Modelling and Financing of Agri-environmental Measures: Assessment of Regional Preferences in Poland

The main objective of the paper is to assess the importance of regional preferences in financing of agri-environmental measures. The analysis is based on results of a case study conducted in South-eastern Poland. As environmental protection in agriculture is complex and often considered in political strategies, it is worth analyzing the differences in perception of the respective environmental objectives from a regional perspective. Taking into account natural conditions and the economic situation in agriculture in the voivodship Subcarpathia, the question is how regional environmental objectives could be achieved effectively with a given budget. Using Linear Programming, we discuss how regional preferences would guide optimal and objectiveoriented budget allocations.agri-environmental programs; environmental objectives; linear programming; budget allocation; Poland

Impact of Environmental Objectives on Optimal Budget Allocations for Agro-environmental Measures — A Case Study for Poland

Several studies have analyzed the importance of biotical and abiotical aspects to be considered in the evaluation of agro-environmental policies. However, only a few of them have addressed the problem of targeting agro-environmental policies. In this paper, it has been hypothesized that different environmental objectives, considered as priority criteria in political strategies, would influence budgetary allocations and subsequently, political decision-making. Using the Analytic Hierarchy Approach and Linear Programming, this hypothesis has been proved by taking the agro-environmental measures in Poland after the accession to the European Union (EU) as an example. The results of this study can be helpful for solving the questions of planning, evaluation, and budgetary allocations in a more objective-oriented way in different countries.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Agri‐Environmental Policy in Poland: Challenges and Evaluation Approaches

The main objective of the paper is to investigate challenges for the agri‐environmental policy in Poland and to detect methodical approaches which can be used for the evaluation and design of agrienvironmental measures to make them more effective. Analysing the development of the agri‐environmental policy in the transformation process in Poland, before and after the accession to the European Union, we state that several changes are necessary to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of agri‐environmental measures in Poland. The acknowledged methodical approaches can be helpful to evaluate agri‐environmental measures and to specify problems to be solved in the following years

Anthroponymy as an element identifying national minority: the characteristics of Polish Old Believers’ names

The paper focuses on Polish Old Believers’ anthroponymy as the element identifying the group. The Old Believers are one of the ethnic, religious and national minorities in Poland.They came here shortly after the schism in Russian Orthodox Church. They settled down in North-Eastern Poland in the second half of the 18th century. Their descendants live there till now. After coming to Poland, Russian immigrants were living in hermetic, homogenous communities. This protected their religion and culture from strong exterior influence. After the Second World War the community became more open to external world. Nowadays, after a number of civilizing and geopolitical transformations, the isolation practically disappeared making the Old Believers’ culture defenceless against influence of dominant Polish culture. Together with all that changes the Old Believers’ anthroponymy has been transformed. Contemporary Polish Old Believers’ anthroponymy consists of Russian and Polish (in Masuria region – Russian, Polish and German) elements, as a result of bilingualism (and multi-lingualism on Masuria)

Return on net sales from three companies in the manufacturing of fabricated metal products (except machinery and equipment)

Keywords: corporate finance, Wroc{\l}aw University of Economics, net profit margin lub net sales profitabilityComment: 10 pages A

Yang-Baxter integrable Lindblad equations

We consider Lindblad equations for one dimensional fermionic models and quantum spin chains. By employing a (graded) super-operator formalism we identify a number of Lindblad equations than can be mapped onto non-Hermitian interacting Yang-Baxter integrable models. Employing Bethe Ansatz techniques we show that the late-time dynamics of some of these models is diffusive.Comment: 26 pages, Submission to SciPos

Serum homocysteine and vitamin B12 levels in women with gestational diabetes mellitus

Objectives: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is described as a glucose intolerance of variable severity which begun or was firstly recognized during gravidity. Two major metabolic disorders, insulin resistance and β-cell dysfunction, currently play major role in pathogenesis of GDM. Our intention was to investigate total serum homocysteine and vitamin B12 levels in pregnant women with GDM and non-diabetic gravid women. Material and methods: Serum homocysteine and vitamin B12 levels were prospectively measured in a total of 79 pregnant women, 60 of whom were diagnosed with GDM, and 19 of whom were healthy controls. Serum homocysteine levels were analyzed by ELISA. Vitamin B12 concentrations were determined by chemiluminescent immunoassay, and lipids were determined enzymatically. Results: GDM and control groups did not differ in terms of the serum homocysteine levels (median 7.24 vs 7.97 umol/L, respectively, p = 0.15). Nor did we find any association between serum homocysteine levels and BMI (r = 0.06, p = 0.55, respectively). There was no correlation between serum homocysteine and fasting serum glucose (r = 0.3, p = 0.8, respectively). There was no relationship between serum homocysteine concentrations and glycosylated hemoglobin (HgbA1c) levels (r = 0.06, p = 0.67, respectively). Serum vitamin B12 concentrations did not differ between the GDM and control groups (median 286 vs 262 pg/mL, respectively, p = 0.17). We found that levels of Vitamin B12 correlated inversely with fasting serum glucose concentrations (r = -0.44, p = 0.0009). Vitamin B12 concentrations increased along with LDL (r = 0.27, p = 0.043) and HDL (r = 0.38, p = 0.004) levels, however were inversely correlated with serum triglycerides (r = -0.34, p = 0.009). Conclusions: GDM patients with low Vitamin B12 values tend to have higher fasting serum glucose and altered lipid profiles (high triglycerides, low HDL and LDL). In women with GDM, serum homocysteine levels are not associated with HbA1c level, fasting glycemia, or BMI

Grifonin-1: A Small HIV-1 Entry Inhibitor Derived from the Algal Lectin, Griffithsin

Background: Griffithsin, a 121-residue protein isolated from a red algal Griffithsia sp., binds high mannose N-linked glycans of virus surface glycoproteins with extremely high affinity, a property that allows it to prevent the entry of primary isolates and laboratory strains of T- and M-tropic HIV-1. We used the sequence of a portion of griffithsin's sequence as a design template to create smaller peptides with antiviral and carbohydrate-binding properties. Methodology/Results: The new peptides derived from a trio of homologous β-sheet repeats that comprise the motifs responsible for its biological activity. Our most active antiviral peptide, grifonin-1 (GRFN-1), had an EC50 of 190.8±11.0 nM in in vitro TZM-bl assays and an EC50 of 546.6±66.1 nM in p24gag antigen release assays. GRFN-1 showed considerable structural plasticity, assuming different conformations in solvents that differed in polarity and hydrophobicity. Higher concentrations of GRFN-1 formed oligomers, based on intermolecular β-sheet interactions. Like its parent protein, GRFN-1 bound viral glycoproteins gp41 and gp120 via the N-linked glycans on their surface. Conclusion: Its substantial antiviral activity and low toxicity in vitro suggest that GRFN-1 and/or its derivatives may have therapeutic potential as topical and/or systemic agents directed against HIV-1

Effect of a high surface-to-volume ratio on fluorescence-based assays

In the work discussed in this paper, the effect of a high surface-to-volume ratio of a microfluidic detection cell on fluorescence quenching was studied. It was found that modification of the geometry of a microchannel can provide a wider linear range. This is a phenomenon which should be taken into consideration when microfluidic systems with fluorescence detection are developed. The dependence of the linear range for fluorescein on the surface-to-volume ratio was determined. Both fluorescence inner-filter effects and concentration self-quenching were taken into consideration. It was found that inner-filter effects have little effect on the extent of the linear range on the microscale. [Figure: see text