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Moving around an urban area by vehicle and the act of parking are an almost integral part of everyday urban travel. Proper organization of parking spaces and the convenience of using them by drivers is key to follow the idea of sustainable urban development and manage the mobility of urban infrastructure users. Parking is influenced by many technical, organizational, economic and social factors. The aim of this work was to analyze and evaluate the functioning of the paid parking zone in Rzeszów, a voivodeship city located in the south-eastern Poland. In the presented case study, the authors, based on data collected from the Metropolis Intelligent Paid Parking System (PPS), determined the occupancy levels of parking subzones in the studied periods of time and analyzed the obtained results. The data and designated indicators available in the system can be the basis for taking appropriate steps to enable effective city management, which will result in, among others increasing the quality of life of residents.

Urban transport and its organization is one of the most important areas related to the functioning of the city. Properly organized urban transport should quickly and efficiently meet all transport needs. Transport activities can have negative effects on the urban environment. The most significant are congestion, environmental pollution, and noise. In addition to the negative impact on the city's environment, transport also contributes to the consumption of non-renewable energy sources. For this reason, the idea of sustainable transport has started to play an important role in recent years. This idea provides residents with economically and time-favorable ways of moving while limiting the impact of transport's harmful effects on the environment. Bicycle transport is an important element of sustainable transport; in many cases, it is faster and has zero emissions. The purpose of this article was to present the impact of selected factors such as the size of the city and the degree of economic development on the functioning of bicycle transport in selected cities of the European Union and Poland.

Glioblastomas (GBM) are the common and aggressive primary brain tumors that are incurable by conventional therapies. Immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors is not effective in GBM patients due to the highly immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) restraining the infiltration and activation of cytotoxic T cells. Clinical and experimental studies showed the upregulation of expression of the arginase 1 and 2 (ARG1 and ARG2, respectively) in murine and human GBMs. The elevated arginase activity leads to the depletion of L-arginine, an amino-acid required for the proliferation of T lymphocytes and natural killer cells. Inhibition of ARG1/2 in the TME may unblock T cell proliferation and activate effective antitumor responses. To explore the antitumor potential of ARG1/2 inhibition, we analyzed bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data from human and murine gliomas. We found the upregulation of ARG1/2 expression in GBMs, both in tumor cells and in tumor infiltrating microglia and monocytes/macrophages. We employed selective arginase inhibitors to evaluate if ARG1/2 inhibition in vitro and in vivo exerts the antitumor effects. A novel, selective ARG1/2 inhibitor - OAT-1746 blocked microglia-dependent invasion of U87-MG and LN18 glioma cells in a Matrigel invasion assay better than reference compounds, without affecting the cell viability. OAT-1746 effectively crossed the blood brain barrier in mice and increased arginine levels in the brains of GL261 glioma bearing mice. We evaluated its antitumor efficacy against GL261 intracranial gliomas as a monotherapy and in combination with the PD-1 inhibition. The oral treatment with OAT-1746 did not affect the immune composition of TME, it induced profound transcriptomic changes in CD11b+ cells immunosorted from tumor-bearing brains as demonstrated by RNA sequencing analyses. Treatment with OAT-1746 modified the TME resulting in reduced glioma growth and increased antitumor effects of the anti-PD-1 antibody. Our findings provide the evidence that inhibition of ARG1/2 activity in tumor cells and myeloid cells in the TME unblocks antitumor responses in myeloid cells and NK cells, and improves the efficacy of the PD-1 inhibition.

This paper investigates the diversity management in pharmaceutical multinational companies and specifically of their official entities in Central and Eastern Europe. It argues that diversity management measures vary between headquarters and subsidiaries as the country regulations on diversity are different across Europe. Data was gathered on diversity management through secondary information of top ten US-based pharmaceutical companies’ corporate websites (listed in Fortune 2000) and their code of conducts. The covered US pharmaceutical companies possess operations in the CEE region. It is employed descriptive statistics showing that the local subsidiaries in Central and Eastern Europe refer mainly to the HR practices and code of conduct of the parent company without having their own code of conduct. The results of the paper demonstrate that diversity management measures differ widely between headquarters and subsidiaries and that many of the diversity dimensions (e.g. visible and non-visible dimensions e.g. gender, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, ethnicity, minorities, religion and education background) are not covered at all in the subsidiaries in the CEE region.

