Krakow University of Economics

Abstract The work mainly focused on a validation of the method for determining the content of salicylic acid and individual unknown impurities in new pharmaceutical product—tablets containing: 75, 100 or 150 mg of acetylsalicylic acid and glycine in the amount of 40 mg for each dosage. The separation of the components was carried out by means of HPLC, using a Waters Symmetry C18 column (4.6 × 250 mm, 5 μm) as the stationary phase. The mobile phase consisted of a mixture of 85% orthophosphoric acid, acetonitrile and purified water (2:400:600 V/V/V). Detection was carried out at a wavelength of 237 nm, with a constant flow rate of 1.0 ml min −1 . In order to verify the method, linearity, precision (repeatability and reproducibility), accuracy, specificity, range, robustness, system precision, stability of the test and standard solution, limit of quantification and forced degradation were determined. Validation tests were performed in accordance with ICH (International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use) guidelines. The method was validated successfully. It was confirmed that the method in a tested range of 0.005–0.40% salicylic acid with respect to acetylsalicylic acid content is linear, precise and accurate.

In computer science, an expected outcome of a student's education is programming skill. This working group investigated the programming competency students have as they complete their first one or two courses in computer science. In order to explore options for assessing students, the working group developed a trial assessment of whether students can program. The underlying goal of this work was to initiate dialog in the Computer Science community on how to develop these types of assessments. Several universities participated in our trial assessment and the disappointing results suggest that many students do not know how to program at the conclusion of their introductory courses. For a combined sample of 216 students from four universities, the average score was 22.89 out of 110 points on the general evaluation criteria developed for this study. From this trial assessment we developed a framework of expectations for first-year courses and suggestions for further work to develop more comprehensive assessments.

Artykuł z zasobów e-mentora: The characteristics of Generation Z. E-mentor - internetowe czasopismo poświęcone nastepującym zagadnienion:e-learning, czasopismo, sgh, szkoła główna handlowa, internetowe czasopismo, e-mentor, nauczanie przez internet, kształcenie ustawiczne, metody kształcenia, formy kształcenia.

In computer science, an expected outcome of a student's education is programming skill. This working group investigated the programming competency students have as they complete their first one or two courses in computer science. In order to explore options for assessing students, the working group developed a trial assessment of whether students can program. The underlying goal of this work was to initiate dialog in the Computer Science community on how to develop these types of assessments. Several universities participated in our trial assessment and the disappointing results suggest that many students do not know how to program at the conclusion of their introductory courses. For a combined sample of 216 students from four universities, the average score was 22.89 out of 110 points on the general evaluation criteria developed for this study. From this trial assessment we developed a framework of expectations for first-year courses and suggestions for further work to develop more comprehensive assessments.

Adolescent growth and social development shape the early development of offspring from preconception through to the post-partum period through distinct processes in males and females. At a time of great change in the forces shaping adolescence, including the timing of parenthood, investments in today's adolescents, the largest cohort in human history, will yield great dividends for future generations.

Purpose The primary purpose of this paper is to examine how generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) such as ChatGPT may serve as a new context for management theories and concepts. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents the analyses of selected management theories on decision-making, knowledge management, customer service, human resource management and administrative tasks and explains what may change after generative AI adoption. Findings The paper indicates that some management theories and concepts need to be studied in the generative AI environment that may influence managerial work at the strategic, functional and administrative levels. Research limitations/implications This paper is an opinion piece article and does not refer to empirical data. It formulates some conclusions to further empirical research studies. Originality/value The paper analyzes selected management theories in a new technological setting. The paper also provides information about the functions of generative AI that are useful in understanding and overcoming how new technology may change organizations and management.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate (a) the relation between intima-media thickness (IMT) in carotid arteries and the extent of coronary artery disease (CAD); and (b) whether IMT is predictive of coronary atherosclerosis. The coexistence of severe extracranial atherosclerosis in patients with CAD was also analysed. METHODS: Coronary angiography and carotid ultrasound evaluation were performed in 558 consecutive patients (438 men), with a mean (SD) age of 58.8 (9.2) years and suspected CAD. Mean IMT was measured at both carotid arteries and expressed as the mean aggregate value. The relation between IMT and severity of CAD was determined. RESULTS: A significant correlation between mean IMT and advancing CAD (p < 0.0001) was found. Four independent predictors of CAD were found in the discriminant analysis: age (p = 0.0193), hyperlipidaemia (p < 0.0001), smoking (p = 0.0032), and IMT (p < 0.0001). A significant increase in IMT was observed among patients with one, two, and three vessel CAD. A log normal distribution of IMT values showed that if mean IMT was over 1.15 mm, patients had a 94% probability of having CAD, with sensitivity of 65% and specificity of 80% in the patients with a high risk of CAD. The number of critically stenosed extracranial arteries increased with advancing CAD. None of the patients with normal coronary arteries had severe stenosis of the extracranial arteries. Severe carotid, vertebral, or subclavian stenosis was found in 16.6% of patients with three vessel CAD. CONCLUSIONS: IMT increases with advancing CAD, patients with mean IMT over 1.15 mm have a 94% likelihood of having CAD, and the coexistence of CAD with severe stenosis of aortic arch arteries is relatively high and was found in 16.6% of patients with three vessel CAD.

