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One of the nexus in the modern energy sector are bioenergy companies. To generate green electricity, economic operators trade in the market, incurring transaction costs. The main objective of the paper is to identify and describe the transaction costs using a case study of biomass combined heat and power plant (CHP). The company used for the case study was Polmos Żyrardów. A diagnostic survey with a questionnaire was carried out. It was found that information procurement and negotiation costs are the most significant in the transaction cost structure of a biomass CHP plant. The importance of access to information about biomass suppliers in the region and the company›s closest surroundings was highlighted the most. This factor significantly increases the time-consuming activities that make up the process of acquiring information about a potential business partner. The aspect of the formalisation of the contract and the building of mutual trust between the participants in the transaction were emphasised as elements to minimise the uncertainty and opportunism of the partners. It is argued that the level of transaction costs influences decision-making within the organisation, also translating into the efficiency of the entire biomass CHP area. Conscious management of energy resources and care for the environment has made Polmos Żyrardów self-sufficient in energy. In light of the challenges of the energy transition, bioenergy installations make an important contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building circular bioeconomy.

The primary objective of this paper was threefold. Firstly, the importance and impact of knowledge factors in the economy were reviewed. Secondly, the role of innovations in biological sciences was identified and the role of biological knowledge in the development of bioeconomy was assessed. Finally, the case of potato (Solanum tuberosum) and its beneficial microorganisms interactions, as an example of the knowledge-based innovations in agricultural production in Poland, was presented. Based on the systematic literature review high importance of knowledge factor, considered as the main resource, in the development of economic systems was identified. It is argued that knowledge is a specific resource, not subject to the same laws as the other production factors (land, labor, and capital). Unlike other resources, which are exhausted when used, knowledge can be shared and thrive through its use. From the inception of the bioeconomy concept the knowledge, a part of technology, and renewable biological resources was considered as primary driver. As bioeconomy is assuming the development of an economic system that is sustainable and climate-neutral, especially biological knowledge is crucial in its growth. The diffusion of biological knowledge-based innovations in agricultural production can be achieved by using beneficial microorganisms and their interactions with arable crops. Their interactions with potatoes show positive effects and the diffusion of such innovations in Poland is mostly conditioned by the experiences of farmers, which should be strengthened through network facilitation.

Extension crosswise osteotomy at C7 (C7 ECO) was developed for the correction of forward gaze in patients with chin-on-chest deformity due to ankylosing spondylitis. A modification of cervicothoracic extension osteoclasis (C/T EO), C7 ECO replaces osteoclasis of the anterior column with a crosswise cut of the C7 vertebral body to eliminate the risks of unintended dislocation of the cervical spine. C7 ECO also eliminates the risks of C7 and T1 pedicle subtraction osteotomies (C/T PSOs), in which a posteriorly based wedge excision may lead to stretching injuries of the lower cervical roots and/or failure to achieve the exact angle of excision required for an optimal correction. Furthermore, opening the osteotomy anteriorly, as in the authors’ method, instead of closing it posteriorly, as in PSO, eliminates the risks related to shortening of the posterior column, such as buckling of the dura, kinking of the spinal cord, and stretching of the lower cervical nerve roots. Here, the authors report the use of C7 ECO for the surgical treatment of a 69-year-old man with severe compromise of his forward gaze due to chin-on-chest deformity in the course of ankylosing spondylitis. After uneventful correction surgery, the patient regained the ability to see objects, namely faces of people, at the level of his head while standing and to perform work tasks at a desk.

The objective of the paper is to present the price interdependencies between agricultural commodity products from Ukraine (both export and non-export oriented) and other commodities whose prices are shaped on world markets, with a special focus on the role of their volatility. The research demonstrates a tight connection between the global prices of crude oil and prices of Ukrainian corn and wheat. Additionally, the volatility of world prices of agricultural commodities influenced the Ukrainian national market and had significant impact on domestic price declines. At the same time, the mechanisms for pricing non-export related agricultural commodities are formed mostly under the influence of factors from the domestic market. It is argued that a low interdependency between non-export oriented agricultural commodities and world markets stipulates the social stability of Ukraine's population. (original abstract)

The primary objective of this paper was to identify the economic, social and environmental impacts of plants and their beneficial microorganism interactions. As a plant example, the potato (Solanum tuberosum) has been chosen due to its worldwide nutritional and economic importance. Based on a systematic literature review, high importance effects were identified. From an economic point of view these were an increase in plant immunity and yield along with cost reductions and a reduction of abiotic and biotic stresses. From a social point of view, the importance of healthier food, a cleaner environment and resistant ecosystem were identified. From an environmental perspective, the effects of the increase of soil fertility and biodiversity as well as bioremediation opportunities were found to be important. The cross impact analysis of the identified effects indicate the primary importance of the economic effects, however their occurrence is determined by social effects, while the environmental ones are in a supporting position. It is argued, therefore, that the successful implementation of innovative products and technologies in potato production based on the plant – beneficial microorganism interactions will require economic empirical evidence and will be driven by social tension.

