The Temporal Structures of the Economy: The Working Day of Taxi Drivers in Warsaw

Why do taxi drivers work when they work? Unlike those in many other occupations, taxi drivers do not have fixed working hours. This raises the question of what influences their working time. Based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative research conducted in Warsaw between November 2012 and June 2013, this dissertation argues that the working time of Warsaw taxi drivers is anchored in four “temporal structures”: earning time, waiting time, political time and domestic time. First, taxi drivers’ working time is dependent on the demand for their service, which structures their earning time. I argue that, since taxi drivers are coordinating agencies, their earning time is dependent on multiple superior coordination agencies that make up the multi-layered temporal architecture of Warsaw. Such agencies include the religious calendar and the state calendar. Second, taxi drivers’ working time is shaped by a temporal structure of waiting time. I trace the origin of this structure, showing how waiting time is linked to the emergence of capitalism in Poland in 1989. However, while the introduction of capitalism created the structural conditions for waiting time, I argue that waiting time is reproduced every day as taxi drivers have to cope with the uncertainty of demand for their service. Third, taxi drivers’ working time is anchored in political time since they try collectively to improve their working conditions through voice. I distinguish between different forms of voice, showing how and why the political actions of taxi drivers have been largely unsuccessful. Finally, taxi drivers work when they work because of a temporal structure of domestic time. Taxi drivers’ working time is shaped by the temporal order of their family life, which is often in conflict with the rhythm of the market. I describe how the gendered nature of domestic time, characterized by an unequal division of household labour, enables male taxi drivers to work long hours. By providing an explanation for taxi drivers’ working time, which highlights the temporal dimension of social life, this dissertation shows the need for economic sociology to study the impact of time on economic practices

Noninvasive evaluation of renal tissue oxygenation with blood oxygen level-dependent magnetic resonance imaging early after transplantation has a limited predictive value for the delayed graft function

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of renal oxygenation assessment using blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the early period after kidney transplantation and to estimate its prognostic value for delayed graft function. Material and methods: Examinations were performed in 50 subjects: 40 patients within a week after the kidney transplantation and 10 healthy controls, using T2*-weighted sequence. Measurements in transplant patients were correlated to basic laboratory parameters in the early period after transplantation and at follow-up. Results: Examinations of seven patients (18%) were rejected due to their poor technical quality. Mean R2* values in transplant recipients were lower than in controls (11.6 vs. 15.9 Hz; p = 0.0001). An R2* value of 0.28 Hz was calculated as the minimal detectable change. There was no relation between R2* values and laboratory parameters. However, patients eGFR ≥ 40 ml/min/1.73 m2 presented higher R2* values than recipients eGFR 0.7). Conclusions: Evaluation of renal graft oxygenation using BOLD MRI is technically challenging in the early period after transplantation. An R2* value of 0.28 Hz may in practice be considered as the minimal detectable change. The delayed graft function seems not to be dependent on early oxygenation values. Further, large-scale studies are necessary to confirm the latter observation

Risk factors of suicidal behavior in alcohol-dependent individuals

Problem zachowań samobójczych związanych z zaburzeniami psychicznymi jest od lat przedmiotem wielu badań. Jako grupy najwyższego ryzyka najczęściej są wymieniani pacjenci z zaburzeniami afektywnymi. Istnieją jednak wyniki badań sugerujące, że osoby uzależnione od alkoholu mogą być bardziej obciążone ryzykiem samobójstwa niż chorzy na depresję. Poszukiwanie czynników sprzyjających decyzjom samobójczym w tej grupie pacjentów jest zatem niezwykle ważne. Istotny wpływ na prawdopodobieństwo podjęcia zachowań samobójczych mają czynniki demograficzne, psychopatologiczne, psychologiczne, społeczne, rodzinne, biologiczne i genetyczne, a także związane ze stanem somatycznym pacjentów oraz przebiegiem uzależnienia od alkoholu i jego leczenia. W pracy dokonano przeglądu aktualnych badań oceniających poszczególne grupy czynników ryzyka zachowań samobójczych u osób uzależnionych od alkoholu. Psychiatria 2011; 8, 1: 7–17The problem of suicidal behavior related to psychiatric disorders has been investigated in numerous studies. As well known, patients with affective disorders are the group with the highest risk of suicide. Nevertheless, there is some research studies suggesting that alcohol dependence may increase risk of suicide, even larger than depression. Thus, investigating risk factors of suicide among alcoholics has become very important. There are several areas, which have been indicated as essential for risk of suicide in alcohol dependence, including demographic, psychopathological, psychological, social, family, biological, and genetic factors as well as health- -related, or history of abuse and its treatment. In the paper, current research studies on risk factors of suicide behavior in alcohol dependence are reviewed. Psychiatry 2011; 8, 1: 7–1

