Military University of Technology in Warsaw

In this study, tubular specimens of Inconel 625 and Inconel 718 were additively manufactured using the Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS) technique. Their initial yield surfaces were experimentally determined under biaxial stress loading at 0.005% and 0.01% plastic offset strain. Uniaxial tensile tests showed yield strengths of 509 MPa and 461 MPa, with Young’s moduli of 180 GPa and 171 GPa for Inconel 625 and Inconel 718, respectively. Yield surfaces, fitted using the Szczepiński anisotropic criterion, revealed elliptical shapes with axis ratios below 1.73, confirming moderate anisotropy. Inconel 625 exhibited nearly symmetric yield strengths in tension and compression, with a higher tensile-direction elongation of the surface, whereas Inconel 718 showed stronger directional dependence, reflecting a higher degree of mechanical anisotropy.

The Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs) have the invaluable ability to monitor the crustal deformation either for geodesy (determination of the shape of the Earth) or for geophysics (interpretation of geodynamical processes). However, these systems have some limitations. Among the others, the systematic errors and unmodelled effects defined and observed as a common mode error (CME) have to be mentioned. Isolation of CME from displacements seems to be crucial for obtaining reliable velocities and their uncertainties. In this research we use a set of European GPS-derived vertical displacements recorded at 4443 permanent stations provided by the Nevada Geodetic Laboratory (NGL) and, in the first step, we compare them with displacements predicted by non-tidal atmospheric (NTAL), hydrospheric (HYDL), oceanic (NTOL), and barystatic sea level (SLEL) loading models provided by the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences to obtain a consistent picture of GPS sensitivity to loadings over Europe. This part of the study allowed us to confirm a very high correlation but varied depending on the region of Europe. Then, we divided GPS stations regionally upon the results of noise analysis and the common mode error was determined using the probabilistic Principal Component Analysis (pPCA) method. We note a significant correlation between the NTAL model and the CME values, which indicates that in Europe, most of the CME is driven by the unmodeled atmospheric effect with some regional anomalies. Finally, we provide a discussion on the differences in the values of velocities of GPS permanent stations together with their uncertainties after removing the CME values.

The ongoing war in Ukraine has caused extensive damage to infrastructure, agriculture, and the environment, while ground-based assessment remains severely constrained due to security concerns. This paper presents a novel change detection methodology based exclusively on openly available Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellite data. The key contribution of the proposed approach is the automation of post-conflict change analysis tailored to land-cover type (urban vs. non-urban), achieved through the integration of SAR-based change detection results and optical image classification, combined with the reduction of local classification artifacts using context-aware smoothing. The proposed algorithm enables automatic land-cover type classification and adaptive selection of the appropriate analysis strategy as an outcome of land-cover change assessment using Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 imagery. A comparison of the obtained results with the UNOSAT database confirmed the detection of more than 80% of damaged buildings (quality metrics: recall 78.8%, precision 87.5%, F1-score 0.828). The proposed classification method incorporating context-aware smoothing achieves higher built-up area detection accuracy than global land-cover products, outperforming the AlphaEarth platform (0.98 vs. 0.87). The presented approach enables rapid land-cover change analysis and damage detection using openly available satellite data, particularly in conflict-affected regions where direct field measurements are restricted due to security constraints.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) produces virulence factors and causes hard-to-treat infections. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of trans-cinnamaldehyde (TC) on the selected virulence factors of MRSA: adhesion to host plasma and extracellular matrix proteins, protease, DNase and esterase production, and hemolytic activity. Our results showed that TC at ½ MBIC (Minimum Biofilm Inhibition Concentration) of 240 µg/mL or 60 µg/mL, depending on the isolate, significantly reduced MRSA adhesion. Inhibition varied between isolates, ranging from 26.1% to 41.3% (fibrinogen), 18.2% to 34.9% (elastin), 26.5% to 32.4% (laminin), and 17.1% to 30.5% (collagen). TC at ½ MIC (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration) of 30 µg/mL also significantly inhibited MRSA enzyme production, and reduced hemolytic activity (by 80.0-83.1%, depending on the isolate). TC may be an alternative to antibiotics for combating infections caused by S. aureus, as it not only reduces bacterial survival in the host but also reduces S. aureus virulence at subinhibitory concentrations. TC at higher concentrations exhibits cytotoxicity in human fibroblasts, limiting its topical use. Therefore, to exploit TC's antibacterial potential, it is necessary to identify substances that act synergistically with it, enabling reduced effective doses.

This paper presents the design and feasibility evaluation of a low-cost, head-mounted pupil dilation tracking system based on computer vision. The proposed solution employs a standard webcam and active infrared illumination, enabling stable eye image acquisition under controlled lighting conditions. The developed image processing pipeline incorporates adaptive contrast enhancement and geometric pupil detection, allowing for the estimation of relative changes in pupil diameter in real time. System evaluation was conducted in a controlled experiment involving 24 participants performing an N-back task with emotional modulation, a well-established paradigm for eliciting task-evoked pupillary responses under constant working-memory demands. The results revealed statistically significant changes in relative pupil dilation in response to stimuli with varying emotional valence during a working memory task, confirming the system’s ability to capture task-evoked pupillary responses (TEPRs). The proposed system constitutes a low-cost research tool for studies of task engagement and physiological responses in the context of human–computer interaction and psychophysiology, with a focus on the analysis of functional pupilometric changes.

