The purpose of the article was to characterize the international steam coal market based on the latest available data. The information goes back to the first half of 2018. The article focuses on the description of the three largest exporters and importers of steam coal. Representatives in these categories were selected using the latest global statistics on 2017. In 2017, global production of steam coal amounted to 5.68 billion tons and exceeded production in 2016 by 4%. For several years, invariably the world’s leading exporters of steam coal are: Indonesia, Australia and Russia. In total, these three countries in 2017 supplied 73% of steam coal to the international market. However, for the 46% of global steam coal imports (data for 2017), three Asian countries are responsible: China, India and Japan. For each of the six listed countries (i.e. for: three major global exporters and three major global importers), the paper presents volumes related to coal production, export or import. The directions of deliveries or major coal exporters to a given country were also included. At the end of the article, the price situation was presented, as it appeared in the first half of 2018 on the European and Asian markets.

Previous studies identified large differences between countries in the extent to which childbearing intentions are realised. Failure to realise an intention to become a parent was found to be particularly common in the post-socialist countries. In this paper we examine whether similarly low rates of realisation of fertility intentions can be found in Poland. We use two waves of the Polish Generations and Gender Survey (GGS-PL), conducted in 2010/2011 and 2014/2015. We first describe fertility intentions of Polish women and men as declared at the survey’s first wave. Next, we examine whether the short-term childbearing intentions expressed at wave 1 were followed by an actual birth by the second round of the data collection. For the respondents who did not get a child between waves 1 and 2, we analyse the stability of their fertility plans. We find that approximately 35% of the respondents who at wave 1 intended to have a child in the next three years actually had one by wave 2. Both realisation and stability of fertility intentions varied markedly by gender and parity.

There is a very high interest in international literature about the governance of common goods related to a redefinition of representative democracy. Scholars like Sheila Foster and Christian Iaione have proposed new models of governance enhancing the preservation and management of the commons in order to overcome problems and contradictions of complex contemporary cities, such as social exclusion and land privatisation. The aim of this paper is to verify, through a recognition of administrative documents, if in the example of Rome, the political actors, the municipal government, and the civil society, could be able to take part in a collaborative governance inspired reform. To answer this question, the relationship between the policy making process, the economic production model and the normative claims arising from social groups will be investigated. What is emerging is a difficulty of the administration in implementing collaborative principles. This is reflected in the issuance of discordant administrative measures, stemming from problems in relaying to civil society and active citizens the role that these principles assign. The reasons for this mismatching might be identified in the distinctive urban regime of Rome and the political and economic set that fosters social exclusion and does not consider the positive effects and the value of collaborative-oriented policy, enhancing sharing economy and social cohesion. The constant recall in the political discourse of concepts such as common goods, citizen’s participation and collaboration values takes the characteristics of a discursive resource, a ‘common washing’, which institutions and politics seem to re-propose and consolidate the traditional mode of public action, though apparently declaring its inadequacy and ineffectiveness.

This introduction to the volume outlines the conception of the pedagogical city. The author stresses flows, or continuous exchange between citizens as specific to city life. Such flows concern also thinking, which contributes to the creation of a community that one may identify, afer Aristotle, as koinopolis – an educational community of shared thinking, ‘a great teacher’. Against the background of the condition of the global city, the conception of pedagogical city contributes to the theory of social pedagogy, and to the conception of pedagogy of place in particular (including urban community education). One may speak, in this context, of koinpolitanism – a trait of thinking capable of inspiring the flow of changes taking place in the cities of today. The papers collected in this volume contribute to the development of this idea.

