Desakralizacja folkloru − jej przejawy muzyczne i kulturowe

The religious dimension of traditional culture – crucial to the understanding of the rituals which form a commentary on the cycle of the life of nature (annual rituals) and the life of humankind (family rituals) – is of particular importance, but it is also difficult to research. The ethnologists who documented folklore were sensitive to this aspect of culture (i.e. the suprasensory life) even as early as the eighteenth century, but they did not know how to document it correctly, and imposed their own ideas – e.g., deistic ones – on the mentality and the imagination of the rustic population as revealed in their art. Incomplete (i.e., concerned with selected aspects of culture and art) and not very accurate documentation (searching for folklore’s original versions, e.g., the brothers Grimm) resulted in the creation of standards of fairytales or songs which make reading their content and interpreting their form correctly more difficult today. Yet in folklore the content, the form and the function were organically bound together. This rather inadequate documentation encouraged erroneous interpretations, and even the mythologising of folklore in later periods, Documentation was shaped to fit in with the assumptions and ideas of the researchers, thus falsifying, in particular, the unique character of folk symbolism and poetics, the distinctiveness of folk thinking. In fact, it was not until the nineteenth century that Oskar Kolberg created reasonably full and reliable documentation of folk art – viewed in the context of traditional culture and nature – in his monumental work Lud, jego zwyczaje, sposób życia, mowa, podania, przysłowia, obrzędy, gusła, zabawy, pieśni, muzyka i tańce [People, their customs, way of life, speech, legends, proverbs, rituals, magic, games, songs, music and dances] (1856–1890 – 33 volumes). Ritual folklore, still quite active at that time, reveals both the multifunctionality of forms (associated with the musical and poetic styles), as well as the hierarchical order of functions and values – from the religious, through ethical, aesthetic, cognitive and socialising ones, to the ludic function.At the same time ritual folklore reveals a tendency towards an increasingly prominent emphasis on the ludic function, at the expense of functions concerned with belief, religion and philosophy. This can be seen in the gradual disappearance of archaic ritual chants with original tonal-melodic patterns, slow tempos and a-metric structure. These chants were a manifestation of a contemplative-reflective attitude towards the world and towards life, regarded as sacred. In the twentieth century, harvest chants represented a relic of this attitude. The unique nature of rustic culture expressed in these chants was investigated by E. JagiełłoŁysiowa (Elementy stylów życia ludności wiejskiej [Elements of lifestyles of the rural population], 1978). She emphasised the changes taking place in the attitudes of peasants towards nature, and in particular towards the nourishing Mother Earth and work on the land; these were losing the religious dimension in favour of an economic approach towards all work, while the ritual celebrations were gradually becoming predominantly a form of entertainment. Replacing the ritual chants with ditties, frequently of a lewd character (at one time these forms complemented each other), is a symptom of the changes – the disappearance of the contemplative-reflective attitude to the life of nature and humankind, the loss of the sacral dimension. The archaic style of chanting thus disappears as well.The religious dimension of traditional culture – crucial to the understanding of the rituals which form a commentary on the cycle of the life of nature (annual rituals) and the life of humankind (family rituals) – is of particular importance, but it is also difficult to research. The ethnologists who documented folklore were sensitive to this aspect of culture (i.e. the suprasensory life) even as early as the eighteenth century, but they did not know how to document it correctly, and imposed their own ideas – e.g., deistic ones – on the mentality and the imagination of the rustic population as revealed in their art. Incomplete (i.e., concerned with selected aspects of culture and art) and not very accurate documentation (searching for folklore’s original versions, e.g., the brothers Grimm) resulted in the creation of standards of fairytales or songs which make reading their content and interpreting their form correctly more difficult today. Yet in folklore the content, the form and the function were organically bound together. This rather inadequate documentation encouraged erroneous interpretations, and even the mythologising of folklore in later periods, Documentation was shaped to fit in with the assumptions and ideas of the researchers, thus falsifying, in particular, the unique character of folk symbolism and poetics, the distinctiveness of folk thinking. In fact, it was not until the nineteenth century that Oskar Kolberg created reasonably full and reliable documentation of folk art – viewed in the context of traditional culture and nature – in his monumental work Lud, jego zwyczaje, sposób życia, mowa, podania, przysłowia, obrzędy, gusła, zabawy, pieśni, muzyka i tańce [People, their customs, way of life, speech, legends, proverbs, rituals, magic, games, songs, music and dances] (1856–1890 – 33 volumes). Ritual folklore, still quite active at that time, reveals both the multifunctionality of forms (associated with the musical and poetic styles), as well as the hierarchical order of functions and values – from the religious, through ethical, aesthetic, cognitive and socialising ones, to the ludic function.At the same time ritual folklore reveals a tendency towards an increasingly prominent emphasis on the ludic function, at the expense of functions concerned with belief, religion and philosophy. This can be seen in the gradual disappearance of archaic ritual chants with original tonal-melodic patterns, slow tempos and a-metric structure. These chants were a manifestation of a contemplative-reflective attitude towards the world and towards life, regarded as sacred. In the twentieth century, harvest chants represented a relic of this attitude. The unique nature of rustic culture expressed in these chants was investigated by E. JagiełłoŁysiowa (Elementy stylów życia ludności wiejskiej [Elements of lifestyles of the rural population], 1978). She emphasised the changes taking place in the attitudes of peasants towards nature, and in particular towards the nourishing Mother Earth and work on the land; these were losing the religious dimension in favour of an economic approach towards all work, while the ritual celebrations were gradually becoming predominantly a form of entertainment. Replacing the ritual chants with ditties, frequently of a lewd character (at one time these forms complemented each other), is a symptom of the changes – the disappearance of the contemplative-reflective attitude to the life of nature and humankind, the loss of the sacral dimension. The archaic style of chanting thus disappears as well

