This article systematizes the experience of conducting energy audits of production facilities and municipal establishments in the form of recommendations. The purpose of the analysis is to substantiate the criteria for an effective energy audit for thermal power stations. The object of the study is the formal and regulatory content of such criteria. The subject of the analysis (a prerequisite for objectification) is the systemic relationship of formal criteria with production efficiency. Based on the experience of energetic examinations, the general requirements for the subjects of the energy audit of thermal power stations are highlighted and the general approaches and the sequence of the analytical audit are recommended. It is generalized that the restoration and improvement of thermal power stations as elements of the Ukrainian energy system are cost-effectively provided that the relations between the customer and the energy auditor are transparent and open. From the perspective of energy management, the external on-site energy examination assesses the technical and economic performance of thermal power stations in a broad, comprehensive manner, identifying shortcomings and reserves, providing forecasting and determining the main areas of a thermal power station’s operation, and improving the plant’s reputation.

The paper discusses the issue of the utilization of selected raw materials obtained as by-products of rock mining and processing in the ceramic industry in Poland. The raw materials in question are: kaolinite-rich clayey substance remaining after quartz sand washing and alkalis-rich finest fractions generated in the course of the production of granite crushed aggregates. Despite usually high content of coloring oxides, they have been utilized for the production of ceramic goods, the high whiteness of which is not required after firing. High interest in these materials was connected with the implementation of the fast firing method as well as modernization and large scale expansion of the domestic ceramic industry, especially ceramic tiles and sanitaryware sectors. Between the mid-1990s and 2018, the annual consumption of kaolinite raw materials being by-products of quartz sand washing increased from ca. 20,000 to 100,000–120,000 Mg. At the same time the sales of secondary granite fractions utilized as a flux in the ceramic industry rose from 30,000 to 120,000 Mg per year in 2007–2008, and 50,000–70,000 Mg per year most recently. The development of the utilization of these raw materials has been an example of the rational and comprehensive management of all the minerals that occur in deposits in operation. This is particularly important in the context of the depletion of these raw materials reserves and the limited availability of their new deposits. Furthermore, this also makes a contribution towards reducing the scale of imports of raw materials for the ceramic tile industry, which is inevitable due to insufficient supplies from domestic sources.

The article describes the vegetation growing on settlings and washing tanks situated in the ,,Żabie Doły" area (Bytom). There were recognised 2 plant associations and 6 plant communities which belong to Artemisietea, Molinio-Arrhenatheretea, Calluno-Ulicetea classes. Among them dominate communities from Dauco-Melilotenion suballiance which are confined to dry, permeable soils with the initial soil-forming process (Melilotetum albo-officinalis, Dauco-Picridetum hieracioidis. Calamagrostis epigejos community, So/idago canadensis community). There were recorded also swards (Festuca ovina community) and meadows tDeschampsia caespitosa community, Agrostis capillaris community).

The aim of this study was to examine the pollution level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and selected chloroorganic pesticides (HCH isomers, DDT and its metabolites, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, endosulfan I and II, and methoxychlor) in surface sediments from selected fjords, tidal plains and lakes from the North Svalbard area. The sediments were collected from 34 sampling stations in July 2005. Only endosulfan I and methoxychlor, among selected chloroorganic pesticides, were measured in concentrations near detection limit (LoD) in fourteen sediment samples. The sum of seven PCB congeners varied from < 0.9 to 5.6 ng g-1 d.w. in sediments from fjords and tidal plains and from < 0.1 to 14.6 ng g-1 d.w. in sediments from lakes. The concentrations of analysed PAH compounds in surface sediments from lakes were over ten times higher (Ʃ16PAHs to 429 ng g-1 d.w.) than in sediments from fjords and tidal plains (Ʃ16PAHs to 36 ng g-1 d.w.).

Interpersonal interaction performance is significantly determined by group members’ personality traits. If a group lives in long-term isolation, the influence of personality traits on interpersonal interaction performance will be even stronger. The current study identified and examined the impact of the personality traits of the personnel living at the Ukrainian Antarctic Akademik Vernadsky station (N = 35) on their interpersonal interactions during long-term Antarctic expeditions. The results show that expeditioners’ personality traits significantly determined their interpersonal interactions. However, the influence of personality traits on different areas of interactions can vary significantly among different groups of expeditioners, even sometimes in diametrically opposite directions. The main reason for this is a formed microclimate specific to each group and corresponding group norms for formal and informal relations due to significant differences in personality traits that are characteristic of different groups’ participants. We determined that eleven indicators, out of a total of 23 examined personality traits, significantly differed among expeditioners from different groups (different expeditions). The study results can be used to enable better psychological selection of Antarctic expedition participants and to provide psychological support for these individuals.

The aim of this paper is to present an assessment of the slip influence on the deflection of the steel plate-concrete composite beams, which are a new type of a design concept. The proposed method is based on the procedure included in the PN-EN 1992-1-1, which has been modified with taking into consideration interface slip. The theoretical analysis was verified by experimental studies.

The third decade of the 21st century clearly reminded us of the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of the environment in which economies, organizations and individuals operate, bringing at least two serious economic crises. On the one hand, the COVID-19 pandemic brought an unprecedented shock of both demand and supply nature, thus materializing the risks associated with the system of international economic connections constructed over many decades. On the other hand, we are facing a global economic crisis caused by Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine. The aim of the article is to capture the impact of the above-mentioned phenomena on the economic situation in Poland from the internal and international perspective, with the global perspective also taken into account. As part of the internal perspective, the focus was on inflationary processes in the short and long term, taking into account their course and possible countermeasures. As part of the international perspective, attention was drawn to one of the most frequently discussed issues, which is making forecasts and assessments regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus. The second problem within this perspective, which affects both many European economies and developed economies around the world in a tanginble way, is Europe's dependence on Russia for access to energy resources and on China for production capacity. The third issue from the international perspective are the problems related to the reconstruction of the Ukrainian economy after the war and the development prospects of this economy, paying particular attention to the role that Polish enterprises can play in these processes. Finally, within the global perspective, attention was paid to two issues, namely the so-called economy of moderation and the future of globalization. It was assumed that moderation can be considered a synonym of global rationality and a guarantee of the long-term survival of civilization, and therefore also a special case of the so-called common good. With regard to globalization, understood as an advanced form of internationalization, the focus was on the opportunities and threats for the region of Central and Eastern Europe resulting from significant changes in international value chains in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.