Changing collective behaviour and supporting non-pharmaceutical interventions is an important component in mitigating virus transmission during a pandemic. In a large international collaboration (Study 1, N = 49,968 across 67 countries), we investigated self-reported factors associated with public health behaviours (e.g., spatial distancing and stricter hygiene) and endorsed public policy interventions (e.g., closing bars and restaurants) during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic (April-May 2020). Respondents who reported identifying more strongly with their nation consistently reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies. Results were similar for representative and non-representative national samples. Study 2 (N = 42 countries) conceptually replicated the central finding using aggregate indices of national identity (obtained using the World Values Survey) and a measure of actual behaviour change during the pandemic (obtained from Google mobility reports). Higher levels of national identification prior to the pandemic predicted lower mobility during the early stage of the pandemic (r = -0.40). We discuss the potential implications of links between national identity, leadership, and public health for managing COVID-19 and future pandemics.

In this introduction to the special issue on the role of information and communication technologies (ICT) in socioeconomic development, we provide a conceptual framework that considers four dimensions that impact socioeconomic development: policy, business, technology, and society. This framework, which is systematically constructed from reviewing several earlier frameworks but more general in focus, is intended to provide context for the eight papers in this special issue, and also guidance for future-related research.

ABSTRACT This paper provides evidence that all‐equity firms exhibit greater levels of managerial stockholdings, more extensive family relationships among top management, and higher liquidity positions than a matched sample of levered firms. Further, top managers of all‐equity firms with family involvement in corporate operations have greater control of corporate voting rights than managers of all‐equity firms without family involvement. These findings are consistent with the interpretation that managerial control of voting rights and family relationships among senior managers are important factors in the decision to eliminate leverage.

In this paper we explore whether a number of elements influence the levels of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in the annual reports of Polish companies. These elements include the following: company size, profitability, financial leverage, industry environmental sensitivity, board size, women on the board, internationalization, and reputation. We use content analysis to determine the quality of CSR disclosures. We test our hypotheses using a Tobit regression analysis on a sample of 60 reports from Polish companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. We find industry environmental sensitivity to have significant influence on CSR disclosures. Our research findings also reveal a relationship between company turnover, duration of the stock exchange listing, inclusion in the Respect Index portfolio and foreign capital share, and the level of CSR disclosures. This study extends the scope of previous studies by including non-commonly used independent variables: the company’s internationalization and reputation. To the authors’ knowledge, it is the primary step to investigating CSR reporting practices coupled with the corporate characteristics in a Central and Eastern European country such as Poland. The paper contributes to the understanding of determinants of CSR disclosure and offers findings which are potentially useful for both theory and practice.

The European Directive 2014/95/EU as regards disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups is applicable by European Union-based entities starting with the financial year commencing on 1 January 2017. Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries are reported to face difficulties when implementing new European or global accounting regulations and models. We investigate the quality of non-financial disclosures in Poland and Romania, the biggest CEE countries, prior to the European Directive’s adoption and explain the diffusion of this type of reporting through the lens of the institutional pressures. We find that prior regulation, local institutional characteristics, ownership, industry and auditors have an impact on the quality of disclosures. Poland experienced a higher extent of voluntary reporting, but Romania faced prior regulatory demands for non-financial reporting (NFR). We find that the overall disclosure score is higher for Romania, which provides support for the importance of regulations to strengthen the spread and quality of NFR. The research findings are relevant to practice and policy. This ex-ante evaluation of reporting practices and of their determinants is useful to understand how change occurs in practice and how companies react to regulatory and other institutional demands.

