On the north wall of Cracow's Church of the Annunciation (better known as the Carmelite Church at Piaski) hangs a long-ignored inscription. A simple stone tablet unprotected from the elements, its words have faded over the past century. One must strain to make out its cryptic message: “On September 11, 1883, Polish villagers gathered in Cracow solemnly celebrated the two hundredth anniversary of the relief of Vienna by John Sobieski, in remembrance of which this stone has been funded.”

Large thrust bearings are highly loaded machine elements and their failures cause seriouslosses. Start ups and stoppages of the bearing under load are specially critical regimesof operation. Load carrying capacity depends on the profile of the oil gap. In transientstates this profile is also changing. In the design of large thrust bearings minimizingthermo-elastic deformations is an important goal, which can be accomplished due toapplication of advanced models of the bearing. Modeling of transient states becomes evenmore complex since there is a dynamic development of temperature distribution anddeformations. Often hydrostatic jacking systems are also used. It seems to the authorsthat advanced bearing models are applied only in research and development of the bearingswhile very simple modeling is applied in on-line analysis of data from monitoring systems.Analysis of the measurement data with the use of more sophisticated models may be helpfulin assessment of current bearing status – especially in early warning. Material issuescreate a separate problem for modeling, being more important nowadays as polymer linedbearings come into use. The models used for polymer lined bearings require realistictreatment of heat exchange and resilience of the bearing surface layer.

Pi of the Sky is a system of wide field-of-view robotic telescopes which search for shorttimescale astrophysical phenomena, especially for prompt optical GRB emission. The systemis designed for autonomous operation, follows the predefined observing strategy and adoptsit to the actual conditions. We describe the current status of telescopes located in Chileand Spain and prospects for future development.

In this paper, we present a new analog set-up for non linear dielectric measurements. The device is based on the auto-balanced bridge principle used in impedance analyzers. Its main advantage is to operate at high frequencies in comparison with a classical current amplifier. This extension consists in extracting the harmonics of a non sinusoidal current crossing the material. The set-up is used to perform non linear dielectric measurements on a ferroelectric liquid crystal and shows better performances than a previously published digital set-up.

In the age of modern nationalisms, the first attempt that Poles made to construct a national landscape came in the last third of the nineteenth century. The stateless Poles, subjects of three different imperial powers, somehow managed to transform a remote mountain borderland along the internal Austro-Hungarian frontier into a recognizable and important national icon. While many attempts have been made to transform the natural environment into a national environment since then, this accomplishment helped to make the Carpathian Mountains, and in particular a section of them known as the Tatra Mountains, one of the most recognizable parts of “Poland,” however it is defined.

This paper concerns non linear dielectric spectroscopy in the SmC* phase of a ferroelectric liquid crystal. The experimental set-up and the procedure used to determine non linear permittivities are described. The results are discussed on the basis of the model proposed by Kimura et al. [Y. Kimura, S. Hara, R. Hayakawa, Phys. Rev. E 62, R5907 (2000); Y. Kimura, S. Hara, R. Hayakawa, Ferroelectrics 245, 61 (2000)]. A good agreement is obtained between the measurements and the theoretical predictions for $\epsilon^{*}_{3,3}$ and $\epsilon^{*}_{5,5}$ non linear permittivities. Some physical parameters of the material like the polarization, the rotational viscosity and the elastic term are determined. The polarization is found similar to this obtained with classical triangular wave method.

What happens when the modern world intrudes upon an isolated mountain region, particularly one that is a borderland par excellence? Patrice Dabrowski examines the moment of “discovery” of the most remote corner of Habsburg Galicia, the Carpathian Mountain region known as the Eastern Beskids and identified with its rugged yet artistically talented highland inhabitants, the Hutsuls. The discovery was facilitated by an ethnographic exhibition in Kołomyja, organized by the Czarnohora branch of the Tatra Society (Towarzystwo Tatrzańskie), which gained renown thanks to the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph at its opening in September 1880. The transformation of the region from terra incognita into a tourist destination for Poles, Ukrainians, and others has local, regional, national, and international dimensions and sheds light on interethnic relations within multiethic Galicia and beyond. This article represents a historiographical meeting point of studies of nations and nationalism, environmental history, and the study of tourism.

SrRuO3 (SRO) thin films were grown on SrTiO3 (100) substrates using the pulsed laser deposition method. The films' growth properties widely changed in response to different working oxygen partial pressures. An island growth mode was dominant for low pressures up to 10 mTorr followed by a step flow growth mode at 60 mTorr and step flow plus 2 D growth at 200 mTorr then reverting back to island growth at 300 mTorr. Significant out-of-plane strains of SRO films were observed for low growth pressures (up to 10 mTorr) but became notably reduced at 60 mTorr and continued to decrease gradually with further pressure increases. Formation of Ru vacancies occurs regardless of the working pressure values and appears to be minimized at 60 mTorr. Highest TC's were obtained in films exhibiting the step flow growth mode. The role of Ru deficiencies in relation to strain, growth mode, and magnetic properties is discussed.

We report on the new superconducting materials with the formula Ru1−xSr2GdCu2+xO8-z that have been synthesized under high-pressure oxygen conditions. By changing the ratio between Ru and Cu in the compound we were able to increase the temperature of the superconducting transition up to 72 K for x=0.3 and 0.4. Reentrant dependencies of the magnetization found at low temperatures are qualitatively explained assuming a quasi two-dimensional character of the superconducting regions. The magnetic characteristics of these compounds are discussed and compared to the existing data on RuSr2GdCu2O8 magnetic superconductor (Tc on=45K, TN=132 K).