Coronary artery aneurysm after implantation of an endothelial progenitor cell capturing stent

The GenousTM stent coated with anti-CD34 antibodies has been designed to accelerate healing of the vessel by attracting circulating endothelial progenitor cells. Rapid restoration of a functional endothelial layer with a full coverage of the stent struts aims to minimise arterial injury after coronary stenting and to prevent thrombus formation and neointima proliferation. We report a case of a 56 year-old man who developed a coronary artery aneurysm after the implantation of a GenousTM stent due to an edge restenosis in sirolimus-eluting stent. We present diagnostics of our patient with the application of intravascular ultrasound and coronary computed tomography angiography, discuss his management, and hypothesise about the pathomechanism of aneurysm formation

Influence of augmentation on the performance of the double ResNet-based model for chest X-ray classification

Purpose: A pandemic disease elicited by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has become a serious health issue due to infecting millions of people all over the world. Recent publications prove that artificial intelligence (AI) can be used for medical diagnosis purposes, including interpretation of X-ray images. X-ray scanning is relatively cheap, and scan processing is not computationally demanding. Material and methods: In our experiment a baseline transfer learning schema of processing of lung X-ray images, including augmentation, in order to detect COVID-19 symptoms was implemented. Seven different scenarios of augmentation were proposed. The model was trained on a dataset consisting of more than 30,000 X-ray images. Results: The obtained model was evaluated using real images from a Polish hospital, with the use of standard metrics, and it achieved accuracy = 0.9839, precision = 0.9697, recall = 1.0000, and F1-score = 0.9846. Conclusions: Our experiment proved that augmentations and masking could be important steps of data pre-processing and could contribute to improvement of the evaluation metrics. Because medical professionals often tend to lack confidence in AI-based tools, we have designed the proposed model so that its results would be explainable and could play a supporting role for radiology specialists in their work

Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in the diagnosis of orbital cavernous hemangioma

Background: Cavernous hemangiomas are among the most common benign neoplasms observed in the eye socket, making up 3-7% of all pathological orbital masses. Scintigraphy using 99mTc-labeled red blood cells is the currently approved method regarding liver hemangiomas. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether the application of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with 99mTc-labeled RBCs is as useful in orbital hemangioma diagnostics as in evaluating liver hemangiomas. Case Report: SPECT diagnostics of the facial skeleton using 99mTc–labeled RBCs was carried out in two patients suspected of orbital hemangiomas. The erythrocytes were labeled by an in vivo method; 20 mCi (700 MBq) of 99mTc-pertechnetate was injected 20 minutes after intravenous application of pyrophosphate. SPECT of the facial skeleton with a one-head gamma camera was initiated 10 minutes after administering the radioisotope. Conclusions: SPECT with application of 99mTc-labeled RBCs might be a useful supplementary examination to US, CT, or MRI, especially with the use of fusion techniques (SPECT/MRI, SPECT/CT) in suspected orbital hemangiomas

Seasonal dynamics of dry matter accumulation and nutrients in a mature miscanthus × giganteus stand in the lower silesia region of poland

Funding: J.C.B. and P.R.H.R. were funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council strategic programme grant on Resilient Crops (BBS/E/W/10963A01).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Evaluation of carbetocin (Pabal) efficacy in the prevention of the postpartum hemorrhage in women after cesarean section – preliminary report

