Pulmonary artery stenosis due to embryonal carcinoma with primary mediastinal location

Mężczyzna (29-letni) został przyjęty na oddział intensywnej terapii pneumonologiczno-kardiologicznej po utracie przytomności. W badaniu przedmiotowym stwierdzono głośny szmer skurczowy nad sercem, a w badaniu echokardiograficznym zwężenie pnia tętnicy płucnej do 6−7 mm, z istotnym gradientem ciśnień oraz cechy podwyższonego ciśnienia w prawej komorze. W tomografii komputerowej klatki piersiowej uwidoczniono masę guzowatą zlokalizowaną w przednim, górnym śródpiersiu. Z powodu ryzyka całkowitego zamknięcia pnia płucnego przeprowadzono interwencyjną mediastinotomię i uzyskano rozpoznanie nowotworu zarodkowego o rzadkiej — śródpiersiowej lokalizacji. Chemioterapia według schematu BEP, doprowadziła do regresji guza, i znacznej poprawy hemodynamicznej (ustąpienie cech ucisku guza na pień płucny). Podczas torakotomii resekowano pozostałe masy guza. Nie stwierdzono naciekania serca i dużych naczyń przez nowotwór. W badaniu histopatologicznym stwierdzono obszary martwicy i naciek nowotworowy o utkaniu niedojrzałego potworniaka. Podczas czteromiesięcznej obserwacji stan chorego pozostawał dobry. Pacjent nadal jest objęty opieką onkologiczną i kardiologiczną. Jak dotychczas nie wymagał kolejnego leczenia cytostatycznego. W kontrolnych zapisach holterowskich EKG nie obserwowano zaburzeń rytmu, ale chory nadal otrzymuje meksyletynę jako leczenie antyarytmiczne. Pacjent planuje powrót do pracy.A 29-year old man was admitted to the intensive care unit after losing consciousness. On physical examination, a loud systolic murmur over the heart was found. Echocardiography revealed narrowing of pulmonary artery with high pressure gradient. Computed tomography of the chest revealed the presence of large tumour localised in the upper anterior mediastinum. Due to the risk of total closure of the pulmonary artery, interventional mediastinotomy was performed and diagnosis of carcinoma embryonale was established. Subsequent chemotherapy (BEP regimen) has brought regression of tumour and significant improvement in haemodynamic parameters (relief of pressure gradient in pulmonary artery). During the second surgery, the resection of all accessible tumour mass together with marginal resection of the right upper lobe was performed. No signs of cardiac or great vessels infiltration was found. Histopathologic examination revealed the necrotic masses and neoplastic foci diagnosed as teratoma immaturum. In a four-month follow-up the patient’s condition remained good. The patient is still under the care of both oncological and cardiological specialists. Thus far he has not required further chemotherapy. Holter ECG monitoring revealed no arrhythmia, but the patient is still treated with mexiletine. The patient is planning to return to work

Review of low-cost sensors for indoor air quality: Features and applications

Humans spend the majority of their time indoors, where they are potentially exposed to hazardous pollutants. Within this context, over the past few years, there has been an upsurge of low-cost sensors (LCS) for the measurement of indoor air pollutants, motivated both by recent technological advances and by increased awareness of indoor air quality (IAQ) and its potential negative health impacts. Although not meeting the performance requirements for reference regulatory-equivalent monitoring indoors, LCS can provide informative measurements, offering an opportunity for high-resolution monitoring, emission source identification, exposure mitigation and managing IAQ and energy efficiency, among others. This article discusses the strengths and limitations that LCS offer for applications in the field of IAQ monitoring; it provides an overview of existing sensor technologies and gives recommendations for different indoor applications, considering their performance in the complex indoor environment and discussing future trends

Extended continuous improvement model for Internet of Things system design environments

