USING MINDFULNESS MEDITATION AS A TEAM BUILDING TOOL TO ENHANCE PERCEPTIONS OF COHESION, MINDFULNESS, AND EMOTIONAL COMPETENCE: A PILOT STUDY

The purpose of the pilot study was two-fold; firstly, to explore the effects of a team-based mindfulness meditation training program on perceptions of cohesion, and, secondly, to increase mindfulness and emotional competence. The participants were 32 female intercollegiate soccer players from two teams. One team was assigned to the mindfulness intervention condition, while the other served as the control condition. Participants completed measures of cohesion, mindfulness, and emotional competence pre- and post-intervention. The eight-week mindfulness meditation training program significantly increased perceptions of social cohesion. However, there were no significant changes for task cohesion, mindfulness, or emotional competence. Taken together, athletes in the mindfulness training program held higher perceptions of social cohesion than athletes in the control condition; indicating that mindfulness training allowed this team to increase its social cohesion

Legal and water management policy during climate warming in Poland

The article discusses some of the effects of global warming on rivers, lakes and underground water in Poland. It documents serious difficulties in river shipping and energy, as well as the exposing of areas previously occupied by lakes as a result water levels lowering. It is pointed out that the rapid increase in intensive irrigation of agricultural areas is causing excessive exploitation of underground water. The analysis takes into account the relevant data. The presentation of the effects of global warming is expanded upon with the legal provisions applicable in these situations. In the absence of climate change law, these are general regulations that face a number of difficulties in application. The detailing of areas of law and hydrology leads to the conclusion that Poland lacks a coherent policy on climate warming

WATER TEMPERATURE AND ITS DIVERSITY IN THE DEEPEST LAKES OF THE TUCHOLA FOREST AND THE KASHUBIAN AND BRODNICKIE LAKELANDS

This study presents the results of monthly examinations of the vertical distribution of water thermal structure (2008–2011) carried out over a four-year period in the deepest lakes located in the Kashubian and Brodnickie Lakelands and the Tuchola Forest1. Three lakes were selected for examination (Raduńskie Górne, Zbiczno and Ostrowite). Their maximum depths slightly exceed 40 m, and their surface areas range from 121 to 362.5 ha. The results of the measurements show that, despite only minor differences in depth, water temperature varied significantly between the studied lakes. These differences were mainly apparent in the extent of the epilimnion, water thermal stratification, and in the water temperature in the bottom-most layers in summer and winter. The diversity in thermal stratification of the lakes is mainly determined by their morphometric properties, their location above sea level, and the dynamic influences of winds

Selected aspects of water and sewage management in Poland in the context of sustainable urban development

Effective water and sewage management is one of the most important enablers of sustainable urban development. In Poland, water and sewage management has been undergoing systematic transformation since the 1990s. This process intensified with Poland’s accession to the European Union in 2004. The aim of the work is to analyse and evaluate water and sewage management in cities in Poland in terms of sustainable development. This was made possible by selecting seven variables from which a summative index (SI) was calculated. The analysis revealed a number of positive changes that have occurred in this field. These were mainly: a decrease in water consumption in households and industry, and an increased share of wastewater treated biologically or using enhanced nutrient removal in total wastewater. An increase in SI was found in 98% of the researched cities. The largest improvement in water and sewage management took place in cities of populations below 100,000 and little industry, and in three large cities, namely Warsaw and Szczecin

The potential of data exploration methods in identifying the relationship between short-period (daily) water consumption and meteorological factors

. The purpose of the work was to identify the hidden relationship between water consumption and meteorological factors, using principal component analysis. In addition, clusters of similar days were identified based on relationships identified by k-means. The study was based on data from the city of Toruń (Poland). The analysis was based on daily data from 2014–2017 divided into three groups. Group I included data from the entire period, Group II- from warm half[1]years (April–September), and Group III-from cold half-years (January–March and October–December). For Groups I and II the extent of water consumption was explained by two principal components. PC1 includes variables that increase water consumption, and PC2 includes variables that lessen water demand. In Group III, water consumption was not linked to any component. The k-means method was used to identify clusters of similar days. In terms of PC1, the most numerous days were Saturdays, and in terms of PC2 Sundays and holidays. It was determined that further research aimed at explaining the specificity of water consumption on particular days of the week is appropriate

