The consciousness of a crisis of university inclines towards its reformation. In the thinking about its revival it is necessary to take into account the archetypical idea behind university, traditions to date, contemporary conditions and visions of the future. It is also getting indispensable to take into consideration such values that ought to steer the development of university in the framework of global civilization. The tasks of university are as follows: 1) to conduct research in striving for truth in the conditions of autonomy and freedom, as well as responsibility for the present day and the future of man; 2) to educate students, which introduces them in the world of science and life, as well as teaches them to be responsible; 3) to practice public science which is present in debates undertaking to solve vital social problems. The academic community and its elites should defend the conception of university against the dictate of their political and economic counterparts who attempt to impose the idea of an entrepreneurial university which produces a utilitarian knowledge and “human principles”.

The work proposes a new method for vehicle classification, which allows treating vehicles uniformly at the stage of defining the vehicle classes, as well as during the classification itself and the assessment of its correctness. The sole source of information about a vehicle is its magnetic signature normalised with respect to the amplitude and duration. The proposed method allows defining a large number (even several thousand) of classes comprising vehicles whose magnetic signatures are similar according to the assumed criterion with precisely determined degree of similarity. The decision about the degree of similarity and, consequently, about the number of classes, is taken by a user depending on the classification purpose. An additional advantage of the proposed solution is the automated defining of vehicle classes for the given degree of similarity between signatures determined by a user. Thus the human factor, which plays a significant role in currently used methods, has been removed from the classification process at the stage of defining vehicle classes. The efficiency of the proposed approach to the vehicle classification problem was demonstrated on the basis of a large set of experimental data.

In general, currently employed vehicle classification algorithms based on the magnetic signature can distinguish among only a few vehicle classes. The work presents a new approach to this problem. A set of characteristic parameters measurable from the magnetic signature and limits of their uncertainty intervals are determined independently for each predefined class. The source of information on the vehicle parameters is its magnetic signature measured in a system that enables independent measurement of two signals, i.e. changes in the active and reactive component of the inductive loop impedance caused by a passing vehicle. These innovations result in high selective classification system, which utilizes over a dozen vehicle classes. The evaluation of the proposed approach was carried out for good vehicles consisting of 2-axle tractor and a 3-axle semi-trailer.

Background: The older population is very heterogeneous with regard to the co-morbidity and the physical reserve. This can result in unacceptably high postoperative complications rates. Th erefore, the aim of the study was to review the literature regarding the outcomes of older patients treated for pancreatic cancer, including the usage of minimal invasive techniques.

Methodology: A review of the literature was carried out including studies on pancreatic cancer in older patients published between 2011 and 2016.

Results: Seventeen retrospective studies were included. The total number of patients was 9981 with the age range of 65 years and more. Studies on surgical treatment alone (1.4%), neoadjuvant/adjuvant treatment with or without surgery (89.4%) and palliative therapy (9.2%) were assessed separately. Appropriate comparison was diffi cult due to the retrospective character and heterogeneity of the study population. Mortality was low, yet there was a great diff erence in morbidity ranging from some percent to even 100% of the study population. Long-term results were poor.

Conclusions: The functional status, not the chronological age alone, is the factor limiting therapeutic options in older patients with pancreatic cancer.

The object of the investigation was metal contamination of bottom sediments of the Skroda and

Chwaliszówka rivers, which are the right contributaries of the Lusatian Neisse river, draining the territory of

the so called “anthropogenic lake district”. The district came into existence as a result of mining activities in the

border of Silesia and Lusatia, which date from the half of 19th century to 1974. The district includes about 100

reservoirs, of the total area of over 150 ha, which are from about 30 to 100 years old.

The rocks accompanying the Miocene coal-bearing formations were deposited on waste dumps. The dumps

form embankments of the aquifers arising as a result of post-exploitation mining subsidence. The streams dewatering waste dumps inflow directly or indirectly to the Chwaliszówka and Skroda rivers. The pyrite is the

mineral present in mine waste material. The pyrite weathering products inflow into surface waters and affect

adversely the water quality. In the last stage of migration the pollutants are accumulated in the bottom sediments

of rivers and lakes. The samples of bottom sediments of the two rivers were analysed by means of a five-step

sequential extraction procedure performed for the partitioning of selected trace metals (Fe, Mn, As, Cr and Al).

