Decent Citizens Serving Chauvinism. Social Portrait of Students Participating in the Blockade of the University of Warsaw in 1936

November 1936 saw the blockade of the University of Warsaw, an occupational strike organised by far-right students demanding the introduction of the so-called ‘ghetto benches’ for Jewish students. This article draws a social portrait of the ordinary participants in the blockade and analyses their motivations. I argue that the socialisation of youth into exemplary citizens of a modern nation-state created a fertile ground for far-right organisations and their demands. Moreover, the largest student association, the Fraternal Aid Society, became a space for self-organisation into extreme nationalist politics. Its leaders tapped into the positive motivations of youth, i.e. the search for a sense of belonging and the desire of individuals to fit into the normative order of the community. My examination of the blockade offers a unique insight into the academic background of the far-right and its means of political mobilisation

Funkcjonowanie Centrum Powiadamiania Ratunkowego we Wrocławiu: możliwości i oczekiwania

W pracy opisano zagadnienia związane z funkcjonowaniem Centrum Powiadamiania Ratunkowego (CPR) we Wrocławiu. Kwestie działalności CPR przedstawione zostały w kilku perspektywach: - Prawno-historycznej (formalne uregulowania stanowiące podstawę funkcjonowania CPR), - Organizacyjnej (organizacja działalności CPR) - Technicznej (zespół współpracujących urządzeń informatycznych i oprogramowania), - Osobowej (wymagania, umiejętności i trudności wykonywania zawodu Operatora Numeru Alarmowego). Głównym celem rozważań uczyniono możliwości CPR w zakresie obsługi zgłoszeń alarmowych kierowanych na numer 112. Uwagę skierowano poza tym na procedury przekazania informacji do podmiotów ratowniczych w ramach Systemu Wspomagania Dowodzenia Państwowego Ratownictwa Medycznego, Policji oraz Państwowej Straży Pożarnej. Całość dociekań zamyka próba wyrażenia oczekiwań oraz prognoz w zakresie rozwoju Centrum Powiadamiania Ratunkowego

MIĘDZYNARODOWY KRYZYS FINANSOWY – KONSEKWENCJE DLA OTOCZENIA REGULACYJNEGO ORAZ PROCESÓW INTEGRACYJNYCH NA RYNKACH FINANSOWYCH UNII EUROPEJSKIEJ

International financial crisis of the recent years has discovered weaknesses in the international financial architecture, including in particular the inadequacy of prudential regulations, also in the European Union. The collapse of financial markets influenced negatively the indicators of financial integration in the Euro zone countries and other EU member states. This is also due to the fact, that cross-border activity has suffered more during the crisis. The financial system reform measures taken by the authorities of the European Union's are an ambitious plan for the coming years and their implementation should improve the conditions in the financial markets and foster financial integration process, which is necessary for the proper functioning of the European economy.Międzynarodowy kryzys finansowy ostatnich lat odkrył słabości międzynarodowej architektury finansowej, w tym w szczególności niedoskonałości regulacji ostrożnościowych, także w Unii Europejskiej. Załamanie na rynkach finansowych odbiło się negatywnie na wskaźnikach integracji finansowej państw strefy euro i UE, ponieważ, jak się wydaje, to działalność transgraniczna bardziej niż krajowa ucierpiała w skutek kryzysu. Podjęte przez organy Unii Europejskiej działania reformujące system finansowy stanowią ambitny plan na najbliższe lata i ich realizacja powinna przyczynić się do poprawy warunków na rynkach finansowych, a także sprzyjać procesowi integracji finansowej, który jest niezbędny do prawidłowego funkcjonowania gospodarki Wspólnoty

Stanowisko Wielkiej Brytanii w kwestii euro a proces integracji rynków finansowych

In this paper the problem of UK entry into the euro zone and the integration of financial markets was discussed. The first part is devoted to the main arguments of entry to the monetary union. The problem of increased convergence of business cycles of Great Britain and the euro area, the external effects of monetary union and autonomy of monetary policy were raised in this section. The rest focused on the importance of financial markets in the economy and the expected consequences of the integration of financial markets. It was also stressed that the very low support for the idea of integration in society of Great Britain will be the key factor in the forthcoming years

