The black protests : a struggle for (re)definition of intimate citizenship

Próby zmiany prawa regulującego dostęp do aborcji w Polsce, podjęte przez polski Sejm w 2016 i 2018, zainicjowały intensywną społeczną mobilizację i szerokie protesty społeczne, określane wspólną nazwą "Czarne Protesty". Tę mobilizację traktujemy jako próbę (prze)definiowania obowiązujących pojęć obywatelstwa, a w szczególności, jako wyraz poszukiwania nowego modelu obywatelstwa intymnego, czyli publicznego przedefiniowania praw dotyczących prywatnej/intymnej sfery. Celem artykułu jest analiza wspomnianych (re)artykulacji intymnego obywatelstwa. W pierwszej części artykułu opisujemy czym były Czarne Protesty oraz Ogólnopolski Strajk Kobiet oraz przybliżamy kontekst ich powstania oraz postulaty. W drugiej części definiujemy rozumienie obywatelstwa, a w szczególności obywatelstwa intymnego. Następnie przybliżamy metodologię naszych badań. Ostatnia, analityczna część artykułu rekonstruuje wizje obywatelstwa intymnego wyłaniające się z analizowanego materiału empirycznego.This article focuses on analysis of redefinitions of intimate citizenship visions in the arenas created by recent women’s protests in Poland. The 2016 and 2018 attempts by the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish Parliament, to introduce amendments to the existing law regulating access to abortion in Poland stirred dramatic social mobilisation and widespread social protests labelled with the umbrella term "Black Protests". We see these mobilisations not only as a protest, but also as attempt to (re)define dominant notions of citizenship, and in particular, as a quest for a new model of intimate citizenship, i.e. public reconceptualisation of rights regarding the private/intimate sphere. Our article offers the in-depth analysis these reconceptualisations. It unfolds in the following way. Firstly, we discuss the phenomena of the Black Protests and Polish Women’s Strikes and present the context of their emergence as well as their agenda. Secondly, we briefly discuss the issue of intimate citizenship. We then present the methodology, as well as discussing the empirical material used for our analysis. In the final part we reconstruct the visions of (intimate) citizenship emerging from the collected material

Temperature increase altered Daphnia community structure in artificially heated lakes: a potential scenario for a warmer future

Under conditions of global warming, organisms are expected to track their thermal preferences, invading new habitats at higher latitudes and altitudes and altering the structure of local communities. To fend off potential invaders, indigenous communities/populations will have to rapidly adapt to the increase in temperature. In this study, we tested if decades of artificial water heating changed the structure of communities and populations of the Daphnia longispina species complex. We compared the species composition of contemporary Daphnia communities inhabiting five lakes heated by power plants and four non-heated control lakes. The heated lakes are ca. 3–4 °C warmer, as all lakes are expected to be by 2100 according to climate change forecasts. We also genotyped subfossil resting eggs to describe past shifts in Daphnia community structure that were induced by lake heating. Both approaches revealed a rapid replacement of indigenous D. longispina and D. cucullata by invader D. galeata immediately after the onset of heating, followed by a gradual recovery of the D. cucullata population. Our findings clearly indicate that, in response to global warming, community restructuring may occur faster than evolutionary adaptation. The eventual recolonisation by D. cucullata indicates that adaptation to novel conditions can be time-lagged, and suggests that the long-term consequences of ecosystem disturbance may differ from short-term observations

Biphasic Equilibrium Dialysis of Poly(N-Isopropyl Acrylamide) Nanogels Synthesized at Decreased Temperatures for Targeted Delivery of Thermosensitive Bioactives

Hydrogel nanoparticles, referred to also as nanogels, are of special interest for medical and pharmaceutical applications. Due to small size in the range below the diameter of the capillaries, they are proposed as drug delivery carriers. The aim of the study was to estimate the influence of composition and reaction conditions during synthesis of poly-N-isopropyl acrylamide cross-linked by polyethylene glycol diacrylate on the purification rates of the polymer. Six types of thermosensitive nanogels were prepared by surfactant-free dispersion polymerization and assessed in terms of process yield, composition, and size at temperatures below and over volume phase temperature. During the diffusion of impurities, in the course of dialysis, assessed by the conductometric method, the remarkable influence of temperature and initiator concentration on the process was revealed. The release rates varied in the range between 9.63 · 10−2 and 1.39 · 10−1 h−1 in the first stage of the process, whereas in the second stage they were between 2.09 · 10−2 and 6.28 · 10−2 h−1. The evaluated time to obtain acceptable purity of the preparation was estimated to be in the range of 18 days. More detailed research should be directed towards the influence of the structure of obtained material on the purification process