The primary task of all hospitals is to improve the health of patients. In a typical hospital a large number of people perform logistics operations often without being aware of it. The aging of the population, particularly evident in Europe, contributes to the increase in the workload of the healthcare system. To ensure the desired level of healthcare services some services such as logistics must be effectively coordinated to ensure the quality and continuity of care. Logistics in medical activities is a field that is not visible to the patient, but directly affects the quality of health services, which is an important area of interest for the healthcare organization. In most cases, hospital logistics has relied so far on the selection of appropriate suppliers in different areas of activity, starting from the supply of drugs, equipment, laundry, through transportation to the transplant ending up with the food catering. Such an approach in a self- management in most cases had various effects very often totally inefficient. In the recent period it has been observed the development of logistics services in the medical activity which applies the most advanced technological achievements among them information technologies supported by management, maintenance-free means of transport, automated transport, technologies of automatic identification. In the paper the modern forms of logistics used in healthcare were presented. The benefits of these solutions were shown. These benefits may be of two types. On the one hand they reduce the costs associated with the operation of the hospital, on the other one they increase security, reliability and availability at any time. A significant share of attention in the article is devoted to the supply chains based on modern means of transport. These measures are used to transport people and materials.

This study examines the contextual impacts on the transfer of equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) practices from Western multinational corporations (MNCs) to their subsidiaries in emerging economies. The transfer of EDI practices within MNCs has gained significance due to the need to reconcile theory and context while addressing social and managerial tensions associated with EDI. The research aims to answer questions about why and how EDI practices are transferred within MNCs, with a specific focus on the influence of institutional duality on the transfer process. Institutional theory serves as the theoretical foundation, suggesting that the fit between practices and the institutional environment is crucial for their legitimacy and acceptance. The interaction of host and home country factors, shaped by institutional duality, plays a significant role in shaping the transfer and implementation of EDI practices within MNCs. By considering the contextual differences between headquarters and subsidiary institutional environments, this research aims to enhance our understanding of the complexities and challenges associated with transferring EDI practices in suggesting distinct subsidiary identities and agendas. The findings of this study contribute to the literature by shedding light on the contextual factors, and effects of transferring EDI practices within MNCs.

The main goal of this paper is to determine whether R&D funds are used efficiently in African countries. The innovativeness of a country’s economy is nowadays one of the key factors stimulating the economic growth and competitiveness. Becoming more innovative is important in particular for developing countries, whose governments are developing national innovation strategies (NIS) and assuming a steady increase in research and development spending. Efficient innovation policies are creating conditions for enterprise development and the increase of competitiveness of the country. A calculation of R&D spending efficiency for selected African economies for the years 2009-2017 was carried out using Data Envelopment Analysis methodology, which allows the evaluation of input-output efficiency. Public and private spending on R&D as % of GDP was the selected inputs indicator. The model examines three output indicators: the number of patent applications (per million inhabitants), high-technology exports (% of export), and number of technical and scientific journal articles (per million inhabitants). Among the analyzed countries, those on the efficiency frontier regarding the use of CRS methodology are South Africa and Tunisia. According to VRS methodology, the most efficient nations are South Africa, Tunisia, and Madagascar. The performed analysis has not confirmed our hypothesis regarding the non-proportional relation between higher R&D spending and innovation outputs. Considering limited innovation capacities across African countries, it appears to be reasonable to increase R&D expenditures gradually to achieve better results on the path toward innovationdriven growth and development.

In this article the issues related to mapping the route and error correction in automated guided vehicle (AGV) movement have been discussed. The nature and size of disruption have been determined using the registered runs in experimental studies. On the basis of the analysis a number of numerical runs have been generated, which mapped possible to obtain runs in a real movement of the vehicle. The obtained data set has been used for further research. The aim of this paper was to test the selected methods of digital filtering on the same data set and determine their effectiveness. The results of simulation studies have been presented in the article. The effectiveness of various methods has been determined and on this basis the conclusions have been drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the structural and productivity changes of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. The research period covers the years following accession into the European Union, from 2004 until 2018. This study aims to answer the following question: What effects have resulted from the integration with the European Union in terms of the sphere of productivity? The analysis covers two main categories of labour productivity growth: pure labour productivity growth and structural labour productivity growth. Moreover, factors that may affect both pure and structural productivity changes are examined. The main research techniques are shift-share analysis and panel data methods. The analysis shows that all the CEE countries in the studied period improved in terms of both pure and structural productivity. The impact of pure labour productivity, however, was much smaller than that of structural labour productivity; this means that the main change in productivity level was more attributable to changes in employment between sectors than to the modernisation of technological processes. Productivity increased in all sectors, but the most significant growth occurred in service sectors, specifically in financial and insurance activities and real estate activities. Simultaneously, employment decreased in less productive sectors, such as agriculture, forestry, and fishing. Furthermore, the results of the panel data analysis confirm a significant impact of the evaluated factors on pure and structural productivity growth. Thus, aggregate productivity change in the CEE area can have a positive impact on both forms of productivity growth. Both structural and pure productivity growth are stimulated by research and development expenditures, information and communication technology (ICT) goods imports, and trade openness. Moreover, this research confirms the positive impacts of business enterprise research and development expenditure growth and an increase in the number of researchers to the workforce ratio on sector productivity, although there are substantial differences between sectors. This research can be used by government agencies in establishing industrial development policies.

