After years of above-average growth, Poland now faces the spectre of recession.

In comparison to the rest of Europe, Poland has experienced stand-out economic performance since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008. However, Gavin Rae warns that this performance is largely based on the Polish government’s ability to leverage funding from the EU. With a declining EU budget that now focuses on innovation over infrastructure, as well as increased budgetary pressures, Poland may now face the real possibility of recession

Mixed opinions: public attitudes towards the welfare state in Poland

This paper examines public opinion in Poland towards welfare policies and structures. We start by outlining the main research into welfare state models, in particular drawing on the welfare state typologies of Esping-Andersen. We then outline the existing contradictory research that exists on whether a distinct welfare state model is identifiable in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), including Poland. We use this as a context to analyse the opinions of Poles towards the welfare state. Our research uses original quantitative data garnered from a survey carried out on a representative sample in Poland. There is particular strong support for aspects of the social democratic welfare state model within Polish society. Furthermore, large sections of Polish society remain supportive of some of the welfare structures that were existent during Communism. Concurrently, there is significant support for a liberal welfare state model within the most privileged sections of society. The analysis therefore finds that the opinions of Polish society are mixed, which to some degree reflects the hybrid nature of its welfare state.Niniejszy artykuł analizuje opinię publiczną w Polsce w odniesieniu do polityki i struktur państwa opiekuńczego. Rozpoczynamy od przedstawienia głównych badań nad modelami państwa opiekuńczego, w szczególności opierając się na typologii państwa opiekuńczego Espinga-Andersena. Następnie przedstawiamy istniejące sprzeczne badania dotyczące tego, czy w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej (EŚW), w tym w Polsce, można zidentyfikować odrębny model państwa opiekuńczego. Wykorzystujemy to jako kontekst analizy opinii Polaków na temat państwa opiekuńczego. Nasze badania wykorzystują oryginalne dane ilościowe uzyskane z badania przeprowadzonego na reprezentatywnej próbie w Polsce. W polskim społeczeństwie istnieje szczególnie silne poparcie dla aspektów socjaldemokratycznego modelu państwa opiekuńczego. Co więcej, duża część polskiego społeczeństwa nadal popiera niektóre struktury opiekuńcze istniejące w czasach komu nizmu. Jednocześnie w najbardziej uprzywilejowanych grupach społecznych istnieje znaczne poparcie dla liberalnego modelu państwa opiekuńczego. Z analizy wynika zatem, że opinie polskiego społeczeństwa są mieszane, co do pewnego stopnia odzwierciedla hybrydowy charakter państwa opiekuńczego

The Ethical Self in the Later Foucault: the Question of Normativity

Michel’s Foucault’s later work has been the subject of much critical interest regarding the question of whether it provides a normative stance that prescribes how the self ought to act. Having frst outlined the nature of the debate, I engage with Foucault’s comparative analysis of the ethical systems of ancient Greeks and Christianity to show that he holds that the former maintains that the ethical subject was premised not on adherence to a priori rules as in Christianity, but from and around an on-going process of practical experimentation. From this, Foucault goes on to describe the practices through which the self acted to make and re-make itself, which leads to the question of whether such descriptions also contain prescriptions as to how the self should act. I argue that they do contain a prescriptively normative stance, but in a very specifc sense. Rather than delineating the specifc ethical commitments we should adopt, Foucault takes of from the example of the ancient Greeks to insist that individuals should adopt an indeterminate orientating principle based on absolute openness to each context, with this principle given content through a context-specifc, spontaneous, on-going, and inherently individual, albeit socially situated, process of practical experimentation. The result is a highly original account of normativity that makes individuals absolutely responsible for themselves and their ethical activities in each moment

Mixed opinions: public attitudes towards the welfare state in Poland

This paper examines public opinion in Poland towards welfare policies and structures. We start by outlining the main research into welfare state models, in particular drawing on the welfare state typologies of Esping-Andersen. We then outline the existing contradictory research that exists on whether a distinct welfare state model is identifiable in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), including Poland. We use this as a context to analyse the opinions of Poles towards the welfare state. Our research uses original quantitative data garnered from a survey carried out on a representative sample in Poland. There is particular strong support for aspects of the social democratic welfare state model within Polish society. Furthermore, large sections of Polish society remain supportive of some of the welfare structures that were existent during Communism. Concurrently, there is significant support for a liberal welfare state model within the most privileged sections of society. The analysis therefore finds that the opinions of Polish society are mixed, which to some degree reflects the hybrid nature of its welfare state

Evaluation of Serious Infection in Pediatric Patients with Low Immunoglobulin Levels Receiving Rituximab for Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis or Microscopic Polyangiitis

