A „nagy átalakulás” – egy újabb szakasz jelei : The “Great Transformation” – The Sign Of The Next Phase

„A nagy átalakulás” (Polányi Károly) magyarázatot adott az Európa sorsát a 19. és a 20. század első felében meghatározó tényezőkre. Az átalakulás átrajzolta az egész Föld képét és a világ folyamatosan alkalmazkodott a változó feltételekhez. A technika fejlődése szinte zérusra csökkentette a tranzakciós költségeket és ez az információk, az áruk és az emberek áramlását hihetetlenül felgyorsította. A vállalatokon belül szerveződő értékláncok előbb a nemzetállamokon belül kialakuló lokális, majd regionális, végül globális ellátási láncokká szerveződtek. Ennek következtében világunk globális ökoszisztémává változott. Az ökoszisztémákra jellemző komplexitás és szoros csatolás következtében a Földet önszerveződő válságok [Perrow, 1984] fenyegetik. Az egész emberiség egy újabb „nagy átalakulást” kényszerül átélni. Mindez arra vezetett, hogy az országok, a vállalatok és az egyének életének feltételei alapvetően megváltoznak. “The Great Transformation” (Károly Polányi) gave an explanation to the crucial factors which fundamentally determined the fate of Europe in the 19th Century and in the first half of the 20th Century. Technological development reduced transaction costs almost to zero, and this helped the flow of information, commodities and people to speed up in an incredibly manner. Value chains within companies and corporations were also transformed, they were first reorganized as local supply chains within nation states, then as regional and finally global supply chains. As a result, our world has become a global ecosystem. Due to the complexity and strongly connected character of ecosystems, Earth is threatened crises of self-organization [Perrow, 1984]. The entire mankind is forced to face another “Great Transformation”. This article examines the essential change of the conditions of life of nations, corporations and individuals.

Investigation to determine elements influencing customer's satisfaction in the B2C electronic retailing marketplaces

PurposeTaking the perfect perspective of customers' satisfaction, this paper aims to investigate the elements affecting customer satisfaction in business-to-consumer (B2C) online retailing stores, which are divided into five non-monetary dimensions: trust, order fulfillment, website construction, excitement and interaction.Design/methodology/approachDue to distinguishing the suitability of the data, the authors used exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Next, the authors utilized confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to check their validity. Then, the authors applied Cronbach's alpha to check the reliability of the elements. After that, the authors combined these five elements with structural equation modeling (SEM) to make a model. The authors also performed Friedman tests to prioritize the elements.FindingsThe results indicate that each element is undeniably significant and has an extraordinary impact on customers' satisfaction evaluation. Therefore, system providers and electronic retailers need to consider them on their websites to achieve marketing goals in the competitive online environments.Originality/valueElectronic commerce has resulted in an essential change in B2C marketing, especially in the electronic retailing industry. Online suppliers need to satisfy their customers to receive competitive advantages and increase their income. The purpose of this study is to research the elements affecting customers' satisfaction in B2C online retailing stores.

„i / ta wielka łapka / na ludzi” – o podmiocie w poezji Ewy Lipskiej

The article concerns the idea of the subject’s evolution in the poetry of Ewa Lipska. The article presents the unexplored path of subjectivity’s development in selected poems by this Cracovian poet. The main research concept regards the interpretation of particular poems from the perspective of current philosophical problems, connected with posthumanism, which is understood here as the ability to go beyond the bounds of humanism, a revision of previous humanistic assumptions. The essential change of direction in the reception of Ewa Lipska’s writings could be perceived as a result of the interpretation contained in this article.

