Spatial development transformations of post-industrial areas in Tarnowskie Góry Poviat communes using GIS methods

The aim of the article is to discuss changes in the spatial development of post-industrial areas in the Tarnowskie Góry Poviat. The study was conducted on the basis of archival maps, analysis of local spatial development plans and aerial photographs. GIS software and tools were used to analyze the obtained materials. The research found that the largest percentage of post-industrial areas are located in the urban communes of the Tarnowskie Góry Poviat (Tarnowskie Góry and Radzionków). These are currently used mainly for tourist purposes attracting new residents and investors. This is an important aspect for achieving the strategic objectives of Śląskie Voivodeship and Tarnowskie Góry Poviat. It is important that urban communes take their use into account in local spatial development plans, as this is not fully reflected in the case of rural communes. A similar situation is found with the remnants of post-industrial activity in the Tarnowskie Góry Poviat where the largest number of such sites has been preserved in urban communes, and thanks to historical maps it was possible to locate them. In the case of rural communes, finding sites of post-industrial activity was much more difficult because most of those described in the literature have been demolished or biotic succession has taken place.Celem artykułu jest omówienie zmian zagospodarowania przestrzennego terenów poprzemysłowych w powiecie tarnogórskim. Badanie zostało przeprowadzone na podstawie arkuszy map archiwalnych, analizy miejscowych planów zagospodarowania przestrzennego oraz zdjęć lotniczych. Do analizy uzyskanych materiałów zastosowano oprogramowanie i narzędzia GIS. Na podstawie wykonanych badań stwierdzono, że największy odsetek terenów poprzemysłowych znajduje się w gminach miejskich powiatu tarnogórskiego (Tarnowskie Góry i Radzionków). Tereny te są obecnie wykorzystywane głównie w celach turystycznych, do przyciągania nowych mieszkańców i inwestorów. Stanowi to ważny aspekt wywiązywania się z założonych celów strategicznych województwa śląskiego i powiatu tarnogórskiego. Istotne jest, że jednostki miejskie uwzględniają wykorzystanie badanych terenów w miejscowych planach zagospodarowania przestrzennego, co nie ma pełnego odzwierciedlenia w przypadku gmin wiejskich. Podobną sytuację obserwuje się w odniesieniu do występowania pozostałości po działalności poprzemysłowej w powiecie tarnogórskim, gdzie najwięcej takich obiektów zachowało się w gminach miejskich, a dzięki mapom historycznym możliwe było ich zlokalizowanie. W przypadku gmin wiejskich odnalezienie miejsc działalności poprzemysłowej było znacznie utrudnione, gdyż większość opisywanych w literaturze obiektów poddano rozbiórce lub na ich terenie nastąpiła sukcesja biotyczna.

Silicon-based anode and method for manufacturing the same

A silicon-based anode comprising silicon, a carbon coating that coats the surface of the silicon, a polyvinyl acid that binds to at least a portion of the silicon, and vinylene carbonate that seals the interface between the silicon and the polyvinyl acid. Because of its properties, polyvinyl acid binders offer improved anode stability, tunable properties, and many other attractive attributes for silicon-based anodes, which enable the anode to withstand silicon cycles of expansion and contraction during charging and discharging

Alginate-containing compositions for use in battery applications

A silicon-based anode comprises an alginate-containing binder. The many carboxy groups of alginate bind to a surface of silicon, creating strong, rigid hydrogen bonds that withstand battery cycling. The alginate-containing binder provides good performance to the anode by (1) improving the capacity of the anode in comparison to other commercially-available binders, (2) improving Columbonic efficiency during charging and discharging cycles, and (3) improving stability during charging and discharging cycles

Audit Assessment of the Effectiveness of Public Procurement Procedures

The article seeks describing the benefits and challenges faced by auditors in assessing the effectiveness of public procurement procedures in terms of applying the methodology for calculating efficiency, economy and effectiveness, taking into account the risks of procurement in e-auctions. Quantitative risk parameters are calculated using data of probabilistic indicators of procurement risk assessment according to the ratio of the number of relevant procedures (sub-threshold and above-threshold) to the total number of procurement procedures. Statistical valuation methods are used for the cost risk assessments and calculation of the aggregate risk indicator of public procurement. The calculations are performed using the data of the open e-procurement system ProZorro for all announced procurements in 2018-2019. We analyzed the methods, indicators and the extent to which the study of the public procurement effectiveness via bibliographic and case studies is performed. As a result, the majority of methods cover four components of assessing the public procurement efficiency - targeted efficiency, cost-effectiveness, organizational efficiency, efficiency of budget expenditures for public procurement. This does not provide an assessment of the automated systems’ impact on the procurement procedures results and on possible savings due to the use of certain procurement procedures. To comprehensively assess the procurement efficiency in e-bidding, the authors propose considering four key risks: the risk of cancellation of the procurement procedure, the risk that the procurement procedure will not take place, the risk of appealing the procurement, the risk of disqualification. As a result of risks calculations under the sub-threshold and above-threshold procurement, individual values of risks and their aggregate indicator are determined. This will adjust the scope of audit procedures to verify individual procurements and identify weaknesses in the procurement management system. We believe that the methodology of auditing the procurement effectiveness, taking into account the quantitative and qualitative parameters of procurement risks, will be a useful audit tool to determine the effectiveness of the use of public funds under individual procurements and identify areas of cost-effectiveness for the state budget funds

