This paper aims to characterize and interpret the trends in reserves, resources, and mine production of diatomite in the Czech Republic in last two decades. With more than 2.4 million tonnes of total reserves, 1.6 million tonnes of exploitable (recoverable) reserves, and average annual production of 35 kt, diatomite is not one of the key industrial minerals of the Czech Republic, which ranks among the top 10 European producers. Historical diatomite deposits were situated within the Cheb Basin, where the Holocene Hájek diatomite deposit was abandoned in 1955 because of the establishment of the Soos National Natural Monument. The group of Tertiary diatomite deposits situated in the Central Bohemian Upland ceased extraction when the last deposit (Kučlín) was abandoned in 1966 after depletion of reserves. The last group of diatomite deposits is located within the Southern Bohemian basins, where the last productive deposit, Borovany-Ledenice, is situated. Miocene diatomites are extracted by open pit mining there. Production of crude diatomite varied from 0 to 83 kt, with an average of 35 kt, between 1999 and 2018 according to stockpiles. Raw diatomite is classified into two groups according to the chemical-technological properties. Better-quality diatomite (SiO2 ≥ 72%, Al2O3 ≤ 15%, Fe2O3 < 2.4%, bulk density 450 kg/m3, loss on ignition < 8%) is processed for filtration in the food industry (brewery, wine, and raw fruit juices). Material with lower quality is used in combination with bentonite to prepare cat litter products.

In the years I 999-2002 bryological investigations were carried out within the ,,Morzyk" (Jasienica commune, Bielsko-Biała district) and ,,Skarpa Wiślicka" (Skoczów commune, Cieszyn district) nature reserves located in the western part of Silesian Foothills. The area under study covers 11.47 ha (,,Morzyk") and 24.17 ha (,,Skarpa Wiślicka"). In both studied areas deciduous forests (mainly Den/ario glandulosaeFagetum, Tilio-Carpinetum and Carici remotae-Fraxinetumi predominate. As a results of this research, the occurrence of 11 taxa of liverworts and 69 taxa of mosses have been noted (7 liverworts in ,,Morzyk" and 9 in ,,Skarpa Wiślicka" as well as 51 mosses in ,,Morzyk" and 57 in ,,Skarpa Wiślcka"). The analysis of the frequency range shows, that overwhelming majority of the bryoflora consists of very rare taxa ("Morzyk" - 50%; "Skarpa Wiślicka" - 50%). The most important components of the flora are new or rare for this area bryophytes, such as: Brachythecium campestre, Bryum klinggraeffii, Fissidens exilis, F. gracillifolius, Homomallium incurvatum, Orthodicranum tauricum, Riccio rhenana and Taxiphyllum wissgrillii. Six main ecological groups of species are characterised in detail.

We consider the downlink of an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) based cell that accommodates calls from different service-classes with different resource requirements. We assume that calls arrive in the cell according to a quasi-random process, i.e., calls are generated by a finite number of sources. To calculate the most important performance metrics in this OFDM-based cell, i.e., congestion probabilities and resource utilization, we model it as a multirate loss model, show that the steady-state probabilities have a product form solution (PFS) and propose recursive formulas which reduce the complexity of the calculations. In addition, we study the bandwidth reservation (BR) policy which can be used in order to reserve subcarriers in favor of calls with high subcarrier requirements. The existence of the BR policy destroys the PFS of the steady-state probabilities. However, it is shown that there are recursive formulas for the determination of the various performance measures. The accuracy of the proposed formulas is verified via simulation and found to be satisfactory.

