Organization of plant cover conservation in floristic reserves

In Poland, there are 115 floristic reserves, the task of which is to protect natural habitats of the rarest species belonging to the native flora. The authoress discusses the types of these reserves, more important species being an object of protection within reserves, experience and failures in conservation attempts, and puts forward propositions concerning improvements in organization of conservation activities.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 naukę

I don't want to miss a thing : learning dynamics and effects of feedback type and monetary incentive in a paired associate deterministic learning task

Effective functioning in a complex environment requires adjusting of behavior according to changing situational demands. To do so, organisms must learn new, more adaptive behaviors by extracting the necessary information from externally provided feedback. Not surprisingly, feedback-guided learning has been extensively studied using multiple research paradigms. The purpose of the present study was to test the newly designed Paired Associate Deterministic Learning task (PADL), in which participants were presented with either positive or negative deterministic feedback. Moreover, we manipulated the level of motivation in the learning process by comparing blocks with strictly cognitive, informative feedback to blocks where participants were additionally motivated by anticipated monetary reward or loss. Our results proved the PADL to be a useful tool not only for studying the learning process in a deterministic environment, but also, due to the varying task conditions, for assessing differences in learning patterns. Particularly, we show that the learning process itself is influenced by manipulating both the type of feedback information and the motivational significance associated with the expected monetary reward

Psychophysiological characteristics of burnout syndrome : resting-state EEG analysis

Introduction. The consequences of chronic work-related stress are related to various emotional, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms. Occupational burnout as a complex syndrome is characterized by exhaustion, cynicism, and lower professional efficacy. Moreover, the growing amount of research on the neural correlates of burnout broadens the existing knowledge on the mechanisms underlying this syndrome. Aim of the Study. The aim of the study is to explore possible differences in brain activity between burnout and nonburnout employees. Frequency-specific EEG power analyses in a resting-state condition in burnout subjects and controls are presented. Materials and Methods. Burnout employees (N=46; 19 men) were matched with the control group (N=49; 19 men; mean age: 36.14 years, SD=7.89). The Maslach Burnout Inventory–General Survey (MBI-GS) and the Areas of Worklife Survey (AWS) scale were used to measure burnout symptoms and work conditions, respectively. A 256-channel EEG (EGI System 300) was used to collect psychophysiological data. A repeated measures ANOVA was performed with condition (eyes-open vs. eyes-closed) and region (6 levels: extracted scalp regions) factors; burnout (2 levels: burnout vs. no burnout) was the grouping factor. Results. A significant difference was observed only in the alpha frequency band: the burnout group revealed significantly lower alpha power in the eyes-open condition compared to the controls (p<0.05). The correlation analysis revealed that gender may significantly change the pattern of relations between EEG spectral characteristics and burnout symptoms. Conclusions. Reduced alpha power in burnout individuals suggests cortical hyperactivity and may be related to greater mental effort and the possible development of compensatory mechanisms by burnout subjects

Quantified Bodies – A Design Practice

Self-trackers are a diffuse and diverse group that quantify their lives. From the ordinary to the extraordinary, intimate and vital happenings that occur on (infra)-empirical planes are cast as legible events. Blood pressure, heartbeat rate, testosterone levels, posture, diet, muscle tension, social activity, geographical position. These are now happenings to be intervened upon and rendered as units of measurement and comparable variables. These measurements may give insight to help rebuild a re-cognition of oneself (Catani 2015), or allow a brooding recall of lost moments (Kalina 2012) – this is the manifest quantified body, a body read and a body written. Yet the quantified body is a veneer, it is the outward appearance of control, awareness and care-for-self: we were cynical subjects (Sloterdijk 1987) long before we were quantified bodies. However, self-tracking intrinsically disassociates from the ubiquitous cynical condition. The cynical self-tracker gropes for independence whilst submitting to a life of mediated self-discovery, it is a renunciation of independent vitality so as to act “as if”, to appear to be whilst never being – to fall short of realising difference. It is argued here that the quantified body allocates us all to be designers – reading and writing in culture. And as such, our actions must be critiqued as a symptom of a design practice, where the condition of subjectivity is at the forefront of value-making in taste, style and fashion. How does the cynic self-track? What is the value of design in the field of new media and digital culture

Casanova Federico Felliniego – w kierunku „kina totalnego”

The aim of the paper is to define the content of what Fellini called “cinema totale” (total cinema), the latest stageof the research of the Italian cinematographer, which has been achieved – as one can presume – with the movie Il Casanova di Federico FelliniContrariamente alle aspettative, sia dei giornalisti, sia del produttore, sia dello stesso regista, di tutti i film di Fellini Il Casanova è stato invece quello che “con il pubblico ha avuto l’impatto più difficile”. E forse proprio per questo, perché è stato “vittima di un malinteso così generale, e spesso così agressivo” (Fellini 2015: 176) Fellini l’ha valutato il suo film “più bello, il più lucido, il più rigoroso, il più stilisticamente compiuto” (Ibidem: 178). Un film con il quale credeva di essere riuscito ad arrivare molto vicino all’idea del cinema “totale”, a giungere “una buona volta” all’essenza del cinema e “fare di una pellicola un quadro” (Angelucci, Betti 1977: 73).Celem artykułu jest próba zdefiniowania pojęcia „kina totalnego”, którym Fellini posługiwał się w ostatnimokresie twórczości i do którego - jak się wydaje - najbardziej zbliżył się w filmie Casanova