Cloudiness in Toruń in the period 1986-1995

W opracowaniu rozważano dobowy i roczny przebieg zachmurzenia ogólnego i pojawiania się rodzajów chmur w Toruniu w okresie 1986-1995. Materiał źródłowy pochodzi z cogodzinnych obserwacji wykonywanych na stacji synoptycmej w Toruniu. Badania wykazały, że średnie zachmurzenie dla tego okresu wynosi 6,4. Maksymalne zachmurzenie obserwowano w listopadzie i grudniu (7,6), minimalne w maju (5,4). Najczęściej występującymi rodzajami chmur w Toruniu były Se, Cu, Ac, a najrzadziej: Cc, Cs, As. W miesiącach letnich dominującymi rodzajami są: Cu, Ci, Cs i Se, podczas gdy w miesiącach zimowych: Se, St, Ns i Ac. In this paper we consider diurnal and annual course of general cloudiness and appearance of the cloud species in Toruń for the period 1986-1995. The material comes from the synoptic station at Toruń from hourly observations. The investigation has shown that the mean cloudiness for that period equals 6.4. The maximum cloudiness has been observed in November and December (7.6), the minimum one in May (5.4). The most frequently occuring cloud species in Toruń were Sc, Cu, Ac and the most rarely: Cc, Cs, As. In the warm season the domined species were: Cu, Ci, Cs and Sc while in the cold one: Sc, St, Ns and Ac.In this paper we consider diurnal and annual course of general cloudiness and appearance of the cloud species in Toruń for the period 1986-1995. The material comes from the synoptic station at Toruń from hourly observations. The investigation has shown that the mean cloudiness for that period equals 6.4. The maximum cloudiness has been observed in November and December (7.6), the minimum one in May (5.4). The most frequently occuring cloud species in Toruń were Sc, Cu, Ac and the most rarely: Cc, Cs, As. In the warm season the domined species were: Cu, Ci, Cs and Sc while in the cold one: Sc, St, Ns and Ac

Warunki meteorologiczne na Równinie Kaffiöyra (NW Spitsbergen) w okresie 14 lipca - 9 września 1982 r.

Przedstawiono wyniki obserwacji meteorologicznych prowadzonych w lecie 1982 r. na Równinie Kaffiöyra , podczas kolejnej VI Toruńskiej Wyprawy Polarnej „Spitsbergen ‘82”, zorganizowanej przez Instytut Geografii Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu. Obok danych z lata 1982 r. przedstawiono średnie wielkości podstawowych parametrów meteorologicznych z porównywalnego okresu (21.07 – 31.08) z wszystkich sezonów letnich, w których na Spitsbergenie działały Toruńskie Wyprawy Polarne

The last millennium climate change in Northern Poland derived from well temperature profiles, tree-rings and instrumental data

In order to reconstruct the air temperature variations in Northern Poland for the last millennium observational and proxy (tree-ring widths) data were used. For the first time the ground surface temperature (GST) for Northern Poland was reconstructed based on geothermal data (well temperature profiles). A general warming trend is observed for both the GSTH (GST Histories) derived from geothermal data and instrumental data, in particular, for the last 200 years

Mezo- i topoklimaty północnej części regionu Kaffiöyry (Ziemia Oskara II, NW Spitsbergen)

Na podstawie dotychczasowych zebranych materiałów meteorologicznych z punktów leżących na różnych wysokościach nad poziomem morza i z różnych poziomów nad powierzchnią gruntu, przedstawiono zagadnienie przestrzennego zróżnicowania klimatu w skali mezo- i topoklimatycznej w okresie letnim w regionie Kaffiöyry. Rezultatem studiów jest mapa jednostek klimatycznych, które wyodrębniono w świetle omawianych materiałów

Temperature changes in Poland from the 16th to the 20th centuries

A standardized tree-ring width chronology of the Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) along with different types of documentary evidence (e.g. annals, chronicles, diaries, private correspondence, records of public administration, early newspapers) have been used to reconstruct air temperature in Poland. The ground surface temperature (GST) history has been reconstructed based on the continuous temperature logs from 13 wells, using a new method developed recently by Harris and Chapman (1998; Journal of Geophysical Research 103: 7371–7383) which is compared with the functional space inversion (FSI) method applied to all available Polish temperature–depth profiles analysed before. Response function calculations conducted for trees growing in Poland (except in mountainous regions) reveal a statistically significant correlation between the annual ring widths of the Scots pine and the monthly mean air temperatures, particularly from February and March, but also from January and April. Therefore, it was only possible to reconstruct the mean January–April air temperature. The following periods featured a warm late winter/early spring: 1530–90, 1656–70 (the warmest period), 1820–50, 1910–40, and after 1985. On the other hand, a cold January–April occurred in the following periods: 1600–50, 1760–75, 1800–15, 1880–1900, and 1950–80. Reconstructions of thermal conditions using documentary evidence were carried out for winter (December–February) and summer (June–August) from 1501 to 1840 and, therefore, their results cannot be directly compared with reconstructions based on tree-ring widths. Winter temperatures in this period were colder than air temperature in the 20th century. On the other hand, ‘historical’ summers were generally warmer than those occurring in the 20th century. Such situations dominated in the 16th and 17th centuries, as well as at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. Throughout almost the entire period from 1501 to 1840, the thermal continentality of the climate in Poland was greater than in the 20th century. GST reconstructions show that its average pre-instrumental level (1500–1778) is about 0.9–1.5 °C lower than the mean air temperature for the period 1951–81. Lower amplitude of GST warming (0.9 ± 0.1 °C) results from the individual and simultaneous inversions of well temperature data using the FSI method. A very good correspondence of the results has been found between series of annual mean GSTs from the FSI method and mean seasonal air temperatures reconstructed using documentary evidence

