For at least two centuries Europeans, in particular the political elites of Europe, have assumed that modernity and the rational character of the civilization require a marginalization of religion. A separation and juxtaposition of reason and faith, sci-ence and religion or the state and the church are regarded as almost obvious. Gradual-ly the legitimate principle of religious freedom has started to be understood as a pos-tulate of “purification” of public life from any references to sacrum and religion itself as an area of irrational and random opinions has been located in the private sphere. This has led to the conviction that religion (Christianity) does not have or should not have any significance in social life, the public order, the legal system or the widely understood political sphere . The central issue of the paper, which is the possibility of reversing the direction taken by European civilization, is conditioned not only by making the secularist policy of the West more friendly towards Christian tradition (for instance by grounding it on natural law) but still more by the revitalization of religious life of the Churches and Christian communities.

This article shows incidents associated with the use of gas as an energy carrier. It presents selected incidents which have occurred in Poland and around the world in recent decades. Based on this, consequences of gas and air mixture explosions were analysed as well. The article presents the main causes of gas incidents which have taken place, as per instances which are similar worldwide. Incidents associated with the use of gas are not frequent, but at the same time very tragic as they often lead to illness or even death. In Poland, in the last twenty years, construction area disasters caused by gas explosions account for only 5% of all which have occurred, but the number of fatalities resulting from these cases is approximately 14%. The number of individuals injured reached 39% of all construction disaster victims. Considering all these facts, it is necessary to undertake wide preventive measures in order to increase safety in the use of gaseous fuels.

Baltic Europe, i.e. the sea and inland hinterland, form a unique macro-regional unit. Strong collaboration links as well as competition in the Baltic Sea Region are an inherent feature of the region from the beginnings of its civilization development. The article shows the forty-year-long Baltic integration process and the Polish scientific contribution to the process. Since 2004, the Baltic has become an internal EU sea. This fact no doubt strengthened cooperation of the countries around the Baltic Sea. In many spheres, these ties take the form of networking. An important stimulus for further integrations is the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. Political stabilisation and economic development may transform, in a longer time span, the emerging transnational Baltic Europe into a new economic and cultural European centre.

Chromosome numbers of 46 Hieracium L. and Pilosella Vaill. taxa from Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia are presented. Chromosomes numbers are given for the first time for Hieracium amphigenum Briq. 2n = 3× = 27, H. bohatschianum Zahn 2n = 4× = 36, H. borbasii R. Uechtr. 2n = 4× = 36, H. cernuum Friv. 2n = 2× = 18, H. hazslinszkyi Pax 2n = 3× = 27, H. mirekii Szeląg 2n = 4× = 36, H. polyphyllobasis (Nyár. & Zahn) Szeląg 2n = 3× = 27, H. porphyriticum A. Kern. 2n = 4× = 36, H. racemosum Waldst. & Kit. ex Willd. subsp. racemosum 2n = 3× = 27, H. scardicum Borm. & Zahn 2n = 4× = 36, H. sparsum subsp. ipekanum Rech. fil. & Zahn 2n = 4× = 36, H. sparsum subsp. peristeriense Behr & Zahn, H. sparsum subsp. squarrosobracchiatum Behr & al. 2n = 3× = 27, H. tomosense Simk. 2n = 4× = 36, H. tubulare Nyár. 2n = 4× = 36, H. werneri Szeląg 2n = 3× = 27 and Pilosella fusca subsp. subpedunculata (Zahn) Szeląg, as well as five species of Hieracium sect. Cernua R. Uechtr. not described to date and a hybrid between H. bifidum s. lat. and H. pojoritense Woł

Chromosome numbers for 15 taxa of Hieracium L. s.str. from Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Poland, Romania

and Slovakia are given and their metaphase plates are illustrated. Chromosome numbers are published for the

first time for H. vagneri Pax s.str. (2n = 4x = 36), H. wiesbaurianum subsp. herculanum Zahn (2n = 4x = 36),

H. wiesbaurianum subsp. kelainephes Nyár. & Zahn (2n = 3x = 27), as well as for two undescribed species

of hybrid origin between H. umbellatum L. and H. wiesbaurianum s.lat. (2n = 3x = 27), and between H. sparsum

Friv. and H. schmidtii s.lat. (2n = 3x = 27), and for three undescribed species of the H. djimilense agg.

