The eastern horizon

Countries and regions in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have gone through several challenges. They went through totalitarian and authoritarian communist regimes, gained independence at the end of the 19th century, faced new economic and political challenges and rejoined Europe in a perspective of mutual development. As different as they may be, despite recent populist movements, the CEE countries have much in common and regional policies can help the “forgotten places” to explore their opportunities, supporting democracy, cohesion, and local economies in the European Union. Grzegorz Gorzelak is a professor of economics, specialising in regional and local development policies and strategy building. He has collaborated with the World Bank, the OECD, DG Regio of the European Commission, several agencies of the Polish and Ukrainian governments, as well as regional and local authorities. This is the fourteenth essay in the Big Ideas series created by the European Investment Bank

The objective of economic and social cohesion in the economic policies of the member states

This is the final report of a study of the objective of economic and social cohesion in the economic policies of the member states, commissioned by DG REGIO and submitted by the EPRC and Euroreg under EC contract number 2009 CE 16 0 AT 019/200

Recommendations of the Polish Society of Gynecologists and Obstetricians regarding caesarean sections

In recent years, the worldwide percentage of deliveries by caesarean section has increased. However, this has only improved obstetric outcomes in low-income countries [1, 2]. Unfortunately, in Poland and other high-income countries, the rate of caesarean section, which is greater than 20%, is no longer associated with decreases in the perinatal mortality of mothers and their offspring. Currently in Poland, 43.85% of births are by caesarean section [3]. The increased number of caesarean sections may be associated with the development of perinatal medicine, and of diagnostics in particular, which can have an impact on the frequency of detecting foetal abnormalities. The results of randomised multicentre study carried out across various populations in the last two decades have indicated there is a greater risk to a child during vaginal delivery in cases of breech presentation [4]. Also, among women with one prior caesarean, planned elective caesarean section compared with planned vaginal birth was associated with a lower risk of fetal and infant death or serious infant outcome [5]. As a consequently, some national associations of obstetricians and gynecologists recommended the classification of pregnant women with these abnormalities for elective caesarean section. Epidemiological data from various populations indicate, however, that the main indications for caesarean section are still labour arrest and intrapartum fetal hypoxia [6, 7]

Frequency of antiphospholipid syndrome in women with pregnancy loss in multicenter study in Poland

Abstract The aim: The aim of the study was the analysis of antiphospholipid syndrome frequency in Polish women with pregnancy loss. Material and methods: We analyzed 352 women with average age of 31.4 (±4.3) who experienced one or more pregnancy losses. Patients from 5 University centers: Poznań, Białystok, Lublin, Wrocław and Bydgoszcz were divided into 3 groups. In the 1st group there were 150 women with recurrent early pregnancy losses before 10 weeks gestation, in the 2nd group we included 160 women with late pregnancy losses, in the 3rd group we analyzed 42 women with labor complicated by preeclampsia or placental insufficiency within or before 34 gestational week. All 352 women were screened for the presence of anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL), anti β2glikoprotein I (aβ2GPI) and lupus anticoagulant (LA). The first two antibodies were investigated with ELISA test and the last one with APPT based test. Only the second positive result qualified patients as antiphospholipid antibody (aPL) positive. Antibodies against cardiolipin and β2glicoprotein I were analyzed in three classes – IgA, IgG and IgM – where the laboratory criteria of positivity were titers above 40 unitsU/ml or above 99 centile. Results: 13 patients (3.69%) in the screened population of 352 women met the criteria of the antiphospholipid syndrome. The frequency of APS in women with early and late pregnancy losses were 1.33% and 6.25%, respectively. The most common antibody found was lupus anticoagulant (LA). In 3 women with late pregnancy loss all three antibodies were found. In women with premature deliveries complicated with preeclampsia and/or placental insufficiency the frequency of APS was 2.58%. Conclusion: 1. Screening of antiphospholipid syndrome should be routinely performed in women with late pregnancy loss 2. We can conclude that APS is rarely found in women with pregnancy loss before 10 gestational wee

Incidence of hereditary thrombophilia in women with pregnancy loss in multi-center studies in Poland

