The Determinants of Economic Growth in Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic During the Years 1995-2010

The main goal of the research is to obtain a comprehensive examination of the economic growth determinants in Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic (CEEC-4) since 1995. For this purpose, two methodological approaches have been applied: the Solow growth accounting and the non-parametric approach. At the beginning of the analysis, in order to obtain a general overview of the sources of economic growth in the former transition countries of Central Eastern Europe, the Solow growth accounting has been conducted. It decomposes the growth rate of output into contributions from changes in the quantity of the physical capital stock, the amount of labour input and some other unexplained factor commonly interpreted as reflecting technological progress and called the “Solow residual” or “Total Factor Productivity (TFP)”. The hypothesis that technological progress together with strong capital accumulation were the dominant factors behind the economic growth and convergence process in the Central Eastern European countries before the crisis is tested. As the Solow growth accounting does not reveal the driving forces behind the technological progress and, thus, a large part of the growth decomposition remains unexplained in the transition economies, the non-parametric approach has been employed to shed more light on the ultimate sources of economic growth in the CEEC-4. The non-parametric (production-frontier) method enables the further decomposition of changes in total factor productivity into changes in the efficiency of production and technological changes. Furthermore, it allows accounting for human capital accumulation, since improvements in quality of labour are also reflected in TFP growth

The Determinants of Economic Growth in Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic since the Transition

This dissertation aims to analyse the economic growth determinants in four Central Eastern European countries (CEE-4) - Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic - since their transition from centrally planned to free market economies. The time span of research encompasses the years from 1995 (when these countries passed beyond their lowest output levels since the economic transformation) till 2018. The CEE-4 countries have been chosen based on their direct geographical proximity with Western Europe, in particular with its most advanced economy - Germany, and their adoption of different approaches to conducting market reforms. The thesis closely examines the linkages between geographical location, trade and financial flows in the region prior to and after the accession to the European Union (EU), and the outcome of complex reforms for economic growth in the CEE-4. Following the introduction in Chapter 1, in order to obtain a general overview of the sources of economic growth in the CEE-4 countries the Solow growth accounting and the non-parametric approach have been presented in Chapter 2. The findings obtained from the above decomposition methods provide support for a hypothesis that technological progress together with strong capital accumulation were the dominant factors behind the economic growth and convergence process in the CEE-4 countries in the post-transition years. Chapter 3 investigates financial interlinkages of the CEE-4 with Western Europe. It provides a valuable assessment of a distinctive “development model” pursued by the CEE-4 region since the transition, of which financial integration - in the form of large capital inflows and an increasing presence of foreign banks - has been an integral part. It has allowed the CEE-4 economies to enter a growth path driven by domestic demand financed substantially by foreign savings. The study provides an assessment of the impact of the global financial crisis and European debt crisis on capital flows into the CEE-4 region. The main contribution of this chapter has been an in-depth empirical study of factors affecting credit growth in Central Eastern and South-Eastern Europe (CESEE) in the years 2012-2016 based on the Bank Lending Survey (BLS) of the European Investment Bank. It allows to account for cross-border effects, namely home-host country macroeconomic conditions and parent-subsidiary banks’ characteristics and health, while controlling systematically for the answers from the BLS. The purpose of Chapter 4 has been an analysis of the business cycles synchronisation of the CEE-4 countries with economic cycles of Germany iii and the Euro area. The analysis of the interdependencies between the business cycles is important in monitoring the effectiveness of pursued economic policies in the CEE-4 region since the transition. Studying the degree of synchronization of the CEE-4 business cycles is also vital in connection with the future introduction of the Euro in Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. To this end, the time series analysis methods have been introduced in this study, which focus on an analysis in the domain of both time (cross-correlation analysis) and frequency (cross-spectral analysis). This allows obtaining a more comprehensive picture of the dependencies between the business cycles of the CEE-4 countries and the economic cycle of Germany and the Euro zone. The analysis shows that fluctuations in economic activity in the CEE-4 countries have become over time, to a relatively large extent, synchronized with the business cycles of Germany and the whole Euro area. Chapter 5 examines the impact of macroeconomic and institutional factors on economic growth in the CEE-4 countries since the transition. The building of a market economy in the region required deep macroeconomic reforms and the creation of a wide range of institutions and business practices needed to support those reforms. To examine significant changes which have occurred in the last two decades in the region, a wide range of macroeconomic and demographic variables as well as key institutional indicators have been analysed. For this purpose, a new approach has been employed based on the Bayesian Model Sampling (BMS), which implements Bayesian Model Averaging for linear regression models. This comprehensive study also provides an empirical analysis of growth determinants in the CEE-4 region in comparison to the Euro area-12 group as well as within the EU-28 block

