Accession Poland's to the EU - Some Lessons from International Trade Theory

The Eastern enlargement of the European Union is significantly increasing the area, where free trade of goods and services are among the core principles of all member countries. Existing economic borders between the applicant countries and the current EU members will have to be broken down, leaving no room for the protection of non-viable industries. In this paper, we apply traditional as well as new theories of international trade in order to identify sectors of the Polish economy with a comparative (dis)advantage. As a main result, human capital- as well as capital-intensive industries will be among the prominent losers of Poland's accession to the EU. This structural change will be accompanied by significant changes in the income distribution. In the long-run, inter-industry trade will be substituted by intra-industry trade. However, because of a high number of determinants, relatively little can be said about the industries which will successfully participate in intra-industry trade.EU Eastern Enlargement, International Trade Theory, Intra-industry Trade

Indigenous Youth: between rural-ethnic markers and new urban affiliations in the university

El trabajo presenta resultados de investigaciones realizadas sobre y con jóvenes indígenas en un programa conocido como Licenciatura en Educación Indígena (LEI) que funciona en la Universidad Pedagógica Nacional (UPN), Ajusco, en la Ciudad de México. Se problematizan las imágenes arraigadas sobre cómo se conceptualizan, en este caso, a los jóvenes indígenas. Entre estos aspectos se confronta a la noción de migración indígena interna, y las experiencias contemporáneas de estas juventudes quienes para las políticas educativas y diversos sectores de la sociedad son vistos aún bajo la concepción de lo indígena y su base rural, lo que naturaliza identidades marcadas por hablar la lengua indígena, vestir de modo tradicional, entre otras. El texto muestra que todavía permanece el sesgo de la relación rural-urbano como frontera que busca establecer diferencias que se han utilizado para racializar, y al mismo tiempo da cuenta de los complejos y variados procesos socioculturales que viven las juventudes indígenas en una experiencia universitaria.This paper presents the results of research about and with young indigenous people enrolled in the program Licenciatura en Educación Indígena (LEI) at the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional (UPN), Ajusco, Mexico City. The program problematizes the ingrained images of how indigenous young people are conceptualized. Among these aspects, the paper deals with internal indigenous migration and the contemporary experiences of these young people who are still regarded by the education system and many sectors of society within the concept of indigenous framework and its rural bases, which naturalizes identities markers such as speaking indigenous languages or wearing traditional clothes, among others. The paper shows that the biased rural-urban relationship still remains as a border that seeks to establish differences that have been used to racialize, and at the same time describes the varied and complex sociocultural processes experienced by indigenous young people at university

The Council of Europe Convention on prewenting and combating violence against women and domestic violence : selected constitutional issues

Artykuł koncentruje się na problemie ratyfikacji przez Polskę Konwencji Rady Europy w sprawie zapobiegania i zwalczania przemocy wobec kobiet i przemocy domowej. Obejmuje on analizę zgodności z Konstytucją RP niektórych przepisów Konwencji. Zdaniem autora, konwencja nie zawiera postanowień ogólnych sprzecznych z Konstytucją RP. Autor stoi na stanowisku, że właściwa interpretacja tego dokumentu wymaga analizy jego autentycznych tekstów w języku angielskim i francuskim, a nie dostępnych polskich, mylących tłumaczeń. Dodatkowo istotny jest Raport wyjaśniający, który jako dokument sporządzony w związku z przygotowaniem Konwencji jest istotną wskazówką interpretacyjną.The article focuses on issues related to ratification in Poland of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. It includes an analysis of constitutionality of the certain provisions of the Convention. In the author’s view, the Convention does not contain any provisions inconsistent with the Constitution of Poland. However, he claims that proper interpretation of this document requires analysis of its authentic texts in English and French

The Economic Performance of the Nordic Countries

In this article, utilizing the appropriate statistical data, I analyse the economic results of the Nordic countries i.e., Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. I begin from the Human Development Index (HDI). This index describes the objective conditions, impacting upon the incomes, health and levels of education, upon which the possibility of utilizing the natural capacities of persons depend. Then I make use of the subjective evaluations of the satisfaction from life. For this I look at the results of research undertaken in the context of the economics of happiness. In approaching another type of economic analysis I look at the behaviour of variables upon which economic efficiency and justice in the Nordic countries are directly dependent. I recognize the size of GDP per capita and innovation in the economy as efficiency indicators, and as indicators of justice I rely on the intergenerational mobility of earnings, the variability of incomes, the extent of poverty and also the situation in the labour market. I present the results of national economic management in the Nordic countries against the backdrop of economically developed countries (namely the countries of continental Europe, southern Europe, Great Britain and – the United States). The analysis shows that the societies of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden managed to achieve some of the best (if not the best) results in the management of their national economies. At the same time, it is noticed that differences in the economic performance in individual Nordic countries are relatively small

