Can Top Down Participatory Budgeting Work? The Case of Polish Community Fund

The article addresses the participatory budgeting (PB), which is one of the most recognised governance innovations of recent decades. This global phenomenon represents in practice a shift towards participatory and collaborative management of public resources at the local level. The purpose of this article is to determine when top down approach to PB might be welcomed, taking into account the characteristics of PB schemes all around the world that they emerged as local initiatives, instigated either by civil society groups or local governments. The analysis is based on the description of the PB example as introduced via country-wide legislation, exhaustively regulating PB procedure. The article examines Polish experience in the field of functioning top down approach to PB. It demonstrates that top down PB can effectively work, if it is accompanied with significant incentives and grants, as well as the extensive autonomy and flexibility of local communities. Polish experience suggests that such an initiative might be relatively successful, yet there is a number of conditions that has to be met in order to ensure the dissemination of legislative model of participatory budgeting. The results have practical implications to central government institutions that consider introduction of some legislative framework for participatory budgeting at the local level. The originality of the research is in the analysis of one of successful stories of the PB introduced via country-wide legislation, and determining when this approach can work, also in other countries

Odpowiedzialność dyscyplinarna za reprezentowanie klienta nadużywającego prawa – rozważania na tle sprawy dyscyplinarnej wobec radcy prawnego o sygn. OSD/KR 38/17

This study intends to discuss whether and under what circumstances representation of a client who abuses the law may become a basis for disciplinary liability. Both the reason and the broader background of this issue were provided by a ruling in which an attorney-at-law was found guilty of having acted as an attorney before voivodeship administrative courts throughout Poland in 241 cases initiated by complaints about the inactivity of the authorities in providing public information. It was alleged that the attorney-at-law was aware of the fact that the client had abused the right to submit freedom-of-information requests and that he also received remuneration on this account. First, an empirical study was conducted, consisting in the analysis of documents included in the files of the disciplinary case, which were made available for the purpose of this research. Secondly, the article presents a legal discussion on the basis of liability, culminating in an assessment of the analysed decision

Dylematy zdalnego obradowania przez organy stanowiące jednostek samorządu terytorialnego w perspektywie postpandemicznej

Zdalny tryb obradowania przez jednostki samorządu terytorialnego został wprowadzony w 2020 r. w związku z pandemią COVID-19. Możliwość zdalnego obradowania służyła zarówno ochronie zdrowia publicznego, jak i zapewnieniu możliwości sprawnego działania przez organy stanowiące. Celem niniejszego tekstu jest zidentyfikowanie dylematów regulacyjnych, z którymi zmierzyć musiałby się ustawodawca, jeśli zdalne obradowanie miałoby zostać uregulowane w systemie prawnym w perspektywie postpandemicznej. Analizie poddano wybrane problemy prawne i praktyczne, które wiązały się z funkcjonowaniem zdalnego obradowania w latach 2020 –2022. Krytycznie oceniono zarówno wprowadzenie możliwości korespondencyjnego podejmowania uchwał przez organy stanowiące, jak i zasadność przyjęcia takiego rozwiązania w perspektywie postpandemicznej

Rok Putina. Obwod kaliningradzki w kontekscie rozszerzenia Unii Europejskiej. Prace OSW 2/2001. = Putin's Year. The Kaliningrad Oblast in the context of EU enlargement. OSW Study 2/2001

Last year Kaliningrad became the subject of an international debate involving first of all the European Union, Russia, the USA, and the countries bordering the enclave, Poland and Lithuania. Such keen interest in a small region of less than a million inhabitants was mainly due to the fact that Kaliningrad has found itself in the very centre of two processes which are of paramount importance for Europe: EU and NATO enlargement. If Lithuania becomes a member of those units and Poland joins the EU, this Russian enclave will become an island surrounded on all land borders by a totally different, political, economic and military entity. In the course of the debate many questions were raised about the situation in the Oblast and how it affects neighbouring countries, the real interests and intentions of the parties involved in the debate, and the future of the region. The authors of this publication are attempting to answer these questions. The first part of this analysis is devoted to presenting the most important internal problems of the enclave, considering their influence on the surrounding world and the consequences of adopting the acquis communautaire in Poland and Lithuania. The second part characterises Moscow's policies towards Kaliningrad on the one hand, and those of Western countries on the other. Finally, the authors discuss the probable ways in which the situation in the enclave will develop

