bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Institutional Organizational Theory As A New Research Framework For Understanding Contemporary Organizations
Authors: Janićijević Nebojša
Published: May 2018

This paper presents basic postulates of the institutional, organizational theory as a new research framework for understanding contemporary organizations structuring and functioning. More and more structures in modern societies are being institutionalized due to changes in technical, social, and political spheres. Organizations in institutionalized sectors do not prove their legitimacy by their rationality and effectiveness, but by implementation of the current institutional pattern. Institutional pattern has its regulatory, normative, and cultural-cognitive components, and it is imposed on organizations within a sector by means of coercive, normative, and mimetic mechanisms. The consequence of implementing of a uniform institutional pattern in the structuring and functioning of all organizations within a sector is organizational isomorphism. The described elements of the institutional, organizational theory are applied in the analysis of structuring and functioning of universities and faculties in the higher education sector in Europe and Serbia. It is shown how the Bologna Higher Education Model, as a typical institutional pattern, impacts structuring and functioning of all universities and faculties in the European higher education area, thereby implicating their organizational isomorphism.
Analysis Of Non-Performing Loans Movement And Profitability Of The Banking Market In BH
Authors: Alihodžić Almir
Published: May 2018

The main motive of business operations of any bank is to achieve the highest profit possible and utilise it to increase dividends to shareholders, as well as to create conditions to increase their financial and credit potential by reinvesting in shares. The most important quality indicator of a loan portfolio is the share of non-performing loans to total operating assets and liabilities. In the first quarter of 2013, a trend of increasing non-performing loans in the legal entities sector increased by 2.6%, while there was stagnation with the population, i.e. slight decrease. The main objective of this paper is to examine the impact of the global financial crisis on the movement tendency of non-performing loans in the banking market in B&H, and their interdependence with the movement of profitability indicators by a simple regression equation.
The Role Of Trade Management In The Process Of Overcoming The Secrets Of Sustainable Development
Authors: Mladenović Svetlana Sokolov , Ćuzović Sreten
Published: May 2018

Trade, especially retail, plays an important role in linking producers, consumers, as well as employees and the social community at large. In developed market economies, the trade takes the leading position in marketing channels. In that regard, the trade has a good insight into the changes that occur in the production processes, consumer needs, and demands of the society. Given these changes, trade is heading in the direction of creating a competitive advantage in accordance with the principles of sustainable development, which opens up possibilities for application of this concept in trade. The aim of this paper is to explore the possibilities of implementing the concept of sustainable development in trade and trade management. The starting hypothesis of the work is that the trading companies operate in accordance with the principles of sustainable development. The testing of the hypothesis will be carried out from three angles. The research will start with an analysis of the concept of sustainable development. Second, the subject of a separate analysis in this paper will be the content of the concept of sustainable development in trade and retail, as well as the elements affecting the operational viability of trading companies. In that regard, the subject of the analysis will be the top ten trading companies from the list of 250 largest trading companies in the world and their content of the concept of sustainable development. Bearing in mind the results of the research on the concept of sustainable development in these companies, it can be expected that the trade will base its business philosophy on eco-marketing, with parallel acceptance of eco-management. This means that the companies capable of offering products that do not pollute the environment and that are labeled “eco”, “bio”, or “natural” will ensure their survival in the market. Third, the subject of the research will be the instruments that the trading companies use to achieve the objectives of sustainable business. All these aspects of the research are designed in a way to realize the defined goal and test the initial hypothesis in the paper.
Problems In The Valuation Of Business Customers
Authors: Đukić Suzana , Stanković Ljiljana
Published: May 2018

Key account management is becoming the dominant approach for managing long-term relationships with customers. It represents a set of processes and practices for managing interdependence between companies and customers in order to create added value for both sides. Such an approach to managing relationships with customers is of strategic importance for enterprises in the business market, as it allows the creation and development of synergic partnerships with valuable customers. A high level of interdependence, orientation to creating and delivering a set of benefits that exceed the basic product / service orientation to increased learning in relationships and reduction of uncertainty are the major characteristics of KAM. By managing their interdependence and using common skills and power, the partners focus on increasing their own competitiveness and value of supply. Leveraging resources is achieved through sharing of information, openness to new ideas, participation in decision making and problem solving at all organizational levels. Such relationships become the source of satisfaction of customers and their retention in the long term.
Strategic Management Accounting Role In The Performance Measurement And Control Of Multinational Companies
Authors: Marković Ivan , Stevanović Tatjana
Published: May 2018

