Relationships between Vertical Temperature Gradients and PM10 Concentrations during Selected Weather Conditions in Upper Silesia (Southern Poland)

This paper studies surface air temperature inversions and their impact on air pollution under the background of meteorological conditions in southern Poland. The relationship of temperature gradients and air quality classes with weather conditions in the most urbanized and polluted part of Poland as represented by the Upper Silesia region (USR) within the administrative boundaries of the Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska Metropolis (GZM) is presented. Based on probability analysis this study hierarchized the role of the selected weather elements in the development of surface-based temperature inversion (SBI) and air quality (AQ). The thresholds of weather elements for a rapid increase in the probability of oppressive air pollution episodes were distinguished. Although most SBI occurred in summer winter SBIs were of great importance. In that season a bad air quality occurred during >70% of strong inversions and >50% of moderate inversions. Air temperature more strongly triggered AQ than SBI development. Wind speed was critical for SBI and significant for AQ development. A low cloudiness favored SBI occurrence altered air quality in winter and spring during SBI and favored very bad AQ5 (>180 µg/m3) occurrence. The probability of high air pollution enhanced by SBI rapidly increased in winter when the air temperature dropped below −6 °C the wind speed decreased below 1.5 m/s and the sky was cloudless. Changes in the relative humidity did not induce rapid changes in the occurrence of bad AQ events during SBI

Plant economy of the Trzciniec culture based on charred plant remains from Pielgrzymowice 9 site, in the context of archaeobotanical finds from southern Poland

In the paper, new carpological data from Pielgrzymowice site 9 are presented in the context of archaeobotanical finds from southern Poland. The results were obtained from detailed analyses of 45 samples from 38 archaeological features. Only charred plant remains were taken into account as they are considered contemporaneous with the Middle Bronze Age settlement. Among the cultivated plants, Panicum miliaceum, Triticum dicoccum, Triticum monococcum and Triticum sp. were documented. Among wild plants, several taxa were found, including Chenopodium t. album, Chenopodium sp., Melandrium / Silene, Polygonum lapathifolium and Fallopia convolvulus, among others. In archaeobotanical samples, Geranium sp., cf. Lamiaceae also appeared. In addition, plants typical of grasslands, forests and ruderal areas were noted, such as Coronilla varia, Rumex acetosella, Plantago media, Plantago lanceolata, Stellaria graminea and Hypericum perforatum. These results were compared with data coming from nine sites of the Trzciniec culture from Lesser Poland to track the Middle Bronze Age plant-based economy in southern Poland.

Effects of land consolidation in Southern Poland

Motives: The fragmentation of land and the distribution of plots in rural areas negatively affects the profitability and efficiency of agricultural production. Land consolidation is an activity that facilitates the improvement of the spatial structure and at the same time contributes to the sustainable development of rural areas. European Union (EU) funding helps to improve, among others the area structure of agricultural land in the EU countries. Aim: From these premises, the purpose of the work results, which is the assessment of the effects of the performed consolidation of land with EU funding. The detailed analysis covered 16 precincts from the Podkarpackie voivodeship and 3 precincts from the Świętokrzyskie voivodeship. The assessment of the consolidation of land was made in 19 consolidated objects in the years 2007-2020. In practice, there is a problem of how to demonstrate the effects of land consolidation? This article proposes to present the four most important effects of land consolidation in the form of the following coefficients: W1 (coefficient of reducing the number of plots as a result of consolidation), W2 (coefficient of increasing the average plot area in the consolidation facility), W3 (coefficient of reducing the number of plots in an individual farm as a result of consolidation), W4 (index of road network density in merged area) are a reliable image of the results of the land consolidation performed in the studied area. Results: The results were obtained. Index W1 in the examined objects indicated the result of 34.0% for the Podkarpackie voivodeship, and 28.8% for the Świętokrzyskie. Index W2 in the Podkarpackie voivodeship is 27.0%, and in the Świętokrzyskie it is higher and amounts to 29.7%. Index W3 which amounts to 39.4% of the average number of plots in a farm in the Podkarpackie voivodeship and much higher, amounting to 46.6% in the Świętokrzyskie. Index W4 for the Podkarpackie voivodeship is + 14.7%. However, for the Świętokrzyskie it is only + 3.7%. Summing up, the study analyzed four indicators showing the effects of land consolidation in southern Poland. The results obtained for these two voivodeships were similar. However, unsatisfactory in terms of the effects of land consolidation.

Infections in a Tertiary Care Pediatric Center in Southern Poland during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

The worldwide surge of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a global pandemic and led governments to control spread of the virus and provide care for the population affected by the infection. Although, in children, COVID-19 is usually asymptomatic or mild (except PIMS), the pandemic affected the whole socioeconomic system and led to the overwhelming of healthcare facilities. We report retrospective observations of the prevalence of various infectious diseases during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in a tertiary multidisciplinary pediatric center in Southern Poland. We retrospectively evaluated the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on the number of other infections diagnosed in a pediatric tertiary care referral center. Our analysis included the period from the beginning of February to the end of April 2020 (spring pandemic wave), and from the beginning of September to the end of November 2020 (autumn pandemic wave). We compared them to the appropriate periods of 2019. The evaluation included blood, urine, stool and lover respiratory tract cultures as well as virological investigations. Additionally, the costs of antibiotics and antifungal drugs in selected departments were assessed. Our analysis showed considerable reduction in the majority of common infections except for influenza A and B. The microbiological data correspond with economical summary of antibiotic costs, which were significantly lower during the pandemic. One exception was the number of positive blood cultures, which increased even though the overall number of tests was lower. A general reduction of the number of infections diagnosed in children could result from the implemented preventative measures associated with the pandemic and the generally increased awareness of the risk of infection among parents and guardians. The treatment of the most serious diseases continued as it did before the pandemic. To our knowledge, this study is the first attempt to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence of infections in a large pediatric center. Further research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the healthcare systems is necessary.

