Smart Solutions in Cities during the Covid-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has suddenly swept across the world on an unprecedented scale, having a global and destructive impact on numerous areas of both social and economic life. For the most part, the effects of the current pandemic crisis have been evaluated negatively, although they may also bring about positive future trends, such as accelerated technological advancement or increased financial support for and development of areas such as smart cities. Given the above, the focal point of our deliberations is the concept of smart cities and the exemplification of smart solutions implemented in cities in the context of new environmental challenges triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the article is, on one hand, to identify the key theoretical and research problems that define the framework for smart city development, and on the other, to present selected practical smart projects implemented in different city areas in Poland and around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. As far as the methodology, systematic literature analysis and case study have been opted for. To explain the essence of the smart city concept, Polish and foreign peer-reviewed scientific publications were analysed. To characterize smart solutions that are being implemented in different cities, findings from reports and materials retrieved from websites dedicated to smart initiatives were used. A search was carried out for scientific papers that contain the terms "smart city" and "COVID-19" in the title, abstract or among the keywords. Bibliometric analysis was the research method used to evaluate publications in terms of the smart city concept and the COVID-19 pandemic. To that end, research techniques such as trend analysis, citation analysis and word coexistence analysis were applied. In the article, selected issues of the smart cities functioning during a pandemic crisis are analysed. The findings show that cities have been keen on developing and implementing smart solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic, the latter obviously causing the accelerated development of smart-city systems. The pandemic-driven changes adopted so far by cities in the area of smart solutions are not only futureproof in terms of epidemic safety but also make other goals, such as limiting the use natural resources or increasing the quality of life for residents, more attainable

Sources of financing small and medium – sized enterprises on the ex ample of JARDREW company 2010 – 2013

Znaczenia małych i średnich przedsiębiorstw nie sposób przecenić. Sektor ten, będąc głównym kreatorem miejsc pracy oraz źródłem innowacji, pełni bardzo ważną rolę. Od kondycji tej, jakże licznej grupy przedsiębiorstw, uzależniony jest bowiem rozwój gospodarczy kraju. Jednakże właściwe funkcjonowanie i rozwój każdego podmiotu gospodarczego, wymaga odpowiednich sposobów finansowania, jak również prawidłowych relacji z instytucjami zapewniającymi finansowanie zewnętrzne. Dostęp do źródeł finansowania, a także sposób finansowania działalności bieżącej i inwestycyjnej , ma wpływ na podejmowane przez przedsiębiorstwo decyzje, warunkuje jego zamierzenia strategiczne oraz plany. Stwarza również warunki do inicjowania kolejnych przedsięwzięć. Celem niniejszej pracy jest prezentacja obecnego stanu dostępnych źródeł i możliwości w zakresie finansowania sektora małych i średnich przedsiębiorstw w Polsce.W rozdziale pierwszym zdefiniowano pojęcie oraz warunki funkcjonowania małej przedsiębiorczości. Rozdział drugi został poświęcony rozważaniom mającym na celu scharakteryzowanie poszczególnych kapitałów własnych. Następną część opracowania stanowi analiza oferty kredytowej banków oraz pożyczek. W czwartym rozdziale Autorka omówiła kompozycję finansowania działalności MŚP za pomocą factoringu, leasingu, emisji krótkoterminowych papierów dłużnych, franszyzy oraz dotacji z UE. W piątym rozdziale zaprezentowano firmę Jardrew oraz dokonano analizy z wykorzystania leasingu i uzyskanych dotacji z Unii Europejskiej.The importance of small and medium – sized enterprises is not to be overestimated. This sector, the main creator of jobs and a source of innovation, plays an important role. On this condition, a large group of companies, economic development and dependent. However, proper functioning and development of each economic entity requies appropriate ways of financing, as well as normal relations with the institutions providing external financing. An access to sources of financing, as well as a way of financing activites and investing have an influence on the decisions taken by the enterprise, determine strategic intentions and plans. There are also conditions created for initiating further enterprises.The aim of this thesis is to present an actual state of the available sources and possibilities for financing the sector of small and medium – seized enterprises in Poland.In the first chapter the concept and operating conditions of the small entrepreneurship were presented. The second chapter was devoted to reflection designed to characterize certain own capitals. The next part of this thesis constituted on analysis of credit offers of banks and loans. In the fourth chapter the author discussed the compositions of MSP financing activities thanks to factoring, leasing, issuance of short – term securities, franchise and grants from the EU. The fifth chapter represented Jardrew company and analysed the use of leasing and received grants from the EU

The loss of vernalization requirement in narrow-leafed lupin is associated with a deletion in the promoter and de-repressed expression of a Flowering Locus T (FT) homologue

Adaptation of Lupinus angustifolius (narrow-leafed lupin) to cropping in southern Australian and northern Europe was transformed by a dominant mutation (Ku) that removed vernalization requirement for flowering. The Ku mutation is now widely used in lupin breeding to confer early flowering and maturity. We report here the identity of the Ku mutation. We used a range of genetic, genomic and gene expression approaches to determine whether Flowering Locus T (FT) homologues are associated with the Ku locus. One of four FT homologues present in the narrow-leafed lupin genome, LanFTc1, perfectly co-segregated with the Ku locus in a reference mapping population. Expression of LanFTc1 in the ku (late-flowering) parent was strongly induced by vernalization, in contrast to the Ku (early-flowering) parent, which showed constitutively high LanFTc1 expression. Co-segregation of this expression phenotype with the LanFTc1 genotype indicated that the Ku mutation impairs cis-regulation of LanFTc1. Sequencing of LanFTc1 revealed a 1.4-kb deletion in the promoter region, which was perfectly predictive of vernalization response in 216 wild and domesticated accessions. Linkage disequilibrium rapidly decayed around LanFTc1, suggesting that this deletion caused the loss of vernalization response. This is the first time a legume FTc subclade gene has been implicated in the vernalization response