High-throughput sequencing technologies, such as the Illumina Hi-seq, are powerful new tools for investigating a wide range of biological and medical problems. Massive and complex data sets produced by the sequencers create a need for development of statistical and computational methods that can tackle the analysis and management of data. The data normalization is one of the most crucial steps of data processing and this process must be carefully considered as it has a profound effect on the results of the analysis. In this work, we focus on a comprehensive comparison of five normalization methods related to sequencing depth, widely used for transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) data, and their impact on the results of gene expression analysis. Based on this study, we suggest a universal workflow that can be applied for the selection of the optimal normalization procedure for any particular data set. The described workflow includes calculation of the bias and variance values for the control genes, sensitivity and specificity of the methods, and classification errors as well as generation of the diagnostic plots. Combining the above information facilitates the selection of the most appropriate normalization method for the studied data sets and determines which methods can be used interchangeably.

Summary. A study of flora and fauna that concerned the groupings of parasitoids from the subfamily Pimplinae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) in the agricultural landscape with three levels of mosaic structure (low, medium and high) was used. The obtained data were analysed in terms of quality and quantity using 12 similarity measures and the results were presented in dendrograms. Later on, Mantel test was applied to verify the hypothesis on the similarity of the measures. Based on the dendrograms the similarity measure groups were specified. One of them contains Bray, Jaccard and Kulczynski measures, while the others include Horn and Morisita, Binomial and Gower, Euclidean and Manhattan, Chao and Mountford measures. The Canberr measure did not show any similarity to any of the analysed measures. The measures could be interchanged within a group during the study. The most suitable measures for comparing structural units of biocenoses turned out to be Bray, Jaccard and Kulczynski coefficients.

Modeling the thin-layer drying process for corn is described using 37 growth curve functions. The most effective functions were qualified by the application of Akaike Informa- tion Criterion and Bayesian Information Criterion. Both criteria showed that the thin-layer drying process for corn was best described by the baroreflex five-parameter function.

The wastewater from greenhouses has a high amount of mineral contamination and an environmentally-friendly method of removal is to use algae to clean this runoff water. The algae consume the minerals as part of their growth process. In addition to cleaning the water, the created algal bio-mass has a variety of applications including production of bio-diesel, animal feed, products for pharmaceutical and cosmetic purposes, or it can even be used as a source of heating or electricity . The aim of this paper is to develop a model of algae production and use this model to investigate how best to optimize algae farms to satisfy the dual goals of maximizing growth and removing mineral contaminants. With this aim in mind the paper is split into five main sections. In the first a review of the biological literature is undertaken with the aim of determining what factors effect the growth of algae. The second section contains a review of exciting mathematical models from the literature, and for each model a steady-state analysis is performed. Moreover, for each model the strengths and weaknesses are discussed in detail. In the third section,a new two-stage model for algae production is proposed, careful estimation of parameters is undertaken and numerical solutions are presented. In the next section, a new one-dimensional spatial-temporal model is presented, numerically solved and optimization strategies are discussed. Finally, these elements are brought together and recommendations of how to continue are drawn.