Sirtuin as the target of anti-cancer therapy

Sirtuins is a group of nicotinamide dinucleotide (NAD +) - dependent, which have deacetylation and ADP-ribosylation activity. They work by detaching the acetyl group from the lysine residue of the histones, thanks to which they influence the control of gene expression. There are 7 classes of sirtuins due to the type of enzymatic activity and the cellular compartment in which they occur. They have a significant impact on the cell cycle, cellular process, including glucose metabolism, fat differentiation, fatty acid oxidation, neurogenesis, carcinogenesis and the aging process. Due to its unique properties, compounds are sought that can control the concentration of sirtuins in the body. One of such substances is resveratrol. It is a naturally occurring polyphenol that has a number of positive effects on the body. It works by increasing the concentration of NAD +, which is a sirtuin cofactor. It occurs naturally, and its greatest concentration is found in grapes and peanuts. It has a beneficial effect in the treatment of pancreatic, colon, breast, prostate and liver cancer. Research indicates that there is a potential for resveratrol supplementation to have positive health effects. However, there is still a need for more research on resveratrol, particularly in animal models. Determining the effectiveness of this chemical as an anti-cancer agent can be a major area of research and clinical trials

Variability of the runoff coefficient for selected catchments in the upper Vistula river catchment

The runoff coefficient is one of the basic hydrological characteristics of the catchment. It can be determined using multiannual, periodic, or annual data measurement sequences. The variability of the runoff coefficient can be influenced by the terrain, the land cover, and the land-use in the catchment, among other things. The present study is an attempt to analyse changes in the runoff coefficient over a period of 30 years (1984–2013) for 49 gauging sections located in the Carpathian part of the Upper Vistula catchment. An additional analysis was carried out to study the impact of changes in the land cover and land-use of the catchment on the value of the runoff coefficient. Rainfall and daily flows data was made available by IMGW-PIB, whereas land cover and land-use data of the catchment come from the CORINE Land Cover system (1990, 2000, 2000, and 2012)

CO2 sorption and regeneration properties of fly ash zeolites synthesized with the use of differentiated methods

Production of fly ash zeolites may be an attractive method for the utilization of solid wastes from the energy sector. Different methods of synthesis often yield a variety of zeolite types, thereby affecting the properties of the resulting materials. The attention paid to carbon dioxide emission reduction technologies fully justifies the study of the sorption behaviours of fly ash zeolites synthesized by different methods. This work investigates the sorption properties of fly ash zeolites synthesized with different methods using CO2. Sorption capacity and adsorption isotherms were determined following the volumetric method and textural parameters were resolved according to the Dubinin-Astakhov (DA) method. The CO2 sorption capacity was in the range 0.24–4.16¿mmol/g. The relationships between structure and sorption behaviour were studied for each synthesis method. Some strong similarities between commercial zeolites and fly ash zeolites were found. The mechanism for sorption was proved to be physisorption which is fully reversible under selected conditions. The observed trends were used to identify the best sorbent.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Biotransformation of cinnamyl alcohol to rosavins by non-transformed wild type and hairy root cultures of Rhodiola kirilowii

Non-transformed wild type (NTWT) and hairy root cultures of Rhodiola kirilowii were grown in medium supplemented with 2.5 mM cinnamyl alcohol as a precursor and/or sucrose (1 %) on the day of inoculation or on the 14th day of culture. Rosarin, rosavin, and rosin were produced by NTWT root culture but only rosarin and rosavin by hairy roots. Approximately 80 and 95 % of the glycosides were released into the medium for NTWT and hairy root cultures, respectively. The highest rosavin yield, 505 ± 106 mg/l, was in hairy root culture when cinnamyl alcohol was applied on the day of inoculation with the addition of sucrose on the 14th day of culture. For rosin production, supplementation with cinnamyl alcohol alone on day 14 was more favourable with the highest amount 74 ± 10 mg/l in NTWT root culture. Only traces of rosarin were detected

Reakcje anafilaktyczne jako przyczyna hospitalizacji — doświadczenia ośrodka akademickiego

