in area of the urban class were analyzed. Furthermore, the regions of most and least intensive urban growth were detected. The next step of the project is to compare the presented results with new ESA (European Space Agency) satellites. Sentinel-1 provides SAR images with a much better spatial resolution than ERS-1, ERS-2 and Envisat satellites. Sentinel-2 has better spatial resolution and more spectral bands than Landsat-8 (Masek 2015). This will allow to achieve more precise maps of coherent scatterers. 

Effects of low-dose ionizing radiation on α,β-globulins solutions studied by DSC

An attempt has been made to detect the effect of a small dose of ionizing radiation on the course of a,b-globulin thermal denaturation in aqueous solutions. Doses of 0.1 and 1.8 Gy have been delivered using c-rays emitted by 60Co isotope while doses of 10 and 100 Gy have been supplied by X-rays produced by linear accelerator. The highest dose has visibly changed DSC curve of protein solution while the changes due to lower doses are hardly detectable. Although very weak, the irradiation effect found has been dose dependent. The results suggest that the influence of ionizing radiation on globulins solution is bigger when the dose rate is lower at given dose. The opposite direction of differences between irradiated and control samples for fresh and stored protein solutions suggests various characters of changes in initial and later period of sample aging. This may be an important reason for difficulties in an investigation of the effect of ionizing radiation on protein solution, especially for low doses delivered very slowly

ヴォルテール試論

Cel pracy: Ocena przebiegu ciąży, porodu i połogu u chorych z wadami serca, obserwowanych w Klinice Chorób Serca i Naczyń w Krakowie. Materiał i metody: W latach 1987-1999 obserwowano 304 kobiety ciężarne z wadami serca w wieku 18-42 lat, średnio 24,1 ± 4,7 lat. Grupę I stanowiły 133 chore z wadą zastawki mitralnej; grupę II - 49 z wadą zastawki aorty; grupę III - 39 chorych z wszczepionymi zastawkami, w tym 29 ze sztucznymi zastawkami oraz 10 z homogennymi zastawkami aortalnymi; grupę IV - 83 chore z wrodzonymi wadami serca. W I, II, III trymestrze ciąży oraz 6-8 tygodni po porodzie wykonywano badanie podmiotowe i przedmiotowe z oceną wydolności krążenia według klasyfikacji NYHA, badanie elektrokardiograficzne i echokardiograficzne. Wyniki: Ocena stanu klinicznego: W I trymestrze ciąży 285 chorych zaliczono do I lub II, a 9 do III klasy czynnościowej według NYHA. Pogorszenie wydolności krążenia w czasie ciąży wystąpiło u 34 chorych - u 22 z grupy I, u 6 z grupy II, u 6 z grupy III oraz po porodzie u 1 chorej z grupy IV. Ocena noworodków: 292 zdrowe noworodki, w tym 8 z wcześniactwem, 16 z hipotrofią wewnątrzmaciczną, 8 poronień, 2 martwo urodzonych dzieci, 2 zgony noworodków. Sposób rozwiązania: 237 porodów siłami natury, 59 cięć cesarskich. Wnioski: 1. Kobiety ciężarne z krytycznym zwężeniem zastawki mitralnej (powierzchnia zastawki Ł 1,5 cm2) stanowią grupę wysokiego ryzyka wystąpienia zagrażających życiu powikłań w czasie ciąży i w okresie okołoporodowym. 2. U chorych z ciasnym zwężeniem zastawki aorty (powierzchnia zastawki Ł 1,0 cm2) ciąża może spowodować nagłe pogorszenie stanu klinicznego. 3. Pogorszenia stanu klinicznego w przebiegu ciąży można oczekiwać u chorych z wadami zastawkowymi serca, u których stwierdzono powiększenie i upośledzenie kurczliwości lewej komory. 4. O pomyślnym przebiegu ciąży, porodu i połogu u chorych ze sztucznymi zastawkami decyduje czynność zastawki, funkcja lewej komory oraz skuteczność leczenia przeciwzakrzepowego. 5. Ciąża u chorych z wrodzonymi wadami serca bez zaawansowanego nadciśnienia płucnego jest dobrze tolerowana

Spectroscopic properties of erbium-doped oxyfluoride phospho-tellurite glass and transparent glass-ceramic containing BaF2 nanocrystals

The ErF3-doped oxyfluoride phospho-tellurite glasses in the (40-x) TeO2-10P2O5-45 (BaF2-ZnF2) -5Na2O-xErF3 system (where x = 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00, and 1.25 mol%) have been prepared by the conventional melt-quenching method. The effect of erbium trifluoride addition on thermal, structure, and spectroscopic properties of oxyfluoride phospho-tellurite precursor glass was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), and Raman spectroscopy as well as emission measurements, respectively. The DSC curves were used to investigate characteristic temperatures and thermal stability of the precursor glass doped with varying content of ErF3. FTIR and Raman spectra were introduced to characterize the evolution of structure and phonon energy of the glasses. It was found that the addition of ErF3 up to 1.25 mol% into the chemical composition of phospho-tellurite precursor glass enhanced 2.7 µm emission and upconversion. By controlled heat-treatment process of the host glass doped with the highest content of erbium trifluoride (1.25 mol%), transparent erbium-doped phospho-tellurite glass-ceramic (GC) was obtained. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the presence of BaF2 nanocrystals with the average 16 nm diameter in a glass matrix. Moreover, MIR, NIR, and UC emissions of the glass-ceramic were discussed in detail and compared to the spectroscopic properties of the glass doped with 1.25 mol% of ErF3 (the base glass)

Kinetics of selected serum markers of fibrosis in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and different grades of diastolic dysfunction of the left ventricle

Background: Fibrosis of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is common and compromises both systolic and diastolic function. The aim of this study was to investigate the kinetics of ECM fibrosis markers over a 12 month follow-up in patients with DCM based on the severity of diastolic dysfunction (DD).Methods: Seventy consecutive DCM patients (48 ± 12.1 years, ejection fraction 24.4 ± 7.4%) were included in the study. The grade of DD was determined using the ASE/EACVI algorithm. Markers of ECM fibrosis were measured at baseline and at 3 and 12 month follow-ups: collagen type I and III (PICP, PINP, PIIICP, PIIINP), transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF1-b), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and galectin-3 were measured.Results: Patients were divided into three groups according to DD severity: 30 patients with grade I, 18 with grade II and 22 with grade III of DD. Levels of PICP, PINP were increased over a 12-month period, while PIIINP decreased and PIIICP unchanged. Levels of TGF1-b decreased from the 3 to the 12-month points in grade I and II DD, and in grade III they remained unchanged. Levels of CTGF decreased over 12 months in grade III DD but were unchanged in grades I and II. Galectin-3 levels remained the same over all observation periods, irrespective of DD grade.Conclusions: Regardless of the DD grade, markers of collagen type I synthesis increased, markers of collagen type III decreased. Levels of TGF and CTGF had a tendency to decrease. Galectin-3 was revealed not to be a marker discriminating the severity of DD