Indywidualna skarga konstytucyjna w Polsce i w Niemczech: Jak proceduralne różnice wpływają na pozycję instytucji?

The tendency to compare the Polish Constitutional Court with its German counterpart produces an illusion that the two institutions not only enjoy almost identical positions in their respective countries, but also that they follow the same procedures and have almost identical powers of adjudication, making the actual position of both institutions similar. The paper deals with the differences in proceedings on constitutional complaints in Poland and Germany and their importance for the actual position of the two courts. The narrow model of constitutional complaint in Poland after 1997 (in particular the possibility to complain solely ‘about the regulation’ and not any about any action of the state) has given a relatively narrow range of ruling to the Polish court from the very beginning. In contrast, due to the extensive access German citizens have to constitutional complaints, its German counterpart issues a wide range of verdicts in different fields of life, and their power resembles that of precedents in Anglo-Saxon law. Thus, one reason for the relatively minor importance of the Constitutional Court in Poland is the limited access of citizens to lodge constitutional complaints, which results in a smaller number of verdicts, making it impossible to develop such a wide range of verdicts as is the case in Germany. After all, the significance of the court depends, inter alia, on the number of verdicts issued, which equates to the number of matters regulated by its rulings.Tendencja do porównywania polskiego sądu konstytucyjnego z jego niemieckim odpowiednikiem prowadzi do powstania złudzenia, że obie instytucje mają nie tylko prawie takie same pozycje ustrojowe, ale również, że procedura przed nimi oraz kompetencje orzecznicze są prawie identyczne, a co za tym idzie pozycja faktyczna obu instytucji powinna być podobna. Referat traktuje o różnicach w postępowaniu w sprawach skarg konstytucyjnych w Polsce i w Niemczech i ich znaczeniu dla faktycznej pozycji obu trybunałów. Wąski model skargi konstytucyjnej w Polsce po 1997 r. (w szczególności możliwość skargi jedynie „na przepis” a nie działanie organów państwa), powoduje że TK od początku swego istnienia ma stosunkowo wąski zakres orzekania, podczas gdy jego niemiecki odpowiednik, dzięki szerokiemu dostępowi obywateli do skargi konstytucyjnej, wykształca silne linie orzecznicze w różnych dziedzinach życia mające moc podobną do precedensów znanych z anglosaskiego systemu prawnego. Jednym więc powodem stosunkowo małego znaczenia TK w Polsce jest wąski dostęp obywateli do skargi konstytucyjnej oraz co za tym idzie mniejsza ilość orzeczeń i niemożliwość wykształcenia się tak różnorodnych linii orzeczniczych jak w Niemczech, ponieważ znaczenie sądu zależy m.in. od ilości wydanych wyroków, czyli unormowanych przez niego spraw

Validity of the overclaiming technique as a method to account for response bias in self-assessment questions : analysis on the basis of the PISA 2012 data