Corporate intranet platform – open and commercial solutions comparison

The article presents a comparison of CMS systems that can be used when creating an intranet platform for a corporate network. The primary goal is to indicate which of the technologies is the most suitable for a large international corporation. Two open (WordPress, Drupal) and commercial (SharePoint, Confluence) tools were included in the study

Pseudoscientific Bias in Polish Economics in 1948−1989

In this article I analyse political economy in Poland in 1949−1989. I start with a presentation of pseudoscience. Next, using Robert Merton’s sociological approach and Anthony Derksen’s multicriterial approach, I try to prove that political economy in communist Poland meets the criteria to be considered a pseudoscience. I also present additional arguments for recognising this economy as a pseudoscience

Środowiskowe i prawne uwarunkowania pozyskiwania pierwiastków ziem rzadkich

To run an efficient and well developed economy, it is necessary to procure materials and elements belonging to four main groups, that is energy resources, organic resources, water and mineral resources. Non-energy resources, including critical raw materials, have limited resource base, significant dispersal of minerals and very limited possible substitution. Those resources include rare earth elements, which set directions for contemporary dynamic development of many industries. With the development of innovative technologies, the demand for essential components has grown. The use of rare earth elements to develop energy-efficient technologies is very promising, especially in wind generators and hybrid cars.Do wydajnego funkcjonowania i rozwoju każdej gospodarki niezbędne są surowce należące do czterech głównych grup. Są to surowce energetyczne, surowce organiczne, woda i surowce mineralne. Surowce nieenergetyczne (w tym tzw. surowce krytyczne) cechują się ograniczoną bazą surowcową i znacznym rozproszeniem minerałów oraz bardzo ograniczonymi możliwościami substytucji. Do tych surowców zaliczane są pierwiastki ziem rzadkich, które wyznaczają kierunki nowoczesnego, dynamicznego rozwoju różnych gałęzi przemysłu. Wraz z rozwojem nowoczesnych technologii wzrosło zapotrzebowanie na komponenty niezbędne do ich rozwijania i wytwarzania. Bardzo obiecujące jest wykorzystanie metali ziem rzadkich w technologiach związanych z rozwojem gospodarki niskoemisyjnej, zwłaszcza w turbinach wiatrowych i samochodach hybrydowych

Autophagy in DNA Damage Response

DNA damage response (DDR) involves DNA repair, cell cycle regulation and apoptosis, but autophagy is also suggested to play a role in DDR. Autophagy can be activated in response to DNA-damaging agents, but the exact mechanism underlying this activation is not fully understood, although it is suggested that it involves the inhibition of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1). mTORC1 represses autophagy via phosphorylation of the ULK1/2–Atg13–FIP200 complex thus preventing maturation of pre-autophagosomal structures. When DNA damage occurs, it is recognized by some proteins or their complexes, such as poly(ADP)ribose polymerase 1 (PARP-1), Mre11–Rad50–Nbs1 (MRN) complex or FOXO3, which activate repressors of mTORC1. SQSTM1/p62 is one of the proteins whose levels are regulated via autophagic degradation. Inhibition of autophagy by knockout of FIP200 results in upregulation of SQSTM1/p62, enhanced DNA damage and less efficient damage repair. Mitophagy, one form of autophagy involved in the selective degradation of mitochondria, may also play role in DDR. It degrades abnormal mitochondria and can either repress or activate apoptosis, but the exact mechanism remains unknown. There is a need to clarify the role of autophagy in DDR, as this process may possess several important biomedical applications, involving also cancer therapy

THE ARCTIC: NUMEROUS INTERESTS AND MULTIPLE PLAYERS

The article attempts to present what seems to be of critical importance to the planet in terms of the influence on the life of all of us, namely the current changes occurring in the Arctic, as well as tries to show how complex the issue is. The main theme is the climate, presented also in a historical perspective. The work will also present the interesting connection between the Arctic and the two Nobel Peace Prize winners: one of the year 2007, namely Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr., and the other of the year 2010 to Liu Xiaobo of China, which brought us international tensions and affected Arctic deliberations as well.  In addition, the work endeavors to describe briefly the role of the Arctic Council in responding to the problem and presents the countries vying for the participation in it, including their possible reasons for doing so. Through the example of China, a fairly new country with the permanent observer status in the Arctic Council, the author attempts to present the complexity of international relations and diversified interests of separate countries and organizations, as well as evaluates some potential developments in the Arctic geopolitical sphere.