The paper aims at proposing a contemporary typology of factors building attractiveness and competitiveness of cities. The notions of urban attractiveness and urban competitiveness have been covered in literature for many years. As such the authors approached specification of the current factors, in the way they are understood by relevant representatives of researchers and territorial authorities. The A&K [standing for Polish: Atrakcyjność & Konkurencyjność] Model is presented in the paper and a typology is derived upon it.

The ability of parasitoids in locating hosts determines their success in suppressing the pest population. Chemical stimuli emitted from food products and hosts provoke the searching behavior of parasitoids. Anisopteromalus calandrae (Howard) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) is a generalist idiobiont ectoparasitoid of coleopteran pests in stored products. In the current study, the behavioral responses of A. calandrae females were evaluated regarding host food and different life stages of the host, Callosobruchus maculatus F. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), using a Y-tube olfactometer. The parasitoid was offered uninfested chickpea kernels, damaged chickpea without larvae of C. maculatus, damaged chickpea with preferred stage (4th instar) larvae of C. maculatus, uninfested chickpea + C. maculatus adults, and eggs of C. maculatus on chickpea. In another test, the preference of A. calandrae for either damaged chickpea without larva of C. maculatus or damaged chickpea with nonpreferred stage (1st instar) larvae of C. maculatus was studied. The results showed that the females did not prefer uninfested chickpea kernels and adults of C. maculatus. However, they were attracted to damaged kernels with or without larvae, and the kernels containing eggs of C. maculatus. When the female parasitoids had a choice between damaged chickpea without larva of C. maculatus and damaged chickpea with 1st instar larva, they did not prefer one over the other. The results of this investigation can be helpful for using A. calandrae as a biological control agent in stored products.

The article presents a structured approach to the attractiveness and competitiveness of Polish regions in the context of selected international experiences.

Increasing environmental awareness, perceived climate change and easier access to information have contributed to changing the perception of the environment and its reserves. Unfortunately, it happens that still misunderstood economic development and urbanization contribute to inefficient management of the city’s resources, such as space.

The aim of this paper is the assessment of the impact of unused urban space for widely understood city attractiveness. The research was conducted on the example of Katowice city. The article presents the results of identification of unused urban spaces, made based on information contained in the study of spatial development conditions and directions, and available orthophotomaps and topographic maps using GIS type software. The theoretical aspects connected with the influence of unused areas on the attractiveness of the city and the results of research carried out by the Otodom service were used for the analysis.

Bicycle lanes are lanes marked on a road and dedicated for exclusive use for cyclists.. Because they combine bike and motor traffic they provide directness and flow. However, a shared use of streets could result in bicycle-car accidents. Following up on the good practice Western countries have in planning cycle infrastructure, Gdansk has recently introduced bike lanes on a few streets. The aim of the research was to assess the attractiveness and safety of bike lanes as a relatively new and rare solution in Gdansk. The attractiveness was assessed using the multi-criteria method. The data for the assessment came from surveys and fieldwork (inventory, observation of cyclist behaviour, traffic counts). Additionally, safety information was supplemented with police statistics on collisions and accidents. The results show that the level of bike lane usage is rather high (more than 70%). However, 80% of the respondents do not find them as attractive as separated bike paths. The advantages indicated by bike lane users included speed, surface quality, and comfort. Those who avoiding bike lanes have pointed to insufficient sense of safety. The main problems were identified such as speed and volume of motor traffic, width of bicycle lane, surface quality and parking places located next to bike lanes. The conclusions from the research are consistent with the literature. The findings could improve the attractiveness and safety of bike lanes in Gdansk if implemented by bike infrastructure planners and designers.

The zero attraction affine projection algorithm (ZA-APA) achieves better performance in terms of convergence rate and steady state error than standard APA when the system is sparse. It uses l1 norm penalty to exploit sparsity of the channel. The performance of ZA-APA depends on the value of zero attractor controller. Moreover a fixed attractor controller is not suitable for varying sparsity environment. This paper proposes an optimal adaptive zero attractor controller based on Mean Square Deviation (MSD) error to work in variable sparsity environment. Experiments were conducted to prove the suitability of the proposed algorithm for identification of unknown variable sparse system.