The application of nanotechnology in medicine has garnered significant interest, particularly in the development of advanced drug delivery systems. Graphene oxide (GO) shows promise as a carrier for delivering microRNA (miRNA) mimics or antisense constructs. miRNAs play a crucial role in regulating gene expression, and their dysregulation is associated with various diseases, including cancer. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of graphene oxide on cellular signaling pathways and its potential as a platform for gene delivery by developing a GO–antisense miRNA-21 nanosystem in HepG2 liver cancer cells. A colloidal dispersion of GO was used to prepare GO-antisense miRNA-21 nanosystems via self-assembly. The nanosystem was characterized in terms of ultrastructure, size distribution, surface composition and binding by TEM, DLS, ATR-FTIR and UV-Vis spectra. Zeta potential measurements were conducted to evaluate nanosystem stability by assessing the release kinetics of antisense miRNA-21. The efficiency of the GO nanosystem in delivering antisense miRNA-21 into HepG2 cells was analyzed using confocal microscopy and flow cytometry. Given the central role of miRNA-21 in inflammatory and oncogenic pathways, we first assessed its expression following GO exposure. In line with previous studies reporting high miRNA-21 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma cells, GO treatment further increased miRNA-21 levels in HepG2 cells compared with untreated controls. Changes in the expression levels of IL-8, MCP-1, ICAM-1, TIMP-2, and NF-kB were quantified by qPCR analysis. The ultrastructural analysis confirmed a strong affinity between GO and antisense miRNA-21. Transfection results demonstrate that the GO-based nanosystem effectively delivered antisense miRNA-21 into HepG2 cells, leading to a reduction in the expression of key pro-inflammatory genes. These findings suggest that GO-based nanocarriers may offer a promising strategy for delivering localized intratumoral miRNA-based therapies that target gene regulation in hepatocellular carcinoma.

The article presents issues related to fossil fuel energy consumption and CO2 emissions from motor vehicles. It identifies the main areas of research in this field in the context of motor vehicles, namely driver behavior, fuel consumption, and OBD systems. The research sample consisted of experimental data containing records of a series of test drives conducted with a passenger vehicle equipped with a gasoline-powered internal combustion engine, collected via an OBD diagnostic interface. Three subsets related to engine operation and energy demand patterns were distinguished for the study: during vehicle start-up and low-speed driving (vehicle start-up mode), during urban driving, and during extra-urban driving. Multiple regression models were constructed for the analyzed subsets to predict CO2 emissions based on engine energy output parameters (power, load) and vehicle kinematic parameters. The developed models were subjected to detailed evaluation and mutual comparison, taking into account their predictive performance and the interpretability of the results. The analysis made it possible to identify the variables with the most substantial impact on CO2 emissions and fuel energy consumption. The models allow individual drivers to monitor and optimize vehicle energy efficiency in real-time. The extra-urban driving model achieved the highest predictive accuracy, with a mean absolute error (MAE) of 19.62 g/km, which makes it suitable for real-time emission monitoring during highway driving.

HighlightsWhat are the main findings?Shorter satellite clock sampling (30 s vs. 5 min) yields more accurate PPP and faster convergence time. Final and operational (OPS) products outperform rapid and MGEX; ultra-rapid—especially the predicted half—are the weakest.Linear interpolation of clock corrections is constellation-dependent: with 5 min clocks, it benefits Galileo but often harms GPS. In GPS+Galileo, the effects largely cancel, with a slight GPS-driven tendency. With 30 s clocks, interpolation is negligible.What is the implication of the main finding?For PPP with 30 s data, use dedicated, dense CLK products from Final/OPS and combine GPS+Galileo; treat ultra-rapid—particularly the predicted segment—cautiously.If only 5 min SP3 clocks are available, apply linear interpolation (CLOCK1) for Galileo and nearest-epoch sampling (CLOCK0) for GPS; however, shortening the clock interval matters more than the interpolation strategy.This study assesses how satellite clock products affect Precise Point Positioning (PPP) for GPS, Galileo, and GPS+Galileo. Multi-GNSS data at 30 s were processed for 12 global IGS stations over one week in 2025, with each day split into eight independent three-hour sessions. SP3 clocks (ORB, 5 min) were compared with dedicated CLKs (CLO, 5 s, 30 s, 5 min) across final (FIN), rapid (RAP), and ultra-rapid (ULT; observed/predicted) product lines from multiple analysis centers. Two timing strategies were tested: nearest-epoch sampling (CLOCK0) and linear interpolation (CLOCK1). CLO consistently delivered the lowest 2D/3D errors and the fastest convergence. ORB degraded accuracy by a few millimeters and extended convergence by ~5–10 min, most notably for GPS. With 5 min clocks, CLOCK1 yielded small gains for Galileo but often hurt GPS; with 30 s clocks, interpolation was immaterial; 5 s clocks offered no measurable benefit. FIN outperformed RAP; OPS slightly outperformed MGEX; ESA/GFZ ranked highest. ULT solutions were weaker, especially in the predicted half. Zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD) biases were negligible; variance was smallest for GPS+Galileo with CLO (~7–10 mm), increased by ~1–2 mm with ORB, and was largest in ULT. Dense, high-quality clock products remain essential for reliable PPP.