The type and amount of information needed by top management of large companies is primarily determined by the role of individual managers. Thus, managers at the top of the hierarchy in complex enterprises need information that is different from the information managers of individual divisions or strategic business units. Starting from these requirements, strategic management accounting has developed a number of ways to provide information aimed at shaping corporate strategy. In this regard, the paper will be discussed various aspects of performance measurement in multinational companies, as well as the tasks to strategic management accounting should meet within them. Bearing this in mind, the main objective of this paper consists in analyzing the importance of strategic management accounting is to successfully manage the performance of multinational companies. Adequate application of theoretical concepts and research methods chosen, the work is expected to extending domestic literatures in this field meet our economic releases to the role of strategic management accounting in the measurement and control of the performance of multinational companies.
The Normative Basis Of Financial Reporting Of The Small And Medium-Sized Entities Of The Republic Of Serbia
Authors: Đukić Tadija , Pavlović Miloš
Published: May 2018

Small and medium-sized entities represent a special group of entities in the economy of a country in terms of organization and structure of financial reporting primarily for external users. The publication of the International Financial Reporting Standards for Small and Medium-sized Entities reveals that the International Financial Reporting Standards are not aligned with the capabilities of small and medium-sized entities, and that they are the basis of the second level of financial reporting. The main task and the goal of IFRS for the SMEs is to simplify the existing accounting regulations for this segment of the company. They have identified the specific needs of the financial reporting of small and medium-sized entities and specific information requirements of this part of the economy. Ease of application through a simpler option valuation and disclosure decreased, reducing the cost of preparing the report, as well as continuity, represent some of the advantages of the new standard.
Evolution Of “Rules Of The Game”, Macroeconomic Dynamics And Reform Policy
Authors: Stefanović Zoran
Published: May 2018

The impact of institutional arrangements, the “rules of the game”, in terms of Douglass North’s definition, on macroeconomic dynamics has been largely detected in the economic-historical records. However, clarification of the nature of institutional currents and their relationship with the paths of economic growth is a challenge for contemporary economic theory. The paper will present a retrospective of the conceptualization of institutional change as a process that mimics the evolutionary systems, relying on relevant theoretical concepts and selective empirical material that is contained herein. In this sense, the paper gives insight into the important contributions reflecting on the relationship between instiutions and economic growth, the evolutionary theory of socio-economic changes and their possible implications for the current reform process. Total of argumentation offered in the paper indicates stability and inertia of institutional structures, whose dynamics is prone to path dependency. Insisting on universal reform solutions, neutral with respect to local circumstances in the process of stimulating economic growth, turns out to be ineffective.
The Rural Open Air Museums: Visitors, Community and Place
Authors: Pawlikowska-Piechotka Anna , Łukasik Natalia , Ostrowska – Tryzno Anna , Sawicka Karolina
Published: May 2018

Contemporary rural museums perform not only the traditional tasks but are also the places where both the visitors and the local community members have chances for entertainment and attractive leisure time. Consequently one can find in museums numerous catering offers such as cafes, bistros, snack bars, restaurants, pubs and wine bars. The material presented is the result of theoretical and field studies carried out in the selected open air museums in Poland and focused on newly introduced commercial activities (as catering). Our research results show that the development of sustainable cultural tourism as a generator of income in the open air rural museums is important in the challenging economic time. Museums having catering services of different character could easier overcome financial struggle. Moreover there is no doubt that the introduction of an interesting and ambitious cuisine in the restaurants located in the rural open air museum is of great importance also in other terms: popularization of the food culture, rural tradition of region, healthy diet and lifestyle, chance to increase the museum attractiveness, important economic support to the museum and the local community and the improvement of living quality.
Ecological status assessment of lakes using macrophytes
Authors: Chilińska Elżbieta
Published: May 2018

Harmonisation of the laws of the Member States regarding the protection of the environment is one of the tasks of the European Union. Poland joined EU in 2004 and took on various commitments for the improvement of water status. In particular, the Water Framework Directive was a major breakthrough in the assessment of aquatic ecosystems. For the classification of stratified and non-stratified lakes Ecological State Macrophyte Index (ESMI) has been used. In Poland, the method for assessing the ecological status of lakes based on macrophytes has been developed for routine water monitoring shortly after joining the European Union. This index is one of the biological elements in the assessment of ecological status. It considers the whole plant communities in the reservoir. The key factor that ESMI reacts to is anthropopressure, which manifests itself as eutrophication. However, it is crucial that the lakes are also subject to different pressures. In this situation, the ESMI rating becomes only an indicative method. The article describes the role, process of evaluation and the most common problems related to ESMI.
Plants on duty – phytotechnologies and phytoremediation at a glance
Authors: Oleksińska Zuzanna
Published: May 2018

Phytotechnologies are plant based technologies of remediation and containment of pollutions. Many advantages of phytotechnologies such as control of water and biogeochemical cycles, positive impact on soil characteristics and lowering the risk of erosion, contaminant immobilization and destruction, habitat restoration, low costs of implementation, and high public acceptance, decide that in more and more cases it is a preferred and recommended method of rehabilitation. Vegetation selected to the particular site conditions and having required characteristics will shape other biotic communities. It is thus immensely important to gather detailed knowledge about all the elements and processes occurring at the place of interest, before employing adequate phytotechnology application.
Progress in Implementing the Sustainable Development Concept into Socioeconomic Development in Poland Compared to other Member States
Authors: Mazur-Wierzbicka Ewa
Published: May 2018