Improving energy efficiency is key to moving toward sustainable development. It contributes to the reduction of energy consumption and carbon emissions, as well as to climate change mitigation. Indicators of energy efficiency play an important role in this field because their improvement is targeted by policy makers. Indicators based on the ratio between energy consumption and gross domestic product (GDP) are currently used by multiple key organizations, including Eurostat and the World Bank, as the main energy efficiency indicators. This study examines the most widely used indicators and identifies their deficiencies. Over the last decades, these indicators tend to show a continuous strong improvement, signifying positive progress toward energy efficiency, even in cases when the physical consumption of energy has increased significantly. This phenomenon is based on GDP adjustment. The energy intensity of economies, used currently to measure energy efficiency, masks problems and has led to the green labeling of wealthier economies. An analysis of energy efficiencies reported for multiple countries and the structure of their energy spending shows that the reported values are counterproductive for comparing economies in the context of environmental protection. The indicators sanction economies with low energy consumption and low or moderate GDP. The economies belonging to the group of the largest energy spenders per capita are labeled highly efficient because of GDP adjustment. Decision makers are therefore prompted to focus on GDP growth even at the cost of a major increase in energy consumption. An additional problem in the indicators is that they do not properly model international trade. The responsibility for energy spending is shifted toward the producers of energy-intensive goods and services. Energy intensity is a useful indicator to measure the resistance of an economy to the volatilities of energy prices. However, the challenges in the fields of environmental pollution and climate change are related to physical processes and energy consumption rather than to changes in the GDP or the monetary valuation of products and services. Indicators measuring energy efficiency as GDP per unit of energy use are inadequate and misleading as principal tools to measure energy efficiency.

This article looks at hospitality practices in the process of recreating and modifying social structure. The author seeks the general regularities and behavioral patterns that appear when people visit others and are visited, as well as how they speak of these visits, or, in Pierre Bourdieu’s language, the principles that organize practices that are part of the class habitus. For the purposes of the analysis, two comparative groups were selected: people with the highest and lowest levels of economic, social, and cultural capital. The analysis allowed several conclusions to be drawn. First, in addition to the class factor, the age or generational factor should be taken into account as it has proven to be relevant in terms of the diversity of practices. Second, the research showed that several of the practices studied were not differentiated between the groups; they turned out to be intense in the case of people with high and low levels of capital. Such patterns involved informality and freedom, the striving for agreement and group solidarity, and an aversion to aesthetics and decoration. Third, there were sometimes differentiating nuances—the general principle could be the same, but the justification or motivation behind it was different. For people with a high level of both types of capital, naturalness/honesty was an important justification and was contrasted to falsehood, artificiality, and pretentiousness. This justification seemed to be a meta-principle that permeated many other patterns of behavior.

This article looks at hospitality practices in the process of recreating and modifying social structure. The author seeks the general regularities and behavioral patterns that appear when people visit others and are visited, as well as how they speak of these visits, or, in Pierre Bourdieu’s language, the principles that organize practices that are part of the class habitus. For the purposes of the analysis, two comparative groups were selected: people with the highest and lowest levels of economic, social, and cultural capital. The analysis allowed several conclusions to be drawn. First, in addition to the class factor, the age or generational factor should be taken into account as it has proven to be relevant in terms of the diversity of practices. Second, the research showed that several of the practices studied were not differentiated between the groups; they turned out to be intense in the case of people with high and low levels of capital. Such patterns involved informality and freedom, the striving for agreement and group solidarity, and an aversion to aesthetics and decoration. Third, there were sometimes differentiating nuances—the general principle could be the same, but the justification or motivation behind it was different. For people with a high level of both types of capital, naturalness/honesty was an important justification and was contrasted to falsehood, artificiality, and pretentiousness. This justification seemed to be a meta-principle that permeated many other patterns of behavior.

The intention of this article is to evaluate the exogenous dismissal probabilityfor a certain worker depending on her characteristics for the Polish labormarket. To model this phenomenon I considered a range of count datamodels. In the analysis the data from the Polish General Social Survey of 2008 was used. Covariates explaining the number of unemployment spells wereselected in the spirit of the human-capital theory. In the course of the studyexistence of intransferable firm-specific human capital across employers anddepreciation of the human capital acquired through learning by doing have beenempirically confirmed. The conducted analysis may be considered the first stepin the calibration of a job-search model with heterogeneous agents.

