Celebrating the nation: the case of Upper Silesia after the plebiscite in 1921

Book description: The relationship between states, societies, and individuals in Central and Eastern Europe has been characterised by periods of change and redefinition. The current political, economic, social and cultural climate necessitates a discussion of these issues, both past and present. It is this theme which the proposed publication intends to discuss using a selection of papers given at the 5 th Annual Postgraduate Conference on Central and Eastern Europe held at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) in 2003. The papers represent work from young international scholars from Europe and North America writing on Central and Eastern Europe. The book consists of seven papers and develops an interdisciplinary framework reflecting the range of topics discussed during the conference. It embraces the regional breadth of Central and Eastern Europe containing analyses of Russia, the former Soviet Republics, Central Europe and South Eastern Europe. The papers chosen cover a variety of fields and adopt a corresponding range of approaches with a view to assessing from a multidisciplinary perspective the relationship between state, society and individuals. The papers in the book have been ordered chronologically. The volume starts with an analysis by Julia Mannherz of social conflict in late imperial Russia and moves on to Sergei Zhuk’s discussion of the Stundist movement in Ukraine. The third paper from Stefan Detchev is a discussion of the late-nineteenth-century politics of commemoration surrounding the Bulgarian war of independence. The theme of the politics of commemoration is also present in Andrzej Michalczyk’s analysis of the commemoration of the plebiscite in Silesia by Germans and Poles during the interwar period. Michalczyk examines how a shared event is commemorated and interpreted differently by the two national groups. The idea of common and shared histories is further developed by Rüdiger Ritter in his study of the history and the historiography of post-Communist Poland, Belarus and Lithuania. The move into the contemporary period is completed in the final two papers. The use of historical imagery for political purposes is explored in Markus Wien’s study of the King Simeon II Party in Bulgaria as well as the way in which the historical image of the monarchy has been changed for political purposes during the transition from communism to democracy. The final paper by Maria Aluchna continues the discussion of the process of transition by examining the economic transformation from a communist command economic system to a modern capitalist economy

Integrative description of Macrobiotus canaricus sp. nov. with notes on M. recens (Eutardigrada : Macrobiotidae)

In this paper we describe Macrobiotus canaricus sp. nov., a new tardigrade species of the Macrobiotus hufelandi group from the Canary Islands. Moreover, with the use of DNA sequencing, we confirm that Macrobiotus recens Cuénot, 1932 represents the hufelandi group, even though eggs laid by this species do not exhibit the typical hufelandi group morphology. Our study is based on both classical taxonomic methods that include morphological and morphometric analyses conducted with the use of light and scanning electron microscopy, and on the analysis of nucleotide sequences of four molecular markers (three nuclear: 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, ITS-2, and one mitochondrial: COI). Our analyses revealed that M. canaricus sp. nov. is most similar to Macrobiotus almadai Fontoura et al., 2008 from the Archipelago of the Azores, from which it differs by the absence of granulation patches on the external and internal surfaces of legs I–III as well as by the absence of a cuticular pore in the centre of the external patch on legs I–III. Molecular sequences allowed us to pinpoint the phylogenetic positions of M. canaricus sp. nov. and M. recens within the M. hufelandi group

An integrative description of a population of Mesobiotus radiatus (Pilato, Binda & Catanzaro, 1991) from Kenya

In a moss sample collected from Mount Kulal in Kenya, a new population of Mesobiotus radiatus was found. Given that the original description of M. radiatus was based solely on the morphology observed by light microscopy and measurements based mostly on a single individual, here we describe the new population by means of integrative taxonomy and a large sample size. We provide an integrative description comprising a comprehensive set of morphometric and morphological data from light and scanning microscopy as well as nucleotide sequences of three nuclear fragments (18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, ITS-2) and one mitochondrial fragment (COI). Mesobiotus radiatus is most similar to M. binieki, M. coronatus, M. patiens, M. perfidus, M. philippinicus, M. pseudocoronatus, M. pseudopatiens, M. rigidus, M. simulans, and M. wuzhishanensis, but differs from them mainly by egg morphology and morphometry, and some characters of adult specimens

MODEL OF ACCOUNTING ENGINEERING IN VIEW OF EARNINGS MANAGEMENT IN POLAND

The article introduces the theoretical foundations of the author’s original concept of accounting engineering. We assume a theoretical premise whereby accounting engineering is understood as a system of accounting practice utilising differences in economic events resultant from the use of divergent accounting methods. Unlike, for instance, creative or praxeological accounting, accounting engineering is composed only, and under all circumstances, of lawful activities and adheres to the current regulations of the balance sheet law. The aim of the article is to construct a model of accounting engineering exploiting taking into account differences inherently present in variant accounting. These differences result in disparate financial results of identical economic events. Given the fact that regardless of which variant is used in accounting, all settlements are eventually equal to one another, a new class of differences emerges - the accounting engineering potential. It is transferred to subsequent reporting (balance sheet) periods. In the end, the profit “made” in a given period reduces the financial result of future periods. This effect is due to the “transfer” of costs from one period to another. Such actions may have sundry consequences and are especially dangerous whenever many individuals are concerned with the profit of a given company, e.g. on a stock exchange. The reverse may be observed when a company is privatised and its value is being intentionally reduced by a controlled recording of accounting provisions, depending on the degree to which they are justified. The reduction of a company’s goodwill in Balcerowicz’s model of no-tender privatisation allows to justify the low value of the purchased company. These are only some of many manifestations of variant accounting which accounting engineering employs. A theoretical model of the latter is presented in this article