The aim of this article is extended for [Orłowski, C., Cygert, D., & Nowak, P. (2020). Continuous improvement process model for supporting the construction of Internet of Things system design environments. In Communications in computer and information science (pp. 424–435). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3380-8_37] proposal build a model of continuous improvement systems design support, the Internet of Things (IoT). The model was based on the authors’ experience gained during the design process IoT nodes. Therefore, the article presents both the research experiment and the extent to which this experiment pointed to the need to design a production environment. This environment is still being developed. To achieve this goal, the article was divided into four main parts. At the beginning a basic project was presented, which goal was to create an IoT node. During its implementation, there were requirements for a system that would be used to monitor the status of IoT nodes and data flow. Therefore, the second chapter presents the functions of the production environment necessary for both designing the nodes and monitoring their condition. While in the paper [Orłowski, C., Cygert, D., & Nowak, P. (2020). Continuous improvement process model for supporting the construction of Internet of Things system design environments. In Communications in computer and information science (pp. 424–435). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3380-8_37], the basic functions were introduced in the presented article the scope was extended by the functionalities currently tested. They were then called the functions of the application enabling platform (AEP) used in IoT to assess their usefulness in improving the monitoring and maintenance processes of IoT nodes

Eventual Convergence of the Reputation-Based Algorithm in IoT Sensor Networks

Uncertainty in dense heterogeneous IoT sensor networks can be decreased by applying reputation-inspired algorithms, such as the EWMA (Exponentially Weighted Moving Average) algorithm, which is widely used in social networks. Despite its popularity, the eventual convergence of this algorithm for the purpose of IoT networks has not been widely studied, and results of simulations are often taken in lieu of the more rigorous proof. Therefore the question remains, whether under stable conditions, in realistic situations found in IoT networks, this algorithm indeed converges. This paper demonstrates proof of the eventual convergence of the EWMA algorithm. The proof consists of two steps: it models the sensor network as the UOG (Uniform Opinion Graph) that enables the analytical approach to the problem, and then offers the mathematical proof of eventual convergence, using formalizations identified in the previous step. The paper demonstrates that the EWMA algorithm converges under all realistic conditions

The Rule-Based Model of Negentropy for Increasing the Energy Efficiency of the City’s Digital Transformation Processes into a Smart City

The aim of the article is to build a rule-based model (RMFDN) for increasing the energy efficiency of Smart Cities’ digital transformation processes. The problem that arises during the implementation of digital transformation processes concerns the measures that should be assigned to estimate the duration of the digital transformation. Previous studies of digital transformation have been based on the analysis of design processes based on key performance indicators (KPIs), their place and role in the digital transformation processes, and their monitoring with the use of information architecture. The analysis of the digital transformation processes of cities into Smart Cities shows that they seem inappropriate to the complexity and uncertainty of the digital transformation carried out. The new approach presented in the article is based on three key aspects: rule-based description of the state of digital transformation processes enabling their energy assessment, introducing energy maturity capsules to describe the state of these processes and application of measures based on project negentropy increments for maturity capsules

A Conceptual Model of Measurement Uncertainty in IoT Sensor Networks

The growing popularity of inexpensive IoT (Internet of Things) sensor networks makes their uncertainty an important aspect of their adoption. The uncertainty determines their fitness for purpose, their perceived quality and the usefulness of information they provide. Nevertheless, neither the theory nor the industrial practice of uncertainty offer a coherent answer on how to address uncertainty of networks of this type and their components. The primary objective of this paper is to facilitate the discussion of what progress should be made regarding the theory and the practice of uncertainty of IoT sensor networks to satisfy current needs. This paper provides a structured overview of uncertainty, specifically focusing on IoT sensor networks. It positions IoT sensor networks as contrasted with professional measurement and control networks and presents their conceptual sociotechnical reference model. The reference model advises on the taxonomy of uncertainty proposed in this paper that demonstrates semantic differences between various views on uncertainty. This model also allows for identifying key challenges that should be addressed to improve the theory and practice of uncertainty in IoT sensor networks

The Rule-Based Model of Negentropy for Increasing the Energy Efficiency of the City’s Digital Transformation Processes into a Smart City

The aim of the article is to build a rule-based model (RMFDN) for increasing the energy efficiency of Smart Cities’ digital transformation processes. The problem that arises during the implementation of digital transformation processes concerns the measures that should be assigned to estimate the duration of the digital transformation. Previous studies of digital transformation have been based on the analysis of design processes based on key performance indicators (KPIs), their place and role in the digital transformation processes, and their monitoring with the use of information architecture. The analysis of the digital transformation processes of cities into Smart Cities shows that they seem inappropriate to the complexity and uncertainty of the digital transformation carried out. The new approach presented in the article is based on three key aspects: rule-based description of the state of digital transformation processes enabling their energy assessment, introducing energy maturity capsules to describe the state of these processes and application of measures based on project negentropy increments for maturity capsules

