The paper presents a method of measuring deformations of cylindrical samples on the testing machine for free tube hydroforming experiments. During experiments a sample made of a thin-walled metal tube is expanded by the internal pressure of the working liquid and additionally subjected to axial compression. This results in a considerable circumferential deformation of the tube and its shortening. Analysis of the load cases and their impact on the deformations can be helpful in determining e.g. tube material properties or general limiting conditions in the tube hydroforming process. In connection with the above, the value of deformations and knowledge of their course during experiment has become one of the most important problems related to the issue described above.

Yeast infections such as otitis externa and seborrheic dermatitis in dogs and cats are frequently associated with Malassezia pachydermatis secondary infection. It is part of the normal cutaneous microflora of most warm-blooded vertebrates, however, under certain conditions, it can become a causative agent of infection that needs to be treated pharmacologically. Azole derivatives are the drugs of the first choice. An interesting trend in developing resistance is the use of natural substances, which include manuka honey with confirmed antimicrobial properties. The main intention of this research was to evaluate the mutual effect of manuka honey in combination with four conventional azole antifungals – clotrimazole, fluconazole, itraconazole, and miconazole – on 14 Malassezia pachydermatis isolates obtained from dogs and 1 reference strain. A slightly modified M27–A3 method (CLSI 2008) and the checkerboard test (Nikolić et al. 2017) were used for this purpose. Our results show an additive effect of all 4 antifungals with manuka honey concurrent use. Based on the determined values of fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI – 0.74±0.03 when manuka honey combined with clotrimazole, 0.96±0.08 with fluconazole, 1.0±0 with miconazole and 1.16±0.26 with itraconazole), it was found in all cases that the effect of substances used is more pronounced in mutual combination than when used separately.

The self-consistent optical-electrical-thermal-gain model of the oxide-confined edge-emitting diode laser has been used to simulate the room-temperature operation of the long-wavelength 1.3-µm quantum-dot (InGa)As/GaAs diode laser. The validityof the model has been verified using some experimental results for comparison. An impact of quantum-dot densityon laser operation characteristics as well as on temperature dependence of lasing threshold have been discussed.