Volume 76 (2021): Issue 3 (September 2021)

The paper discusses the problem of the effect of the water - flat-panel illuminator - air optical system on the size of an object photographed in an underwater environment as well as presents an analysis of the function describing the angular size of an object photographed with this type of system along with the results of computer simulations. It has been shown that when using this type of an optical system in practice, the value of the angle of incidence of the rays from the photographed object on the illuminator plane has the major influence on output object dimensions.

The article presents the development and scope of research work in the early period of interest in deep-sea technology in Poland in the 1980s. The research was carried out at the then Szczecin University of Technology and initially concerned studies of the level of world technology, followed by the construction of experimental unmanned underwater vehicles. The work culminated in the development of designs for manned deep-sea vehicles, the construction of which depended on commissions from the countries of the Eastern Bloc. Political and economic changes resulted in the abandonment of the continuation of work.

The knowledge of physiological reactions enabling a diver increasing the functional reserve in a life-threatening situation is not yet complete. It is suggested that the ability to adapt to prolonged stress experienced by divers maintaining an upright position on the water surface is associated with the diver’s individual characteristics and the type of the buoyancy control device. The purpose of this study was to perform a preliminary evaluation of physiological variables in divers wearing two different types of buoyancy control device and floating upright at the surface to determine the level of safety offered by each of them. The physiological variables were measured while participants wearing a classical dive vest and a wing dive vest. The oxygen uptake and heart rate measured after 30 minutes of experiment were significantly greater in participants using wing dive vest than classical dive vest. The results confirm the possibility of using physiological indicators to compare the fatigue and rescue function in divers depending on the buoyancy control device type.

As any other therapy method, hiperbaric oxygen therapy is connected with the risk of complications. The article is a review of the results of research on adverse events of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The most common are: borotrauma of the middle ear, paranasal sinuses or lungs, oxygen toxicity can be pulmonary, ocular in extreme cases leading to cataracts, claustrophobia, pulmonary edema or hypoglycaemia. Research has shown that these events occur in the presence of high oxygen concentration or high pressure. Depending on the severity of complications, they are short-term not causing discontinuation of therapy or long-term excluding continuation of treatment. However adverse events connected with oxygen therapy are not common and are usually mild. This confirms that HBOT is an effective and safe method of treating decompression sickness, carbon monoxide poisoning, and the treatment of chronic wounds, delayed radiation injuries or necrotic soft tissue infections.

Over the last several decades, a gradual decrease in the incidence of hepatitis A and an increase in the population of non-immune people, especially in the group of young people have been observed in Poland. The aim of this study was to assess of the presence of specific anti-hepatitis A virus IgG class antibodies (anti-HAV IgG) in relation to age among non-vaccinated hepatitis A patients. There were statistically significantly more patients up to 45 years of age with anti-HAV IgG negative results than those over 45 years of age, and the Fi-square correlation coefficient (Φ2) was 0.263 between the analyzed variables. The data analysis shows that the number of people with specific IgG antibodies against hepatitis A increases with age. The risk of hepatitis A infection in people under 45 is high due to widespread seronegativity in this age group.

Scientific diving (i.e. diving for research purposes organised by universities and research institutes) was excluded from the Act on the performance of underwater works in 2014. With the exception of the introduction of internal regulations at several academic institutions involved in underwater research, to date it remains unregulated at national level. In May this year, an initiative group consisting of six scientific institutions established the Polish Scientific Diving Committee - PKNN. Its aim is to unite Polish institutions using scientific diving in their activities, to represent their interests in the national and international arena, to co-operate and exchange experience, to adopt and develop appropriate standards and procedures, including those relating to safety, and to achieve the future introduction in Poland of regulations fully regulating scientific diving, as well as to support the development of this field of underwater research in Poland.