It was determined that the bottom sediments of the two analysed rivers contain significant concentrations of

aluminium and iron. The concentrations of other metals (Mn, Cr and As) are in the range of geochemical background of water sediments in Poland. Concentrations of arsenium, chromium and manganese, which are bound

to easy-available fractions (I – exchangeable and II – bound to carbonates) are not significant, so it could be

assumed that they are not expected to be released and they do not threaten the river ecological system. There is,

however, the possibility of the aluminium and iron re-mobilisation, taking into account the high concentrations

of easy-available fractions of these metals in the sediment. Fe and Al are potential source of water contamination, and re-mobilisation of these metals will produce the aggravation of quality parameters of river waters.

Measurement data obtained from Weigh-in-Motion systems support protection of road pavements from the adverse phenomenon of vehicle overloading. For this protection to be effective, WIM systems must be accurate and obtain a certificate of metrological legalization. Unfortunately there is no legal standard for accuracy assessment of Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) systems. Due to the international range of road transport, it is necessary to standardize methods and criteria applied for assessing such systems’ accuracy. In our paper we present two methods of determining accuracy of WIM systems. Both are based on the population of weighing errors determined experimentally during system testing. The first method is called a reliability characteristic and was developed by the authors. The second method is based on determining boundaries of the tolerance interval for weighing errors. Properties of both methods were assessed on the basis of simulation studies as well as experimental results obtained from a 16-sensor WIM system.

The main purpose of the present work was to validate the numerical model for the pulse-step liquid steel alloying method using a physical simulator that enables the observation and recording of phenomena occurring during the continuous steel casting process. The facility under investigation was a single-nozzle tundish equipped with a dam. To physical trials the glass water model was made on a scale of 2:5. For the mathematical description of turbulence during liquid steel alloying process, the k-ε and k-ω models were employed in the simulations. Based on the computer simulations and physical trials carried out, alloy addition behaviour and mixing curves for different tundish alloy addition feeding positions were obtained. The change in the location of alloy addition feeding to the liquid steel had an effect on the process of alloy addition spread in the liquid steel bulk and on the mixing time.

To date, only a few studies on the azithromycin (AZM) pharmacokinetics in ornamental birds have been published. In the current study AZM concentrations in domestic pigeon (Columba livia domestica) plasma samples were analyzed using a validated ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method. The aim of the current study was to carry out an analysis of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics after administration of a single oral dose of a sustained-release AZM formulation and to conduct a simulation of treatment based on selected minimal inhibitory values. The study was performed with 12 healthy adult pigeons, both sexes. The pigeons tolerated AZM very well and no adverse effects were observed in any animal during the study. Based on the observed characteristics of the pharmacokinetics/ /pharmaco dynamics profiles of AZM in pigeons, it should be noted that 35 mg/kg per os as a single starting dose and 25 mg/kg every 24 h are recommended for treatment of both suscep- tible and less susceptible pathogens.

The paper provides analysis of the influence of temperature on the error of weigh-in-motion (WIM) systems utilizing piezoelectric polymer load sensors. Results of tests of these sensors in a climatic chamber, as well as results of long-term tests at the WIM site, are presented. Different methods for correction of the influence of changes in temperature were assessed for their effectiveness and compared.

Minimally invasive procedures for the kidney tumour removal require a 3D visualization of topological relations between kidney, cancer, the pelvicalyceal system and the renal vascular tree. In this paper, a novel methodology of the pelvicalyceal system segmentation is presented. It consists of four following steps: ROI designation, automatic threshold calculation for binarization (approximation of the histogram image data with three exponential functions), automatic extraction of the pelvicalyceal system parts and segmentation by the Locally Adaptive Region Growing algorithm. The proposed method was applied successfully on the Computed Tomography database consisting of 48 kidneys both healthy and cancer affected. The quantitative evaluation (comparison to manual segmentation) and visual assessment proved its effectiveness. The Dice Coefficient of Similarity is equal to 0.871 ± 0.060 and the average Hausdorff distance 0.46 ± 0.36 mm. Additionally, to provide a reliable assessment of the proposed method, it was compared with three other methods. The proposed method is robust regardless of the image acquisition mode, spatial resolution and range of image values. The same framework may be applied to further medical applications beyond preoperative planning for partial nephrectomy enabling to visually assess and to measure the pelvicalyceal system by medical doctors.