Determinants of cooperation with institutional partners and innovation - performance of Polish manufacturing enterprises. Research outcomes

The aim of this paper is to assess of the influence of institutional cooperation (with research institutes and universities) on the innovation performance of companies as well as determinants of such cooperation. The analysis was based on data from the Polish version of the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) for 2008-2010. The sample consists of 7783 medium-sized and large manufacturing enterprises from sections C to E. Based on the results of a structural equation model it has been concluded that there is a statistically significant relation between institutional cooperation and innovation performance of the researched companies, as well as (in the case of cooperation with Polish companies) in the introduction of product innovations new for the country, Europe or the world. The analysis of critical values between parameters enables the establishment of a hierarchy of company features which determines such cooperation. These include the system of employee incentives for the creation of intellectual property, company size and own R&D -department. The application of the employee incentive system better explains the decision to establish cooperation with Polish companies than with foreign ones. However a feature which is not institutional cooperation friendly is belonging to a larger group of companies. Key words: institutional cooperation, innovation -performance, Polish CIS, PolandPreparation and printing funded by the National Agency for Research and Development under project “Kreator Innowacyjności – wparcie dla Przedsiębiorczości akademickiej

Do Government Policies Foster Environmental Performance of Enterprises from CEE Region?

In recent years, EU countries, including these from the Central Eastern European (CEE) region has recognised, that eco-innovation should be treated as strategic priority of their economies. The aim of this paper is to present a cross-country analysis of the connection between eco-innovation and its main drivers within firms from selected CEE countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania) and Germany. The empirical part is based on micro-data for Community Innovation Survey (CIS) 2006-2008. Based on the results of stepwise regression between main policy actions sustaining innovation activity and eco-innovation performance we can conclude, that financial support for innovation activities has a rather limited role in promoting eco-innovation. At the same time enterprises from the CEE region regard environmental regulations as the most important drivers of eco-innovation. In Germany, a country ranked in the highest category in the Eco-Innovation Scoreboard, the variety of forces that influence eco-innovation is much more wide-ranging. This indicates that government actions should take a broader look and lay the more general bases fostering the model of a green growth

Moda, kuchnia i piłka nożna: kreatywność i kultura w nauczaniu języków obcych

Udostępnienie publikacji Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego finansowane w ramach projektu „Doskonałość naukowa kluczem do doskonałości kształcenia”. Projekt realizowany jest ze środków Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Wiedza Edukacja Rozwój; nr umowy: POWER.03.05.00-00-Z092/17-00

Bariery innowacji technologicznych i międzynarodowa orientacja rynkowa polskich przedsiębiorstw przemysłowych

The aim of this paper is to assess the influence of innovation barriers for technological innovation on the innovation performance as well as sales market orientation of Polish firms. The analysis is conducted on the sample of 7783 manufacturing enterprises participating in the survey GUS PNT–02/CIS for the years 2008–2010. The results show statistically significant relations between innovation barriers and both innovation performance and international market orientation of surveyed firms. Various advanced statistical methods were used in order to verify research hypotheses. The results of the study reveal complexity of interactions between analysed variables leading to the conclusion that innovation process cannot be reduced to linear relationships only.Celem niniejszej pracy jest ocena wpływu barier innowacji technologicznych na sprawność innowacyjną i międzynarodową orientację rynkową przedsiębiorstw polskiego przemysłu przetwórczego. Analizę przeprowadzono na próbie n=7783 przedsiębiorstw, biorących udział w badaniu GUS PNT-02 za lata 2008–2010. Wyniki wskazują na statystycznie istotne zależności między barierami a sprawnością innowacyjną oraz orientacją rynkową badanych firm. W celu weryfikacji hipotez badawczych, w badaniu zastosowano szereg zaawansowanych metod statystycznych. Wyniki wskazują na złożoność interakcji pomiędzy analizowanymi zmiennymi, prowadząc do wniosku, że proces innowacji nie może być zredukowany wyłącznie do relacji liniowych

Management of invasive plant species in the valley of the Ślepiotka river in Katowice : [poster]

Invasive alien plants, besides river regulations, are one of the main reasons for transforming the riparian flora and vegetation. In many cases, the replacement of native species caused by alien plants may result not only in ecological losses but also economic ones. The group of invasive plants spreading along rivers in Poland include, among others: Acer negundo (Boxelder maple), Echinocystis lobata (Wild cucumber), two species from the genus Impatiens: I. glandulifera (Himalayan balsam) and I. parviflora (Small balsam), Padus serotina (Black cherry), Reynoutria japonica (Japanese knotweed) and Solidago gigantea (Giant goldenrod). Currently, in many countries, actions are undertaken which are dedicated to restoration of river valleys and halting the spread of invasive plant species (Fragment tekstu)

