The present contribution to lichen−forming and lichenicolous biota of northern− most Billefjörden (Petuniabukta area, central Spitsbergen, Svalbard) contains 40 species of lichens. Four species: Arthonia ligniariella, Candelariella lutella, Ochrolechia upsaliensis, Polyblastia pernigrata are new for the Svalbard Archipelago.

Acoustic quality of a classroom is a term proposed to describe acoustic properties that contribute to a subjective impression received by a human, such as speech intelligibility, external noise, or vocal effort. It is especially important in classrooms, where suitable conditions should be provided to convey verbal content to students, taking into account their age. The article presents a method for assessing the acoustic quality of classrooms based on a single number global index and taking into account a number of factors affecting the outcome of the assessment. Partial indices are presented and their weights are proposed based on an analysis of factors determining whether a room meets applicable acoustic requirements. Results of the assessment of the acoustic quality carried out with the use of the developed method in selected classrooms are also presented.

The Small Hydro Power Plants allow to increase the energy amount from renewable sources, especially from small rivers in mountainous areas. This paper presents a new concept of a energy conversion system for application in a Small Hydropower Plant (SHP) which is based on a permanent magnet generator (PM generator) with a propeller turbine integrated with the generator rotor. The PM generator can work at a variable speed and therefore energy produced by the PM generator has to be converted by means of a power electronic unit to fit to the three-phase power grid parameters. For this concept, dimensions and parameters of the PM generator were specially designed on account of integration with water turbine. The paper precisely describes elements of energy conversion system and also presents the results of numerical tests for chosen working conditions. An original algorithm of control strategy for power electronic unit was used to adjust generated energy to the required parameters of the three-phase grid.

The paper deals with an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) facilitating voltage conversion in thermoelectric energy harvesters. The chip is intended to be used to boost up the voltage coming from a thermoelectric module to a level that is required by electronic circuits constituting wireless sensor nodes. The designed charge pump does not need any external parts for its proper operation because all the capacitors, switches and oscillator are integrated on the common silicon die. The topography of the main functional blocks and post-layout simulations of the designed integrated circuit are shown in the article.

On 24th March, 2017 Professor Józef Kozielecki passed away. He was a world renowned psychologist, a researcher into cognitive processes: thinking, problem solving, decision making. Professor Kozielecki was an author of the psychological theory of decision making, the theory of self-knowledge, and a founding father of the new direction in psychology, psychotransgressionism. An outstanding scholar, intellectual, theacher and a formative mentor for several generations of psychologists. He authored multiple important psychological monographs, for which he received national and international awards, for example, The Japanese Science Foundation award (1980) for his work on decision theory and The Jurzykowski Cultural Foundation award (1990) for his transgressive model of human beings. Professor Józef Kozielecki was a member of several prominent scientific societies such as the European Association of Experimental Social Psychology, the Society for Judgment and Decision making and the European Society for Cognitive Psychology. He was also an Ordinary Member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and in 2007 he received the honoris causa doctorate from the Catholic University of Lublin.