Critical constellations

Celem artykułu jest wykorzystanie astronomicznej metafory konstelacji do badania krytyki literackiej. Wychodząc od kluczowych dla statusu pojęcia "konstelacji" ustaleń Waltera Benjamina, używającego tej metafory do refleksji o badaniu historii, poprzez Adorniańskie korekty sytuujące konstelację w polu badań estetycznych i proponowany przez Renée R. Trilling konstelacyjny model lektury, a także sposoby dotychczasowego wykorzystywania tej metafory w polskich badaniach nad krytyką, niniejszy szkic zmierza do ukazania konstelacji jako sposobu ujmowania krytyki literackiej bez totalizujących, ujednolicających klasyfikacji. Pokazuje, że "konstelacja krytyczna" pozwala na wydobycie jednostkowości dyskursów krytycznych, przy jednoczesnym odsłonięciu ich relacyjności i wielowymiarowego uwikłania w warunki pola literackiego (ze współczesnością ich badacza włącznie). Proponuje konstelacyjny model badania krytyki literackiej.This article’s objective is to apply the astronomical metaphor of the constellation to the study of literary critique. Departing from Walter Benjamin’s concepts that have been instrumental to the status of the "constellation" as a concept, and using this metaphor to reflect upon the study of history through Adorno’s revisions that usher the constellation into aesthetic studies, as well as the constellational model of reading proposed by Renée R. Trilling, and historical methods for applying this metaphor to Polish critical studies, this essay attempts to introduce the constellation as a means for grasping literary critique without deferring to totalizing and monolithic classification systems. The article demonstrates that the "critical constellation" allows us to yield a certain autonomy for critical discourses by simultaneously revealing their relativity and their multidimensional entanglements with the conditions of the literary field (including the present moment of the scholar). The article proposes the constellation model for studying literary critique

Atopic dermatitis - itchy problem of children and adults

Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory disease with recurrent exacerbations, persistent itching, erythema, dry skin due to damage to the epidermal barrier, and staphylococcal infections. The causative factors are mutations in the gene encoding filaggrin, dysregulation of the immune system, changes in the skin microbiome and lipids in the stratum corneum and deficiency of antimicrobial peptides AMPs. The disease mainly affects children, causing                         a significant deterioration in the quality of life, and its first symptoms occur in approximately 90% before the age of 5. Lesions most often appear on the bends of elbows and knees, on the face and neck, but may also affect the skin of the entire body (erythroderma). The location of the eruptions depends on age. Atopic dermatitis is the result of complex genetic, epigenetic, environmental and immunological interactions with a coexisting epidermal barrier defect. The disease is diagnosed based on the Hanifin and Rajka criteria. Treatment of atopic dermatitis is symptomatic and selected individually. They include the elimination of provoking factors, care of the epidermal barrier, and anti-inflammatory and anti-pruritic therapy

