One of the most hazardous places in mines are longwall areas. They emit a considerable amount of methane to the ventilation air. The emission depends on many but mostly known factors. The article presents the research results on changes in the methane concentration along the longwall excavations and longwall. The distributions were obtained based on a measurement experiment at the ZG Brzeszcze mine in Poland. The author’s research aimed to experimentally determine the concentration of methane as a function of the length of excavation for the longwall excavations and longwall. As a result, methane concentration trends along the excavations were obtained. The conclusions show the pros and cons of the method used, and it allows to set the right direction in the development of measurement systems and sensors.

This paper presents a new method of measuring of small inclination angles. The method consists in application of a pendulum with a diaphragm coworking with an optoelectronical barrier. Results of studies of the constructed device are also presented, they focused on determination of drift of the measured inclination angles as well as variation of the period of the complete oscillation of the pendulum for positive and negative angles of inclination. Variation of mean errors of the studied magnitudes for all test measuring series were analyzed graphically.

In this study, the bio state of the alloy produced in the modified metal injection system was monitored after sintering. A new system operating with high gas pressure, far from the traditional injection model, has been established for material production. In this system, 316L stainless steel powders were molded using a PEG/PMMA/SA polymer recipe. During molding, approximately 60% 316L and 40% binder by volume were used. The samples obtained were sintered at different temperatures (1100-1300°C) after de-binding. Density measurement (Archimedes) and hardness tests (HV1) of the samples were measured as 6.74 g/cm3 and ~285 HV1, respectively. A potentiodynamic corrosion test was applied to monitor the effect of the amount of oxide in the structure of the 316L stainless steel produced. Corrosion tests were carried out in artificial body solutions. The corrosion rate was measured at the level of 17.08×10–3 mm/y. In terms of biocompatibility, a cytotoxicity test was applied to the samples and the life course of the bacteria was monitored. For the 316L alloys produced, the % vitality reached approximately 103%.

From the beginning of the 20th century, images of war were mostly produced through audio-visual methods. This also applies to the Great War, although its earliest on-screen portrayals remain little-known today. Documentary footage filmed during the First World War was often destroyed or dispersed in the interwar period. Nevertheless, it has introduced new cinematic techniques and themes later seen in war reportages. Feature films about the Great War were generally made after it ended. France and Hollywood mostly produced battle scenes and anti-war “posters”. Although not addressing the subject of war directly, some German films of the period were described by the film expert Anton Kaes as “post-traumatic cinema” or “shell shock cinema”. In the newly independent Poland, the Great War first appeared on the screens in the context of the legend of the Polish Legions. The young and underfunded Polish cinematography had difficulties in dealing with such a demanding theme, which fact is well illustrated by the unfulfilled ambitions of Ryszard Ordyński’s film Mogiła nieznanego żołnierza (The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier). At the same time, in the 1920s star Western productions arrived in Poland including such famous films as Abel Gance’s J’accuse or Rex Ingram’s The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. They met with great interest among Polish audiences, reaching the rank of blockbusters. These films also triggered discussions in intellectual circles about the ways and the purpose of showing war on screen. The enthusiastic reception of those films may be a counter-argument to the opinion, that the Great War was not properly scrutinised in Poland both on the symbolic and artistic level.

Professor Mieczysław Chorąży, one of the most eminent Polish biomedical scientists, died on February 20, 2021 at the age of 95. He was bid farewell with military honors at the Powązki Military Cemetary in Warsaw. He was buried close to his comrades in arms from the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. Mieczysław Chorąży was born in Janówka, a small village in Podlasie, in 1925. His education was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II which took away his mother, who died of typhus. He then decided to become a doctor. He was a member of the Home Army and fought in the Warsaw Uprising as soldier (nickname “Grom”) of the Baszta Regiment. In 1951 he graduated from the Medical Academy in Warsaw and was ordered to work at the then State Cancer Institute in Gliwice where he remained professionally active until the very end of his life. Following scientific internships at McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research in Madison and Sloan- Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in New York in the early sixties he developed a method for isolating metaphase chromosomes from murine lymphocytic leukemia cells, used in DNA uptake experiments. In the 70s, he studied repeating and unique DNA sequences, DNA transcription mechanisms, activity of RNA polymerases and inhibition of cancer cell replication. Together with Kazimierz Dux, he authored in 1973 the “Introduction to the biology of cancer”, which at the time was the most important work in the field in Polish scientific literature. Mieczysław Chorąży was an outstanding authority in the field of environmental
mutagenesis and molecular epidemiology. The results of his research on DNA and chromosome damage in people from industry-polluted areas aroused wide interest worldwide. His Laboratory of Environmental Mutagenesis showed aberrations in metaphasal chromosomes caused by air pollution and correlated DNA adduct levels with concentration of polycyclic hydrocarbons in the air, including known carcinogens. Professor Chorąży research team revealed distinctive spectrum of mutations in the p53 suppressor gene among the inhabitants of Upper Silesia and characterized gene polymorphisms that determine individual sensitivity to carcinogens and functioning of DNA repair system. In his late years, Professor Mieczysław Chorąży was passionate about systems biology, research into chaos and early life on Earth. He was the supervisor of 18 doctoral theses, and five of his doctoral students later became professors. In the darker times of Poland’s national past, thanks to his wisdom and foresight, contacts were maintained with eminent researchers abroad allowing many Poles to pursue training in the USA, France, Germany and elsewhere. At the Professor’s initiative young scientists from the countries that emerged after the collapse of the USSR were able to continue their research in Gliwice thanks to scholarship awards granted by EACR and NCI-NIH. Mieczysław Chorąży was appointed professor in 1983. He was a doctor h.c. of medical universities in Katowice and Białystok. Since 1986 he was a full member of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Professor was also the member of Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Association for Cancer Research, European Association for Cancer Research, Polish Biochemical Society, Polish Cancer Society (president 1974–1978), member of the scientific councils of Oncology Center in Warsaw, the Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy in Wrocław, the Institute of Human Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences in Poznań and the Center for Polymer and Carbon Materials in Zabrze. In recognition of his scientific achievements and involvement in social and educational activities, insurgent struggle and shaping patriotic attitudes, Professor Mieczysław Chorąży received numerous distinctions and awards, including the Order of the White Eagle (2017), Polish supreme distinction. He was then eulogized as the “…nestor of oncology in Poland, outstanding scientist, founder of the Polish school of cancer biology, Warsaw insurgent, social activist, teacher and moral authority”. Professor received also the Lux ex Silesia award (2018) in recognition to his lasting contribution to the protection of Silesian cultural heritage. Professor Chorąży always opposed imprudent demolition of the reminders of industrial past of Upper Silesia, advocated sustainable development, and protecting green areas. Among various talents, Professor Chorąży was blessed with a gift of painting. Some of his watercolors and sketches embellish today the hall of the National Institute of Oncology in Gliwice. But Mieczysław Chorąży, the true man of virtue, will be perhaps best remembered for his kindness and concern for others, which brought him respect and love. He will be missed by very many people from all walks of life. Honor to His memory!