In a series of recent papers we have shown how the continuum mechanics can be extended to nano-scale by supplementing the equations of elasticity for the bulk material with the generalised Young-Laplace equations of surface elasticity. This review paper begins with the generalised Young-Laplace equations. It then generalises the classical Eshelby formalism to nano-inhomogeneities; the Eshelby tensor now depends on the size of the inhomogeneity and the location of the material point in it. The generalized Eshelby formalism for nano-inhomogeneities is then used to calculate the strain fields in quantum dot (QD) structures. This is followed by generalisation of the micro-mechanical framework for determining the effective elastic properties of heterogeneous solids containing nano-inhomogeneities. It is shown that the elastic constants of nanochannel-array materials with a large surface area can be made to exceed those of the non-porous matrices through pore surface modification or coating. Finally, the scaling laws governing the properties of nano-structured materials are given.

The paper presents the results of measurements and predictions of radial thrust in centrifugal pump with specific speed n_s = 26. In the pump tested, a volute with rectangular cross-section was used. The tests were carried out for several rotational speeds, including speeds above and below the nominal one. Commercial code ANSYS Fluent was used for the calculations. Apart from the predictions of the radial force, the calculations of axial thrust were also conducted, and correlation between thrust and the radial force was found. In the range of the measured rotational speeds, similarity of radial forces was checked.

The author claims that Marx’s ideas have succeeded, the proletariat has been victorious in the class conflict but the victory is completely different from what Marx has expected. The vision of the proletariat state ended up in a total failure. The vestiges of Marx’s proposal testify to complete inapplicability of his main ideas to the circumstances of the contemporary world. The concept of a state managed by the proletariat class turned out to be defective. The ownership of the means of production has failed. The concept of private property defended itself and has even been strengthened. And where a public ownership won the upper hand, as in State Treasury, it turned out to be institutional and not collective. Moreover, the state interferes more and more vigorously in private businesses and their activities. On the other hand, however, the proletariat succeeded in the area of employment law where it won some durable legal guarantees. Thus Marx correctly perceived certain needs of the proletariat but proposed inapt solutions to them.

The article provides a general overview of environmental protection and conservation practice in the Antarctic Treaty area, with special reference to the stipulations of the 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection and its Annexes.

Freedom of research is one of the fundamental principles upon which the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) was founded. Its scope is defined by the limitations imposed by relevant legal rules. They provide among other for prohibition of scientific investigation of military character and declare that no activities — including research — shall constitute a basis for territorial claims in Antarctica. Of particular importance are limitation;' imposed on freedom of research for the benefit of environmental protection. But, contrary to some views, most scholars consider that the freedom of research and the protection of the environment and ecosystems in Antarctica are equally important principles central to the whole ATS. They are inter-dependent and neither one should be attributed priority over the other. In the best interest of science, Antarctic research needs to be controlled to the necessary minimum of environmental impact and risk.

This paper presents the results of Pilot Assisting Module research performed on two light aircraft flight simulators developed in parallel at Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic, and Rzeszow University of Technology, Poland. The first simulator was designed as an open platform for the verification and validation of the advanced pilot/aircraft interface systems and inherited its appearance from the cockpit section of the Evektor SportStar. The second flight simulator, the XM-15, has been built around the cockpit of a unique agriculture jet Belfegor. It introduced a system architecture that supports scientific simulations of various aircraft types and configurations, making it suitable for conceptual testing of Pilot Assisting Module. The XM-15 was initially designed to support research on advanced flight control systems, but due to its continuing modernization it evolved into a hardware-in-the-loop test-bed for electromechanical actuators and autopilot CAN based controller blocks. Pilot-in-the-loop experiments of proposed Pilot Assisting Module revealed favorable operational scenarios, under which the proposed system reduces the cockpit workload during single pilot operations.

