Virchow-Robin spaces : an anatomic variant or a pathologic sign?

Virchow-Robin spaces surround blood vessels. Their walls are formed by prolongations of the pia mater and they have no communication with the subarachnoid space. VRS are often seen as well-delineated foci of cerebrospinal fluid signal on MR images. They are often located at the basal ganglia level, aggregating around anterior brain commissure. They are also found in the midbrain, hemisphere white matter and insular cortex. In spite of the fact, that VRS are described in usual radiological practice, there is no uniform definition of the dilated and normal forms of VRS. In this paper, we present the etiology, pathogenetic aspects and current opinions concerning Virchow-Robin spaces, based on the literature data and own clinical cases

Escape Rooms: A New Offer in the Recreation Sector in Poland

Globalization leaves its footprint on the leisure market contributing to the global popularization of brand new forms of recreation. A perfect example of such instant diffusion of innovation on a global scale is the rapid development of escape rooms. The aim of the article is to try and explain the extraordinary popularity of escape rooms in Poland, mainly through an analysis of what they offer. The author presents the origins and development of this particular form of recreation, discusses the location of nearly 600 facilities functioning in 2016, as well as giving a detailed description of escape rooms in the ten large Polish cities. The study leads to the conclusion that the phenomenon of escape rooms stems from, among other things, the fundamental assumptions of the experience economy

Socio-economic transformation of Poland’s largest cities over the years 1998–2008: A multivariate approach

This article seeks to show changes in the socio-economic structure of the thirty largest Polish cities, in topological relations, and in the type of socio-economic differences among them. The research was carried out at three analytical levels: of the unitary variables chosen, principal components, and in a synthetic approach (cluster analysis). To assess structural changes, use was made of comparative statics involving an analysis of the 1998 and 2008 situations. The period analysed was one of dynamic changes in the determinants of the socio-economic development of Polish cities, with four reforms of key significance being introduced, not all of them crowned with success, but also a period marking the start of a decline in demographic dynamics and of suburbanisation processes. It is also treated as a time of transition from a quantitative to a qualitative type of urban development, as indicated by improving services in the sphere of municipal infrastructure. Those processes are connected with the restructuring of the economy, in particular with its distinctly post-industrial orientation, which is especially readily visible in the case of the Upper Silesian Industrial District (a mining and heavy-industry region). The research corroborated the highly specific type of development of the towns of this region as well as the unique position of the Polish capital city. It also showed that the changes which determined the tendencies of transformation of the Polish cities were mainly those in demography, housing situation, level of health care, and level of entrepreneurship

Atmospheric greenhouse gases retrieved from SCIAMACHY: comparison to ground-based FTS measurements and model results

SCIAMACHY onboard ENVISAT (launched in 2002) enables the retrieval of global long-term column-averaged dry air mole fractions of the two most important anthropogenic greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane (denoted XCO_2 and XCH_4). In order to assess the quality of the greenhouse gas data obtained with the recently introduced v2 of the scientific retrieval algorithm WFM-DOAS, we present validations with ground-based Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) measurements and comparisons with model results at eight Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) sites providing realistic error estimates of the satellite data. Such validation is a prerequisite to assess the suitability of data sets for their use in inverse modelling. It is shown that there are generally no significant differences between the carbon dioxide annual increases of SCIAMACHY and the assimilation system CarbonTracker (2.00 ± 0.16 ppm yr^(−1) compared to 1.94 ± 0.03 ppm yr−1 on global average). The XCO_2 seasonal cycle amplitudes derived from SCIAMACHY are typically larger than those from TCCON which are in turn larger than those from CarbonTracker. The absolute values of the northern hemispheric TCCON seasonal cycle amplitudes are closer to SCIAMACHY than to CarbonTracker and the corresponding differences are not significant when compared with SCIAMACHY, whereas they can be significant for a subset of the analysed TCCON sites when compared with CarbonTracker. At Darwin we find discrepancies of the seasonal cycle derived from SCIAMACHY compared to the other data sets which can probably be ascribed to occurrences of undetected thin clouds. Based on the comparison with the reference data, we conclude that the carbon dioxide data set can be characterised by a regional relative precision (mean standard deviation of the differences) of about 2.2 ppm and a relative accuracy (standard deviation of the mean differences) of 1.1–1.2 ppm for monthly average composites within a radius of 500 km. For methane, prior to November 2005, the regional relative precision amounts to 12 ppb and the relative accuracy is about 3 ppb for monthly composite averages within the same radius. The loss of some spectral detector pixels results in a degradation of performance thereafter in the spectral range currently used for the methane column retrieval. This leads to larger scatter and lower XCH_4 values are retrieved in the tropics for the subsequent time period degrading the relative accuracy. As a result, the overall relative precision is estimated to be 17 ppb and the relative accuracy is in the range of about 10–20 ppb for monthly averages within a radius of 500 km. The derived estimates show that the SCIAMACHY XCH_4 data set before November 2005 is suitable for regional source/sink determination and regional-scale flux uncertainty reduction via inverse modelling worldwide. In addition, the XCO2 monthly data potentially provide valuable information in continental regions, where there is sparse sampling by surface flask measurements

Ethno-Religious Heritage of Former Eastern Territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in Contemporary Poland

The main objective of this paper is to present the national and religious heritage of the Eastern Borderlands in contemporary Poland. The paper deals with the genesis and selected aspects of the spatial development of the ethnic and religious minorities (mainly Tartars-Muslims, Karaites and Armenians) that date back to the eastern areas of the former Republic (including the territories of Belarus, Lithuania and Ukraine) but, due to the post-war border changes and migrations, formed clusters in contemporary Poland and organized various forms of group life

Literary Competitions Organised by the Ministry of Culture and Arts in 1949–1950 in the Light of Archive Records

The subject of this paper are these literary competitions organized by Ministry of Culture and Arts in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Analysys of the materials from archivesenabled to tackle the issues: these competitions are one of the many aspect of stalinism offensive. Competitions encouraged writers for moving problems of socialist realism, they enforced artists for submission in accordance with Government of country.In article characterized six competitions. Most curious was “Third competition on mass song”, in which took part important writer Tadeusz Różewicz

Linguistic Equivalence of the Hebrew Term Eden in Slavic Translations of the Bible

The authors study different equivalents of the Hebrew word Eden in selected old and new Slavic translations of the Bible. The equivalents of this lexeme have been excerpted from several Slavic translations of the Bible, which were selected on the basis of diverse criteria. The translations are presented chronologically and old translations are opposed to the new ones. They represent three groups of Slavic languages: West Slavic, East Slavic and South Slavic and are connected with the base of translation, i.e. the original text and/or Greek or Latin text. They can also be classified according to religious denomination and the strategy of the translation.The observation of those equivalents enables us to see not only their variety and mutual influence among translations but also the struggle of Slavic translators with a very difficult language matter. Many factors were important in that struggle: genetic and structural distances between Semitic and Slavic languages, different perceptions of reality in distant cultures, the discrepancy between biblical and Slavonic realities and the influence of religious denomination. Another important factor was the state of biblical knowledge at the time – incomparably poorer in the case of the oldest Slavic translations in comparison to modern ones

Time Dominance in Classification of Dynamic Structure

The idea of time dominance was formulated about twenty years ago and this term means the greater utility value of one „fact" over the other in every moment of strictly defined period of time. The dominance ranking methods are a direct adaptation of the stochastic dominance ranking methods which are used for choice between two statistical distributions. The first application of time dominance was evaluation of investment projects and then - according to the appropriate utility function -selection of one project of the group of others. But there are also other potential fields of application of time dominance methodology - almost all situations where problems of ranking take place. The simplicity and intelligibility of this method is presented through the example of its application to data connected with the sphere of preservation of environment.Koncepcja dominacji czasowej opracowana została w latach osiemdziesiątych jako adaptacja coraz popularniejszej metody dominacji stochastycznych do kontekstu dynamicznego. Pojęcie dominacji czasowej oznacza większą użyteczność jednego zjawiska w porównaniu z innymi w każdym momencie ściśle określonego przedziału czasu. Pierwszym obszarem zastosowania dominacji czasowej była ocena projektów inwestycyjnych wraz ze wskazaniem - w myśl określonego kryterium - projektu najlepszego. Jednakże zastosowanie metodologii dominacji czasowej może mieć miejsce także w wielu innych sytuacjach - praktycznie wszędzie tam, gdzie pojawia się problem wskazania zjawiska rozwijającego się, zgodnie z założoną przez decydenta funkcją użyteczności, "najlepiej" w badanym czasie. Prostotę stosowania oraz czytelność wyników uzyskiwanych w toku badania dominacji czasowych prezentuje przykład zaczerpnięty z dziedziny ochrony środowiska.Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 zostało dofinansowane ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej nauk

The Development of a Net of Parish, Rector, and Auxiliary Churches in the Archdiocese of Białystok in 1945-1989

Ks. Tadeusz KasabułaAs a result of the change of borders after World War II, one tenth of the pre‑war archdiocese of Vilnius – an area of 5,550 square kilometers with 51 parishes, around 100 priests and around 250,000 faithful – was incorporated into the state of Poland. After the arrival of the metropolitan bishop of Vilnius Romuald Jałbrzykowski in Białystok, a temporary administrative unit of apostolic administration was formed under the name of the Archdiocese of Białystok. An immediate effort to expand the network of parishes, restore the damaged churches and build new ones was undertaken. Due to a temporary favor with the authorities, 20 new pastoral centers were organized in the archdiocese of Białystok between 1945 and 1952. During that time, 10 new parishes and 10 auxiliary churches were created. After 1952, the communist government would not grant permits for building churches or creating parishes. Permits were granted exclusively for restoring churches destroyed during the war. Because of that, not a single new parish was created in the Archdiocese of Białystok between 1953 and 1973. However, as many as four independent vicariates were created, able to carry out the pastoral work of a parish, but due to the lack of approval from the government unable to formally enjoy the status of a parish. The number of sacral buildings increased due to the erection of four newly-built auxiliary churches. As a result of that, in 1973 the Archdiocese of Białystok had over 60 parish churches, five independent vicariates and 20 auxiliary churches. Between 1973 and 1979 efforts to improve the relations between the Church and the state were undertaken, which led to a modest liberalization in the state’s restrictive policy on erecting churches. Consequently, between 1973 and 1979 eight new parishes were created in the Archdiocese of Białystok, as well as six new auxiliary chapels. In 1969, the Archdiocese of Białystok had 68 parish churches, three independent vicariates and 21 auxiliary churches. The years between 1980 and 1989 witnessed enormous religious zeal on the part of the faithful and numerous government permits for building new churches and creating new parishes. In 1989, right before the fall of communism, the Archdiocese of Białystok had a total of 99 church structures, including 76 parish churches, five independent vicariates and 18 auxiliary chapels and churches. Altogether, between 1945 and 1989 the Archdiocese of Białystok gained 32 new parishes (including the vicariates), which constituted 40% of all the parish churches in 1989. Additionally, there were numerous auxiliary churches and public chapels. Other church buildings that we have today were built in independent Poland.Uniwersytet w Białymstok