In this study, we model realized volatility constructed from intra-day high-frequency data. We explore the possibility of confusing long memory andstructural breaks in the realized volatility of the following spot exchange rates: EUR/USD, EUR/JPY, EUR/CHF, EUR/GBP, and EUR/AUD. The resultsshow evidence for the presence of long memory in the exchange rates’ realizedvolatility. From the Bai–Perron test, we found structural breakpoints that matchsignificant events in financial markets. Furthermore, the findings provide strongevidence in favour of the presence of long memory.

Freedom of the high seas established in the law of the sea, as a customary norm comprises freedom to lay submarine cables and pipelines. This was confirmed by the Geneva Conventions of 1958 on the High Seas and the Continental Shelf The law of the sea Convention of 1982 retained freedom of the laying of submarine pipelines in the exclusive economic zone but in parallel it has given a number of rights to the coastal State. Thus the coastal State has rights to set up conditions concerning all stages of pipelines construction and functioning. Through it may not impede the laying or maintenance of pipelines nevertheless the delineation of the course for the laying of such pipelines in the exclusive economic zone and on the continental shelf is subject to its consent. It also has the right to authorize and regulate drilling on the sea bed. An analysis of provisions concerning artificial islands, installations and structures as well as marine scientific research demonstrates various lacuna. Debates around the project of the Baltic pipeline confirm the necessity to take into account the specific situation of this semi-enclosed sea, interests of the coastal States and recommendations of the competent international organizations. One can also argue that in the case of pipelines laid on the bed of the high seas beyond the continental shelf the Authority should be consulted. Problems are also caused by the fact that pipelines are laid by multinational corporations.

There is a growing interest in new transportation routes that combine benefits of shorter distances, cost-effective transits and routes not troubled by maritime security concerns. The Northwest Passage offers a package of routes through the Canadian maritime zone; it is 9,000 km shorter than the Panama Canal route and 17,000 km shorter than the Cape Horn route. The Northern Sea Route shortens a Hamburg-Yokohama voyage by 4,800 miles, in comparison with the Suez Canal route. The transpolar route, if it materializes with an ice-free Central Arctic Ocean route, would shorten distances even further. Given the increase in regional and international navigation and shipping in the region, it is therefore not surprising that in recent years Arctic States and international bodies focused on the needs of enhanced safety and environmental standards for polar shipping. In addition to the dedicated domestic polar shipping regulation, primarily in Canada and the Russian Federation, the Arctic Council and International Maritime Organization (IMO) have launched important initiatives. The most important is establishing of international rules for ships operating in polar waters – The Polar Code.

The new Maritime Code of2001 contains regulations governing salvage at sea, in Title VJ (Agreements), in Section V/11 (Salvage at Sea), and in Articles 231-249. The content of these regulations is in accord with the decisions of the London Convention of 1989, which came into force on 14 July 1996, and which has not yet been ratified by Poland. The basic changes introduced by the new Maritime Code in relation to salvage at sea have to do with a substantive extension of the object of salvage and with a consideration of the need to protect the natural environment. In accordance with Article 231 of the Maritime Code, salvage at sea involves giving help to a vessel that is in danger in any waters whatsoever, and salvaging property aboard the vessel or originating in it. It also involves salvaging any other property on the sea and not connected permanently and deliberately to the shore. The essence of the change introduced by the new Maritime Code has to do with recognizing as salvaged property any property on the sea, and not just a vessel or property aboard or originating from such a vessel. The author concentrates on comparing the regulations relating to salvage based on the Bruss ells Convention of 191 O and on the new convention SALVAGE 89.

Warships, as defined in Article 29 of the Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982, are granted full immunity by international law. However, this does not imply that the warship's flag State is free of responsibility for its actions, including environmental pollution, or its violation of environmental protection standards. The issue of the State's responsibility occupies a central position in international law and is supported by long-term historical development. It was until the second half of the twentieth century that the principle of international responsibility became unquestionable.

A dearth of properly formulated legal definitions undermines the clarity of the law, but so do other legislative practices. Such is the case with maritime legislation too. Most evident in the understanding and definition of vessel and ship owner, this lack of clear formulation is the subject o f the article.

