A method of creating production schedules regarding production lines with parallel machines is presented. The production line setup provides for intermediate buffers located between individual stages. The method mostly concerns situations when part of the production machines is unavailable for performance of operations and it becomes necessary to modify the original schedule, the consequence of which is the need to build a new schedule. The cost criterion was taken into account, as the schedule is created with the lowest possible costs regarding untimely completion of products (e.g. fines for delayed product completion). The proposed method is relaxing heuristics, thanks to which scheduling is performed in a relatively short time. This was confirmed by the presented results of computational experiments. These experiments were carried out for the rescheduling of machine parts production.

For a long period of time, EU policy regarding petroleum pollution was based on supporting projects undertaken on the international forum and to encourage member states to ratify conventions put forward by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The catastrophe of the tanker Erika, which was sailing under the Maltese flag, indicated that these measures were insufficient. On March 21, 2000, the European Commission introduced a set of legal proposals that was known commonly as the ERIKA I packet. These regulations came into force in June 2003. The European Commission introduced the ERIKA II packet in December 2000, but it met with only partial approval from member states. In accordance with earlier announcements, the ERIKA III packet was introduced on November 23, 2005. This is the subsequent step in creating “a defense mechanism to defend Europe from accidents at sea and from environmental pollution". None of seven proposals has yet to be accepted. The three ERIKA packages comprise a multifaceted response from the EU regarding the growing threat of petroleum pollution.

On the centenary of the birth of St. John Paul II, this article reflects on his legacy for moral theology by examining the enduring relevance of his 1993 Encyclical Veritatis Splendor. Against what some authors call the new morality, this papal document holds up the classical notion of morality as a realm in which we encounter the absolute, to the point that one may even be called upon to lay down one’s life in martyrdom. As a figure of classical morality, the essay presents Antigone, who risked her life to honor her dead brother’s body. A different woman serves as a figure of the new morality: Mrs. Bergmeier, who is praised by some of the proponents of this approach for having committed “sacrificial” adultery in order to be reunited with her family. Examining the differences between these two accounts, the paper recalls the classical distinction between choice and intention. It is argued that the new morality has forgotten about the moment of choice, subsuming it entirely under the intention. In its teaching on the moral object and intrinsically evil acts, Veritatis Splendor defends the basic moral experience that we have a choice and that our choices matter.