One of the main threats to constructions made from rammed earth is destruction due to exposure to water. The way to limit this dangerous phenomenon is to supplement the local soil mixtures with stabilizing agents. The main component used is Portland cement. This article analyses the results of research which focused on the resistance of rammed earth to water erosion. Because of the lack of national standards regarding the method of examining the durability of rammed earth, the research was based on the New Zealand standard NZS 4298: 1998. The results confirm the possibility of using rammed earth stabilized by cement in a temperate climate.

This paper summarizes the activity of the chosen Polish geodetic research teams in 2015–2018 in the fields of Earth: rotation, dynamics as well as magnetic field. It has been prepared for the needs of the presentation on the 27th International Union of Geodesy and Geodynamics General Assembly, Montreal, Canada. The part concerning Earth rotation is mostly focused on the use of modelling of diurnal and subdiurnal components of Earth rotation by including low frequency components of polar motion and UT1 in the analysis, study of free oscillations in Earth rotation derived from both space-geodetic observations of polar motion and the time variation of the second degree gravitational field coefficients derived from Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) and Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) observations, new methods of monitoring of Earth rotation, as well as studies on applications of the Ring Laser Gyroscope (RLG) for direct and continuous measurements of changes in Earth rotation and investigations of the hydrological excitation of polar motion. Much attention was devoted to the GRACE-derived gravity for explaining the influence of surface mass redistributions on polar motion. Monitoring of the geodynamical phenomena is divided into study on local and regional dynamics using permanent observations, investigation on tidal phenomena, as well as research on hydrological processes and sea level variation parts. Finally, the recent research conducted by Polish scientists on the Earth’s magnetic field is described.

Deep excavation walls can be analyzed and calculated by using classical methods (currently rarely in use due to their many simplifications) or numerical methods. Among the numerical methods we can distinguish a simplified approach, in which the interaction between soil and a wall structure is modelled by a system of elasto-plastic supports, and the finite-element method (FEM) in which the soil is modelled with mesh of elements. It is a common view that if we want to analyze only wall constructions, the first, simplified method of calculation is sufficient. The second method, FEM, is required if we want to further analyze the stress and strain states in the soil and the influence of the excavation on the surrounding area. However, as it is demonstrated in the paper, important differences may appear in the calculation results of both methods. Thus, the safety design of a deep excavation structure depends very much on the choice of calculating method.

Currently, a worldwide dynamic rise of interest in using soil as a construction material can be observed. This trend is evident in the rapid rise of the amount of standards that deal with soil techniques. In 2012 the number of standards was larger by one third than five years prior. To create a full standardization of the rammed earth technique it is necessary to take into account the diversity of used soil and stabilizing additives. The proportion of the components, the process of element production and the research methods must also be made uniform. The article describes the results of research on the compressive strength of rammed earth samples that differed from each other with regards to the type of loam used for the mixture and the amount of the stabilizer. The stabilizer used was Portland cement CEM I 42.5R. The research and the analysis of the results were based on foreign publications, the New Zealand standard NZS 4298:1998, the American Standard NMAC14.7.4 and archival Polish Standards from the 1960’s that dealt with earth material.

Managing human consumption has a major impact on the functioning of societies, and – even more importantly – on the condition of our planet. What does the future hold?

The paper presents a construction of magnetic observatory "Arctowski" on King George Island. The parameters of magnetic instruments and mean values of D, H, Z and F(T) of magnetic field are presented. Examples of registration of changes of the magnetic field are noted.

According to the general classification of shallow eutrophic lakes, two alternative types are distinguished: phytoplankton-dominated and macrophyte-dominated lakes. The latter type is rare and currently endangered by human activity. In order to determine the effect of reduced inflow of surface water by an earth dyke on the lake trophic state, certain biological and physico-chemical parameters were evaluated. This work focuses on two lakes of similar morphometric characteristics situated in the agricultural landscape. The effect of the earth dyke on the trophic state was positively verified. The lake situated in the catchment basin, in which the inflow of surface water was reduced, was defined as meso-eutrophic, with a small amount of phytoplankton and high water transparency. The reference lake was highly eutrophic, with low water transparency and a large amount of phytoplankton. The water body surrounded by the earth dyke was macrophytes dominated (65% of the lake area), whereas the reference lake was a phytoplankton-macrophyte type (42% of the lake area). The trophic evaluation of a lake can be underestimated because of a significant amount of biogenic compounds accumulated in plant tissues. Thus, the values of Carlson’s indices in macrophyte-dominated lakes may not account for the total amount of nutrients in the water body.

The results of some mechanical properties of four Mg-5Al-xRE-0.4Mn (x = 1 – 5) alloys are presented. The microstructure of

experimental alloys consisted of an α-Mg phase and an α+γ semi-divorced eutectic, Al11RE3 phase and an Al10RE2Mn7 intermetallic

compound. For gravity casting in metal mould alloys, Brinell hardness, impact strength, tensile and compression properties at ambient

temperature were determined. The performed mechanical tests allowed the author to determine the proportional influence of the mass

fraction of rare earth elements in the alloys on their tensile strength, yield strength, compression strength and Brinell hardness. The

impact strength of the alloys slightly decreases with a rise in the rare earth elements mass fraction.