Introduction: In recent years, more and more often the increase in incidence of allergies is observed. According to the WHO, they are getting the fourth position amongst the most frequent diseases after cancers, cardiovascular diseases and AIDS. Anaphylaxis is a severe, life-threatening, systemic or generalised immediate hypersensitivity reaction. The analysis of the causes and the clinical picture of anaphylaxis in patients treated at single academic hospital centre was the purpose of the study. Material and methods: The study was based on retrospective analysis of case records of the patients hospitalised at the Chair and Department of Allergology, Clinical Immunology and Internal Diseases, the Jan Biziel University Hospital in Bydgoszcz in the years 2005−2010. 132 patients, in whom anaphylactic reaction appeared, were analysed. The examined population included 70 men and 62 women at 16−95 years of age. Results: The conducted examinations allowed to obtain information about the causes and the course of anaphylactic reactions. The problem of hypersensitivity to substances of various origin (biological or synthetic) can concern everyone irrespective of sex and age. Nevertheless, the phenomenon of anaphylaxis more often occurred in the examined men than women. Most cases of anaphylactic reactions were reported in the 26−50 age range. Based on the presented results, no regularity was observed in anaphylaxis clinical picture and its causative factor. Conclusions: It is difficult to forecast the course of the reaction based on the causative factor, for anaphylactic reaction is characterised by a great individual changeability and intensity of the first symptoms.Wstęp: Z roku na rok coraz częściej obserwuje się wzrost zachorowań na choroby alergiczne. Według Światowej Organizacji Zdrowia zajmują one 4 pozycję wśród najczęstszych schorzeń po nowotworach, chorobach układu krążenia i AIDS. Anafilaksja to ciężka, zagrażająca życiu, systemowa lub uogólniona, natychmiastowa reakcja nadwrażliwości. Celem pracy jest analiza przyczyn i obrazu klinicznego reakcji anafilaktycznych u pacjentów hospitalizowanych w ośrodku akademickim. Materiał i metody: Badanie przeprowadzono na podstawie retrospektywnej analizy historii chorób pacjentów hospitalizowanych w Katedrze i Klinice Alergologii, Immunologii Klinicznej i Chorób Wewnętrznych Szpitala Uniwersyteckiego im. Jana Biziela w Bydgoszczy w latach 2005−2010. Przeanalizowano 132 historie chorób pacjentów, u których wystąpiła reakcja anafilaktyczna. Badana populacja obejmowała 70 mężczyzn i 62 kobiety w przedziale wiekowym 16−95 lat. Wyniki: Przeprowadzone badania pozwoliły uzyskać informacje o przyczynach i przebiegu reakcji anafilaktycznych. Problem nadwrażliwości na substancje różnego pochodzenia (biologiczne czy syntetyczne) mogą dotyczyć każdego człowieka niezależnie od płci i wieku. Zjawisko anafilaksji w analizowanych historiach chorób częściej występowało jednak u mężczyzn niż u kobiet. Przedział wiekowy, w którym stwierdzono najwięcej przypadków reakcji anafilaktycznych, to 26.– 50. rok życia. Na podstawie przedstawionych wyników zaobserwowano brak prawidłowości pomiędzy obrazem klinicznym anafilaksji a czynnikiem ją wywołującym. Wnioski: Istnieją poważne trudności w przewidywaniu przebiegu reakcji na podstawie czynnika sprawczego, tym bardziej że cechuje ją duża indywidualna zmienność w pojawianiu się pierwszych symptomów i stopnia ich nasilenia

Sorption of saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons on selected coal sample from the Pniówek mine

Type, amount and composition of gases which form in rocks and coals during a metamorphism process depend on a number of factors in particular genetic type of original matter, way and conditions of its gathering, temperature, pressure and geological time. Sorption tests were done by the volumetric method, with the use of adsorption micro-burettes. Amajor advantage of the measurement set-up is that the surplus amounts of adsorbate can be used in experiments, which is of particular importance when handling sorbents with heterogeneous structure, such as hard coals. Sorbates used in the test program were the vapours of hexane, hex-1-ene, heptane, hept-1-ene, octane and benzene. Measurement results seem to corroborate the hypothesis that sorption of polar substance vapours is chiefly a surface process. Polarity of hard coals, mostly associated with the presence of reactive oxygen groups (nitrogen and sulphuric groups), largely affects the sorption of polar substances and in a most characteristic manner controls the sorption of apolar ones. In the case of the latter, sorption is induced by the action of the dispersive interaction force between the coal surface and the sorbate’s polar molecules. The pattern of sorption isotherms indicates that the presence of dual bond affects the sorbent-sorbate interactions and hence the sorption capacity of investigated coals

Motion capture as a modern technology for analysing ergometer rowing

The paper presents a purpose-built laboratory stand consisting of a Vicon motion capture system with reference video cameras, wireless EMG system, Concept 2 Indoor Rower ergometer, wireless heart rate monitor and the Nexus software. A pilot study of people who exercise on the ergometer helped to create a proper configuration of all the components of the laboratory. Moreover, a procedure for carrying out research was developed, which consists of several steps divided into 4 stages: preparation of the motion acquisition system; preparation of the participant; familiarising participants with the technique of rowing, recording their movements and acquiring other measurement signals. Preliminary analysis of the results obtained from heterogeneous signals from various devices showed that all the components of the research stand are mutually compatible and the received signals do not interfere with one another