Authoritarianism, self-uncertainy, group identification and attitudes toward the outgroup.

Praca porusza zagadnienie reakcji autorytarnej – postawy obronnej, wzbudzonej u osób autorytarnych pod wpływem negatywnych i zagrażających bodźców, polegającej między innymi na wzmożeniu niechęci wobec grup obcych (Feldman i Stenner, 1997; Stellmacher i Petzel, 2005). Umiejscawia u jej źródeł niepewność osobistą, coraz częściej badaną w kontekście relacji międzygrupowych (Jost i in., 2007; Hogg, 2010; McGregor i in., 2010). Poszukuje czynników, które taką reakcję mogą osłabić bądź zablokować. Idąc tropem niektórych ustaleń empirycznych, mogłaby to być identyfikacja grupowa (Greenway i in., 2015, Nakashima i in., 2013; Sani i in., 2013). Przeprowadzono dwa badania, którym towarzyszyły dwa badania pomocnicze – eksperymentalnie wzbudzano w nich poczucie niepewności Ja oraz mierzono autorytaryzm, identyfikację i szereg innych czynników, istotnych z teoretycznego punktu widzenia. Zmiennymi zależnymi były różne miary postaw wobec imigrantów. W przypadku kluczowych miar zaobserwowano, że manipulacja niepewnością Ja wzbudzała reakcję autorytarną, zwiększając między innymi dystans społeczny wobec imigrantów. Z drugiej strony proces ten hamowany był przez wysoką identyfikację z grupą narodową (a także wysoką autoafirmację). Wzorzec ten zaobserwowano też w analizie danych sondażowych (European Value Study). Wynik ten pokazuje, że identyfikacja z grupą pełnić może istotną rolę regulacyjną i hamować wpływ negatywnych bodźców na to, jak jednostka postrzega innych. Wprowadza to ważną modyfikację do popularnych modeli, w których identyfikacja grupowa widziana jest jako czynnik wzmacniający negatywne postawy, wzbudzone pod wpływem zagrożenia. Wskazuje, że istotne może być to, czy zagrożenie dotyczy jednostki, czy działa też na poziomie grupowymThe goal of this paper was to investigate the subject of authoritarian reaction, which is a phenomen observed among authoritarians, manifesting in rise of negative feelings toward outgroup in response to threat or other kinds of negative feelings (Feldman & Stenner, 1997; Stellmacher & Petzel, 2005). It was hypothesized that one of the sources of that reaction might be a feeling of self-uncertainty, which recently gained attention in the context of intergroup relations (Jost et al., 2007; Hogg, 2010; McGregor et al., 2010). This research attempted to identify possible buffers for that reaction: following most recent findings, it was expected that group identification might be one of them (Greenway et al., 2015, Nakashima et al., 2013; Sani et al., 2013). In two main studies, with two accompanying ones, a self-uncertainty was experimentally induced, with measures of authoritarianism, identification, and other vital factors as moderators, and feelings towards immigrants as dependent variables were introduced. In both studies it was observed that authoritarian reaction, developed under the self-uncertainty conditions, was buffered by high level of national group identification (same for self-affirmation). This pattern was also observed in the analysis of the European Value Study survey results. The studies suggest that positive group identification may posses a crucial regulatory potential, allowing to cope with negative feelings induced by self-uncertainty. It also shows that the role of identification in the authoritarian reaction models should be revised, taking into account what kind – individual of group – threat is introduced

