ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS AND THEIR ACCESS TO POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION: EXAMINING THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS AND COLLEGE READINESS THROUGH EDUCATORS’ EXPERIENCES AND PERSPECTIVES

The purpose of this qualitative study was to bring awareness to the issue of English learners (ELs) being unprepared for college and to study the beliefs and perceptions of educators regarding the factors that contribute to the creation of an achievement gap between EL students and traditional students. The study involved an analysis of trends in the perceptions of school counselors, teachers, and administrators regarding EL students being ready to attend college. Data were collected from nine participants from three public high schools in Pinellas County using Zoom and email interviews and then analyzed. Four main themes emerged from the analysis of the data: (a) opportunities, (b) access to higher education, (c) school initiatives, and (d) supporting ELs. Participants expressed similar views regarding EL students being unsupported in school and in the transition from high school to higher education institutions. More professional development and appropriate support are needed to close the academic gap

Misja Janusza Radziwiłła w Londynie (1633)

In February 1633, the twenty-one-year-old Janusz Radziwiłł, son of Krzysztof Radziwiłł, arrived in London as an ambassador of the newly-elected Polish King Władysław IV. The specifics of the mission and the young magnate’s stay in England have not hitherto been well researched. Still, thanks to the analysis of new Polish and English primary sources it is now possible to reconstruct them in detail. This material clearly indicates that the young Radziwiłł’s stay in London was not of only strictly ceremonial nature, but it should be interpreted as a manifestation of the new Polish ruler’s active approach to foreign policy, as well as of the importance of the Radziwiłł family in the international arena.W lutym 1633 r. dwudziestojednoletni Janusz Radziwiłł, syn księcia Krzysztofa Radziwiłła, przybył do Londynu z misją dyplomatyczną zleconą mu przez nowego polskiego władcę Władysława IV. Jej przebieg oraz pozostałe szczegóły pobytu młodego magnata w Anglii nie były dotychczas zbyt dobrze znane. Dzięki analizie nowych polskich i angielskich źródeł jest jednak możliwe ich szczegółowe odtworzenie, a zebrany materiał jednoznacznie wskazuje, że pobyt młodego Radziwiłła w Londynie miał nie tylko stricte ceremonialny charakter i powinien być interpretowany jako jeden z przejawów aktywizacji polityki zagranicznej przez nowego monarchę oraz znaczenia rodu Radziwiłłów na arenie międzynarodowej

Ethical problems of palliative care in the period of its evolutionary transformation

Our long-time experience in palliative care allowed us to notice changes in ethics of palliative medicine. In the handbook of palliative medicine, its authors R.G.Twycross and D.Frampton in 1995 did formulate the following ethical postulate: respect for life, acceptance of death of a patient as an unavoidable event, respect for a patient as a person, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice. In addition, they stressed prohibition of euthanasia as a rule. Nine years later, however, in the Oxford handbook of palliative care, its authors: M.S.Watson, C.T.Lukas, M.A.Hoy and J.N.Back described their ethical basis, which were slightly different but quite similar to those of T.L.Beauchamp and J.F.Childers: autonomy of a patient, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice and the trust. Their set of principles may induce controversy because of unlimited patient's autonomy and absence of physician's autonomy. Further, it may permit euthanasia, which is excluded by palliative medicine

Physicochemical and bilogical characterization of soils from the vicinity of the Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station

Soil samples collected in 2006 from 4 different sites (Puchalski Hill and a moraine below this hill, an elephant seal colony and a penguin rookery) in the vicinity of Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station at King George Island were characterized in terms of physicochemical properties (pH, humidity, concentration of selected inorganic and organic substances), microbial colonization and the overall activity of selected enzymes (differentglycosidases and esterases). Activity of the latter enzymes was assayed by p-nitrophenyl and 4-methylumbelliferone derivatives of fatty acids (by spectrophotometric and fluorimetric method, respectively). The highest lipolytic activity was found in soils from the elephant seal colony and penguin rookery

Ethical aspect of quality of life of palliative care patients

In the paper, we attempt a semantic analysis of patient quality of life, which plays an important role in evaluating the patient’s condition and health. The issue seems to be the most important in palliative-hospice care, where doctors work with seriously or terminally ill patients. One of the aims of this branch of medicine is to improve quality of life. This may be achieved, among others, by recognizing the current problems the patient is facing pertaining to family and social relations, beliefs, views or religion. Moreover, by monitoring the behavior of patients and symptoms of their illnesses, the best therapy methods may be selected. Patient quality of life assessment may also enable comparing health care units of the same specialization and be used for the selection of the best standards of care. When discussing the broader meaning of "quality of life", we caution against equating quality of life with the value of life. The main arguments are as follows: subjective character of evaluation of quality of life and, in the future, the possibility of postulates for shortening life of poor quality of life patients when funds for their treatment are insufficient. When accepting quality of life as equal to the value of life, it may result in eliminating unprotected and helpless patients and allowing only the strong to live. Later, this may result in the discrimination of seriously and terminally ill people, even those who do not wish to shorten their lives despite experiencing burdensome symptoms and being aware of the incurable nature of their illness