This commentary on the Court of Justice’s ruling in the Pawlak case concentrates on questions of the judicial application of EU law, in particular EU Directives. On the basis of the recent jurisprudence of the Court the authors present three issues: 1) the incidental effects of EU law for the procedural provisions of Member States; 2) the inability to rely on an EU directive by a member state’s authority in order to exclude the application of national provisions which are contrary to a directive; 3) the limits of the duty to interpret national law in conformity with EU law from the perspective of the Court of Justice and the referring court. Further, the article presents the judicial practice of the Polish Supreme Court, and in particular the follow-up decision of this Court not only taking into the account the ruling of the ECJ but also showing how the limitation of a conforming interpretation can be overcome in order to give full effect to EU law. In the authors’ view, this case is worth noting as an example of judicial dialogue in the EU.

In contrast to Antarctica, the Arctic was for a long time deprived of an adequate system of multilateral international scientific cooperation. That gap was filled in 1990 by the foundation of a non-governmental International Arctic Science Committee (IASC). In this article, the origin, structure, operation and perspectives of that Committee are presented.

Ice constitutes physically, but not legally, a separate element of polar regions, alongside with land, water and air. Lack of clear legal regulations in this respect compells the practitioners to apply often inadequate analogies. The specific status of polar permanent and floating ice calls for urgent and comprehensive legal regulation under general international law, the law of the sea and the law of polar regions, on the ground of the principle of Arctic sectors in the Northern Hemisphere and the Antarctic Treaty System in the Southern Hemisphere, with reference to the relatively rich legal doctrine, discussed in detail below.

Polar stations became subject of keen interest of law-makers as the most effective manifestation of human activities in Antarctica. Legal procedures governing the establishment and regulations on operation and decommission of Antarctic stations are presented in this paper.

Given the whole spectrum of doubts and controversies that arise in discussions about laws affecting historical memory (and their subcategory of memory laws), the question of assessing them in the context of international standards of human rights protection – and in particular the European system of human rights protection – is often overlooked. Thus this article focuses on the implications and conditions for introducing memory laws in light of international human rights standards using selected examples of various types of recently-adopted Polish memory laws as case studies. The authors begin with a brief description of the phenomenon of memory laws and the most significant threats that they pose to the protection of international human rights standards. The following sections analyse selected Polish laws affecting historical memory vis-à-vis these standards. The analysis covers non-binding declaratory laws affecting historical memory, and acts that include criminal law sanctions. The article attempts to sketch the circumstances linking laws affecting historical memory with the human rights protection standards, including those entailed both in binding treaties and other instruments of international law.

The aim of this article is to identify the role, that special residential law issued by the municipal executive authorities plays in the metropolises development. The article presents key urban and legal barriers related to the functioning of the spacial management system. The article ends with recommendations for further actions related to repair local spatial policy.

This article contributes to the growing literature on Art. 7 TEU by showcasing the strong and weak points of this provision in the context of the on-going rule of law backsliding in Hungary and Poland – backsliding which threatens the very fabric of EU constitutionalism. The article presents the general context of the EU’s institutional reactions to the so-called “reforms” in Poland and Hungary, which are aimed at hijacking the state machinery by the political parties in charge. Next it introduces the background of Art. 7 TEU and the hopes the provision was endowed with by its drafters before moving on to analysis of its scope and all the mechanisms made available through this instrument, including the key procedural rules governing their use. The author posits that it may be necessary to put our hopes in alternative instruments and policies to combat the current rule of law backsliding, and the article concludes by outlining three possible scenarios to reverse the backsliding, none of which are (necessarily) connected with Art. 7 as such.

This article aims to present the issues related to the legal framework for conducting economic activity in the form of marine aquaculture, consisting of farming marine organisms. The work analyses mainly selected the regulations of international law because it is these regulations that shape the rights and obligations of states, producers, farmers and society in the field of ocean farming, as well as in the context of marine resources, which are undoubtedly a common good for all mankind. The author also discusses the legal status of maritime areas in which aquaculture is cultivated.