Praca tymczasowa w doświadczeniach i ocenach studentów na podstawie wyników badań ankietowych

Celem rozdziału jest prezentacja fragmentu wyników badań statutowych, przeprowadzonych przez Katedrę Pracy i Polityki Społecznej Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego w pierwszej połowie 2013 roku. Autor dokonał analizy doświadczeń i ocen studentów Wydziału Ekonomiczno-Socjologicznego UŁ dotyczących pracy tymczasowej. Studenci, zarówno studiów stacjonarnych, jak i niestacjonarnych, wśród których znajdowały się również osoby, pracujące aktualnie w agencjach pracy tymczasowej, przekazali swoje oceny na temat pracy tymczasowej. Dane przedstawione w rozdziale mają również zweryfikować hipotezę badawczą H4 – „Młodzi pracownicy tymczasowi, którzy nie ukończyli 25 roku życia próbują poprzez pracę tymczasową budować portfel kompetencji, który zwiększy ich wartość i szanse na rynku pracy”.Udostępnienie publikacji Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego finansowane w ramach projektu „Doskonałość naukowa kluczem do doskonałości kształcenia”. Projekt realizowany jest ze środków Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Wiedza Edukacja Rozwój; nr umowy: POWER.03.05.00-00-Z092/17-00

Stężenie rezystyny w surowicy u dzieci z cukrzycą typu 1 — negatywna relacja z masą tłuszczową ciała

Introduction: Insulin is one of the major factors regulating adipose tissue function. On the other hand, adipocytes secrete adipocytokines that may influence insulin synthesis and action, and are involved in blood glucose regulation. In type 1 diabetes mellitus (t1DM), beta cells function is replaced with exogenous insulin therapy. This raises a question concerning the impact of t1DM on adipose tissue secretory function. The aim of this study was to evaluate one of the adipocytokines, resistin, serum concentrations in relation to body fat mass in children with t1DM.Material and methods: The study comprised 75 children with t1DM and a control group of 20 healthy coevals. All children had estimated serum resistin concentrations, glycated haemoglobin levels, growth and body weight measurements, and bioelectrical impedance analysis in order to establish body composition.Results: Resistin serum concentrations were significantly lower in children with t1DM vs. controls (median values: 343 vs. 590 pg/mL; mean values ± SD: 577 ± 561 vs. 861 ± 628 pg/mL; p < 0.001), and they negatively correlated with body fat mass (p = 0.022) and age (p = 0.022) in the t1DM group, but not in the control group. Disease duration, glycated haemoglobin levels and insulin dosage revealed no direct statistical relation to resistin levels.Conclusions: Diminished serum resistin concentrations and a negative correlation between resistin levels and body fat mass in children with type 1 diabetes seem to result from broken physiological adipo-insular regulations, independent of disease duration, its metabolic control and insulin supply. (Endokrynol Pol 2014; 65 (5): 342–347)Wstęp: Insulina jest jednym z głównych czynników regulujących funkcje tkanki tłuszczowej. Z drugiej strony, adipocyty wydzielają adipocytokiny, które mogą wpływać na sekrecję i działanie insuliny oraz brać udział w regulacji stężenia glukozy we krwi. W cukrzycy typu 1 sekrecja insuliny przez komórki beta zostaje zastąpiona przez egzogenną insulinoterapię. Powstaje pytanie o wpływ tej choroby na czynność sekrecyjną tkanki tłuszczowej. Celem pracy była ocena stężenia jednej z adipocytokin, rezystyny, w surowicy dzieci z cukrzycą typu 1, oraz związku oznaczonej rezystynemii z masą tkanki tłuszczowej.Materiał i metody: Badaniami objęto 75 dzieci z cukrzycą typu 1, oraz grupę kontrolną 20 zdrowych dzieci. U wszystkich wykonano oznaczenia stężenia rezystyny w surowicy, poziomu hemoglobiny glikowanej, pomiary wzrostu i masy ciała, oraz badanie impedancji bioelektrycznej celem oceny składu ciała.Wyniki: Stężenia rezystyny w surowicy były niższe u dzieci z cukrzycą typu 1 niż w grupie kontrolnej (mediana: 343 vs. 590 pg/ml, średnia ± SD: 577 ± 561 vs. 861 ± 628 pg/ml, p < 0,001) oraz korelowały ujemnie z masą tkanki tłuszczowej (p = 0,022) oraz wiekiem (p = 0,022) w grupie dzieci z cukrzycą, ale nie w grupie kontrolnej. Czas trwania choroby, poziom hemoglobiny glikowanej i dawkowanie insuliny nie wykazały bezpośredniego związku statystycznego ze stężeniami rezystyny.Wnioski: Obniżone stężenie rezystyny w surowicy oraz ujemna korelacja między stężeniami rezystyny i masą tłuszczową ciała u dzieci z cukrzycą typu 1 wydają się wynikać z przerwania fizjologicznych regulacji adipo-insularnych, niezależnie od czasu trwania choroby, jej kontroli metabolicznej i podaży insuliny. (Endokrynol Pol 2014; 65 (5): 342–347

