Apart from medical care, medical biological equipment or physical environment biggest impact on our health has our behaviours. According to the Functional Health Model (FMZ) H. Wrony-Polańskiej (2003), pro-health behavior is conditioned by the availability of cognitive and behavioral resources, among which the sense of coherence plays an important role. Aim of the study was assessment of dependence between the sense of coherence and health behaviors of studying students. The study involved 245 second and third year students studying in humanities and science. The study was used the M. Ziarko Health Behavior Questionnaire and the A. Antonovsky SOC-29 Life Guidance Questionnaire. Research analysis has confirmed that there is a statistically significant relationship between health behaviors and the sense of coherence and its components: comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness. On the basis of the research conducted and based on the Functional Health Model it can be concluded that an important practical direction is to develop from a young age in healthy children and adolescents a special emphasis on the development of this resource.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) – a kind of optical counterpart of ultrasound imaging – is continually being improved as image contrast boosting techniques are developed.

Optical low-coherence interferometry is one of the most rapidly advancing measurement techniques. This technique is capable of performing non-contact and non-destructive measurement and can be used not only to measure several quantities, such as temperature, pressure, refractive index, but also for investigation of inner structure of a broad range of technical materials. We present theoretical description of low-coherence interferometry and discuss its unique properties. We describe an OCT system developed in our Department for investigation of the structure of technical materials. In order to provide a better insight into the structure of investigated objects, our system was enhanced to include polarization state analysis capability. Measurement results of highly scattering materials e.g. PLZT ceramics and polymer composites are presented. Moreover, we present measurement setups for temperature, displacement and refractive index measurement using low coherence interferometry. Finally, some advanced detection setups, providing unique benefits, such as noise reduction or extended measurement range, are discussed.

Finite mixture and Markov-switching models generalize and, therefore, nest specifications featuring only one component. While specifying priors in the general (mixture) model and its special (single-component) case, it may be desirable to ensure that the prior assumptions introduced into both structures are compatible in the sense that the prior distribution in the nested model amounts to the conditional prior in the mixture model under relevant parametric restriction. The study provides the rudiments of setting compatible priors in Bayesian univariate finite mixture and Markov-switching models. Once some primary results are delivered, we derive specific conditions for compatibility in the case of three types of continuous priors commonly engaged in Bayesian modeling: the normal, inverse gamma, and gamma distributions. Further, we study the consequences of introducing additional constraints into the mixture model’s prior on the conditions. Finally, the methodology is illustrated through a discussion of setting compatible priors for Markov-switching AR(2) models.

In this paper, the results of correlations between air temperature and electricity demand by linear regression and Wavelet Coherence (WTC) approach for three different European countries are presented. The results show a very close relationship between air temperature and electricity demand for the selected power systems, however, the WTC approach presents interesting dynamics of correlations between air temperature and electricity demand at different time-frequency space and provide useful information for a more complete understanding of the related consumption.

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is one of the most rapidly advancing techniques. This method is capable of non-contact and non-destructive investigation of the inner structure of a broad range of materials. Compared with other methods which belong to the NDE/NDT group (Non-Destructive Evaluation/Non-Destructive Testing methods), OCT is capable of a broad range of scattering material structure visualization. Such a non-invasive and versatile method is very demanded by the industry. The authors applied the OCT method to examine the corrosion process in metal samples coated by polymer films. The main aim of the research was the evaluation of the anti-corrosion protective coatings using the OCT method. The tested samples were exposed to a harsh environment. The OCT measurements have been taken at different stages of the samples degradation. The research and tests results have been presented, as well as a brief discussion has been carried out.

Hydroxyapatite (HAp) has been attracting widespread interest in medical applications. In a form of coating, it enables to create a durable bond between an implant and surrounding bone tissues. With addition of silver nanoparticles HAp should also provide antibacterial activity. The aim of this research was to evaluate the composition of hydroxyapatite with silver nanoparticles in a non-destructive and non-contact way. For control measurements of HAp molecular composition and solvent evaporation efficiency the Raman spectroscopy has been chosen. In order to evaluate dispersion and concentration of the silver nanoparticles inside the hydroxyapatite matrix, the optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been used. Five samples were developed and examined ‒ a reference sample of pure HAp sol and four samples of HAp colloids with different silver nanoparticle solution volume ratios. The Raman spectra for each solution have been obtained and analyzed. Furthermore, a transverse-sectional visualization of every sample has been created and examined by means of OCT.

The computing performance optimization of the Short-Lag Spatial Coherence (SLSC) method applied to ultrasound data processing is presented. The method is based on the theory that signals from adjacent receivers are correlated, drawing on a simplified conclusion of the van Cittert-Zernike theorem. It has been proven that it can be successfully used in ultrasound data reconstruction with despeckling. Former works have shown that the SLSC method in its original form has two main drawbacks: time-consuming processing and low contrast in the area near the transceivers. In this study, we introduce a method that allows to overcome both of these drawbacks.

