Koncentracja przestrzenna działalności twórczych a lokalizacja klastrów kreatywnych w Polsce = The spatial concentration of creative activity and location of creative clusters in Poland

This paper deals with the relationship between the clustering potential and the actually created cluster structures in Poland. The authors compared the level of concentration of entities representing creative industries, expressed as the Location Quotient (LQ), with the locations of the creative clusters actually existing in Poland. The questions to which answers were sought were: (1) what is the geographical distribution of clustering potential where creative industries are concerned? (2) which gminas (units of local-government administration) are home to the entities forming the creative clusters?, and (3) are cluster structures really emerging in the areas offering the greatest clustering potential? To answer these questions, the authors conducted two analyses, of which the first led to a conclusion that – where the accepted interpretation of the LQ value is applied – only 1.9% of Poland’s gminas have conditions allowing for the building of creative specialisations, including via the development of creative clusters (where more stringent requirements are adopted, that share actually reduces further to 0.6%). Furthermore, the group in question shows a clearly-dominant role for gminas of Mazowieckie voivodship (province-region). In general, the distribution of creative entities across Poland is seen to be uneven, though it does correspond with the distribution of population through the country. Visible concentrations of the entities analysed were thus to be observed around the Metropolitan Areas of Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Łódź, the Tri-City (Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot) and Upper Silesia, as well as around Rybnik and Bielsko. A second result relates to the distribution of creative clusters, of which some 17 are to be noted. As of 2019, these each had between 4 and 66 members. Detailed analysis further confirms the very uneven geographical distribution, with Śląskie and in part also Małopolskie voivodships clearly dominant. Each of the remaining voivodeships have a maximum of two creative clusters. The two results obtained were then combined (Figs. 2 and 3), in line with an assumption that comparison of the clustering potential and the distribution of existing clusters would supply a positive and moderate correlation. In the event, no such result was obtained, with the coefficient for the correlation between the number of all surveyed entities in municipalities and the number of entities included in a cluster being: R=0.16. A similar result (of R=0.26) was obtained by examining the correlation between LQ and the numbers of entities forming clusters. This result shows that creative clusters are not established in Poland in the areas of the country offering the best conditions in terms of numbers of potential member entities. It follows that the creation of cluster structures is determined by other factors. These may include activity on the part of cluster facilitators, as well as the latter’s talent for acquiring new members for a cluster initiative, as well as the prospect of external funding being obtained. It is nevertheless endogenous potential that should be the driving force, given the favourable conditions it provides for economic specialisation to be pursued – as the basis upon which to build proper cluster structures.

Becoming a Pioneer in an Initiation Ceremony in Serbian ABC Book (1974)

This article analyses visual representation of becoming a pioneer in a Serbian ABC book (1974) by using the social semiotics approach. The analysis deals with visual representations of pioneers with Tito and the ceremony of becoming a pioneer. Narrative representations are determined as action process with separately analysed actors, interactors, vectors, goals and means. The Modality analysis showed that ceremony of becoming a pioneer is a kind of initiation, a way of stepping into the world of adults. Pioneer’s hats are represented by the colour green, instead of blue, which serves as a connection with partisans who liberated the country in the Second World War. This sends the message that every pioneer is a partisan descendant and also a potential member of the Jugoslav People’s Army.

Optical spectroscopy of 4U 1812–12

The persistent low-luminosity neutron star X-ray binary 4U 1812−12 is a potential member of the scarce family of ultra-compact systems. We performed deep photometric and spectroscopic optical observations with the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias in order to investigate the chemical composition of the accreted plasma, which is a proxy for the donor star class. We detect a faint optical counterpart (g ∼ 25, r ∼ 23) that is located in the background of the outskirts of the Sharpless 54 H II region, whose characteristic nebular lines superimpose on the X-ray binary spectrum. Once this is corrected for, the actual source spectrum lacks hydrogen spectral features. In particular, the Hα emission line is not detected, with an upper limit (3σ) on the equivalent width of < 1.3 Å. Helium (He I) lines are also not observed, even though our constraints are not restrictive enough to properly test the presence of this element. We also provide stringent upper limits on the presence of emission lines from other elements, such as C and O, which are typically found in ultra-compact systems with C−O white dwarfs donors. The absence of hydrogen features, the persistent nature of the source at low luminosity, and the low optical–to–X-ray flux ratio confirm 4U 1812−12 as a compelling ultra-compact X-ray binary candidate, for which we tentatively propose a He-rich donor based on the optical spectrum and the detection of short thermonuclear X-ray bursts. In this framework, we discuss the possible orbital period of the system according to disc instability and evolutionary models.