The article demonstrates the results of a study of the landscape structure of the Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve (Ukr.: Chornobylskyi radiatsiino-ekolohichnyi biosfernyi zapovidnyk – ChREBR). Because of radioactive pollution, a sharp drop in human activity, and the granting of the territory the status of a protected object, the process of area rewilding took on certain characteristics and led to the return of ecosystems’ natural processes. The studies cover a 7-year period from 2016 to 2022, i.e., from the moment this territory was granted protected status. That territory was abandoned by people more than 37 years ago and the former rural and urban landscapes have either already been transformed or are in the process of being transformed into natural ones. The scale of forest massifs has changed during the previous seven years, which has caused increased pasture overgrowth. huge forest massifs have been lost because of enormous forest fires and floods, particularly along the Pripet and Uzh rivers. Semi-natural successions occur in the gardens, and wooden homes are almost extinct. From orbit, a number of communities no longer resemble settlements. They are cloaked in bushes and trees instead. For places that have been ploughed, the same holds true. The last seven years show that change is happening more slowly than in the decades before. The pattern of natural processes in ecosystems, including periodic fires, the blocking of reclamation channels, and other factors, is the primary driver of changes in the composition of the land cover.

The paper presents the results of works related to the analysis of microclimate hazards in the Crystal Caves of the Wieliczka Salt Mine. The paper focused on the development of a device for monitoring, testing and preliminary measurements of the gravimetric water content of rock in the Crystal Caves. The multisensory measurement system equipped with capacitive soil moisture sensors has been developed, calibrated and optimised. The system was used for monitoring moisture content in the sidewall and thill of the Crystal Caves.

The concept of creation of the geoportal “Environmental Safety of Ukrainian-Polish Transboundary Territories” has been developed. General principles and methodological approaches of spatiotemporal geographically distributed thematic data integration were substantiated. The geoinformation system, which is based on results of monitoring researches of objects of the nature reserve fund in the biosphere reserve “Roztochya”, is considered. The geoinformation monitoring technologies ensure ecological safety management. The proposed geoportal determines directions of information technology implementation for transboundary monitoring of ecosystems in the euroregions.

Changes in body mass and body reserves of Little Auks (Alle alle) were studied throughout the breeding season. Body mass loss after chick hatching was analyzed with respect to two hypotheses: (1) mass loss reflects the stress of reproduction, (2) mass loss is adaptive by reducing power consumption during flight. Body mass of both males and females increased during incubation, dropped abruptly after hatching, and remained stable until the end of the chick-rearing period. These changes were largely due to change in mass of fat reserves. Body mass, fat, and protein reserves, when corrected for body size, did not differ between sexes at the end of incubation. Female size-corrected body mass at that time was correlated with peak body mass of chicks. The estimated energy savings for flight due to the decline in adult body mass after chick hatching were small compared with the total energy expenditure of adults feedings chicks, which did not support hypothesis (2). The contribution to chick feeding was not equal; the ratio of females to males caught with food for chicks was 1.8. Size-corrected body mass during chick-rearing was lower in females, proportional to their higher chick feeding effort compared with males. Females, in contrast to males, lost protein reserves during chick-rearing. Digestive tract mass of adults increased by half throughout the breeding period. These findings supported elements of hypothesis (1). Despite high energy expenditure rates, both sexes had about 10 g of fat reserves at the end of chick feeding. Body mass of both sexes was constant during the greater part of the chick-feeding period. It was suggested therefore that mass loss is regulated with respect to lower fat reserves required during chick-rearing.

In the years 1999-2002 bryological investigations were carried out within the .Kuźnic" nature reserve located in the Beskid Śląski Mts. near the village Twardorzcczka (Lipowa commune, Żywiec district). The "Kuźnic" nature reserve lies between 800 and IO I O m above sea level and covers 7 .22 ha. In its area coniferous forest Abieti-Piceetum predominates. In the result of this research 59 taxa have been noted. The analysis of frequency range showed that overwhelming majority of the moss flora consists of very rare taxa (40.7%). The most important components of the moss flora arc: one partially protected species in Poland and many species which arc rare in the Beskid Śląski Mts., for example Anomodon rugelii, Cirriphyl/um tommasinii, Neckera crispa, Orthotrichum stramineum and Racomitrium aquaticum. Five main ecological groups of mosses were characterized in detail.