L’italianità vissuta attraverso il corpo L’(auto)percezione delle italiane nei consigli medici d’archivio

Italianness as Lived through the Body. Italian Women’s (Self-) Perception in Archival Health Columns. The experience of one’s own body is undoubtedly bound to certain places, environments and times. The experience of being an Italian woman is therefore different than that of being Polish, German, or American. The perception of the female body mirrors a country’s laws, a society’s level of demureness and the tolerance towards oneself and others. The work presented here stems from an interest in the representation of the female body as presented in health columns in the 1950-1965 issues of the weekly magazine “Grazia”. Through discourse analysis it is possible to obtain an image not only of the body, but also, metonymically, of Italian society at a time when Cesare Zavattini (1959) defined it as “a huge harem” made “of what is silenced and what is unuttered”. The analysis proposed herein aims at opening another perspective on Italianness, whereby “other” can be understood both as “female” (as de Beauvoir’s followers certainly would) or as “silenced” or “unuttered”. In addition to that, considering the type of corpus being analysed, the letters from the female readership offer a view on Italian women’s self-image. A perspective which is not only intimate, but also “from the inside” and that frequently has nothing to share with the image of Italian society that is common outside of Italy

Molecular markers as a tool for studying plant invasions as exemplified by Acer negundo and Padus serotina case studies - plan of research project : [poster]

Even though the number of invasive woody species is not significant, it is considered that they exert high pressure on native flora and can significantly disturb nutrient dependencies in ecosystems. Such examples in Poland are Acer negundo (Boxelder) and Padus serotina (Black cherry). Both trees have been deliberately brought to Poland from North America: Boxelder as an ornamental tree and Black cherry as a biocenotic addition and as windbreaks in forests (Fragment tekstu)

Alien plants in Poland : research directions and putting the results into practice

The aim of this study was: (i) to complete and verify the prior review of research on alien plants conducted in Poland and the practical use of their results, and (ii) to attempt to assess the contribution of the research from the area of Poland to the research conducted on an international level. The analysis was performed based on the information gathered during a literature search which covered the last 200 years, using over 1400 publications out of the 3000 which were available in the pool. As a result, the main areas of biological sciences in the context of the research undertaken on alien plants in Poland (distribution, ecology and biology of the species), the most common thematic studies (new species, new localities, and lists of alien species), and the most often investigated species, as well as tendencies over time were indicated. Although studies on the migration and distribution of alien plants in Poland have over 100 years of tradition, and the part of the studies conducted by Polish researchers contributes to the international scale research, it is still necessary to further analyse many issues and answer numerous questions

Exogenous lipoid pneumonia induced by nasal instillation of paraffin oil

Lipoid pneumonia is a rare pulmonary disease, classified in terms of the source of lipid exposure into two variants: exogenous and endogenous. We present a patient with exogenous lipoid pneumonia, acquired after chronic exposure to paraffin oil-containing nasal drops. The diagnosis was established by demonstration of lipid-laden macrophages in bronchoalveolar lavage, chest computed tomography results and a history of lipid exposure

Effects of CP 55,940 — agonist of CB1 cannabinoid receptors on ghrelin and somatostatin producing cells in the rat pancreas

Cannabinoids participate in the modulation of numerous functions in the human organism, increasing the sense of hunger, affecting carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, and controlling systemic energy balance mechanisms. Moreover, they influence the endocrine system functions, acting via two types of receptors, CB1 and CB2. The aim of the present study was to examine the number, distribution and activity of ghrelin and somatostatin producing endocrine cells in the pancreas of rats after a single administration of selective CP 55,940 agonist of CB1 receptor. The study was performed on 20 rats. Neuroendocrine cells were identified by immunohistochemical reactions, involving specific antibodies against ghrelin and somatostatin. The distribution and number of ghrelin- and somatostatin-immunoreactive cells were separately studied in five pancreas islets of each section. A performed analysis showed a decreased number of somatostatin-immunoreactive cells and a weak immunoreactivity of ghrelin and somatostatin containing neuroendocrine cells in the pancreatic islets of experimental rats, compared to control animals. The obtained results suggest that a single administration of a selective CP 55,940 agonist of CB1 receptor influences the immunoreactivity of endocrine cells with ghrelin and somatostatin expression in the pancreas islets