Introduction: The aim of this work was to assess the impact of prolonged low immunoglobulin (IgG or IgM) serum concentrations on the potential cumulative serious infection (SI) risk in pediatric patients following rituximab treatment for granulomatosis with polyangiitis or microscopic polyangiitis (GPA/MPA) in PePRS. Methods: Patients aged ≥ 2 to < 18 years received four weekly intravenous rituximab infusions of 375 mg/m2 and concomitant glucocorticoid taper. After 6 months, patients could receive further rituximab and/or other immunosuppressants per investigator discretion. Immunoglobulin levels and SIs were assessed throughout the 4.5-year observation period. Prolonged low IgG or IgM was defined as below the lower limit of normal age-specific reference range for ≥ 4 months. Results: A total of 25 patients were included, of whom 19 (76%) had GPA and six (24%) had MPA; 18 (72%) had newly diagnosed disease and seven (28%) had relapsing disease. All 25 patients completed the rituximab induction regimen; 24 completed ≥ 18 months of follow-up. At month 18, eighteen patients (72%) had prolonged low IgG; 19 (76%), prolonged low IgM; and 15 (60%), both. Seven patients (28%) had nine SIs; one occurred during or after prolonged low IgG only, two during or after prolonged low IgM only, and six during or after concurrent prolonged low IgG and IgM. No patients died or discontinued the study due to SI. All patients had complete and sustained peripheral B-cell depletion for ≥ 6 months. Conclusions: The majority of pediatric patients who received rituximab for GPA/MPA with prolonged low immunoglobulin levels did not experience SIs. In patients with SIs, these events were manageable, and the number of SIs did not increase over time or with multiple rituximab treatments. These observations are consistent with the rituximab safety profile in adults with GPA/MPA. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT01750697

Transborder Teaching/Docencia transfronteriza

“Trans-Border Teaching / Docencia transfronteriza” (TBT) fue un proyecto de innovación docente internacional, virtual e interdisciplinario con el objetivo global de fomentar la internacionalización de la docencia en la Facultad de Filosofía de la UCM. Motivado en parte por el objetivo de la Unión Europea (UE) de armonizar sus distintos sistemas académicos, TBT creó y dinamizó un espacio de interacción para miembros de la Facultad de Filosofía de la UCM—PDI, PAS y estudiantes—con miembros PDI de universidades situadas en otros países europeos (Inglaterra y Portugal) y no europeos (Egipto). Las actividades, que fueron virtuales, se compusieron de (1) reuniones privadas entre el equipo de trabajo del proyecto para discutir, libre y abiertamente, los métodos que se usan para enseñar filosofía y su eficacia; (2) una serie de intercambios donde los miembros PDI de las universidades del extranjero impartieron una clase (en inglés) a los estudiantes de los cursos en inglés de los miembros PDI de la UCM; (3) la organización de un congreso internacional para discutir el tema y facilitar el intercambio de ideas con investigadores internacionales situados en sistemas académicos no representados en el proyecto.Depto. de Lógica y Filosofía TeóricaFac. de FilosofíaFALSEsubmitte

Evaluating the utility of B/Ca ratios in planktic foraminifera as a proxy for the carbonate system: A case study of Globigerinoides ruber

B/Ca ratios in foraminifera have attracted considerable scientific attention as a proxy for past ocean carbonate system. However, the carbonate system controls on B/Ca ratios are not straightforward, with ?[ inline image] ([ inline image]in situ – [ inline image]at saturation) correlating best with B/Ca ratios in benthic foraminifera, rather than pH, inline image, or inline image (as a simple model of boron speciation in seawater and incorporation into CaCO3 would predict). Furthermore, culture experiments have shown that in planktic foraminifera properties such as salinity and [B]sw can have profound effects on B/Ca ratios beyond those predicted by simple partition coefficients. Here, we investigate the controls on B/Ca ratios in G. ruber via a combination of culture experiments and core-top measurements, and add to a growing body of evidence that suggests B/Ca ratios in symbiont-bearing foraminiferal carbonate are not a straightforward proxy for past seawater carbonate system conditions. We find that while B/Ca ratios in culture experiments covary with pH, in open ocean sediments this relationship is not seen. In fact, our B/Ca data correlate best with [ inline image] (a previously undocumented association) and in most regions, salinity. These findings might suggest a precipitation rate or crystallographic control on boron incorporation into foraminiferal calcite. Regardless, our results underscore the need for caution when attempting to interpret B/Ca records in terms of the ocean carbonate system, at the very least in the case of mixed-layer planktic foraminifera

Formación para la carrera académica e investigadora en Filosofía: Más allá de la tesis

La motivación principal del proyecto era la dificultad existente para los recién doctorados para desarrollar una carrera académica exitosa que les permitiese alcanzar su estabilización en centros de investigación y universidades de prestigio. Principalmente, debido a la creciente competitividad que existe en el ámbito académico internacional y a la falta de preparación de los estudiantes de doctorado para enfrentarse a este reto

Semantic integration to identify overlapping functional modules in protein interaction networks

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The systematic analysis of protein-protein interactions can enable a better understanding of cellular organization, processes and functions. Functional modules can be identified from the protein interaction networks derived from experimental data sets. However, these analyses are challenging because of the presence of unreliable interactions and the complex connectivity of the network. The integration of protein-protein interactions with the data from other sources can be leveraged for improving the effectiveness of functional module detection algorithms.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have developed novel metrics, called semantic similarity and semantic interactivity, which use Gene Ontology (GO) annotations to measure the reliability of protein-protein interactions. The protein interaction networks can be converted into a weighted graph representation by assigning the reliability values to each interaction as a weight. We presented a flow-based modularization algorithm to efficiently identify overlapping modules in the weighted interaction networks. The experimental results show that the semantic similarity and semantic interactivity of interacting pairs were positively correlated with functional co-occurrence. The effectiveness of the algorithm for identifying modules was evaluated using functional categories from the MIPS database. We demonstrated that our algorithm had higher accuracy compared to other competing approaches.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The integration of protein interaction networks with GO annotation data and the capability of detecting overlapping modules substantially improve the accuracy of module identification.</p