Characteristics of asexual people

WSTĘP: Głównym celem pracy było stworzenie charakterystyk osób identyfikujących się jako aseksualne oraz próba znalezienia różnic pomiędzy dwiema badanymi grupami: osobami utożsamiających się jako aseksualne oraz tymi, u których oprócz identyfikacji nie stwierdzano pożądania i podejmowania zachowań seksualnych. MATERIAŁ I METODY: W badaniu posłużono się autorskim kwestionariuszem oceniającym zachowania seksualne uzupełnionym elementami wywiadu klinicznego. Na pierwszym etapie spośród respondentów wyłoniono osoby identyfikujące się jako aseksualne, na drugim te, które pasowały do stworzonego profilu osoby aseksualnej. WYNIKI: Grupa badanych liczyła 80 osób, w tym sprofilowanych jako aseksualne obejmowała 26 kobiet i 8 mężczyzn. Wśród osób aseksualnych prawie połowa (44,1%) stwierdziła całkowity brak pożądania seksualnego, 47,1% określiło je jako niskie, 85,4% badanych nie odczuwała napięcia seksualnego. W grupie sprofilowanej jako aseksualna 88,2% badanych nie chciałaby w ogóle podejmować kontaktów seksualnych. WNIOSKI: Na identyfikację jednostki jako osoby aseksualnej wpływa przede wszystkim brak odczuwania przez nią pociągu seksualnego, oraz niepodejmowanie zachowań seksualnych jak i współwystępowanie obu tych czynników.INTRODUCTION: The main aim of this study was to establish the characteristics of people who identify themselves as asexual, and make an attempt to find the differences between the two studied groups: people who identified themselves as asexual and those who have not displayed sexual lust nor have undertaken sexual activities. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study used a questionnaire evaluating sexual behaviour supplemented with elements of clinical history. The first step consisted in indication of individuals who identified themselves as asexual. In the second on the individuals were chosen who best fitted the previously created profile of an asexual person. RESULTS: The survey sample included 80 people, including those profiled as asexual, i.e. 26 females and 8 males. Among the group of asexual people almost a half (44.1%) indicated a complete lack of sexual lust, 47.1% described it as low, 85.4% did not feel sexual anxiety. Within the profiled group 88.2% of the surveyed people would not want to undertake any sexual activities. CONCLUSIONS: The identification of an individual as an asexual person affects primarily their lack of sexual attraction, as well as unwillingness to undertake sexual activities, or both

The use of ketamine in electroconvulsive therapy

Summary In recent years, data on the possibility of rapid clinical improvement after administration of ketamine in patients diagnosed with depression have been published more frequently. Ketamine, used as an anaesthetic during ECT procedures, despite earlier concerns, has both: a good safety profile and minimal effect on seizure threshold, which is used in cases of non-response to ECT. Postulated action of ketamine causes a rapid resolution of depressive symptoms and raised hopes to accelerate therapeutic effect of ECT in patients with severe depression, but studies provide contradictory data pointing to brevity of the observed effect. Studies examining the use of ketamine combined with other anaesthetic drugs emphasised not only its antidepressant effect, but also improvement in hemodynamic parameters during ECT treatment. The aim of this work on one hand is to make psychiatrists aware that the role of anaesthesiologist at ECT is not limited to anaesthetise a patient and provide muscle relaxation, and, on the other hand, to make anaesthesiologists aware that drugs they use have a significant effect on seizure parameters and indirectly on the effectiveness of ECT. Due to small size of studied populations the issue of antidepressant efficacy of ketamine requires further exploration

Utilising Assured Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning within safety-critical scenarios

Multi-agent reinforcement learning allows a team of agents to learn how to work together to solve complex decision-making problems in a shared environment. However, this learning process utilises stochastic mechanisms, meaning that its use in safety-critical domains can be problematic. To overcome this issue, we propose an Assured Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning (AMARL) approach that uses a model checking technique called quantitative verification to provide formal guarantees of agent compliance with safety, performance, and other non-functional requirements during and after the reinforcement learning process. We demonstrate the applicability of our AMARL approach in three different patrolling navigation domains in which multi-agent systems must learn to visit key areas by using different types of reinforcement learning algorithms (temporal difference learning, game theory, and direct policy search). Furthermore, we compare the effectiveness of these algorithms when used in combination with and without our approach. Our extensive experiments with both homogeneous and heterogeneous multi-agent systems of different sizes show that the use of AMARL leads to safety requirements being consistently satisfied and to better overall results than standard reinforcement learning