Giant, transformed dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans in female patient with newly diagnosed type 1 neurofibromatosis — a case report

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFS) is a rare, cutaneous, locoregionally aggressive malignancy with a low risk of distant metastases. Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1, von Recklinghausen disease) is a genetical predisposition to the development of malignant tumors. The presented case describes atypical coincidence of DFS and NF1 in 30 year old female. The giant tumor was localized on the left side of the neck. It was non-radically excised. The pathological report described dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans progressing into epithelioid sclerosing fibrosarcoma. Adjuvant sequential chemotherapy and radiotherapy was planned. After 3 cycles of doxorubicin, the chest X-ray revealed pulmonary metastases; the radical therapy was stopped with no subsequent radiotherapy. Systemic treatment with ifosfamide was started. After 6 cycles the progression was shown. Considering the agressiveness of the disease and the patient’s excellent performance status, the next line of chemotherapy was started with doxorubicin and dacarbazine. According to our knowledge, there is only one report of coincidence of DFS and NF1, but without histological progression into more aggressive type of sarcoma. Onkol. Prak. Klin. 2010; 6, 3: 116–119Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFS) jest rzadkim nowotworem skóry o miejscowej złośliwości, z niewielkim ryzykiem wystąpienia przerzutów odległych. Nerwiakowłókniakowatość typu 1 (NF1, choroba von Recklinghausena) to genetycznie uwarunkowana skłonność do rozwoju nowotworów złośliwych. Zaprezentowane doniesienie opisuje nietypowe zachorowanie na DFS w przebiegu NF1 u 30-letniej pacjentki. Olbrzymi guz zlokalizowany był na szyi po stronie lewej. Guza zoperowano nieradykalnie. Histopatologicznie rozpoznano DFS z progresją w kierunku fibrosarcoma epithelioides sclerosans. Pacjentkę zakwalifikowano do uzupełniającej chemio-, a następnie radioterapii. Z powodu pojawienia się przerzutów do płuc w trakcie leczenia chemicznego (3 cykle doksorubicyny w monoterapii) odstąpiono od radioterapii, a dalszą chemioterapię ifosfamidem kontynuowano z założeniem paliatywnym. Po kolejnych 6 cyklach wystąpiła progresja choroby. Wobec agresywnego przebiegu choroby oraz bardzo dobrego stanu ogólnego chorej podjęto próbę chemioterapii kolejnego rzutu według schematu doksorubicyna z dakarbazyną. W piśmiennictwie odnaleziono jeden przypadek występowania DFS w przebiegu NF1, jednak bez histologicznej progresji w kierunku bardziej złośliwej formy mięsaka. Onkol. Prak. Klin. 2010; 6, 3: 116–11

Is There a Consensus when Physicians Evaluate the Relevance of Retrieved Systematic Reviews?

Background: A significant challenge associated with practicing evidence-based medicine is to provide physicians with relevant clinical information when it is needed. At the same time it appears that the notion of relevance is subjective and its perception is affected by a number of contextual factors. Objectives: To assess to what extent physicians agree on the relevance of evidence in the form of systematic reviews for a common set of patient cases, and to identify possible contextual factors that influence their perception of relevance. Methods: A web-based survey was used where pediatric emergency physicians from multiple academic centers across Canada were asked to evaluate the relevance of systematic reviews retrieved automatically for 14 written case vignettes (paper patients). The vignettes were derived from prospective data describing pediatric patients with asthma exacerbations presenting at the emergency department. To limit the cognitive burden on respondents, the number of reviews associated with each vignette was limited to three. Results: Twenty-two academic emergency physicians with varying years of clinical practice completed the survey. There was no consensus in their evaluation of relevance of the retrieved reviews and physicians’ assessments ranged from very relevant to irrelevant evidence, with the majority of evaluations being somewhere in the middle. This indicates that the study participants did not share a notion of relevance uniformly. Further analysis of commentaries provided by the physicians allowed identifying three possible contextual factors: expected specificity of evidence (acute vs chronic condition), the terminology used in the systematic reviews, and the micro environment of clinical setting. Conclusion: There is no consensus among physicians with regards to what constitutes relevant clinical evidence for a given patient case. Subsequently, this finding suggests that evidence retrieval systems should allow for deep customization with regards to physician’s preferences and contextual factors, including differences in the micro environment of each clinical setting