Audit of public finances: methodological issues and the case of Ukraine

The paper aims to analyze the methodological issues that exist in the field of public finance audit, and find ways to solve them on the example of Ukraine. The methodological basis of the study is the analysis of scientific publications, regulations, standards; best practices analysis; retrospective analysis of ACU’s performance indicators; content analysis of reports on the results of audits; method of logical generalization and systematization in formulating conclusions and recommendations. The study found that an important role in maintaining the functions of the SAI in society is played not only by the fact of auditing public finances, but also its methodology, including compliance with INTOSAI standards and building confidence in its results. The recommendations concern the need to: conduct financial audits of all major administrators of budget funds in accordance with the requirements of INTOSAI standards; ensure the timeliness of financial audits, the results of which should be published together with the financial statements; assessment of the skills of the ACU’s specialists performing financial audits to plan staff training; revise approaches to the interaction of the ACU’s auditors with internal audit departments to support the development of the internal audit function in the public sector; establish a quality control system according to the requirements of ISSAI 140; revise the approaches to the implementation of public finance reform on the transition to the application of the principle of accrual in accounting. Implementation of the recommendations will strengthen the role of the Accounting Chamber in society by increasing the credibility of its audits and their importance for improving the efficiency of public administration

Alginate-containing compositions for use in battery applications

A silicon-based anode comprises an alginate-containing binder. The many carboxy groups of alginate bind to a surface of silicon, creating strong, rigid hydrogen bonds that withstand battery cycling. The alginate-containing binder provides good performance to the anode by (1) improving the capacity of the anode in comparison to other commercially-available binders, (2) improving Columbonic efficiency during charging and discharging cycles, and (3) improving stability during charging and discharging cycles

Surface modification of substrates

The present invention is directed to a practically universal surface modification process and the materials thereby obtained. In general, the process includes initial epoxy modification of a substrate surface by attachment of an epoxy-containing polymer to the surface. Following attachment of the polymer, still-existing epoxy groups on the polymer may then cross-link the polymer to form a unified anchoring layer on the surface. Other epoxy groups in the anchoring layer, not utilized in forming the layer may be used to graft surface modifying materials to the surface. For instance, macromolecules, biomolecules, polymers, and polymerization initiators may be grafted to the surface via the anchoring layer

Semi-Natural Areas on Post-Mining Brownfields as an Opportunity to Strengthen the Attractiveness of a Small Town. An Example of Radzionków in Southern Poland

The socio-economic and political changes of the end of the 20th century in Central and Eastern Europe had significant impacts on the transformation of urban spaces, especially in industrial and mining towns. The article attempts to explain the essence of these changes concerning the spatial development of—a small post-mining town in southern Poland. This article evaluates urban development policy in response to the significant land-use changes in the small post-mining city of Radzionków, with particular attention to the transformation of brownfield sites to semi-natural areas of regional importance. This issue is interesting for two reasons. First, this small city, located in a large European agglomeration, has to face competition focused on interesting regional projects. Second, there is a desire for reindustrialization as a remedy for job losses in mining and heavy industry. The successful establishment of a large botanical garden in this city provides a case study for discussing the future of small post-industrial cities and the development of land use policy regarding valuable natural areas located in post-industrial and post-mining areas. This study also indicates the vital role of the creative management factor

The synthesis, characterization and targeting ability of nano-scale enrichment polymer layers

Thin polymer films have been utilized as enrichment layers for evanescent waveguide chemical sensors and other analytical techniques. This is due to the fact that the chemical nature of polymers is ideal for trapping chemically similar organic molecules making analysis more convenient. Specifically, research in this area of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) detection, focused has been given to identifying a single polymer film of micron scale thickness to target one analyte. This work focuses on the design and use of multiple polymers in one enrichment layer to target VOCs to facilitate detection. Two distinct layered enrichment systems were synthesized via the “grafting to” approach. The end application is to apply these polymers onto mid-infrared transparent evanescent wave micro-disk or micro-ring resonators. Analysis of the polymer affinity to VOCs and to act as enrichment layers is determined by the thickness increase caused by swelling of the film when exposed to the analyte vapor. Detection analysis was done using attenuated total reflection (ATR) FT-IR spectroscopy. The polymer layered systems were characterized by atomic force microscopy, ellipsometry and infrared spectroscopy. Studies of pure analyte vapors and mixtures were conducted in saturated conditions

Development of novel integrated bio/chemical sensor systems using chalcogenide glass materials

This paper reviews ongoing progress in the design and fabrication of new, on-chip, low loss planar molecular sensors. We report the details of device design, material selection and manufacturing processes used to realise high-index-contrast (HIC), compact micro-disk resonators. These structures have been fabricated in thermally evaporated As- and Ge-based chalcogenide glass films with PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) micro-fluidic channels using standard UV lithography. Discussed are findings that demonstrate that our novel chalcogenide-based micro-fluidic device can be used as highly sensitive refractive index sensors