The paper aims to make an attempt to identify the factors that determine the purchase of wine that comes from vineyards applying appropriate measures to adopt to climate change. The literature review indicates the growing awareness of wine consumers to issues related to climate change. At the same time, winegrowers are increasingly implementing strategies at a farm level to adjust production to changing climate conditions. These processes can be explained by the complex adaptive system approach. The conducted empirical research is based on a questionnaire distributed among 164 randomly selected Polish consumers investigated in the first half of 2018. The results show that consumers are willing to pay a higher price for wine that comes from vineyards using climate adapted production methods. The factors that significantly influence the purchase of wine from climate-adapted production are, accordingly, monthly spending on wine and the price of wine along with a label indicating eco-friendly methods of production. Whereas those with lower importance are country of origin, type of wine, place and frequency of purchase. The main recommendation is systemic action related to climate change adaptation of production and its appropriate communication to consumers, as their knowledge plays a key role.

Purpose. The current study was designed to assess interrater and intrarater validity of cervical range of motion measurements performed with a CROM goniometer. Material and Methods. The study involved 95 healthy university students (31 males and 64 females) aged 20-24 years. Two examiners performed measurements of cervical range of motion using a CROM goniometer. The same subjects were examined again after two weeks, in the same conditions. The results acquired by one rater during the first and the second examination were compared for reproducibility, while the results obtained by the two examiners were compared to assess validity and reliability of the tool. Cronbach’s alpha was applied to determine intrarater reliability, and the values of correlations were used to assess the interrater agreement. Results. Analysis of the results showed both intrarater and interrater agreement in all the measures of cervical range of motion. The highest intrarater and interrater concordance was observed in the measure of extension. Intrarater agreement for Examiner 1 was reflected by Cronbach’s alpha=0.85, and for Examiner 2 by Cronbach’s alpha=0.89. As for the interrater agreement in the measure of extension, the value of correlation in both the first and the second measurement amounted to r=0.89. Conclusions. Measurements performed with the CROM goniometer show interrater and intrarater agreement in assessments of cervical range of motion. The CROM goniometer can be recommended for use in daily clinical practice.

The paper aimed to present the economic effects of applying beneficial microorganisms in viticultural production under climate change conditions. It was found that increasing climate change effects calls for a broad range of adaptation and mitigation strategies in agriculture, especially in viticultural production. One of them might be the innovative use of microorganisms that have the ability to interact with plants, and thus contribute to the prevention of stresses as well as respond to them, both abiotic – like drought and biotic – like pests. Based on the direct survey carried out in 2018 among experienced winegrowers from Germany, Italy and Poland, it was observed that there was a direct economic effect of the inoculation of beneficial microorganisms to the cultivation of resistant grape varieties. The majority of farmers think that such innovation in vineyards could reduce both the costs of protection and cultivation as well as increase direct benefits. Empirical evidence from the case study performed in 2018 in the Italian sustainable farm showed that such innovation, despite increasing the costs of irrigation and organic fertilization, also led to a significant reduction of artificial fertilizer and pesticide use, the costs of which predominated.

Despite the general consensus on the use of single-dose antimicrobial prophylaxis (AMP) in instrumented spine surgery, evidence supporting this approach is not robust.To compare the efficacies of single-dose and 72 h AMP protocols for the prevention of surgical site infection (SSI) in instrumented spine surgery (ISS) in a before-and-after study.Prospective non-randomized cohort study on 5208 patients who underwent spine surgery in one neurosurgical department between 2003 and 2014. Two protocols of AMP were compared in ISS: a single-dose protocol from 2003 to 2008, and a 72 h protocol from 2009 to 2014. Patients undergoing non-instrumented spine surgery (NSS) received single-dose prophylaxis throughout both periods. The outcome measure was the incidence of SSI.For ISS, the SSI incidences were 5.3% for the single-dose protocol and 2.2% for the 72 h protocol (P0.01). For NSS, the SSI incidence was 0.8% between 2003 and 2008 and 1.2% between 2009 and 2014 (P = 0.054). Multiple correspondence analysis showed that in surgeries with an implant a one-dose prophylaxis carries a 7.1% risk of SSI; patients who received 72 h prophylaxis had a lower (3.6%) risk of SSI.Analysis of individual categories of data suggests that 72 h prophylaxis was the most important factor for minimizing the risk of wound infection in our study group.

The wine sector is of great importance for many national economies of EU countries. The European Union is a world leader in area under grape cultivation and wine production. The goal of the paper was to determine the profitability of farms specializing in winegrape production depending on economic size in selected EU countries in the years 2004-2016. In addition, the level of farm income per 1 ha of viticulture was determined, as well as the level of family income and the share of total subsidies in total income. Overall, it was found that there was an increase in income, however income increased along with economic size. In the examined period, growth was only observed from the fourth economic class (EUR 50-100 thousand). Additionally, the share of income subsidies under CAP decreased along with economic size. The conducted research gave light to information that could prove vital to adapt the European vineyard and wine sector to the opportunities and needs of the market, namely by taking into account the links between economies of scale and economies of scope.

