Disruptive Technologies as a Driver to Organizational Success. Organizational Culture Perspective

There is a lot of evidence in the research literature that Information Technologies can play a crucial role in achieving competitive advantage, improving decision-making, and achieving organizational success. Unfortunately, research on exploring the issues of using Disruptive Technologies (DT) is still limited, especially studies into the relationship between the use of DT and organizational success. The main contribution of this study is to investigate the issue of DT's impact on organizational success, in particular identifying the benefits of using DT in organizations, as well as examining to what extent organizational culture can be a factor in enhancing organizational success. The study presents the results of research on the use of Disruptive Technologies carried out in 194 organizations, especially in the areas of DT usage and the benefits that organizations achieve from adopting them, as well as the impact of organizational culture on organizational success

Data Exploration as a Trigger for Customer Relationship Management

Today’s research shows a significant increase in the role of data exploration in the management of organizations. Despite the great importance of this problem, in the scientific literature on the subject, too little attention is paid to research presenting the benefits that organizations can derive from data mining methods and techniques in customer relationship management. This paper aims to identify the essence of customer relationship management systems and the most important methods and techniques of data mining (data, text, web and graph mining), as well as to examine the key benefits that Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) can derive from their use. The research covered seven selected organizations representing the KIBS sector. The collected extensive research material allowed to answer following questions: what methods do organizations use to collect information, what types of data are most often the subject of data analysis, what techniques are used for data mining, and what benefits organizations and their customers derive from data mining

Biomechanical Studies of Novel Hernia Meshes with Enhanced Surface Behaviour

Research on hernia implants, especially less-invasive implantation techniques, is an important focus of study around the world. Practitioners require that these elaborate structures, which are primarily designed using textile technology, possess biomimetic behaviour to significantly reduce post-implantation complications. Novel textile hernia implants are designed with surface modifications that prevent prosthesis migration after implantation. The specialised structural design and enhanced prosthesis surface with stitched loops enables increased surface contact with the fascia, which improves the integration of connective tissue with the prosthesis without overgrowth (thick scar formation). The main intra-operative clinical benefit of the novel implant is its potential utility in suture-less techniques. The aim of this study was to compare novel hernia implant designs to clinically proven, commercially available knitted hernia meshes in vitro. TEMA MOTION 3.5 software was used to analyse motion and estimate the tendency of the non-fixed implants to remain in a stable position at the sublay in a simulated hydrodynamic model of the abdominal wall hernia system.The mechanical resistance of the implant against simulated maximal intra-abdominal pressure, the height of the simulated abdominal wall in the reconstruction region and the curvature of the reconstructions were determined and compared with results obtained with commercial hernia meshes of low surface mass that differ in structure, stiffness and thickness

The role of open source software in the process of implementing social innovation in SMEs

Nowadays, small and medium-sized enterprises (further SME) look for ways to overcome pressing social problems. An open-software-based application can be considered a powerful tool for this task, because of functionalities such as data management, BI operation, and efficient channels of communication. A review of literature shows that there is a shortage of studies concerning connections between usage of Free/Libre or Open Source Software (further FLOSS) and implementing Social Innovation (SI). The aim of this research is to investigate how the use of FLOSS relates to the ability of SMEs to implement SI. The author aims to underline key areas in which FLOSS supported implementation of SI. A set of recommendations for future initiatives is created based on the experience of successful implementation. Based on a review of literature, the author created a set of hypotheses which are validated by the in-depth surveys with three companies in the SME sector. The article structure is as follows: first the author presents literature findings concerning the subject, and next the areas of the model and survey answers. Finally, the author performs a critical review of the model, confirming that open software can stimulate the process of developing social innovation in SMEs, especially in cost reduction, flexibility, and community support

Badania przyspieszonego starzenia wybranych folii handlowych

The Arrhenius method was used to investigate the effect of accelerated aging conditions on the physical and mechanical properties of polymer films for technical, medical, food and office applications. Temperature and UV radiation were taken into account as environmental factors. It was shown that the tested films are more sensitive to thermal degradation than UV radiation. The reduction in tensile strength after thermal aging does not exceed 40%, and in the case of UV radiation, 14%. The estimated lifetime of the tested films is over 5 years.Metodą Arrheniusa zbadano wpływ warunków przyspieszonego starzenia na właściwości fizyko-mechaniczne folii polimerowych do zastosowań technicznych, medycznych, spożywczych i biurowych. Jako czynniki środowiskowe uwzględniono temperaturę i promieniowanie UV. Wykazano, że badane folie są bardziej wrażliwe na degradację termiczną niż promieniowanie UV. Zmniejszenie wytrzymałości na rozciąganie po starzeniu termicznym nie przekracza 40%, a w przypadku promieniowania UV, 14%. Oszacowany czas życia badanych folii wynosi ponad 5 lat

Modified Filamentous Bacteriophage as a Scaffold for Carbon Nanofiber

With the advent of nanotechnology, carbon nanomaterials such as carbon nanofibers (CNF) have aroused substantial interest in various research fields including energy storage and sensing. Further improvement of their properties might be achieved via application of viral particles such as bacteriophages. In this report we present a filamentous M13 bacteriophage, with a point mutation in gene VII (pVII-mutant-M13), that selectively binds to the carbon nanofibers to form 3D structures. The phage-display technique was utilized for the selection of the pVII-mutant-M13 phage from the phage display peptide library. The properties of this phage make it a prospective candidate for a scaffold material for CNFs. The results for binding of CNF by mutant phage were compared with those for maternal bacteriophage (pVII-M13). The efficiency of binding between pVII-mutant-M13 and CNF is about two orders of magnitude higher compared to the pVII-M13. Binding affinity between the pVII-mutant-M13 and CNF was also characterized using atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, which confirmed the specificity of the interaction of the phage pVII-mutant-M13 and the CNF - the binding occurs via phage's ending where the mutated pVII protein is located. No similar behaviour has been observed for other carbon nanomaterials such as: graphite, reduced graphene oxide, single-walled carbon nanotubes and multi-walled carbon nanotubes. Infrared spectra confirmed differences in the interaction with CNF between the pVII-mutant-M13 and pVII-M13. Basing on conducted research we hypothesize that the interactions are non-covalent in nature, with π-π interactions playing the dominant role. Herein the new bioconjugate material is introduce