Purpose To reveal the mechanisms determining the success of ERP implementations on the basis of research conducted among practitioners dealing with ERP projects. Design/methodology/approach A collection of potential ERP implementation success factors was identified. The respondents expressed their opinions concerning the importance of subsequent factors for implementation success and about the factors' appearance in their projects. The synthetic measure of implementation success was constructed and the factors' impact on the implementation project success was examined. Then, the most influential factors for the ERP implementation success were selected. Findings Recognises the factors that have the greatest influence on implementation success, regardless of the project type. Moreover, the leading roles of certain factors appear among specific project groups. The practitioners do not appreciate the significance of particular factors which have an important influence on project success. Nevertheless, some factors, such as project manager presence, are overestimated. Some differences in perceptions and attitudes between parties involved in an implementation project were revealed. Research limitations/implications The need for further research on the success factors' verification depending on the project type, with possible introduction of additional criteria such as enterprise industry. Practical implications The research outcome is useful for professionals leading implementation projects and those making decisions for the first time on ERP system implementation. The results can be used by practitioners while managing the project and handling people's attitudes. Originality/value This paper proves the influence of particular factors on the ERP projects success in certain circumstances, thus giving insight into the genuine mechanisms determining ERP project outcome.

Purpose Culture and cultural heritage are usually included in the general discussions on the construction of social capital and its impact on socio‐economic development. Despite that, it seems that there has not been enough in‐depth reflection on the typology and diversity of possible links between heritage and social capital. The purpose of this paper is to focus on an important aspect of heritage impact – its role in creating and enhancing social capital. Design/methodology/approach The aim of the article is to explain in what ways cultural heritage may constitute a tool, medium or space for enhancing and developing this type of capital. Though the text is mainly of theoretical character, conceptual statements are illustrated with selected cases from Great Britain and Poland, countries which differ significantly with respect to the level of social trust and involvement of residents in non‐governmental organisations, yet both reflect well the broad array of impacts of heritage on social capital. Findings The article indicates myriad impacts of tangible and intangible cultural heritage on social capital. It points to significant potential of heritage in terms of providing places of encounters and community hubs, sites of social integration and inclusion, functioning as a source of identity and local pride as well as being a reason for common actions, activities of NGOs and volunteers. Attention is paid also to the possible negative effects of heritage on social capital. Practical implications It seems necessary to include this aspect of heritage impact in policy making, not only in the field of culture and monument protection but also in other spheres, taking into account both positive and negative potential of cultural heritage with respect to social capital. Social implications The article focuses on an important social aspect of heritage impact in the local and regional context, which should be taken into account by managers of heritage institutions and sites. Originality/value A new, coherent typology of impacts and links between heritage and social capital is proposed, which may be useful to different level public authorities and organizations and also helpful to practitioners in the field of heritage management, with respect to social implications of heritage projects and activities conducted by them.

The p53 protein is an important factor of many intra- and extracellular processes. This protein regulates the repair of cellular DNA and induces apoptosis. It is also responsible for the regulation of the senescence and the cell entering the subsequent stages of the cellular cycle. The protein p53 is also involved in inhibiting angiogenesis and the induction of oxidative shock. In our study, we examined the activity of p53 protein in the uterine epithelial cells in rats treated with cladribine. Its action is mainly based on apoptosis induction. We compared the activity of p53 protein in cells with a high apoptosis index and in cells with active repair mechanisms and high proliferation index. We observed stronger p53 protein expression in the epithelial cells of the materials taken 24 h after the last dose of 2-CdA associated with the active process of apoptosis and inhibition of proliferation. After 4 weeks from the last dose of cladribine, the stronger expression of p53 protein was associated with both the existing changes in the cell's genome, the effects of the ongoing repair mechanisms, as well as the high proliferation activity.

In the last few years there have been many efforts in econophysics studying how network theory can facilitate understanding of complex financial markets. These efforts consist mainly of the study of correlation-based hierarchical networks. This is somewhat surprising as the underlying assumptions of research looking at financial markets are that they are complex systems and thus behave in a nonlinear manner, which is confirmed by numerous studies, making the use of correlations which are inherently dealing with linear dependencies only baffling. In this paper we introduce a way to incorporate nonlinear dynamics and dependencies into hierarchical networks to study financial markets using mutual information and its dynamical extension: the mutual information rate. We show that this approach leads to different results than the correlation-based approach used in most studies, on the basis of 91 companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange 100 between 2003 and 2013, using minimal spanning trees and planar maximally filtered graphs.

