The explosive rise of wireless services necessitates a network connection with high bandwidth, high performance, low mistakes, and adequate channel capacity. Individual mobile users, as well as residential and business clusters are increasingly using the internet and multimedia services, resulting in massive increases in the internet traffic demand. Over the past decade, internet traffic has grown significantly faster than Moore’s law predicted. The current system is facing significant radio frequency spectrum congestion and is unable to successfully transmit growing amounts of (available) data to end users while keeping acceptable delay values in mind. Free space optics is a viable alternative to the current radio frequency technology. This technology has a few advantages, including fast data speeds, unrestricted bandwidth, and excellent security. Since free space optics is invisible to traffic type and data protocol, it may be quickly reliably and profitably integrated into an existing access network. Despite the undeniable benefits of free space optics technology under excellent channel conditions and its wide range of applications, its broad use is hampered by its low link dependability, especially over long distances, caused by atmospheric turbulence-induced decay and weather sensitivity. The best plausible solution is to establish a secondary channel link in the GHz frequency range that works in tandem with the primary free space optics link. A hybrid system that combines free space optics and millimeter wave technologies in this research is presented. The combined system offers a definitive backhaul maintenance, by drastically improving the link range and service availability.

Contemporary approaches to Poland’s Western and Northern Territories revolve around the concept of “postmigration communities”, or more broadly —“postmigration”, understood as a significant feature (or set of features) of community and social phenomena. These terms are present not only in academic discourse, but also in discussions on local identity. They are also an essential element of their symbolic status. Based on field research in the Głowczyce commune in Pomerania, the author tackles the issue of inhabitants’ attitudes towards breaking the historical and cultural continuity and the formation of the community from scratch, as well as the role of postmigration in shaping the symbolic status of the place. The article shows the capacity of the term “postmigration”. In residents’ statements, postmigration appears unnamed, as a problem, a challenge, and an asset. Attitudes towards postmigration reveal diverse attempts to cope with the break in historical and cultural continuity, which turns out to still be a significant element of identity processes taking place in the community in question.

Dynamics of Changes in the Resources of Communal Flats of the Communes of Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship. The aim of this article is to show the dynamics of changes in the communal housing stock of the communes of Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship and the assessment of the changes. For the purposes of this objective, all the communes of Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship (N = 116) were analyzed, taking into account their division into urban, rural and urban-rural communities. Data taken for analysis come from the Local Data Bank of the Central Statistical Office and cover the years 2009, 2013 and 2015. In order to show changes in the communal housing stock of the Warmia and Mazury Region, seven indicators were described and the figures were presented on the maps. The obtained results allowed us to conclude that the changes taking place in the communal housing stock of the communes of Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship are small. These changes, despite their small scale, are negative. The density of municipal housing stock is decreasing, and hence their availability, and existing resources are not repaired. The worst situation occurs in rural communities, the best in urban-rural communities.

The paper presents the results of a study of cyanobacteria and green algae assemblages occurring in various tundra types determined on the basis of mosses and vascular plants and habitat conditions. The research was carried out during summer in the years 2009–2013 on the north sea−coast of Hornsund fjord (West Spitsbergen, Svalbard Archipelago). 58 sites were studied in various tundra types differing in composition of vascular plants, mosses and in trophy and humidity. 141 cyanobacteria and green algae were noted in the research area in total. Cyanobacteria and green algae flora is a significant element of many tundra types and sometimes even dominate there. Despite its importance, it has not been hitherto taken into account in the description and classification of tundra. The aim of the present study was to demonstrate the legitimacy of using phycoflora in supplementing the descriptions of hitherto described tundra and distinguishing new tundra types. Numeric hierarchical−accumulative classification (MVSP 3.1 software) methods were used to analyze the cyanobacterial and algal assemblages and their co−relations with particular tundra types. The analysis determined dominant and distinctive species in the communities in concordance with ecologically diverse types of tundra. The results show the importance of these organisms in the composition of the vegetation of tundra types and their role in the ecosystems of this part of the Arctic.

According to UNESCO, in 2015, the sculpture as the artistic medium was third among financed public residency art programmes. Contemporary public art and cultural programmes across Europe were focused on finding a balance between cultural identity and cultural diversity among the communities. Therefore, aesthetics and function became a significant issue related to the exploration of participatory design on public sculpture. In this paper, an adopted model of Kurt Lewin’s force field analysis was used to explore the function of sculpture in the public space. The aim was to further evaluate inclusive design to answer the question: Does contemporary sculpture in the public space evoke a certain kind of group dynamic process?