(2n = 3x = 27), H. heldreichii agg. (2n = 3x = 27), and H. sparsum agg. (2n = 3x = 27). Furthermore, the chromosome

numbers of two undescribed species of hybrid origin between H. umbellatum L. and H. wiesbaurianum

s.lat. (2n = 3x = 27), and between H. sparsum Friv. and H. schmidtii s.lat. (2n = 3x = 27) are given. A new,

tetraploid chromosome number is given for H. barbatum Tausch from the northernmost locality of the species

in Europe.

The paper attempts to approach some peculiarities of the two branches of the early Slavs (Sclaveni and Antes), as the Byzantine sources of the sixth and early seventh centuries present them as being similar. Within this context the following are examined: a) the origin and ethnic identity of the Sclaveni and the Antes, taking into account certain historiographical models on the early Slavs, as well as the controversial issue of the ethnic identity of the Antes (Slavic or Iranian) and the etymology of their name; b) the material culture: under consideration are the Prague and Penkovka cultures, identifi ed with the Sclaveni and the Antes respectively, their common elements and peculiarities, their mutual infl uences as well as infl uences from other cultures; c) the political and social organization: the internal structures of the Sclaveni and the Antes, taking into account the testimony of Jordanes, Procopius and Maurice, the references in other sources to the titles of chieftains, or a kind of genealogy into the early Slavic society, as well as the treaty of Byzantium with the tribal union of the Antes are under scrutiny. The paper draws the conclusion that the Sclaveni and the Antes shared similarities, but actually were not one and the same at all, as it appears in the Byzantine sources. Furthermore, the peculiarities that appear the political-social organization and the material culture of the Antes, due to their historical and cultural evolution, are not of a degree that could dispute their Slavic ethnic and cultural identity.

In this article the author tries to resolve the problem of what is the relation (is it a dialogue?) between Christianity and the European culture in the past and today. He tries to see it in the light of John Paul II’s teaching in a few steps: the role of Christianity in the origin of Europe, the role of Christianity in the history of Europe, the role of Christianity in the identity of Europe and its culture, and the modern European culture in its relation to Christianity. Christianity has created Europe and the culture (and ethos) of dialogue. Christianity was present in – sometimes tragic – history of Europe motivating many positive changes, although christians were not always following the principles of their religion. Christianity is the most important element of the Europe’s identity and culture, although during its history some other elements, far from Christianity, appeared. Modern european culture, which is still in a process of building its identity, consists of many tendencies – far or close to christianity. far from it do not dialogue with it, but close to it – do so. Christianity and the Church, who represents it, is ready to the dialogue, although she is aware of its diffculties and necessity.

Being more sensitive to economic fluctuations, childbearing postponement increased during the second demographic transition and was accompanied by a moderate decline in the number of children per woman and the progressive rise of mother’s age at first birth. Under the hypothesis that recessions have a marked influence on population dynamics, the present study investigates spatial changes in mother’s age at birth in Greece with the aim to assess the differential impact of economic crisis along the urban-rural gradient. The percent composition of births by mother's age class – considered a gross indicator of fertility under a changing socioeconomic context – was studied at 4 spatial scales (the whole country, administrative regions, prefectures and metropolitan areas or specific economic districts) over an economic cycle from expansion to recession (1980–2016). While stimulating childbearing postponement observed since the early 1980s, empirical results of this study indicate that the 2007 recession was quite neutral on fertility trends in Greece, consolidating the traditional divide between urban and rural areas.

During fieldwork in the early 1990s at the then still active quarry near Nasiłów, on the left bank of the River Vistula (Wisła), accompanied by Professor Andrzej Radwański, some lobster remains were collected. A fragmentary anterior portion of a decapod crustacean carapace, recovered from a level about 2 m below the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary, in a siliceous chalk unit locally referred to as ‘opoka’, constitutes the oldest record of the thaumastocheliform genus Dinochelus Ahyong, Chan and Bouchet, 2010, D. radwanskii sp. nov. The other, more complete, individual is from c. 3 m above the K/Pg boundary, coming from marly gaizes or ‘siwak’; this is ascribed to a new species of Hoploparia M’Coy, 1849, H. nasilowensis sp. nov., the first to be recorded from Danian (lower Paleocene) strata. Although both ‘opoka’ and ‘siwak’ facies in the Nasiłów area are very rich in diverse biota, including some brachyurans, no macruran remains had so far been recorded from the region.

