Wpływ wyborów prezydenckich na zmiany układu sił w systemie partyjnym w Polsce

The aim of the article is to present the impact of presidential elections on the formation of the power structure within the party system in Poland. This analysis tries to highlight the impact of presidential elections on the party scene while emphasizing the rank of the presidential elections. The expediency of the participation of political parties in the election of the head of state does not boil down to achieving victory. These elections also fulfil a number of other functions for them, leading with the mobilization of the electorate and their own party structures. The author presents the specifics of the impact of presidential elections on the party system in such areas as: systemic influence, inter-party rivalry, as well as the formation of the internal situation of the party. The scope of this article does not cover the 1990 presidential elections. This is mainly due to the non-crystallised involvement of political parties in the presidential election. For this reason, the analysis has been limited to the presidential elections since 1995.Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie wpływu wyborów prezydenckich na kształtowanie się układu sił w ramach systemu partyjnego w Polsce. Niniejsza analiza próbuje uwidocznić oddziaływanie elekcji prezydenckich na scenę partyjną przy jednoczesnym podkreśleniu rangi wyborów prezydenta RP. Celowość udziału partii politycznych w wyborach głowy państwa nie sprowadza się tylko do odniesienia zwycięstwa. Wybory te pełnią dla nich również wiele innych funkcji, na czele z mobilizacją elektoratu i własnych struktur partyjnych. Autor przedstawia specyfikę wpływu wyborów prezydenckich na system partyjny w takich obszarach, jak: oddziaływanie systemowe, rywalizacja międzypartyjna, a także kształtowanie się sytuacji wewnętrznej ugrupowania. Niniejszy artykuł swoim zasięgiem nie obejmuje wyborów prezydenckich 1990 r. Brak ich uwzględnienia wynika głównie z niewykrystalizowanego zaangażowania partii politycznych w elekcję prezydencką. Z tego powodu analizę ograniczono do wyborów prezydenckich od 1995 r

Funkcje Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej w odniesieniu do praktyki politycznej

The main purpose of the article is to present the functions of the Polish President in terms of political practice. The aim of the work, formulated in this way, goes beyond formal legal concepts and, at the same, time points to the practical dimensions of the functions performed by the head of state in the Polish political system. The basic research hypothesis is the assumption that the Polish President, by virtue of his prerogatives, has the opportunity to act as an active player on the Polish political scene.Discussions on the functions of the Head of State in relation to political practice began with the analysis of the position of the Polish President. This section describes the process of constitutional development of the Office. The President’s duties were then discussed, with particular reference to their practical dimension.The various strands of the study led to the conclusion that the position of the Polish President makes him an important political centre for the implementation of the current policies of the state.Głównym celem artykułu jest przedstawienie funkcji Prezydenta RP analizowanych pod kątem praktyki politycznej. Tak sformułowany cel pracy wychodzi poza ujęcia formalno-prawne, jednocześnie wskazując na praktyczne wymiary funkcji pełnionych przez głowę państwa w polskim systemie politycznym. Podstawową hipotezę badawczą stanowi założenie zgodnie z którym, Prezydent RP za sprawą posiadanych prerogatyw ma możliwość pełnienia roli aktywnego aktora na polskiej scenie politycznej. Punktem wyjścia do rozważań związanych z funkcjami głowy państwa w odniesieniu do praktyki politycznej, była analiza pozycji ustrojowej Prezydenta RP. Przedstawiono w tej części proces ustrojowego kształtowania się pozycji tego urzędu. Następnie omówione zostały funkcje pełnione przez Prezydenta ze szczególnym wskazaniem na ich praktyczny wymiar. Poszczególne wątki opracowania doprowadziły do wniosków zgodnie z którymi można wskazać, iż pozycja ustrojowa Prezydenta RP czyni go istotnym ośrodkiem politycznym z punktu widzenia prowadzenia bieżącej polityki państwa

Drug Susceptibility Profiling of Prototheca Species Isolated from Cases of Human Protothecosis

Prototheca are unicellular, achlorophyllous, yeast-like microalgae that occur in a wide range of natural habitats. At least five species have been implicated as the causative agents of opportunistic infections of men. Human protothecosis typically manifests as cutaneous, articular, or systemic disease. Treatment is largely empirical with poorly predictable and often unsuccessful outcomes. This is largely due to the frequently observed resistance of Prototheca species to conventional antimicrobial agents. This work is the first to perform drug susceptibility profiling exclusively on isolates from human cases of protothecosis. A total of 23 such isolates were tested against amphotericin B and 9 azoles, including efinaconazole and luliconazole, whose activities against Prototheca have never been studied before. Efinaconazole was the most active, with median minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum algicidal concentration (MAC) values of 0.031 mg/L and 0.063 mg/L, respectively. Fluconazole and luliconazole had the lowest activity, with median MIC and MAC values of 128 mg/L. To conclude, amphotericin B and most of the azoles showed in vitro activity, with an algicidal rather than algistatic effect, against Prototheca. Still, the activity of individual drugs differed significantly between the species and even between strains of the same species. These differences can be attributed to a species-specific potential for acquiring drug resistance, which, in turn, might be linked to the treatment history of the patient from whom the strain was recovered. The results of this study underscore the potential clinical utility of efinaconazole as a promising therapeutic agent for the treatment of human protothecosis

