The study analysed a bisymmetric closely-spaced built-up member, pin-supported at both ends. Itwas bipolarly pre-stressed with a displacement (BPCSBM), and loaded with an axial compressive force. Maximum internal gap between the chords was assumed in the section, in which during the stability failure in a classic closely-spaced member, the largest lateral displacements between nodes would potentially occur. As regards the BPCSBM chosen for analysis, the issues of the buckling resistance in the presence of compressive axial load were solved using the energy method, in which the functional minimisation was performed in accordance with the Rayleigh–Ritz algorithm. The problem of BPCSBM stability was also solved using FEM. A spatial shell model was developed. The stability analysis was performed. The analysis resulted in obtaining the buckling load and the member buckling modes. A general conclusion was formulated based on the results obtained: bipolar pre-stressing leads to an increase in buckling resistance of closely-spaced members.

The Matmata region, located in the south of Gabès (Tunisia), experienced significant damage during the floods of the Beni zelten wadi on November 11, 2017. These floods, exacerbated by the steep slopes and underlying soil conditions, led to the occurrence of debris flows, posing a threat to road infrastructure. The generation of debris flows is closely linked to intense rainfall events that surpass the soil capacity to retain water. To gain insights into the behaviour of the soil samples, various characteristics were analysed, including texture, clay mineralogy, grain size distribution, and Atterberg limits. The results showed that the mean liquid limit values ranged from 38% to 62%, while the mean plasticity index of the materials in the landslide-prone areas varied from 18% to 27.9%. These findings indicate presence of clay formations and highlight a significance of the increased soil clay content as contributing factors to landslide development. The X-ray Diffraction analysis revealed that gypsum, quartz, phyllosilicate and calcite minerals were the most abundant minerals identified in the soil samples. This work shows the importance of clay mineral and geotechnical parameters of the soils in the occurrence of landslides and predicting debris flows occurrences in the Matmata region.

The establishment of the Research Network Lukasiewicz (RNL) is aimed at strengthening the research potential and knowledge transfer from research institutes to enterprises. The article presents the results of the research potential analysis of 38 research institutes that are to form the RNL, based on data on scientific publications in 2013–2016. The number of publications of RNL institutes was similar to the number of publications of TNO and VTT institutes but smaller than that of Fraunhofer institutes. The publications of RNL institutes had lower values of indicators of international collaboration and collaboration with business as well as lower values of citation indices. Co-authors of RNL publications were mainly affiliated with national scientific units, whereas co-authorship with Fraunhofer, TNO and VTT institutes was marginal. The article also outlines the limitations and challenges of the adopted research method and future research orientations in this area.

In 1999 tanker Erica, flying Maltese flag, sank in French exclusive economic zone, spilling 20 000 tones of oil into the sea and polluting 400 km of French shore. In 2008 French court held the defendants liable for reckless negligence in criminal proceedings, with appellate and cassation courts ruling in 2010 and 2012 respectively. The author discusses those judgments.

The courts have considered the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage (1992), the International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage (1971) and French Law No. 83‒583 of 5 July 1983. The rulings have met considerable criticism with respect to issues of French jurisdiction and channelling of liability. It was argued that criminal courts cannot give verdicts on civil liability for oil pollution damage.

The article also covers classification societies’ liability for certifying ship’s seaworthiness.

The paper presents a proposal of using additional statistical parameters such as: standard deviation, variance, maximum and minimum increases of the observed value that were determined during measurements of temperature fields created on the surface of the tested electrochemical capacitor. The measurements were carried out using thermographic methods in order to support assessment of the condition of electrochemical capacitor under classic durability tests based on methods of determination of capacity and equivalent series resistance. The possibility of using some statistical parameters in assessment of the electrochemical capacitor quality was illustrated. The applied measurement methodology and the results of research associated with the classic methods of supercapacitors’ assessment are presented. The obtained results indicate that the variability of some statistical parameters of temperature fields can be directly related to changing the values of standard parameters describing electrochemical capacitor, which are capacitance and equivalent series resistance.

The paper depicts some negative consequences of the attempts of history comprehension. In the light of the settlements of the contemporary psychology such attempts lead to the biases in historical cognition results.

Despite the ever-increasing computational power of modern processors, the reduction of complex multibody dynamic models remains an important topic of investigation, particularly for design optimization, sensitivity analysis, parameter identification, and controller tuning tasks, which can require hundreds or thousands of simulations. In this work, we first develop a high-fidelity model of a production sports utility vehicle in Adams/Car. Single-link equivalent kinematic quarter-car (SLEKQ, pronounced “sleek”) models for the front and rear suspensions are then developed in MapleSim. To avoid the computational complexity associated with introducing bushings or kinematic loops, all suspension linkages are lumped into a single unsprung mass at each corner of the vehicle. The SLEKQ models are designed to replicate the kinematic behaviour of a full suspension model using lookup tables or polynomial functions, which are obtained from the high-fidelity Adams model in this work. The predictive capability of each SLEKQ model relies on the use of appropriate parameters for the nonlinear spring and damper, which include the stiffness and damping contributions of the bushings, and the unsprung mass. Homotopy optimization is used to identify the parameters that minimize the difference between the responses of the Adams and MapleSim models. Finally, the SLEKQ models are assembled to construct a reduced 10-degree-of-freedom model of the full vehicle, the dynamic performance of which is validated against that of the high-fidelity Adams model using four-post heave and pitch tests.

In the article, basing on quotes from Polish fi lms made after 1990, author reconstructs a linguistic picture of Russia and Russians. In all analysed fi lms, regardless of their artistic value, picture of our eastern neighbours is mostly simplifi ed and stereotypised. We observe “secondary stereotypisation of stereotype”. These actions are taken to strengthen autostereotype of Poland and Pole, they are used in national psychotherapy.

The paper analyses Thomas S. Kuhn's theory of the development of science interpreted as a sociological conception. Kuhn's visions of dealing with history as well as eventual controversies connected with its application are discussed.

Until 1914 editors of Gazeta Gdańska were taken to court on thirty occasions and were sentenced to a total of RM 2,430 in fines and eight months and three weeks of imprisonment. Of the fifteen editors taken to court, Józef Konstanty Palędzki i Stanisław Wentowski came out with most convictions.