The presented approach removes the dependency on distance (the “lag” parameter value) between signals used to calculate correlations. The approach has been tested by comparing results obtained with the original SLSC algorithm on data acquired from tissue phantoms.

The modified method proposed here leads to constant complexity, thus execution time is independent of the lag parameter value, instead of the linear complexity. The presented approach increases computation speed over 10 times in comparison to the base SLSC algorithm for a typical lag parameter value. The approach also improves the output image quality in shallow areas and does not decrease quality in deeper areas.

We present spectral emission characteristics from laser-plasma EUV/SXR sources produced by irradiation of < 1 J energy laser pulse on eleven different double stream gas puff targets, with most intense electronic transitions identified in the spectral range from 1 nm to 70 nm wavelength which corresponds to photon energy from 18 eV to 1240 eV. The spectra were obtained using grazing incidence and transmission spectro- graphs from laser-produced plasma emission, formed by the interaction of a laser beam with a double stream gas puff target. Laser pulses with a duration of 4 ns and energy of 650 mJ were used for the experiment. We present the results obtained from three different spectrometers in the wavelength ranges of SXR (1–5.5 nm), SXR/EUV (4–15.5 nm), and EUV (10–70 nm). In this paper, detailed information about the source, gas targets under investigation, the experimental setup, spectral measurements and the results are presented and discussed. Such data may be useful for the identification of adequate spectral emissions from gasses in the EUV and SXR wavelength ranges dedicated to various experiments (i.e. broadband emission for the X-ray coherence tomography XCT) or may be used for verification of magnetohydrodynamic plasma codes.

In this paper methods and their examination results for automatic segmentation and parameterization of vessels based on spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) of the retina are presented. We present three strategies for morphologic image processing of a fundus image reconstructed from OCT scans. A specificity of initial image processing for fundus reconstruction is analysed. Then, the parameterization step is performed based on the vessels segmented with the proposed algorithm. The influence of various methods on the vessel segmentation and fully automatic vessel measurement is analysed. Experiments were carried out with a set of 3D OCT scans obtained from 24 eyes (12 healthy volunteers) with the use of an Avanti RTvue OCT device. The results of automatic vessel segmentation were numerically compared with those prepared manually by the medical doctor experts.

This paper presents signal processing aspects for automatic segmentation of retinal layers of the human eye. The paper draws attention to the problems that occur during the computer image processing of images obtained with the use of the Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (SD OCT). Accuracy of the retinal layer segmentation for a set of typical 3D scans with a rather low quality was shown. Some possible ways to improve quality of the final results are pointed out. The experimental studies were performed using the so-called B-scans obtained with the OCT Copernicus HR device.

1) Background: the modeling, characterization, transformation and propagation of high-power CW laser beams in optical (including fiberoptic) trains and in the atmosphere have become hot topics in laser science and engineering in the past few years. Single-mode output is mandatory for high-power CW laser applications in the military field. Moreover, an unstationary, dynamic operation regime is typical. Recognized devices and procedures for laser-beam diagnostics could not be directly applied because of dynamic behavior and untypical non-Gaussian profiles. 2) Methods: the Wigner transform approach was proposed to characterize dynamically variable high-power CW laser beams with significant deterministic aberrations. Wavefront-sensing measurements by means of the Shack-Hartmann method and decomposition into an orthogonal Zernike basis were applied. 3) Results: deterministic aberration as a result of unstationary thermal-optic effects depending on the averaged power of the laser output was found. Beam quality determined via the Wigner approach was changed in the same way as the measurements of the beam diameter in the far field. 4) Conclusions: such an aberration component seems to be the main factor causing degradation in beam quality and in brightness of high-power CW laser beams.

We describe a new method to separate ballistic from the scattered photons for optical tissue characterization. It is based on the hypothesis that the scattered photons acquire a phase delay. The photons passing through the sample without scattering or absorption preserve their coherence so they may participate in interference. We implement a Mach−Zehnder experimental setup where the ballistic photons pass through the sample with the delay caused uniquely by the sample indices of refraction. We incorporate a movable mirror on the piezoelectric actuator in the sample arm to detect the amplitude of the modulation term. We present the theory that predicts the path−integrated (or total) concentration of the scattering and absorption centres. The proposed technique may characterize samples with transmission attenuation of ballistic photons by a factor of 10^-14.

There are different meanings and functions of what is called a “general principle of law.” This article seeks to address their importance as the basis for the systemic integration of the international legal order. When international law is considered as a legal system, its normative unity and completeness seems essential. This article argues that general principles of law are a necessary, although less visible, element of international legal practice and reasoning, which secure the systemic integration and long-lasting underpinnings of international law. In this sense they may be seen as the gentle guardians of international law as a legal system.