Effects of Open and Forest Habitats on Distribution and Diversity of Bumblebees (Bombus) in the Małopolska Upland (Southern Poland): Case Study

Bumblebees are an important insect group occurring in different land ecosystems, but the number of these species has declined dramatically across Poland as well as in Europe in recent years. The fragmentation of bumblebee habitats influences the abundance and richness in community composition and trophic and competitive interactions. During the years 2003–2006 and 2017–2020, we studied the diversity and distribution of bumblebee species in two natural (boron-mixed Vaccinio-Piceetea and riparian forest Querco-Fagetea) and two semi-natural (segetal-ruderal Stellarietea mediae ruderal Artemisietea vulgaris) habitats in southern Poland. For that, we evaluated how habitats as well as local flowering communities influenced bumblebees’ abundance, richness, and community composition in 16 sites (which are located in four parks). Bumblebee communities responded to environmental factors in different ways according to the type of habitat. Vegetation factors were the most important drivers of bumblebee community structures. Forests showed the lowest bumblebee abundance, richness, and diversity, and the highest dominance levels of these parameters were found in the open ruderal-segetal habitats. The meadows from the Molinio arrhenatheretea class were characterized by bumblebee communities with a more complex structure. Species diversity was positively correlated with open ruderal-segetal habitats, and negatively with mixed forest cover, while abundance was positively correlated with forest cover. Studies like this are necessary to anticipate the impact of habitat fragmentation on bumblebee decline.

Self-Silencing Strategies in Casual Conversations about Politics in Rural Poland

Self-silencing can be a discursive strategy for presenting personal opinions in casual conversations about politics, especially when these take place in an unpredictable or hostile socio-political environment. In such situations, political identities may be performed through the use of inferred forms, such as allusion, irony or implicit suggestion. In this article, forms of muting one’s voice by using indirect speech are tracked in interviews conducted among villagers in the mountainous Nowy Targ county in southern Poland at the beginning of the 21st century. The aim in presenting these examples is to show that sometimes selfsilencing can serve to make an adversary’s voice more audible, to help avoid definitive judgement and to create space for an exchange of opinions.

Nutritional Behaviors, Health Literacy, and Health Locus of Control of Secondary Schoolers in Southern Poland: A Cross-Sectional Study

Nutritional behaviors remain an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. It seems obvious that unfavorable health behaviors adopted in adolescence are maintained late in adulthood and may have a profound effect on health status. The main aim of this study was to assess the association between nutritional behaviors and health literacy (HL), health locus of control (HLC), and socioeconomic variables in secondary school pupils from a voivodship (the main unit of territorial division) in southern Poland. The analysis was based on dataTable from a paper-and-pencil survey taken by 2223 pupils from schools selected as the result of cluster sampling. The survey questionnaire encompassed a set of five items asking about dietary patterns and the consumption of fruit and vegetables as well as fast food, a European Health Literacy Project Questionnaire consisting of 47 items, the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) scale, and items asking about sociodemographic and economic variables. Uni- and multivariate logistic regression models have been developed to assess the predictors of indicator nutrition behaviors. The adjusted models revealed that internal HLC was not significantly associated with any of analyzed nutritional behaviors. “Powerful other HLC” and “Chance HLC” (dimension of external HLC) were significant predictors of the selected dietary patterns. Furthermore, higher HL was associated with higher consumption of fruit and vegetables [odds ratio, 95% confidence interval (OR, 95% CI)]: 1.02 (1.01–1.04) and with lower consumption of fast food (OR, 95% CI, 0.98, 0.95–0.999). There was a significant relationship between gender, the size of the household, self-assessed economic situation, expenditures on mobile phones, and weekly duration of Internet use and selected nutrition behaviors. In conclusion, developed regression models confirmed a significant relationship between HL and the types of consumed food, but not with dieting patterns. Contrary to earlier studies, internal HLC was not associated with nutrition behaviors. In our study, boys showed more favorable nutritional behaviors than girls. More intense use of the Internet was associated with less beneficial nutritional behaviors. This study brings important results that should have an impact on health promotion interventions addressed to adolescents in southern Poland.

Seismostratigraphic Interpretation of Upper Cretaceous Reservoir from the Carpathian Foreland, Southern Poland

The Upper Cretaceous complex in the central part of the Carpathian Foreland (southern Poland) is relatively poorly recognized and described. Its formations can be classified as unconventional reservoir due to poor reservoir properties as well as a low recovery factor. The main aim of the article is to expand knowledge with conclusions resulting from the analysis of the latest seismic data with the application of seismic sequence stratigraphy. Moreover, the seismic attributes analysis was utilized. The depositional architecture recognition based on both chronostratigraphic horizons and Wheeler diagram interpretations was of paramount importance. A further result was the possibility of using the chronostratigraphic image for tectonostratigraphic interpretation. Two distinguished tectonostratigraphic units corresponding to megasequences were recognized. A tectonic setting of the analyzed interval is associated with global processes noticed by other authors in other parts of the central European Late Cretaceous basin, but also locally accompanied by evidence of small-scale tectonics. This study fills the gap on the issue of paleogeography in the Late Cretaceous sedimentary basin of the Carpathian Foreland. It presents the first results of detailed reconstruction of the basin paleogeography and an attempt to determine the impact of both eustatic and tectonic factors on sedimentation processes.