This report describes the community involved in technology, organisation, and economics of theconstruction industry. The community includes mainly academics gathered around KILiW PAN, the Polish Academy of Sciences Section for Civil Engineering Projects. The results have been obtainedbased on the survey conducted in the period of 2007–2010. Some financial issues are presentedhere which influence the scope of the research underway and the didactic process. Some of theissues presented here comprise the subject matters of research, postgraduate studies, academicdegrees, as well as publications and international cooperation. Conclusions were presented in theform of suggestions in the field of research and teaching.

The Bulletin of the Polish Academy of Sciences: Technical Sciences (Bull.Pol. Ac.: Tech.) is published bimonthly by the Division IV Engineering Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences, since the beginning of the existence of the PAS in 1952. The journal is peer‐reviewed and is published both in printed and electronic form. It is established for the publication of original high quality papers from multidisciplinary Engineering sciences with the following topics preferred: Artificial and Computational Intelligence, Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology, Civil Engineering, Control, Informatics and Robotics, Electronics, Telecommunication and Optoelectronics, Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, Thermodynamics, Material Science and Nanotechnology, Power Systems and Power Electronics.

Journal Metrics: JCR Impact Factor 2018: 1.361, 5 Year Impact Factor: 1.323, SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) 2017: 0.319, Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) 2017: 1.005, CiteScore 2017: 1.27, The Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education 2017: 25 points.

Abbreviations/Acronym: Journal citation: Bull. Pol. Ac.: Tech., ISO: Bull. Pol. Acad. Sci.-Tech. Sci., JCR Abbrev: B POL ACAD SCI-TECH Acronym in the Editorial System: BPASTS.

Family engagement favorably influences student achievement, yet information addressing how schools and communities can effectively partner with diverse families remains lacking. This paper examines two examples that are illustrative of the some of “best” examples of parent engagement; yet they are still problematic. Using the theoretical frameworks of liberalism and postcolonial theory, this paper critiques these cases and specifically the concepts of capacity building, agency, and empowerment as they relate to urban parents’ school engagement. A critical examination of these cases yields the following conclusion and implication for researchers and practitioners alike: what might change and how might these “best” examples of parent engagement be less harmful if rather than perceiving parents as having a deficit and needing knowledge, principals, school administrators, teachers, and parents themselves capitalized on the strengths and knowledge parents already possess about their children and their communities rather than feeling obliged to dispel information and craf tparent engagement as it has traditionally been constructed and exemplified in these programs?

The paper presents the concept of vital cities in the context of mechanisms of sustainable development, networking and creativity. The vital city was presented as:

- a city belonging to the inhabitants – a city managed and developed with advanced processes of participation,

- a city of reasonable management – a city that uses and at the same time protects its key potentials,

- a city of creation – a city of creating and implementing new ideas,

- a city of opportunities – a city that creates the conditions for the use of energy and creativity residents,

- a city in the surround – a city with a strong position in the environment.

The impacts of long-term polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metal pollution on soil microbial communities functioning were studied in soils taken from an old coke plant. The concentrations of PAHs in the tested soils ranged from 171 to 2137 mg kg-1. From the group of tested heavy metals, concentrations of lead were found to be the highest, ranging from 57 to 3478 mg kg-1, while zinc concentrations varied from 247 to 704 mg kg-1 and nickel from 10 to 666 mg kg-1. High dehydrogenase, acid and alkaline phosphatase activities were observed in the most contaminated soil. This may indicate bacterial adaptation to long-term heavy metal and hydrocarbon contamination. However, the Community Level Physiological Profiles (CLPPs) analysis showed that the microbial functional diversity was reduced and influenced to a higher extent by some metals (Pb, Ni), moisture and conductivity than by PAHs.

The article presents empirical material obtained in sociological surveys conducted in the Wejherowo area in the year 2014. The purpose of the survey was to record the residents’ opinions on the needs and problems relating to selected functioning aspects of the town and its downtown district, the perception and valuation of the area, the town’s revitalization investments, both planned and in progress, and the perception of the changes taking place in selected spheres of the town’s life. The survey reveals that the dwellers of Wejherowo are capable of responding to the problems the town faces in intellectual and personal dimensions, they follow the postulates related to the ideas and concepts of a creative town more or less consciously, and have a preference for the town ensuring access to the broadly construed culture and entertainment. This encapsulates a vision of developing town cultures, with the focal point evidently shifted from the concept of a town as a place accumulating specimens of architecture and a symbolic space to the town construed as a complex of better facilities and solutions which make everyday life more convenient. More frequently than ever before, town identity becomes the function of negotiations between what is local and what is global. The quality of town life and the features of its ‘town-like character’ appear to be the outcome of continuous and subtle dialectics between the residents and the physical form in which they live, i.e. the town.

Social information is used by animals to communicate, but it also affects their habitat selection and preferences.

We all gesture as we talk, albeit mostly unconsciously. The gestures we produce support and supplement what we are saying. In different cultures, however, the very same gestures may carry very different meanings.

Language is used for more than just communication – it is a tool for interpreting the world around us.

Prof. Stanisław Karpiński discusses groundbreaking research into how plants communicate, remember stress, and process information.

Why is it that people can end up interpreting what is being said to them in such different ways? A lot depends on whether they happen to be in a good or bad mood.

The tale of human progress is also a story of advancements in media technologies. But should we necessarily greet the changes now on the horizon with optimism?

The Polish language is slowly disappearing among the Polish community in Ukraine’s Rivne Oblast. This is due to the influence of the clergy and the emigration of the younger generation.

The field investigations concerning water and peat bog communities on the territory of Trzebinia in 2000 revealed their little diversity caused by a small number of large water bodies and performed betterment drainages. 12 syntaxa were distinguished which represent 5 classes: Lemnetea minor is (I), Potametea (6), Utricularietea intermedio-minoris (I), Littorelletea uniflorae (I), Scheuchzerio-Caricetea nigrae (I). Among described units 3 plant associations are endangered within Upper Silesia: Myriophylletum verticillati, Hottonietum palustris, Valeriano-Caricetum flavae (montane plant association).

The article analyzes the implementation of dialogicality in the artistic discourse referring to dialogue as a form of explication of dialogicity in text communication, as a special type of speech interaction which serves as the most relevant means of verbalizing the speaker’s communicative intentions and is represented by a question/answer complex of stimulus/reaction exchange. Based on the voluminous factual material, the explication of dialogic intentions is traced in two typological registers of communication: tolerant and a-tolerant; it is indicated that, on the one hand, the addressant/addressee continuum of speech interaction conveys a be-nevolent atmosphere and expresses the modality of interlocutors’ mutual understanding and tolerant attitude about themselves being realized through various modal-intentional utterances, primarily interrogative, and stimulating and optative constructions, the use of which contributes to the progress of the communicative process; on the other hand, there is a-tolerant register – a natural phenomenon that reflects the imbalance in relations between communicating parties, the principled incompatibility of views, a conflict in general, represented by counter-questions, echo-questions, evil wishes incentive imperatives, invectives, etc.

Stanislaw Lem is one of the most famous figures of the Polish science fiction in post-world war two Europe. Solaris. His most famous novel, was published in 1961, and was adapted twice for the big screen, first in 1971 by Andrej Tarkovski, and in 2002 by Steven Soderbergh. The plot revolves around the psychologist Kris Kelvin, who is sent on the planet Solaris to try to find out if it is possible to communicate with the alien ocean that covers almost all of its surface. Confronted with a strange phenomenon and colleagues turned paranoid, Kelvin tries at first to understand what is going on at the space station. The unexplained arrival of the döppleganger of his ex-partner, Harey, will little by little make him accept the absurdity of his task and possibly of life itself. As Lem himself refused any final interpretation of his novel, there has of course been a flourish of them. One can however choose this exegetic impossibility as a major theme in the novel, and reflect on the implications of the situation Kelvin faces, caught between a desire to understand the nature of Solaris’s ocean and the sheer failure of doing so. In this essay, we will try to suggest that, by showing the limits of language as the means to express a satisfying epistemic frame, Lem’s parabol could be seen as an attempt to show the reader the existential limits of our anthropocentrism and scientific hubris.

The article describes the relationship between the local community and the primary school considered as “place” within the meaning derived from the book by yi-Fu Tuan “Space and place: The perspective of experience”. The article compares the cases of two schools in the city of bielsko-biała (the city has a population of 175 thousands inhabitants). One school is overcrowded, yet its future existence has been secured. The second school, however, was first transferred to another location and it eventually went into liquidation in 2012. The article demonstrates then underlying reasons and consequences of losing the school as place. Moreover, it indicates potential problems emerging in such cases altogether with a set of possible solutions.

The concept of place has been present in human geography for almost half a century. The human geographers looked for the answer about genesis of place category in different sociological or psychological aspects with the basis of space dimension. In last two decades a few of them referred that idea to communication processes. Inspired by the views expressed by the latter group of scientists, we are asking: how is creating a place? We put forward thesis that a special type of place making is social communication that works continuously on the principle of the palimpsest of overlapping meanings through messages arising in several dimensions. Our assumption is that every place is creating (overwriting) a social subject – an individual or a group, that will build communication in three dimensions: within a space/place (W), about a space/place (A), and/or between people and a space/place (B).