Recent Developments in Mycobacteriology: A Clinical and Diagnostic Perspective

Editorial for a special issue of the journal "BioMed Research International" with Table of contents.International audienceMycobacteria comprise a diverse group of bacteria that are widely distributed in nature, some of which cause significant disease in humans. The most prominent representative of this group is the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, which includes the etiological agents of tuberculosis (TB), which, with over 8 million new cases and nearly 2 million deaths annually, continues to cause one of the major health burdens for humans. This complex also includes the causative agents of TB in animals, of which Mycobacterium bovis, the causative agent of bovine TB is the most prominent. Whereas the prevalence of TB has been closely monitored in most parts of the world, the epidemiology of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infections remains poorly defined; in spite of the fact that the importance of NTMs as a cause of opportunistic infections of humans has been increasingly recognized over the last two decades, particularly in areas where the incidence of TB is in decline. The purpose of this special issue is to provide a reader with some recent achievements in mycobacteriology, with particular emphasis on the developments which have direct relevance to the clinical practice and diagnostic performance. The articles within this issue differ considerably from each other with respect to their research scopes and methodologies, thus reflecting the multidirectional character of the research in the ever-expanding field of mycobacteriology. We face an exciting era in mycobacteriology, where greater understanding of the mycobacteria leads to technical improvements that change clinical practice and these techniques in turn help to curb the epidemic of mycobacterial diseases of humans and animals

The modified Peyton approach in the teaching of cardiac auscultation

Background: The aim of the study was to evaluate the usefulness of the modified Peyton’s four-step approach in the teaching of cardiac auscultation and to determine students’ perception of Peyton’s four-step approach. Methods: The opinion of the participants on the usefulness of the modifi ed four-step approach was attained through the use of anonymous questionnaires, voluntarily completed by students, and on the basis of semi-structured interviews conducted with a subset of students. 187 second-year students of our 6-year long curriculum were enrolled. They attended an obligatory Laboratory Training of Clinical Skills course. The average group size was 16 students. Results: The survey findings identified that 88.1% of participants found it helpful in developing their understanding of cardiac auscultation. 89.8% of all participants claimed that the new modified four-step approach facilitated memorization. The modified Peyton’s four-step method allows for better organization of classes in the opinion of 87.6% students. The advantages of the method were noticed by the majority of students. Conclusions: The modified Peyton’s four-step approach in the teaching of cardiac auscultation under laboratory conditions was perceived by students to be a comprehensible method that facilitates understanding and memorization. This approach allows for improved organization of classes. From the student’s perspective this method allows one to master the technique of cardiac auscultation in the classroom, through the increased demand of the participants’ attention, activity and involvement

The modified Peyton's approach and students' learning style

Background: The aim of the study was to determine the predominant learning style and type of intelligence based on the VARK questionnaire and Multiple Intelligences Questionnaire respectively in second year medical students. Determining the relationship between individual preferences of students, based on their learning style and predominant type of intelligence and the perception of the modified Peyton’s four-step approach used to teach cardiac auscultation. Methods: The opinion of participants 236 of the modified four-step approach was attained through the use of anonymous questionnaires. Using the VARK questionnaire, the participants’ learning style was defined. The predominant type of intelligence was determined by the Multiple Intelligences Question-naire. Results: The kinesthetic style was the predominant unimodal learning style in second year medical students (in Polish and international students). The most predominant type of intelligence in Polish students was visual-spatial and mathematical and logical, while in international students the predominant types were visual-spatial and mixed type of intelligence. Quantitative analysis indicated that the modified Peyton’s approach is a valuable learning and teaching method for most students, independent of their predominant learning style or intelligence type. The exception was a small group of students with lin-guistic intelligence predominance according to the Multiple Intelligence Questionnaire, for which the Peyton method was more difficult. Conclusions: This study proves that the modified Peyton’s approach is useful and effective didactic tool and can be successfully applied to most students. This is a new learning strategy for teaching cardiac auscultation in laboratory conditions in classes for a significant majority. Due to the fact that a group of students with a predominance of linguistic intelligence more often perceived the Peyton method to be difficult, it is worth combining traditional methods with new ones in class so that all students, regardless of unimodal learning style or prevailing type of intelligence, are taught satisfactorily