The age of the carina young association and potential membership of HD 95086

ABSTRACT Carina is a nearby young stellar association. So far, only a small number of stars have been clearly identified as members of this association. In this paper, we reanalyse the membership of the association in light of Gaia DR2 data, in particular finding that HD 95086 is a potential member (probability of 71 per cent). This star is noteworthy as one of the few stars that hosts both a detected debris disc and a directly imaged planet. It has previously only been considered as a potential member of the Lower Centaurus Crux (LCC) – part of the Scorpius–Centaurus association. We also reanalyse the age of the Carina association. Using a Bayesian inference code applied to infer a solution from stellar evolution models for the most probable (&gt;99 per cent) members of Carina, we infer an age for the association of 13.3$^{+1.1}_{-0.6}$ Myr, much younger than previous studies. Whilst we have revised HD 95086’s association membership from LCC to Carina, the fact that we also find Carina to have a younger age, similar to that of LCC, means that the estimates of HD 95086b’s mass remain unchanged. However, the younger age of Carina does mean that the companion to another Carina member, HD 44627 (AB Pic), has a mass that is more clearly in the planet rather than brown dwarf range.

Europeans but outside of the EU - the EU Soft Power of Attractiveness in Ukraine Between the Orange Revolution and Euromaidan

The role of the EU in the promotion of Europeanization and the EU political identity in potential member states of Eastern Europe prior to the 2004 enlargement was important for these states’ future acceptation in the EU community. However, most research and literature have discounted the role of the EU and its attractiveness in the countries neighbouring with the EU that did not have a prospect of joining the EU in 2004. This article studies the process of formal and informal Europeanization in Ukraine before and after the Orange revolution, which occurred five months after the bloc’s 2004 enlargement, and Euromaidan of 2013. Despite the EU’s passive leverage in Ukraine between 2004 and 2013, and the country’s weak prospects for potential membership, the EU’s soft power of attractiveness was still an effective tool that was used by Ukrainian political elite and media in promoting informal Europeanization after the 2004 enlargement. Furthermore, confidence in the EU was associated with support for such liberal values as human rights, tolerance of minorities, and political efficacy. This article posits that notwithstanding weak incentives and support offered from the EU to implement formal Europeanization in Ukraine, the EU attractiveness was successfully applied by local elite and media to promote the informal Europeanization.

DEVELOPMENT OF CEFTA 2006 – MINI SCHENGEN -ECONOMICS VERSUS POLITICS

The effectiveness and efficiency of CEFTA 2006, even after almost a decade and a half, are far from utilising the potential. Member States act more as competitors than as partners, manifested by a significant number of formal and informal non-tariff barriers. There is no true will to fully exploit the potential offered by the free trade zone. This is also reflected in the low utilisation of financial resources envisaged for joint cross-border cooperation projects of IPA I and IPA II funds. All countries focus their international exchanges through trade with the EU, and intra-CEFTA trade is focused only on exports. The EU is making efforts to connect more tightly countries by supporting mini-Schengen project for Western Balkans. The paper will try to answer the questions: what economic benefits can the mentioned model bring and is politics a significant obstruction? The comparative regression analysis of the impact of the exchange of goods and services on the economic development of the member states for CEFTA 1992 and CEFTA 2006 will be presented in the paper. The analysis will be done by using the SPSS statistical program.

Consumption

What are our moral responsibilities as consumers? The morally relevant reasons you have not to buy something may be participatory reasons, which you possess as an actual or potential member of some group, or individual reasons, which are not possessed in that way. Individual reasons are generated through the direct application of concern- and respect-derived norms to your actions as an individual consumer; participatory reasons, from norms of cooperation. Various distinguishable reasons of these two broad types can be derived in different ways from the foundations of morality. The importance of these distinctions is illustrated by applying them to three important kinds of consumption activity: retail purchases, share ownership, and the actions through which we contribute to climate change.

Forging enmities and friendships: Europarties, electoral coalitions and mergers in Central and Eastern Europe

The inability of Europarties to provide the electoral linkage between citizens and policymakers is a key challenge for the European Union. However, relatively young and unstable parties and party systems in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) present greater opportunities for the Europarties to impact electoral politics in this region. This research examines the influence of the most established Europarties on electoral coalitions and mergers among CEE parties. A cross-national comparative analysis of 11 CEE countries in the first two decades after their democratic transitions suggests a moderately strong effect of the Europarties. Europarties facilitate mergers of their member or potential member parties and prevent electoral coalitions between their member and potential member parties and radical left and right parties.