The two‐fold purpose of this study was to explore the financial capability of low‐income consumers from rural regions of Poland, using Xiao’s financial capability index, while accounting for their poverty status, demographic and financial characteristics. To test the relevant hypothesis of the study, a micro database of low‐income consumers was used. Factor, descriptive and correlation analyses were employed for preliminary examinations. One‐way ANOVA was used to examine the impact of different poverty indicators on financial capability index variables. Multiple OLS regressions were used to examine the influence of the selected factors on the level of financial capability. Six sets of linear regression models were used to explore the effects of factors associated with the financial capability variables. The findings of our study suggest that financial inclusion is an essential component of the financial capability index. The results also show that all five variables play a significant role in the financial capability index. Therefore, Xiao’s financial capability index captures a specific combination of financial literacy and financial behaviour of low‐income consumers from rural regions of Poland.

Energy obtained from renewable sources is an important element of the sustainable development strategy of the European Union and its member states. The aim of this research is, therefore, to assess the potential and use of renewable energy sources and their effectiveness from the regional perspective in Poland. The research covered the years 2012 and 2018. The diversification of production and potential of renewable energy sources was defined on the basis of biogas and biomass. Calculations made using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method showed that, in 2012, only three voivodeships achieved the highest efficiency in terms of the use of biogas and biomass resources; in 2018, this number increased to four. Comparing the effective units in 2012 and 2018, it can be seen that their efficiency frontier moved upwards by 56% in terms of biogas and 21% in terms of to biomass. Despite a large relative increase in the production of heat from biogas by 99% compared to the production of heat from biomass by 38%, the efficiency frontier for biogas did not change considerably. It was found that the resources of solid biomass are used far more intensively than the resources of biogas. However, in the case of biogas, a significant increase in the utilization of the production potential was observed: from 3.3% in 2012 to 6.4% in 2018, whereas in the same years, the utilization of solid biomass production potential remained at the same level (15.3% in 2012, 15.4% in 2018). It was also observed that, at the level of voivodeships, the utilization of biogas and biomass production potential is negatively correlated with the size of this potential. The combined potential of solid biomass and biogas can cover the demand of each of the studied regions in Poland in terms of thermal energy. The coverage ranges from 104% to 1402%. The results show that when comparing biomass and biogas, the production of both electricity and heat was dominated by solid biomass. Its high share occurred especially in voivodeships characterized by a high share of forest area and a low potential for biogas production (Lubuskie Voivodeship, Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship).

Air pollution is closely associated with the development of respiratory illness. The aim of the present study was to assess the relationship between long-term exposure to PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and SO2 pollution and the incidence of lung cancer in the squamous subtype in south-eastern Poland from the years 2004 to 2014. We collected data of 4237 patients with squamous cell lung cancer and the level of selected pollutants. To investigate the relationship between the level of concentrations of pollutants and the place of residence of patients with lung cancer in the squamous subtype, proprietary pollution maps were applied to the places of residence of patients. To analyze the data, the risk ratio was used as well as a number of statistical methods, i.e., the pollution model, inverse distance weighted interpolation, PCA, and ordered response model. Cancer in women and in men seems to depend in particular on the simultaneous inhalation of NO2 and PM10 (variable NO2PM10) and of NO2 and SO2 (variable NO2 SO2), respectively. Nitrogen dioxide exercises a synergistic leading effect, which once composed with the other elements it becomes more persistent in explaining higher odds in the appearance of cancers and could constitute the main cause of squamous cancer.

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In many countries, energy security is treated as a priority for the coming decades, and at the same time energy production from the vast majority conventional energy sources does not meet environmental protection criteria. Hence, the need to use renewable energy sources (RES), which can largely satisfy energy needs. The aim of the study was to identify possibilities of creating autonomous energy regions (ARE) in Poland, based on renewable energy sources. Attention was paid to the role and significance of the potential of rural areas in this respect, taking into account the possibilities of increasing energy production from these sources in individual regions of Poland. The research was conducted on a regional level (division into voivodships) and on a local level (division into powiats, which form voivodships). When assessing the potential for constructing ARE based on RES, the following energy sources were taken into account: water, wind, sun, biogas and biomass. It was found that the highest RES potential versus energy consumption can be obtained in powiats where the share of arable land and forests exceeds 80%. The research showed that in most regions of Poland (powiats, voivodships), there is a large potential for obtaining additional energy from RES, which would cover over 73% of the country’s demand for electricity. This could be the basis for building energy independence on a local scale. The results of the study indicated that as many as seven regions would become self-sufficient in terms of electricity demand.

