Polish and Russian rural areas in transition. Land and demography

Rozdział z: Functioning of the Local Production Systems in Central and Eastern European Countries and Siberia. Case Studies and Comparative Studies, ed. Mariusz E. Sokołowicz.The aim of this article is to present the main changes in the structure of the space and demographic processes of rural areas in Poland and Russia, taking place after 1990. Though both countries are completely different (e.g. as for the perspective of scale, the position in the international arena, the forms of agricultural production, etc.), they were subjected – within a similar period of time – to the systemic change and are faced with multiple problems of the socio-economic transition period. The terms of the environment, including mainly political, but also historical and cultural factors, caused that Poland and Russia have chosen other paths of transformation, yielding diverse results. Above all, the two countries perceive the role of the rural areas in the society in a different way.Monograph financed under a contract of execution of the international scientific project within 7th Framework Programme of the European Union, co-financed by Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (title: “Functioning of the Local Production Systems in the Conditions of Economic Crisis (Comparative Analysis and Benchmarking for the EU and Beyond”)). Monografia sfinansowana w oparciu o umowę o wykonanie projektu między narodowego w ramach 7. Programu Ramowego UE, współfinansowanego ze środków Ministerstwa Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego (tytuł projektu: „Funkcjonowanie lokalnych systemów produkcyjnych w warunkach kryzysu gospodarczego (analiza porównawcza i benchmarking w wybranych krajach UE oraz krajach trzecich”))

Applying the Community of Inquiry e-Learning Model to Improve the Learning Design of an Online Course for In-service Teachers in Norway

Education authorities in Norway endorse online courses for in‑service teachers to raise education standards and to promote digital competence. Naturally, these offerings present teachers with opportunities to integrate new theoretical perspectives and their professional experience in an online learning community. The inquiry into one's professional practice, enhanced by critical reflection in a group of fellow professionals, is considered essential for a lifelong learning practitioner, however, the emerging examples of instructional design tend to prioritise content delivery rather than professional discourse. In this paper, we demonstrate how the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework could be adopted to transform learning design, which prioritises the delivery of individual assignments, into a more collaborative learning experience. Using the CoI instructional design principles and the associated questionnaire, we have investigated student perceptions of learning via an online course and formulated recommendations about how the course design can be refined to promote learning in the community. Despite the modest evidence, this investigation can serve as an example of how a concrete learning design can be improved based on this validated e‑learning model

Ivory and related materials

Reproduced with permission of the publisher. © Cambridge University Press 2000. Details of the definitive version are available at: http://www.cambridge.org. Note: Fig 13.1 Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society (www.ees.ac.uk)

Civic participation in Paweł Starosta’s research

Research on the condition of democracy in post-socialist countries focuses primarily on issues of civic participation. This article, which provides an analytical overview, presents civic participation in light of the achievements of Professor Paweł Starosta. The text has the character of an analytical overview study. Particular attention is focused on the social context, the aims and directions of the research, the definition and determinants of public participation, and the main results of the observations made by Starosta. Starosta’s contribution, visible in the analysed works, extends the perception of public participation beyond the behavioural dimension and constructs theoretical concepts to explain political involvement based on the criterion of subjectivity. It also distinguishes ideal types of political involvement at the local level. In conclusion, Starosta’s research has considerable application potential in the context of the methods used to measure and explain participation at the local level. The comparative value may be particularly useful for researchers of local systems, especially rural systems (rural studies), who come from various scientific disciplines, including political sociology, rural or urban sociology, and socio-political geography

Incarcerated gravid uterus – case report

Abstract A case of an incarcerated, retroflexed gravid uterus in a 29-year-old patient with a right ovarian cyst in the 14 th week of her second pregnancy was presented. In 1999, at the age of 18, the patient had undergone enucleation of a dermoid cyst of the left ovary by laparotomy and a segment of the right ovary had been collected. After conservative treatment trial, the patient was qualified for a surgical procedure. Right ovarian cyst enucleation was performed. Left ovary adhesions with epiploic appendices of sigmoid colon were released and the uterus was reached from retroflexion. The patient, with saved pregnancy, was discharged from the hospital in the state of good health on the sixth day after the surgery

Association of Maternal and Fetal Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Metalloproteinase (MMP1, MMP2, MMP3, and MMP9) Genes with Preeclampsia

Background. Metalloproteinases (MMPs) play a pivotal role during the process of trophoblast invasion and placentation. The appearance of five functional single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the genes of the metalloproteinases most commonly implicated in the implantation process may influence the development of preeclampsia. Methods. Blood samples were collected from 86 mothers and 86 children after preeclampsia and 85 mothers and 85 children with uncomplicated pregnancies. The distribution of genotypes for −1607 1G/2G MMP1, −735 C/T MMP2, −1306 C/T MMP2, −1171 5A/6A MMP3, and −1562C/T MMP9 polymorphisms was determined by RFLP-PCR. Results. The occurrence of 1G/1G MMP1 or 5A/5A MMP3 genotype in the mother or 1G/1G MMP1 or 5A/6A MMP3 genotype in the child is associated with preeclampsia development. Moreover, simultaneous maternal and fetal 1G/1G homozygosity increases the risk of preeclampsia development 2.39-fold and the set of maternal 5A/5A and fetal 5A/6A MMP3 genotypes by over 4.5 times. No association between the carriage of studied MMP2 or MMP9 polymorphisms and the predisposition to preeclampsia was found. Conclusion. The maternal 1G/1G MMP1 and 5A/5A MMP3 and fetal 1G/1G MMP1 and 5A/6A MMP3 gene polymorphisms may be strong genetic markers of preeclampsia, occurring either individually or together