Zmiany strukturalne przemysłu Polski w warunkach kryzysu gospodarczego
The global economic crisis which started in 2007 in the United States of America, at different times and to a different extent affected various sectors and national economies of the world. In Poland, its symptoms were noticeable later than in other countries. In the first phase of the crisis (2007- 2008), there was no direct effect, due to the fact that initially the turmoil on global financial markets had weaker effect on the national economy, and it was limited mainly to capital markets, affecting the sectors of agriculture, industry, and services to a lesser extent. However, as recession grew in force, the crisis gradually began to affect also the results of economic activity, including industry. In 2009, a significant decrease in the value of production sold, as compared to the previous year, was observed. The question is whether this had been reflected in changes of spatial industrial structure. The five-year period of the economic recession seems to be long enough to assess such changes. Therefore, the paper analyses the transformation of the spatial structure of Polish industry during crisis, based on the basic indicators of potential, such as employment and the value of production sold, as well as concentration coefficients. The year 2007 was adopted as the base year, treating it as a pre-crisis year. The conclusions of the detailed analysis indicated that the impact of crisis on the change of the spatial structure of the Polish industry is very limited and the observed trends of change did not differ substantially from the general industrial development trends in Poland, identified by previous studies. It should be noted, however, that the structure of industry is characterized by high “inertia” due to the complexity and size of the investment process. Therefore, in the following several years no deep and sudden transformation should be expected, even during economic recession.
Transformations of the Employment Structure as an Expression of the Transformation of Polish Industry Against the Background of the European Union
Transformations of the Employment Structure as an Expression of the Transformation of Polish Industry Against the Background of the European Union Global social and economic changes, connected mainly with globalization processes, have an impact on changes both in present spatial and division structures of the industry and in its functions in the economic development of various spatial systems. The aim of the paper is to analyze changes in the industry's role in the Polish economy during the period of economic transformation and European integration based on its share in the employment structure. These changes are set against transformations in other EU countries, diversification and transformations of the division structure of employment in Polish industry and the similarity of the Polish employment structures to the EU countries as an expression of transformation processes. The analyzed processes are stimulated by the international environment and a change in national conditions for the socio-economic development.
Formation and Strength of Magnesia Whiskers
The formation of single-crystal magnesia whiskers during the compressive deformation of single crystals at room temperatures is described. These whiskers can have strengths of the order of millions of pounds per square inch. They are formed during fracture as a result of the discontinuous propagation of cracks which are mechanically relieving internal stresses resulting from plastic flow