Coherent acoustic phonons generated by ultrashort terahertz pulses in nanofilms of metals and topological insulators

We report the generation of coherent acoustic phonons in materials with terahertz ultrashort pulses. This is demonstrated in metals and topological insulators by exciting an acoustic eigenmode in nanometric-sized thin films. The efficiency of the coupling is quadratic in the terahertz electric field strength within the range of investigation. Owing to a quantitative comparison between terahertz and near-infrared ultrashort pulse excitations, we show that the process of acoustic phonon generation by terahertz radiation is mainly driven by thermoelastic stress. While for the near-infrared light excitation the lattice temperature increase comes from a rapid energy transfer from the hot carriers to the phonon bath during carrier intraband relaxation, the thermoelastic stress induced by the terahertz electric field is linked to the scattering of the accelerated electrons leading to an ultrafast Joule effect

Phytoplankton production in relation to simulated hydro- and thermodynamics during a hydrological wet year – Goczałkowice reservoir (Poland) case study

Phytoplankton is one of the crucial components of water body ecosystems. Its presence and development depend on biological, physical and chemical factors and in consequence it is an important indicator of ecosystem condition. Monitoring of phytoplankton production, measured as chlorophyll a concentration, is a useful tool for assessing the status of dam reservoirs. Modeled chlorophyll a concentrations are used as water quality indicators in locations not included in monitoring systems, in situations when the temporal resolution of the monitoring is not enough, and in assessments of the impacts of future activities. Therefore, the aim of this study was to find correlations between hydro- and thermodynamics and the chlorophyll a concentration for possible application in reservoir monitoring and management, using an ELCOM-CAEDYM model. The analysis included summer and fall which are most prone to algal blooms, and four phytoplankton groups identified as dominant in the reservoir based on periodic observations. Comparisons of simulated water temperature and both observed and simulated chlorophyll a concentrations confirmed that these variables are significantly correlated (correlation of hourly chlorophyll a and water temperature was 0.70, ranging from 0.55 to 0.81 in the bottom and surface water layers, respectively, while for daily outputs it was 0.74, ranging from 0.60 to 0.83). This relation was stronger than that of chlorophyll a to nutrient (N, P and Si) concentrations. What is more, the method used allowed the assessment of a much more detailed spatial and temporal distribution of phytoplankton groups compared with conventional monitoring techniques. The study indicated that the phytoplankton community was dominated by Chlorophytes and Diatoms with a larger share of Chlorophytes in shallow parts of the reservoir. This domination was weaker after short water mixing events in summer and especially after the fall turnover. The increase in phytoplankton diversity was estimated to occur mainly near the surface and in shallow parts of the reservoir. Most of the observed concentrations of individual phytoplankton groups differed from simulation results by less than 25% and the model reflected accurately 74% of observed trends in concentrations. Calculated chlorophyll a concentration was well matched to hourly monitoring data (mean squared error = 5.6, Nash–Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficient = 0.51, Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.72 and p-value = 0.0007). High compatibility of the model to the values measured in the reservoir make it a promising tool for the prediction and planning of actions aimed at maintaining good functioning of the reservoir

Europium Doping Impact on the Properties of MBE Grown Bi2Te3 Thin Film

The impact of europium doping on the electronic and structural properties of the topological insulator Bi2Te3 is studied in this paper. The crystallographic structure studied by electron di raction and transmission microscopy confirms that grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) system film with the Eu content of about 3% has a trigonal structure with relatively large monocrystalline grains. The X-ray photoemission spectroscopy indicates that europium in Bi2Te3 matrix remains divalent and substitutes bismuth in a Bi2Te3 matrix. An exceptional ratio of the photoemission 4d multiplet components in Eu doped film was observed. However, some spatial inhomogeneity at the nanometer scale is revealed. Firstly, local conductivity measurements indicate that the surface conductivity is inhomogeneous and is correlated with a topographic image revealing possible coexistence of conducting surface states with insulating regions. Secondly, Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) depth-profiling also shows partial chemical segregation. Such in-depth inhomogeneity has an impact on the lattice dynamics (phonon lifetime) evaluated by femtosecond spectroscopy. This unprecedented set of experimental investigations provides important insights for optimizing the process of growth of high-quality Eu-doped thin films of a Bi2Te3 topological insulator. Understanding such complex behaviors at the nanoscale level is a necessary step before considering topological insulator thin films as a component of innovative devices