For the purpose of making of a solid body of an electric guitar the acoustic- and mechanical properties of walnut- (Juglans regia L.) and ash wood (Fraxinus excelsior L.) were researched. The acoustic properties were determined in a flexural vibration response of laboratory conditioned wood elements of 430 × 186 × 42.8 mm used for making of a solid body of an electric guitar. The velocity of shearand compression ultrasonic waves was additionally determined in parallel small oriented samples of 80 × 40 × 40 mm. The research confirmed better mechanical properties of ash wood, that is, the larger modulus of elasticity and shear modules in all anatomical directions and planes. The acoustic quality of ash wood was better only in the basic vibration mode. Walnut was, on the other hand, lighter and more homogenous and had lower acoustic- and mechanical anisotropy. Additionally, reduced damping of walnut at higher vibration modes is assumed to have a positive impact on the vibration response of future modelled and built solid bodies of electric guitars. When choosing walnut wood, better energy transfer is expected at a similar string playing frequency and a structure resonance of the electric guitar.

The paper presents results obtained during experiments with constructed wetlands that were built and monitored on the site of a municipal landfill in Southern Poland. The wetland was filled with gravel and rock in which reeds, cattails and willow were planted. A control plot without vegetation was also constructed. Each wetland was loaded with a portion of the leachate generated by the landfill. Measurements of the leachate quality showed very high concentrations of several pollutants. Particularly high concentrations of BOD, COD, nitrogen, and heavy metals were measured. High pollutant levels were probably responsible for the demise of the willows, which were dead within several months of planting. The efficiency of pollution removal with detention time up to 24 h ranged from O to 87% based on decreasing concentration of selected parameters. However, the removal efficiency of the control plot was typically only several percent lower than the removal efficiencies of the plots with vegetation.

From the regulatory point of view a strong link between an animal model and human pharmacodynamics of biological drugs is very important to qualify the model as “relevant”. Consistent changes in cell population between human physiology and animal model gain value of this model which then can be pharmacodynamically “relevant” from the regulatory point of view. Consequently, the aim of this study was to determine how similar to human observations is the effect of selected biological drugs on blood cells in a pig model. The study was to carry out a comparative analysis of the variability of selected biochemical and hematological parameters of the blood after administration of five different human therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) after a single subcutaneous (SC) dose in breeding pigs. The tested drugs were siltuximab (Syl- vant®), omalizumab (Xolair®), infliximab (Inflectra®), pembrolizumab (Keytruda®), and vedoli- zumab (Entyvio®) given in a single 1 mg/kg SC injection. Each of the tested drugs exerted a sig- nificant effect on at least two of the tested parameters three weeks after the administration. Siltuximab significantly influenced 9 of the analyzed parameters. Vedolizumab significantly influenced 8 of the analyzed parameters. Infliximab had the lowest impact of all the tested drugs, as it significantly influenced only two of the analyzed parameters. The study has proved that the impact of mAbs on the analyzed parameters can be significantly extended over time. This requires the monitoring of hematological parameters in the pig model even many weeks af- ter administration of a drug in a relatively small dose.

A wide variety of water-soluble cores are widely used in hollow composite castings with internal cavities, curved channels, and undercuts. Among them, the cores made by adding binders of inorganic salts in the form of aqueous solutions have excellent solubility in water. However, excellent collapsibility is often accompanied by poor moisture absorption resistance. In this study, a water-soluble core with moderate strength and moisture absorption resistance was prepared by hot pressing and sintering the core sand mixture of sand, bentonite, and composite salts, and a tee tube specimen was cast. The experimental results showed that the cores with KCl-K2CO3 as binder could obtain strength of more than 0.9 MPa and still maintain 0.3 MPa at 80±5% relative humidity for 6 hours; the subsequent sintering process can significantly improve the resistance to moisture absorption of the hot pressed cores (0.6 MPa after 24 hours of storage at 85±5% relative humidity); the water-soluble core prepared by the post-treatment can be used to cast tee pipe castings with a smooth inner surface and no porosity defects, and it is easy to remove the core.

Virtual digital representation of a physical object or system, created with precision through computer simulations, data analysis, and various digital technologies can be used as training set for real life situations. The principal aim behind creating a virtual representation is to furnish a dynamic, data-fueled, and digital doppelgänger of the physical asset. This digital counterpart serves multifaceted purposes, including the optimization of performance, the continuous monitoring of its well-being, and the augmentation of informed decision-making processes. Main advantage of employing a digital twin is its capacity to facilitate experimentation and assessment of diverse scenarios and conditions, all without impinging upon the actual physical entity. This capability translates into substantial cost savings and superior outcomes, as it allows for the early identification and mitigation of issues before they escalate into significant problems in the tangible world. Within our research endeavors, we've meticulously constructed a digital twin utilizing the Unity3D software. This digital replica faithfully mimics vehicles, complete with functioning headlamp toggles. Our lighting system employs polygons and normal vectors, strategically harnessed to generate an array of dispersed and reflected light effects. To ensure realism, we've meticulously prepared the scene to emulate authentic road conditions. For validation and testing, we integrated our model with the YOLO (You Only Look Once) neural network. A specifically trained compact YOLO model demonstrated impressive capabilities by accurately discerning the status of real vehicle headlamps. On average, it achieved an impressive recognition probability of 80%, affirming the robustness of our digital twin.

The paper presents the results of sentence and logatome speech intelligibility measured in rooms with induction loop for hearing aid users. Two rooms with different acoustic parameters were chosen. Twenty two subjects with mild, moderate and severe hearing impairment using hearing aids took part in the experiment. The intelligibility tests composed of sentences or logatomes were presented to the subjects at fixed measurement points of an enclosure. It was shown that a sentence test is more useful tool for speech intelligibility measurements in a room than logatome test. It was also shown that induction loop is very efficient system at improving speech intelligibility. Additionally, the questionnaire data showed that induction loop, apart from improving speech intelligibility, increased a subject’s general satisfaction with speech perception

The aim of these studies was to determine solubility and availability of the heavy metals in soil using single extraction procedure. The acid extractants: 1 M HCI, 10% HNO, and 0.43 M CH,COOH were tested as eluents. Extracting capacity of inorganic acids were higher than 65% of total Pb and Zn and hardly depended on their total content. Acetic acid leached less than 5% of total Cu, Ni and Pb. A statistical analysis showed that physico-chemical soil parameters affected heavy metals solubility in acids eluents. Single extraction in acid solution is a simple way to determine the soil contamination with heavy metals.