Abstract A new class of continuous multivariate distributions on × ∈ ℜ n is proposed. We define these so-called υ-spherical distributions through properties of the density function in a location-scale context. We derive conditions for properness of υ-spherical distributions and discuss how to generate them in practice. The name “υ-spherical” is motivated by the fact that these distributions generalize the classes of spherical (when υ(·) is the l 2 norm) and l q -spherical (when υ(·) is the l q norm) distributions. Isodensity sets are still always situated around the location parameter μ, but exchangeability and axial symmetry are no longer imposed, as is illustrated in some examples. As an important special case, we define a class of distributions suggested by independent sampling from a generalization of exponential power distributions. This allows us to model skewness. Interestingly, all the robustness results found previously for spherical and l q -spherical models carry over directly to υ-spherical models. In particular, it is shown that under a common improper prior on the scale parameter τ−1, any υ-spherical distribution with the same isodensity sets will lead to the same density p(x, μ). Under proper priors on τ, we can still find some robustness results, although of lesser generality.

This paper examines local development processes in the Polish municipalities between 2003 and 2019. In order to take into account the concept of sustainability, local development is represented by six dimensions: economy, demography, housing, society, infrastructure, and environment. First, using an index system and entropy weight method, the local development index (LDI) is calculated. Second, a coupling coordination degree (CCD) model is applied to study whether the processes of local development dimensions change in harmony. Thirdly, employing a convergence analysis, the studied municipalities are grouped into homogeneous clusters regarding LDI and CCD. Finally, the quadrant method and the ordered logit model are used to indicate directions for improvement in LDI and CCD. The research indicates that Polish local governments exhibit significant disparities in terms of LDI, whereby infrastructure and environment dimensions are the main obstacles to growth for the surveyed municipalities. Moreover, the CCD model shows that the vast majority of Polish municipalities are characterised by seriously or slightly unbalanced development, which also implies the conclusion that development processes in Polish municipalities cannot be called sustainable. Furthermore, club convergence analysis estimates inform that there are seven clubs in Poland in terms of LDI and five clubs in CCD. In addition, quadrant analysis reveals that, in general, urban municipalities belong simultaneously to the convergence clubs with high LDI and CCD. On the other hand, rural municipalities tend to be present in clubs with low LDI; therefore, they should take urgent pro-development measures. The latter is indicated through the identified main obstacles to local development as well as in the final stage of the empirical study through the estimation of ordered logit models.

Abstract The article evaluates the influence of pressure of 10 distinct types of stakeholders on the adoption of environmental strategies, with the special focus on the proactive environmental strategy (PES). The moderation effect of the company size on this relationship is investigated in depth. The existence of the relationship between stakeholder pressure and environmental strategies has been explored by numerous studies. The study adds significantly to this ongoing discussion as the moderation effect of the company size was explored scarcely so far in the literature. The results from the multinomial logistic regression models confirmed almost unanimously the effect of stakeholder pressure and the presence of the moderation. Positive, but nonlinear, direct and moderated effect of pressures of regulators, competitors, clients, NGOs, media, shareholders and employees on PES was discovered. In case of suppliers, consumers and top management, the pressure–PES relation was more complex. Also, large companies seem to be more resilient to pressures than the smaller ones when adopting PES.

The content of protein, moisture content and essential amino acids in conventional and genetically modified soybean grain and selected soybean products (soybean pâté, soybean drink, soybean dessert, tofu) was analyzed in this paper. The following comparative analysis of these products has not yet been carried out. No differences were observed in the amino acid profiles of soybeans and soybean products. The presence of essential amino acids was confirmed except for tryptophan. Its absence, however, may be due not to its absence in the raw material, but to its decomposition as a result of the acid hydrolysis of the sample occurring during its preparation for amino acid determination. Regardless of the type of soybean grain, the content of protein, moisture content and essential amino acids was similar (statistically insignificant difference). Thus, the type of raw material did not determine these parameters. There was a significant imbalance in the quantitative composition of essential amino acids in individual soybean products. Only statistically significant variation was found in genetically modified and conventional soybean pâté. Moreover, in each soy product their amount was lower irrespective of the raw material from which they were manufactured. Therefore, the authors indicate the necessity of enriching soybean products with complete protein to increase their nutritional value.