Opal can be found in several locations, including America, Tanzania, Brazil, Mexico, East Africa, Indonesia and Australia, which is now the world’s top producer of black opal. One of the most economically valuable gems in the world is the mineraloid opal. In the Rongkong area, opal is found in the host rock of volcanic igneous rock, namely andesite. This study aims to determine the opal mineraloid host-rock’s microstructural characteristics and the elemental and compound content of the opal mineraloid host-rock’s geochemistry in the Rongkong area, Indonesia. The research took three samples in the field as large as hand specimens. The three samples were one host-rock sample and two opal mineraloid samples; the samples were then prepared and analyzed in the laboratory. Laboratory analysis was performed using SEM-EDS, XRF and petrographic analyses. The results of the SEM-EDS test analysis showed that most opal mineraloid carrier rock constituents are aluminum and oxide. This can be seen from the substantial Al and O content. In samples 1 and 2, Al, O, Ca and P with the highest composition of chemical compounds are Al2O3, CaO, and P2O5. The Rongkong opal mineraloid from Limbong Village, Rongkong District, North Luwu Regency, South Sulawesi, based on the results of XRF analysis, contains the chemical compounds SiO2, Al2O3, K2O, Fe2O3, CaO, TiO2, RuO2, SrO, MnO, V2O5, Rb2O, Ag2O and CuO. The content compound that is more dominant in opal mineraloids is SiO2 due to silicate enrichment in the forming of opal mineraloids.

Regeneration – an integrated process of activities undertaken in the spatial, social and economic dimensions – should lead to the improvement of the living conditions of inhabitants of degraded urban areas. The European Union in 2007- 2013 allocated financial resources for this purpose in the form of JESSICA initiative which is based on financial engineering mechanism. Experiences gained so far allow conclusions to be drawn that JESSICA is a highly fi nancially-effi cient instrument but, however, not always delivers the desired outcomes in the spatial and social sphere. The scope of projects often is limited to infrastructural investments and does not reflect the complexity of regeneration process. In the article the authors analyse experiences of the five Polish regions with the use of JESSICA, point out main problems and formulate recommendations for sustainable urban policy.

This paper presents a comparison of different techniques to capture nominal data for its use in later verification and kinematic parameter identification procedures for articulated arm coordinate measuring machines (AACMM). By using four different probing systems (passive spherical probe, active spherical probe, self-centering passive probe and self-centering active probe) the accuracy and repeatability of captured points has been evaluated by comparing these points to nominal points materialized by a ball-bar gauge distributed in several positions of the measurement volume. Then, by comparing these systems it is possible to characterize the influence of the force over the final results for each of the gauge and probing system configurations. The results with each of the systems studied show the advantages and original accuracy obtained by active probes, and thus their suitability in verification (active probes) and kinematic parameter identification (self-centering active probes) procedures.