Zarządzanie wiedzą i technologiami informatycznymi

English translation of chapters: 1. Knowledge management in enterprises functioning in the new economy - 2. Innovativeness as one of the knowledge-based economy pillars - 3. The approach to information management in small and medium sized enterprise - 4. Knowledge outsourcing III. The fluctuation of the knowledge and decision centers - 5. Implementation of declarative framework for decision support in scheduling problems - 6. Small-size and multi-product production flow planning - 7. Artificial intelligence methods in prediction of stock index values with usage of newspaper articles - 8. Information system supporting utilization of knowledge on movement and transport control - 9. The role of modern manager in knowledge management process - 10. Developing an organisational culture supporting knowledge management - 11. A method for evaluating organizational structure on the basis of social network analysis - 12. Developing sets of experience knowledge structure: Toward decisional DNA - 13. The language of communication in a multi-agent system for network monitoring - 14. A concept study of a multiagent system for maintaining the quality of service in future mobile ad hoc networks - 15. Reconstruction of attack propagation tree in multi-agent IDS system - 16. Data storage management: outline of practical methodology foreffectiveness assessment - 17. Applications of rough classification method in e-learning systems - 18. Description logic as software modeling language - 19. The concept of IT system for knowledge and experience management - 20. Knowledge acquisition for workflow systems - 21. Knowledge management embedded in software engineering processes - 22. E-document technology in the e-administration - 23. The application of PHP scripts for information extraction from newspaper announcements - 24. Knowledge management in an EU project on the example of MAYDAY project - 25. Outline of the contemporary trends of the net and their implications for ebusiness - 26. Providing learning components with learning schemata by means of the UDDI registry - 27. Pomeranian firms and the new technology - 28. Linear model approach to the computerization strategy of an organization - 29. The analysis of organization models and the choice of information management system for commercial and manufacturing enterprises - 30. Role of project management office in IT project management - 31. An intelligent platform for communication and control as well as management of modern companies - 32. Internet-based polling system as company's competitiveness improvement tool - 33. The UML model of an intelligent system for the management of industrial like processes in real-time - 34. Formal foundations of a knowledge management system supporting business process optimization - 35. Examples of tools used for business process modeling - 36. A quality model for UML tools - 37. Evaluation of the business processes modeling methods used in enterprises - 38. Fuzzy logic and logic-algebraic method for constraint programming-driven project prototyping - 39. Use of analytical and simulation methods for modeling of discrete and stochastic systems - 40. Architecture of distributed system for teletraffic monitoring - 41. Needle Desktop Search: A search engine for local internet documents - 42. An approach to composite web services evaluation for service oriented architectures - 43. Methodological converters for the evaluation of internet computer shops’ websites - 44. Knowledge management in IT project management - 45. Studies of the stage of the IT projects realization as the project management adjusting factor - 46. Evaluation of information technology as a part of R&D process optimization - 47. IT organization transformation modelling. SITAR – the mimplified model - 48. A proposal of metodology for testing clients requirements against employed information technology - 49. Knowledge resources management model in the information technology evaluation environment - 50. Ontology management model in an information technology evaluation environment - 51. IT evaluation using a functional prototype of multiagent systems - 52. Estimation of the IT technologies, using Mind Map techniques, modeling, and expert estimation

