The Sexual Violence in the Society of the Polish Peasants in the 16th -18th centuries

Niniejsza praca dotyczy postrzegania przemocy seksualnej w społeczności chłopskiej w XVI-XVIII wieku, zamieszkującej tereny podległe Koronie. Pojęcie „przemocy seksualnej” nie istniało w świadomości ówczesnych chłopów i chłopek, jednakże to nie wykluczało kwestii, że dochodziło do czynności noszących znamiona przemocy seksualnej. Główna część pracy skupia się na próbach zrekonstruowania podejścia chłopstwa do czynności, odnoszących się do sfery seksualnej, które odbyły się bez jednoznacznej zgody jednej ze stron lub ta zgoda została wymuszona. Ten problem zostanie ukazany pod względem społecznym oraz prawnym.Thesis focuses on the problem of sexual violence in the society of the Polish peasants in the 16th – 18th centuries. The peasantry did not know the concept of “sexual violence”, but this does not exclude a situation in which there was a sexual assault. The main part of the paper focuses on attempts to reconstruct in legal and social terms peasants’ attitudes to sexual activities without consent or with forced consent

Lustrzane odbicia

In primo libro Naturalium Quaestionum imprimis, quemadmodum arcus fiat, a Seneca quaeritur. Omnis inquisitio, quae ad arcum pertineat, in partes tres dividi posse videtur. Primum, quae ab aliis proposita sunt, exponit, deinde collocutoribus falsis introductis superiora proposita refellit, denique magna cum subtiliate Posidonii opinionem, cui assentitur, exprimit. Illud dubium nulli esse posse censet, quin arcus speculari ratione fiat. Qui visus igitur non ob aliam causam in caelo fit, quam quia roscida concavaque nubes, cui forma pilae sectae est, speculi ratione imaginem solis reddit. Inter argumenta a scriptore ponitur arcus excitari non posse nisi contra solem. Praeterea arcus numquam dimidio circulo maior est, eoque minor quo altior sol est. Colores autem, quibus arcus depingitur, sole efficiuntur, sed cavendum ne illi, quibus species coloris sit, veri habeantur. Quam ob rem philosophus arcum caducam fugacemque effigiem et sine re similitudinem iudicat, quod in arcu nihil corporis certi subest, imago autem, quam in caelo videmus, fallacia speculi est. Seneca tractatis speculis naturalibus, quibus phaenomena admirari possumus, paulum a proposito aberrat, ut de Hostio Quadra, speculorum amatore, fabellam narret. Iste admissarius coitibus spectandis in speculis, quae reddentia imagines longe maiores fecerat, delectatus est. Sed quamvis uterque admirabiliter instrumentum inquisitionis speculum fecerit, Hostius tamen omnibus partibus ab philosopho differt. Quo sequitur, ut speculo, beneficio a natura dato, non solum qui et se ipsos et phaenomena cognituri sint, sed etiam qui voluptatibus diffluant utantur. Postremis verbis scriptor acerbe affirmat vitia hominum in processu esse, quod nequitas undique diffundat. Seneca ergo ad hominum mores etiam inquisitionem naturalium quaestionum refert.In Natural Question 1 Seneca presents the survey of the rainbow theories and declares himself in favour of the mirror theory drawn from Posidonius. He pronounces the rainbow to be the reflection of the sun in a moist, hollow cloud. This reflection is distorted due to the defectiveness of the natural mirror which is the above mentioned cloud. The scientific argument in Natural Question 1 is closed by the tale about Hostius Quadra, a sexual deviant who sees pleasures in watching his bodily acts in magnifying mirrors. The link between the scientific discourse and the Hostius episode is supplied by the theme of the rainbow or precisely the mirror and its wrong application by humans. Thus Seneca refers the catoptrical inquiry in the nature to the debate over the moral condition of the Roman society.XXII/27590

Effects of experimental evolution in terms of monogamy and polygamy on the male reproductive success in Rhizoglyphus robini.

Konflikt płciowy występuje, gdy obie płcie mają sprzeczne strategie dotyczące sposobu rozmnażania. Samiec zwiększa swój sukces rozrodczy poprzez kopulacje z wieloma samicami, podczas gdy sukces rozrodczy samicy zależy głównie od liczby posiadanego przez nią potomstwa. Teoria przewiduje, że w obliczu konfliktu płciowego dobór powinien działać w kierunku zwiększania sukcesu reprodukcyjnego samców, m.in. poprzez wzrost konkurencyjności plemników, nawet, gdy wiąże się to ze szkodliwym wpływem na dostosowanie partnerki. Aby przetestować tą hipotezę przeprowadzono badania mające na celu wykazanie różnic w sukcesie reprodukcyjnym samców pomiędzy systemami kojarzenia u promiskuitycznego gatunku roztoczy, Rhizoglyphus robini. Przewidywano, że samce z linii monogamicznych będą charakteryzować się niższym sukcesem rozrodczym niż samce z linii poligamicznych. W warunkach monogamii, w odróżnieniu od poligamii, nie działa dobór płciowy i nie występuje konflikt płciowy. Sprawia to, że interesy osobników obu płci są zbieżne, samce nie muszą rywalizować między sobą o samice, więc konkurencyjność plemników nie będzie mieć tu większego znaczenia, natomiast szkodliwy wpływ na partnerkę płciową będzie równoznaczny z obniżonym sukcesem rozrodczym samca. Na potrzeby eksperymentu stworzono 5 linii z wymuszoną monogamią oraz 5 linii poligamicznych, w których obecny był zarówno dobór płciowy, jak i konflikt płciowy. Różnice w konkurencyjności plemników oraz w sukcesie reprodukcyjnym pomiędzy samcami oszacowano po 40 pokoleniach eksperymentalnej ewolucji. Otrzymane wyniki nie potwierdziły przewidywań - nie stwierdzono istotnych różnic w sukcesie reprodukcyjnym samców z linii monogamicznych i poligamicznych.Sexual conflict occurs when males and females have divergent reproductive strategies. Male reproductive success increase with number of copulations they perform, whereas female reproductive depends on their fecundity. Theory predicts that, in the face of sexual conflict, selection would act to increase male reproductive success by increasing his sperm competitiveness. To test this hypothesis, studies were conducted to investigate the effect of the male mating system on his reproductive success in promiscuous mite species, Rhizoglyphus robini. It was assumed that males from monogamous lines would have a lower reproductive success than males of polygamous lines. In monogamy, interests of both sexes are congruent, so there is no possibility for the sexual selection and sexual conflict to occur. Monogamous males do not have to compete for access to females , so sperm competition is not important, while the harmfulness of the male results in his reduced reproductive success. 5 lines with enforced monogamy and 5 polygamous lines with sexual selection and sexual conflict were established. The differences in sperm competition and reproductive success between the males were estimated after 40 generations of experimental evolution. The results of the experiment did not confirm the prediction - there were no significant differences in reproductive success between males of monogamous and polygamous lines

