Polarization of Living Standards among Administrative Units Engaged in Cross-Border Cooperation—The Example of Polish Municipalities of Euroregion Baltic

The present work examines the standard of living among the Polish municipalities of the Euroregion Baltic—an institution engaged in cross-border cooperation which is striving to improve the standard of living in border areas. The time span of the study extended to the first full year after Poland’s EU accession (2004), and to the 15th anniversary of the accession and the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Euroregion Baltic (2019 in both cases). All 38 Polish municipalities (NUTS 5) of the Euroregion were covered by the study. Using a synthetic index of standard of living based on Hellwig’s development pattern method, the municipalities were grouped into four classes according to their index value. Hierarchical methods were used to identify which municipalities had the most similar standards of living. The highest standard of living was recorded for the small, tourism-oriented town of Jastarnia and for strong urban centers (Gdańsk, Gdynia, Olsztyn, and Elbląg). Rural municipalities, especially those situated near the Polish-Russian border (Kaliningrad Oblast), had lower standards of living. The results show a progressing polarization in the standard of living, manifested by a widening gap between first-class municipalities and the other classes. This stratification was attributed to multiple factors, including the endogenous potential of the communities.

Distribution map of peristaltic waves in the chicken embryonic gut reveals importance of ENS and inter-region cross talks along the gut axis

Gut peristaltic movements recognized as the wave-like propagation of a local contraction are crucial for effective transportation and digestion/absorption of ingested materials. Although the physiology of gut peristalsis has been well studied in adults, it remains largely unexplored how the cellular functions underlying these coordinated tissue movements are established along the rostral-caudal gut axis during development. The chicken embryonic gut serves as an excellent experimental model for elucidating the endogenous potential and regulation of these cells since peristalsis occurs even though no ingested material is present in the moving gut. By combining video-recordings and kymography, we provide a spatial map of peristaltic movements along the entire gut posterior to the duodenum: midgut (jejunum and ileum), hindgut, caecum, and cloaca. Since the majority of waves propagate bidirectionally at least until embryonic day 12 (E12), the sites of origin of peristaltic waves (OPWs) can unambiguously be detected in the kymograph. The spatial distribution map of OPWs has revealed that OPWs become progressively confined to specific regions/zones along the gut axis during development by E12, and that such specific zones are largely conserved between different individuals implying genetic regulation for OPW determination. We have also found that the enteric nervous system (ENS) is essential for the OPW patterning since an ablation of ENS or blocking neural activity by tetrodotoxin disrupts the confined pattern of OPWs, resulting in a failure of transportation of inter-luminally injected ink. Finally, we have discovered a functional coupling of the endpoint of hindgut with the cloaca. When surgically separated, the cloaca ceases its acute contractions that would normally occur concomitantly with the peristaltic rhythm of the hindgut. Our findings shed light on the intrinsic regulations of gut peristalsis, including unprecedented ENS contribution and inter-region cross talk along the gut axis.

The promise of endogenous potential in times of crisis

The measures against the spread of the Covid-19 virus have massive effects on local economies. By means of an explorative qualitative case study in deprived neighbourhoods in the Middle Lower Rhine region of Germany, this paper explicitly aims at examining the Corona pandemic’s impact on their endogenous potential. In this context, the focus is on organisations whose main contribution lies in the fulfilment of the function of integration and communication. The analysis is based on theoretical concepts of the local economy, but it also refers to crisis as well as transition research, especially the multilevel perspective framework. By means of desktop research, a focus group with multipliers involved in local economic contexts as well as thirteen guideline-based interviews with the heads of local organisations, the subsequent analysis reveals the partially counteracting effects of the Corona pandemic on the organisations’ socio-economic embeddedness. On the one hand, they are threatened by economic bottlenecks, by pending social consequences of a longer period without or with minimized offerings as well as by fear of contagion and exhaustion. While the organisation’s perceived level of urgency varies greatly, their level of uncertainty is generally high. On the other hand, organisations of the local economy benefit from a positive push in the areas of digitization and new life and working environments (home-based work), as well as from a strengthening of local solidarity and cohesion.

Solving the restructuring problems of (former) old industrial regions with smart specialization? Conceptual thoughts and evidence from the Ruhr

Abstract(Former) old industrial regions are a specific kind of lagging regions that suffer from long-term restructuring problems and deindustrialization. They are back in the focus of many researchers as well as media observers, because of the rise of populist parties in many of these regions in North America and Europe. Therefore, new policy options are discussed in the literature. In this paper, we critically discuss the effects of smart specialization as the most recent regional policy strategy in Europe on solving the restructuring problems and deindustrialization in (former) old industrial regions and we illustrate our analysis with a view on the Ruhr in Germany. Since smart specialization focuses on existing endogenous potential and entrepreneurial discovery processes from the region, vested interests in (former) old industrial regions might hinder necessary restructuring. Although potentially path transformation might be fostered in some cases, overall, smart specialization is certainly not a quick fix for solving long-term negative effects of restructuring and deindustrialization in (former) old industrial regions.