COGNITIVE MODELS OF THE BARBARITY TRIGGER

Статья представляет предварительный анализ категориального языка варваристики в контексте взаимодействия цивилизации и варварства. На протяжении истории варварство претерпевало серьезную мутацию, меняя семантику, но сохраняя матрицу своей «материнской» стадиальной лексики. Выработан особый лексикон агрессивных злонамеренных действий, характеризующих или нарастание варварства, или его изживание. Некоторые термины и понятия продолжают употребляться метафорически и методологически, скорее ориентируя, нежели определяя. В статье рассматривается особая деструктивная роль стимулов, толчков, порождающих всплески варварства, что актуализировало необходимость ввести в варваристику новое понятие — «триггер» варварства. Подобная исследовательская задача ставится в исторической науке впервые. Триггер рассматривается в качестве действия, ставшего толчком для сущностного изменения, решающего поворота, скачка или стремительного перехода из одного функционального состояния в другое. Исследовательская стратегия статьи определена когнитивным подходом конкретно-исторического анализа проявления триггеров варварства в широком географическом и хронологическом контексте. Это позволяет обратить внимание на «пороховые погреба» варварства тлеющего, скрытого и скрываемого, на механизм, инструментарий и формы проявления триггеров. Постановка проблемы вызвана необходимостью поиска новых методологий в разработке более глобальной проблемы — цивилизация vs. варварство в условиях современного цивилизационного кризиса, на пороге кардинальных изменений представлений о природе варвара и варварства, которое развивается и эволюционирует быстрее, чем его исследование и осмысление. The article presents a preliminary analysis of the categorical language of barbarism in the context of the interaction of civilization and barbarism. Throughout history, barbarism has undergone a severe mutation, changing semantics, but still retaining the matrix of its «maternal» stadium vocabulary. A unique lexicon of aggressive, malicious actions has been developed, characterizing either the growth of barbarism or its elimination. Some terms and concepts continue to be used metaphorically and methodologically, orienting rather than defining. The article considers the special destructive role of stimuli and shocks that generate bursts of barbarism, which actualized the need to introduce a new concept into barbarism — the «trigger» of barbarism. Such a research task is being set in historical science for the first time. A trigger is considered an action that has become the impetus for an essential change, a decisive turn, a leap, or a rapid transition from one functional state to another. The research strategy of the article is determined by the cognitive approach of a concrete historical analysis of the manifestation of barbarism triggers in a broad geographical and chronological context. This allows us to pay attention to the «powder cellars» of smoldering, hidden and concealed barbarism, to the mechanism, tools and forms of manifestation of triggers. The problem statement is caused by the need to search for new methodologies in the development of a more global problem - civilization vs. barbarism in the conditions of the modern civilizational crisis, on the threshold of cardinal changes in the ideas about the nature of the barbarian and barbarism, that develops and evolves faster than the research and comprehension.

Mass media in the Republic of Moldova at 30 years of independence

The article is devoted to examining the peculiarities the mass media evolution in the Republic of Moldova in the last 30 years. Following the dynamics of the development of this phenomenon offers the possibility to outline a multivalent picture of the ever-changing media, in the conditions of socio-political transformations and the formation of the new media reality. The determining factors that influence the metamorphoses of media processes in connection with societal changes are elucidated. Particular attention is paid to revealing the conditions under which, in the initial period, but also over the years, the essential change of the media sphere took place, channeled on a new, democratic path. The analysis of the innovative approach of the media in the Republic of Moldova, of the functions of the media in the new circumstances is undertaken, specifying the components of the new model of realization of media institutions with power and society. According to the authors, currently, in the Republic of Moldova there is the appearance of a diversified media landscape, considering the media system in the Republic of Moldova comparable to those of other post-socialist states. The authors also conclude, that in the thirty years of independence, the media in the Republic of Moldova went through stages of ebb and flow, marked by conceptual and functional, fast, and spectacular changes in principle, which led to the creation of new contexts of media action and stimulated the emergence of new processes and operational practices in this field.

The Future of Essentially Derived Variety (EDV) Status: Predominantly More Explanations or Essential Change

This review examines the categorization of Essentially Derived Varieties (EDV) introduced in the 1991 revision of the Convention of the Union internationale pour la protection des obtentions végétales (UPOV). Other non-UPOV member countries (India, Malaysia, and Thailand) have also introduced the concept of essential derivation. China, a UPOV member operating under the 1978 Convention, is introducing EDVs via seed laws. Challenges in the implementation of the concept and progress made to provide greater clarity and more efficient implementation are reviewed, including in Australia and India. The current approach to EDV remains valid provided (i) clarity on thresholds can be achieved including through resource intensive research on an individual crop species basis and (ii) that threshold clarity does not lead to perverse incentives to avoid detection of essential derivation. However, technological advances that facilitate the simultaneous introduction or change in expression of more than “a few” genes may well fundamentally challenge the concept of essential derivation and require a revision of the Convention. Revision could include deletion of the concept of essential derivation coupled with changes to the breeder exception on a crop-by-crop basis. Stakeholders might also benefit from greater flexibility within a revised Convention. Consideration should be given to allowing members to choose if and when to introduce changes according to a revised Convention on a crop specific basis.