Sustainable development-related issues have been discussed in the public discourse worldwide since the 1960’s. The socioeconomic development theme is one of the key themes in sustainable development singled out by the European Union with a special attention paid to three crucial areas, namely: economic development, competitiveness, innovation and eco-efficiency as well as employment. Therefore, the aim of this article is to assess the implementation level of the sustainable development concept in the area of socioeconomic development in Poland compared to other Member States. In order to achieve the articles aim the following two research tasks were performed: sustainable development in terms of socioeconomic development in the EU strategic documents has been described and the sustainable development concept in the area of socioeconomic concept in Poland compared to other Member States has been analysed. The analysis showed that the gap between Poland and the ‘old’ EU has been narrowed since 2004; however, the progress in implementing the sustainable development concept into socioeconomic development was still slow comparing to both the EU-10 and EU-15. This article is based on the available reference, government documents and the analysis was conducted on the basis of secondary data provided by Eurostat.
Assessment of leaf damage in oak stands in the flood-affected Wołów Forest Division*
Authors: Kuźmiński Robert , Szewczyk Wojciech , Korczyński Ignacy , Łakomy Piotr
Published: May 2018

This study examines the effect of flood on oak stands in the Wołów Forest Division by assessing the loss of leaf area due to insect feeding as determined in laboratory analyses of samples collected from standing trees. We compared stands, in which water stagnated for at least one month and stands with no water stagnation. It was found that the mean damage to the carbon assimilating organs of stands with stagnating water was lowered by approximately 6% compared to stands that were not affected by flood. Thus, no definite effect of flood contributing to losses of carbon assimilating organs in oak trees could be shown.
Effects of food source quality on the adults of Melolontha melolontha and M. hippocastani
Authors: Woreta Danuta , Lipiński Sławomir , Wolski Robert
Published: May 2018

This paper presents the results of studies on the life span, survival, weight and fecundity of the forest cockchafer (Melolontha hippocastani, Fabricius, 1801) and the common cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha, Linnaeus, 1758) beetle feeding on Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn., Betula pendula Roth., Carpinus betulus L., Fagus sylvatica L., Larix decidua Mill., Prunus serotina (Ehr.) Borkh., Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl., Quercus robur L., Robinia pseudoacacia L., Sambucus nigra L. and Sorbus aucuparia L. em. Hedl. The lifespan and weight of beetles as well as female fertility were examined in 2011 and 2013. Specimen for laboratory tests were collected in the field shortly after leaving their overwintering sites in the soil and identical experimental protocols were applied to both examined species. 576 and 432 beetles were tested in 2011 and 2013, respectively. In 2011, beetles were feeding on A. glutinosa, B. pendula, F. sylvatica, L. decidua Q. petraea leaves and on C. betulus, P. serotina, R. pseudoacacia, S. aucuparia and S. nigra in 2013. Both years, beetles feeding on Q. robur leaves were examined as a control. Our results showed that feeding on leaves of Q. robur and Q. petraea had the largest positive impact on the life time, weight and fecundity of the studied beetles. Leaves of F. sylvatica and L. decidua also constituted an adequate food source for the development of M. melolontha. M. hippocastani, however, did not perform as well when feeding on these two tree species. Females of M. melolontha reared on leaves of B. pendula did not lay eggs. The following plant species had a negative impact on the survival and development of the collected specimen and female fertility: A. glutinosa, S. nigra, P. serotina and R. pseudoacacia. Neither beetle species fed on the leaves of A. glutinosa or S. nigra.
The dynamics of northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) in managed forests of central Poland
Authors: Głowacki Damian , Sławska Małgorzata , Sławski Marek
Published: May 2018

Based on data obtained from the Information System of Polish State Forests (SILP), we compiled a register of segments with northern red oak within the area of the Grotniki Forest District. For all of these stands, the cover of Q. rubra in the tree, understory (undergrowth and shrub layer) and herb layer was determined for at least three points and then rated on a ten-point scale (1st class – 10%, 2nd class – 20%, etc.). The current distribution of Q. rubra in all forest layers was analysed with respect to the type of forest habitat and stand age. Additionally, a prosperity index of northern red oak was calculated separately for two Forest Inspectorates and for all forest habitat types.