Prostytucja. Studium zjawiska

Ze wstępu: "Nickie Roberts – autorka wydanej w Polsce w 1997 r. książki Dziwki w historii. Prostytucja w społeczeństwie zachodnim – jak sama o sobie pisze – weteranka handlu seksem, zauważa, że historia społeczeństw, głównie zachodnich, dowodzi nie tylko niemożliwości wykorzenienia prostytucji, ale nawet ograniczenia jej skali. Wszystkie zmierzające w tym kierunku próby, podejmowane przez monarchie, ruchy czystości moralnej lub państwa policyjne, kończyły się niepowodzeniem. Istnieje bowiem zbyt wiele czynników skłaniających kobiety do handlowania swoim ciałem. Spośród nich dwa wydają się najważniejsze – potrzeby ekonomiczne i chęć zachowania niezależności osobistej, dlatego też dyskusja na temat moralności prostytucji, sądzi Roberts, pozbawiona jest głębszego sensu, jeśli nie weźmie się pod uwagę fundamentalnej sprawy: zdecydowanie gorszej sytuacji ekonomicznej kobiet czy wręcz ich ubóstwa. Przez lata komentatorzy i badacze, różnego rodzaju moraliści o zdecydowanie religijnej proweniencji, nie brali pod uwagę kontekstu finansowego zjawiska, za to skupiali się na rzekomej amoralności seksualnej kobiet jako czynniku skłaniającym je do prostytucji. Tymczasem w społeczeństwie zdominowanym przez rynek, w społeczeństwie, w którym większość ludzi musi sprzedawać swoją pracę, żeby zarobić na życie, niektóre kobiety, a także niektórzy mężczyźni, nadal będą świadczyć usługi seksualne – jest to po prostu nieuniknione1. Trudno nie zgodzić się z większością tez autorki, choć zdaje się ona czasami zapominać, że prostytutki rekrutują się nie tylko z upośledzonych warstw ekonomicznych społeczeństw, że często amatorkami świadczenia usług seksualnych za pieniądze (lub inne dobra) zostają te, które pochodzą z tak zwanych dobrych, zasobnych ekonomicznie, domów."(...

Promoter Methylation in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cell Lines Is Significantly Different than Methylation in Primary Tumors and Xenografts

Studies designed to identify novel methylation events related to cancer often employ cancer cell lines in the discovery phase of the experiments and have a relatively low rate of discovery of cancer-related methylation events. An alternative algorithm for discovery of novel methylation in cancer uses primary tumor-derived xenografts instead of cell lines as the primary source of nucleic acid for evaluation. We evaluated DNA extracted from primary head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC), xenografts grown from these primary tumors in nude mice, HNSCC-derived cell lines, normal oral mucosal samples, and minimally transformed oral keratinocyte-derived cell lines using Illumina Infinum Humanmethylation 27 genome-wide methylation microarrays. We found >2,200 statistically significant methylation differences between cancer cell lines and primary tumors and when comparing normal oral mucosa to keratinocyte cell lines. We found no statistically significant promoter methylation differences between primary tumor xenografts and primary tumors. This study demonstrates that tumor-derived xenografts are highly accurate representations of promoter methylation in primary tumors and that cancer derived cell lines have significant drawbacks for discovery of promoter methylation alterations in primary tumors. These findings also support use of primary tumor xenografts for the study of methylation in cancer, drug discovery, and the development of personalized cancer treatments

Działania opiekuńcze w profilaktyce i terapii

Praca recenzowana / Peer-reviewed paperOpieka jest potrzebna wszystkim, zarówno dzieciom, jak i dorosłym, a w sposób szczególny osobom starszym, w tym terminalnie chorym. Prezentowane w niniejszej monografi i teksty uwzględniają właśnie tę wieloczynnikową aktywność opiekuńczą. Autorami poszczególnych rozdziałów są pracownicy naukowi zaangażowani w proces edukacyjny w zakresie nauk o zdrowiu, pracujący w Krakowskiej Akademii im. Andrzeja Frycza Modrzewskiego, ale także studenci PWSZ w Tarnowie. W różnorodnym zakresie przedstawili i omówili oni główne tezy monografii