Many nonlinear dynamical systems can present a challenge for the stability analysis in particular the estimation of the region of attraction of an equilibrium point. The usual method is based on Lyapunov techniques. For the validity of the analysis it should be supposed that the initial conditions lie in the domain of attraction. In this paper, we investigate such problem for a class of dynamical systems where the origin is not necessarily an equilibrium point. In this case, a small compact neighborhood of the origin can be estimated as an attractor for the system. We give a method to estimate the basin of attraction based on the construction of a suitable Lyapunov function. Furthermore, an application to Lorenz system is given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

The presented studies revealed the usefulness of marjoram oil, thyme oil, juniper oil and sweet flag oil in the monitoring of the occurrence of greenhouse whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum Westwood). While using the examined natural essential oils on yellow sticky traps, it was found that the number of caught insects increased significantly. In relation to the control (traps without any addition of aromatic substance), the increase amounted to: 423.13%, 422.28%, 209.91% and 139.43% respectively.

The article presents aspects of the legal characterization and regulation of the natural resource’s treatment that are under the joint tenancy of two or more states. The scientific novelty of the study is determined by that fact that shows the aspects of international interaction and the formation of the practice of legislative regulation of the use of natural resources, not only in the field of state and legal regulation but also within the context of private-public partnership. The relevance is determined by the fact that the main problem of the development of energy resources is an opportunity to determine and accordingly implement certain provisions for international business enterprises. The purpose of this article is to study the question of how representatives of international business can implement projects for the extraction of natural resources across boundary areas and under various conditions within the framework of cross-border cooperation. In the work, the methods of mathematical statistics, historical and legal methods were used. A three-level model was presented. This model determines the possibility of ensuring cooperation, then it forms its legal and regulatory framework and then determines instruments of an economic and legal nature that can be implemented in this field. The final point of the model is the finding of opportunities for investing in the development of natural energy resources on a parity basis, as well as the formation of an integrated environment that determines the possibility of integrating the subjects of international business into the economic environment of the state.

In modern conditions of urban development, there is a need to improve the technology for determining the investment attractiveness of urban lands by developing a method and models for assessing its impact, which will be based on the construction of a two-level system of indicators, which will determine the integral investment criterion and develop guidelines for improving the investment attractiveness of urban lands. As a result of the research, the value of the integral indicator of urban land investment attractiveness was determined, which allowed to apply it in the system of normative monetary valuation of urban land and to develop methodological recommendations for improving the efficiency of its investment attractiveness assessment. A method for assessing the investment attractiveness of urban land, as the main element of technology, based on the determination of indicators for assessing the integral criterion for the development of guidelines for improving the urban land investment attractiveness is developed. By the value of the integral criterion, the integral indicators of the potential investment attractiveness of urban lands are determined, considering the changes in the normative monetary value of the lands of settlements and the level of investment attractiveness of the regional centers of Ukraine is determined.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the tourism and recreational space of Lubaczowski County in Poland. The evaluation was carried out by using a multidimensional comparative analysis while taking into account tourism assets, transportation accessibility, natural environmental protection, the level of tourism infrastructure development as well as the factors contributing to an opportunity for the development of tourism via investment attractiveness (the level of infrastructure development, population relations, or the financial situation of the communes). Moreover, a questionnaire survey was carried out among the inhabitants with the aim of learning of their opinions on tourism assets and tourism infrastructure development in the commune. The study is supplemented by a comparison of the analysis results with the results of a questionnaire survey conducted among the Lubaczowski County inhabitants, which concerned the county’s attractiveness to tourists. Based on the evaluation and the questionnaire survey results, it was found that urban communes of Lubaczów and Horyniec-Zdrój had the best conditions for tourism development. These communes took the first (0.701) and the second (0.492) position in the ranking, respectively. Both communes are characterised by well-developed accommodation and catering facilities, a wealth of natural assets, and good transportation accessibility. For the better development of tourism in the county, it is necessary to take appropriate measures aimed at eliminating limitations and highlighting the strengths. To this end, it will be necessary to incorporate measures aimed at enhancing the quality of tourism infrastructure development and establishing a marketing plan that will allow tourists to learn about the tourism assets of the commune into the strategy for commune development.

In education, information and Communications Technologies mostly play the role of a medium of communication, as well as a means of imparting knowledge. ICT, however, is used less as a subject for student activity, i.e. a subject for students to learn, where they can operate the technology, as in robotics or mechantronics. Information technologies are also very rarely implemented in education as a way for students to build their identity and shape their attitudes towards their outside and inside worlds. In spite of this, in the history of educational technology there have been a number of researchers and educators who have promoted interesting ideas for implementing technologies as tools for human cognitive, affective, psychomotor and moral empowerment. Today such people are also present in education, however, they play unimportant roles on the periphery of formal education. This paper is a reminder of a number of ideas by theorists and researchers concerning the implementation of ICT, but mainly highlights the empowerment it gives students and its humanizing/humanitarian role.