Thrombocytopenia in critically ill patients: single center data analysis

Introduction: Thrombocytopenia (TP) is one of the most frequent abnormalities of hemostasis found in laboratory tests in critically ill patients. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and most probable causes of TP in patients hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Material and methods: The documentation of all patients hospitalized in 2019 was analyzed retrospectively in the ICU of the university hospital. Patients diagnosed with TP at admission to the ward or during hospitalization were identified. Potential factors influencing the platelet count were analyzed. Results: During the analyzed period, 291 patients were hospitalized. In 93 patients (32%), TP was diagnosed, including 61 patients at admission (21%), and the remaining 32 patients (11%) during hospitalization. Patients with TP had higher SAPS II, APACHE II and SOFA scores than patients without TP (p <0.001 for all). Mortality in patients with TP was twice as high as in patients without TP (58% vs. 29%, p <0.001). In 18 patients (6%), only one cause of TP was potentially identified, while in 39 patients (13%), four or more factors that could potentially cause TP were identified. Conclusions: Thrombocytopenia is a relatively common problem in the critically ill population, but due to the challenges in differential diagnosis, a reliable assessment of the causes of its occurrence is difficult

Microfungi of the Tatra Mountains. Part 7. Correction of some data from herbaria and the literature

The Tatra Mts are located on the border of two countries – Poland and Slovakia. It is a unique, extremely geobotanically-differentiated region, protected by law and listed on the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve List as an internationally recognized area. Due to the high nature values of the Tatra Mts, varied research, including mycological, has been intensively conducted on this area for many years. The first data on the microscopic fungi of the Tatras comes from to the second half of the nineteenth century and spans more than 150 years. Currently, the critical list of microfungi is being prepared concerning species published up to date from the whole Tatra range (the Polish and Slovakian parts), and also the adjacent areas. During detailed study of the available mycological literature, many erroneous citations of the original data or incorrect interpretations of these records were noted. Often, this faulty data was also reproduced in subsequent publications.The aim of this study was to correct some of the data published in the cited literature. In the paper, 68 fungal species were mentioned, including 29 species of Ascomycota and 39 species of Basidiomycota. Additionally, some information about the plants – the fungal hosts – has also been corrected

Results of the treatment of adrenocortical cancer patients at the Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology – Krakow Branch

Introduction.Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) has an incidence of 1–2 cases per million and the 5-year overall survival (OS) is 16–47%. Surgery is the treatment of choice. Post-operative radiotherapy has been shown to prolong overall survival and the purpose of this work was to show our own, first time in Poland, results of adjuvant radiotherapy in tre­ating this disease. Material and methods.Between 2012 and 2021, 12 patients with ACC were treated. The analyzed group included 9 women and 3 men at a mean age of 44 years (range: 33 to 76 years). A significant increase of tumor size was found in 30% of the subjects. In the analyzed group, 12 patients were qualified to adjuvant radiotherapy, but it was feasible only in 7 patients. The other 5 patients did not undergo radiotherapy. Two patients were disqualified due to metastatic disease and in 3 patients radiotherapy could not be performed due to excessive tumor size and too high a risk of com­plications within the critical organs. Results.3 out of 7 patients who received adjuvant radiotherapy are still alive and 4 of them died. Mean overall survival time was 32 months. The 12-month overall survival rate was 80%. In the group of 5 patients who have not received radiotherapy, 2 patients are still alive. The mean overall survival time is 13.5 months and the 12-month overall survival rate is 60%. Conclusions.Due to rapid disease progression and poor prognosis associated with ACC, patients with tumors located in the adrenal gland require urgent surgical treatment at a reference center. Adjuvant radiotherapy improves treatment results significantly, but is not feasible in some patients due to cancer progression or the tumor location. In patients with ACC, it is important to diagnose the disease and to start adequate treatment as early as possible

Results of the treatment of adrenocortical cancer patients at the Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology – Krakow Branch

Introduction.Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) has an incidence of 1–2 cases per million and the 5-year overall survival (OS) is 16–47%. Surgery is the treatment of choice. Post-operative radiotherapy has been shown to prolong overall survival and the purpose of this work was to show our own, first time in Poland, results of adjuvant radiotherapy in tre­ating this disease. Material and methods.Between 2012 and 2021, 12 patients with ACC were treated. The analyzed group included 9 women and 3 men at a mean age of 44 years (range: 33 to 76 years). A significant increase of tumor size was found in 30% of the subjects. In the analyzed group, 12 patients were qualified to adjuvant radiotherapy, but it was feasible only in 7 patients. The other 5 patients did not undergo radiotherapy. Two patients were disqualified due to metastatic disease and in 3 patients radiotherapy could not be performed due to excessive tumor size and too high a risk of com­plications within the critical organs. Results.3 out of 7 patients who received adjuvant radiotherapy are still alive and 4 of them died. Mean overall survival time was 32 months. The 12-month overall survival rate was 80%. In the group of 5 patients who have not received radiotherapy, 2 patients are still alive. The mean overall survival time is 13.5 months and the 12-month overall survival rate is 60%. Conclusions.Due to rapid disease progression and poor prognosis associated with ACC, patients with tumors located in the adrenal gland require urgent surgical treatment at a reference center. Adjuvant radiotherapy improves treatment results significantly, but is not feasible in some patients due to cancer progression or the tumor location. In patients with ACC, it is important to diagnose the disease and to start adequate treatment as early as possible