The serum zinc concentration as a potential biological marker in patients with major depressive disorder

Despite many clinical trials assessing the role of zinc in major depressive disorder (MDD), the conclusions still remain ambiguous. The aim of the present clinical study was to determine and comparison the zinc concentration in the blood of MDD patients (active stage or remission) and healthy volunteers (controls), as well as to discuss its potential clinical usefulness as a biomarker of the disease. In this study 69 patients with current depressive episode, 45 patients in remission and 50 controls were enrolled. The zinc concentration was measured by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ET AAS). The obtained results revealed, that the zinc concentration in depressed phase were statistically lower than in the healthy volunteers [0.89 vs. 1.06 mg/L, respectively], while the zinc level in patients achieve remission was not significantly different from the controls [1.07 vs. 1.06 mg/L, respectively]. Additionally, among the patients achieve remission a significant differences in zinc concentration between group with and without presence of drug-resistance in the previous episode of depression were observed. Also, patients in remission demonstrated correlation between zinc level and the average number of depressive episodes in the last year. Serum zinc concentration was not dependent on atypical features of depression, presence of psychotic symptoms or melancholic syndrome, age, age of onset or duration of disease, number of episodes in the life time, duration of the episode/remission and severity of depression measured by the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HDRS), and the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). Concluding, our findings confirm the correlation between zinc deficit present in the depressive episode, and are consistent with the majority of previous studies. These results may also indicate that serum zinc concentration might be considered as a potential biological marker of MDD

Predicting attitudinal and behavioral responses to COVID-19 pandemic using machine learning

At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 became a global problem. Despite all the efforts to emphasize the relevance of preventive measures, not everyone adhered to them. Thus, learning more about the characteristics determining attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic is crucial to improving future interventions. In this study, we applied machine learning on the multinational data collected by the International Collaboration on the Social and Moral Psychology of COVID-19 (N = 51,404) to test the predictive efficacy of constructs from social, moral, cognitive, and personality psychology, as well as socio-demographic factors, in the attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic. The results point to several valuable insights. Internalized moral identity provided the most consistent predictive contribution—individuals perceiving moral traits as central to their self-concept reported higher adherence to preventive measures. Similar results were found for morality as cooperation, symbolized moral identity, self-control, open-mindedness, and collective narcissism, while the inverse relationship was evident for the endorsement of conspiracy theories. However, we also found a non-neglible variability in the explained variance and predictive contributions with respect to macro-level factors such as the pandemic stage or cultural region. Overall, the results underscore the importance of morality-related and contextual factors in understanding adherence to public health recommendations during the pandemic.Peer reviewe

National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic

Changing collective behaviour and supporting non-pharmaceutical interventions is an important component in mitigating virus transmission during a pandemic. In a large international collaboration (Study 1, N = 49,968 across 67 countries), we investigated self-reported factors associated with public health behaviours (e.g., spatial distancing and stricter hygiene) and endorsed public policy interventions (e.g., closing bars and restaurants) during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic (April-May 2020). Respondents who reported identifying more strongly with their nation consistently reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies. Results were similar for representative and non-representative national samples. Study 2 (N = 42 countries) conceptually replicated the central finding using aggregate indices of national identity (obtained using the World Values Survey) and a measure of actual behaviour change during the pandemic (obtained from Google mobility reports). Higher levels of national identification prior to the pandemic predicted lower mobility during the early stage of the pandemic (r = −0.40). We discuss the potential implications of links between national identity, leadership, and public health for managing COVID-19 and future pandemics.publishedVersio

National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic (vol 13, 517, 2022) : National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic (Nature Communications, (2022), 13, 1, (517), 10.1038/s41467-021-27668-9)

Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022.In this article the author name ‘Agustin Ibanez’ was incorrectly written as ‘Augustin Ibanez’. The original article has been corrected.Peer reviewe

National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic.

Changing collective behaviour and supporting non-pharmaceutical interventions is an important component in mitigating virus transmission during a pandemic. In a large international collaboration (Study 1, N = 49,968 across 67 countries), we investigated self-reported factors associated with public health behaviours (e.g., spatial distancing and stricter hygiene) and endorsed public policy interventions (e.g., closing bars and restaurants) during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic (April-May 2020). Respondents who reported identifying more strongly with their nation consistently reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies. Results were similar for representative and non-representative national samples. Study 2 (N = 42 countries) conceptually replicated the central finding using aggregate indices of national identity (obtained using the World Values Survey) and a measure of actual behaviour change during the pandemic (obtained from Google mobility reports). Higher levels of national identification prior to the pandemic predicted lower mobility during the early stage of the pandemic (r = -0.40). We discuss the potential implications of links between national identity, leadership, and public health for managing COVID-19 and future pandemics