Combined Anticancer Therapy for Prostate Cancer - Literature Review

Prostate cancers represent a significant health problem, and their etiology is complex and multifaceted. It is estimated that in 2018, 1.3 million new cases and 359,000 deaths due to prostate cancer were diagnosed. They constitute the second most common group of cancers and the fifth most common cause of cancer-related deaths in men worldwide. The present study encompasses a literature review aimed at conducting an analysis of the potential of combined anticancer therapy as a prospective method for enhancing treatment efficacy, minimizing side effects, and improving long-term survival outcomes for prostate cancer patients. Combinations of compounds such as sunitinib with docetaxel, carboplatin with paclitaxel, estramustine or flutamide with luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonists, as well as docetaxel in conjunction with dexamethasone and octreotide, have demonstrated synergistic effects and an augmentation of therapeutic effectiveness. It is noteworthy to emphasize the potential enhancement of docetaxel's anticancer activity with concurrent administration of dexamethasone and octreotide, as well as combined therapy involving docetaxel, prednisone, and curcumin

Przeszczepienie nerki u bezobjawowej pacjentki wysokiego ryzyka sercowo-naczyniowego — opis przypadku oraz przegląd literatury

Cardiovascular complications are the most frequent cause of death of patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) at each stage of this disease. Cardiovascular risk decreases after kidney transplantation, but it still remains high, with 5% of deaths due to acute coronary syndrome occurring in the first year following kidney transplantation. In the case of CKD patients, cardiovas­cular complications secondary to rapidly progressing atherosclerosis result from both conventional and un­conventional ischaemic heart disease (IHD) risk fac­tors, the latter being conditioned by a specific metabolic nature of this disease. Following kidney transplantation, this risk is increased both by the surgical procedure it­self and an atherogenic activity of immunosuppressive drugs. A well-documented angiospastic effect of calci­neurin inhibitors is also of importance here. This study discusses a case of a 58-year-old female patient receiving hemodialysis, with G5 stage CKD secondary to diabetic kidney disease, with a history of type 2 diabetes of many years, and many cardiovas­cular complications. The long qualification process for kidney transplantation is analyzed, focusing on its different stages, as well as difficulties during the transplantation procedure and complications after kidney transplantation, resulting in the loss of the graft during one-year follow-up period. Additionally, reports from available studies that suggest a selec­tion of immunosuppressive drugs in high cardio­vascular risk patients are discussed. Complications experienced by the patient following the transplan­tation — myocardial infarction with a sudden car­diac arrest, life-threatening cardiogenic shock, acute transplant rejection, and finally the loss of the graft, serve the authors to discuss benefits and losses in the kidney transplantation qualification process in the case of patients with such complex risk factors.Powikłania sercowo-naczyniowe to najczęstsza przyczyna zgonów pacjentów z przewlekłą chorobą nerek (PChN) na każdym etapie tej choroby. Ryzyko sercowo-naczyniowe po przeszczepieniu nerki ma­leje, ale nadal pozostaje na wysokim poziomie; 5% zgonów z powodu ostrego zespołu wieńcowego wy­stępuje w pierwszym roku po przeszczepieniu nerki. W przypadku pacjentów z PChN do powikłań serco­wo-naczyniowych na tle szybko postępującej miaż­dżycy tętnic doprowadzają zarówno konwencjonalne, jak i niekonwencjonalne czynniki ryzyka choroby nie­dokrwiennej serca (ChNS); te ostatnie są uwarunko­wane szczególnym tłem metabolicznym choroby. Po przeszczepieniu nerki ryzyko to zwiększają sam za­bieg operacyjny oraz aterogenne oddziaływanie leków immunosupresyjnych. Rolę odgrywa tu również do­brze udokumentowane naczynioskurczowe działanie inhibitorów kalcyneuryny. W pracy opisano przypadek 58-letniej hemodializo­wanej pacjentki z PChN w stadium G5 w przebiegu cukrzycowej choroby nerek, z wieloletnią cukrzycą typu 2, z licznymi powikłaniami sercowo-naczy­niowymi. Przeanalizowano etapami długotrwały proces kwalifikacji do przeszczepienia nerki, trud­ności podczas zabiegu transplantacji, powikłania po przeszczepieniu nerki, zakończone w rocznej obserwacji utratą nerki przeszczepionej. Przyto­czono również dane z piśmiennictwa, sugerujące dobór protokołu immunosupresyjnego u pacjen­tów wysokiego ryzyka sercowo-naczyniowego. Skomplikowane losy pacjentki po transplantacji — przebyty zawał z nagłym zatrzymaniem krąże­nia, wstrząs kardiogenny z bezpośrednim zagroże­niem życia, ostre odrzucanie nerki przeszczepionej, a wreszcie jej utrata — posłużyły autorom pracy do otwartej dyskusji nad bilansem zysków i strat w procesie kwalifikacji do przeszczepienia nerki tak obciążonych biorców

