The Rise of Right-Wing Populism in Poland: Comparative Analysis of Social Structure and Party Strategy

Under the puzzling circumstances of a strong domestic economy and the relatively stable mainstream policymaking of the incumbents, Law and Justice (PiS), a right-wing populist party, momentously won the 2015 presidential and parliamentary elections in Poland. Using a comparative approach, the thesis examines the structural forces and policy dimensions/goals, which have provided the necessary conditions for the populist right-wing program to appeal to a wide variety of demographic groups, resulting in an electoral victory and to some degree in the redrawing of political and social boundaries. The conducted field study served as a hypothesis-generating exercise to gauge the voter sentiment informally in Poland. Based on the empirical data from a sample comprised of Poland’s seven post-communist democratic counterparts, statistical models depictive of combinations of structural exogenous conditions, as well as policy packages of political parties, were recorded in an effort to capture cross-national similarities and differences, and to shed light on key success factors that systematically contribute to the rise of right-wing populism in modern Eastern Europe. The empirical analysis was supplemented with widely cited scholarship on the topic of populism, populist adaptation, and populist politics

Statins and Alzheimer — current stand and further development directions

In an aging society, more emphasis should be placed on prevention rather than treating diseases. Alzheimer’s disease is a common sickness affecting older people. It is predicted that the number of cases will have increased up to 131.5 million by 2050. Therefore, the efforts of the scientific community should be focused on finding therapeutics that could stop or delay dementia. Statins are commonly used drugs with interesting pleiotropic effects. Due to its effects such as lowering cholesterol or inhibiting of inflammatory reaction, they give the prospect of being used in dementia therapy. To this day, numerous studies have been done to verify the influence of statins on pathological elements such as beta-amyloid, Tau protein, or inflammatory factors. Unfortunately, a large discrepancy in the results excludes the use of these drugs in therapy today. The aim of our work is to validate these relations and determine the mechanisms of action of statins on the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease. Moreover, we want to point out new directions of research, which may not only explain the pathomechanism of dementia but also find means to stop this process

Imidazole as a parent π-conjugated backbone in charge-transfer chromophores

Research activities in the field of imidazole-derived push–pull systems featuring intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) are reviewed. Design, synthetic pathways, linear and nonlinear optical properties, electrochemistry, structure–property relationships, and the prospective application of such D-π-A organic materials are described. This review focuses on Y-shaped imidazoles, bi- and diimidazoles, benzimidazoles, bis(benzimidazoles), imidazole-4,5-dicarbonitriles, and imidazole-derived chromophores chemically bound to a polymer chain

The effect of metamizole and tolfenamic acid on canine and equine adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) an in vitro research

The influences of NSAIDs (Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs) - non-selective metamizole and selectively-acting tolfenamic acid were estimated on morphology, ultrastructure, and cytophysiological activity of canine (Ca) and equine (Eq) adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs). The lowest concentration of metamizole (0.01 mg/mL) stimulated the viability and cytophysiological activity of Ca ASCs and did not affect cell morphology. Stimulated cells possessed a proper, fibroblastic shape, with large, eccentrically located nuclei. Similar effects to those observed in Ca ASCs were found in Eq cells treated with both drugs. Cells cultivated with the intermediate (0.1 mg/mL) doses of NSAIDs displayed proper cell morphology, whereas cells cultivated in intermediate dose (0.1 mg/mL) became more flattened. The highest concentrations (1 mg/mL) of both drugs resulted in a cytotoxic effect in Ca and Eq ASCs. Based on these results, we conclude that stimulation of Ca and Eq ASCs with metamizole as well as Eq ASCs with tolfenamic acid can lead to positive effects only when the lowest drug concentrations are applied. This study indicates a different cellular response of canine and equine ASCs treated with metamizole and tolfenamic acid. The obtained data might be potentially useful in the study of functionalized veterinary biomaterials

Distribution and chemical coding of sympathetic neurons in the caudal mesenteric ganglion projecting to the ovary in sexually mature gilts

The distribution and co-localisation patterns of dopamine-β-hydroxylase (DβH), neuropeptide Y (NPY), somatostatin (SOM) and galanin (GAL) were investigated by use of retrograde neuronal tracing and double-labelling immunofluorescence techniques in the caudal mesenteric ganglion (CaMG) neurons supplying the ovary of adult pigs. The existence and density of nerve fibres that are immunoreactive (IR) for the above-mentioned neuroactive substances were also evaluated. Injections of a fluorescent tracer (Fast Blue; FB) into the ovaries revealed the presence of small- (76.38%) and large-sized (23.62%) FB-positive postganglionic neurons in the CaMG. Noradrenergic FB-positive cells were simultaneously NPY- (43.38%), SOM- (18.77%) and GAL- (18.31%) IR. Of the examined FB-positive neurons, 53.49% were DβH-IR but NPY-immunonegative (IN), 79.06% were DβH-IR but SOM-IN, and 77.16% were DβH-IR but GAL-IN. Small- or large-sized subsets of traced neurons were supplied by only one or a few nerve fibres, exhibiting DβH-, NPY-, SOM- and/or GAL-IR. Our data show the specific morphological as well as immunochemical structural organisation of the sympathetic neurons in the CaMG in adult gilts. The occurrence of an abundant population of noradrenergic perikarya in the CaMG may suggest their important physiological role in the regulation of gonadal function(s) in these animals