One of the most critical aspects of mine design is to determine the optimum cut-off grade. Despite Lane’s theory, which aims to optimize the cut-off grade by maximizing the net present value (NPV), which is now an accepted principle used in open pit planning studies, it is less developed and applied in optimizing the cut-off grade for underground polymetallic mines than open pit mines, as optimization in underground polymetallic mines is more difficult. Since there is a similar potential for optimization between open pit mines and underground mines, this paper extends the utilization of Lane’s theory and proposes an optimization model of the cut-off grade applied to combined mining-mineral processing in underground mines with multi-metals. With the help of 3D visualization model of deposits and using the equivalent factors, the objective function is expressed as one variable function of the cut-off grade. Then, the curves of increment in present value versus the cut-off grade concerning different constraints of production capacities are constructed respectively, and the reasonable cut-off grade corresponding to each constraint is calculated by using the golden section search method. The defined criterion for the global optimization of the cut-off grade is determined by maximizing the overall marginal economics. An underground polymetallic copper deposit in Tibet is taken as an example to validate the proposed model in the case study. The results show that the overall optimum equivalent cut-off grade, 0.28%, improves NPV by RMB 170.2 million in comparison with the cut-off grade policy currently used. Thus, the application of the optimization model is conducive to achieving more satisfactory economic benefits under the premise of the rational utilization of mineral resources.

Commercial use of the sea includes, among others: sea shipping closely related to the transport of cargo and passengers, transhipment services in sea ports, fishery and aquaculture, marine mining, marine renewable energy, including the development of technologies for obtaining energy from renewable sources (wind, waves, tides), marine and coastal tourism. All the above-mentioned areas of economic activity are part of the traditionally understood maritime economy. Considering the maritime economy through the prism of sustainable development has led to the crystallization of the concept of the blue economy both at the universal level in the United Nations and at the regional level, e.g. in the European Union. The blue economy is a low carbon, resource efficient, circular economy based on sustainable consumption and production patterns, improving human well-being and social justice, providing economic value and employment, and significantly reducing environmental risks and shortages. The blue economy aims to promote economic growth, social inclusion, and the preservation and improvement of living conditions, while ensuring the environmental sustainability of seas, oceans and coastal areas. The legal framework for the blue economy includes, inter alia, in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The function of further development of the blue economy is the implementation of sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Konceptualną ramą badań nad ruchliwością jest teoria modernizacji. Stwierdza się w niej, że wzrost otwartości jest dominującą tendencją, która wynika z postępującej liberalizacji i rozwoju gospodarki rynkowej. Wbrew tym oczekiwaniom bariery ruchliwości okazują się na ogół stabilne. Ustalenia te dotyczyły głównie zachodnich demokracji. Nasza analiza jest kontynuacją tego podejścia w odniesieniu do Polski. Opierając się na danych z lat 1982–2016 wskazujemy, że po pierwsze, dokonuje się systematyczne obniżenie wpływu wykształcenia na pozycję zawodową, co przeciwdziała zwiększaniu się ruchliwości międzypokoleniowej. Po drugie, tendencja ta nie obniżyła jednak tzw. względnych szans ruchliwości, chociaż mogło to być bardziej związane z przekształceniami struktury zawodowej niż ze wzrostem otwartości barier społecznych. Po trzecie, za stabilnym charakterem wzorów ruchliwości przemawia utrzymywanie się nierówności edukacyjnych. Po czwarte, okazuje się, że w odróżnieniu od badań w innych krajach, w przypadku Polski, wyższe wykształcenie nie osłabia, ale raczej wzmacnia znaczenie dziedziczenia pozycji rodziców.

The word fi rst was very rare in Old English, which mostly used forma, fi rmest and ærest in both spatial and temporal senses. All the three OE words became obsolescent in the 14th century while fi rst, most likely supported by the fact that Old Norse had a similarly shaped cognate word, increased its occurrence and range of senses in early Middle English. By 1400 fi rst had become the usual word denoting the front position and temporal antecedence both as an adjective and an adverb. Simultaneously it outcompeted the equivalent words in the function of the ordinal number.

