The internationalization - performance relationship: findings from a set of Polish listed manufacturing companies

“Internationalization, Innovativeness and Growth of Modern Enterprises”, ICAN Sp. z o.o. (editor Harvard Business Review Poland), Warszawa, 2010, ISBN: 978-83-932054-0-0The paper aims to identify the shape of the relationship between degree of internationalization and performance of Polish manufacturing firms using data from WSE listed companies over the period from 2003 to 2008. The results suggest that initially, internationalization has a negative impact on performance; however, over time, through gaining experience and through organizational learning, the benefits of international expansion outweigh the costs and firm’s performance improves. The regression results indicate also that real GDP growth rate in Germany, real effective exchange rate and import transaction price index significantly contribute to firms’ performance

Determinants of industry-level production capacity in Poland

The paper deals with the production capacity – innovation nexus. It focuses on development of total factor productivity (TFP), which is one of the determinants of production capacity of the economy. The analysis is carried out using 2-digit NACE rev. 2 level Polish manufacturing data covering the most recent period of 2008-2012. TFP is estimated using theoretical framework based on a Cobb-Douglas production function and an attempt is made to identify the role of innovation activities in forming TFP in case of economy of an emerging country under recent economic crisis. The findings suggest that the non-R&D innovation activities are of more importance in determining TFP of Polish manufacturing divisions than R&D expenditures

Innovation and Economic Growth in European Union. Panel Data Analysis

JEL Classifications: O33, O30, O47This study examines the relationship between technological innovation and economic growth in European Union countries over the period 1993-2011. Using Blundell and Bond (1998) generalized method of the moments estimation technique, the study provides evidence that R&D expenditures and patent activities differ in terms of fostering economic growth between EU-15 and EU-13 countries. The main results indicate that there is no significant impact of R&D expenditures on the economic growth and that patent activities determine economic growth in EU-13 subsample and EU-28 as a whole. The study suggests that there may be no one particular recipe for growth for all EU countries and put into question whether setting common numerical targets in EU’s innovation policy makes economic sense

Activity of selected aromatic amino acids in biological systems

Besides the structural function in proteins, aromatic amino acids are precursors of many important biological compounds essential for normal functioning of the human organism. Many of these compounds may be used as markers for identification of specific pathological states. Comprehensive knowledge about the metabolism of aromatic amino acids and mechanisms of action of their metabolites made it possible to develop effective treatments for many disorders. However, it should not be forgotten that in some pathological conditions, these compounds could not only be involved in the pathogenesis of many disease entities but could also be used as an important tool in prediction of many diseases. This paper contains a review of published literature on aromatic amino acids in the context of physiological processes of the human body and chosen social disorders, such as cancers; psychiatric disorders: depression, anxiety states, schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorders; neurodegenerative, and cardiovascular diseases; chronic kidney insufficiency or diabetes

Funkcje prawie ortogonalnie addytywne

W czterech pracach stanowiących rozprawę, dwóch napisanych tylko przeze mnie oraz dwóch napisanych wspólnie z Tomaszem Kochankiem, zajmuję się funkcjami prawie ortogonalnie addytywnymi z rozumieniem słowa prawie na dwa różne sposoby

Generation of reactive oxygen species by a sufficient, insufficient and varicose vein wall

Despite numerous theories, the etiology and pathogenesis of primary varicose veins remain unclear. The etiology of chronic venous diseases (CVDs) known as chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is related to leukocyte trapping. Leukocyte trapping involves trapping of white cells in vessel walls followed by their activation and translocation outside the vessel. Release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) from trapped white cells has been documented. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) directly inhibits the generation of free radicals and compounds that are produced during oxidation by ROS, such as malonyldialdehyde (MDA). The aim of this study was to determine the involvement of free radicals in the etiology of venous changes. The following material was used for the study: fragments of sufficient or insufficient venous system and varices from 31 patients diagnosed with chronic venous disease in the 2nd or 3rd degree, according to clinical state, etiology, anatomy and pathophysiology (CEAP), which were qualified for surgical procedure. The levels of oxidative stress markers strongly correlated with lesions observed by USG in insufficient and varicose veins. In both a higher concentration of MDA was observed, which is a sign of lipid peroxidation. Antioxidative mechanisms, SOD activity and total antioxidative power expressed as FRAP were inversely proportional to MDA concentration. In insufficient and varicose veins both FRAP and SOD activities were significantly lower than in normal veins. The severity of clinical changes was inversely dependent on the efficiency of scavenging of ROS, which additionally proves the participation of free radicals in pathogenesis of CVDs

Orthogonally Pexider functions modulo a discrete subgroup

A result from [J. Brzdęk, Pacific J. Math. 181 (1997), no. 2, 247–267; MR1486531] provides, under some assumptions, a description of functions f:G→H such that f(x+y)−f(x)−f(y)∈K for x,y∈G with x⊥y. In the present paper, the author considers the Pexider difference f(x+y)−g(x)−h(y) instead of the Cauchy one

Does the quality of institutions modify the economic growth-carbon dioxide emissions nexus? Evidence from a group of emerging and developing countries

The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of economic growth on carbon dioxide emissions dependent on the quality of institutions, for a sample of 93 emerging and developing countries over the period 1995–2014. We measured institutional quality using government effectiveness and control of corruption indicators. The GMM estimation results indicate that government effectiveness modifies the economic growth-emissions relationship. For low values of this institutional indicator, we found diminishing increments of CO2 emissions as GDP grows. In the case of countries with high government effectiveness, we observed a statistically significant reduction in CO2 emissions only in some specifications. We did not confirm the moderating role of the control of corruption in shaping the economic growth-carbon dioxide emissions nexus. These findings have important policy implications, suggesting that countries should direct efforts to improve the institutional background. Additionally, we provide empirical support for the presence of the inverted U-shaped relationship between economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions postulated by the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC)

The antioxidant quercetin protects HL-60 cells with high myeloperoxidase activity against pro-oxidative and apoptotic effects of etoposide

The protective action of quercetin against the pro-oxidant and apoptotic effect of etoposide was investigated in HL-60 cells with a high level of myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity and in cells treated with MPO inhibitor, 4-aminobenzoic acid hydrazide (ABAH). Quercetin significantly protected MPO-rich cells against the pro-oxidative (p<0.05) and apoptotic (p<0.05) effects of etoposide. Pre-treatment with ABAH abolished this protective influence of quercetin on apoptosis induced by etoposide but actually enhanced the action effect of quercetin against etoposide-generated reactive oxygen species (ROS) level by this cytostatic drug. Thus quercetin can protect HL-60 cells against the pro-oxidative activity of etoposide regardless of MPO activity