CZAS SŁODOWANIA ZIARNA JĘCZMIENIA BROWARNEGO JAKO CZYNNIK MODYFIKUJĄCY JAKOŚĆ SŁODU TYPU PILZNEŃSKIEGO

The research was aimed at determining the effect of malting time of grain of selected varieties of brewing barley cultivated in Poland on the quality of Pilsner type malts, with consideration given to their extractivity and natural losses. The experimental material was barley grain of the following varieties: Class, Blask, Riviera, Lailla, Hanka, Sebastian, Bolina, Philadelphia, Tolar, and Stratus. Grain fractions of >2.5 mm were used to produce 4, 5 and 6-day Pilsner type malts under laboratory conditions. The grain, malt and the resultant worts were evaluated and determined for the malting usability acc. to Molina-Cano. Analyses demonstrated that the 4, 5 and 6-day malting of barley grain enabled obtaining malts with functional parameters corresponding to standard values. Elongation of the malting time from 4 to 6 days does not elicit any significant changes in the extractivity of malt, nor in the malting usability of grain, however it increases natural losses of the malted matter.Celem pracy było określenie wpływu czasu słodowania ziarna wybranych odmian jęczmienia browarnego uprawianego w Polsce na jakość słodów typu pilzneńskiego, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem ich ekstraktywności i ubytków naturalnych. Materiałem badawczym było ziarno jęczmienia odmian: Class, Blask, Riviera, Lailla, Hanka, Sebastian, Bolina, Philadelphia, Tolar, Stratus. Z frakcji ziarna o grubości >2,5 mm wyprodukowano w warunkach laboratoryjnych 4, 5 i 6-dniowe słody typu pilzneńskiego. Ziarno, słód i uzyskane z nich brzeczki laboratoryjne poddano ocenie. Określono przydatność słodowniczą ziarna metodą Molina-Cano. Stwierdzono, że 4, 5 i 6-dniowe słodowanie ziarna jęczmienia pozwala na pozyskiwanie słodów o parametrach użytkowych mieszczących się w przedziałach wartości normatywnych. Wydłużanie czasu słodowania z 4 do 6 dni nie powoduje istotnych zmian ekstraktywności słodów, ani przydatności słodowniczej ziarna, zwiększa natomiast ubytki naturalne słodowanej masy

On the influence of various physicochemical properties of the CNTs based implantable devices on the fibroblasts' reaction in vitro

Coating the material with a layer of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has been a subject of particular interest for the development of new biomaterials. Such coatings, made of properly selected CNTs, may constitute an implantable electronic device that facilitates tissue regeneration both by specific surface properties and an ability to electrically stimulate the cells. The goal of the presented study was to produce, evaluate physicochemical properties and test the applicability of highly conductible material designed as an implantable electronic device. Two types of CNTs with varying level of oxidation were chosen. The process of coating involved suspension of the material of choice in the diluent followed by the electrophoretic deposition to fabricate layers on the surface of a highly biocompatible metal-titanium. Presented study includes an assessment of the physicochemical properties of the material’s surface along with an electrochemical evaluation and in vitro biocompatibility, cytotoxicity and apoptosis studies in contact with the murine fibroblasts (L929) in attempt to answer the question how the chemical composition and CNTs distribution in the layer alters the electrical properties of the sample and whether any of these properties have influenced the overall biocompatibility and stimulated adhesion of fibroblasts. The results indicate that higher level of oxidation of CNTs yielded materials more conductive than the metal they are deposited on. In vitro study revealed that both materials were biocompatible and that the cells were not affected by the amount of the functional group and the morphology of the surface they adhered to

Bioresorbable Stent in Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

The exact causes of failure of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction are still unknown. A key to successful ACL reconstruction is the prevention of bone tunnel enlargement (BTE). In this study, a new strategy to improve the outcome of ACL reconstruction was analyzed using a bioresorbable polylactide (PLA) stent as a catalyst for the healing process. The study included 24 sheep with 12 months of age. The animals were randomized to the PLA group (n = 16) and control group (n = 8), subjected to the ACL reconstruction with and without the implantation of the PLA tube, respectively. The sheep were sacrificed 6 or 12 weeks post-procedure, and their knee joints were evaluated by X-ray microcomputed tomography with a 50 m resolution. While the analysis of tibial and femoral tunnel diameters and volumes demonstrated the presence of BTE in both groups, the enlargement was less evident in the PLA group. Also, the microstructural parameters of the bone adjacent to the tunnels tended to be better in the PLA group. This suggested that the implantation of a bioresorbable PLA tube might facilitate osteointegration of the tendon graft after the ACL reconstruction. The beneficial e ects of the stent were likely associated with osteogenic and osteoconductive properties of polylactide

