On the context-free ambiguity of emoji

Due to their pictographic nature, emojis come with baked-in, grounded semantics. Although this makes emojis promising candidates for new forms of more accessible communication, it is still unknown to what degree humans agree on the inherent meaning of emojis when encountering them outside of concrete textual contexts. To bridge this gap, we collected a crowdsourced dataset (made publicly available) of one-word descriptions for 1,289 emojis presented to participants with no surrounding text. The emojis and their interpretations were then examined for ambiguity. We find that, with 30 annotations per emoji, 16 emojis (1.2%) are completely unambiguous, whereas 55 emojis (4.3%) are so ambiguous that the variation in their descriptions is as high as that in randomly chosen descriptions. Most emojis lie between these two extremes. Furthermore, investigating the ambiguity of different types of emojis, we find that emojis representing symbols from established, yet not cross-culturally familiar code books (e.g., zodiac signs, Chinese characters) are most ambiguous. We conclude by discussing design implications

Neurological symptoms in hospitalised patients with COVID-19 and their association with in-hospital mortality

Objectives. To evaluate the spectrum of neurological symptoms in patients with COVID-19 during the first 14 days of hospitalisation and its association with in-hospital mortality. Material and methods. We included 200 patients with RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 admitted to University Hospital in Krakow, Poland. In 164 patients, a detailed questionnaire concerning neurological symptoms and signs was performed prospectively within 14 days of hospitalisation. In the remaining 36 patients, such questionnaires were completed retrospectively based on daily observations in the Department of Neurology. Results. During hospitalisation, 169 patients (84.5%) experienced neurological symptoms; the most common were: fatigue (62.5%), decreased mood (45.5%), myalgia (43.5%), and muscle weakness (42.5%). Patients who died during hospitalisation compared to the remainder were older (79 [70.5–88.5] vs. 63.5 [51–77] years, p = 0.001), and more often had decreased level of consciousness (50.0% vs. 9.3%, p < 0.001), delirium (33.3% vs. 4.4%, p < 0.001), arterial hypotension (50.0% vs. 19.6%, p = 0.005) or stroke during (18.8% vs. 3.3%, p = 0.026) or before hospitalisation (50.0% vs. 7.1, p < 0.001), whereas those who survived more often suffered from headache (42.1% vs. 0%, p = 0.012) or decreased mood (51.7% vs. 0%, p = 0.003). Conclusions. Most hospitalised patients with COVID-19 experience neurological symptoms. Decreased level of consciousness, delirium, arterial hypotension, and stroke during or before hospitalisation increase the risk of in-hospital mortality

Czy siły zbrojne potrzebują związków zawodowych? Perspektywa standardów europejskich i konstytucyjnych w zakresie wolności zrzeszania się

The article aims to discuss the European standards concerning the freedom of association of armed forces personnel. Relevant norms in this regard result from human rights treaty law but also from soft-law elaborated within the Council of Europe. The authors juxtapose the existing standards with the scope of the freedom of association provided in Polish Constitution of 1997 and relevant domestic law. They ask whether the armed forces personnel need to form and join trade unions to secure their rights or perhaps the existing forms of exercising the freedom of association are satisfactory? The authors conclude that the current legal solutions in Poland meet the European and constitutional standards, and allow the Polish Armed Forces to observe neutrality regarding political matters. Nevertheless, the prohibition to form and join trade unions in Polish armed forces is of statutory rather than constitutional origin.W artykule omówiono standardy europejskie dotyczące wolności zrzeszania się przez personel sił zbrojnych. Normy w tym zakresie wynikają z prawa traktatowego dotyczącego praw człowieka, lecz także z aktów soft-law, opracowanych w ramach Rady Europy. Autorzy zestawiają istniejące standardy z zakresem ochrony wolności zrzeszania się na podstawie polskiej Konstytucji z 1997 r. i właściwych przepisów prawa krajowego. Autorzy stawiają pytanie, czy personel sił zbrojnych potrzebuje tworzyć związki zawodowe i przystępować do nich, aby zabezpieczyć swoje prawa, czy też istniejące formy wykonywania wolności zrzeszania się są wystarczające? Autorzy konkludują, że obecne rozwiązania prawne w Polsce co do zasady spełniają standardy europejskie i konstytucyjne oraz pozwalają Siłom Zbrojnym RP na przestrzeganie neutralności w sprawach politycznych. Skądinąd zakaz tworzenia i przystępowania do związków zawodowych w Siłach Zbrojnych RP nie został umocowany w Konstytucji RP, lecz na poziomie ustawowym

Suspected Miscarriage in the Experience of Emergency Medical Services Teams—Preliminary Study

Vaginal bleeding and abdominal pain are symptoms indicative of a threat to pregnancy that prompt women to seek assistance from health care professionals. The purpose of the study was to present the characteristics of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) team interventions in cases of suspected miscarriage. The study involved a retrospective analysis of EMS team interventions in cases of suspected miscarriage carried out between January 2018 and December 2019 in Poland. Data obtained from Poland’s National Monitoring Center of Emergency Medical Services included emergency medical procedure records and EMS team dispatch records in electronic format. The mean patient age was 30.53 years. Most were primiparous (48.90%) and up to the 13th gestational week (76.65%). The most commonly reported symptom was vaginal bleeding (80.71%). EMS teams were most commonly dispatched in the winter (27.03%), between 7 A.M. and 6:59 P.M. (51.87%), in urban areas (69.23%), with urgency code 2 (55.60%), and in most cases, they transferred the patient to a hospital (97.53%). The present study addresses very important issues concerning the characteristics of Polish suspected miscarriage cases handled by different EMS team types, in different locations (urban vs. rural areas), and concerning patients in a different obstetric situation (gestational week, gravidity, parity). Our findings suggest a need for further studies in this field and for gestational health promotion activities to be implemented, specifically including actions to reduce the risk of vaginal bleeding during pregnancy

Epidemiological evaluation of paediatric psoriasis patients at the Dermatology Department

Introduction: Psoriasis is a chronic autoinflammatory disease, which mostly affects skin and joints. Patients with psoriasis are at risk of developing comorbidities such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases or mental disorders. It is reported that even one-third of the total psoriatic cases may have skin symptoms in childhood.  Material and methods: The study aimed to perform a retrospective analysis of paediatric patients with psoriasis admitted to the dermatological department between 2018 and 2020. Patients’ data were analysed for age, gender, medical diagnosis (ICD-10) including subtypes of psoriasis, treatment, the clinical course of the disease and results of the diagnostic tests including cholesterol fractions and blood glucose level.  Results: In the years 2018–2020 73 children were admitted to the dermatological department. The number of female patients 47 (64.38%) significantly dominated over the number of male patients 26 (35.62%). Almost 95% of them were diagnosed with psoriasis vulgaris. Only 3 cases (4.11%) of generalized pustular psoriasis and 1 case (1.37%) of psoriatic arthritis were reported. Almost 20% of children had a positive family history of psoriasis. Readmission to the ward was required in 35.62% of the cases. 23.4% of patients presented abnormality in lipid profile. 15% had various comorbidities.  Conclusions: Better understanding of psoriasis and its management from an early age, may improve the quality of life of psoriasis patients and prevent them from developing serious comorbidities in the future.Introduction: Psoriasis is a chronic autoinflammatory disease, which mostly affects skin and joints. Patients with psoriasis are at risk of developing comorbidities such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases or mental disorders. It is reported that even one-third of the total psoriatic cases may have skin symptoms in childhood.  Material and methods: The study aimed to perform a retrospective analysis of paediatric patients with psoriasis admitted to the dermatological department between 2018 and 2020. Patients’ data were analysed for age, gender, medical diagnosis (ICD-10) including subtypes of psoriasis, treatment, the clinical course of the disease and results of the diagnostic tests including cholesterol fractions and blood glucose level.  Results: In the years 2018–2020 73 children were admitted to the dermatological department. The number of female patients 47 (64.38%) significantly dominated over the number of male patients 26 (35.62%). Almost 95% of them were diagnosed with psoriasis vulgaris. Only 3 cases (4.11%) of generalized pustular psoriasis and 1 case (1.37%) of psoriatic arthritis were reported. Almost 20% of children had a positive family history of psoriasis. Readmission to the ward was required in 35.62% of the cases. 23.4% of patients presented abnormality in lipid profile. 15% had various comorbidities.  Conclusions: Better understanding of psoriasis and its management from an early age, may improve the quality of life of psoriasis patients and prevent them from developing serious comorbidities in the future

Insight into <i>Trichinella britovi</i> Infection in Pigs: Effect of Various Infectious Doses on Larvae Density and Spatial Larvae Distribution in Carcasses and Comparison of the Detection of Anti-<i>T. britovi</i> IgG of Three Different Commercial ELISA Tests and Immunoblot Assay

There is limited information available on the Trichinella britovi (T. britovi) muscle larvae (ML) distribution in pig muscle and the humoral immune response of pigs infected with moderate doses of this parasite; therefore, this study investigated the infectivity of a Polish strain of T. britovi for pigs, the antibody response of this host to various doses of T. britovi, and the efficiency of three different commercial ELISA kits and an immunoblot assay at detecting anti-T. britovi IgG. No significant differences in terms of the infection level of particular muscles or of whole carcasses between pigs infected with 3000 and those infected with 5000 ML of T. britovi were observed. The highest intensity of T. britovi infection was reported in the diaphragm pillars. The larvae of T. britovi showed homogeneous distribution with respect to the muscle side. Statistically, specific IgG antibodies against excretory–secretory (ES) antigens of Trichinella ML were first detected by all ELISA protocols on day 36 post infection; however, individual pig results showed some differences between the three tests applied. A significant increase in the level of anti-T. britovi IgG was observed between days 36 and 41 post infection, and from day 45 until day 62 after T. britovi infection, production of these antibodies reached its plateau phase. No positive correlation was found between the anti-T. britovi IgG level and the larvae density in 15 different muscles. Sera of T. britovi-infected pigs showed reactivity with T. britovi ML ES antigens of 62, 55, and 52 kDa. The results provide novel information on spatial larvae distribution in muscles and the humoral immune response of pigs exposed to two different doses of a Polish strain of T. britovi, extend knowledge on serological diagnostic tools which may be introduced in veterinary practice for the detection of T. britovi infections in pig production, and offer practical solutions for meat hygiene inspectors in the field at sampling sites when examining pig carcasses for Trichinella