The 1970 Warsaw Treaty lists a number of unilateral declarations, primarily on the part of the Federal Republic of Germany. Nowadays, in view of the fundamentally changed circumstances between Germany and Poland, these declarations no longer play a significant role. Nevertheless, it is interesting to dogmatically examine them, not only for legal historical reasons but also based on the acknowledged principle that the understanding of the present is always shaped by the past. This contribution aims to meet this challenge.

Capacity remuneration mechanisms have been imposed globally in order to ensure capacity adequacy and prevent a sharp increase in electricity prices in the long-term. The main causes of their introduction are to provide financial support for companies to generate electricity or reduce consumption in peak demand and ensure sufficient incentives for potential investors. The paper aims to review the capacity remuneration mechanisms introduced in various countries. The following mechanisms are discussed: capacity payment, strategic reserve, reliability options, capacity obligations, and capacity auctions. The paper indicates the main advantages of mechanisms and key challenges related to their introduction and operation as well. The paper contributes to the existing literature by extending and updating the knowledge on the capacity remuneration mechanisms in various energy markets. The results indicate that the most complex schemes are market mechanisms. Regardless of the nature of the traded good (call options, certificates, capacity obligation), the second market structure must be introduced and managed. Consequently, the obligations are imposed on (i) the regulatory body (regulator or transmission system operator), generation companies (or demand-side response), trading companies, and consumers. The other challenge of the implementation of various CRMs is related to the transparent treatment of all technologies. All CRMs should be technologically neutral, but ultimately, some units are more favorable due to their greater impact on the reliability of the power system.

In this work, we perform an analysis of the characteristics of the one-year and ultimate reserve risk distributions commonly used in actuarial science: duration, first development factor, coefficient of variation, skewness coefficient, skewness-to-CoV ratio, emergence factor, emergence pattern, and risk margin run-off patterns. Our study is based on empirical data for two European markets: the Polish and Slovak markets. We provide benchmarks and ranges for the considered characteristics, as well as analyse the relations between them. We study Solvency II lines of business and compare our coefficients of variation to the Standard Formula reserve risk standard deviations. We investigate more deeply the topic of emergence pattern and risk margin run-off patterns.

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).

Premises for the construction of balance equations of water reserves in the saturation zone of forest soil are presented in this paper. Changes of soil water reserves are dealt with as an effect of the atmosphere-tree stand-soil balance at the assumption of constant ground water flow and negligibly small losses for infiltration down the soil profile below saturation zone. These assumptions are met in permeable lowland forest soils, particularly in areas where the aquifer is situated on relatively shallow impermeable substratum. Then, for snow-free periods, it is possible to: 1) combine the increment of soil water reserves with precipitation above tree crowns and with plant and litter interception and 2) combine the losses of soil water reserves with plant transpiration and evaporation from the soil surface. The periods of increments and losses of soil water reserves are determined from limnigraph records of ground water table depth in piesometers. Examples are given in the paper of equations identified by long term data from 13 soil profiles localised in pine forests on Pleistocene floodplain of the Dunajec River. The data included: ground water table depth, physical properties of grounds in soil profiles, and hydro-climatic conditions. The equations combine increments and losses of water reserves in the saturation zone with rainfall and deficits of air humidity measured on a midforest meadow.

The Elastic Optical Networks (EON) provide a solution to the massive demand for connections and extremely high data traffic with the Routing Modulation and Spectrum Assignment (RMSA) as a challenge. In previous RMSA research, there was a high blocking probability because the route to be passed by the K-SP method with a deep neural network approach used the First Fit policy, and the modulation problem was solved with Modulation Format Identification (MFI) or BPSK using Deep Reinforcement Learning. The issue might be apparent in spectrum assignment because of the influence of Advanced Reservation (AR) and Resource Periodic Arrangement (RPA), which is a decision block on a connection request path with both idle and active data traffic. The study’s limitation begins with determining the modulation of m = 1 and m = 4, followed by the placement of frequencies, namely 13 with a combination of standard block frequencies 41224–24412, so that the simulation results are less than 0.0199, due to the combination of block frequency slices with spectrum allocation rule techniques.