Forecasting Daily Water Consumption: a Case Study in Torun, Poland

This paper presents Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) methods for predicting future daily water consumption values based on three antecedent records of water consumption and humidity forecast for a given day, which are considered as independent variables. Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) is obtained for different configurations of the input sets and of the ANN model structure. Additionally, sets of explanatory variables are enhanced with dummy variables indicating typical days: working day, Saturday, Sunday/public holidays. The results indicated the superiority of the ANN approach over MLR, although the observed difference in performance was very limited

O roli kontekstu: poezja Zbigniewa Herberta po angielsku

It is useful, when analysing the processes related to transferring poetry from one culture to another, to take into account extratextual factors such as the identities, reputations, and personal agendas of the people involved. The Polish poet Zbigniew Herbert is a case in point, as he seems to have been successfully cast as a socially engaged poet by editor Al Alvarez and translators Czesław Miłosz and Peter Dale Scott, who introduced his poems to English-speaking audiences in 1968. So successfully, in fact, that from the seventies to this day some anglophone readers and critics have found it difficult to value his work for reasons other than their connection with current affairs. The tendency to read Herbert’s poetry as strictly political has endured despite the passing of time and the dramatic changes on the political map of Europe

Assisted Form Filling

Non

On-Orbit Validation of a Framework for Spacecraft-Initiated Communication Service Requests with NASA's SCaN Testbed

We design, analyze, and experimentally validate a framework for demand-based allocation of high-performance space communication service in which the user spacecraft itself initiates a request for service. Leveraging machine-to-machine communications, the automated process has potential to improve the responsiveness and efficiency of space network operations. We propose an augmented ground station architecture in which a hemispherical-pattern antenna allows for reception of service requests sent from any user spacecraft within view. A suite of ground-based automation software acts upon these direct-to-Earth requests and allocates access to high-performance service through a ground station or relay satellite in response to immediate user demand. A software-defined radio transceiver, optimized for reception of weak signals from the helical antenna, is presented. Design and testing of signal processing equipment and a software framework to handle service requests is discussed. Preliminary results from on-orbit demonstrations with a testbed onboard the International Space Station are presented to verify feasibility of the concept

Compatibility of Sustainable Mater-Bi/poly(ε-caprolactone)/cellulose Biocomposites as a Function of Filler Modification

Despite their popularity and multiplicity of applications, wood–polymer composites (WPCs) still have to overcome particular issues related to their processing and properties. The main aspect is the compatibility with plant-based materials which affects the overall performance of the material. It can be enhanced by strengthening the interfacial adhesion resulting from physical and/or chemical interactions between the matrix and filler, which requires introducing a compatibilizer or a proper modification of one or both phases. Herein, the impact of cellulose filler modifications with varying contents (1–10 wt%) of hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) on the compatibility of Mater-Bi/poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL)-based biocomposites was evaluated. An analysis of surface wettability revealed that the filler modification reduced the hydrophilicity gap between phases, suggesting compatibility enhancement. It was later confirmed via microscopic observation (scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM)), which pointed to the finer dispersion of modified particles and enhanced quality of the interface. The rheological analysis confirmed increased system homogeneity by the reduction in complex viscosity. In contrast, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) indicated the efficient modification of filler and the presence of the chemical interactions at the interface by the shift of thermal decomposition onset and the changes in the degradation course.This work was supported by the National Science Centre (NCN, Poland) in the frame of SONATINA 2 project 2018/28/C/ST8/00187—Structure and properties of lignocellulosic fillers modified in situ during reactive extrusion. The study was partially co-funded under project with grants for education allocated by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Poland executed under the subject of No 0613/SBAD/4820