Evaluating Local Attractiveness for Tourism and Recreation—A Case Study of the Communes in Brzeski County, Poland

For many regions and communes, the development of tourism offers opportunities for economic revival, the stimulation of local entrepreneurship and, as a result, increased budget revenues. Before such objectives can be successfully pursued, however, it is necessary to carefully consider to what degree the conditions present in a particular area are conducive to the development of tourism there, including its tourism resources and the existing state of development. This study analyzes the attractiveness of the seven communes making up Brzeski County (Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland) for tourism and recreation. The potential of the communes in this largely rural county was characterized using Gołembski’s index, based on multivariate comparative analysis, assessing the natural and man-made features and the degree of development of each of the communes. This analysis was further complemented using Wejchert’s impression curve, assessing visual attractiveness along selected routes in two of the communes. Of the seven communes analyzed, the Commune of Brzesko was found to have the most extensively developed services, hotel and food-service infrastructure, to be home to many historic buildings and to have a relatively high municipal budget. The Commune of Iwkowa, in turn, which scored lowest in terms of Gołembski’s index (mainly due to its underdeveloped infrastructure, few historic buildings and the fact that it is crossed by a major transit route), was nevertheless found to score significantly higher than Brzesko in terms of Wejchert’s impression curve. These findings confirm that the beauty of the landscape is not always well correlated with tourism development potential. We conclude that such a combination of methods should to be applied to reliably and comprehensively evaluate the relative attractiveness of different parts of a given region for tourism and recreation, for instance so as to inform planning decisions and the allocation of funding.

Key carboxylate residues for iron transit through the prokaryotic ferritin SynFtn

Ferritins are proteins forming 24meric rhombic dodecahedral cages that play a key role in iron storage and detoxification in all cell types. Their function requires the transport of Fe2+ from the exterior of the protein to buried di-iron catalytic sites, known as ferroxidase centres, where Fe2+ is oxidized to form Fe3+-oxo precursors of the ferritin mineral core. The route of iron transit through animal ferritins is well understood: the Fe2+ substrate enters the protein via channels at the threefold axes and conserved carboxylates on the inner surface of the protein cage have been shown to contribute to transient binding sites that guide Fe2+ to the ferroxidase centres. The routes of iron transit through prokaryotic ferritins are less well studied but for some, at least, there is evidence that channels at the twofold axes are the major route for Fe2+ uptake. SynFtn, isolated from the cyanobacterium Synechococcus CC9311, is an atypical prokaryotic ferritin that was recently shown to take up Fe2+ via its threefold channels. However, the transfer site carboxylate residues conserved in animal ferritins are absent, meaning that the route taken from the site of iron entry into SynFtn to the catalytic centre is yet to be defined. Here, we report the use of a combination of site-directed mutagenesis, absorbance-monitored activity assays and protein crystallography to probe the effect of substitution of two residues potentially involved in this pathway. Both Glu141 and Asp65 play a role in guiding the Fe2+ substrate to the ferroxidase centre. In the absence of Asp65, routes for Fe2+ to, and Fe3+ exit from, the ferroxidase centre are affected resulting in inefficient formation of the mineral core. These observations further define the iron transit route in what may be the first characterized example of a new class of ferritins peculiar to cyanobacteria.

1914–1916

This sub-chapter provides an overview of the first two years of the First World War in the eastern Mediterranean. It summarises the factors that led to the breakdown of British relations with Istanbul and the Ottoman decision to enter the war on the side of the Central Powers. It shows how the Mediterranean became a key transit route for Allied colonial troops on the outbreak of the war, and provides a brief account of the failed Ottoman attempt to interrupt Allied lines of communication and raise rebellion in Egypt by attacking the Suez Canal. It also gives an overview of the development of other main fronts in the region: the Caucasus, Mesopotamia, and Gallipoli.

The design and development of an algorithm for automatically creating transit networks in transcad to measure regional accessibility

The Metrolinx Economic Analysis team commissioned Arup Canada to create a tool to measure regional transit accessibility called WithinReach. It allows transportation professionals to quickly evaluate and compare existing services versus potential projects, using availability metrics. The calculation requires the summarization of all transit route operations across a geographic area into performance standards for one service day. In the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area (GTHA), detailed timetables are available in the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) format, however manually preparing this data for WithinReach is labour-intensive. Due to the frequency of changes to vehicle and route schedules, and the number of regional agencies, maintaining an up-to-date summary of operations is cumbersome. This report covers the design, development, testing, procedure, and validation of a Transit Network Builder (TNB) to automate this effort. The TNB abstracts GTFS schedule data into performance benchmarks for use with the WithinReach Tool and the TransCAD transportation planning environment.

The design and development of an algorithm for automatically creating transit networks in transcad to measure regional accessibility

The Metrolinx Economic Analysis team commissioned Arup Canada to create a tool to measure regional transit accessibility called WithinReach. It allows transportation professionals to quickly evaluate and compare existing services versus potential projects, using availability metrics. The calculation requires the summarization of all transit route operations across a geographic area into performance standards for one service day. In the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area (GTHA), detailed timetables are available in the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) format, however manually preparing this data for WithinReach is labour-intensive. Due to the frequency of changes to vehicle and route schedules, and the number of regional agencies, maintaining an up-to-date summary of operations is cumbersome. This report covers the design, development, testing, procedure, and validation of a Transit Network Builder (TNB) to automate this effort. The TNB abstracts GTFS schedule data into performance benchmarks for use with the WithinReach Tool and the TransCAD transportation planning environment.

Impact of the Marine Transport System and Public Administration on the Environmental Protection

In connection with the development of the economy and the increasing scale of human economic activity, the transportation of various goods by sea (water) transport is increasing, which make up 60-67% of the world cargo turnover. At the same time, there is a negative impact on the environment, its pollution, the consequences of which affects both the current generation and may affect the future. Therefore, the impact of water transport on the environment is an urgent and pressing problem of today, but it is necessary to note the positive aspects of the development of the country's water transport, which has an impact on the creation of an additional export and transit route for the transportation of goods, the entry of Kazakhstani goods to world markets and the creation of additional jobs in this industry.