The communities providing religious education and catechesis to Polish immigrants in England and Wales

Since Poland’s accession to the European Union in 2004, hundreds of thousands of Polish citizens have arrived in the UK in search of work, of which the majority landed in England and Wales. This process, although not as fast now, is still ongoing. The majority of immigrants from Poland are young people who start families and have children. Many of these children are born in the UK. For this reason, it is increasingly common for the children of Polish immigrants to be covered by the local school system. In addition to general knowledge, they also have the right to religious education and catechesis. This article presents a summary of the communities providing religious education and catechesis to Polish migrants living in England and Wales. It describes the specific features of religious education in state-run schools, Catholic schools and Polish Saturday Schools. The objectives of parish catechesis conducted by the Polish Catholic missions operating in England and Wales are also outlined. The primary objective of this discussion is to present the various options for religious education and catechesis for the children of Polish immigrants living in England and Wales.     

Linear conversion of pressure into concentration, rapid switching of concentration, and generation of linear ramps of concentration in a microfluidic device

Mixing of liquids to produce solutions with different concentrations is one of the basic functionalities of microfluidic devices. Generation of specific temporal patterns of concentration in microfluidic devices is an important technique to study responses of cells and model organisms to variations in the chemical composition of their environment. Here, we present a simple microfluidic network that linearly converts pressure at an inlet into concentration of a soluble reagent in an observation region and also enables independent concurrent linear control of concentrations of two reagents. The microfluidic device has an integrated mixer channel with chaotic three-dimensional flow that facilitates rapid switching of concentrations in a continuous range. A simple pneumatic setup generating linear ramps of pressure is used to produce smooth linear ramps and triangular waves of concentration with different slopes. The use of chaotic vs. laminar mixers is discussed in the context of microfluidic devices providing rapid switching and generating temporal waves of concentration.     

Future climate-induced pressures on painted wood

A broad category of cultural heritage objects are multilayer structures composed of organic, humidity-sensitive materials – wood, animal glue, paper, leather, bone or paints. They respond to variations in relative humidity (RH) in their environment by cyclically gaining and losing moisture, and consequently swelling and shrinking. Differences in the moisture response of the materials induce internal stresses in the individual layers of the structures, which cause objects to deform and crack. Polychrome wood is examined in detail. The cumulative physical damage of the design layer on wood due to repeated RH variations is quantified in terms of their magnitude and number of times they occur. The climatological risk index for accumulated, ‘fatigue’ damage is established, using a procedure to reduce irregular real-world climate histories into simple RH cycles of known damage impact. Using output from the Hadley Model (HadCM3) and simple transfer functions predicting indoor temperature and RH from outdoor climate, changes in the indoor climate through to 2100 were forecast for unheated buildings. European maps highlighting the areas in which painted wood may be significantly affected by climate change are presented.     

How does innovative continuous professional development (CPD) operate in the ECEC sector? Insights from a cross-analysis of cases in Denmark,Italy and Poland

This article offers insights into what characterises innovative continuous professional development (CPD) in the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC) by analysing similarities and differences from case studies of exemplary approaches to innovative CPD in Denmark, Italy and Poland. The comparative analysis focuses on four features that are particularly relevant for innovation in CPD in the field of ECEC: the social dimension of innovation as a strengthening component; the benefit of dynamic learning processes aimed at integrating theory and practice; the role of key figures in the quality of CPD; and measurements of CPD impact, outcomes and sustainability. This analysis sheds light on the effects of dynamic factors (e.g., regular team-based reflection sessions based on documentation and observation), the importance of work conditions (e.g., contractual obligations to provide time for reflection), the critical role of pedagogical leaders (coordinators, principals and head teachers, supervisors), the importance of inter-organisational networking at a local level and the facilitating role of collaboration with research institutes.     

‘If God Be for Us,Who Can Be Against Us?’: Religion and Religiousness in Polish Football, 2008–2017

Abstract

Relations between sport and religion constitute an intriguing field of research. The aim of this paper is to analyze the historical development of a religious face of Polish sport (mostly football). Religion – meaning here the Catholic Church, since Poland is an almost completely Catholic country – pervades sport in different ways. The teachings of Pope John Paul II, who appreciated the role of sport in developing the all-around integrated personality, are still often recalled in Poland. The paper includes several sections. First, the policy of the Church towards sport in the last decades is discussed; then, the question of sports chaplaincy in Poland is presented. Next, public manifestations of religious beliefs of football players, managers, and fans (for example, crossing oneself or fans’ choreographies with religious overtones) are analyzed. The main focus of interest is, however, very popular religious pilgrimages organized (since 2008) by the fans of most Polish clubs. The main objective is to examine some selected cases, representative of Polish football fandom of the last decades, showing the phenomenon clearly. The study has largely been based on historical and statistical data. The information about this period (2008–2017) was garnered mainly from newspapers and fans’ publications.     

HERIe: A Web-Based Decision-Supporting Tool for Assessing Risk of Physical Damage Using Various Failure Criteria

ABSTRACT

HERIe is a web-based decision-supporting software tool to facilitate the management of collection environments by precise assessment of climate-induced risk of physical damage to vulnerable objects. The software translates the relative humidity and temperature data recorded in the environment of the analysed object into a strain history experienced by it, and estimates the risk of physical damage using selected failure criteria. As all information is pre-calculated for the user, no engagement in complex and time-consuming numerical simulations is required. HERIe is available for testing at herie.mnk.pl. Detailed information on the methodologies used by the software is available at the above website which also contains tutorial climates. The current work aims at refining HERIe by selecting the damage criteria not only from laboratory studies but also from direct monitoring damage accumulation in objects, especially using the acoustic emission method. The software has been expanded to include moisture-induced response of parchment to support managing environments in libraries and archives.