Ziarniniakowatość z zapaleniem naczyń — rys historyczny

Zapalenia naczyń to rzadka i bardzo niejednorodna grupa chorób, która charakteryzuje się procesem zapalnym obejmującym ścianę naczynia, prowadzącym do jej uszkodzenia, a w konsekwencji często do niedokrwienia i martwicy zaopatrywanych przez nie tkanek. Obowiązujący system nazewnictwa zapaleń naczyń (na podstawie Chapel Hill Consensus Conference, CHCC 2012) opiera się głównie na dominującej wielkości zajętych naczyń: dużych, średnich lub małych, i obejmuje prawie 30 postaci pierwotnych oraz kilka kategorii postaci wtórnych. Choć szeroko pojęte choroby naczyń krwionośnych były znane już w czasach starożytnych, to terminu „zapalenie naczyń” w kontekście odrębnej jednostki chorobowej używa się dopiero od około 150 lat. Od tego czasu dokonał się niewątpliwie ogromny postęp w zakresie diagnostyki, leczenia i klasyfikacji tych schorzeń, z drugiej jednak strony wciąż pozostaje wiele niewiadomych, na przykład w odniesieniu do ich etiologii i patogenezy. Pierwsze opisy przypadków poszczególnych typów zapaleń naczyń dostarczają nie tylko interesującego kontekstu historycznego, ale są także podstawą dla zrozumienia współczesnych kierunków badań. W poniższej pracy przedstawiono rys historyczny ziarniniakowatości z zapaleniem naczyń (GPA, granulomatosis with polyangiitis), należącej do grupy zapaleń małych naczyń związanych z przeciwciałami przeciwko cytoplazmie neutrofilów (AAV, ANCA-associated vasculitis), z uwzględnieniem historiijej odkrycia, leczenia, umiejscowienia w systemie klasyfikacyjnym oraz badań nad znaczeniem przeciwciał ANCA w diagnostyce tej choroby. Forum Reumatol. 2019, tom 5, nr 2: 51–5

Coarse graining molecular dynamics with graph neural networks

Coarse graining enables the investigation of molecular dynamics for larger systems and at longer timescales than is possible at an atomic resolution. However, a coarse graining model must be formulated such that the conclusions we draw from it are consistent with the conclusions we would draw from a model at a finer level of detail. It has been proved that a force matching scheme defines a thermodynamically consistent coarse-grained model for an atomistic system in the variational limit. Wang et al. [ACS Cent. Sci. 5, 755 (2019)] demonstrated that the existence of such a variational limit enables the use of a supervised machine learning framework to generate a coarse-grained force field, which can then be used for simulation in the coarse-grained space. Their framework, however, requires the manual input of molecular features to machine learn the force field. In the present contribution, we build upon the advance of Wang et al. and introduce a hybrid architecture for the machine learning of coarse-grained force fields that learn their own features via a subnetwork that leverages continuous filter convolutions on a graph neural network architecture. We demonstrate that this framework succeeds at reproducing the thermodynamics for small biomolecular systems. Since the learned molecular representations are inherently transferable, the architecture presented here sets the stage for the development of machine-learned, coarse-grained force fields that are transferable across molecular systems