RNA FRABASE version 1.0: an engine with a database to search for the three-dimensional fragments within RNA structures

The RNA FRABASE is a web-accessible engine with a relational database, which allows for the automatic search of user-defined, 3D RNA fragments within a set of RNA structures. This is a new tool to search and analyse RNA structures, directed at the 3D structure modelling. The user needs to input either RNA sequence(s) and/or secondary structure(s) given in a ‘dot-bracket’ notation. The algorithm searching for the requested 3D RNA fragments is very efficient. As of August 2007, the database contains: (i) RNA sequences and secondary structures, in the ‘dot-bracket’ notation, derived from 1065 protein data bank (PDB)-deposited RNA structures and their complexes, (ii) a collection of atom coordinates of unmodified and modified nucleotide residues occurring in RNA structures, (iii) calculated RNA torsion angles and sugar pucker parameters and (iv) information about base pairs. Advanced query involves filters sensitive to: modified residue contents, experimental method used and limits of conformational parameters. The output list of query-matching RNA fragments gives access to their coordinates in the PDB-format files, ready for direct download and visualization, conformational parameters and information about base pairs. The RNA FRABASE is automatically, monthly updated and is freely accessible at http://rnafrabase.ibch.poznan.pl (mirror at http://cerber.cs.put.poznan.pl/rnadb)

The ESCAPE project : Energy-efficient Scalable Algorithms for Weather Prediction at Exascale

In the simulation of complex multi-scale flows arising in weather and climate modelling, one of the biggest challenges is to satisfy strict service requirements in terms of time to solution and to satisfy budgetary constraints in terms of energy to solution, without compromising the accuracy and stability of the application. These simulations require algorithms that minimise the energy footprint along with the time required to produce a solution, maintain the physically required level of accuracy, are numerically stable, and are resilient in case of hardware failure. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) led the ESCAPE (Energy-efficient Scalable Algorithms for Weather Prediction at Exascale) project, funded by Horizon 2020 (H2020) under the FET-HPC (Future and Emerging Technologies in High Performance Computing) initiative. The goal of ESCAPE was to develop a sustainable strategy to evolve weather and climate prediction models to next-generation computing technologies. The project partners incorporate the expertise of leading European regional forecasting consortia, university research, experienced high-performance computing centres, and hardware vendors. This paper presents an overview of the ESCAPE strategy: (i) identify domain-specific key algorithmic motifs in weather prediction and climate models (which we term Weather & Climate Dwarfs), (ii) categorise them in terms of computational and communication patterns while (iii) adapting them to different hardware architectures with alternative programming models, (iv) analyse the challenges in optimising, and (v) find alternative algorithms for the same scheme. The participating weather prediction models are the following: IFS (Integrated Forecasting System); ALARO, a combination of AROME (Application de la Recherche a l'Operationnel a Meso-Echelle) and ALADIN (Aire Limitee Adaptation Dynamique Developpement International); and COSMO-EULAG, a combination of COSMO (Consortium for Small-scale Modeling) and EULAG (Eulerian and semi-Lagrangian fluid solver). For many of the weather and climate dwarfs ESCAPE provides prototype implementations on different hardware architectures (mainly Intel Skylake CPUs, NVIDIA GPUs, Intel Xeon Phi, Optalysys optical processor) with different programming models. The spectral transform dwarf represents a detailed example of the co-design cycle of an ESCAPE dwarf. The dwarf concept has proven to be extremely useful for the rapid prototyping of alternative algorithms and their interaction with hardware; e.g. the use of a domain-specific language (DSL). Manual adaptations have led to substantial accelerations of key algorithms in numerical weather prediction (NWP) but are not a general recipe for the performance portability of complex NWP models. Existing DSLs are found to require further evolution but are promising tools for achieving the latter. Measurements of energy and time to solution suggest that a future focus needs to be on exploiting the simultaneous use of all available resources in hybrid CPU-GPU arrangements

