Does Fratelli d'Italia's rise to government signal a new era for the far right in Europe?

Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the far-right party Fratelli d’Italia, was sworn in as the new Italian Prime Minister on 22 October. But what will Meloni’s government mean for the far right across Europe? Using data from votes in the European Parliament, Adam Holesch and Piotr Zagórski show that far-right parties are likely to remain divided over Russia, but that Meloni could prove to be an important ally for the Hungarian and Polish governments in debates over the rule of law

Five paradoxes ahead of this sunday’s presidential election in Poland

Poland will hold the first round of its delayed presidential election on Sunday. Piotr Zagórski and Fernando Casal Bértoa present five paradoxes that make the election exceptional

Mapping of the Influenza-A Hemagglutinin Serotypes Evolution by the ISSCOR Method

Analyses and visualizations by the ISSCOR method of influenza virus hemagglutinin genes of different A-subtypes revealed some rather striking temporal relationships between groups of individual gene subsets. Based on these findings we consider application of the ISSCOR-PCA method for analyses of large sets of homologous genes to be a worthwhile addition to a toolbox of genomics - allowing for a rapid diagnostics of trends, and ultimately even aiding an early warning of newly emerging epidemiological threats.Comment: 26 pages with figures (Figs. 1-4 in the main text, and Figs. S1-S5 in supplementary materials

Multidecadal (1960–2011) shoreline changes in Isbjørnhamna (Hornsund, Svalbard)

A section of a gravel-dominated coast in Isbjørnhamna (Hornsund, Svalbard) was analysed to calculate the rate of shoreline changes and explain processes controlling coastal zone development over last 50 years. Between 1960 and 2011, coastal landscape of Isbjørnhamna experienced a significant shift from dominated by influence of tide-water glacier and protected by prolonged sea-ice conditions towards storm-affected and rapidly changing coast. Information derived from analyses of aerial images and geomorphological mapping shows that the Isbjørnhamna coastal zone is dominated by coastal erosion resulting in a shore area reduction of more than 31,600 m2. With ~3,500 m2 of local aggradation, the general balance of changes in the study area of the shore is negative, and amounts to a loss of more than 28,000 m2. Mean shoreline change is −13.1 m (−0.26 m a−1). Erosional processes threaten the Polish Polar Station infrastructure and may damage of one of the storage buildings in nearby future

Cuarenta años de elecciones municipales: el sistema electoral y su rendimiento

El sistema electoral local, regulado primero en Ley 39/1978 y luego en la Ley Orgánica 5/1985, del Régimen Electoral General (LOREG) ha permanecido relativamente estable a lo largo de cuarenta años de democracia local. Bajo este sistema electoral se han ido produciendo diferentes resultados electorales. Progresivamente se ha ido reduciendo la presencia de candidatos independientes y de partidos locales, a favor de los grandes partidos nacionales o regionales. Sin embargo, en las elecciones de 2015, el sistema electoral proporcional ha trasladado a los plenos municipales una mayor diversidad de opciones electorales. Esta mayor diversidad política del pleno municipal no ha producido por sí mayor inestabilidad en el gobierno municipal. Varias son las reglas del régimen local, contenidas en parte en la Ley 7/1985, reguladora de las Bases del Régimen Local (LBRL) y en parte en la LOREG, que limitan la posible inestabilidad del gobierno local cuando los plenos son muy plurales: la distribución de competencias entre el pleno y los órganos ejecutivos municipales (alcaldía y junta de gobierno); la intrascendencia de las reservas de ley para la articulación interna del poder local; la regulación restrictiva de las mociones de censura; las mociones de censura constructivas; y el régimen restrictivo de los concejales no adscrito

Historia zlodowacenia archipelagu Svalbard od późnego vistulianu do współczesności

