Benedict XVI, as the Supreme Shepherd of the Church and the head of the Vatican state (Vatican City), maintained contacts with representatives of the authorities of Muslim countries or those dominated by Islamic culture. He supported and built good relations between representatives of different religions, including Islam, through openness and honesty in the interreligious dialogue and bearing witness to the essential values of Christianity and Islam – justice and peace. In the article, we indicated the essence, purpose and challenges of interreligious dialogue, especially dialogue with Islam. People and environments involved in its conduct should be guided by the idea of searching for the true good of man and society. At the same time, it is important to remain faithful to one’s own religious identity, especially on the doctrinal level. Dialogue, in fact, should aim, first of all, at seeking the truth and bearing witness to it. This will only be possible if you respect your own faith and show respect for the identity of the followers of Islam. In the dialogue with Islam, the most important is Almighty God, who must be given his rightful place. For faith in one God obliges His believers to be responsible for peace. Benedict XVI’s theory of dialogue found confirmation in the papal meetings, either with the “world of Islam” or with various bodies (ecclesiastical, political, people involved in the so-called dialogue of specialists). For Benedict XVI, the most important criterion for dialogue was fidelity to Christian identity.

This paper discusses the essence of marriage in the world’s major religions (Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, religions of primitive peoples) and presents the customs and forms of concluding marriage as well as the ethics of marital cohabitation. The paper goes on to analyse selected statements by the teaching offce of the Church on the subject of marriage and family in various religions. The question of „mixed” or interreligious marriage is analysed from the perspective of religious rules, law and interreligious dialogue. Attention is drawn to the pastoral care shown by the Catholic Church to mixed marriages and families. This care is a manifestation of interreligious dialogue. Each religion has its own unique understanding of the institution of marriage and family. A mixed marriage brings together two different views of this institution: these views are mutually exclusive in some aspects and coincident in other aspects. Marriage and family undoubtedly constitute the foundation of societies representing various cultures and religions. The religious views on marriage exert an indisputable impact on the moral and social order of individual groups, communities and societies.

The aim of research was the elaboration of the synthesis of new organic monomer applicable in gelcasting. The substance named 3,4-di-acryloyl-D-mannitol which contains two acryloyl groups and four hydroxyl groups in its molecule has been synthesized. The monomer has been then applied in the preparation of Al2O3-ZrO2 composites by gelcasting and subsequent sintering. Rheological properties of ceramic suspensions have been examined, as well as the properties of green and sintered bodies. SEM observations allowed to determine the distribution of zirconia grains in alumina matrix. Density, Vickers hardness and fracture toughness of ZTA composites have been measured. The new monomer, that is diacryloyl derivative of mannitol, is less sensitive to the oxygen inhibition than commonly used in gelcasting and commercially available 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate.

This paper deals with an issue of a rotational motion impact on a construction and presents civil engineering applications of a fiber optic rotational seismograph named Fiber-Optic System for Rotational Events & Phenomena Monitoring. It has been designed for a long- term building monitoring and structural rotations’ recording. It is based on the Sagnac effect which enables to detect one-axis rotational motion in a direct way and without any reference system. It enables to detect a rotation component in the wide range of a signal amplitude from 10-8 rad/s to 10 rad/s, as well as a frequency from DC to 1000 Hz. Data presented in this paper show the behavior of a reinforced concrete frame construction on different floors. Several measurements were carried out by placing the applied sensor on different floor levels of a building. The laboratory and in-situ measurements confirmed that Fiber-Optic System for Rotational Events & Phenomena Monitoring is an accurate and suitable device for applications in civil engineering.

The main objective of this work is to characterize the performance of an interferometric fibre sensor which has been designed in order to register rotational phenomena, both in seismological observatories and engineering constructions. It is based on a well-known Sagnac effect which enables to detect one-axis rotational motions in a direct way and without any reference system. The presented optical fibre sensor – FOSREM allows to measure a component of rotation in a wide range of signal amplitude form 10^–8 rad/s to 10 rad/s, as well as frequency from 0 Hz to the upper frequency from 2.56 Hz to 328.12 Hz. The laboratory investigation of our system indicated that it keeps theoretical sensitivity equal to 2·10^–8 rad/s/Hz1/2 and accuracy no less than 3·1^–8 to 1.6·10^–6 rad/s in the above mentioned frequency band. Moreover, system size that equals 0.36×0.36×0.16 m and opportunity to remotely control the system via Internet by special server make FOSREM a mobile and autonomous device.

Rotational seismology is one of the fastest developing fields of science nowadays with strongly recognized significance. Capability of monitoring rotational ground motions represents a crucial aspect of improving civil safety and efficiency of seismological data gathering. The correct sensing network selection is very important for reliable data acquisition. This paper presents initial data obtained during the international research study which has involved more than 40 various rotational sensors collected in one place. The key novelty of this experiment was the possibility to compare data gathered by completely different rotational sensors during artificially generated ground vibrations. Authors collected data by four interferometric optical fiber sensors, Fiber-Optic System for Rotational Events & Phenomena Monitoring (FOSREM), which are mobile rotational seismographs with a wide measuring range from 10-7 rad/s up to even few rad/s, sensitive only to the rotational component of the ground movement. Presented experimental results show that FOSREMs are competitive in rotational events recording compared with the state-of-the-art rotational sensors but their operation still should be improved.

The main goal of the article is to present the concept of using a simulation environment when designing an advanced fibre-optic seismometer (FOS) using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) computing system. The first part of the article presents the advanced requirements regarding the FOS principle of operation, as well as the measurement method using a closed-loop operation. The closed-loop control algorithm is developed using the high-level language C++ and then it is synthesised into an FPGA. The following part of the article describes the simulation environment developed to test the operation of the control algorithm. The environment includes a model of components of the measurement system, delays, and distortions in the signal processing path, and some of the measurement system surroundings. The article ends with a comparison of simulation data with measurements. The obtained results are consistent and prove correctness of the methodology adopted by the authors.