THE ROLE OF ACCOUNTING ENGINEERING IN SHAPING THE BALANCE POLICY OF A COMPANY

The issue discussed in the present paper is associated with a theoretical view of accounting engineering in which it is perceived as covering activities based on the use of variant solutions permitted by Polish balance sheet law. These possibilities are defined as the accounting policy of a given company. Keeping the accounts of a business enterprise in accordance with the accounting engineering paradigm requires a full use of codified variant accounting. The accounting policy of a company should, in these respects, be characterized by entries which are the least precise and the most facultative. The view of accounting assumed in the present article sees it as an auxiliary science for management and organizational studies. In this respect, it is also synonymous with recognizing accounting engineering as a paradigm of company management

USE OF STATISTICAL METHODS IN DETECTING ACCOUNTING ENGINEERING ACTIVITIES (AS EXEMPLIFIED BY THE ACCOUNTING SYSTEM IN POLAND) – SECOND PART: EMPIRICAL ASPECTS OF ANALYSIS

This article is one in a series of two publications concerning detection of accounting engineering operations in use. Its conclusions and methods may be applied to external auditing procedures. The aim of the present duo-article is to define a method of statistical analysis that could identify procedures falling within the scope of a framework herein defined as accounting engineering. This model for analysis is meant to be employed in these aspects of initial financial and accounting audit in a business enterprise that have to do with isolating the influence of variant accounting solutions, which are a consequence of the settlement method chosen by the enterprise. Materials for statistical analysis were divided into groups according to the field in which a given company operated. In this article, we accept and elaborate on the premise that significant differences in financial results may be solely a result of either expansive policy on new markets or the acquisition of cheaper sources for operating activities. In the remaining cases, the choice of valuation and settlement methods becomes crucial; the greater the deviations, the more essential this choice becomes. Even though the research materials we analyze are regionally-conditioned, the model may find its application in other accounting systems, provided that it has been appropriately implemented. Furthermore, the article defines an innovative concept of variant accounting

Urban vulnerability analysis towards heat based on the example of the city Hanover

The exposure to heat is currently seen as the most important direct impact of climate change on human health (Menne 2011: 6f). In areas with high levels of sealing and low aeration, the overheating in cities leads to urban heat islands. This results in an acute need for action for urban and environmental planning to optimally exploit the potential of local measures to mitigate this stress situation for urban residents and to be able to localize the adaptation measures to the changing climate. Against this background, planning action is crucial to the reduction of vulnerability as well as the targeted establishment of adaptation capacities against the effects of climate change (BMVBS 2010: 10). This master-thesis aim to use a GIS-based analysis to accurately identify the vulnerabilities of the city of Hanover against heat (depending on the different adaptive capacities of the room). The work shows that against the background of increasing climate change, the determination of the vulnerability of urban areas plays a central role in maintaining healthy living quality. Furthermore, this work has shown that vulnerability analysis is a central starting point when it comes to identifying vulnerable uses of space against the effects of climate change and making them more adaptable through planning measures

WYSOKOŚĆ WYNIKU FINANSOWEGO PRZEDSIĘBIORSTW W ŚWIETLE POLSKIEGO PRAWA BILANSOWEGO

The aim of this paper is to show how accounting methods set forth in the Polish balance sheet law may affect the financial result of a business entity. The acceptance of variantablity as a model of the balance sheet law has deprived accounting of its methodological objectivity in relation to its subject which is defining the economic achievements of an enterprise. It is the enterprise management that, according to the Accountancy Act, has a right to choose the methods of accounting for the assets and liabilities of a given company or determining its financial outcome. Taking all the above into account, we observe a new phenomenon, namely that those who manage a business may also assess themselves. Such procedures call into question the possibility of using the control procedures by the capital owners. The paper also deals with the influence of particular items of the Polish balance sheet law on the financial outcome of a given enterprise in variant accounting.Celem artykułu jest wskazanie praktycznego wpływu metod rachunkowości (enumeratywnie wyszczególnionych w polskiej ustawie bilansowej) na wysokość wykazywanego przez przedsiębiorstwo wyniku finansowego. Artykuł omawia zagadnienia związane z wpływem prawa bilansowego na wyniki finansowe osiągane przez polskie przedsiębiorstwa. Przyjęcie wariantowości jako modelu prawa bilansowego pozbawiło rachunkowość metodologicznej obiektywności, dotyczącej przedmiotu jej odniesienia, jakim jest definiowanie osiągnięć ekonomicznych przedsiębiorstwa. Wobec faktu, że to zarząd przedsiębiorstw posiada, zgodnie z ustawą o rachunkowości, prawo wyboru metody rozliczeń aktywów i pasywów przedsiębiorstwa oraz określania wyniku finansowego, powstało zjawisko oceny osób zarządzających przez samych siebie. Fakt ten stawia również pod znakiem zapytania możliwości stosowania procedur kontrolnych przez właścicieli kapitału. W artykule omawia się te metody rozliczeń rachunkowości wariantowej, które mają wpływ na wynik finansowy osiągany przez przedsiębiorstwo

The influence of damping coating geometrical-material parameters on helical spring longitudinal vibration amplitudes

The influence of the geometrical and material parameters of damping coatings, covering helical spring wires, on the resonant longitudinal vibration amplitudes is presented in the paper. It is shown that coatings with geometrical parameters that are possible to obtain in practice allow the efficient reduction of the maximal amplitudes of these vibrations, when the materials used for coatings have properties specific for macromolecular polymers. The considerations are illustrated with numerical examples