In order for AGVs to be able to effectively carry out the tasks assigned to them, it is important to accurately determine their position and orientation in the working space. Having data on the location of an AGV is crucial for the navigation process, and the most commonly used odometry method is unreliable due to errors. To correct these errors, additional measuring systems are used. These systems use a variety of sensors. Some of the most widely used types are laser rangefinders. These sensors are also used in the automatic course correction methodology that is developed and presented in this article. The measurements from laser rangefinders are used to determine the shift of the actual trajectory from the set one, and then to guide the AGV to the previously set course. The developed methodology is experimentally verified on the basis of several dozen test drives. The conducted experimental studies prove the correctness of the developed methodology. The proposed course correction algorithm can be implemented in most working conditions, and guarantees correct passage over the given route.

efficiently in CEE countries. Nowadays, innovativeness is one of the most crucial factors accelerating economic growth. Increasing innovativeness is particularly important for developing countries, where policymakers are implementing various innovation strategies. The Europe 2020 strategy sets the target of 3% GDP for R&D spending. Many studies emphasize a significant effect of increasing expenditures on R&D on economic growth, but an efficiency aspect has not been covered in the literature. The article is based on critical review of the main literature of the subject and own empirical studies. The statistical data is sourced from the main international statistics. Calculations were performed using DEA methodology. DEA methodology allows assessing input-output efficiency. Inputs indicator is the annual public and private spending on R&D (as % GDP). There are nine output indicators, which represent available innovative statistics about number of patents, high-tech production etc. Number of variables was reduced for each period using correlation coefficient analysis, which allowed identifying the significant variables with least loss of information. The efficiency is calculated as the ratio of the weighted sum of the outputs by the weighted sum of inputs. The calculations are carried out based on the Excel spreadsheet and DEAFrontier. The paper gives a general review of the innovation level in CEE countries compared to other EU members which are spending less than 2% of GDP on R&D. The analysis shows that among CEE countries, the closest to efficiency frontier are Romania and Slovakia. Hypothesis that increasing spending on innovations is not causing proportional effects has been confirmed for CEE region, but not for western economies, which are spending on R&D more effectively. Main conclusion of the research is that innovation spending should be increased gradually in aim to achieve optimal results. This research may contribute to discussion on innovation policy design, and can be used by policy makers to develop national innovation strategies.

Environmental protection policy is a widely discussed issue in scientific works. However, special attention should be also paid to the effectiveness of expenditures on environmental protection, and this is the main goal of this paper. The countries of the European Union were selected for this analysis due to the fact that, in recent years, this region has become an informal world leader with respect to the implementation of policy measures in the field of environmental protection. For that reason, the data envelopment analysis methodology was used, which allows the calculation of input-output efficiency for the years 2005–2015. The analysis shows that, among the 30 analyzed countries, the most effective in environmental protection actions is Finland. The hypothesis that higher environmental protection expenditures does not result in better environmental results has been confirmed. Our analysis confirmed the problem of the deteriorating efficiency of environmental expenditures across the selected European Union Member States, caused by increases in spending. This research may contribute to the discussion on environmental protection policy design and its assessment, as well as environmental policy results measurement.

The development of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related lockdown had a major impact on vehicle traffic in cities. Based on available data from the selected city of Rzeszow, Poland, it was decided to assess changes in vehicle traffic and the impact of these changes on roadside environmental pollution. As part of the research, data from the first half of 2020 regarding vehicle traffic on selected streets of the city and on the city’s inlet routes were analyzed. For the selected road sections, changes in hourly traffic volume in 2020, compared with 2019, were also determined. With data on traffic volume, an attempt was made to estimate the impact of changes in traffic volume on air pollution in the city. Research on air pollution from motor vehicles was focused on a selected section of a city road that was equipped with an automatic air pollution measurement station located very close to the road. Additionally, at the road intersection and in the vicinity of the measuring station, a sensor was installed in the roadway to count passing vehicles. A preliminary analysis of air pollution data revealed that factors such as wind speed and direction and outside temperature had a large impact on measurement results. To eliminate the influence of these factors and to obtain data concerning only contamination originating from motor vehicles traveling along the road, an appropriate mathematical model of the traffic flow–roadside environment system was built. This model was designed to determine the air pollution in the vicinity of the road generated by traffic flow. The constructed model was verified, and the conditions for its use were determined in order to study the impact of traffic and roadside environment on the level of air pollution from harmful exhaust substances. It was shown that at certain times of the day, especially at low temperatures, other sources of harmful emissions related to home heating play a major role in air pollution in the city.