Satisfaction and discontent of Polish patients with biological therapy of rheumatic diseases : results of a multi-center questionnaire study

Objectives: Biologics are medications widely applied in the management of inflammatory rheumatic diseases. The drugs were found to be effective but their application is associated with some disadvantages. Medication with biologics is relatively expensive, and in Poland, it is carried out in specialized centers. The study was designed to evaluate various aspects of satisfaction and dissatisfaction of Polish patients treated with biologics. Material and methods: An anonymous questionnaire was distributed in 23 Polish rheumatological centers involved in the treatment; 1212 returned questionnaires were used for analysis. Responses were received from 606 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, 427 with ankylosing spondylitis, 117 psoriatic arthritis, and 62 adult patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (in whom administration of the drugs had been introduced before they were 18 years old). The investigated group constituted about one-fifth of all rheumatic patients on biologics in Poland. Results: A beneficial or very beneficial influence of the medication on the state of physical health was found mostly in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (51.3 and 30.5%) and ankylosing spondylitis (51.0 and 36.8%). Family life was improved by the treatment especially in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (40.7 and 35.6% beneficial and very beneficial, respectively), sleep quality and sexual life mostly in those with ankylosing spondylitis (beneficial/very beneficial influence 41.5/38.4, and 38.7/23.9, respectively). There was a rather small influence of biological treatment on the financial situation of the patients. In general, satisfaction with the treatment was evaluated as positive or very positive in 88% of all investigated patients. In a significant part of the patients, transportation to the medical center was considered as a disadvantage of the treatment. About one-third of the patients considered laboratory and imaging tests to be done before initiation of the medication as a difficulty, and for about 40% waiting time for qualification for the medication was a significant disadvantage. The route of drug administration was without importance for 4/5 of the patients. Conclusions: Summing up, the results were similar in the patients suffering from various diseases although those with psoriatic arthritis felt the highest satisfaction (possibly due to the positive aesthetic effect), and those with ankylosing spondylitis had significant improvement in sexual life (probably due to younger age). Relatively low satisfaction was found in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. There was a small influence of medication on financial status of the patients. Application of biologics has few disadvantages and most of them are associated with the organization of health services (waiting time for the tests, transportation to the medical centers)

First Assessment of the Binary Lens OGLE-2015-BLG-0232

We present an analysis of the microlensing event OGLE-2015-BLG-0232. This event is challenging to characterize for two reasons. First, the light curve is not well sampled during the caustic crossing due to the proximity of the full Moon impacting the photometry quality. Moreover, the source brightness is difficult to estimate because this event is blended with a nearby K dwarf star. We found that the light-curve deviations are likely due to a close brown dwarf companion (i.e., s = 0.55 and q = 0.06), but the exact nature of the lens is still unknown. We finally discuss the potential of follow-up observations to estimate the lens mass and distance in the future

The Origin of the Microlensing Events Observed Towards the LMC and the Stellar Counterpart of the Magellanic Stream