The values of the natural environment in the subject literature are commonly indicated as an asset conducive to development shaping the competitiveness of areas with such values. The paper attempts to assess the use of endogenous potential of such areas in shaping the multifunctional, sustainable development of rural areas that have such qualities. In particular, the aim was to check to what extent the sme sector, dominating in the economic structure of rural areas, solves the key problem of labour market imbalance and population migration in environmentally valuable areas. The area of detailed research is Podkarpacie, the Polish region considered as a peripheral, border region, the least urbanized region with the highest share of areas covered by various forms of nature protection and forestation, with one of the lowest gdp per capita indicator in the country. For the purpose of implementing the research assumptions, a taxonomic unit (using the complete linkage method) consisting of powiats with the highest concentration of features characteristic for rural areas of high natural values was separated. Synthetic indicators calculated on the basis of the Hellwig taxonomic development pattern method and a positional method using Weber's median were used to assess the diversity of entrepreneurship level. The research confirmed that the non-agricultural economic activity sector is less developed in areas of high natural value. Despite positive developments in the enterprise sector, their potential is too weak an economic base for addressing unsustainable labour market problems, as evidenced by high unemployment and a high negative migration balance. This limits the use of the endogenous potential of these areas and is not conducive to the concept of multifunctional, sustainable development. Migration poses a threat to the depopulation of these areas with all the negative consequences associated with such processes. This is a challenge for the studied areas and regional policy.

Aim of the studyTo present the changes in the incidence of cancers of the head and neck organs in south-eastern Poland and in the whole country in the years 1990-2012.Material and methodsA retrospective analysis the incidence of cancers of the head and neck organs in south-eastern Poland in the years 1990–2012. Statistical methods used for cancers of ICD-10 C00-C14 and C30-C32.ResultsFor Poland, the absolute number of cases was 123,120 in the years 1990-2012. For males, the number of cases per year increased from 4468 in 1990 to 4953 in 2012, and for females from 816 to 1442.The percentage share of tumours of the head and neck in all malignant tumours decreased from 10.0% to 6.5% for males and from 2.1% to 1.9% for females.In the years 1990–2012 in south-eastern Poland, for males, the absolute number of cases per year decreased from 335 in 1990 to 286 in 2012. For females, a minimal increase in cases was from 63 to 64 cases. The percentage share of tumours of the head and neck in all malignant tumours decreased from 12.2% to 6.7% for males and from 2.7% to 1.8% for females.ConclusionsIncidences of cancers of the head and neck organs in Poland have seen a slight upward trend in the absolute number of cases over the last two decades. In Poland a decrease in the incidence of cancer of the larynx was reported, with an increase in the incidence of oropharyngeal cancer.

This article proposes the Tsallis non-extensive entropy econometric approach to forecast components of the country gross domestic product based on the knowledge of time series macroeconomic aggregates of the past period, plus some sparse and imperfect information of the current period. Non-extensive entropy technique has proved to remain a good modelling device not only in the case of high frequency series, but also in the case of aggregated series. To predict the missing GDP components, we set up a q-generalized Kullback-Leibler information divergence criterion function with a priori consistency, GDP related macroeconomic constraints and regular conditions. The model forecasts are compared to the official Polish GDP components of the corresponding period. The proposed Tsallis entropy approach leads to high predictive performance and shows a stronger estimation stability through different model simulations than the traditional Shannon model. Furthermore, as expected this Tsallis related approach seems to reflect a higher stability through parameter computation and simulation in comparison with the traditional Shannon-Gibbs entropy technique.