Abstract Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of carbetocin in prevention of PPH in women after cesarean section. Material and Methods: We enrolled 60 patients who had undergone cesarean section in tertiary referential center, Department of Perinatology, Medical University of Lodz, Poland, between January and June 2008. Each patient obtained a single 100μg dose of carbetocin intravenously during cesarean section, immediately after the delivery of the baby and prior to the delivery of the placenta . We evaluated postoperative blood parameters in 2 and 12 hours after the operation, the proportion of patients requiring additional uterotonic agents and adverse events in the whole population and in the group of women with high risk of PPH. Results: 58.1% of patients underwent emergency and 41.3% elective cesarean section delivery. The risk factor of PPH was identified in 38 women (63.3%). The results of this study indicate that carbetocin produces rapid and longlasting uterine tone. A small drop in mean hemoglobin and hematocrit levels 2 and 12 hours after the operation was observed. 15% of patients required the use of additional uterotonic agents. In the group of women with high risk of PPH, carbetocin appeared to be effective in 79% of the patients. Only 11.4% of patients had minor adverse events. Conclusions: Carbetocin appears to be an effective new drug in the prevention of postpartum hemorrhage, not only among women undergoing cesarean section but also in the group of women with PPH risk factors

Costs of the use of carbetocin in the prevention of uterine atony following delivery of the infant by Caesarean section — retrospective multicenter study

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the costs of using carbetocin in the prevention of uterine atony following delivery of the infant by Cesarean section (C-section) under epidural or spinal anesthesia with standard methods of prevention (SMP). Material and methods: This retrospective multicenter study was based on data from three medical centers. A questionnaire was developed to gather patient records on consumption and costs of resources related to C-section, prevention of uterine atony and postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) treatment. Six subpopulations were considered, depending on patient characteristics. The analysis covered two perspectives: that of the hospital and of the public payer. Results: The subpopulations were homogenous, which was a premise for pooling the data. The use of carbetocin in the prevention of uterine atony following Cesarean section generates savings for hospital in comparison with SMP (oxytocin) in 5 of 6 subpopulations. The biggest savings were observed amongst patients who experienced severe PPH and reached 2.6–6.2 thousand PLN per patient. Costs of services related to C-section borne by the hospitals were higher than the refund received from a public payer. The greatest underestimation reached 12.1 thousand PLN per patient. Nevertheless, loss generated by this underfunding was lower in carbetocin versus oxytocin group. Conclusions: The use of carbetocin instead of SMP gives hospitals an opportunity to make savings as well as to reduce losses resulting from the underfunding of the services provided by the National Health Fund

Recommendations of the Polish Medical Society of Radiology and the Polish Society of Neurology for the routinely used magnetic resonance imaging protocol in patients with multiple sclerosis

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a widely used method for the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) that is essential for the detection and follow-up of the disease. The Polish Medical Society of Radiology (PLTR) and the Polish Society of Neurology (PTN) present the second version of the recommendations for examinations routinely conducted in magnetic resonance imaging departments in patients with MS, which include new data and practical comments for electroradiology technicians and radiologists. The recommended protocol aims to improve the MRI procedure and, most importantly, to standardise the method of conducting scans in all MRI departments. This is crucial for the initial diagnostics that are necessary to establish a diagnosis as well as monitor patients with MS, which directly translates into significant clinical decisions. MS is a chronic idiopathic inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS), the aetiology of which is still unknown. The nature of the disease lies in the CNS destruction process disseminated in time and space. MRI detects focal lesions in the white and grey matter with high sensitivity (with significantly less specificity in the latter). It is also the best tool to assess brain atrophy in patients with MS in terms of grey matter volume and white matter volume as well as local atrophy (by measuring the volume of thalamus, corpus callosum, subcortical nuclei, hippocampus) as parameters that correlate with disability progression and cognitive dysfunctions. Progress in magnetic resonance techniques, as well as the abilities of postprocessing the obtained data, has become the basis for the dynamic development of computer programs that allow for a more repeatable assessment of brain atrophy in both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. MRI is unquestionably the best diagnostic tool used to follow up the course of the disease and to treat patients with MS. However, to diagnose and follow up the patients with MS on the basis of MRI in accordance with the latest standards, an MRI study must meet certain quality criteria, which are the subject of this paper