Humor appreciation in 10-year-olds: the influence of affective disposition towards cartoon protagonists and their status in dominance hierarchy

Badanie miało charakter eksploracyjny. Jego celem było sprawdzenie przewidywań dyspozycyjnej teorii humoru. W badaniu wzięło udział 34 uczniów klasy IV szkoły podstawowej. Składało się ono z dwóch etapów. W pierwszej fazie przeprowadzono badanie socjometryczne w celu ustalenia relacji sympatii i antypatii między poszczególnymi członkami grupy. W fazie drugiej badanym prezentowano zestaw dowcipów, z których połowa przedstawiała dziecko poniżające dorosłego, a połowa dorosłego poniżającego dziecko. W jednej grupie badanych dziecko występujące w dowcipie utożsamiano z łubianym, a w drugiej - z nie łubianym kolegą osoby badanej. Następnie dzieci były proszone o ocenę zabawności dowcipu. Za najbardziej zabawną badani uznali sytuację, w której dorosły poniżał dziecko łubiane. Mniej zabawne w ich ocenie były sytuacje, gdy dziecko łubiane poniżało dorosłego, dalej - gdy dziecko nielubiane poniżało dorosłego. Najmniej zabawna okazała się sytuacja, gdy dorosły poniżał dziecko nielubiane. Ponadto dowcipy, w których występowały dzieci łubiane, były oceniane jako znacząco bardziej zabawne, niż dowcipy, których bohaterami były dzieci nielubiane, niezależnie od tego czy były one ofiarami czy prześladowcami

Does information asymmetry influence cash holding in the most liquid public companies in Poland?

Purpose: This paper analyses the relationship between information asymmetry and the cash hoarded by companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE). Methodology/approach: We applied the Ordinary Least Squares approach to cross-sectional data of the 212 most liquid public companies for which data on bid-ask spread was available.Findings: We show that companies with greater information asymmetry hold more cash, confirming the investment opportunities hypothesis. The average bid-ask spread negatively impacts cash reserves, no matter the character of discretionary accruals. Net working capital and cash flow to non-cash asset ratios positively affect cash holdings, in contrast to the debt ratio. The results show that the costs of monitoring managers are lower than information asymmetry costs in Poland and suggest that holding more cash is more beneficial than going into debt. The default risk or the threat of borrowing costs rising in turbulent times is worse than a loss due to keeping cash. Research limitations/implications: Research limitations concern cross-sectional data only for one year – 2017.Originality/value: Our paper is the first study of the relationship between information asymmetry and cash holdings for the transition economy. The novelty of our research is also the use of a different approach to measure information asymmetry in the Polish capital market

Recursion as a common ground of mental, communicative, and linguistic processes

Od kilkunastu lat na łamach zagranicznych czasopism toczy się debata wokół rekursywności ludzkich procesów umysłowych. Jej inicjator i główny propagator terminu "rekursja" (recursion) to Noam Chomsky. Ogranicza on jej występowanie do płaszczyzny ludzkiego języka i przypisuje cechę rekursywności (recursive property) składni tzw. języka umysłu. Wywołało to mocny sprzeciw badaczy upatrujących przejawów rekursji także na innych płaszczyznach ludzkiego funkcjonowania, jak komunikacja, teoria umysłu, składnia dopełnieniowa czy pragmatyka. Tekst przedstawia argumenty przemawiające za możliwością rozpatrywania rekursji jako mechanizmu wspólnego wszystkim wspomnianym płaszczyznom, pod warunkiem przyjęcia rozwojowej perspektywy, uwzględniającej dynamikę i sekwencyjność zachodzących w nich procesów i zmian.For nearly twenty years there has been an ongoing debate in international journals concerning the recursiveness of human mental processes. The main instigator of the debate and at the same time the main exponent of the term "recursion" is Noam Chomsky. According to him, recursion is an exclusive property of the syntax of the so-called "internal language of mind" (I-language). This conclusion has been contested by researchers claiming that recursion can also be observed in: communication, theory of mind, the syntax of complementation, or pragmatics. The article presents some arguments in favor of understanding recursion as a common ground of all the above phenomena as long as they are analyzed from a developmental perspective, with the dynamics and sequentiality of the constantly occurring processes and changes taken into accoun

Enrichment of maternal diet with conjugated linoleic acids influences desaturases activity and fatty acids profile in livers and hepatic microsomes of the offspring with 7,12-dimethylbenz[a] antracene- induces mammary tumors

