The concept of territorial cohesion – how to apply it to monitoring development of northern Polish regions.

Territorial cohesion (TC) is a multi dimensional concept, but lacking precision and not easy to be operationalized. Analysed are different scopes (or segments) of the concept and the indicators of its implementation in policy planning and decisionmaking. Amongst the already used in practice or being proposed by other authors. In the focus more interest is devoted to those which concern the segments seldomly touched so far like place- based development potential of a given territory or its landscape identity. The author recognises all the indicators of TC in the context of regional sustainable development monitoring system. The availablity of information and relevancy for solving development issues are criteria proposed to use for assessment and selection of the relevant indicators for regions in northern Poland. Their feasibility are checked at the NUTS2 and NUTS3 levels.

Towns in the regional policy of activation of peripheral areas – choosing problems – the case of northern Poland

In Polish regions there are big differences of the level of development between metropolitan areas (and others surroundings of big cities) and peripheral ones. These differences refere also to the factors and chances of development – in the peripheral areas there are little of them. What could help the activation of those areas is the development of some of the cities, including the localization of the investments. But the development usually requires the support of regional politics resources. In the area of the authors' interests there are problems of regional politics, 1) Which cities should be supported to activate the best peripheral areas of the regions? 2) What kind of transformations of the city space should be supported as part of that politics? Author analyses the problems and relations presented above and designs scenarios of activation of the chosen peripheral areas of provinces in northern Poland.

Scenarios in Regional Planning – Theory and Practice in Poland

It is important to recognise future conditions in planning because it primes future actions. Scenarios are useful prognostic tools, especially when the social and institutional behaviour plays a crucial role. The aims of the paper are: (1) to indicate the roles and the place of scenarios in the strategic plan building process; (2) to analyse and evaluate the application of scenarios in regional planning in Poland; (3) to transpose the research results on scenarios in local planning for their application in regional planning. There are a few documents in which scenarios are applied: three strategies for regional development and two spatial development plans for regions. The author analysed the scenarios in all of those documents and offered some recommendations transposing the effects of previous research from local to regional planning

Driverless Mobility: The Impact on Metropolitan Spatial Structures

AbstractDiffusion of emerging technologies is following the need of solving particular problems. Each innovation produces also some undesirable consequences. Many examples from the past have shown that along with the spread of each technology their side effects are accumulating until the level they need to be solved. One of the examples is automobile, which advantages and disadvantages were already described including its spatial consequences. Automobile did not change its general way of functioning for over one century, and recent technological advances in automation may revolutionize the way it is used. Nowadays, automotive and IT industries are investing in so called: autonomous automobiles, driverless vehicles and self-driving cars, the meaning of which intertwine. Diffusion of automation in mobility is going to accelerate in the near future. The earliest implementations of new transport technologies appear in metropolises which also have the highest level of general mobility. Due to the possible significant consequences of this innovation's diffusion for metropolitan (urban and suburban) spatial structures it is important to anticipate its potential side effects to avoid negative consequences, and if necessary – to prepare to encounter them. This led to undertake research on the relationship between modern mobility innovations and metropolitan spatial structures. The article presents the assumptions and principles of scenario-based research. The example shows how diffusion of different driverless mobility solutions determine different impacts on spatial structures, and thus possible scenarios for the future

Przemiany małych miast w województwie pomorskim

W niniejszym rozdziale Autor prezentuje wyniki badań, których celem było rozpoznanie przemian małych miast w województwie pomorskim. Za wielkość graniczną miast objętych badaniem przyjęto 20 tys. mieszkańców. W województwie pomorskim takich miast jest 28. Przedmiotem badań są: przemiany demograficzne, powiązania z otoczeniem oraz przemiany gospodarcze mierzone zatrudnieniem. Metodą badań były analizy dostępnych danych statystycznych.Udostępnienie publikacji Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego finansowane w ramach projektu „Doskonałość naukowa kluczem do doskonałości kształcenia”. Projekt realizowany jest ze środków Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Wiedza Edukacja Rozwój; nr umowy: POWER.03.05.00-00-Z092/17-00

Participation of various habitat groups in the flora of spring niches in the Ojców National Park (Southern Poland)

The paper presents composition of vascular plant species in spring niches in the Ojców National Park (Southern Poland). 111 species of vascular plants, fourteen mosses, two liverworts and one species of ferns were recorded during the first comprehensive study carried out in 2009 and 2010. Plants occurring in these places showed different degrees of association with spring niches. The largest group was represented by accidental krenophytes (74 species), while spring plants – obligatory krenophytes, constituted only a small part of the local flora (5 species). Meadow species of the Molinio-Arrhenatheretea class and forest species of the Querco-Fagetea class, penetrating niche areas from the adjacent areas, were the dominating ones. Plants of aquatic and spring communities were scarce, due to the predominance of small type karst springs. The diversity of vegetation was significantly influenced by habitat factors such as availability of light, humidity or the amount of organic matter in the soil

Role of structure of C-terminated 4H-SiC(000) surface in growth of graphene layers - transmission electron microscopy and density functional theory studies

Principal structural defects in graphene layers, synthesized on a carbon-terminated face, i.e. the SiC(000) face of a 4H-SiC substrate, are investigated using microscopic methods. Results of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) reveal their atomic arrangement. Mechanism of such defects creation, directly related to the underlying crystallographic structure of the SiC substrate, is elucidated. The connection between the 4H-SiC(000) surface morphology, including the presence of the single atomic steps, the sequences of atomic steps, and also the macrosteps, and the corresponding emergence of planar defective structure (discontinuities of carbon layers and wrinkles) is revealed. It is shown that disappearance of the multistep island leads to the creation of wrinkles in the graphene layers. The density functional theory (DFT) calculation results show that the diffusion of both silicon and carbon atoms is possible on a Si-terminated SiC surface at a high temperature close to 1600{\deg}C. The creation of buffer layer at the Si-terminated surface effectively blocks horizontal diffusion, preventing growth of thick graphene layer at this face. At the carbon terminated SiC surface, the buffer layer is absent leaving space for effective horizontal diffusion of both silicon and carbon atoms. DFT results show that excess carbon atoms converts a topmost carbon layer to sp2 bonded configuration, liberating Si atoms in barrierless process. The silicon atoms escape through the channels created at the bending layers defects, while the carbon atoms are incorporated into the growing graphene layers. These results explain growth of thick graphene underneath existing graphene cover and also the creation of the principal defects at the C-terminated SiC(0001) surfaceComment: 20 pages,11 figure

A comparative DFT study of electronic properties of 2H-, 4H- and 6H-SiC(0001) and SiC(000-1) clean surfaces: Significance of the surface Stark effect

Electric field, uniform within the slab, emerging due to Fermi level pinning at its both sides is analyzed using DFT simulations of the SiC surface slabs of different thickness. It is shown that for thicker slab the field is nonuniform and this fact is related to the surface state charge. Using the electron density and potential profiles it is proved that for high precision simulations it is necessary to take into account enough number of the Si-C layers. We show that using 12 diatomic layers leads to satisfactory results. It is also demonstrated that the change of the opposite side slab termination, both by different type of atoms or by their location, can be used to adjust electric field within the slab, creating a tool for simulation of surface properties, depending on the doping in the bulk of semiconductor. Using these simulations it was found that, depending on the electric field, the energy of the surface states changes in a different way than energy of the bulk states. This criterion can be used to distinguish Shockley and Tamm surface states. The electronic properties, i.e. energy and type of surface states of the three clean surfaces: 2H-, 4H-, 6H-SiC(0001), and SiC($000 \bar{1}$) are analyzed and compared using field dependent DFT simulations.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, 4 table