The problem of witchcraft in “The Hammer of the Witches” and the situation in the Polish villages in XVII - XVIIII century

Niniejsza praca dotyczy porównania problemu czarów w „Młocie na czarownice” a postrzeganiem ich przez społeczność polskiej wsi. Te dwa punkty widzenia na temat diabła, czarownic oraz parania się czarami miały elementy wspólne, ale także wiele różnic. Główna część pracy skupia się na ukazaniu tych kwestii na podstawie polskiego tłumaczenia „Młota na czarownice” oraz wierzeń powstałych w kulturze ludowej.Thesis focuses on the problem of witchcraft in “The Hammer of the Witches” and the perception thereof by the society of the Polish villages. These two points of view concerning the devil, witches, and practicing witchcraft have had many elements in common, but also many differences. The main part of the paper focuses on showing these issues, basing on the Polish translation “The Hammer of the Witches” and the beliefs existing in the folk culture

Data from: Experimental evolution reveals balancing selection underlying coexistence of alternative male reproductive phenotypes

Heritable alternative reproductive phenotypes (ARPs), which differ in traits associated with competition for mates, occur across taxa. If polymorphism in the genes underlying ARPs is maintained by balancing selection, selection should return ARP proportions to their equilibrium if that equilibrium is perturbed. Here, we used an experimental evolution approach to directly test this prediction in male Rhizoglyphus robini, in which two heritable morphs occur: armoured fighters and more female-like, benign scramblers. Using selection lines nearly fixed for male morph, we constructed replicate populations consisting of 50% or 94% fighters, and allowed them to evolve for 14 generations in two types of environment: simple or spatially complex. We found that in both types of populations, the proportion of fighters converged on values within a narrow range of 0.70-0.83, although the rate of convergence was slower in the complex environment. Our results thus demonstrate balancing selection acting on polymorphism(s) underlying ARP

R.robini male morph number counted after experimental evolution in two types of environment.

Number of alternative male morphs assessed after 14 generations of experimental evolution in two types of environment differing in complexity level (simple and complex). Two levels of initial morph ratio were used (low and high) which gives 4 combinations of factors in total (simple/complex; low/high). Each combination were replicate 5 times (lines nested within combination of factors). Data were obtained by counting alternative male morphs after 1 generation of common garden conditions. Abbreviations used in column names: Line_id - number of line within combination of factors; Envir_complexity - environment complexity (simple/complex); Fighter_start_prop - initial proportion of fighters (low-50%/ high-94%); Fighters_end - number of fighters after 14 generations of evolution in conditions mentioned above; Scramblers_end - number of fighters after 14 generations of evolution in conditions mentioned above

Hydrogen Peroxide Detection at Electrochemically and Sol-Gel Derived Ir Oxide Films

Published in: Elzanowska, H., Abu-Irhayem, E., Skrzynecka, B. and Birss, V. I. (2004). "Hydrogen Peroxide Detection at Electrochemically and Sol-Gel Derived Ir Oxide Films". Electroanalysis, Vol. 16, No. 6: 478-490.Ye

Data from: Selection for alternative male reproductive tactics alters intralocus sexual conflict

Intralocus sexual conflict (IASC) arises when fitness optima for a shared trait differ between the sexes; such conflict may help maintain genetic variation within populations. Sex-limited expression of sexually antagonistic traits may help resolve the conflict, but the extent of this resolution remains a subject of debate. In species with alternative male reproductive tactics, unresolved conflict should manifest more in a more sexually dimorphic male phenotype. We tested this prediction in the bulb mite (Rhizoglyphus robini), a species in which aggressive fighters coexist with benign scramblers. To do this, we established replicated lines in which we increased the proportion of each of the alternative male morphs using artificial selection. After approximately 40 generations, the proportion of fighters and scramblers stabilized at >0.9 in fighter- and scrambler-selected lines, respectively. We then measured several female fitness components. As predicted by IASC theory, female fecundity and longevity was lower in lines selected for fighters and higher in lines selected for scramblers. This finding indicates that sexually selected phenotypes are associated with an ontogenetic conflict that is not easily resolved. Furthermore, we suggest that IASC may be an important mechanism contributing to the maintenance of genetic variation in the expression of alternative reproductive tactics