In years 1998-2000 the pot experiment was carried out. The aim of this investigation was to determine the influence of brown coal, waste activated sludge, their mixtures and farmyard manure on the content of Cr and Ni in soil material and in the dry mass of Lolium multiflorum Krato variety. The pots were filled with loamy sand as soil material, brown coal which had low energetic value from Sieniawa and Konin mines. waste activated sludges were taken from mechanical-biological sewage purification plants located at Siedlce, Luków and Drosed (poultry processing plant) and mixed farmyard manure. In each year of experiment four cuts were harvested. The total content of Cr and Ni in soil materials and in dry mass of grass after dry combustion of samples was determinate by !CP-AES method on spectrometer Optima 3200 RL manufactured by Perkins-Elmer. The highest content of Cr and Ni was determinate in soil materials from objects fertilized with waste activated sludge from Siedlce. The average content of Cr in dry mass of grass reached 5.15 mg/kg and Ni 3.05 mg/kg.

The author challenges the views opposing ratification by Poland of United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea (The Rotterdam Rules 2008). The ratification neither collides with the Vienna Convention on the Law o f the Treaties (VCLT1969) not it would put Poland at risk o f a dispute with states parties to Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage o f Goods by Road (CMR 1956). The Rotterdam Rules were drafted as part of the UN international legal system and have been scrutinized by the UN legal advisors. The Rotterdam Ruled do not affect the scope of application of CMR or any other convention on carriage of goods. Poland is yet to decide whether to ratify the Rotterdam Rules.

In the four-year experiment the impact of four different barley varieties and selected two-and three-component mixtures were tested. The studies were carried out at two sites: Experimental Station for Variety Testing Słupia Wlk. (Wielkopolska region) and Plant Breeding Station Bąków (Opole District) during four growing seasons (2001/2002–2004/2005). The aim of the studies was to evaluate the yield through growing barley variety mixtures in combination with reduced use of fungicide and application dose rates. Positive effects (1–15% yield increase in mixtures compared to pure stands) were observed. On the base of obtained results it can be stated that winter barley variety mixtures can constitute an alternative way of growing winter barley, especially at low-input and ecological agriculture.

The paper describes high output induction motors driving large applications of heavy starting conditions. Heavy start is characterised by long accelerating time and occures in drives of hudge inertia torque, esspecially when performed at full load. The reliable operation of the motors depends on proper design and quality of rotor's cage. The aspects of thermal behaviour and electrodynamic forces have to be considered during the design of the motor for hard working conditions. In the paper the rotor with idle bars is investigated.

Determining the boundary conditions of heat transfer in steel manufacturing is a very important issue. The heat transfer effect during contact of two solid bodies occurs in the continuous casting steel process. The temperature fields of solids taking part in heat transfer are described by the Fourier equation. The boundary conditions of heat transfer must be determined to get an accurate solution to the heat conduction equation. The heat flux between the tool and the object processed depends mainly on temperature, pressure and time. It is very difficult and complicated to accomplish direct identification and determination of the boundary conditions in this process. The solution to this problem may be the construction of a process model, performing measurements at a test stand, and using numerical methods. The proposed model must be verified on the basis of parameters which can easily be measured in industrial processes. One of them is temperature, which may be used in inverse methods to determine the heat transfer coefficient. This work presents the methodology for determining the heat flux between two solid bodies staying in contact. It consists of two stages – the experiment and the numerical computation. The problem was solved by using the finite element method (FEM) and a numerical program developed at AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow. The findings of the conducted research are relationships describing the value of the heat flux versus the contact time and surface temperature.