Magnesium alloy with 5 wt% Al, 0.35 wt% Mn and 5 wt% rare earth elements (RE) was prepared and gravity cast into a sand mould.

Microstructure investigations were conducted. Analyses of the Mg-Al-RE alloy microstructure were carried out by light microscopy,

scanning electron microscopy and the XRD technique. In the as-cast condition, the alloy was composed of α-Mg, Al11RE3 and

Al10RE2Mn7 intermetallic phases. Additionally, due to non-equilibrium solidification conditions, an Al2RE intermetallic phase was

revealed.

The modification of the chemical composition of non-metallic inclusions by rare-earth elements in the new-developed microalloyed steels was discussed in the paper. The investigated steels are assigned to production of forged elements by thermomechanical treatment. The steels were melted in a vaccum induction furnace and modification of non-metallic inclusions was carried out by the michmetal in the amount of 2.0 g per 1 kg of steel. It was found that using material charge of high purity and a realization of metallurgical process in vacuous conditions result in a low concentration of sulfur (0.004%), phosphorus (from 0.006 to 0.008%) and oxygen (6 ppm). The high metallurgical purity is confirmed by a small fraction of non-metallic inclusions averaging 0.075%. A large majority of non-metallic inclusions are fine, globular oxide-sulfide or sulfide particles with a mean size 17 µm2 . The chemical composition and morphology of non-metallic inclusions was modified by Ce, La and Nd, what results a small deformability of nonmetallic inclusions during hot-working.

In this paper the overview of the recent study on the rare-earth activated waveguides performed in the Optoelectronic Department of IMiO is presented. We reported on the development of rare earth-doped fluorozirconate (ZBLAN) glass fibers that allow a construction of a new family of visible and ultraviolet fiber lasers pumped by upconversion. Especially the performance of holmium devices is presented. The properties of laser planar waveguides obtained by the LPE process and the growth conditions of rare earths doped YAG layers are presented. In this paper we present also the theoretical study of the nonlinear operation of planar waveguide laser, as an example the microdisk Nd:YAG structure is discussed. We derived an approximate formula which relates the small signal gain in the Nd:YAG active medium and the laser characteristics, obtained for whispering-gallery modes and radial modes, to the output power and real parameters of the laser structure

The article discusses the work of J. R. R. Tolkien in the context of the concept of hope as it is defined in the Thomist philosophical system. The thrust of the argument is that the distinction between the two meanings of the word: hope defined as an appetitive passion of the soul and hope understood as one of the theological virtues provides a viable conceptual key to a discussion of the way in which the idea of hope functions in J. R. R. Tolkien’s classic works of fantasy fiction. The analysis seeks to trace the evolution of this basic dichotomy throughout The Lord of the Rings and the most pertinent sections of the legendarium presenting how the notion of hope functions for the civilization of the Elves and of Men, and also how the interaction between the passion and the virtue of hope impacts upon the construction and function of some of the key the individual characters of Tolkien’s fiction.

The cold start of the space GPS receiver, i.e. the start without any information about the receiver position, satellite constellation, and time, is complicated by a large Doppler shift of a navigation signal caused by the satellite movement on the Earth orbit. That increases about five times the search space of the navigation signals compared to the standard GPS receiver. The paper investigates a method of the acceleration of the GPS receiver cold start time designed for the pico- and femto-satellites. The proposed method is based on a combination of the parallel search in Doppler frequency and PRN codes and the serial search in code phase delay. It can shorten the cold start time of the GPS receiver operating on LEO orbit from about 300 to 60 seconds while keeping the simplicity of FPGA signal processor and low power consumption. The developed algorithm was successfully implemented and tested in the piNAV GPS receiver. The energy required for the obtaining of the position fix was reduced five times from 36 on to 7.7 Joules. This improvement enables applications of such receiver for the position determination in smaller satellites like Pocket Cube or femto-satellites with a lower energy budget than the Cube Satellite.

This article applies radar interferometry technologies implemented in the ENVI SARscape and SNAP software environment provided by the processing of data from the Sentinel-1 satellite. The study was carried out based on six radar images of Sentinel-1A and Sentinel -1B taken from September 2017 until February 2018 with an interval of one month and on the radar-module of the already mentioned SNAP software. The main input data for solving the considered problem are radar images received from the satellite Sentinel-1B on the territory of Stebnyk-Truskavets for six months with an interval of one month. Monitoring of the Earth’s surface using radar data of the Sentinel-1A with a synthesized aperture is implemented with the application of interferometric methods of Persistent Scatterers and Small baselines interferometry for estimating small displacements of the Earth’s surface and structures. The obtained quantitative and qualitative indicators of monitoring do not answer the processes that take place and lead to vertical displacements the six months but do provide an opportunity to assess the extent and trends of their development. The specification in each case can be accomplished by ground methods, which greatly simplify the search for sites with critical parameters of vertical displacements which can have negative consequences and lead to an emergency.