The presented work is devoted to study the validity of overclaiming technique (OCT) as a measure of response (positivity) bias. Three main aims of the analyses performed were: a) assess methods' utility to enhance predictive validity of self-report by accounting for response biases, b) investigate proposed mechanisms of overclaiming, c) expand nomological network of the method by presenting a wide set of both individual-level and cluster-level (school) correlates. The obtained results pointed that OCT can be used in order to account for response biases in self-report data. Important differences regarding use and interpretation of the different OCT scoring systems were found and commented. Two systems, one based of signal detection theory (SDT), other on item response theory model (IRT), were proposed as viable scorings of OCT. Choice between them is not trivial as it influences results' interpretation and model specification. Three possible mechanisms of overclaiming were tested: a) motivated response bias (self-favouring bias, socially desirable responding), b) memory bias (overgeneralised knowledge or faulty memory control) and c) response styles and careless responding. The results pointed that all three mechanisms are probable and that overclaiming is most probably a heterogenous phenomenon of multiple causes. However, the analyses pointed out that one of the memory bias hypotheses, the overgeneralised knowledge account, does not hold and that there is much more evidence for the competitive metacognitive account. It is to said that overclaiming is at least partially attributable to insufficient monitoring of one's knowledge. Evidence for a relation between careless responding and overclaiming was also obtained, indicating that at least some of the overclaimed responses can be attributed due to inattentive responding. Obtained results on the relations between response styles and overclaiming were complicated; they warrant further studies as the results here probably greatly depend on the technical details of analysis, e.g. response style definition and coding adopted. The analysed cluster-level covariates demonstrated that only very limited portion of OCT variance can be ascribed to the school-level of analysis. Gender, socio-economic status and locus of control proved to be significantly related to overclaiming among the individual-level correlates assessed. Boys yielded higher overclaiming bias than girls and students of external locus of control were more biased in their self-reports in comparison to students of internal locus of control. The work comprises also analysis of the PISA's OCT latent structure. The results evidenced bifactor structure of the scale, with the general factor interpreted as math ability while the two specific factors were given a tentative explanation concentrated around item difficulty (one specific factor emerged for easy items, one for hard items). These findings point to a multi-dimensional character of OCT and a large role played by domain ability in OCT responding. Moreover, latent class analysis (LCA) performed identified an "overclaiming" group among the participants which was characterised by high overclaiming and unwarrantedly high self-report profile regarding math-related abilities and social life. However, this group counted only around 9% of the total sample. Implications of these findings are commented in the work, along with theoretical integration and ideas for future studies with the use of OCT

Cold War in Space: Reconnaissance Satellites and US-Soviet Security Competition

This article traces the history of US and Soviet reconnaissance satellites during the Cold War. It fills the gap in historiography of the Space Race that has inadequately studied military space programs and focused largely on civilian spaceflight, with the Apollo Moon landings being a prime example. It argues that the military satellites employed by both the US and Soviets offered unprecedented amounts of information on the other side and eliminated the issue of lacking intelligence that characterized the early Cold War. This in turn allowed for a more peaceful coexistence between these two ideologically opposed superpowers. Spy satellites allowed for a better assessment of the other side’s military strength, created a system of early warning for nuclear attacks, and offered a non-invasive way of verifying arms control treaties. These reconnaissance satellites and their successors play this important role up to this day

The Use of Intelligent Systems for Planning and Scheduling of Product Development Projects

AbstractThe paper investigates the use of intelligent systems to identify the factors that significantly influence the duration of new product development. These factors are identified on the basis of an internal database of a production enterprise and further used to estimate the duration of phases in product development projects. In the paper, some models and methodologies of the knowledge discovery process are compared and a method of knowledge acquisition from an internal database is proposed. The presented approach is dedicated to industrial enterprises that develop modifications of previous products and are interested in obtaining more precise estimates for project planning and scheduling. The example contains four stages of the knowledge discovery process including data selection, data transformation, data mining, and interpretation of patterns. The example also presents a performance comparison of intelligent systems in the context of variable reduction and preprocessing. Among data mining techniques, artificial neural networks and the fuzzy neural system are chosen to seek relationships between the duration of project phase and other data stored in the information system of an enterprise

A security analysis of authentication and authorization implemented in web applications based on the REST architecture

The purpose of this article is to prepare a security analysis of authentication and authorization mechanisms in web applications based on the REST architecture. The article analyzes the problems encountered during the implementation of the JSON Web Token (JWT) mechanism. The article presents examples of problems related to the implementation of authorization and authentication, and presents good practices that help ensure application security

Reconstruction of the primary bottom of a unique crater lake in the “Meteoryt Morasko Reserve” (Poland)

There are a total of several million lakes in the world, which includes only approximately 30 crater lakes. Due to this extreme global rarity, they are the subject of research in many scientific disciplines. In spite of the widespread interest in them, however, many issues still require detailed investigation. In the case of the Morasko crater lake (Poland), hydrological research has been weakly developed so far. The undertaken analysis, which employed a complex research procedure involving the use of georadar, geological corings and bathymetric measurements, aimed to determine the primary bottom of the lake, and further to determine the scale and rate of its evolution. The modern water level suggests that the lake basin is currently approximately 55% filled in with organic matter, and the rate of its sedimentation in the deepest place can be estimated at approximately 0.8 mm·y-1

