Comparison of low-cost handheld LiDAR-based SLAM systems for mapping underground tunnels

The use of mobile mapping technologies (MMT) has become increasingly popular across various applications such as forestry, cultural heritage, mining, and civil engineering. While Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithms have greatly improved in recent years with regards to accuracy, robustness, and cooperativity, it is important to understand the limitations and strengths of each metrological measurement method to ensure the provision of 3D data of appropriate quality for the selected application. In this study, we perform a comparative analysis of three LiDAR-based handheld mobile mapping systems with survey-grade reference point clouds in a challenging test area of a partially collapsed underground tunnel. We investigate various aspects of 3D data quality, including accuracy and completeness, and present an improved method for 3D data completeness assessment aimed at evaluating SLAM-derived point clouds. The results demonstrate unique and diverse strengths and shortcomings of the tested mapping systems, which provide valuable guidelines for selecting an appropriate system for subterranean applications

Modern CHP technologies for domestic applications for cooperation with renewable energy

Small-scale cogeneration is part of the distributed energy resource (DER) strategy, which promotes parallel and standalone electric generation units located close to the end user.Generation of electricity on a small domestic scale together with production of heat can be obtained through employing gas engine units, micro gas turbines, fuel cells with efficient electrolysis, Stirling engines or the ORC system

Model of heat transfer in the stagnation point of rapidly evaporating microjet

Paper presented at the 8th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Mauritius, 11-13 July, 2011.The paper presents investigation into the single water microjet surface cooling producing a film of liquid water with phase change. Tests were conducted under steady state conditions. Theoretical model of surface cooling by evaporating microjet impingement in the stagnation area is developed. Experiments were conducted using nozzle size of 70 and 100μm. Results of experiments were compared with predictions of the model showing a good consistency.mp201

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) — diagnostic and therapeutic challenge

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is a rare and aggressive haematological malignancy. The disease usually affects the skin, bone marrow, peripheral blood and less commonly lymph nodes. The actual incidence of BPDCN is currently unknown. The data presented in the literature most often relate to one cases or small groups of patients, rarely they are multicentre studies. Diagnosis of BPDCN is based on histopathological examination and immunohistochemical stains. The diversity of the clinical manifestations and the PBDCN immunophenotype is the cause of significant difficulties in making a diagnosis and can lead to diagnostic errors. The optimal treatment for patients with this cancer has not yet been established. Responses to various chemotherapy regimens are unsatisfactory. Recent literature has reported that bone marrow allograft or targeted therapy may improve treatment outcomes in this group of patients. The paper presents the case of a 75-year-old man with BPDCN diagnosis. Attention was paid to diagnostic difficulties in patients with BPDCN and the differentiation of this rare disease with other hematological malignancies was discussed. The need for a national register of BPDCN patients has been highlighted. This could contribute to expanding knowledge about this cancer and to the development of effective, standard therapeutic treatment

Validation of the Polish version of the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS)

Background. In 2008, the Movement Disorders Society (MDS) published a new Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) as the official benchmark scale for Parkinson’s Disease (PD). We have translated and validated the Polish version of the MDS-UPDRS, explored its dimensionality, and compared it to the original English one. Methods. The MDS-UPDRS was translated into Polish by a team of Polish investigators led by JS and GO. The back-translation was completed by colleagues fluent in both languages (Polish and English) who were not involved in the original translation, and was reviewed by members of the MDS Rating Scales Programme. Then the translated version of the MDS-UPDRS underwent cognitive pretesting, and the translation was modified based on the results. The final translation was approved as the Official Working Document of the MDS-UPDRS Polish version, and was tested on 355 Polish PD patients recruited at movement disorders centres all over Poland (at Katowice, Gdańsk, Łódź, Warsaw, Wrocław, and Kraków). Confirmatory and explanatory factor analyses were applied to determine whether the factor structure of the English version could be confirmed in the Polish version. Results. The Polish version of the MDS-UPDRS showed satisfactory clinimetric properties. The internal consistency of the Polish version was satisfactory. In the confirmatory factor analysis, all four parts had greater than 0.90 comparative fit index (CFI) compared to the original English MDS-UPDRS. Explanatory factor analysis suggested that the Polish version differed from the English version only within an acceptable range. Conclusions and clinical implications. The Polish version of the MDS-UPDRS meets the requirements to be designated as the Official Polish Version of the MDS-UPDRS, and is available on the MDS web page. We strongly recommend using the MDS-UPDRS instead of the UPDRS for research purposes and in everyday clinical practice.