Artificial Neural Networks as a Tool for Supporting a Moulding Sand Control System Based on the Dependency between Selected Moulding Sand Properties

The article presents the potential for using artificial neural networks to support decisions related to the rebonding of green moulding sand. The basic properties of the moulding sand tested in foundries are discussed, especially compactibility as it gives the most information about the quality of green moulding sand. First, the data that can predict the compactibility value without the need for testing are defined. Next, a method for constructing an artificial neural network is presented and the network model which produced the best results is analysed. Additionally, two applications were designed to allow the investigation results to be searchable by determining the range of values of the moulding sand parameters

Selected Problems Regarding Construction Of Lightweight Motorcycle Swingarm

Manufacturers of light motorcycles have always sought the use of more and more advanced materials. The application of carbon fiber in motorcycle parts design can bring high strength, stiffness, and low weight in a manner previously unavailable. This article contains selected problems regarding the construction of a swingarm made of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP). The swingarm was made specifically for Honda NSF 100. For the analysis, series of tests such as geometry, FEM, and structural analysis was chosen. The analysis concludes that the swingarm shape that was adopted from the original steel made part is not suitable for CFRP use. The analysis showed manufacturing errors, like the inconsistent thickness of laminate and poor quality of assembling. The full potential of the CFRP material was not used

Futuryści z MZO. Organizowanie się Ministerstwa Ziem Odzyskanych w czasie i przestrzeni

Futurists from the MZO: Self-Organisation of the Ministry of the Recovered Territories in Time and Space Among the tasks of the Ministry of the Recovered Territories, which existed in the years 1945–1949, was planning the development of former German territories incorporated into the post-war borders of Poland. In our article, we critically read the documents of the Ministry, concerning both the spatial organisation of settlement in the Recovered Territories – normative documents and reports of the Department for Settlement, as well as the efforts to acquire a building for the headquarters of the Ministry in Warsaw. We look at how the Ministry located itself in the space of Warsaw and we read this as a reflection of the process of the settlement in the Recovered Territories. We propose an intellectual game of reading how the legal and administrative order of formerly German territories was created and we show it as a strategy for designing a new socio-political reality in vein of science fiction thinking. By using such a category, we bring out the entangled temporalities of the project of the “Recovered Territories” and the Ministry itself, as well as the scale of social and political constructivism of the post-war transition period.  Futuryści z MZO. Organizowanie się Ministerstwa Ziem Odzyskanych w czasie i przestrzeni Do zadań Ministerstwa Ziem Odzyskanych, istniejącego w latach 1945–1949, należało planowanie zagospodarowania dawnych terenów niemieckich wcielonych w powojenne granice Polski. W naszym artykule poddajemy krytycznej lekturze dokumenty Ministerstwa, dotyczące zarówno organizacji przestrzennej osadnictwa na „Ziemiach Odzyskanych” – akty normatywne oraz sprawozdania Departamentu Osiedleńczego – jak i starań o pozyskanie budynku na siedzibę instytucji w Warszawie. Przyglądamy się, jak Ministerstwo lokowało się w przestrzeni stolicy i czytamy to jako odzwierciedlenie procesu zagospodarowywania „Ziem Odzyskanych”. Celem tekstu jest podjęcie gry intelektualnej, polegającej na odczytaniu kształtowania się porządku prawno-administracyjnego terenów poniemieckich jako strategii projektowania nowej rzeczywistości społeczno-politycznej w kluczu myślenia sciencefictionalnego. Dzięki użyciu takiej kategorii wydobywamy splątane czasowości projektu „Ziem Odzyskanych” i samego Ministerstwa oraz skalę konstruktywizmu społecznego i politycznego powojennej epoki przejściowej

Optimization of Inlet Valve Leaflet Shape Using Metamodel and Fluid-Structure Interaction

Cardiac assist devices like continuous flow ventricular assist devices (CF-VAD) provide several benefits, including improved durability or higher energy efficiency. This paper presents the shape optimization for the inlet valve geometry of the pulsatile VAD using a metamodeling framework and fluid-structure interaction (FSI). The main task of the inlet valve is preventing the backflow to occur and keep proper valve washing as well as low hemolysis, induced by high shear stress. The finite element (FE) model of the valve was generated using a parametric model. The FE model was associated with a fluid flow analysis environment. The shear stress at wall leaflet structures was observed for all design points. For selected design variables, the minimization of the leaflet's wall shear stresses was carried out. As a result of optimization, the optimal valve leaflet shape was found. The developed modeling methodology can be easily adapted to investigate biomedical problems especially in the process of creating devices supporting cardiac circulation