The glacial history of the Svalbard archipelago is often a hot topic for researches, but the articles usually refer to a particular piece of Svalbard. The authors of this work studied many scientific articles based on the researches to find and collect this history.Svalbard archipelago is located in the Arctic, at the edge of the continental shelf of Europe. The end of shelf boundary noted occurrence of ice caps in the past glaciations. In turn, the main elements of the landscape of the archipelago are glaciers that are currently in a recession. Spitsbergen (the biggest island of the archipelago) sets the limit of Pleistocene glaciations, and the current state of glaciers allows determining the place where the recession is intense.The main aim of the authors in this study is to show this history only from the late Vistulian to the late Holocene (the beginning of 21st century). Interstadials and Stadials start time varies, as their duration in different places, according to various authors. It is very hard to collect all information and describe this history. By knowing the history of glaciation, we can distinguish in the late Vistulian: Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), Bølling/Older Dryas/Allerød and Younger Dryas (YD). LGM was the stadial in which was the maximum extent of ice sheet in late Vistulian. After this period, ice sheet began to retreat from the continental shelf. In turn, YD was the stadial in which the last advance of glaciers took place, about 11 000 years BC. In the Holocene we can distinguish Holocene Climatic Optimum (in the meantime short Cooling Holocene), Revdalen Stadial, Medieval Warm Period, Little Ice Age (LIA) and 20th century warming. The maximum extent of glaciers in Holocene was in LIA. In LIA, the extent of glaciers was bigger than in YD. In 20th century a warming started and continues until now.Svalbard jest obszarem, gdzie zachowały się w różnym stopniu „ślady” zdarzeń glacjalnych. Dowodami ich wystąpienia są między innymi osady oraz formy glacjalne i fluwioglacjalne (np. Boulton 1979; Boulton i in. 1982; Landvik i in. 1998; Mangerud i in. 1998; Pękala, Repelewska-Pękalowa 1990; Lindner, Marks 1993ab; Ingólfsson, Landvik 2013). Bliskość tego obszaru w stosunku do centrów zlodowaceń powodowała, że kolejne epizody glacjalne „zamazywały ślady” poprzednich, niszcząc je lub przekształcając (np. Landvik i in. 1992; Mangerud i in. 1998; Zagórski 2007). Po deglacjacji następował zazwyczaj okres intensyfikacji działania procesów nieglacjalnych (paraglacjalnych), np. morskich, peryglacjalnych (Mercier, Laffly 2005; Strzelecki 2011; Zagórski i in. 2012). Stąd najlepiej zachowały się pozostałości najmłodszych zdarzeń i epizodów glacjalnych, np. małej epoki lodowej (np. Baranowski 1977abc; Lindner Marks 1993b; Werner 1993; Wójcik, Ziaja 1999; Reder 1996ab;  Birkenmajer, Łuczkowska 1997; Svendsen Mangerud 1997; Zagórski i in. 2008, 2012; Rodzik i in. 2013)

The origin of pine pollen grains captured from air at Calypsobyen, Svalbard

Spitsbergen is the largest island in the Svalbard Archipelago (Norway) that has been permanently populated. The harsh Arctic climate prevents development of large vascular plants such as trees. A two-year aerobiological survey was conducted within the framework of two consecutive polar expeditions (2014 and 2015) in Spitsbergen (Calypsobyen, Bellsund). The air quality was measured continuously from June/July to August using a 7-day volumetric air sampler, Tauber trap and moss specimens. Collected air samples and gravimetric pollen deposits were processed following transfer to sterile laboratory conditions and analyzed with the aid of light microscopy. Days when pine pollen grains were detected in the air were selected for further analysis. Clusters of back-trajectories, computed using the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model in combination with ArcGIS software as well as the Flextra trajectory model, showed the movement of air masses to the sampling location at Hornsund, and thus indicated the likely origin of pollen grains. The GlobCover 2009 and CORINE Land Cover 2012 datasets were employed to establish the distribution of coniferous forests in the areas of interest. Conclusions were drawn based on the analyses of the circulation of air masses, using visualization of global weather conditions forecast to supercomputers. For the first time we have demonstrated that pine pollen grains occurring in pine-free Spitsbergen, could originate from numerous locations, including Scandinavia, Iceland, Siberia and northern Canada. Pollen grains were transported via air masses for distances exceeding ~2000 km. Both air samples and gravimetric pollen deposits revealed the same pattern of Pinus pollen distribution