The divisions with Q. rubra in the Grotniki Forest District comprise a total area of 4,845,86 hectares, which represents 33% of the forest district’s area. In the Grotniki Forest Inspectorate 3,447,75 hectares (38% of the forested area) and in the Glowno Forest Inspectorate 1,398,11 hectares (25%) were inventoried. In all layers of the stands, the second and the third classes of coverage were the most commonly recorded, while Q. rubra covered the largest surface area in the herb layer, which confirms that this species is spread continuously in the forest district’s stands. In the Grotniki Forest Inspectorate, Q. rubra occurred most frequently in stands of the third age class, whereas in the Głowno Forest Inspectorate stands of the fourth age class had the highest rate of occurrence. The forest habitat in which Q. rubra achieved the highest prosperity index is a moderately humid mixed coniferous forest.
Influence of elevated CO2 concentrations on the growth of Armillaria ostoyae (Romagn.) Herink rhizomorphs in vitro
Authors: Lech Paweł , Żółciak Anna
Published: May 2018

A comparative experiment was carried out in growth chambers to determine the effects of elevated CO2 concentrations (either 760 ppm or 1,140 ppm) versus ambient CO2 conditions on the growth of Armillaria ostoyae (Romagn.) Herink rhizomorphs, which is the infectious organ of a fungal pathogen affecting many forest trees. We found that one out of three isolates in the experiment differed significantly in rhizomorph production, which was measured as rhizomorph dry mass/100 days of growth. Rhizomorph production was also affected by the tree species used as a food source in the inoculum preparation, with beech wood being significantly different from oak and hazel. Under higher CO2 regimes the production of rhizomorphs was consistently lower for all three isolates compared to ambient CO2 concentrations. For one isolate (no. 11) the growth differences were significant between 380 ppm and both elevated CO2 concentrations (760 ppm and 1,140 ppm), while for the other two (no. 30 and 32) significance was observed only between 380 ppm and 760 ppm. No statistically significant differences have been noted between 760 ppm and 1,140 ppm CO2 for these two isolates. it was concluded that elevated concentrations of CO2 inhibited A. ostoyae rhizomorph growth and therefore have the potential to lessen the pathogenicity of the fungus.
Comparison of the gravimetric sampling and impedance methods for measuring soil moisture content
Authors: Allman Michal , Jankovský Martin , Allmanová Zuzana , Messingerová Valéria
Published: May 2018

This paper was focused on determining whether gravimetric sampling and impedance method of measuring soil moisture content provided different results and if they did, what was the size of the differences between particular methods on rendzinas and cambisols. The means of moisture content should be equal when using both methods on similar spots. During the research, an Eijkelkamp Penetrologger penetrometer equipped with impedance probes and gravimetric sampling cylinders from Eijkelkamp were used. The samples were taken from the undisturbed stand, ruts, and the centre of the skid trail. The impedance probes were inserted six centimetres deep into the soil. Soil samples were taken from similar depth in order to calculate the moisture content through the gravimetric method. 138 measurements were carried out for each method. The minimal difference of moisture contents measured by individual methods was 0.01%, maximal difference was 22.06%, and on average it was 7.42%. Oneway ANOVA was used for first stage analysis of the statistical sample. It proved that the differences between measurements were statistically significant in two out of three considered stands. Tukey’s HSD test was used to identify which data groups contributed to refuting the aforementioned hypothesis. The test showed that in one stand all relevant pairs of data were significantly different, while in the other stand only data pairs from the ruts were significantly different. The calibration method provided by the producers did not refine the accuracy of the impedance probes sufficiently and different calibration procedures have to be used.
Afforestation of cutaway peatlands: effect of wood ash on biomass formation and carbon balance
Authors: Ots Katri , Orru Mall , Tilk Mari , Kuura Leno , Aguraijuja Karin
Published: May 2018

Alternatives to the restoration of cutaway peatlands include afforestation, energy forests, agricultural production, wetland restoration (restoration of peataccumulating function), reed canary grass (energy mower) or wild berries (blueberry, cranberry) cultivation, protected area for birds, and artificial lakes. Investigations made in several countries suggest that one of the most promising ways of regenerating cutaway peatlands is afforestation. The re-vegetation of Estonian cutaway peat production fields is mainly the result of natural processes, which are generally very slow: vegetation covers only 10–20% of a peat field. Carbon dioxide is not bound anymore in cutaway peatlands where vegetation layer has been destroyed and therefore photosynthetical processes no more occur. Using biofuel ashes (wood ash, etc.) for the afforestation of cutaway peatlands helps to balance the content of nutrients in peat substrate, which improves the survival of planted seedlings and significantly increases bioproduction. Drained and mined peatlands have become a significant source of CO2 but stimulated woody biomass production can be helpful to balance CO2 emission from cutaway peatlands. Because of the limited resources of fossil fuels and negative impacts on the environment in recent decades alternative sources of energy have been actively looked for. In Scandinavia a lot of attention has been paid to finding possibilities for using biofuels. The situation in Estonia is that only very few types of ashes (for example certified oil shale fly ash with product name Enefix) have been founded to be suitable for utilization and have been used for recycling in agriculture.
A seismic source zone model for the seismic hazard assessment of Slovakia
Authors: Hók Jozef , Kysel Robert , Kováč Michal , Moczo Peter , Kristek Jozef , Kristeková Miriam , Šujan Martin
Published: May 2018

We present a new seismic source zone model for the seismic hazard assessment of Slovakia based on a new seismotectonic model of the territory of Slovakia and adjacent areas. The seismotectonic model has been developed using a new Slovak earthquake catalogue (SLOVEC 2011), successive division of the large-scale geological structures into tectonic regions, seismogeological domains and seismogenic structures. The main criteria for definitions of regions, domains and structures are the age of the last tectonic consolidation of geological structures, thickness of lithosphere, thickness of crust, geothermal conditions, current tectonic regime and seismic activity. The seismic source zones are presented on a 1:1,000,000 scale map.
Terrazzo floor from the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw – mineralogical characterization, conservation and impact of fire
Authors: Bartz Wojciech , Martusewicz Jacek
Published: May 2018

Samples of historical terrazzo floor from the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, dated back to the thirties of the twentieth century, have been analysed. Investigations by polarised optical microscopy, scanning microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction and simultaneous thermal analysis were preformed. Based on the results obtained, it was concluded that terrazzo tiles were prepared on the basis of ordinary Portland cement and aggregate, dominated with crushed stone (marble, serpentinite, limestone and marl), accompanied by sparse quartz sand grains. The binding mass was colourised with the use of pigments containing iron ions. The occurrence of altered serpentinite and marble grains, the latter clouded and partly replaced with micrite, the presence of portlandite, indicate the terrazzo tiles were subjected to thermal impact. This is related to the fire that took place at the beginning of World War II. Based on this study, repair mortars were formulated, on one hand compatible with the authentic ones, on the other retaining traces of fire.
The basic problems of mineral resources valuation methodologies within the framework of System of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounts
Authors: Galos Krzysztof , Nieć Marek , Saługa Piotr W. , Uberman Robert
Published: May 2018

Growing awareness of limits set by exhaustibility of natural resources has led to a conclusion that only through their valuation in monetary terms one may assess a comprehensive economic impact of their use. Thus mineral resources have been included from the beginning to almost all studies regarding natural resources assessments. The first result, widely recognized by international community, of researches came in the 1993 – edition of the “Handbook of National Accounting: Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting”. One of the key outcomes of these works was a conclusion that measuring value of mineral resources for mineral raw materials production, alongside with physical flows of these materials, environment related transactions and measuring impact of the economy on the environment, should make basic pillars of this newly designed system, later named as the System of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounts (SEEA). As implementation of SEEA is still in a primary stage, many methodological issues remain unsolved. This article attempts to enumerate achievements made so far and indicate issues in need for further development.

Taking into account the importance of mineral resources for further economic development of Poland authors indicate a necessity to develop and implement methodologies for monetary assessment of resources/reserves available, extracted and depleted in order to form a methodological base for a meaningful policy of sustainable growth. The special challenge results from monetary assessment of explored but yet undeveloped mineral deposits.
The impact assessment of quality parameters of coal and waste rock on the value of mining investment projects – hard coal deposits
Authors: Kopacz Michał
Published: May 2018

Streszczenie

Artykuł stanowi próbę oceny wpływu parametrów geologicznych i górniczych na poziom przychodów, kosztów oraz wartość przedsięwzięć inwestycyjnych w górnictwie węgla kamiennego.

Teza pracy wiąże się z przekonaniem autora, iż w obszar czynników istotnie współokreślających ocenę przychodów, kosztów i efektywność eksploatacji należy wpisać, obok parametrów jakościowych węgla, także uzysk kopaliny.

Pomijanie lub pobieżna ocena parametrów jakościowych węgla w pokładach oraz wpływu uzysku na postęp i koszty wydobycia może istotnie zniekształcać ocenę potencjału konkretnych aktywów geologiczno-górniczych. Dotyczy to w szczególności wydobycia w nowych rejonach wydobywczych lub też nowych złożach.

Do badań symulacyjnych zbudowano dedykowany model oceny pozwalający skwantyfikować kierunek i siłę wpływu wartości opałowej, zawartości popiołu i siarki oraz współczynnika uzysku węgla netto (UWN) na poziom i zmienność łącznych przychodów, kosztów i ostatecznie wartość projektów geologiczno-górniczych. W tym celu opracowano również autorskie formuły szacowania kosztów stałych i zmiennych w funkcji zmiennego UWN.

Rezultaty badań przedstawiono ostatecznie w konwencji analizy scenariuszowej.

Uzyskane wyniki wskazują na istotny wpływ wartości opałowej i ilości skały płonnej mierzonej zmiennością uzysku węgla netto na poziom generowanych przychodów, kosztów oraz prognozowane miary oceny działalności operacyjnej hipotetycznej kopalni węgla kamiennego.

Wykazano, że zmiana o 1 GJ wartości opałowej może powodować od 3,57% do 4,76% wzrostu/spadku łącznych przychodów. W przypadku złóż węgla kamiennego, dla których realny uzysk węgla może wahać się w przedziale 60–80% można oczekiwać zmiany kosztów wydobycia węgla nawet o 53,0% w tym zakresie. Błąd oszacowania NPV, przy zmienności wartości opałowej w przedziale 21–27 GJ/Mg, może wahać się w przedziale 0–78%, natomiast spadek uzysku węgla o 18 pkt. może obniżać wycenę działalności operacyjnej kopalni nawet o 872,4%, co wynika z cech metody NPV i opracowanego scenariusza bazowego (NPV ≈ 0).

W publikacji nie wyczerpano zakresu analizowanej problematyki. Artykuł stanowi część większej całości prac nad sformułowaniem wytycznych (wskazówek) pozwalających właściwie szacować wartość aktywów geologiczno-górniczych w warunkach zmiennych parametrów geologicznych i górniczych, biorąc pod uwagę dodatkowo błędy oszacowania wartości średnich cech jakościowych wydobywanej kopaliny.
Fly ash from energy production – a waste, byproduct and raw material
Authors: Uliasz-Bocheńczyk Alicja , Mazurkiewicz Maciej , Mokrzycki Eugeniusz
Published: May 2018

Limited use of biomass has been observed in recent years. The processes of electricity and heat production in conventional boilers and fluidized bed boilers generate waste – mainly fly ash. This waste is traditionally used in many industries. The most important are: mining, production of building materials (including cement) and road construction. The use of fly ash in underground mining (suspension technology) is a method of fly ash recovery, which is typical for the Polish industry. The amount of fly ash (10 01 02) and waste (10 01 82) including ashes from fluidized bed boilers in the year 2012 amounted to 1,490.7 thousand tons. For many years, fly ashes from hard coal combustion in conventional boilers has also been used in various production technologies of building materials, such as: cement, concrete, building ceramics and lightweight aggregates. The ashes from hard coal combustion in fluidized bed boilers are also used in the production of cement and autoclaved aerated concrete. Due to extensive economic use, commercial power plants started to reclassify fly ash from hard coal combustion, turning waste into a by-product after meeting the requirements of the Act on waste of 14 December 2012. The ashes from the co-combustion of biomass are also used.

The utilization of fly ash from lignite combustion, both from conventional boilers and fluidized bed boilers, is a cause of concern, while the total recovery of fly ash from the combustion of hard coal and lignite has decreased in recent years. For this reason, studies on the use of traditional fly ash technologies such as the production of building materials and new fly ash technologies such as the use as sorbents in power generation and wastewater treatment, as well as on binding CO2 through mineral sequestration in the Carbon Capture and Utilization, are being carried out.
An expert system for underground coal mine planning
Authors: Brzychczy Edyta , Kęsek Marek , Napieraj Aneta , Magda Roman
Published: May 2018

In the current market situation, mining companies are faced with the necessity to take actions to improve the efficiency of the mining process. Some of these actions enforce a centralization of activities in the field of deposit economy and planning of mining operations in these companies. In the planning process with such scope the large knowledge of designers is required, which could be additionally supported by a knowledge base, supplied by information and data obtained during the completion of mining works, which also allows for use of the expert knowledge of other organizational units of the mine or the company. The paper presents an original expert system for mining works planning in the underground hard coal mines (MinePlanEx). The aim of the developed system is to support the designers of production planning in hard coal mines within the scope of: equipment selection, mining machinery combining into equipment sets and determining characteristic curves regarding the production results in the planned excavations. Knowledge of the system is represented by the rules selected with the chosen data mining techniques (association rules and classification trees) and obtained from experts. The first part of the paper presents a knowledge base, knowledge acquisition module and inference module which are the main components of the system. The second part contains an example of system operation.
Research, assessment and management of the travertine resources from the Banpotoc-Carpinis deposit (South Apuseni Mts., Romania)
Authors: Marinescu Mihai , Udubasa Sorin , Tiess Günter
Published: May 2018

Romania is not a large country but, due to the very complex geological structure, it has 110 mineral and power substances with identified and quantified resources and reserves. In time, the most numerous from these (82) have been exploited at the ground surface, in over 3,492 identified quarries and open pits. Travertine has been exploited since ancient times in Romania The exploitation of Brezinta (Mehedinti county) has been known since the Roman times. Although resources are found in many other zones, only two travertine deposits are presently exploited by Marmosim S.A.: Banpotoc-Carpinis and Geoagiu. Travertine extraction began at the Banpotoc-Carpinis deposit in 1870 and 9 quarries have functioned during time from which only one is still active today. This paper presents the way in which the research and valuation of the deposit was made, how the exploitation and processing of the travertine is made nowadays and what are its uses.
Effects of Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Stretching and Kinesiology Taping on Pelvic Compensation During Double-Knee Extension
Authors: Lee Seung-Woong , Lee Jung-Hoon
Published: May 2018