QTc prolongation in patients with hearing loss: Electrocardiographic and genetic study

Background: The aim of the study was to determine, whether electrocardiogram (ECG) screening could reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death in patients with hearing loss through the early diagnosis of Jervell and Lange-Nielsen syndrome and the introduction of the therapy. Methods: One thousand and eighty patients with hearing loss (aged 21.8 ± 19.9 years) underwent ECG. Additionally, all subjects were asked to complete a 3-question survey. Those who met, at least, one of the high-risk criteria underwent further cardiac assessment and genetic testing. Results: QTc assessment was possible in 1,027 patients. Mean QTc measured 422.8 ± 23.7 ms in 313 women, 414.9 ± 27.7 ms in 273 men and 421.1 ± 21.5 ms in 441 children (individuals younger than 14 years). Abnormal QTc was found in 13 (4.1%) women, 20 (7.3%) men, and 72 (16.3%) children. In the studied group, no recessive mutation of KNCQ1 or KCNE1 was found. In 6 patients, other mutations were found: in KCNQ1 (n = 1), in KCNH2 (n = 3) and in SCN5A (n = 1), which were pathogenic for long-QT-syndromes (LQTS), and 2 mutations of unknown clinical significance in SCN5A. Overall, out of these 6 patients LQTS was diagnosed in 3 asymptomatic patients, but with abnormal QTc and in 2 patients with normal QTc, but who were previously treated for epilepsy. Conclusions: Jervell and Lange-Nielsen syndrome is a very rare condition even in a population with hearing loss. In this population, the prevalence of prolonged QT interval is increased over the general population. Further investigations are necessary.

Atopic dermatitis - itchy problem of children and adults

Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory disease with recurrent exacerbations, persistent itching, erythema, dry skin due to damage to the epidermal barrier, and staphylococcal infections. The causative factors are mutations in the gene encoding filaggrin, dysregulation of the immune system, changes in the skin microbiome and lipids in the stratum corneum and deficiency of antimicrobial peptides AMPs. The disease mainly affects children, causing                         a significant deterioration in the quality of life, and its first symptoms occur in approximately 90% before the age of 5. Lesions most often appear on the bends of elbows and knees, on the face and neck, but may also affect the skin of the entire body (erythroderma). The location of the eruptions depends on age. Atopic dermatitis is the result of complex genetic, epigenetic, environmental and immunological interactions with a coexisting epidermal barrier defect. The disease is diagnosed based on the Hanifin and Rajka criteria. Treatment of atopic dermatitis is symptomatic and selected individually. They include the elimination of provoking factors, care of the epidermal barrier, and anti-inflammatory and anti-pruritic therapy

Combined Anticancer Therapy for Prostate Cancer - Literature Review

Prostate cancers represent a significant health problem, and their etiology is complex and multifaceted. It is estimated that in 2018, 1.3 million new cases and 359,000 deaths due to prostate cancer were diagnosed. They constitute the second most common group of cancers and the fifth most common cause of cancer-related deaths in men worldwide. The present study encompasses a literature review aimed at conducting an analysis of the potential of combined anticancer therapy as a prospective method for enhancing treatment efficacy, minimizing side effects, and improving long-term survival outcomes for prostate cancer patients. Combinations of compounds such as sunitinib with docetaxel, carboplatin with paclitaxel, estramustine or flutamide with luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonists, as well as docetaxel in conjunction with dexamethasone and octreotide, have demonstrated synergistic effects and an augmentation of therapeutic effectiveness. It is noteworthy to emphasize the potential enhancement of docetaxel's anticancer activity with concurrent administration of dexamethasone and octreotide, as well as combined therapy involving docetaxel, prednisone, and curcumin