Currently, there is a tendency for new forms of carrier-drug systems to appear with prolonged and controlled release. However, in order to design medical or pharmaceutical devices, which have to be characterized by high quality and the assumed parameters in real conditions, it is necessary to analyze this process based on in vitro release (IVR) testing methods. For this purpose, extracorporeal studies are carried out, which enable the determination of the release profiles of active substances using a simulated tissue-like environment. Here, we focused on the release tests of poorly water-soluble compounds (salicylic acid and fluocinolone acetonide) from the dual drug delivery system using the flow-through cell method (USP4). Additionally, bio-hybrid hydrogel matrix containing the system of thermosensitive nanocarrier with salicylic acid and fluocinolone acetonide was subjected to the following investigations: physicochemical (swelling ability, gel fraction), morphological (SEM analysis) and structural using FT-IR spectroscopy. On the basis of results, we can conclude that the USP4 method may be suitable, especially for the release tests of poorly water-soluble components introduced into modern forms of drug administration, such as polymeric matrices, hydrogels, nano- and microcarriers as well as hybrid systems.

Real objects in horizontal projection often have a complex geometry. Their irregular shape causes issues during analyses and calculations that consider their geometry. The paper proposes the replacement of real-world objects with equivalent rectangles (ER). The paper also defines the geometric criteria of ER as well as ER parameters and methods for calculating them. The paper also demonstrates the difference in the duration of calculations for different types of rectangles (equivalent rectangle with the same area, surrounding rectangle with the smallest area, inscribed rectangle with the largest area). The presented approach has been illustrated with three case studies. The first one is the application of ER to underground mining cavities to determine post-mining deformations of the ground surface. In the second study, an ER was applied to analyse the geometry of agricultural parcels in a selected part of a rural settlement. ER can help assess whether the spatial layout is faulty and if a planning intervention is necessary. The third example describes a building’s geometry with an ER. Regarding the simplification of building’s geometry, it is crucial to replace a simplified building with a model that has the same centroid location and the same area. It is the perfect solution for rapid analyses of displaying objects on maps in various scales.

Based on the analysis of the geological context and palynological studies performed on lake and bog sediments in the Southern Podlasie Lowland, a new concept of the maximum extent of the Odranian Glaciation (Saalian, MIS 6) is presented for the study area. It is depicted by the Siedlce−Łosice−Kornica zone of end moraines, which so far was considered as stadial-rank or as the Wartanian ice sheet limit. To the south of this zone, near Biała Podlaska and in the Łuków Plain, there occur numerous sites with fossil deposits of the Mazovian Interglacial (MIS 11c). Sites with new documentation, i.e., Wólka Domaszewska, Kolonia Bystrzycka, Przytulin, Hermanów, and Skrzynka are located about 30 km to the south and 60 km to the west of the Biała Podlaska area. Palynological analysis unequivocally indicates the presence of a vegetation succession characteristic of the Mazovian Interglacial. In all sites, deposits of the Mazovian Interglacial are covered by lacustrine sediments of the Liviecian Glaciation (Fuhne, MIS 11b-MIS 10) or mineral sediments of the Vistulian Glaciation (Weichselian, MIS 2) and the Holocene. The sediments infill paleolakes carved in glacial tills of the Sanian 2 Glaciation (MIS 12). The lake sediments of the Mazovian Interglacial and the overlying biogenic and mineral deposits occur in the analysed sites directly below the surface. They are never covered by glacial deposits, which suggests that the Odranian ice sheet did not cover the study area. The location of the lake and bog sites with their geological analysis allow for the precise depiction of the eastern limit of the Odranian ice sheet lobe, which in the study area correlates with the limit suggested in the late 19th century. The Odranian ice sheet did not cover Southern Podlasie.