The transitional siliceous rocks from the Belchatow lignite deposit belong to the deposits with heterogeneous petrographic composition. The research allows us to identify among others, opoka-rocks and gaizes. The mineralogical-chemical analysis proves that the main ingredients of the studied rocks commonly used as building material are minerals of the SiO₂ group. Laboratory tests show that the nature of siliceous mineral phases has several effects on the geomechanical parameters of the studied transitional rocks. They are a reduction in water content and rock porosity, which leads to the transition of opal type A to opal type crystobalit and trydymit and then to quartz or microquartz. Their density and strength parameters are increased.

This article presents the results of laboratory tests of the physical and mechanical properties of various types of sandstone selected from ten quarries from Carpathian flysch. The parameters were used to evaluate the quality of the sandstone and its suitability for use as armourstone in accordance with applicable standards and quality guidelines. The requirements of the BN-79/8952-31, EN 13383-1:2003 and the CIRIA, CUR, CETMEF (2007) standards were compared. Sandstone can display a large variability of parameters depending on its origin. This, in turn, results in a varying degree of its susceptibility to the destructive effects of water and climate.

The paper deals with dynamics of present morphologic processes and cover deposits of nival and subnival stages in the area to the north of the Hornsund Fiord. Qualitative and quantitative parameters of the processes are described on the basis of direct measurements and radiocarbon datings. A particular attention was paid to the action of frost and gravitational processes in the specific morphoclimatic conditions of a nival landscape stage. The cover deposits are described from the point of view of their origin and physico-chemical properties. The age of the covers is defined on the ground of radiocarbon datings of fossil plants found at the nunataks for the first time in 1973. These datings enabled to distinguish the development phases of the morphogenetic processes during Late Holocene.

In the paper the issue connected with water network failure regarding the soil conditions was presented. Water pipes constitute a large part of water company asset. Therefore the analysis concerning the influence of soil conditions into failure occurrence of water pipe is crucial for proper functioning of water supply systems (WSS). In the performed studies the real data from the operation of the exemplary WSS was obtained. The following properties of the ground conditions were taken into consideration among others: the chemical composition and ground phase, based on analysis performed through the following equipment, as the electron microscope with X-ray spectrometer detector and backscattered electrons (BSE) using the powder Debye-Sherrer’s method and X-ray diffractometer. The analysis indicate dependence between soil conditions and corrosivity occurrence, what indicate the importance of performed analysis.

The open-cast nature of deposit exploitation means that apart from the extraction of the main mineral, rocks are also found in its vicinity. Their nature, raw material quality and geological and mining conditions allow them to be used in various branches of the economy. Hence, it seems that more attention should now be given to these rocks. However, the long-term, open-cast mining operations involving Bełchatów lignite ultimately necessitated basic, raw-material-related research on the deposits accompanying the lignite as the main mineral. The presented work shows the state of the recognition of rocks lying in the Mesozoic–Neogene contact zone in the Bełchatów lignite deposit as well as their petrographic nature and possible directions of their use. Attention was drawn to the lithological diversity of the studied rocks and diagenetic processes that contributed to the impact on their physical and mechanical characteristics. Based on the analysis of the literature, the current state of utilization and development as well as the balance of accompanying rock resources in the Bełchatów lignite deposit are presented.

Today, it would seem very important from various economic points of view for utilization and management of the aforementioned rocks encountered as open-cast lignite mining to take place. Natural resources are protected where the area mined is kept in check, and there is economic significance to any increasing in the supply of minerals, or materials made from them. The level of profitability for economic entities that exploit lignite deposits may obviously be raised in this way, and environmental goals can also be served if some of what is extracted can be transformed into environment-friendly materials.

Telemedicine is one of the most innovative and promising applications of technology in contemporary medicine. Telemedical systems, a sort of distributed measurement systems, are used for continuous or periodic monitoring of human vital signals in the environment of living. This approach has several advantages in comparison to traditional medical care: e.g. patients experience fewer hospitalizations, emergency room visits, lost time from work, the costs of treatment are reduced, and the quality of life is improved. Currently, chronic respiratory diseases comprise one of the most serious public health problems. Simultaneously patients suffering from these diseases are well suitable for home monitoring. This paper describes the design and technical realization of a telemedical system that has been developed as a platform suitable for monitoring patients with chronic pulmonary diseases and fitted to Polish conditions. The paper focuses on the system's architecture, included medical tests, adopted hardware and software, and preliminary internal evaluation. The performed tests demonstrated good overall performance of the system. At present further work goes on to put it into practice.