The aim of this study was to assess the influence of diet supplementation of pregnant and breastfeeding female Sprague-Dawley rats with conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) on the Δ6- and Δ5-desaturase activity in hepatic microsomes as well as on fatty acids profile and lipids peroxidation in liver and hepatic microsomes of the progeny with chemically induced mammary tumors. Rats were divided into two groups with different diet supplementation (vegetable oil (which did not contain CLA) or CLA). Their female offspring was divided within these groups into two subgroups: (1) ñ fed the same diet as mothers (K1 ñ oil, O1 ñ CLA), and (2) ñ fed the standard fodder (K2, O2). At 50th day of life, the progeny obtained carcinogenic agent (7,12- dimethylbenz[a]anthracene). Higher supply of CLA in diet of mothers resulted in lower susceptibility to chemically induced mammary tumors in their offspring (p = 0.0322). It also influenced the fatty acids profile in livers and in hepatic microsomes, especially polyunsaturated n3 and n6 fatty acids. CLA inhibited the activity of the desaturases, which confirmed that CLA can reduce the level of arachidonic acid directly, reducing linoleic acid content in membranes, or indirectly, through the regulation of its metabolism. We were unable to confirm or deny the antioxidative properties of CLA. Our results indicate that the higher supply of CLA in mothersí diet during pregnancy and breastfeeding causes their incorporation into tissues of children, changes the efficiency of fatty acids metabolism and exerts health-promoting effect in their adult life reducing the breast cancer risk

The importance of CAD and DECT in CT colonography

IntroductionAccording to the American College of Radiology and the American Cancer Society, CTC has been recognized as a valuable screening method for detecting CRC in people at medium risk as an alternative to endoscopic colonoscopy. The condition for the proper interpretation of this procedure is the patient’s preparation for the examination. The evaluation of the test includes: topogram, transverse images (as reference images), multifaceted reconstructions and three-dimensional images (3D navigator). Materials and methods                            The literature on the use of CTC in the diagnosis of CRC was analyzed. A review of the scientific literature indexed in the PUBMED database from the last 10 years was carried out. Results The introduction of dual energy computed tomography (DECT) clearly improved the diagnostic accuracy of CTC. The main advantage of DECT is the possibility of obtaining iodine maps and VNC (virtual non-contrast) – a ’’virtual’’ native image (without the use of contrast). DECT allows you to monitor the results and extent of iodine capture on VNC and iodine map images, respectively, without using pre-recorded tomographic images. Pilot tests showed that DECT is an effective tool in CT colonography diagnostics and electronic colon loop cleaning after barium labeling. The use of the Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD) algorithm in high energy tomography helps in the diagnosis and detection of intestinal tumors. ConclusionsThe development of modern technologies used in CT colonography proves that it is a safe and acceptable technique for patients. Lack of invasiveness, low radiation dose and high diagnostic efficiency of CTC may encourage more people to undergo colorectal cancer screening in the future

Comparative study of virulence potential, phylogenetic origin, CRISPR-Cas regions and drug resistance of Escherichia coli isolates from urine and other clinical materials

IntroductionUrinary tract infections (UTI), among which the main etiological factor is uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC, E. coli), remain an important issue for clinicians. The aim of the study was to demonstrate clear differences in the pathogenic properties of urine-derived E. coli compared to other extraintestinal E. coli clinical isolates (derived from: blood, lower respiratory tracts, sputum, reproductive tract, body fluids, perianal pus, other pus, wound, postoperative wound and other sources).MethodsThe collection of 784 E. coli isolates was collected from various materials of hospitalized patients. They were analyzed in terms of virulence-associated genes (papC, sfaD/sfaE, cnf1, usp., fimG/H, hlyA), belonging to phylogenetic groups and the presence of CRISPR-Cas regions using PCR. In addition, the epidemiological data and the antibiotic resistance profiles provided by the hospital’s microbiology department were included for statistical analyses.ResultsUrine-derived E. coli showed significantly greater virulence potential compared to other isolates, but they were generally unremarkable in terms of drug resistance. The isolates most often belonged to phylogenetic group B2. Drug resistance was negatively correlated with CRISPR 2 presence and high average virulence score, but positively correlated with CRISPR 4 presence. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to report significant differences in sputum-derived isolates—they revealed the lowest virulence potential and, at the same time, the highest drug resistance.DiscussionIn conclusion, we demonstrated significant differences of urinary-derived E. coli compared to other clinical E. coli isolates. We would like to suggest excluding penicillins from use in E. coli infection at this time and monitoring strains with a high pathogenicity potential

Abiotic Determinants of the Historical Buildings Biodeterioration in the Former Auschwitz II – Birkenau Concentration and Extermination Camp

The paper presents the results of a study conducted at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświecim on the occurrence of biodeterioration. Visual assessment of the buildings revealed signs of deterioration of the buildings in the form of dampness, bulging and crumbling plaster, and wood fiber splitting. The external surfaces, and especially the concrete strips and ground immediately adjoining the buildings, were colonized by bryophytes, lichens, and algae. These organisms developed most intensively close to the ground on the northern sides of the buildings. Inside the buildings, molds and bacteria were not found to develop actively, while algae and wood-decaying fungi occurred locally. The factors conducive to biological corrosion in the studied buildings were excessive dampness of structural partitions close to the ground and a relative air humidity of above 70%, which was connected to ineffective moisture insulation. The influence of temperature was smaller, as it mostly affected the quantitative composition of the microorganisms and the qualitative composition of the algae. Also the impact of light was not very strong, but it was conducive to algae growth