We introduce a novel theoretical model to explain the long-standing puzzle of the nature of the microlensing events reported towards the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) by the MACHO and OGLE collaborations. We propose that a population of tidally stripped stars from the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) located ~4-10 kpc behind a lensing population of LMC disk stars can naturally explain the observed event durations (17-71 days), event frequencies and spatial distribution of the reported events. Differences in the event frequencies reported by the OGLE (~0.33 /yr) and MACHO (~1.75 /yr) surveys appear to be naturally accounted for by their different detection efficiencies and sensitivity to faint sources. The presented models of the Magellanic System were constructed without prior consideration of the microlensing implications. These results favor a scenario for the interaction history of the Magellanic Clouds, wherein the Clouds are on their first infall towards the Milky Way and the SMC has recently collided with the LMC 100-300 Myr ago, leading to a large number of faint sources distributed non-uniformly behind the LMC disk. In contrast to self-lensing models, microlensing events are also expected to occur in fields off the LMC's stellar bar since the stellar debris is not expected to be concentrated in the bar region. This scenario leads to a number of observational tests: the sources are low-metallicity SMC stars, they exhibit high velocities relative to LMC disk stars that may be detectable via proper motion studies, and, most notably, there should exist a stellar counterpart to the gaseous Magellanic Stream and Bridge with a V-band surface brightness of > 32 mag/arcsec^2. In particular, the stellar Bridge should contain enough RR Lyrae stars to be detected by the ongoing OGLE survey of this region.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 28 pages, 18 figure

Integration of new biological and physical retrospective dosimetry methods into EU emergency response plans : joint RENEB and EURADOS inter-laboratory comparisons

Purpose: RENEB, 'Realising the European Network of Biodosimetry and Physical Retrospective Dosimetry,' is a network for research and emergency response mutual assistance in biodosimetry within the EU. Within this extremely active network, a number of new dosimetry methods have recently been proposed or developed. There is a requirement to test and/or validate these candidate techniques and inter-comparison exercises are a well-established method for such validation. Materials and methods: The authors present details of inter-comparisons of four such new methods: dicentric chromosome analysis including telomere and centromere staining; the gene expression assay carried out in whole blood; Raman spectroscopy on blood lymphocytes, and detection of radiation induced thermoluminescent signals in glass screens taken from mobile phones. Results: In general the results show good agreement between the laboratories and methods within the expected levels of uncertainty, and thus demonstrate that there is a lot of potential for each of the candidate techniques. Conclusions: Further work is required before the new methods can be included within the suite of reliable dosimetry methods for use by RENEB partners and others in routine and emergency response scenarios

Racial differences in systemic sclerosis disease presentation: a European Scleroderma Trials and Research group study

Objectives. Racial factors play a significant role in SSc. We evaluated differences in SSc presentations between white patients (WP), Asian patients (AP) and black patients (BP) and analysed the effects of geographical locations.Methods. SSc characteristics of patients from the EUSTAR cohort were cross-sectionally compared across racial groups using survival and multiple logistic regression analyses.Results. The study included 9162 WP, 341 AP and 181 BP. AP developed the first non-RP feature faster than WP but slower than BP. AP were less frequently anti-centromere (ACA; odds ratio (OR) = 0.4, P < 0.001) and more frequently anti-topoisomerase-I autoantibodies (ATA) positive (OR = 1.2, P = 0.068), while BP were less likely to be ACA and ATA positive than were WP [OR(ACA) = 0.3, P < 0.001; OR(ATA) = 0.5, P = 0.020]. AP had less often (OR = 0.7, P = 0.06) and BP more often (OR = 2.7, P < 0.001) diffuse skin involvement than had WP.AP and BP were more likely to have pulmonary hypertension [OR(AP) = 2.6, P < 0.001; OR(BP) = 2.7, P = 0.03 vs WP] and a reduced forced vital capacity [OR(AP) = 2.5, P < 0.001; OR(BP) = 2.4, P < 0.004] than were WP. AP more often had an impaired diffusing capacity of the lung than had BP and WP [OR(AP vs BP) = 1.9, P = 0.038; OR(AP vs WP) = 2.4, P < 0.001]. After RP onset, AP and BP had a higher hazard to die than had WP [hazard ratio (HR) (AP) = 1.6, P = 0.011; HR(BP) = 2.1, P < 0.001].Conclusion. Compared with WP, and mostly independent of geographical location, AP have a faster and earlier disease onset with high prevalences of ATA, pulmonary hypertension and forced vital capacity impairment and higher mortality. BP had the fastest disease onset, a high prevalence of diffuse skin involvement and nominally the highest mortality

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements