Creating hope for incarcerated women

Connecticut is testing ways to help ex-offenders turn their lives around and improve their communities. A program that identifies motivated women and starts before their release is showing that a holistic approach can cut recidivism.Community-based social services - Women

Development of outbred CD1 mouse colonies with distinct standardized gut microbiota profiles for use in complex microbiota targeted studies.

Studies indicate that the gut microbiota (GM) can significantly influence both local and systemic host physiologic processes. With rising concern for optimization of experimental reproducibility and translatability, it is essential to consider the GM in study design. However, GM profiles can vary between rodent producers making consistency between models challenging. To circumvent this, we developed outbred CD1 mouse colonies with stable, complex GM profiles that can be used as donors for a variety of GM transfer techniques including rederivation, co-housing, cross-foster, and fecal microbiota transfer (FMT). CD1 embryos were surgically transferred into CD1 or C57BL/6 surrogate dams that varied by GM composition and complexity to establish four separate mouse colonies harboring GM profiles representative of contemporary mouse producers. Using targeted 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, subsequent female offspring were found to have similar GM profiles to surrogate dams. Furthermore, breeding colonies of CD1 mice with distinct GM profiles were maintained for nine generations, demonstrating GM stability within these colonies. To confirm GM stability, we shipped cohorts of these four colonies to collaborating institutions and found no significant variation in GM composition. These mice are an invaluable experimental resource that can be used to investigate GM effects on mouse model phenotype

Działalność synodalna w diecezji włocławskiej po Soborze Watykańskim II jako odpowiedź na potrzebę recepcji uchwał soborowych w Kościele partykularnym (refleksja pastoralno-kanoniczna)

The analysis of gathered material concerning synodal activities in The Church in Włocławek after The II Vatican Church Council indicates local bishops’ care and involvement in reception of conciliar resolutions to their individual church. More pastoral character of synodal institution contributed to a better response to The people of God present needs. Both, The First and The Second Roman Catholic Diocese of Włocławek’ Synod and their resolutions, reflect the latest history of synodal assemblies in Poland. It also brings goods of pastoral and juridical thought. The First Roman Catholic Diocese of Włocławek’ Synod was also the first synod in the individual church after The II Vatican Church Council. It was the very important event because it was a precedent in implementing conciliar reform in the individual church by synodal institution. Although, its structure and pro-cess considered conciliar reform and pastoral character, there was a lack of the laity among reform participants. Only after-conciliar Instruction of Bishops Congregation about pastoral ministry Ecclesiae imago from 22 of February 1973 underlined even more pastoral character of diocesan synods institutions. That is why, considering its regulations, the laity took part in the Second Roman Catholic Diocese of Włocławek’ Synod. Thanks to it, the good multiplied, as every synodal assembly brings it, because it aims to renewal of religious life of the individual church. The Church of Włocławek which has begun after-conciliar synodal work since 1967 – by the first diocesan synod, decided to continue this work by initiating the second after-conciliar synod. Thanks to these assemblies it was possible to implement the reform of The II Vatican Church Council quickly in The Roman Catholic Diocese of Włocławek.Analiza zebranego materiału, dotyczącego działalności synodalnej w Koś-ciele włocławskim po Soborze Watykańskim II, ukazuje zaangażowanie i troskę biskupów lokalnych w recepcję reform soborowych do ich Kościoła partykularnego. Bardziej duszpasterski i pastoralny charakter instytucji synodalnej przyczynił się do lepszej odpowiedzi na współczesne potrzeby Ludu Bożego. Zarówno Pierwszy, jak i Drugi Synod Diecezji Włocławskiej wpisały się swoimi uchwałami w najnowsze dzieje zgromadzeń synodalnych w Polsce, wnosząc jednocześnie do nich wielki dorobek myśli duszpasterskiej i prawniczej. Pierwszy Synod Diecezji Włocławskiej był również pierwszym synodem w kościele partykularnym po Soborze Watykańskim II. Jego bezprecedensowy charakter polegał na wprowadzaniu reformy soborowej w Kościele partykularnym za pomocą instytucji synodalnej. Mimo że jego struktura i przebieg uwzględniały reformę soborową oraz jego charakter pastoralny, to jednak zabrakło wśród uczestników obrad synodalnych osób świeckich. Dopiero posoborowa instrukcja Kongregacji Biskupów na temat pasterskiej posługi biskupów Ecclesiae imago z 22 lutego 1973 r. nakreśliła jeszcze bardziej pastoralny charakter instytucji synodów diecezjalnych. Dlatego, uwzględniając jej przepisy, w obradach Drugiego Synodu Diecezji Włocławskiej brały już udział osoby świeckie. Dzięki temu pomnożyło się dobro, jakie niesie ze sobą każde zgromadzenie synodalne, które ze swej natury dąży do odnowy życia religijnego danego Kościoła partykularnego. Kościół włocławski, który rozpoczął posoborowe dzieło synodalne już w roku 1967 – pierwszym synodem diecezjalnym, w kilkanaście lat później zdecydował się na kontynuowanie tego dzieła, inicjując swój kolejny, drugi posoborowy synod. Dzięki tym zgromadzeniom w diecezji włocławskiej szybko i sprawnie można było wprowadzić reformę Soboru Watykańskiego II, wymagającą wielu wysiłków i zabiegów ze strony zarówno biskupów, duchowieństwa, jak i wiernych świeckich

TOWARDS A NEW PARADIGM OF INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION?