The aim of the article is to present international economic integration as one of the mega trends that infl uence on the redefi nition of the factors of socio-economic development. The research procedure includes three stages. In the fi rst stage, the most important modern mega trends of socio-economic changes are organized in a synthetic way. In the second step, the genesis and changes of the process of international economic integration are elaborated. In the third stage, the infl uence of international economic integration on the changes of factors of socio-economic development is systematized. This study is being carried out as part of the FORSED research project (http://www.forsed.amu.edu.pl) fi nanced by the National Science Center as part of OPUS competition 10 – 2015/19/B/HS5/00012: New challenges of regional policy in shaping the socio-economic development factors of less developed regions.

This paper examines the Albanian state–nation constellation in the Balkans in the light of the European Union (EU) integration process with a focus on citizenship configurations in Kosovo and Albania. It addresses an important puzzle: why legal norms of citizenship do not follow the emerging practice of stronger trans-border co-operation in the Albanian ethnic and cultural space. The study shows that the process of EU integration is the key to understanding and explaining this puzzle, for it provides an opportunity for ‘constructive ambiguity’ around which both ethnic and statist brands of Albanian na-tionalism, as well as various elite fractions, can coalesce and coexist. In a wider context, Albanian citizenship configurations are shaped by the ever-evolving complex relationship between nation, state and Europe.

Chromosome numbers for 15 taxa of Hieracium s.lat. (including two taxa of Pilosella Vaill.) from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia are given and their metaphase plates are illustrated. Chromosome numbers are published for the first time for H. pannosum subsp. parnassi Nägeli & Peter from Greece (3x and 4x), and for an undescribed species of H. sect. Cernua from North Macedonia (4x). A new, diploid chromosome number was found in H. bracteolatum s.lat. from Greece.

The Polish Young Academy urges Members of the European Parliament and Polish government to act against the proposed cuts in the budget of Horizon Europe in 2021–2027 and to restore it at least to the initially agreed sum.

When it comes to research into changes which took place in Poland in the 10th and the first half of the 11th century and the emergence of the Piast dynasty’s state, the presence of an ethnically foreign population, its conditioning and effects have not been fully recognised. The few historiographical sources do not devote much attention to the arrival of foreign tribes; the single mentions typically pertain to the representatives of the elites, especially dynasties. Attempts have been made to analyse the phenomena by means of toponomastics and archaeology. Due to their ambiguity and late source confirmations, the results of toponomastic surveys do not allow to resolve the issue of migrations or displacement from the 10–11th centuries independently. However, the archaeological research carried out to date has revealed (beside a number of single historical objects related to the culture of Poland’s southern neighbours) grave fields and strongholds which could be potentially related to the representatives of foreign ethnic groups. The Poznań-Sołacz grave field (2nd half of the 10th century) and the Morawy grave field in Kuyavia (2nd half of the 11th century or possibly earlier) are related to a population from (Great) Moravia. Presence of a Hungarian population is traditionally attributed to the “old Hungarian” grave field in Przemyśl-Zasanie (dating back from the late 9th to the first quarter of the 11th century). On the other hand, the stronghold and the grave field in Niemcza in Silesia (dated back to the 970s and 980s) are connected with a Czech population. Unconfirmed grave fields and a handful of artefacts of Great Moravian origin are typical remains of strongholds in Gilów in Silesia and Czerchów near Łęczyca where presence of foreign warriors has not been ruled out. A question remains to what extent the material determinants of a foreign culture indicate presence of representatives of different ethnic groups and to what extent they are imports or copies. Undoubtedly, in a discussion of a foreign population genetic research may prove helpful, especially in grave fields associated with foreign populations. However, in order to analyse the issue in a comprehensive way, an interdisciplinary approach is required i.e. a combination of the methods of historical, archaeological and genetic research.