Catalysts and deregulators of Polish e-Govemment

Implementation and development of e-Government in Poland took place in view of our candidacy for and now membership in the European Union (EU). There are factors, phenomena and facts which accelerate or delay this process and this article presents them in the context of activities undertaken in Poland for creating the fundamentals of electronic administration and its development

Internal communication satisfaction while remote work : the organizational culture perspective

PURPOSE: The purpose of this article is to answer the question whether the Organizational Culture Affect Communication Satisfaction in Remote and Hybrid Work Settings.DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: In this study two stages of methodology were applied with the systematic literature review as the first one and second data collection (N=701) by the means of a quantitative research. Two already verified, reliable questionnaires were adopted - OCAI (Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument developed by Cameron and Quinn 1999) for the company culture assessment and the CSQ (Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire developed by Downs and Hazen 1977) for assessing the communication satisfaction evaluation, both in remote and hybrid settings.FINDINGS: The results presented show differences in communication satisfaction depending on perceptions of organizational culture in remote and hybrid work. Perceived organizational culture affects communication satisfaction ratings, but in differently across each of dimensions assessed. The highest satisfaction scores were reported by employees assessing their organization culture as Clan, slightly smaller was reported by those assessing the culture as Adhocracy, next Hierarchy and the lowest satisfaction was shown by those who rated the organization culture as Market. Employees rating their organization culture as Clan are more satisfied than others show greater satisfaction in six of the eight dimensions.PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Managers seeking to improve the communication satisfaction of their employees should simultaneously work on improving communication – which seems obvious – but also on organizational culture. Introducing elements of the e.g., clan culture into the daily remote or hybrid activities of employees will increase their satisfaction with communication. Having that in mind managers would influence culture change more attentively.ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This study measures how much are employees satisfied with communication while working in remote or hybrid conditions with relation to organizational culture as they perceived it. In the remote work condition, when communication media are similar, the organizational culture has important influence on emploeeys communication satisfaction.peer-reviewe

Smart Grids for Digital Society

This paper begins with an introduction of the basic problems of traditional electric power systems that intend to develop Smart Grids (SG). The characteristics of the SG, as well as those of the new ICT systems and the New Energy Market that accompany the process of SG development, have opened up wide areas of research supported by the EU. An overview of the significant role that the Department of Computer Sciences had in this research, closes the paper

Marine-inspired enzymatic mineralization of dairy-derived whey protein isolate (WPI) hydrogels for bone tissue regeneration

Whey protein isolate (WPI) is a by-product from the production of cheese and Greek yoghurt comprising β-lactoglobulin (β-lg) (75%). Hydrogels can be produced from WPI solutions through heating; hydrogels can be sterilized by autoclaving. WPI hydrogels have shown cytocompatibility and ability to enhance proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of bone-forming cells. Hence, they have promise in the area of bone tissue regeneration. In contrast to commonly used ceramic minerals for bone regeneration, a major advantage of hydrogels is the ease of their modification by incorporating biologically active substances such as enzymes. Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is the main inorganic component of the exoskeletons of marine invertebrates. Two polymorphs of CaCO3, calcite and aragonite, have shown the ability to promote bone regeneration. Other authors have reported that the addition of magnesium to inorganic phases has a beneficial effect on bone-forming cell growth. In this study, we employed a biomimetic, marine-inspired approach to mineralize WPI hydrogels with an inorganic phase consisting of CaCO3 (mainly calcite) and CaCO3 enriched with magnesium using the calcifying enzyme urease. The novelty of this study lies in both the enzymatic mineralization of WPI hydrogels and enrichment of the mineral with magnesium. Calcium was incorporated into the mineral formed to a greater extent than magnesium. Increasing the concentration of magnesium in the mineralization medium led to a reduction in the amount and crystallinity of the mineral formed. Biological studies revealed that mineralized and unmineralized hydrogels were not cytotoxic and promoted cell viability to comparable extents (approximately 74% of standard tissue culture polystyrene). The presence of magnesium in the mineral formed had no adverse effect on cell viability. In short, WPI hydrogels, both unmineralized and mineralized with CaCO3 and magnesium-enriched CaCO3, show potential as biomaterials for bone regeneration

Degradation, Bioactivity, and Osteogenic Potential of Composites Made of PLGA and Two Different Sol–Gel Bioactive Glasses

We have developed poly(l-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) based composites using sol–gel derived bioactive glasses (S-BG), previously described by our group, as composite components. Two different composite types were manufactured that contained either S2—high content silica S-BG, or A2—high content lime S-BG. The composites were evaluated in the form of sheets and 3D scaffolds. Sheets containing 12, 21, and 33 vol.% of each bioactive glass were characterized for mechanical properties, wettability, hydrolytic degradation, and surface bioactivity. Sheets containing A2 S-BG rapidly formed a hydroxyapatite surface layer after incubation in simulated body fluid. The incorporation of either S-BG increased the tensile strength and Young’s modulus of the composites and tailored their degradation rates compared to starting compounds. Sheets and 3D scaffolds were evaluated for their ability to support growth of human bone marrow cells (BMC) and MG-63 cells, respectively. Cells were grown in non-differentiating, osteogenic or osteoclast-inducing conditions. Osteogenesis was induced with either recombinant human BMP-2 or dexamethasone, and osteoclast formation with M-CSF. BMC viability was lower at higher S-BG content, though specific ALP/cell was significantly higher on PLGA/A2-33 composites. Composites containing S2 S-BG enhanced calcification of extracellular matrix by BMC, whereas incorporation of A2 S-BG in the composites promoted osteoclast formation from BMC. MG-63 osteoblast-like cells seeded in porous scaffolds containing S2 maintained viability and secreted collagen and calcium throughout the scaffolds. Overall, the presented data show functional versatility of the composites studied and indicate their potential to design a wide variety of implant materials differing in physico-chemical properties and biological applications. We propose these sol–gel derived bioactive glass–PLGA composites may prove excellent potential orthopedic and dental biomaterials supporting bone formation and remodeling