Enhancing local development through trans-regional cooperation: Lessons from long-term practice of the LEADER concept

Resumen: Durante mucho tiempo se consideró que el desarrollo local combinaba múltiples esfuerzos para fortalecer las zonas desfavorecidas o remotas, con riesgo de periferización o incluso de marginación. A partir de los años ochenta, la concienciación sobre el potencial endógeno y los servicios rurales permitió centrarse más en la capacidad de acción y cambio local específico de cada territorio. Este cambio en la política regional promovió el apoyo a los territorios rurales, centrándose especialmente en zonas de geografía específica, como montañas, islas y otros lugares “desfavorecidos”. Calificado como “desarrollo regional endógeno”, este planteamiento queda plasmado en el principal programa de desarrollo local de la UE, el programa LEADER, disponible desde 1991. Aunque se centró en establecer incentivos para el desarrollo en contextos rurales, el rendimiento de las regiones rurales, sin embargo, se estancó desde entonces. Este documento concibe el proceso de desarrollo local y la influencia de la cooperación transregional como los motores decisivos e interrelacionados de todo el proceso. Los efectos limitados podrían estar relacionados con la dependencia del camino, el bloqueo institucional y el escaso reconocimiento y énfasis en el papel crucial de la innovación social, lo que ahoga la necesaria adaptación de las políticas. Sin embargo, la orientación hacia la combinación de la experiencia y la contribución de los sistemas de conocimiento externos, con la singularidad y los activos locales, son aspectos que podrían contribuir de manera decisiva a los incentivos y cambios sociales tan deseados. Palabras clave: Desarrollo rural, LEADER, innovación social, cooperación transnacional, desarrollo local dirigido por la comunidad. Abstract: For long, local development was seen as combining multiple efforts for strengthening areas that were either disadvantaged or remote, at-risk of peripheralization or even of marginalization. Since the 1980s an emerging awareness of endogenous potential and rural amenities enabled a stronger focus on the area-specific capability for local action and change. This shift in regional policy instigated support for remote places, focusing particularly on areas of specific geographies, like mountains, islands and other places of “disadvantage”. Referred to as “endogenous regional development” that approach is epitomized by the main local development scheme of the EU, the LEADER programme which was available since 1991. While it focused on setting development incentives in rural contexts, the performance of rural regions, nevertheless, stagnated since then. This paper conceives the local development process and the influence by trans-regional cooperation as the decisive, inter-related drivers. Limited effects might be linked to path dependency, institutional lock-in and little recognition and emphasis on the crucial role of social innovation, stifling required policy adaptation. Yet, particularly the orientation on combining the experience and contribution of external knowledge systems with uniqueness and local assets might contribute decisively to the long-desired incentives and social changes. Key words: Rural development, LEADER, social innovation, trans-national cooperation, community-led local development.

PATIENT WITH MAJOR ENDOGENOUS DEPRESSIVE EPISODE WITH SUICIDE ATTEMPT

Motivation: Suicide is a major psychiatric emergency, men being more inclined to successful suicide, not to attempts and to approach it by abrupt and aggressive means. Objectives: To present a male patient who developed a major depressive episode, in which the reactive component had a significant contribution in return for endogeny. The suicide attempt quickly escalated changes in thymic function over several days. Results: The patient corresponds to the age at which major depressive disorder begins. There remains a clinical discussion between a genuine suicide attempt, carried out with a plan, internal turmoil, rumination or a parasuicide, in which the person in question needed a change in the field of consciousness to try to throw himself in front of the subway. Note the high internal tension, the absence of the search for alternative solutions, the narcissistic wound, the endo-psychic vulnerability, the elements of correctness such as structural mental rigidity. Conclusions: Early responsiveness to medication emphasizes the endogenous potential and the potential of vulnerability, after the approach through a combination of antidepressants and antipsychotics, the latter developing a clearer perspective on reality and decisions.

POSSIBILITIES OF IMPLEMENTING THE SMART DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT IN RURAL AREAS FROM A BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE. THE EXAMPLE OF EASTERN POLAND

The aim of this paper was the evaluation of the impact of selected background conditions for implementing the smart village concept in the opinion of entrepreneurs. The assessment was based on an opinion poll on a sample of 240 entrepreneurs from three regions of Eastern Poland, using a questionnaire. The results were presented using descriptive analysis, including a comparative analysis of areas with low and high levels of smart growth potential. The presented results show that rural areas in the abovementioned regions, in general, create disadvantageous conditions for enhancing innovativeness through business activity, and the surveyed agents are characterised by a low level of innovativeness. In the opinion of the surveyed entrepreneurs, on the impact of selected factors on enterprise innovativeness, the potential impact of the local environment is above average. The findings point to a need to develop the endogenous potential of rural areas from peripheral regions by increasing access to modern ITC infrastructure and the role of the institutional environment in the process of knowledge transfer to the local sector of companies, the development of local connections in the business sector and within the scope of cooperation of local authorities with entrepreneurs.

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.

Development of entrepreneurship in valuable natural rural areas

The values of the natural environment in the subject literature are commonly indicated as an asset conducive to development shaping the competitiveness of areas with such values. The paper attempts to assess the use of endogenous potential of such areas in shaping the multifunctional, sustainable development of rural areas that have such qualities. In particular, the aim was to check to what extent the sme sector, dominating in the economic structure of rural areas, solves the key problem of labour market imbalance and population migration in environmentally valuable areas. The area of detailed research is Podkarpacie, the Polish region considered as a peripheral, border region, the least urbanized region with the highest share of areas covered by various forms of nature protection and forestation, with one of the lowest gdp per capita indicator in the country. For the purpose of implementing the research assumptions, a taxonomic unit (using the complete linkage method) consisting of powiats with the highest concentration of features characteristic for rural areas of high natural values was separated. Synthetic indicators calculated on the basis of the Hellwig taxonomic development pattern method and a positional method using Weber's median were used to assess the diversity of entrepreneurship level. The research confirmed that the non-agricultural economic activity sector is less developed in areas of high natural value. Despite positive developments in the enterprise sector, their potential is too weak an economic base for addressing unsustainable labour market problems, as evidenced by high unemployment and a high negative migration balance. This limits the use of the endogenous potential of these areas and is not conducive to the concept of multifunctional, sustainable development. Migration poses a threat to the depopulation of these areas with all the negative consequences associated with such processes. This is a challenge for the studied areas and regional policy.