ESG performance and dividend stability of the world’s largest enterprises

PURPOSE: Theoretical and empirical research on corporate sustainability focuses on the relationship between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance and profitability or market value; little attention is given to describing their effect on dividend policy. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to address the research gap by identifying the relationship between corporate sustainability performance and the stability of dividend payouts. To achieve this goal, we formulated a general research hypothesis that there is a positive link between an enterprise’s ESG performance and its propensity to pay stable dividends. This research hypothesis is operationalized by the following five specific hypotheses: (1) the link between the overall ESG score and the propensity to pay stable dividends is positive; (2) the link between the environmental pillar score and the propensity to pay stable dividends is positive; (3) the link between the social pillar score and the propensity to pay stable dividends is positive; (4) the link between the governance pillar score and the propensity to pay stable dividends is positive; (5) the link between the ESG controversies score and the propensity to pay stable dividends is positive. METHODOLOGY: The hypothesis was empirically verified using a logistic regression model among the world’s largest non-financial enterprises listed in the Global 500 of 2021 for the years 2012–2021. The specifications of the general model include sustainability variables such as environmental, social, and governance pillar scores, as well as the ESG controversies score, which measures an enterprise’s exposure to environmental, social, and governance controversies and negative events reflected in global media. The financial ratios, such as a return on assets, current ratio, and debt-to-equity ratio, are considered control variables in the model specifications. The research was extended by implementing descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficients. All required financial and sustainability data were retrieved from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) Eikon database. FINDINGS: The results of the estimation revealed that: (1) the effect of integrated ESG activities on payout stability is statistically significant and negative only in model specifications without the ESG controversies; (2) the effect of the environmental dimension is statistically significant and negative only when other particular ESG pillars are not considered; (3) the effect of the social dimension is statistically significant and negative, only when the governance dimension and the ESG controversies are not considered together in the same model specification; (4) the effect of the governance dimension is statistically significant and positive only if other particular pillars are considered together in one model specification, both with and without the ESG controversies; (5) the effect of the ESG controversies is statistically significant and positive in each model specification. Therefore, the general research hypothesis cannot be confirmed because only the fifth specific research hypothesis can be positively verified in all model specifications. IMPLICATIONS: Further research should be conducted on the relationship between corporate sustainability performance and dividend policy. It should consider not only commonly applied ESG scores but also the ESG controversies score, which was statistically significant in this research. Governments and international organizations should cooperate with companies that provide ESG data to make ESG scores, including the ESG controversies score, publicly available to all stakeholder groups, which would help to reduce the information gap. Managers should pay more attention to increasing the visibility of ESG initiatives from the perspective of risk, which they allow to avoid controversies in particular corporate sustainability dimensions. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: The value added of this paper is that it investigates the relationship between ESG performance and payout policy, which was not thoroughly explored in previous studies, especially in the context of an enterprise’s controversial ESG activities. To fill the research gap in the literature, the authors incorporated the ESG controversies score as an independent variable in the model specifications, which is a novelty in research on dividend policy

Prediction of technological process parameters based on experimental data

In studies of new materials or products, it is necessary to carry out a series of tests to determine the physical properties of the product as a function of the manufacturing process parameters. The technological process of making successive samples for both experimental and research purposes is a mechanism which is time-consuming and which usually requires considerable financial outlays. At the same time, scientific literature offers a large number of experimental results carried out for a similar range of problems. The idea conceived in this study is to create a model that, based on the results of experiments collected from the scientific literature, will reduce the number of necessary physical tests by replacing them with an effective mechanism estimating some of the technological process parameters. Consequently , the concept of an algorithm has been presented to estimate the parameters of the manufacturing process of ADI (Austempered Ductile Iron). It can operate as a fundamental part of a larger expert system, supporting the design and configuration of production processes in various industries. This article describes the results of tests showing the efficiency of the proposed solution and outlines plans for further development of the system to increase its effectiveness and usefulness