Model of an integration bus of data and ontologies of smart cities processes

This paper presents a model of an integration bus used in the design of Smart Cities system architectures. The model of such a bus becomes necessary when designing high-level architectures, within which the silo processes of the organization should be seen from the perspective of its ontology. For such a bus to be used by any city, a generic solution was proposed which can be implemented as a whole or in part depending on the requirements posed by those cities with respect to the construction of such buses. The work is divided into four main parts. The first part presents a model of high-level architectural design processes, using ontologies and a data integration bus, which constitutes the generalized experiences of the authors drawn from the design processes of Smart Cities systems. The second part contains a description of the environment in which Smart Cities systems are developed, illustrated with two guidelines and the implementation processes of these guidelines. In the third part, two components of that environment are identified: the data integration bus and the ontologies of city processes. This is done to demonstrate how Smart Cities systems are designed and to show the processes of the permeation of data and the ontologies of city processes in the creation of a high-level architecture. The fourth section contains a description of how the proposed model is applied in the construction of a common integration bus for data and ontologies. The paper summary presents recommendations concerning the applicability of the proposed model.W artykule przedstawiono propozycję modelu szyny integracyjnej wykorzystywanego w projektowaniu architektur systemów Smart Cities. Model takiej szyny staje się niezbędny przy projektowaniu architektur wysokopoziomowych (ang. high level architecture), w ramach których procesy silosowe organizacji powinny być widziane z pespektywy jej ontologii. Aby taka szyna mogła być wykorzystywana przez dowolne miasta zaproponowano rozwiązanie generyczne, które może być implementowane w całości lub części w zależności od wymagań miast stawianych w stosunku do konstrukcji takich szyn. Artykuł został podzielony na cztery główne części. W części pierwszej został przedstawiony model procesów projektowania architektury wysokopoziomowej z wykorzystaniem ontologii i szyny integracyjnej danych, który jest uogólnieniem doświadczeń autorów wyniesiony z procesów projektowania systemów Smart Cities. Część druga zawiera opis środowiska wytwarzania systemów Smart Cities zobrazowany dwoma wytycznymi oraz procesami implementacji tych wytycznych. W części trzeciej wyodrębniono dwie składowe stanu tego środowiska: szynę integracyjną danych oraz ontologię procesów miasta dla zobrazowania sposobu projektowania systemów Smart Cities i pokazania procesów przenikania się danych i ontologii procesów miasta w budowie architektury wysokopoziomowej. Część czwarta zawiera opis zastosowania proponowanego modelu do budowy wspólnej szyny integracyjnej danych i ontologii. Artykuł podsumowują rekomendacje dotyczące możliwości zastosowania proponowanego modelu

High-level model for the design of KPIs for Smart Cities systems

Celem artykułu jest prezentacja etapów budowy wysokopoziomowych modeli projektowania wskaźników KPI (WPMPW) systemów inteligentnych miast. Dotychczasowy rozwój, badanie procesów miast i przyporządkowanie im miar może być kontrolowane za pomocą wskaźników KPI. Autorzy artykułu w trakcie procesów projektowania zwrócili uwagę na ograniczoną użyteczność tak projektowanych wskaźników dla przedstawicieli miast. Stąd też zaproponowali koncepcję WPMPW. Dla zrealizowania zaproponowanego celu artykuł został podzielony na cztery główne części. W części pierwszej przedstawiono strukturę miasta oraz przedsiębiorstwa, aby na tym tle w części drugiej przedstawić procesy funkcjonowania obu podmiotów i wykazać ich zróżnicowanie. W części trzeciej omówiono rolę KPI i ich ograniczone zastosowanie dla miast na przykładzie ich projektowania w ramie projektowej (ang. framework) Intelligent Operating Centre (IOC). W części czwartej zaprezentowano proponowany model zmian procesu projektowania. Część czwarta zawiera także weryfikację modelu na podstawie procesu projektowania dwu decyzyjnych wskaźników miasta.The main goal of the paper is to build a high-level model for the design of KPIs. Currently, the development and processes of cities have been checked by KPI indicators. The authors realized that there is a limited usability of KPIs for both the users and IT specialists who are preparing them. Another observation was that the process of the implementation of Smart Cities systems is very complicated. Due to this the concept of a trigger for organizational-technological changes in the design and implementation of Smart Cities was proposed. A dedicated Model for City Development (MCD) was presented. The paper consists of four main parts. First the structures of both city and business organizations were presented. Based on that, in the second part, the processes existing in cities and business organizations were presented to show how different they are. The third part presents the role of KPIs and their limitations with the example of the IOC. The last part consists of the presentation of the model and its verification based on two city decision-making examples. The proposed design model presented herein takes into account both the city indicators and their aggregate versions for the needs of city models