The study involved experimental work implemented from April 2014 until March 2017. Its purpose was to observe grape production quality parameters, such as yield, water productivity, berry size and bio-mass. Different irrigation methods, such as drip irrigation (DI), drip irrigation with plastic mulching (DIPM), drip irrigation with organic mulching (DIOM), subsur-face irrigation with stone column (SISC), subsurface irrigation with mud pot (SIMP), and subsurface irrigation with plastic bottles (SIPB) have been used during the experimental work. The crop has been irrigated following the CROPWAT-8.0 model developed by the FAO. Climate parameters are obtained from the automatic weather station located near the experi-mental field. Based on experimental results and analyses, it has been observed that the drip irrigation with the plastic mulching method is the best for irrigation in terms of the grape yield comparing with all other methods due to its highest productivity of 35–40%. Subsurface irrigation with the plastic bottle method is found to be suitable as it gives 20% higher yield than the traditional drip irrigation method. The SIPB method shows the cost-benefit ratio of 112.3, whereas the DIPM method had the ratio of 36.6. Based on the cost-benefit analysis, it is concluded that the SIPB method is economically more viable as compared with all other methods. Hence, based on the findings, it is recommended to use drip irrigation with a plastic mulch-ing and drip irrigation with a plastic bottle as the best options to achieve grape productivity while using minimum water.

Total Artificial Hearts (TAHs) are required for the therapy of terminal heart diseases as heart transplants are only a limited option due to the available number of donor hearts. For implantation TAHs have to meet constraints regarding its dimensions, weight, perfusions and electrical losses. An innovative linear driven TAH is presented, which meets all constraints except weight. Therefore the geometry of the linear drive is optimised to reduce its weights while simultaneously limiting the electrical losses as much as possible. In order to calculate the losses, this paper introduced a combined calculation chain consisting of FEM simulations and analytical equations. Based on this chain the linear drive is optmised by the method of parameter variations. The results yield a hierachic order of parameters which are most suitable for the weight reduction of the drive for low losses. By this the weight of the linear drive is reduced by 25%. As the allowable loss limit is not exceeded yet, room for further weight reduction achieved by an optimisation of the axial geomtry parameters is given.

The study presented research on the possibility of using acoustic emission to detect and analyze the development of the alkali-silica reaction (ASR) in cement mortars. The experiment was conducted under laboratory conditions using mortars with reactive opal aggregate, accelerating the reaction by ensuring high humidity and temperature, in accordance with ASTM C227. The progress of corrosion processes was monitored continuously for 14 days. The tests were complemented with measurements of the expansion of the mortars and observations of microstructures under a scanning electron microscope. The high sensitivity of the acoustic emission method applied to material fracture caused by ASR enabled the detection of corrosion processes already on the first day of the test, much sooner than the first recorded changes in linear elongation of the specimens. Characteristic signal descriptors were analyzed to determine the progress of corrosion processes and indicate the source of the cracks. Analysis of recorded 13 AE parameters (counts total, counts to peak, duration, rise time, energy, signal strength, amplitude, RMS, ASL, relative energy, average frequency, initial frequency and reverberation frequency) indicates that the number of counts, signal strength and average frequency provide most information about the deleterious processes that occur in the reactive aggregate mortars. The values of RA (rise time/amplitude) and AF (average frequency) enabled the classification of detected signals as indicating tensile or shear cracks. The acoustic emission method was found suitable for monitoring the course of alkali-aggregate reaction effects.

W artykule przedstawiono projekt i realizację górskiej kolei napowietrznej Ivigna w Merano we Włoszech, autorstwa włoskiego architekta Rolanda Baldiego. Pudełkowa forma odważnie i pewnie została wprowadzona w otoczenie gór, jako celowe odcięcie się od standardów nawiązania do genius loci naturalnego krajobrazu. Przedstawiona twórczość prezentuje awangardowe, nowatorskie i rzetelne podejście do kompozycji architektury w kontekście krajobrazu górskiego. Pomimo surowości kształtu odczuwa się tutaj rodzaj wyrafinowanego rytmu architektonicznego i lekkości kreowania obiektu wpisanego w otwartą przestrzeń. Istotne jest poszukiwanie nowych form i technologii dla potrzeb powiązania z naturą oraz kulturą, m.in. w celu kształtowania ciekawej architektury modernizmu, wkraczającej w XXI w.