Personality Traits and Sales Effectiveness: The Life Insurance Market in Poland

Within organizations in industrialized countries, the quality of human resources tends to become a major issue on the path to achieving a competitive advantage. According to the author’s research, the implementation of the five-factor model of Costa and McCrae provides the solution for the abovementioned problem. This article demonstrates the crucial utility of the five-factor model of Costa and McCrae in the context of life insurance industry effectiveness from both the theoretical and practical perspectives based on a case study of the four largest life insurance companies 796 most effective agents. Results imply the existence of a positive correlation between the level of the selected personality traits intensities and the life insurance agent’s sales efficiency. Moreover, as levels of the personality traits of “openness to experience,” “consciousness,” “agreeableness” and “neuroticism” are the predictors of life insurance company effectiveness, there are fundamentals for induction to be appropriate for the whole retail financial sector human resources management system

Late Medieval Sword from Wolin

The article presents an iron sword discovered in 2013 during archaeological excavations in Wolin (West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland). The find survived in a fragment which consists of a broken blade and a hilt with cross-guard and pommel. The blade is deformed by corrosion, with a narrow fuller. On the lower part of this fragment there are signs made by yellow metal (copper alloy ?). The cross-guard is strong and solidly rectangular, the arms are waisted and expand at the ends. The handle is topped with a disc-form of pommel.The typological analysis of the sword is quite simple. Based on general proportions and metrics, the sword blade can be classified as type XIIIa by E. Oakeshott, popular between the late 13th and early 15th century. The cross-guard belongs to the style 2 in his classification, which has a wide chronological framework, and the pommel corresponds to type J popular between the half of 13th and 1st quarter of 15th century. Based on all these data, the sword from Wolin can be dated probably to 2nd half of 13th and 14th century (1st half ?).Sword from Wolin is one of the 36 swords in type XIIIa in Poland, and one of the 11 on the territory of Western Pomerania.Artykuł prezentuje znalezisko żelaznego miecza dokonane w Wolinie (woj. zachodniopomorskie) podczas budowy basenu jachtowego w 2013 r. Zabytek zachował się fragmentarycznie w postaci rękojeści z ułamkiem głowni. Ogólny kształt i proporcje pozwalają umieścić go w typie XIIIa w klasyfikacji E. Oakeshotta, a jelec i głowicę odpowiednio w stylu 2 i typie J typologii tego badacza. Na dolnej partii zachowanego fragmentu głowni widoczne są bliżej niezidentyfikowane znaki wykonane żółtym metalem. Miecze typu XIIIa reprezentują jedną z najpowszechniejszych form oręża – w Polsce zarejestrowano dotychczas co najmniej 36 egzemplarzy, z czego 11 na terenie Pomorza Zachodniego. Biorąc pod uwagę wszystkie informacje, opisany miecz datować można na drugą połowę XIII i XIV w. (być może jego pierwszą połowę?)

Education vs. Entrepreneurship – Between Theory and Practice: The Case of SMEs in Poland

The complexity of issues related to entrepreneurial activity is reflected in the discourse in the world of economic sciences that has been continuing for over 200 years. Nowadays, the development of organizational management environment is more and more extensive and, as well as in other highly developed countries, the sector of small and medium-sized enterprises in Poland plays a fundamental role in the economy. Yet, there are rising concerns towards the entrepreneurial education direction in world of science. The growing concern in the context of entrepreneurship education has caused a discourse on whether this scholar activity can affect the entrepreneurial effectiveness in practice. We conclude that the contemporary academic management papers are, in a vast majority, focused on theoretical aspects of entrepreneurship, students, granted programs and trainings, while the opinions of real entrepreneurs toward abovementioned valuable efforts are omitted. Therefore, we decided to explore practical entrepreneurial environment to address this gap. The research participants included 189 entrepreneurs (SMEs based) that had been operating continuously for minimum 20 years. We established three objectives of this paper: to analyze the relation between the individual level of education, its characteristics and entrepreneurial success; to evaluate the state educational support in real world entrepreneurial operations effectiveness; to identify educational opportunities and threats and estimate the future research trajectories in this area. Finally, the first attempt, in the world of science, was undertaken to verify whether there is a positive correlation between entrepreneurship teaching and its real effect on entrepreneurship in practice. We empirically prove that the (higher) education can be an obstacle on the path of entrepreneurial success. Additionally, conclusions establish a new perspective on the existing state of knowledge through constructing a bridge which will

Przezżylne usuwanie elektrod. Techniki, wskazania oraz dostępne narzędzia

In the current paper the topic of transvenous lead removal was presented. Indications for this procedure including infections complications, chronic pain, vein thrombosis or its narrowing, removal of the damaged or functionally active electrode were shown in details. Various techniques of the electrode removal with the available equipment were also described. In experienced centers, the effectiveness of electrode removal is about 97%, the number of serious complications varies from 0.4 to 1.4%, and mortality rate is about 0.3–0.6%. The only risk factor of this procedure is the time elapsed since electrode implantation.Praca jest poświęcona przezżylnym technikom usuwania elektrod. Szczegółowo przedstawiono w niej wskazania do tego zabiegu, obejmujące powikłania infekcyjne, przewlekły ból, zakrzepicę lub zwężenie żyły, usunięcie funkcjonującej elektrody oraz usunięcie uszkodzonej elektrody. Opisano także różne techniki zabiegu przezżylnego usunięcia elektrod wraz z dostępnymi narzędziami. W ośrodkach, w których pracują lekarze o dużym doświadczeniu skuteczność zabiegu usunięcia elektrod wynosi 97%, liczba ciężkich powikłań waha się od 0,4 do 1,4%, a śmiertelność wynosi około 0,3–0,6%, a jedynym czynnikiem ryzyka jest czas, jaki upłynął od implantacji elektrody

Lead shielding efficiency from the gamma background measurements in the salt cavern of the Polkowice–Sieroszowice copper mine

The studies of lead shielding efficiency from the gamma background measurements were performed in the salt cavern of the copper mine - a site considered for an underground laboratory. Within the energy range of 50–2700 keV, the measured gamma-ray count rates normalized to the mass of the high-purity detectors germanium crystal are 5.93 and 6.32 s−1kg−1 for the used low-background and portable spectrometers, respectively. The gamma-ray flux of 0.124 (2) cm−2s−1 connected with the natural radioisotopes was observed by the portable HPGe, including 0.026 (1) cm−2s−1 contribution of radon decay products, whereas the photon flux at the spectrum continuum was 0.18 (5) cm−2s−1

Long QT syndrome in the postpartum period

The postpartum period can unmask LQTS. We described a case of 22-year-old woman with episode of lost of consciousness 6 months after delivery. Holter monitoring showed episodes of QTc prolongation, max. QTc – 618 ms, medium QTc – 538 ms with different morphology types of T wave. Beta-blocker (BB) therapy (metoprolol was initiated) and titrated up to 200 mg daily. The patient was out of symptoms. After 2 years during the second pregnancy she reduced BB to 50 mg/day. In the postpartum period, 3 months after delivery she had syncopal episodes. Holter monitoring showed polymorphic ventricular tachycardia. The cardioverter-defibrillator was implanted

Subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator therapy in Poland: Results of the Polish S-ICD Registry

Background: The use of a subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (S-ICD) has been expanding in Poland since 2014. The Polish Registry of S-ICD Implantations was held by the Heart Rhythm Section of the Polish Cardiac Society between May 2020 and September 2022 to monitor the implementation of that therapy in Poland. Aims: To investigate and present the state-of-the-art of S-ICD implantation in Poland. Methods: Implanting centers reported clinical data of patients undergoing S-ICD implantations and replacements, including: age, gender, height, weight, underlying disease, history of pacemaker and defibrillator implantations, indications for S-ICD, electrocardiographical parameters, procedural techniques, and complications. Results: 440 patients undergoing S-ICD implantation (411) or replacement (29) were reported by 16 centers. Most patients were in New York Heart Association class II (218 patients, 53%) or I (150 patients, 36.5%). Left ventricular ejection fraction was 10-80%, median (IQR) 33% (25%‒55%). Primary prevention indications were present in 273 patients (66.4%). Non-ischemic cardiomyopathy was reported in 194 patients (47.2%). The main reason for the choice of S-ICD were: young age (309, 75.2%), risk of infective complications (46, 11.2%), prior infective endocarditis (36, 8.8%), hemodialysis (23, 5.6%), and immunosuppressive therapy (7, 1.7%). Electrocardiographic screening was performed in 90% of patients. The rate of adverse events was low (1.7%). No surgical complications were observed. Conclusions: Qualification for S-ICD in Poland was slightly different when compared to the rest of Europe. The implantation technique was mostly consistent with the current guidelines. S-ICD implantation was safe, and the complication rate was low