Aim: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of factor V Leiden and prothrombin gene G20210A mutation among women with pregnancy loss in Poland. Material and methods: we analyzed a group of 396 women (mean age of 30.4 (±4.6) years), who experienced at least one pregnancy loss. Patients were recruited from 6 academic centers (Poznań, Białystok, Lublin, Wrocław, Bydgoszcz, Gdańsk), and were divided into the following groups: 122 patients with 3 episodes of early recurrent pregnancy loss (group 1), 87 patients with late pregnancy loss (group 2) and 46 patients with intrauterine pregnancy loss (group 3). Patients who did not fulfill the above inclusion criteria were divided into additional groups. 50 healthy women (mean age of 29.2 (±4.5) years), having at least one child, constituted the control group. Factor V Leiden mutation and prothrombin G20210A gene mutation were examined in all 396 women with pregnancy loss and 50 controls. For molecular analysis peripheral blood was tested. Genome DNA isolation from lymphocyte was performed with commercial assay QIAampDNA Blood Mini Kit. Results: Among 396 women with unexplained loss of at least one pregnancy 36 (9.1%) were carriers of inherited thrombophilia. Factor V Leiden mutation was present in 29 women (7.3%), prothrombin gene mutation G20210A in 6 (1.5%) and in 1 (0.3%) patient both mutations were detected. No coagulation defects were found in the control group. Factor V Leiden mutations was the most common disorder (21.7%) in patients with intrauterine demise and was significantly higher than in the group of women with early recurrent and late losses,

Polish Society of Gynecologists and Obstetricians Recommendations on diagnosis and management of fetal growth restriction

Polish Society of Gynecologists and Obstetricians Recommendations on  diagnosis and management of fetal growth restrictio

: Final report

63 p.Interest in cities is growing again in Europe. Theories of "growth poles" forgotten since the 1960s re-emerge, although in different form, without the idea of building new cities in the desert. Metropolitanisation, although sometimes difficult to grasp empirically, is recognized as a post-fordist phenomena, with a gain of the importance of large cities, linked to the increasing need for size-based agglomeration effect in the global, networked knowledge economy. And European policy makers are once again discussing the need of and the form for new urban policies at European (as witnessed by the above quote), but also at national scale. From the outset, this project has had two, complementary, but not always easily reconcilable orientations: provide a broad overview of the current and future issues relevant to urban development in all of Europe, advance scientifically beyond the established and well-known data and analyses, provide innovative research. As this report was elaborated in parallel to the new State of European Cities report to be published by DG Regio, we also aimed at complementarity with that report, not wanting to repeat the same analyses based on the same data. In this project, we, therefore, worked in three parallel strands. First, all teams went through the current literature to extract the knowledge about trends, perspectives and, most importantly, driving forces for urban development in their thematic fields. Second, each of the teams focused on one or two innovative empirical research questions, generally tapping new data sources. Finally, our scenario team has taken the work of the other teams, and substantially augmented it through additional literature review, aiming at covering an even larger horizon and to provide a complete knowledge base on urban development, necessary for integrated prospective thinking. On this basis the scenarios were developed. The structure of the report reflects these three strands, adding a fourth, new strand, which consists in an assessment of the current national policy visions on urban issues across Europe. Details of all the literature reviews and analyses are presented in the scientific report

: Final report

63 p.Interest in cities is growing again in Europe. Theories of "growth poles" forgotten since the 1960s re-emerge, although in different form, without the idea of building new cities in the desert. Metropolitanisation, although sometimes difficult to grasp empirically, is recognized as a post-fordist phenomena, with a gain of the importance of large cities, linked to the increasing need for size-based agglomeration effect in the global, networked knowledge economy. And European policy makers are once again discussing the need of and the form for new urban policies at European (as witnessed by the above quote), but also at national scale. From the outset, this project has had two, complementary, but not always easily reconcilable orientations: provide a broad overview of the current and future issues relevant to urban development in all of Europe, advance scientifically beyond the established and well-known data and analyses, provide innovative research. As this report was elaborated in parallel to the new State of European Cities report to be published by DG Regio, we also aimed at complementarity with that report, not wanting to repeat the same analyses based on the same data. In this project, we, therefore, worked in three parallel strands. First, all teams went through the current literature to extract the knowledge about trends, perspectives and, most importantly, driving forces for urban development in their thematic fields. Second, each of the teams focused on one or two innovative empirical research questions, generally tapping new data sources. Finally, our scenario team has taken the work of the other teams, and substantially augmented it through additional literature review, aiming at covering an even larger horizon and to provide a complete knowledge base on urban development, necessary for integrated prospective thinking. On this basis the scenarios were developed. The structure of the report reflects these three strands, adding a fourth, new strand, which consists in an assessment of the current national policy visions on urban issues across Europe. Details of all the literature reviews and analyses are presented in the scientific report