Pyrolysis is often a first step in the incineration process, especially of the hazardous waste. One of examples of such installation is presented in the paper cylindrical pyrolysis chamber, applied in the incineration plant for medical waste. In the chamber the carbonisation of the waste takes place and the products, such as volatiles and carbonisate are burned in the cylindrical combustion chamber surrounding the pyrolysis chamber. Such configuration provides the heat transport from the flue gases to the carbonising material. To model the processes taking place in the pyrolysis chamber the energy and mass balance equations have been defined. The system of equations was solved for the exemplary material, such as wood sawdust, of a known thermophysical properties. Results are presented as diagrams of various parameters inside the two-dimension domain of the chamber.

In this paper, a new feature-extraction method is proposed to achieve robustness of speech recognition systems. This method combines the benefits of phase autocorrelation (PAC) with bark wavelet transform. PAC uses the angle to measure correlation instead of the traditional autocorrelation measure, whereas the bark wavelet transform is a special type of wavelet transform that is particularly designed for speech signals. The extracted features from this combined method are called phase autocorrelation bark wavelet transform (PACWT) features. The speech recognition performance of the PACWT features is evaluated and compared to the conventional feature extraction method mel frequency cepstrum coefficients (MFCC) using TI-Digits database under different types of noise and noise levels. This database has been divided into male and female data. The result shows that the word recognition rate using the PACWT features for noisy male data (white noise at 0 dB SNR) is 60%, whereas it is 41.35% for the MFCC features under identical conditions

The problem of estimation of the long-term environmental noise hazard indicators and their uncertainty is presented in the present paper. The type A standard uncertainty is defined by the standard deviation of the mean. The rules given in the ISO/IEC Guide 98 are used in the calculations. It is usually determined by means of the classic variance estimators, under the following assumptions: the normality of measurements results, adequate sample size, lack of correlation between elements of the sample and observation equivalence. However, such assumptions in relation to the acoustic measurements are rather questionable. This is the reason why the authors indicated the necessity of implementation of non-classical statistical solutions. An estimation idea of seeking density function of long-term noise indicators distribution by the kernel density estimation, bootstrap method and Bayesian inference have been formulated. These methods do not generate limitations for form and properties of analyzed statistics. The theoretical basis of the proposed methods is presented in this paper as well as an example of calculation process of expected value and variance of long-term noise indicators LDEN and LN. The illustration of indicated solutions and their usefulness analysis were constant due to monitoring results of traffic noise recorded in Cracow, Poland.

The incidence of fusarium foot-rot occurrence on the winter wheat cultivars Roma and Sakwa was examined in the years 2001–2003. Strict plot experiments were set up by the method of random sub-blocks in Tomaszkowo near Olsztyn. Fungicides were applied on the growing plants during the periods of shooting and heading. The control plots were sprayed with water. The sanitary state of leaf sheaths was evaluated at heading phase (GS 55). The symptoms of fusarium foot-rot were examined at the phase of milky maturity (GS 75) and waxy maturity of grain (GS 87). The study aimed at assessing the average index of infection of the winter wheat stem base caused by the species of Fusarium genus, assessing the vulnerability of the Roma and Sakwa cultivars to these fungi and determining the effectiveness of pesticides in control of fusarium foot-rot. Fusarium foot-rot (Fusarium spp.) of winter wheat dominated on the winter wheat stem base. Most of the examined stems were severely infected. The Roma cultivar was more susceptible to infection by Fusarium fungi than the Sakwa cultivar. The effectiveness of fungicides in controlling fusarium foot-rot on the winter wheat was satisfactory, but largely depended on the cultivar and weather conditions. Mirage 450EC and Sportak Alpha 380EC fungicides were the most effective. The species F. culmorum and F. avenaceum dominated in the fungal populations colonizing the stem base of winter wheat with visible symptoms typical of fusarium foot-rot.