The Evaluation of the Possibilities of Using PLGA Co-Polymer and Its Composites with Carbon Fibers or Hydroxyapatite in the Bone Tissue Regeneration Process – in Vitro and in Vivo Examinations

Synthetic polymers belonging to the aliphatic polyester group have become highly promising biomaterials for reconstructive medicine. The purpose of the present work is a biological evaluation of lactide-glycolide co-polymer (PLGA) and its composites with carbon fibers (PLGA+CF) or hydroxyapatite (PLGA+HA). The cytotoxicity of the evaluated materials towards hFOB 1.19 human osteoblast-like cells was assessed. Moreover, during the one-year contact of the assessed materials with living osseous tissue, the progress of bone formation was analyzed and the accompanying process of the materials’ degradation was evaluated. The materials under evaluation proved to be biocompatible

Ultrafast structural changes direct the first molecular events of vision

視覚に関わるタンパク質の超高速分子動画 --薄暗いところで光を感じる仕組み--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2023-03-23.Vision is initiated by the rhodopsin family of light-sensitive G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). A photon is absorbed by the 11-cis retinal chromophore of rhodopsin, which isomerizes within 200 femtoseconds to the all-trans conformation, thereby initiating the cellular signal transduction processes that ultimately lead to vision. However, the intramolecular mechanism by which the photoactivated retinal induces the activation events inside rhodopsin remains experimentally unclear. Here we use ultrafast time-resolved crystallography at room temperature to determine how an isomerized twisted all-trans retinal stores the photon energy that is required to initiate the protein conformational changes associated with the formation of the G protein-binding signalling state. The distorted retinal at a 1-ps time delay after photoactivation has pulled away from half of its numerous interactions with its binding pocket, and the excess of the photon energy is released through an anisotropic protein breathing motion in the direction of the extracellular space. Notably, the very early structural motions in the protein side chains of rhodopsin appear in regions that are involved in later stages of the conserved class A GPCR activation mechanism. Our study sheds light on the earliest stages of vision in vertebrates and points to fundamental aspects of the molecular mechanisms of agonist-mediated GPCR activation

Tariffs and Electricity Prices as a Tool for Energy Demand Management

In the new energy market the role of typical energy customer evaluates from a passive one to more active. The new types of DSM programs are offered by energy suppliers in order to change customer behavior. The first part of the paper describe presents several types of energy tariffs dedicated to new energy market. Second part of the paper presents the results of preliminary studies of Polish residential energy customers' preferences of DSM programs, based on preliminary survey done in Central Poland in September 2012

Zaangażowanie odbiorców z grupy gospodarstw domowych w zarządzanie popytem na energię

Inteligentne Sieci Elektroenergetyczne na przestrzeni ostatnich lat stały się jednym z najbardziej „gorących” tematów zarówno w Polsce, jak i na świecie. Pojawiają się dziesiątki artykułów i opracowań na ten temat oraz organizowane są liczne konferencje, na których termin ten odmieniany jest przez wszystkie przypadki. Z jednej strony można to traktować jako swoistego rodzaju modę, ale jest to także syndrom XXI w., w którym o pozycji państw i przedsiębiorstw decydują nie tylko zasoby materialne, ale przede wszystkim wiedza, a zwłaszcza innowacyjny sposób jej wykorzystania. W ten kontekst dobrze wpisuje się praca poświęcona opracowaniu podejścia łączącego „dwa światy” - tj. nauk o zarządzaniu i problematyki sieci elektroenergetycznych.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

Review of Professional Systems of Managing Relational Data Bases

Relational data bases are a novel but very dynamically developing field of knowledge. The article contains a review of the available and most popular systems of management of data bases. Its introductory part describes the rules concerning the relational model of data base elaborated by an American mathematician E. F. Codd and a short description of the SQL language being a standard of the structural language of questions increasingly more commonly used in the systems ,of management of relational data bases today. The core of the article are short presentations of the following data bases: Oracle 5.1,Ingres 5.0, Informix SQL and 4GL, SQLBase, Btrieve 4.1. and XQL 1.0,XDB II, SCO Integra, dBASE IV, Paradox 2.0, FoxBASE. In the final part of the article, the author presents a list of base processing speed tests containing the SQL language and a general list of the described data bases containing names of producers and minimal hardware requirements.The article ends with presentations of the present trends in development of the systems of management of data bases.Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 dofinansowane zostało ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej naukę