Analiza działań podejmowanych przez przedsiębiorstwa w obliczu kryzysu gospodarczego

The following article aims at analyzing measures adopted by companies which had to face the economic crisis in 2008. The main method chosen for that aim was interviews with managers, which attempted at determining the character of actions undertaken by companies to secure their ‘survival’. Such approach to the problem focuses more on ‘remedial’ restructuring rather than on directions for future development. It must be stressed, however, that the presented results of empirical research cannot be treated as representative but rather as pilot study, since they aim at identifying initial behaviors taken up by managers facing the economic crisis

Brain-friendly teaching? The methods used by the teachers of the Polish language in a secondary school according to neurodidactic demands

Artykuł przedstawia postulaty zmian w edukacji stawiane przez neurodydaktykę. Autorka, korzystając z części wyników badania „Dydaktyka literatury i języka polskiego w gimnazjum w świetle nowej podstawy programowej”, podejmuje refleksję nad sytuacją dydaktyki polonistycznej w gimnazjum w świetle nowych doniesień badawczych związanych z efektywnością procesu kształcenia.This article presents opinions and postulates of neurodidactics, starting the change in education. The author, using parts of results of the research called “Dydaktyka literatury i języka polskiego w gimnazjum w świetle nowej podstawy programowej” (eng. “Polish language and literature didactics in a secondary school in the light of the new curriculum”) considers the situation of Polish language education in a secondary school influenced by new research results connected with the efficiency of education

Cloud computing, and the possibility of its use in the media

Chmura obliczeniowa, czyli cloud computing, to rozwiązanie, które można nazwać przyszłością IT (ang. Information Technology, technologia informacyjna). Niezwykle dynamicznie rozwijające się technologie informatyczne powodują, że coraz większa grupa użytkowników po prostu nie nadąża z wdrażaniem nowych technologii, a dodatkowo koszty częstej aktualizacji systemów są naprawdę znaczące. Dzięki chmurze obliczeniowej możemy skorzystać z najnowszych rozwiązań i największej mocy obliczeniowej bez potrzeby zakupu, serwisowania i częstej aktualizacji sprzętu oraz oprogramowania. Jest to niezwykle istotne z ekonomicznego punktu widzenia użytkowników, gdyż w przypadku tradycyjnych systemów IT każda aktualizacja programowo-sprzętowa wymagała sporych nakładów finansowych. Ważnym aspektem jest również skalowalność chmury obliczeniowej, gdzie system „rośnie” wraz z rozwojem i możliwościami danej firmy, nie generując zbytecznych wydatków. Można zatem powiedzieć, iż jest to niemal idealne rozwiązanie firm i przedsiębiorstw, które swoją działalność opierają na innowacyjnych rozwiązaniach, a do takiej grupy możemy zaliczyć m.in. media. Chmura obliczeniowa pozwoli w tym przypadku na wdrażanie najnowszych technologii IT, minimalizując koszty z tym związane.Cloud computing, is a solution that can be called the future of IT (Information Technology). Extremely fast developing technologies mean that an increasing number of users simply cannot keep up with the implementation of new technologies, and in addition the cost of frequent updates to these systems are really significant. With cloud computing, we can take advantage of the latest solutions and the largest computing power without the need to purchase, servicing and frequent updating of hardware and software. This is very important from an economic point of view of the users, since in the case of traditional IT systems, each update of software and hardware required considerable financial investments. An important aspect is the scalability of cloud computing, where the system ‘grows’ with the development and capabilities of the company, without generating unnecessary expenditure. It could then be said that this is almost the perfect solution for companies and enterprises, where activities are based on innovative solutions, which include, among others, media. Cloud computing will allow, in this case, for the implementation of the latest IT technology, minimizing the costs associated with the process

Wpływanie na tempo ewolucji z wykorzystaniem procesu uczenia

Artykuł dotyczy zagadnień wpływu procesu uczenia na tempo zachodzenia przemian w systemach ewolucyjnych. W szczególności w artykule starano się odpowiedzieć na pytanie, czy możliwe jest przyspieszenie ewolucji poprzez wprowadzenie procesu uczenia osobników. Rozważono także praktyczne konsekwencje uzyskanych wyników. (Wpływanie na tempo ewolucji z wykorzystaniem procesu uczenia.)The paper discusses the issues concerned with the impact of learning process on the rate of evolution in evolutionary systems. In the paper we tried to answer the question whether it is possible to speed up the evolution by introduction of learning process of individuals. We also consider some practical consequences of the obtained results

