Phytophthora cryptogea was isolated from diseased stem base of Aquilegia discolor and rotted leaves of Saxifraga and Sempervivum spp. Additionally, Fusarium species and Botrytis cinerea were frequently isolated from diseased parts of plants. Most of Sempervivum species and cultivars except S. soculiferum were colonized in laboratory conditions by P. cryptogea. The isolates from Alstroemeria aurantiaca, Gerbera jamesonii, Saxifraga arendsii, S. paniculata, Sempervivum arachnoideum colonised houseleek leaves with the fastest spread of necrosis on plant parts inoculated with cultures from Gerbera and S. arendsii. The isolate from S. arendsii colonized 5 species and cultivars of saxifrage as well as Iberis sempervivum, Lavendula angustifolia, Sempervivum sobuliferum and Vinca minor with the slowest development on periwinkle. In laboratory trials isolate of P. cryptogea from houseleek grew on PDA and colonized leaves of that plant at temperature ranging from about 10 to 32.5°C with optimum at 20–30°C.

General meteorological conditions in the Admiralty Bay in 1978 did not deviate from those of many years. The data for 1978 were used to analyse the co-occurrence of four most perceptible meteorological parameters: temperature, air humidity, wind speed and precipitation. In summer these elements occurred simultaneously only in 1 — 2 intervals of values, in winter their occurrence within individual intervals was less numerous, but covered more of them.

In this paper we present the first occurrence of the Diabrotica virgifera Le Conte in Poland and the measures taken against this pest. The specimens of western corn rootworm were found in South-Eastern Poland (Podkarpackie voivodeship) at the end of August and in September of 2005.

From Hedera helix and Epipremnum aureum showing necrosis of shoot base spread upwards and on leaves Phytophthora tropicalil was isolated. The species was obtained from ⅞of Hedera and ¾ of Epipremnum diseased shoot and root parts. Additionally, Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium avenaceum and Rhizoctonia solani was recovered from some of affected plants. The chosen 2 isolates colonised petioles and leaf blades of both host plants. P. tropicalis caused necrosis of leaves of 11 tested cultivars of H. helix and 13 other pot plant species and seedlings of tomato. The fastest spread of necrosis was observed on leaves of Peperomia magnoliaefolia, Pelargonium zonale and Phalaenopsis x hybridum. The development of disease was observed at temperatures ranged from 10 to 32.5°C with optimum 30°C.

Knowledge of the way in which minor and trace elements occur in coal is one of the most important geochemical indicators of coal quality. The differences between the methods of binding elements in coal in each coal seam and the variability of this feature of coal in the basin profile have not been discussed so far. These coal features were identified in a group of selected coal seams (209, 401, 405, 407, 501, 504, 510, 615, 620) in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB). At the same time, the differences in the role of identified mineral and maceral groups in concentrating specific elements in coal is highlighted. Identical or similar tendencies of changes in the way in which As and V, Ba and Rb, Co and Pb, Co and Zn, Mn and Pb, Pb and Zn, Co and Rb, and for Cr and Cu occur in the coal seams in the USCB profile was found. Changes in the mode of occurrence of As and Pb in coal in the USCB profile were probably influenced by carbonate mineralization. The changes in the mode of occurrence of Mni and Pb in the coal were probably determined by dia and epigenetic sulfide mineralization, while the content of Ba, Cr, Rb, Sr, and V in coal from these deposits was affected by clay minerals. It was observed that the greater the degree of the carbonization of the organic matter of coal, the lower the content of As, Mn and Pb in coal and the higher the content of Ba and Sr in coal.

In the paper the issue connected with water network failure regarding the soil conditions was presented. Water pipes constitute a large part of water company asset. Therefore the analysis concerning the influence of soil conditions into failure occurrence of water pipe is crucial for proper functioning of water supply systems (WSS). In the performed studies the real data from the operation of the exemplary WSS was obtained. The following properties of the ground conditions were taken into consideration among others: the chemical composition and ground phase, based on analysis performed through the following equipment, as the electron microscope with X-ray spectrometer detector and backscattered electrons (BSE) using the powder Debye-Sherrer’s method and X-ray diffractometer. The analysis indicate dependence between soil conditions and corrosivity occurrence, what indicate the importance of performed analysis.

The intensity of Arion lusitanicus occurrence and the damage degree of 31 crop species have been estimated. It has been found that the slug damaged lettuce and cabbage plants very heavily (Lactuca sativa L. var. capitata L., Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata L. f. alba) and many species of other vegetables (Cucumis sativus L., Phaseolus vulgaris L., Raphanus sativus L. subvar. radicula Pers.). Plant damages in the edge strips were also observed on rape and barley plantations attacked by this slug. The moving activity of particular individuals of Arion lusitanicus was varying. Planning of the experiments in a nested block design has made it possible to statistically determine tendencies of the slug movement. It was observed that when some individuals remained at the point where they were initially placed, others, 2 hours after, moved over 7 m away. The mean weighed length of pathway covered by a single individual and the mean movement rate of one were estimated for each of 9 observation dates. It has been found that slugs penetrating the site surface under observation displayed their tendencies to move towards more moist places and towards food sources.

Population studies on Arion lusitanicus, a slug species introduced into Poland, were carried out over the last decade. The slug occurs commonly in some areas and spreads out relatively quickly. It has an annual life cycle with eggs, and immature individuals overwinter. In the end of July A. lusitanicus begins copulation and three weeks later it lays eggs from which the first offspring hatch within a month. The copulation process and egg laying last until late fall. One A. lusitanicus can lay over 400 eggs. During the growing season there are two peaks of population density. This species feeds on plant material such as leaves, stems, bulbs, but also consumes animal material. The basic plant material are arable crops particularly vegetables and some species of agricultural crops, some fruit trees, ornamental plants, herbs and weeds. A. lusitanicus displays apparent food specialization and prefers certain cultivated and wild growing plants. A. lusitanicus shows large reproduction potential, wide food and ecologic tolerance, and is regarded as a serious pests occurring in home gardens.

The article provides a theoretical basis for a method allowing to calculate probability of effects of electric shock, as well as a method for determining probabilistic characteristics of random touch current values and of human body impedance in a person who suffered from specific effects of electric shock. Results of example calculations are presented, including probabilities of occurrence of sensory symptoms, exceeding the letgo threshold, and development of ventricular fibrillation, as well as probabilistic characteristics of random touch current values and of impedance of human body in people who experienced specific effects of electric shock.

The petrographic composition of coal has a significant impact on its technological and sorption properties. That composition is most frequently determined by means of microscope quantitative analyses. Thus, aside from the purely scientific aspect, such measurements have an important practical application in the industrial usage of coal, as well as in issues related to the safety in underground mining facilities. The article discusses research aiming at analyzing the usefulness of selected parameters of a digital image description in the process of automatic identification of macerals of the inertinite group using neural networks. The description of the investigated images was based on statistical parameters determined on the basis of a histogram and co-occurrence matrix (Haralick parameters). Each of the studied macerals was described by means of a 20-element feature vector. An analysis of its principal components (PCA) was conducted, along with establishing the relationship between the number of the applied components and the effectiveness of the MLP network. Based on that, the optimum number of input variables for the investigated classification task was chosen, which resulted in reduction of the size of the network’s hidden layer. As part of the discussed research, the authors also analyzed the process of classification of macerals of the inertinite group using an algorithm based on a group of MLP networks, where each network possessed one output. As a result, average recognition effectiveness of 80.9% was obtained for a single MLP network, and of 93.6% for a group of neural networks. The obtained results indicate that it is possible to use the proposed methodology as a tool supporting microscopic analyses of coal.