Anaphylaxis in Elderly Patients-Data From the European Anaphylaxis Registry

Background: Elicitors and symptoms of anaphylaxis are age dependent. However, little is known about typical features of anaphylaxis in patients aged 65 years or more. Methods: The data from the Network for Online Registration of Anaphylaxis (NORA) considering patients aged ≥65 (elderly) in comparison to data from adults (18–64 years) regarding elicitors, symptoms, comorbidities, and treatment measures were analyzed. Results: We identified 1,123 elderly anaphylactic patients. Insect venoms were the most frequent elicitor in this group (p < 0.001), followed by drugs like analgesics and antibiotics. Food allergens elicited less frequently anaphylaxis (p < 0.001). Skin symptoms occurred less frequently in elderly patients (77%, p < 0.001). The clinical symptoms were more severe in the elderly (51% experiencing grade III/IV reactions), in particular when skin symptoms (p < 0.001) were absent. Most strikingly, a loss of consciousness (33%, p < 0.001) and preexisting cardiovascular comorbidity (59%, p < 0.001) were more prevalent in the elderly. Finally, adrenaline was used in 30% of the elderly (vs. 26% in the comparator group, p < 0.001) and hospitalization was more often required (60 vs. 50%, p < 0.001). Discussion and Conclusion: Anaphylaxis in the elderly is often caused by insect venoms and drugs. These patients suffer more often from cardiovascular symptoms, receive more frequently adrenaline and require more often hospitalization. The data indicate that anaphylaxis in the elderly tends to be more frequently life threatening and patients require intensified medical intervention. The data support the need to recognize anaphylaxis in this patient group, which is prone to be at a higher risk for a fatal outcome

Les droits disciplinaires des fonctions publiques : « unification », « harmonisation » ou « distanciation ». A propos de la loi du 26 avril 2016 relative à la déontologie et aux droits et obligations des fonctionnaires

The production of tt‾ , W+bb‾ and W+cc‾ is studied in the forward region of proton–proton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.98±0.02 fb−1 . The W bosons are reconstructed in the decays W→ℓν , where ℓ denotes muon or electron, while the b and c quarks are reconstructed as jets. All measured cross-sections are in agreement with next-to-leading-order Standard Model predictions.The production of $t\overline{t}$, $W+b\overline{b}$ and $W+c\overline{c}$ is studied in the forward region of proton-proton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.98 $\pm$ 0.02 \mbox{fb}^{-1}. The $W$ bosons are reconstructed in the decays $W\rightarrow\ell\nu$, where $\ell$ denotes muon or electron, while the $b$ and $c$ quarks are reconstructed as jets. All measured cross-sections are in agreement with next-to-leading-order Standard Model predictions

Multidifferential study of identified charged hadron distributions in ZZ-tagged jets in proton-proton collisions at s=\sqrt{s}=13 TeV

Jet fragmentation functions are measured for the first time in proton-proton collisions for charged pions, kaons, and protons within jets recoiling against a $Z$ boson. The charged-hadron distributions are studied longitudinally and transversely to the jet direction for jets with transverse momentum 20 $< p_{\textrm{T}} < 100$ GeV and in the pseudorapidity range $2.5 < \eta < 4$. The data sample was collected with the LHCb experiment at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.64 fb$^{-1}$. Triple differential distributions as a function of the hadron longitudinal momentum fraction, hadron transverse momentum, and jet transverse momentum are also measured for the first time. This helps constrain transverse-momentum-dependent fragmentation functions. Differences in the shapes and magnitudes of the measured distributions for the different hadron species provide insights into the hadronization process for jets predominantly initiated by light quarks.Comment: All figures and tables, along with machine-readable versions and any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-013.html (LHCb public pages

Study of the B−→Λc+Λˉc−K−B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-} decay

The decay $B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-}$ is studied in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb experiment. In the $\Lambda_{c}^+ K^{-}$ system, the $\Xi_{c}(2930)^{0}$ state observed at the BaBar and Belle experiments is resolved into two narrower states, $\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}$ and $\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}$, whose masses and widths are measured to be $$m(\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}) = 2924.5 \pm 0.4 \pm 1.1 \,\mathrm{MeV}, \\ m(\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}) = 2938.5 \pm 0.9 \pm 2.3 \,\mathrm{MeV}, \\ \Gamma(\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}) = \phantom{000}4.8 \pm 0.9 \pm 1.5 \,\mathrm{MeV},\\ \Gamma(\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}) = \phantom{00}11.0 \pm 1.9 \pm 7.5 \,\mathrm{MeV},$$ where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. The results are consistent with a previous LHCb measurement using a prompt $\Lambda_{c}^{+} K^{-}$ sample. Evidence of a new $\Xi_{c}(2880)^{0}$ state is found with a local significance of $3.8\,\sigma$, whose mass and width are measured to be $2881.8 \pm 3.1 \pm 8.5\,\mathrm{MeV}$ and $12.4 \pm 5.3 \pm 5.8 \,\mathrm{MeV}$, respectively. In addition, evidence of a new decay mode $\Xi_{c}(2790)^{0} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} K^{-}$ is found with a significance of $3.7\,\sigma$. The relative branching fraction of $B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-}$ with respect to the $B^{-} \to D^{+} D^{-} K^{-}$ decay is measured to be $2.36 \pm 0.11 \pm 0.22 \pm 0.25$, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third originates from the branching fractions of charm hadron decays.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-028.html (LHCb public pages