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The aim of this article is to investigate how the use of financial instruments influences the development of Regional Development Funds (RFR) in Poland and to assess the maturity and coherence of the regional development financing system in this country.

The methodology is based on the multilevel governance literature and on data collected during 26 in-depth interviews in regional, national and international institutions.

The authors demonstrate that the use of financial instruments stimulates new kinds of cooperation between several institutions and contributes to the establishment of RFR. The authors also show that the Polish regional financing system is still developing and formulate recommendations about necessary improvements.

The main contribution of this article, in addition to taking up a new, relevant topic for the regional development policy in countries benefiting from European Union (EU) cohesion policy, is the application of the multilevel governance (MLG) concept to explain the development of the Polish regional development financing system. Moreover, the significant added value of this study comes from the use of data collected during 26 in-depth interviews (IDI) in regional, national and international institutions on the use of repayable instruments in regional development policy.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse physicochemical and sensory profiles of apple juices using multivariate methods and to predict the essential sensory properties by means of instrumental measurements.

The studied set included apple juices reconstituted from concentrate (clear and cloudy) and direct (pasteurised and freshly squeezed, not pasteurised). The physicochemical (colour, turbidity, total soluble solids, sucrose, D-glucose, D-fructose content, pH, total acidity, total phenolic, total flavonoid content and antioxidant capacity) and sensory profiles of juices were analysed by principal component analysis and partial least squares (PLS) regression.

An exploratory study of physicochemical and sensory profiles revealed dimensions differentiating apple juices. The first dimension was related to their physical properties (clarity, sediment and colour coordinates L*, C*, h°), whereas the second dimension referred to their flavour, being positively correlated with sourness and astringency, and negatively with sweetness. The PLS regression analysis revealed the quantitative relationship between sweet and sour flavours and the instrumental measurements. The physicochemical parameters of apple juices contributing positively or negatively to the key sensory attributes were determined based on the regression coefficients.

This study presents a possibility to predict the key sensory attributes of apple juice on the basis of selected physicochemical parameters. This approach could be a supporting tool for sensory analysis that could allow the quality characterisation on a large sample set and hence shorten the time necessary for routine quality control, product design and development.

There are many studies explaining the innovation activity determinants. Nowadays, the digitalization of sales, the influence of social media, user-driven innovation (UDI) activity might be considered as one of the crucial sources for the development of new products within the research and development activity. Undertaken research is therefore aimed at determining whether the marketing orientation, i.e. the purchasing behavior of customers, affects the innovation activity of R&D departments that work under the usage of UDI concept.

57 R&D departments operating in Poland participated in the study. Correspondence analysis based on the Burt matrix and Cramer's V correlation coefficients was used for the analysis.

The analysis shows that R&D departments in Poland using marketing research and examining consumer purchasing behavior, positively assess the effects of using the UDI concept in R&D departments. They implement it to create or improve products or services offered on the market, especially in the field of customization, while using information from national research and development units in Poland. The motivation for these activities is mainly to increase the assortment level.

The conducted study covers only R&D departments in Poland, thus it is worth extending the generalization of the results. In terms of future research directions, it's worth to analyze the data from R&D departments in other countries. The results of such studies could be used for comparative analyses. The main limitation of the research is that the research sample was 57 R&D departments of enterprises operating in Poland. Therefore, the research results can't be generalized to all the R&D departments in Poland.

The findings could help researchers and practitioners improve their understanding of the determinants of innovation activity, especially its relationship to marketing orientation and UDI practices.

The research regarding marketing orientation of enterprises and its influence on innovation activity is extremely important due to the general change of the conditions for the functioning of enterprises and building their competitive advantage. Knowledge in this area is still insufficient and research gaps are still being exposed. The article presents the correlation between the marketing orientation and customer behavior within the UDI activity and effects of innovation activity of R&D departments being under investigation.

Based on the social exchange theory, the aim of the present study is to examine the effects, both direct and indirect (through sustainability-oriented innovative behaviors [SIBs]), of sustainable project leadership (SPL) on sustainable project performance (SPP). Project management approaches (PMAs) (traditional, hybrid and agile) were examined as conditional factors in the “SPL–SIBs” relationship.

