Attitudes Toward and Effectiveness of the Cause-Related Marketing Initiatives in the Polish Culture

The study examines attitudes toward and effectiveness of cause-related marketing initiatives in Poland. As the results indicate, the factors, which lead to the popularity and effectiveness of the cause-related marketing initiatives in the United States and the United Kingdom, lack in the Polish culture. Even though CRM is popular in Poland, it does not influence the purchase decisions. Poles do not have any expectations toward businesses in the area of corporate social responsibility. They believe that the government should take the responsibility for solving social issues, and value only the functional dimensions of the products, because their emotional needs are fully satisfied by their families, friends and religion

The Efficiency of Polish Stock Market: Ordinal Patterns Approach

Zunino et al. analyzed the problem of discrimination of developed and emergent markets by the use of ordinal patterns methods: number of forbidden patterns and ordinal pattern probability distribution as a basis for entropy and statistical measure of complexity. In this paper we apply the same methodology for the analysis of Polish stock market (index WIG). The results indicate that Polish market belongs neither to developed, nor to emergent groups of markets. It represents hybrid market, the third group distinguished in the paper by Zunino et al

The shape of anterior-posterior spinal curvatures in the sagittal plane in girls playing handball

Celem pracy była ocena kształtu krzywizn kręgosłupa u 112 dziewcząt o różnym stopniu aktywności fizycznej. Grupę badawczą stanowiły dziewczęta – piłkarki ręczne w wieku 8-17 lat należące do Klubu Piłki Ręcznej Kobierzyce. Ze względu na dużą rozbieżność wiekową grupę podzielono na dwie podgrupy: młodsze piłkarki (8-12 lat, N = 30) oraz starsze (13-17, N = 25). Następnie wyznaczono dwie grupy kontrolne – młodsze i starsze dziewczęta nietrenujące żadnej dyscypliny sportowej. Wszystkie dziewczęta zostały przebadane metodą fotogrametryczną. Na podstawie otrzymanych wyników dokonano analizy parametrów płaszczyzny strzałkowej. Zbadano częstość występowania typów i podtypów postawy ciała w płaszczyźnie strzałkowej metodą Wolańskiego w modyfikacji Zeyland-Malawki oraz występowanie postawy prawidłowej i nieprawidłowej u piłkarek ręcznych w porównaniu do nietrenujących rówieśniczek. Stwierdzono, iż dominującym typem postawy u piłkarek ręcznych (młodszych i starszych) był typ kifotyczny. Przyczyn tej tendencji doszukiwano się w specyfice treningu sportowego piłkarzy, w którym znaczną część stanowił bieg z piłką w pochylonej postawie ciała.The aim of the study was the evaluation of spinal curvatures of 112 girls, characterized by diverse physical fitness habits. The research was carried out among female handball players, aged 8-17 years, members of the Handball Club in Kobierzyce. Due to the age differences, two subgroups were examined: younger group (8-12 years old girls, N = 30) and older one (13-17 years old girls, N = 25). Then, two control groups were determined, consisted of younger and older girls, not subjected to regular professional training. The body posture was measured by means of photogrammetric method. On the basis of the results, the parameters of the sagittal plane, were analyzed. The incidence of types and subtypes of body posture in the sagittal plane was investigated by Wolański method with Zeyland-Malawki modifications. The same technique was used to examine the presence of normal and abnormal postures in both groups. It was found that the kyphotic type of the posture was dominant in the handball players (young and old). The reason for this tendency was the specificity of the training, in which a significant part was running with the ball in the bending position

Generalised heart rate statistics reveal neurally mediated homeostasis transients

Distributions of accelerations and decelerations, obtained from increments of heart rate recorded during a head-up tilt table (HUTT) test provide short-term characterization of the complex cardiovascular response to a rapid controlled dysregulation of homeostasis. A generalised statistic is proposed for evaluating the neural reflexes responsible for restoring the homeostatic dynamics. An evaluation of the effects on heart rate of the neural regulation involved in achieving homeostasis indicates a distinction between vasovagal patients and healthy subjects who are not susceptible to spontaneous fainting. A healthy cardiovascular response to the HUTT test is identified in the sympathetic tone appropriately punctuated by vagal activity

Ordinal pattern statistics for the assessment of heart rate variability

The recognition of all main features of a healthy heart rhythm (the so-called sinus rhythm) is still one of the biggest challenges in contemporary cardiology. Recently the interesting physiological phenomenon of heart rate asymmetry has been observed. This phenomenon is related to unbalanced contributions of heart rate decelerations and accelerations to heart rate variability. In this paper we apply methods based on the concept of ordinal pattern to the analysis of electrocardiograms (inter-peak intervals) of healthy subjects in the supine position. This way we observe new regularities of the heart rhythm related to the distribution of ordinal patterns of lengths 3 and 4

Review and Analysis of Publication Trends over Three Decades in Three High Impact Medicine Journals

<div><p>Context</p><p>Over the past three decades, industry sponsored research expanded in the United States. Financial incentives can lead to potential conflicts of interest (COI) resulting in underreporting of negative study results.</p><p>Objective</p><p>We hypothesized that over the three decades, there would be an increase in: a) reporting of conflict of interest and source of funding; b) percentage of randomized control trials c) number of patients per study and d) industry funding.</p><p>Data sources and Study Selection</p><p>Original articles published in three calendar years (1988, 1998, and 2008) in The Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine and Journal of American Medical Association were collected.</p><p>Data Extraction</p><p>Studies were reviewed and investigational design categorized as prospective and retrospective clinical trials. Prospective trials were categorized into randomized or non-randomized and single-center or multi-center trials. Retrospective trials were categorized as registries, meta-analyses and other studies, mostly comprising of case reports or series. Study outcomes were categorized as positive or negative depending on whether the pre-specified hypothesis was met. Financial disclosures were researched for financial relationships and profit status, and accordingly categorized as government, non-profit or industry sponsored. Studies were assessed for reporting COI.</p><p>Results</p><p>1,671 original articles were included in this analysis. Total number of published studies decreased by 17% from 1988 to 2008. Over 20 year period, the proportion of prospective randomized trials increased from 22 to 46% (p < 0.0001); whereas the proportion of prospective non-randomized trials decreased from 59% to 27% (p < 0.001). There was an increase in the percentage of prospective randomized multi-center trials from 11% to 41% (p < 0.001). Conversely, there was a reduction in non-randomized single-center trials from 47% to 10% (p < 0.001). Proportion of government funded studies remained constant, whereas industry funded studies more than doubled (17% to 40%; p < 0.0001). The number of studies with negative results more than doubled (10% to 22%; p<0.0001). While lack of funding disclosure decreased from 35% to 7%, COI reporting increased from 2% to 84% (p < 0.0001).</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>Improved reporting of COI, clarity in financial sponsorship, increased publication of negative results in the setting of larger and better designed clinical trials represents a positive step forward in the scientific publications, despite the higher percentage of industry funded studies.</p></div

Important features of the multicenter randomized clinical trials.

<p>Important features of the multicenter randomized clinical trials.</p

Patterns in trial design.

<p>Patterns in trial design.</p

Study outcomes amongst all published articles within calendar years.

<p>Study outcomes amongst all published articles within calendar years.</p