Implementation of group-based genetic algorithms for economic dispatch problem in an electrical energetic system

Tematyka artykułu dotyczy zastosowania nowej wersji algorytmu genetycznego, określanej mianem grupowego algorytmu genetycznego, w celu rozwiązania zagadnienia ekonomicznego rozdziału obciążeń pomiędzy cieplne bloki energetyczne występujące w systemie elektroenergetycznym. Główną zaletą grupowego algorytmu genetycznego jest fakt, że wartość funkcji dopasowania wyznaczana jest jednocześnie dla większej grupy osobników, co zapobiega przedwczesnej zbieżności tego rodzaju algorytmu do jednego z licznych optimów lokalnych.The topic of the paper is about implementation of a novel version of genetic algorithm, which is called a group-based genetic algorithm. We use this kind of algorithm in order to solve an economic dispatch problem among energetic blocks in the electrical energetic system. The main merit of the group-based genetic algorithm is that the fitness function is calculated simultaneously for a larger group of individuals which disables the premature convergence to some of the numerous local optima

Food Insecurity: United States

Food insecurity is a global issue and has caused struggles to millions of people, specifically in the United States. This environmental issue involves not having the resources to obtain adequate food supply. The economic and social influences that affect food insecurity leave vulnerable populations, such as low-income families and minority races, at a greater disadvantage. This issue causes serious health complications to arise too, the most common being diabetes. The increased risk of diabetes due to food insecurity has been studied on several occasions and the results all show the correlation, lack of food security increases the risk of diabetes. With 42 million Americans suffering from food insecurity, the need to address this public health issue is crucial. Although the formation of programs such as the National School Lunch Program, SNAP, and WIC have helped reduce the number of food-insecure Americans, there are still too many Americans obtaining serious health issues due to food insecurity

Nowe technologie na lekcjach języka polskiego

The article discusses changes in education that have resulted from the digital revolution. The author analyses changes in young people’s behaviour, their mentality, their methods of learning and the consequences of these changes. She describes the situation of young people and teachers being forced to change their way of thinking and modernize the modes of cooperation at school. She presents some possibilities of using multimedia tools in Polonistic didactics. They can help in the effective shaping of skills needed to function properly in the future.The article discusses changes in education that have resulted from the digital revolution. The author analyses changes in young people’s behaviour, their mentality, their methods of learning and the consequences of these changes. She describes the situation of young people and teachers being forced to change their way of thinking and modernize the modes of cooperation at school. She presents some possibilities of using multimedia tools in Polonistic didactics. They can help in the effective shaping of skills needed to function properly in the future

Willingness to Adopt Biochar in Agriculture: The Producer’s Perspective

Most research on biochar has focused either on the mechanistic or the biophysical aspects, and there has been relatively little research into the social applicability and acceptance of biochar as a soil enhancer in agriculture. However, whether to adopt biochar in their practice is ultimately the farmers’ decision, and their willingness to do so is crucial. Here, we show the producer’s perspective on adopting biochar, using Polish farmers as a case study. Poland is an interesting case study because biochar has only recently attracted the attention of researchers, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders there. We performed standardized, semi-structured interviews with 161 Polish farmers to evaluate the socioeconomic potential of biochar application in practice. We found that 27% of the respondents claimed to be familiar with biochar. The respondents with a technical, non-agricultural level of education were most familiar with the term ‘biochar’ (36%), followed by the group of respondents with a higher-level agricultural education (31%). It was surprising that among the latter respondents, the majority (69%) did not know the term ‘biochar’, either in the context used for this study or in any other context. Twenty percent of the respondents expressed an interest in using biochar, while 43% were not willing to adopt it in their agricultural practice (37% ‘did not know yet’). If a farmer was familiar with the concept of sustainable agriculture, the probability of familiarity with biochar increased by 16% (p < 0.05). In addition, farmers interested in using biochar indicated that sustainable agriculture might improve the financial situation of their farms (52%). The perceived benefits of biochar that drive the willingness to adopt it included improved soil quality and increased income due to increased yields, while the constraints on its adoption were associated mainly with high costs. Our results also point to the necessity of information flow as well as engaging farmers in participatory research to adjust the research to their needs. Furthermore, our results highlight the importance of transparency with the farmers and appropriate dissemination and presentation of both the positive and the negative aspects of biochar adoption. We urge those studying biochar to engage in more interdisciplinary research and to go beyond laboratory and field research. Many innovations, even those that work, will not be adopted if socioeconomic considerations are not incorporated into the research