Shortened hamstrings are likely to restrict the anterior pelvic tilt and induce a slumped posture due to the posterior pelvic tilt. This study was conducted to compare the effects of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching and modified anterior pelvic tilt taping (APTT) on hamstring shortness-associated pelvic compensation while executing seated double-knee extension. Male college students (28 healthy young adults; mean age: 21.4 ± 2.1 years) with hamstring shortness were recruited as study subjects and randomly assigned to either the PNF stretching group (control group) or the APTT group (experimental group). In all the subjects, changes in the movement distance of the centre of gluteal pressure (COGP) as well as rectus abdominis (RA) and semitendinosus (SEM) muscle activities were measured during seated double-knee extension while the respective intervention method was applied. Both groups showed significant decreases in COGP distance and RA muscle activity compared with their respective baseline values (p < 0.05), however, no significant changes were observed in SEM muscle activity. We can infer that not only a direct intervention on the hamstring, such as PNF stretching, but also a modified APTT-mediated pelvic intervention may be used as a method for reducing pelvic compensation induced by hamstring shortness.
Do Legal Barriers Really Protect the Labor Markets? Empirical Evidence of Polish Migrants after 2004
Authors: Schwabe Michał
Published: May 2018

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the role of intervening obstacles, understood as legal and policy barriers blocking immigrant access to foreign labor markets, in the international migration process. To do so, we use Polish international temporary emigrants in the years 2000-2012, which spans both the pre-accession period, when Polish citizens were not entitled to access other EU labor markets, as well as the post - accession period, when certain countries gradually removed intervening obstacles according to the transnational agreements.

The findings of this paper undermine the significance of intervening obstacles on Polish migration to EU countries. Instead, the primary driver of Polish migrants was the EU-15 business cycle - and not the opening of EU labor markets.
Basic Indicators of Systemic Risk in the EU Banking Sector. Implications for Banking Regulation
Authors: Sum Katarzyna
Published: May 2018

The issue of systemic risk regulation and management has gained substantial attention following the latest financial crisis. In the case of the EU it became crucial to deal with the systemic risk problem on a supranational level since the banking sectors of the member countries are highly integrated. While substantial measures have been undertaken to mitigate systemic risk in the EU, the discussion of further reforms continues. This study’s goal is to assess basic indicators of systemic risk in the EU banking sector by using three complementary methods: a forward-looking stock market data analysis, an EU-stress test analysis for systemically important banks, and an empirical investigation of the relation between banking regulation and systemic risk as measured by bank balance sheet indicators. The results lead to a recommendation of further necessary regulatory reforms, which appear in the conclusion.
Risk of Investments in Human Capital and Expected Worker Mobility
Authors: Shelest Olena
Published: May 2018

The main purpose of the article is to examine workers’ mobility expectations under the risk of investments in human capital. We focus on the earnings risk associated with investments in human capital. In particular, we attempt to identify the specific risk for occupational groups and then conduct a descriptive analysis of the mobility expectations in occupational groups with different risk levels. The empirical analysis is based on the cross-sectional data from the survey Bilans Kapitału Ludzkiego (Human Capital Balance).
Antimicrobial and toxicological evaluation of ethanol leaf extract of Salacia lehmbachii
Authors: Essien Augustine Dick , Akuodor Godwin Christian , Ajoku Gloria Ahunna , Megwas Anthony Uchenna , Anele Donatus Onyebuchi , Ezeunala Mercy Nwakaego , Okezie Alozie Ogwuegbu
Published: May 2018

The leaves of Salacia lehmbachii are used ethnomedically across Africa for the treatment of different diseases its antimicrobial activity as well as toxicological profile were evaluated. Antimicrobial activity against clinical strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococus aureus, Shigella species, Eschericha coli and Proteus mirabilis were compared with Gentamycin. Toxicological investigation was determined by administering 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg of the ethanol leaf extract to male Wistar rats for 21 days with distilled water as control. Hematological and biochemical parameters as well as the vital organs were examined. The ethanol extract inhibited the growth of P. aeruginosa, S. typhi, S. aureus, Shigella species, E. coli and P. mirabilis to varying extents. The LD50 in rats was greater than 5000 mg/kg. Toxicological evaluation of the extract did not produce any significant effect on hematological and biochemical parameters and vital organs in rats. S. lehmbachii ethanol leaf extract did not demonstrate antimicrobial activity against selected microorganisms. Neither did it show any non-toxic effect on the parameters investigated in rats. Thus the extract can be considered safe when administered orally.
Erratum
Authors: Bartoszewicz Monika Gabriela
Published: May 2018

Erratum to 50 Shades of Radicalism: an Analysis of Contemporary Radical Parties in Europe
Survey of Certain Properties of Repetitive Gain Scheduling Control Systems Using the Method of the Algebraic Derivative
Authors: Nikolov E. , Nikolova N. G. , Grasiani B.
Published: May 2018

The present study systematizes certain methods for analysis at priori un-certainty and proposes new methods for analy-sis of the filtration features of the repetitive gain scheduling control sys-tems under the conditions of periodic harmonic interference. For analysis of the fil-tering features of the repetitive gain scheduling control systems, the following methods have been proposed and applied to a particular example: temporal analy-sis with “test” periodic im-pacts in nomi-nal parametric mode and frequency analysis, using the method of the alge-braic derivative.
The Unifying Feature of Projection in Model Order Reduction
Authors: Perev K.
Published: May 2018

This paper considers the problem of model order reduction of linear systems with the emphasis on the common features of the main approaches. One of these features is the unifying role of operator projection in model reduction. It is shown how projections are implemented for different methods of model reduction and what their properties are. The other common feature is the subspaces where projections are defined. The main approaches for model reduction which are considered in the paper are balanced truncation, proper orthogonal decomposition and the Lanczos procedure from the Krylov subspace methods. It is shown that the range spaces of system gramians for balanced truncation and the range space of the reachability and observability matrices for the Lanczos procedure coincide. The connection between balanced truncation and the proper orthogonal decomposition method is also established. Therefore, the methods for model reduction are similar in terms of general operational principles, and differ mostly in their technical implementation. Several numerical examples are considered showing the validity of the proposed conjectures.
Mean-Delta Features for Telephone Speech Endpoint Detection
Authors: Ouzounov A.
Published: May 2018

In this paper, a brief summary of the author’s research in the field of the contour-based telephone speech Endpoint Detection (ED) is presented. This research includes: development of new robust features for ED – the Mean-Delta feature and the Group Delay Mean-Delta feature and estimation of the effect of the analyzed ED features and two additional features in the Dynamic Time Warping fixed-text speaker verification task with short noisy telephone phrases in Bulgarian language.
Performance Evaluations of IPTables Firewall Solutions under DDoS attacks
Authors: Šimon M. , Huraj L. , Čerňanský M.
Published: May 2018

The paper presents design, background and experimental results of the IPTables applied in IPv4 and IP6Tables applied in IPv6 network compared through several tested parameters. The experimental testbed environment is based on P2P grid utilized for DDoS attacks. IPTables tool is used for packet filtering and consequently for preventing DoS/DDoS attacks. It allows a system administrator to configure the tables, the chains and rules it stores in order to manage the incoming and outgoing packets. The packets are treated according to the rules’ results provided by the packet processing. A rule in a chain can be bound with another chain in the table etc.

We employ the P2P grid environment to carry out as well as to coordinate DDoS attack on the availability of services to simulate real DDoS attack launched indirectly through many compromised computing systems. The same routing protocols as well as the same firewall rules were used for IPv4 and for IPv6 network. The main aim was to analyse pros and cons of new IP6Tables tool compared with IPTables in IPv4 networks in light of the resistance to DDoS attacks which is still one of the most significant threats in the IPv6 networks.
Image-based BRDF Representation
Authors: Mihálik A. , Ďurikovič R.
Published: May 2018

To acquire a certain level of photorealism in computer graphics, it is necessary to analyze, how the materials scatter the incident light. In this work, we propose the method to direct rendering of isotropic bidirectional reflectance function (BRDF) from the small set of images. The image-based rendering is focused to synthesize as accurately as possible scenes composed of natural and artificial objects. The realistic image synthesis of BRDF data requires evaluation of radiance over the multiple directions of incident and scattered light from the surface. In our approach the images depict only the material reflectance, the shape is represented as the object geometry. We store the BRDF representation, acquired from the sample material, in a number of two-dimensional textures that contain images of spheres lit from the multiple directions. In order to render particular material, we interpolate between textures in the similar way the image morphing works. Our method allows the real-time rendering of tabulated BRDF data on low memory devices such as mobile phones.
On a numerical flux for the pedestrian flow equations*
Authors: Kubera P. , Felcman J.
Published: May 2018

The pedestrian flow equations are formulated as the hyperbolic problem with a source term, completed by the eikonal equation yielding the desired direction of the pedestrian velocity. The operator splitting consisting of successive discretization of the eikonal equation, ordinary differential equation with the right hand side being the source term and the homogeneous hyperbolic system is proposed. The numerical flux of the Vijayasundaram type is proposed for the finite volume solution of the hyperbolic problem. The Vijayasundaram numerical flux, originally proposed for the hyperbolic problems possessing the homogeneity property is extended for pedestrian flow, where the homogeneity property is lost. The application of the proposed numerical flux is demonstrated on the physically relevant problem.
The Simulation and Experimental Results of Dynamic Behaviour of Torque Motor Having Permanent Magnets
Authors: Despotović Željko , Šinik Vladimir
Published: May 2018

The application, construction, and principle of operation of the torque motor having permanent magnets are presented first. Since dynamic behaviour of a servohydraulic system is, to a large extent, determined by dynamic behaviour of the applied torque motor, an analysis of motor’s dynamic behaviour is carried out and its dynamic transfer characteristic is determined. Finally, the simulation and experimental results of dynamic behaviour of the torque motor are presented.