The research aimed to determine the types of external benefits associated with running the vineyard in accordance to with the principles of sustainable production, and then, based on conclusions from the assessment of the development of vineyards growing in Poland under climate change conditions, to examine consumer opinions on their willingness to pay for wine originating from crops that generate positive externalities. It was found that the cultivation of grapes in a sustainable manner is characterized by the existence of external benefits. These benefits result from the local character of public goods, which include primarily the ecosystem described as terroir and related elements such as biodiversity and landscape. They interact in a synergistic way to other external social benefits, such as tourist attractiveness or cultural heritage. It has been shown that viticulture for wine and wine production in Poland is growing rapidly, and climate change will affect further potential development opportunities for this sector. The surveyed consumers pointed out that the wine attributes such as the organic way of production or practices responding to climate change are important for them. For the most part, they are willing to pay for it more than for features related to other external benefits, i.e. biodiversity or landscape. It is argued, that orientation of Polish vineyards to produce in a way that generates external benefits, ie. organically, will allow to take advantage of the network effect which may translate into the desire of consumers to pay a higher price for wine.

This paper is an attempt to present selected Polish consumer food cooperatives as the complex adaptive network. Based on the literature review and structured questionnaire, their compliance with consumer cooperative principles and attitude of the members towards these principles were investigated. It is argued that due to their voluntary character based on networking activities they are subject to adjustment processes. These processes, under the umbrella of the democratic governance, are focused on using these principles as adaptive mechanism.

The concept of Climate Smart Agriculture couples climate change and food security through the integration of adaptation and mitigation measures, mostly driven by smart-innovations. The paper is an attempt to present how climate smart agriculture concept could be driven by diffusion of the smart innovations in agriculture, and how these innovations could contribute to reduce vulnerability and hence increase resilience to climate change. The results of foresight studies shows that use of innovative technologies could provide benefits through reducing the asymmetry of information coming from natural production systems and through reducing its vulnerability, as well as reducing the environmental pressure and connected with this risk of increased production failures and negative external effects.

The paper aims to discuss the challenges of bioeconomy development and outline the directions of research responding to these challenges, in particular in the field of economic sciences. It is argued that the challenge is to perceive bioeconomy in research and scientific discourse, development strategies and plans as well as public debate in a holistic way. It is important to not only take into account the effectiveness of particular subsystems: social, economic, natural but also processes and connections between these systems, assuming the interaction between their components. It changes though the gravity of the analysis to a more detailed level and gives a dynamic character.

The paper aims to identify factors under climate change conditions that could impact innovativeness in grapevine growing in Poland. It is shown that today the viticulture cultivation in Poland is of little economic significance. However, based on primary data applied to econometric model, it is argued that driven by climate changes as well as due to other factors, grapevine growing might become a significant branch of agriculture. The estimates of the model, although randomized, suggest that there is a significant probability that in Polish viticultural farms adaptation measures applied as a respond to these factors will result with implementation of innovations and through overall development.

W artykule podjęto próbę oceny stanu rozwoju sektora biogospodarki opartej na wiedzy na Ukrainie. Jednocześnie dokonano oceny na ile obecny rozwój wpisuje się w koncepcję systemu dyfuzji innowacji opartą na modelu poczwórnej helisy, oraz wskazano na najważniejsze czynniki sprzyjające i ograniczające ów rozwój. Stwierdzono, iż Ukraina posiada znaczący potencjał czynników wytwórczych dla produkcji biomasy, który dotychczas wykorzystywany jest na potrzeby biogospodarki opartej na wiedzy w znikomym stopniu, czego główną przyczyną jest niski stopień dyfuzji innowacji, głównie w zakresie biotechnologii. Obecny rozwój w niskim stopniu oparty jest na koncepcji poczwórnej helisy, co jednocześnie stanowi o dużym potencjale wzrostu na najbliższe lata. Właściwie ukierunkowana polityka gospodarcza może w znacznym stopniu wpłynąć na rozwój biogospodarki opartej na wiedzy na Ukrainie.

The concept of risk management is present in quality assurance of higher education institutions in different scope and scale, seeking the rationality of its use in effectiveness and innovation in internal quality assurance systems. The paper argues that the risk management in internal quality assurance could be introduced in different ways, including: top down and bottom up approaches. Based on the case study from Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW it also explains how risk management could be implemented as the innovative tool.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the deadliest cancers which lie in the incidence of morbidity in second place. Intensive research is to determine and confirm the genetic basis of this disease, which is believed may have a direct relationship with the reduced efficiency of DNA repair systems.The aim of this study was to determine the effect of APEX gene polymorphism Ile64Val on increasing the risk of colorectal cancer in the Polish population.Material and methods. The blood samples collected from 150 patients diagnosed with colon cancer was used. The control group consisted of 150 healthy subjects. Genotyping was performed by TaqMan method.Results. The results indicate that genotype Ile Val is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer (OR 2.069; 95% CI 1,205-3,552; p = 0.008).Conclusions. Based on these results, we conclude that the APEX gene polymorphism Ile64Val may be associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer.