In this study, an old rotational landslide that has reactivated in the NW sector of an open-pit mine operated within the gneiss rock unit was evaluated for geological and hydrogeological properties. The pit slopes were susceptible to mass movement when there were variations in water inflows. Considering this fact, a conceptual numerical model concerning geostructural features, rainfall infiltration, and varying hydrological conditions was constructed. Initially, finite element (FE) groundwater seepage analyses were performed to evaluate the effect of water flow on stability in the dry and rainy seasons. The rainy season was simulated by vertical infiltration. Since the dewatering measures are of importance in open pit slope instability mitigation, pumping wells were designed to control water flow through the disturbed zone to improve the stability of the sector that can be triggered again with changing environmental conditions. The performance and organization of the pumping wells were also simulated in the FE model. This FE model was part of a dewatering plan. From this, the effect of the pumping rate from the wells on the stability of the sector was revealed. It was also found that there should be an increase in the pumping rate in the rainy season.

The article is intended as a voice in the discussion on language aptitude, with particular regard to its two components: memory and language analytic ability. It will be argued here that – unlike memory, favoured by Skehan (2003) – it may be the language analytic ability manifested, among others, as considerable dexterity in re-trieving constructional schematizations to decode language innovation, which grows in importance with learner proficiency. It will also be stated that both capacities, the said ability as well as memory, should be considered in relation to working memory, which should be understood in terms of storage and processing considered separately and ascribed to individual differences, and not as a homogenuous storage-and-processing space.

To verify the above claim, a study was carried out in the years 2007-2008 in three groups of advanced EFL learners (N=60) at three different levels of language proficiency (B1/B2, N=20; C1, N=20; and C2, N=20). All testees were asked to solve two tests which required interpreting 32 (16/test) skeletal sentences containing schematic representations of events such as X verbed Y. The only given in each sentence was the verb, a product of noun-to-verb conversion1 like to bottle or to buoy. In Test 1 the constructions chosen for interpretation were highly schematic (in-, mono- and ditransitive); as a result, the testees had to deal with sentential constructions such as X bottled Y or X buoyed. Test 2, on the other hand, included examples of complex substantive constructions2 such as X buttered home (where the verb slot is reserved for verbs of motion) or X kept Y bungeed (where only the fi nal slot is open to inter-pretation). The present article presents a comparative analysis of the results of both tests on the three different levels mentioned above. Their interpretation and following conclusions are based on VanPatten’s Input Processing (VanPatten 1990, 2004), Cowan et al.’s model of working memory (Cowan et al. 2005), and Truscott and Sharwood-Smi-th’s Acquisition by Processing Theory (APT; Truscott and Sharwood-Smith 2004). Towards the end of the article, all this is related to the discussion of language aptitude: its components, with special regard to the afore mentioned two: memory and analytic language ability; the importance of the two components as regards different perspec-tives on language aptitude (CALP vs. BICS; Cummins 1983).

Due to the skin effect of eddy currents, the depth of cracks which can be detected by the traditional eddy current probe is very limited. In order to improve the ability of eddy current probes to inspect deep cracks in metal thick-walled structures, a new eddy current probe using an excitation system with phase shifted fields was proposed. Its feasibility for detecting deep cracks was verified by simulation and experiments. The results showed that the penetration depth of eddy currents in austenitic stainless steel is effectively enhanced by using the new probe.

This essay deals with, or rather attempts to explore, the problem of irony and humour (sensu largo) in the Bible. On the whole Polish theology, homiletics and academic biblical studies have hardly anything to say about it, and when they do mention it, it is done in a rather perfunctory and unsatisfactory manner. This article asks what may be reasons for this ‘exegetical retouch’ (tabooing?), i.e. why has the question of biblical irony, which is a staple of international scholarship, received so little attention in Poland? Why do contemporary Polish biblical and homiletic studies cultivate a staid and solemn tone, and steer clear of a direct and plain exposition laced with subtle irony and a touch of asteism, a sure sign of a wise sense of humour that characterizes ancient Judaism? For Gary Webster, Terri Bednarz and Yehuda Radday the recognition level of biblical humour, sophisticated wordplay or irony depends on the reader’s competence, his linguistic and cultural sensitivity, his ability to detect cognitive presuppositions, and his knowledge of relevant contexts. Yet even a thorough understanding of the biblical text and its cultural conditioning cannot rule out doubts, moot points and interpretative dilemmas that bedevil the work of every translator and hermeneutic analyst and stoke up unending debates.

The calcareous microfossil assemblage from Middle Miocene strata of SHALDRIL Site NBP0602A−5D consists of bent hic foraminifera, ostracods, bivalves, and gastropods, and is interpreted as shallow−water. It appears to be reworked but its age is probably similar to the age of the host sediment, which contains only rare, fragmented, agglutinated foraminifera. Most of the calcareous taxa are of uncertain taxonomic affiliation, due to the scarcity of Cenozoic microfossils of this age from West Antarctica, and also the very different paleohabitat of this now extinct assemblage.