Tarnowskie przedsiębiorstwa w okresie transformacji gospodarczej

Along with the beginning of economic transformation in Poland enterprises confronted new challenges. The way from planned economy to market economy proved for many companies impassable. In the publication there has been presented review of the most important problems connected with the influence of economic transformation on functioning selected companies from Tarnow. There has been rewieved Mitric Plants, Mechanical Plants, FSE „Tamel”, FMP„Pralfa”, Cooperative „Pokoj”, HSG „Tarnow” and representatives of agrarian and food branch: ZPOW „Owintar”, SZS „:Fructona” and Meat Processing Plant. There has been also raise an issue of private enterpreneurship development in the city

Sources to the Polish-Swedish agreement and wedding of the Finnish Duke John Vase with Katarzyna Jagiellonka (1562) in the holdings of AGAD

The marriage concluded in Vilnius in 1562 between John, Duke of the Finnland from the Hause of Vasa, and Katarzyna Jagiellonka, sister of the Polish King Sigismund Augustus, proved to be fateful for the history of Sweden and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. A son born from this marriage, the future King Sigismund III began Vasa dynasty in the Commonwealth. It is puzzling that little sources left to the same wedding and related events. The article summarizes a few references preserved in the archives of Polish and Lithuanian public and private provenance, which are preserved in the holdings of the Central Archives the Central Historical Records

Structural control of mass movements on slopes formed of magmatic and metamorphic rocks : the case study of Wielisławka Mt. (SW Poland, Sudetes Mts.)

We indicate the structural controls on, and provide an evolutionary model of, mass movements which developed on the slopes of a rhyolitic lava dome built of massive, sub-intrusive Permian rhyolites and its low-grade metamorphic cover, comprising Ordovician and Silurian sericite schists and metacherts (greenschist facies). The phenomena studied occur on the low-altitude, dome-like Wielisławka Mt. (370 m a.s.l.) in the Western Sudetes, SW Poland. A multidisciplinary approach involving geological and geomorphological fieldwork, LiDAR-based geomorphometric analyses, as well as analyses based on data obtained from terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), performed within old adits and shafts in the landslide area, have allowed determination of the origin and recent extent of the landslide phenomena. The geometry and development of the slip surface are closely linked with measured, existing discontinuities within the massif. As they enable observation of the initial stages of mass movement in the excavations within the cover rocks of the rhyolitic massif, the old adits and shafts are unique objects for the observation and reconstruction of landslide processes

Historical mining complex on Mt. Wielisławka (Western Sudetes) as a potential geosite

Autorzy przedstawiają wyniki badań historycznego kompleksu górniczego położonego na górze Wielisławka, w dolinie rzeki Kaczawy pomiędzy Nowym Kościołem a Sędziszową (Sudety Zachodnie). Zespół obiektów pogórniczych, na który obecnie składają się sztolnie i inne antropogeniczne formy rzeźby terenu, stanowi efekt wydobycia złota i srebra prowadzonego na stokach przekształconych przez ruchy masowe (osuwiska). Badania tych form, obejmujące geologiczne i geomorfologiczne prace terenowe, a także skaning laserowy podziemnych wyrobisk, pozwoliły na określenie zasięgu historycznych prac górniczych, a także rekonstrukcję przebiegu procesów osuwiskowych. Pozostałości po działalności wydobywczej na stokach Wielisławki są obiektami o wysokim potencjale naukowym i geoedukacyjnym.The paper presents the results of studies of a historical gold mining complex situated on the northern slopes of Wielisławka Mt. (376,3 m a.s.l.) in the Western Sudetes, SW Poland. Mining activities were conducted on the slopes affected by mass movements (landslide processes). A multidisciplinary approach including geological fieldworks, geomorphometric analysis as well as terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), performed within old adits, have allowed to determine the recent spatial distribution of the mining forms as well as origin of landslide phenomena. The investigated adits, shafts and other anthropogenic, post-mining forms are unique objects with high scientific and geoeducational potential