Filaggrin Gene Defects Are Independent Risk Factors for Atopic Asthma in a Polish Population: A Study in ECAP Cohort

BACKGROUND: FLG null variants of which 2282del4 and R501X are the most frequent in Caucasians are established risk factors for atopic dermatitis (AD) with an effect probably mediated through impairment of epidermal barrier. Among subjects with AD FLG defects are also consistently associated with asthma and allergic rhinitis (AR) but it is less clear to what extent these associations are also present independently from skin disease. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of 2282del4 and R501X in predisposing to these allergic phenotypes in a Polish population. METHODOLOGY: 2282del4 and R501X were typed among 3,802 participants of the Epidemiology of Allergic Diseases in Poland (ECAP) survey, a cross-sectional population-based study using ECRHS II and ISAAC questionnaires, and ambulatory examination. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The FLG null variants were associated with AD (OR = 2.01, CI: 1.20-3.36, P = 0.007), allergic rhinitis (in particular persistent form, OR = 1.69, CI:1.12-2.54, P = 0.011), and asthma (in particular atopic asthma, OR = 2.22, CI:1.24-3.96, P = 0.006). Association with atopic asthma (but not persistent allergic rhinitis) was also present in the absence of AD, (OR = 2.02, CI: 1.07-3.81, P = 0.027) as well as in the absence of AD and history of broadly defined inflammatory skin disease (OR = 2.30, CI: 1.07-4.93, P = 0.03). Association to atopic asthma would have not been found if diagnosis was made by questionnaire only (OR = 1.15, CI: 0.58-2.32, P = 0.8). We did not observe an association between FLG variants and allergic sensitizations (P = 0.8) or total IgE. (P = 0.6). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In a Polish population FLG 2282del4 and R501X carriage increases risk for development of AD and atopic asthma (also in the absence of AD or history thereof). This suggests that interventions aimed at restoring epidermal barrier may have a general role in asthma prophylaxis/treatment

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Księga poświęcona Profesorowi Hieronimowi Kubiakowi w 75. rocznicę urodzin. Tom ofiarowany przez przyjaciół i uczniów

Citizenship Norms in Eastern Europe

Research on Eastern Europe stresses the weakness of its civil society and the lack of political and social involvement, neglecting the question: What do people themselves think it means to be a good citizen? This study looks at citizens’ definitions of good citizenship in Poland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary, using 2002 European Social Survey data. We investigate mean levels of civic mindedness in these countries and perform regression analyses to investigate whether factors traditionally associated with civic and political participation are also correlated with citizenship norms across Eastern Europe. We show that mean levels of civic mindedness differ significantly across the four Eastern European countries. We find some support for theories on civic and political participation when explaining norms of citizenship, but also demonstrate that individual-level characteristics are differently related to citizenship norms across the countries of our study. Hence, our findings show that Eastern Europe is not a monolithic and homogeneous bloc, underscoring the importance of taking the specificities of countries into account

CITIZEN OF THE TRANSITION - UNFULFILLED EXPECTATIONS

The paper presents the formation process of democratic citizenship in Poland after 1989. Although the author looks at citizenship as a multi-dimensional phenomenon, the focus is put on the electoral behaviour of citizens, as it is believed to be the fundamental factor to the consolidation of democracy. Poland is an example of a state with a considerable tension, or incompatibility, between the legislative assumptions expected from citizens living in a democratic system and their actual civic practices. The election turn-out is generally low, Poles seem to have no specific political preferences and their civil rights awareness is generally poor. Only one in three adult citizens follows the basic standards of democratic citizenship while not more than 20% may be called “high-quality” citizens. Problems with citizenship do not result from a poor institutional design of democracy in Poland, or any particular difficulty encountered in its implementation. What seems to have been the case is that at the initial stage of transformation the existing electoral rules hampered the establishment of a stable party-based system. The fundamental modifications of these rules in 1993 confirmed that electoral volatility was the core factor of political instability. However, the author sees the establishment of democratic citizenship as a long-term process and is o f an opinion that despite the deficiencies currently being observed in civic practices o f the young democracy, there is no immediate or direct threat to Poland’s democracy

The State and the People: Relations Old and New

This article strives to assess the condition of the contemporary state. The author thinks that the contemporary state is more powerful than ever in history and that this power is strongly rooted in the wants of its citizens. The recent global economic crisis has legitimized the state even further. Although the contemporary state is increasingly polycentric and its structures are less and less hierarchic and transparent, the identity and integration of the political system are not in danger. The state’s immense power is a serious threat to its citizens and to democracy. The processes of nationalization of societies are stronger than the processes of socialization of states. Hence one of the (widely understood) key problems of theWest is how to preserve citizen autonomy. This autonomy is being increasingly threatened by various state agencies and the welfare state’s typical clientism, which try to control each and every citizen. The usual response to this danger is to call for limitation of the state’s role, for a minimal state, etc. This author thinks that such postulates are unrealistic, because citizens want the state to be a welfare state and because such a state is functional for democracy. The best response to the threat to individual autonomy and to democracy is the republican response: only the politically mobilized people can maintain an elementary level of state socialization and an essential degree of state segmentation, both of which create the necessary space for individual freedom

The State and the Citizen

Podstawowa teza artykułu brzmi: państwo współczesne jest potężne jak nigdy w historii. Ta potęga wyrasta ze znacznych oczekiwań obywateli co do ilości i jakości dóbr dostarczanych przez państwo. Państwa, niezależnie od licznych trudności, te wysokie oczekiwania spełniają. Szczególną siłę państwo ukazało w początkach ekonomicznego kryzysu, który wybuchł w 2008 r. Potęga państwa nie współwystępuje z aktywnym obywatelstwem i nie towarzyszy jej rozwinięta infrastruktura społeczeństwa obywatelskiego. Autor eksponuje dualistyczny charakter społeczeństwa obywatelskiego, gdyż obywatele stowarzyszają się w istotnie odmiennych celach: a) aby wywierać wpływ na państwo i w ten sposób uzyskiwać także indywidualne korzyści; b) aby samodzielnie realizować swoje potrzeby w obrębie stowarzyszeń. W Polsce obserwujemy istotne deficyty w wymiarze zarówno indywidualnego obywatelstwa, jak i społeczeństwa obywatelskiego w obu formach.The main point of the article is that the contemporary state is more powerful than ever in history, and that it derives its strength from its citizens' high expectations regarding the quantity and quality of goods it provides. Despite many difficulties, states satisfy the needs of their citizens - it was particularly evident at the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008. However, the strength of the state is not balanced by active citizenship or a well developed civil society. The author exposes a twofold character of civil society whose citizens associate for fundamentally different reasons: a) to have an influence on the state's actions and therefore to ensure its decisions are beneficial for them, b) to fulfill their own needs through the association. In Poland, we can observe a serious deficit of citizenship both on an individual level and on the level of civil society in both its forms

Zygmunt Bauman: An outline of an intellectual biography

The article is devoted to the late Zygmunt Bauman (d. January 2017), a scholar who made an enormous impact on world humanities at the turn of the twentieth century. It briefly presents Bauman’s life and a number of the best known concepts from his works. The author first discusses Bauman’s attitude toward Marxist theory and explains his revision of it. He then introduces the main ideas of Bauman work Modernity and the Holocaust. The article ends with a review of Bauman’s reflections on globalisation and a discussion of his thesis concerning the crisis of the nation state