The role of capital adequacy standards in creating financial safety of the bank: the evaluation and analysis of the survey results

Motivation: After the global financial crisis, banks’ financial safety has been considered as a public good and put under closer control and supervision. The prudential regulations of credit institutions which are the main subject of the study, have been significantly tightened. Although the minimum level of banks’ own funds, set adequately to the risk, had been a fundamental indicator of banks’ financial safety since the end of 1980s, after the global financial crisis the quality of this capital has changed and the scope of its regulation has been increased. By respecting the new prudential standards of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision at the international level, financial safety of the banks has been additionally put under the macro-supervision. The concern about the overregulation of the banking system raises many controversies, what justifies conducting research on this subject. Aim: The main purpose of the article is to identify changes in the bank’s strategies of creating financial safety after the global financial crisis, considering macro- and micro-prudential regulations, aimed at strengthening the level and quality of bank capital, based on the results of the conducted research. Results: The results of the empirical research indicate that there is a strong belief among management staff in commercial banks in Poland that the increase in the level and structure of the own funds in credit institutions rises their financial safety. The results confirm the intensification of the process of implementing Basel regulations in commercial banks in Poland

Ultrasonic Atomization of pMDI Wood Resin

A novel, patent-pending approach to the application of wood resins based on an ultrasonic principle was developed in this study. Liquid polymeric methane diphenyl-diisocyanate (pMDI) resin was successfully atomized using a bench-scale 25 kHz ultrasonic atomizer. The optimal average sizes of the resin droplets generated at a flow rate of 0.7 mL/min and power input of 5.0 J/s were about 90 μm. In addition to fewer fine droplets than that produced by conventional spinning-disk atomizers, the droplets of pMDI resin produced by the ultrasonic atomizer had a more uniform droplet size distribution. These results indicate the potential advantages of implementing ultrasonic atomization in oriented strandboard production, including elimination of the hazardous fraction of fine resin droplets and potential production cost savings from improved resin efficiency. The ultrasonic atomization of wood resins appears to be a promising alternative to the spinning-disk atomizer

“Reflections on Old Age” Gerontology Conferences

The paper describes the “Reflections on Old Age” gerontology conferences organized by the Department of Andragogy and Social Gerontology. The main purpose of these conferences was to start fruitful meetings devoted to issues of old age and the process of ageing. The paper also presents a new editorial series entitled “Reflections on Old Age”.W artykule opisane zostały Konferencje gerontologiczne z cyklu „Refleksje nad starością”, które organizowane są przez Katedrę Andragogiki i Gerontologii Społecznej. Głównym celem tych konferencji było rozpoczęcie spotkań poświęconych tematyce szeroko rozumianego procesowi starości i starzenia się. W artykule przedstawiona została także nowa seria wydawnicza – „Refleksje nad starością”

Short-Term Creep Tests on Phenol-Resorcinol-Formaldehyde (PRF) Resin Undergoing Moisture Content Changes

The objective of the study was to develop an experimental technique that would allow determination of the hygro-mechanical properties of thin uniform resin films undergoing moisture content changes; and to use the technique for assessment of the hygro-mechanical performance of phenol-resorcinol-formaldehyde (PRF) resin.Creep tests on 6 small specimens of PRF film under constant stress (50% of the short-term ultimate stress level), at room temperature (23°C ± 2°C) and controlled relative humidity (RH) conditions (drying or wetting) were carried out. Digital images of the specimens were acquired using a CCD camera at discrete time intervals during the experiments. Displacements were then measured by comparing successive images using digital image correlation principles. Separation of strain components from total strain recorded during the creep tests was carried out by using data from two reference tests performed on the same material: 1) free deformations of unloaded specimens during drying or wetting conditions, and 2) creep under equilibrium conditions.The experimental method developed for the study provided a tool to determine hygro-mechanical properties of thin resin films. Quantitative data on material properties of hygroscopic resins determined by means of the technique may be used for modeling the behavior of adhesive bonds as well as adhesive bonded materials in varying climate conditions. The PRF resin revealed a distinct mechano-sorptive behavior, though it seems to be less significant than that reported for wood in transverse directions