Hepatitis C virus quasispecies in chronically infected children subjected to interferon–ribavirin therapy

Accumulating evidence suggests that certain features of hepatitis C virus (HCV), especially its high genetic variability, might be responsible for the low efficiency of anti-HCV treatment. Here, we present a bioinformatic analysis of HCV-1a populations isolated from 23 children with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) subjected to interferon–ribavirin therapy. The structures of the viral quasispecies were established based on a 132-amino-acid sequence derived from E1/E2 protein, including hypervariable region 1 (HVR1). Two types of HCV populations were identified. The first type, found in non-responders, contained a small number of closely related variants. The second type, characteristic for sustained responders, was composed of a large number of distantly associated equal-rank variants. Comparison of 445 HVR1 sequences showed that a significant number of variants present in non-responding patients are closely related, suggesting that certain, still unidentified properties of the pathogen may be key factors determining the result of CHC treatment

The ESCAPE project: Energy-efficient Scalable Algorithms for Weather Prediction at Exascale

Abstract. In the simulation of complex multi-scale flows arising in weather and climate modelling, one of the biggest challenges is to satisfy strict service requirements in terms of time to solution and to satisfy budgetary constraints in terms of energy to solution, without compromising the accuracy and stability of the application. These simulations require algorithms that minimise the energy footprint along with the time required to produce a solution, maintain the physically required level of accuracy, are numerically stable, and are resilient in case of hardware failure. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) led the ESCAPE (Energy-efficient Scalable Algorithms for Weather Prediction at Exascale) project, funded by Horizon 2020 (H2020) under the FET-HPC (Future and Emerging Technologies in High Performance Computing) initiative. The goal of ESCAPE was to develop a sustainable strategy to evolve weather and climate prediction models to next-generation computing technologies. The project partners incorporate the expertise of leading European regional forecasting consortia, university research, experienced high-performance computing centres, and hardware vendors. This paper presents an overview of the ESCAPE strategy: (i) identify domain-specific key algorithmic motifs in weather prediction and climate models (which we term Weather & Climate Dwarfs), (ii) categorise them in terms of computational and communication patterns while (iii) adapting them to different hardware architectures with alternative programming models, (iv) analyse the challenges in optimising, and (v) find alternative algorithms for the same scheme. The participating weather prediction models are the following: IFS (Integrated Forecasting System); ALARO, a combination of AROME (Application de la Recherche à l'Opérationnel à Meso-Echelle) and ALADIN (Aire Limitée Adaptation Dynamique Développement International); and COSMO–EULAG, a combination of COSMO (Consortium for Small-scale Modeling) and EULAG (Eulerian and semi-Lagrangian fluid solver). For many of the weather and climate dwarfs ESCAPE provides prototype implementations on different hardware architectures (mainly Intel Skylake CPUs, NVIDIA GPUs, Intel Xeon Phi, Optalysys optical processor) with different programming models. The spectral transform dwarf represents a detailed example of the co-design cycle of an ESCAPE dwarf. The dwarf concept has proven to be extremely useful for the rapid prototyping of alternative algorithms and their interaction with hardware; e.g. the use of a domain-specific language (DSL). Manual adaptations have led to substantial accelerations of key algorithms in numerical weather prediction (NWP) but are not a general recipe for the performance portability of complex NWP models. Existing DSLs are found to require further evolution but are promising tools for achieving the latter. Measurements of energy and time to solution suggest that a future focus needs to be on exploiting the simultaneous use of all available resources in hybrid CPU–GPU arrangements