Policies Are Needed to Increase the Reach and Impact of Evidence-Based Parenting Supports

Parents can be essential change-agents in their children’s lives. To support parents in their parenting role, a range of programs have been developed and evaluated. In this paper, we provide an overview of the evidence for the effectiveness of parenting interventions for parents and children across a range of outcomes, including child and adolescent mental and physical health, child and adolescent competencies and academic outcomes, parental skills and competencies, parental wellbeing and mental health, and prevention of child maltreatment and family violence. Although there is extensive research showing the effectiveness of evidence-based parenting programs, these are not yet widely available at a population level and many parents are unable to access support. We outline how to achieve increased reach of evidence-based parenting supports, highlighting the policy imperative to adequately support the use of these supports as a way to address high priority mental health, physical health, and social problems.

The Future of Essentially Derived Variety (EDV) Status: Predominantly More Explanations or Essential Change

This review examines the categorization of Essentially Derived Varieties (EDV) introduced in the 1991 revision of the Convention of the Union internationale pour la protection des obtentions végétales (UPOV). Challenges in the implementation of the concept and progress made on a crop-by-crop basis to provide greater clarity and more efficient implementation are reviewed. The current approach to EDV remains valid provided i) clarity on thresholds can be achieved including through resource intensive research on an individual crop species basis and ii) that threshold clarity does not lead to perverse incentives to avoid detection of essential derivation. However, technological advances leading to new varieties resulting from the simultaneous introduction or change in expression of more than “a few” genes will so challenge the concept to require a new Convention. Revision could include deletion of the concept of essential derivation and revision on a crop-by-crop basis of the breeder exception. Countries that allow utility patents for individual plant varieties per se should consider removing that possibility unless plant breeders utilize those encouragements for risk taking and investment to broaden the germplasm base upon which the long-term sustainability of plant breeding resides.

PUBLIC MANAGEMENT OF INNOVATIONS IN THE SOCIO-HUMANITARIAN SPHERE: CHALLENGES AND WAYS TO OVERCOME

EU integration and globalization trends require new mechanisms and methods of regulating economic processes to transform Ukraine into an economically developed powerful state. Innovation is an integral part of any production cycle, but to achieve better results, innovation processes and relationships in the creation and implementation of innovative technologies in the national economy require active participation and great attention from the state. The main emphasis of such attention should be focused on organizational, legal and institutional support of innovation, which requires solving a vast number of problems of intensive development. The end of the twentieth century was a period of spreading ideas about the need to change the paradigm of public administration. Scientists began to realize the need to move to a new model of public administration based on strengthening the social nature of government. The change in approach implies an essential change in the state's role: from the producer of public goods to the regulator of market processes. During the implementation of this model, the most crucial effect is possible if the principles of openness, innovation, decentralization, and a combination of market and state regulation, individual freedom and new forms of individual and collective responsibility.

The influence of electron and gamma irradiation on the properties of starch:PVA films – the effect of irradiation dose

The paper discusses the effect of ionizing radiation on the functional properties of the biodegradable starch:PVA films. The analysis is related to the possible use of the material for packing the products (particularly, food) that are predicted for radiation decontamination and to the potential modification of the material by radiation treatment. Our previous results have shown that the influence of ionizing radiation on the films’ properties varied for the specific compositions (differing in starch:PVA ratio or the type of substrates) and depended on irradiation conditions. However, these studies considered only the irradiation performed in gamma chamber or in e-beam using a dose of 25 kGy. Therefore, the present study deals with the effect of the irradiations performed using various doses on the selected promising starch:PVA composition. The films characterized by starch:PVA weight ratio of 45:55 was obtained by solution casting and irradiated with fast electrons in air and with 60Co gamma rays in nitrogen applying the doses of 5, 10, 20, 25, 30, 50, and 75 kGy. No regular dependence has been noticed between the composition of films (differing in the starch and PVA content) and the intensities of the particular bands in the UV-VIS DRS spectra after irradiation. The results indicated strong interaction of the starch and PVA components in the films and the occurrence of specific reactions in each composition upon irradiation. No special differences were observed between tensile strength and Young’s modulus of the non-irradiated films characterized by the starch:PVA ratio equal to 45:55 and the samples irradiated using doses in the range of 5–75 kGy. Similarly, no differences were observed in both cases between the swelling capability of the non-irradiated and the irradiated films. However, it can be deduced that solubility in water increased when the radiation dose increased. The results show that using the doses till the range 25 kGy does not cause an essential change of all the examined properties of the starch:PVA (45:55) films. Accordingly, starch:PVA (45:55) films might be considered suitable for packing food predicted for radiation decontamination.