The study employs structural equation modeling based on data collected from 197 software engineering project team members working in the financial industry in Poland.

The study revealed that SPL significantly, positively affected SPP. It also provided evidence for the significant mediating impact of SIBs in the relationship between SPL and SPP and the conditional effect of agile and hybrid PMAs on the “SPL–SIBs” relationship.

The novelty of this work lies in introducing sustainable leadership into project management research, proposing and testing a unique and complex research framework, designing valid scales for measuring SPL and SPP, and suggesting many theoretical and empirical implications.

The main aim of the study was to measure and assess the efficiency of the healthcare system in Poland.

An output-oriented Data Envelopment Analysis model with a 2-years window analysis extension was used between 2013 and 2018. The analysis was completed with a determination of the sources of productivity changes (between the first and last year of the study period) and factors that influence efficiency.

Efficient regions have been identified and the spatial diversity in their efficiency was confirmed. The study identified individual efficiency trends together with “all-windows” best and worst performers. Using panel modeling, it was confirmed that the efficiency of health protection is influenced by, among others, accreditation certificates, the length of the waiting list or the number of medical personnel.

Although the analysis was conducted at the voivodeship level (NUTS2), which was fully justified, it would be equally important to analyze data with a lower aggregation level. It would be extremely valuable from the perspective of difficulties faced by the healthcare system in Poland.

The identification of areas and problems affecting the efficiency of the healthcare system in Poland may also be a hint for other countries with similar system solutions that also struggle with the same problems.

The paper explains the efficiency of the country's healthcare system while also paying attention to changes in its level, factors influencing it, spatial diversity and impact on the sector functioning.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact of public support through equity instruments on firm performance, as measured by growth in employment, turnover and innovative activities.

The paper draws on available academic literature and policy evaluation studies and using a mixed-method approach based on evaluation synthesis.

The key findings reflect positive, albeit quantifiably small, outcomes for this type of policy intervention for employment and turnover and no effect on innovation. There is some concentration of positive results, which is also dependent on the number and quality of the available target companies.

The evaluations used in this study vary considerably in their design, nature and the input and output variables used and, thus, limit a robust comparison of their outputs. Most of the evaluations examined in this paper did not control for multiple simultaneous treatment effects and/or subsequent funding rounds.

The evaluations are rarely designed to compare the treatment effects of alternative policy choices. Only seldom is an evaluation designed to assess the impact of the scheme in the context of the broader policy mix (with its framework conditions, etc.) which would provide more fine-grained policy implications.

The recent literature (Duruflé et al., 2017, Da Rin et al., 2011) highlights the dearth of studies exploring the role of government policies supporting venture and, more broadly, equity investments beyond comparisons of the efficiency of independent venture capital and government-backed venture capital. Most studies explore the impact in terms of exits, initial public offering and leverage effects whereas fewer studies look at output effects on companies such as turnover and employment growth. The paper aims to collect the existing evidence including less analysed policy evaluation studies and draw lessons for public policy.

The main goal of this work was the CFD analysis of air and oxy-coal combustion, in order to develop a validated with experimental measurements model of the combustion chamber. Moreover, the purpose of this paper is to provide information about limitations of the sub-models implemented in commercial CFD code ANSYS Fluent version 13.0 for the oxy-coal combustion simulations. The influence of implementation of the weighted sum of gray gas model (WSGGM) with coefficients updated to oxy-coal combustion environment has been investigated.

The sub-models validated with experimental measurements model for the air combustion has been used to predict the oxy-coal combustion case and subsequently the numerical solutions have been compared with the experimental data, which enclose the surface incident radiation (SIR) and the flue gas temperature. To improve the numerical prediction of the oxy-coal combustion process the own routine for calculating properties of the oxy-combustion product has been implemented.

The results of numerical simulation of combustion in the air environment fitted within the experimental measurements accuracy. However, the air combustion sub-models implemented for the oxy-coal combustion simulations does not predict the SIR within the experimental data accuracy. The implementation of own routine, which uses the coefficients calculated for oxy-coal combustion environment shows improvement in numerical prediction of oxy-coal combustion.

The radiative properties of gases in the combustion chamber during oxy-coal combustion calculated using the WSGGM implemented in ANSYS Fluent 13.0 do not predict the SIR within experimental measurement accuracy, however, implementation of WSGGM with updated coefficients provide a reasonable improvement in numerical prediction of SIR in the oxy-coal combustion.

Strengthening management capacity within the health care sector could have a significant impact on population health. However, many training programs in this area are still delivered using a classic lecture-based approach. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and better understand the feasibility of using a problem-based learning (PBL) approach in health services management training programs.

A PBL teaching approach (based on the Maastricht University model) was tested with second-year postgraduate students from the Master in Public Health Management program at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. Students’ opinions about PBL were investigated using a questionnaire with eight open-ended questions. Thematic content analysis was chosen to reflect the search for patterns across the data.

Respondents stated that the main advantage of PBL was that it was a more interesting and effective way of learning: “It is easier to remember, when you study by yourself and discuss with all peers”. In addition, it was mentioned that PBL initiated a rapid exchange of ideas and sharing of personal experience. Students stressed that PBL was a good tool for developing other skills as well, such as “public speaking, communication, logic thinking”. All students recommended delivering all other courses in the health services management program using PBL methodologies.

Findings from our study suggest that PBL may be an effective approach to teaching health services management. Potential problems in implementation are noted.

The purpose of this paper is to discourse the essence and utility of (re)emergence theory as the starting point of understanding and interpreting organizational routines dynamics as well as to propose a conceptual framework reflecting both epistemological and methodological value as the keystone of analysing the rationale of organizational routines and the process of their emergence.

The paper is based on extensive literature studies.

Referring to the research problem concerning the reconciliation organizational routines and the emergence phenomenon, the findings complement the insights of the dominant theoretical perspectives in organizational routine theory, providing a more comprehensive understanding of organizational dynamics by directly addressing the heretofore intractable phenomenon of emergence. In addition, it is going to be a well-justified epistemological base to operationalize routines – not only per se, but also with regard to the mechanisms enacted.

Routines change over time and the current studies results are not sufficient to understand these changes yet. Interpreting organizational routines from the emergence theory perspective reveals their soft, indeterministic, and unpredictable nature and ought to render the scholars dealing with that phenomenon interpretatively and methodologically cautious. Emergence is a priori embedded in organizational routines’ context. The considerations included in the paper are salient regarding ontological and epistemological issues as they emphasize specific thought and research directions in the field of organization study eventually. Emergence ideas may play a part in discussions of spontaneous order, particularly by implementing it to routines construct. A major issue is the role of these ideas and processes within organizational evolution.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the influence of low-fat and high-fat diets supplemented with dextrin obtained from corn starch on the numbers and relative proportions of enteric bacteria Bacteroidetes (Bacteroides, Prevotella), Actinobacteria (Bifidobacterium) and Firmicutes (Clostridium, Lactobacillus). Moreover, basic indicators of gastrointestinal function (among other things: epidydymal fat mass, mass with contents, pH in the colon, cecum, small intestine, fecal enzymes were investigation) and short-chain fatty acids are analyzed.

In vivo experimental studies in rats (analized samples of the ileal, cecal and colonic digesta; pH; blood serum; fecal enzymes); determination of the number of bacteria – fluorescence in situ hybridization; and determination of type and concentration SCFA – HPLC were considered.

No statistically significant differences in final body weight were found between rats fed low-fat and high-fat diets supplemented with dextrin. In rats fed the low-fat diet with dextrin, the gut microbiota composition was as follows: 42.74 percent Bacteroises and Prevotella (Bacteroidetes), 35.28 percent Clostridium and Lactobacilllus (Firmicutes) and 21.98 percent Bifidobacterium (Actinobacteria), while in rats fed the high-fat diet with dextrin it was similar. Irrespective of the diet type, supplementation with dextrin enhances bacterial glycolytic activity and the cecal production of total SCFAs, with strongly increased propionate and decreased butyrate fermentation.

Dextrin may enrich food or be a component of functional foods.

Dextrin from corn starch may contribute to changes in the composition of intestinal microbiota.