Marketing communication has been undergoing dynamic transformations in recent years. The main factors influencing those changes are: globalization, technological progress and the digitisation of life. Moreover, customers’ needs and expectations related to the communication are evolving as well. Because of those changes, there is a need to adjust the concept of integrated marketing communication to the new reality. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is twofold. First, to analyse the consequences of above-mentioned transformations for the concept of integrated marketing communication. Second, to discuss the need of elaborating a new marketing communication paradigm and to indicate the directions and areas that ought to be adjusted. These deliberations will be based both on critical literature analysis and results of research carried out by the author

The 2011 Proposal for a Regulation on a Common European Sales Law: A House of Cards? – The Chapeau Rules as Foundations and the Necessary Extensions of the Personal and Territorial Scopes of Application

The EU has come a long way of various European Contract Law initiatives, consultation rounds with stakeholders and academic and political debates7 to arrive at the 2011 Proposal of the European Parliament and the Council for a Regulation on a Common European Sales Law (the Proposal).8 It is a Proposal for a second regime on the sale of goods which would be optional to opt-into by parties and would exist next to national contract laws of Member States for cross-border sale of goods transactions.9 However, in spite of all of these efforts to achieve a possible future Common European Sales Law, it is striking that most of the work and discussions were solely focused on the substantive rules which are to make up the future European tool.10 Thereby, the equally important chapeau rules, which set out the scopes of application of an instrument, remained largely neglected. The ratione personae (personal scope application) and ratione loci (territorial scope application) of the envisaged instrument constitute an intrinsic part of trying to create an instrument which tackles the barrier to trade consisting of different national contract law regimes. Setting the scopes too narrow (as it is the case in the current Proposal), making limitations on who can make use of the future instrument and in what specific situations, leads to undesirable practical results and ultimately makes the efforts of over two decades being in vain, for the attractiveness of such a Common European Sales Law (CESL) is greatly depreciated. The personal and territorial scopes of application of the Proposal are to be analysed carefully and thoroughly to facilitate the success of the envisaged instrument and achieve the Commission’s aim of enhancing the functioning the Internal Market of the EU. This paper shows that the current Proposal for a CESL is build on such weak ‘foundations’, consisting out of the scopes of application, that there is a very high probability of it collapsing like a house of cards. It will argue that there is a pressing need for an elaborative consideration and revision of the personal and territorial scopes of application by the European legislator in order to guarantee success

Analysis of the porous bone-implant fixation – experimental verification of numerical model

In this paper a new type of endoprothesis THRA with needle-palisade fixation system has been described. A numerical model of such fixation has been created. The developed model was subjected to experimental verification. During the test, the prototype of the needle palisade structure was inserted into the cancellous bone. The test results were compared with numerical simulation

Health promotion actions in mass-media for seniors in selected European countries

Background The paper consists results of research aimed at health promotion for older people (HP4OP) in mass-media in 10 selected European countries involved in project ProHealth 65+. Identification, describing and analysis of contemporary good practices sector in media allowed for review selected interventions, programmes and actions directed to seniors corresponding to health promotion. Research indicated main relationships that determine presence of media activities in health promotions focused on seniors. Methods The content of report has been focused on target group of elderly and prepared on ground of the literature review on public health and health promotion, analysis and evaluations of EU programmes and official reports, research studies focused on impact of mass-media for health, indications of experts and partners in project ProHealth 65+, documents describing realisations of mass-media initiatives, good practices in HP4OP and searches using PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Google and base CRODIS. Results The results of the research conducted that mass-media as sector can be one of a tool enabling promotion of health for older people through activities directed to HP4OP. Results of the studies  showed that mass-media engaged in health communication process apply all kind of health promotion functions. Research confirm significant role of media influencing knowledge, attitudes and behaviours about health related topics. Conclusion In the report was presented significance and important functions of media in societies not as a tool of information but additionally a source of  education and raising awareness in context of healthy and active ageing strategy in Europe. However potential of mass-media seems to be not completely appreciated and used in HP4OP process in 10 analysed countries. The conclusion can be substantial issue to further discussions and finding solutions how to strengthen engagement of mass-media in HP4OP

Phase-shifting by means of an electronically tunable lens: quantitative phase imaging of biological specimens with digital holographic microscopy

The use of an electronically tunable lens (ETL) to produce controlled phase shifts in interferometric arrangements is shown. The performance of the ETL as a phase-shifting device is experimentally validated in phase-shifting digital holographic microscopy. Quantitative phase maps of a section of the thorax of a Drosophila melanogaster fly and of human red blood cells have been obtained using our proposal. The experimental results validate the possibility of using the ETL as a reliable phase-shifter device