Entrepreneurial competencies in research based on EntreComp among student youth in Poland

Purpose: The aim of the paper is to assess the level of creativity and the ability of student youth to spot business opportunities, generate, assess and develop business ideas with ethical and sustainable thinking approach - as important part of entrepreneurial competencies crucial in the process of innovative business venture creation. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research was conducted in 2020 on students’ groups studying at three different universities in Poland in South-Eastern Poland. The survey with use of questionnaire was conducted according to EntreComp Framework in the area of “ideas and opportunities”. Findings: The overall results are optimistic as the youth surveyed feel innovative, curious, open and able to recognize the value of ideas that are promising traits for their future business creation. The results show that the surveyed youth was differentiated in the competency's assessment regarding the field of study and university, study degree, gender, professional situation and place of residence. Practical Implications: Research enabled to examine entrepreneurial competencies among student youth and form recommendations for focusing in educating student youth in the area of developing ideas that create value for others, sharing and protecting ideas, and uncovering needs and strengthening efforts in order to drive sustainable thinking. Originality/value: The originality of the research is based on the use of the EntreComp methodology, which allows to diagnose and then develop key competencies for the development of entrepreneurship according to the framework promoted by European Commission. The added value of the research is elaboration of the synthetic index "ideas and opportunities", which allows a joint assessment of the individual competences included in this area.peer-reviewe

Community Level Physiological Profiles (CLPP), Characterization and Microbial Activity of Soil Amended with Dairy Sewage Sludge

The aim of the present work was to assess the influence of organic amendment applications compared to mineral fertilization on soil microbial activity and functional diversity. The field experiment was set up on a soil classified as an Eutric Cambisol developed from loess (South-East Poland). Two doses of both dairy sewage sludge (20 Mg·ha−1 and 26 Mg·ha−1) and of mineral fertilizers containing the same amount of nutrients were applied. The same soil without any amendment was used as a control. The soil under undisturbed native vegetation was also included in the study as a representative background sample. The functional diversity (catabolic potential) was assessed using such indices as Average Well Color Development (AWCD), Richness (R) and Shannon–Weaver index (H). These indices were calculated, following the community level physiological profiling (CLPP) using Biolog Eco Plates. Soil dehydrogenase and respiratory activity were also evaluated. The indices were sensitive enough to reveal changes in community level physiological profiles due to treatment effects. It was shown that dairy sewage amended soil was characterized by greater AWCD, R, H and dehydrogenase and respiratory activity as compared to control or mineral fertilized soil. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and principal component analysis (PCA) were used to depict the differences of the soil bacterial functional diversity between the treatments

EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVENESS OF HOUSEHOLD DRINKING WATER FILTRATION

The aim of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of household drinking water filtration. This article demonstrates the possibilities of using study on the reaction of ascorbic acid degradation in aqueous solutions to develop a new method for determining the effectiveness of household drinking water filtration. Based on the measurements of absorbance of ascorbic acid a new parameters WCW (Coeffi cient of Water Purity) and SF (Filtration Degree) were defined. Correlations between the SF and the amount of filtered water (filter usage) were investigated. With the filter usage decreasing effectiveness of calcium ions removal and drop of differences in conductivity between the tap and filtered water were observed. SF decreases proportionally to the filter usage and therefore the proposed method can be an effective tool to determine the effectiveness of domestic water filters

Soil Microbial Functional and Fungal Diversity as Influenced by Municipal Sewage Sludge Accumulation

Safe disposal of municipal sewage sludge is a challenging global environmental concern. The aim of this study was to assess the response of soil microbial functional diversity to the accumulation of municipal sewage sludge during landfill storage. Soil samples of a municipal sewage sludge (SS) and from a sewage sludge landfill that was 3 m from a SS landfill (SS3) were analyzed relative to an undisturbed reference soil. Biolog EcoPlatesTM were inoculated with a soil suspension, and the Average Well Color Development (AWCD), Richness (R) and Shannon-Weaver index (H) were calculated to interpret the results. The fungi isolated from the sewage sludge were identified using comparative rDNA sequencing of the LSU D2 region. The MicroSEQ® ID software was used to assess the raw sequence files, perform sequence matching to the MicroSEQ® ID-validated reference database and create Neighbor-Joining trees. Moreover, the genera of fungi isolated from the soil were identified using microscopic methods. Municipal sewage sludge can serve as a habitat for plant pathogens and as a source of pathogen strains for biotechnological applications

Evaluation of the rectal V30 parameter in patients diagnosed with postoperative endometrial cancer

Background: The present paper reports on analysis of 184 patients who were diagnosed with endometrial cancer. The main objective of this study was to address parameter Vrec(30Gy) which determines a volume of the rectum irradiated with a dose of 30 Gy during radiotherapy. Materials and methods: All patients were irradiated with an IMRT technique on linear accelerators. The planning target volume (PTV) contour was determined by a radiation oncologist. The clinical target volume (CTV) was drawn on CT images obtained in a prone position. For statistical analysis, appropriate tests (e.g. the Shapiro-Wilk, Wilcoxon) were used. Results and discussion: The performed analysis showed that the recommended condition for Vrec(30Gy) is met only in 3% of patients and the observed median value exceeds 90%. The obtained results were compared with the studies in which the Vrec(30Gy) values were related to various radiotherapy techniques. Conclusions: The analysis showed that the condition for Vrec(30Gy) is satisfied in the case of only 3% of patients. Due to the difficulty with meeting the condition, it should be reconsidered based on real results.

Correlation of retinopathy of prematurity with bronchopulmonary dysplasia

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) are diseases that occur only in preterm infants. The etiology of these disorders is multifactorial; however, it is believed that some of the factors in children presenting with BPD affect both the initiation and severity of ROP. The aim of the study was to evaluate the degree of clinical severity of ROP in infants with BPD compared to those without BPD

Polyprenol‑Based Lipofecting Agents for In Vivo Delivery of Therapeutic DNA to Treat Hypertensive Rats

Development of efficient vectors for transfection is one of the major challenges in genetic engineering. Previous research demonstrated that cationic derivatives of polyisoprenoids (PTAI) may serve as carriers of nucleic acids. In the present study,the effectiveness of two PTAI-based formulations (PTAI-6–8 and 10–14) was investigated and compared to the commercial reagents. The purpose of applied gene therapy was to enhance the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGFA)in the renal medulla of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and to test its potential as a novel antihypertensive intervention. In the first part of the study (in vitro), we confirmed that PTAI-based lipoplexes efficiently transfect XC rat sarcoma cells and are stable in 37 °C for 7 days. In the in vivo experiments, we administered selected lipoplexes directly to the kidneys of conscious SHR (via osmotic pumps). There were no blood pressure changes and VEGF-A level in renal medulla was significantly higher only for PTAI-10–14-based formulation. In conclusion, despite the promising results, we were not able to achieve VEGF-A expression level high enough to verify VEGF-A gene therapy usefulness in SHR. However, results of our study give important indications for the future development of PTAI-based DNA carriers and kidney-targeted gene delivery

Influence of Freeze-Dried Diet on Oral Hygiene Indicators in Strict Isolation Condition of an Analog Space Mission

Analog space missions were created to study the human factor in extraordinary conditions that would occur in future space habitats. Isolation has been shown to cause stress and disrupt individuals’ daily routine, which can also affect their oral hygiene and lead to an increased risk of dental caries and gingivitis. The astronauts’ specific freeze-dried diet is associated with “lazy” chewing, potential dehydration and vitamin A deficiency, which may adversely affect their saliva. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of the freeze-dried diet on selected oral hygiene indicators in analog astronauts (AA) enduring strict isolation conditions during six consecutive analog space missions at the LunAres Research Station. During the experiment the oral hygiene and gingival inflammation status measurements were conducted on the group of AAs at the beginning and at the end of each mission. Measurements included four oral hygiene indicators: API, sOHI, PI by Silness and Loe and GBI by Ainamo and Bay. Each AA’s individual scores were noted and analyzed. Statistically significant reduction in the amount of plaque and intensity of gingival bleeding was observed over the course of the study, which could indicate positive results of applied oral hygiene procedures despite unfavorable dietary and stressful isolation conditions