A Tribute to Her Creativity: Maria Gasparini in The Stage

If we accept that the practice of filmmaking is based on the pleasure and desire to appropriate and control an image, it seems hardly surprising that film directors can fall in love with film stars, and vice versa. In the collective imagination, the actress is malleable material in the hands of her male partner-creator. This rigid definition of gender roles within the creative process has been surprisingly challenged and explored in an Italian melodrama of 1912, The Stage (La Ribalta). In it, a noblewoman who has been prompted by an actor (her lover) to step on the stage for fun reveals an uncanny talent for acting. Unable to deal with the humiliation of coming second to this talent, her mentor becomes envious and causes a tragedy. The leading role was played by Maria Gasparini, one of the most appreciated intellectual actresses of Italian early cinema. More interestingly, the film was directed by Gasparini’s own husband, Mario Caserini, who treated the subject as a delicate, sincere homage to his partner, focusing on her character as the true creative genius within the fictional couple

Book review: learning from the curse: Sembene's Xala by Richard Fardon and Senga la Rouge

Dagna Rams highlights the many uses of ‘Learning from the curse’: a fun and off-beat reportage of the place and the time, a film club companion for solitary viewers, and also a book to admire visually

Trudności w pracy nauczyciela matematyki

Publikacja bezpłatna - rozdział pochodzi z książki „Matematyka. Materiały metodyczne”, red. R. J. Pawlak, Z. Walczak, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego, Łódź 2014Publikacja przygotowana w ramach realizacji projektu „Nowoczesny nauczyciel Matematyki. Wzmocnienie kompetencji nauczycieli matematyki z województwa łódzkiego”, współfinansowanego ze środków Unii Europejskiej w ramach Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego

What links schizophrenia and dreaming? Common phenomenological and neurobiological features of schizophrenia and REM sleep

Aim. The aim of this theoretical study is to present common phenomenological and neurobiological features of schizophrenia and REM sleep. Results. A review of professional literature was conducted in order to synthesize current findings about associations between schizophrenia and REM sleep. Many researches reveal that both states share some common phenomenological and neurobiological features. Autism, lack of insight and a loss of autonomy in relation to mental content are just some of the characteristics that occur on a phenomenological level in both dreams during REM sleep (lucid dreaming excluded) and schizophrenia. Data from experimental conditions revealed that the waking mentation of patients suffering from schizophrenia has a similar degree of formal cognitive bizarreness as dream narratives obtained from both non-clinical and clinical populations. On the other hand, some common neurobiological features of the REM sleep stage and schizophrenia are: lack of central inhibitory processes, intracerebral disconnections, dysfunction of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex or nucleus accumbens and disturbed responsiveness. Moreover, there is similar activation of dopamine, acetylcholine, noradrenaline, serotonin and glutamate in both states. Conclusions. Common phenomenological and neurobiological characteristics of these two states suggest that data about REM sleep could help introduce a useful experimental model of schizophrenia

Dream-reality confusion in borderline personality disorder : a theoretical analysis

This paper presents an analysis of dream-reality confusion (DRC) in relation to the characteristics of borderline personality disorder (BPD), based on research findings and theoretical considerations. It is hypothesized that people with BPD are more likely to experience DRC compared to people in non-clinical population. Several variables related to this hypothesis were identified through a theoretical analysis of the scientific literature. Sleep disturbances: problems with sleep are found in 15-95.5% of people with BPD (Hafizi, 2013), and unstable sleep and wake cycles, which occur in BPD (Fleischer et al., 2012), are linked to DRC. Dissociation: nearly two-thirds of people with BPD experience dissociative symptoms (Korzekwa and Pain, 2009) and dissociative symptoms are correlated with a fantasy proneness; both dissociative symptoms and fantasy proneness are related to DRC (Giesbrecht and Merckelbach, 2006). Negative dream content: People with BPD have nightmares more often than other people (Semiz et al., 2008); dreams that are more likely to be confused with reality tend to be more realistic and unpleasant, and are reflected in waking behavior (Rassin et al., 2001). Cognitive disturbances: Many BPD patients experience various cognitive disturbances, including problems with reality testing (Fiqueierdo, 2006; Mosquera et al., 2011), which can foster DRC. Thin boundaries: People with thin boundaries are more prone to DRC than people with thick boundaries, and people with BPD tend to have thin boundaries (Hartmann, 2011). The theoretical analysis on the basis of these findings suggests that people who suffer from BPD may be more susceptible to confusing dream content with actual waking events

The Economic Costs of Malaria in Children in three Sub-Saharan Countries: Ghana, Tanzania and Kenya.

Malaria causes significant mortality and morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), especially among children less than five years of age (U5 children). Although the economic burden of malaria in this region has been assessed previously, the extent and variation of this burden remains unclear. This study aimed to estimate the economic costs of malaria in U5 children in three countries (Ghana, Tanzania and Kenya). Health system and household costs previously estimated were integrated with costs associated with co-morbidities, complications and productivity losses due to death. Several models were developed to estimate the expected treatment cost per episode per child, across different age groups, by level of severity and with or without controlling for treatment-seeking behaviour. Total annual costs (2009) were calculated by multiplying the treatment cost per episode according to severity by the number of episodes. Annual health system prevention costs were added to this estimate. Household and health system costs per malaria episode ranged from approximately US$5 for non-complicated malaria in Tanzania to US$288 for cerebral malaria with neurological sequelae in Kenya. On average, up to 55% of these costs in Ghana and Tanzania and 70% in Kenya were assumed by the household, and of these costs 46% in Ghana and 85% in Tanzania and Kenya were indirect costs. Expected values of potential future earnings (in thousands) lost due to premature death of children aged 0--1 and 1--4 years were US$11.8 and US$13.8 in Ghana, US$6.9 and US$8.1 in Tanzania, and US$7.6 and US$8.9 in Kenya, respectively. The expected treatment costs per episode per child ranged from a minimum of US$1.29 for children aged 2--11 months in Tanzania to a maximum of US$22.9 for children aged 0--24 months in Kenya. The total annual costs (in millions) were estimated at US$37.8, US$131.9 and US$109.0 nationwide in Ghana, Tanzania and Kenya and included average treatment costs per case of US$11.99, US$6.79 and US$20.54, respectively. This study provides important insight into the economic burden of malaria in SSA that may assist policy makers when designing future malaria control interventions

Social Media Marketing

Red. nauk. Wydziału Organizacji i Zarządzania: Lewandowski, Jerzy.Globalizacja rynków oraz dynamiczny rozwój technologii informacyjno komunikacyjnych sprawiają, że przedsiębiorstwa muszą systematycznie dostosowywać się do nowych warunków działania. W konsekwencji w warunkach współczesnego rynku, nowe media stały się istotnym obszarem działalności marketingowej przedsiębiorstw. Internet jest obecnie kluczowym kanałem komunikacyjnym, przez co stanowi wyzwanie dla menadżerów. Regularnie zwiększa się liczba abonentów, użytkowników, reklamodawców i firm docierających do klientów drogą elektroniczną, co sprawia, że Internet umożliwia skuteczną promocję przedsiębiorstw. Budowanie i umacnianie relacji z konsumentami – będące stałym elementem budowania przewagi konkurencyjnej na rynku – jest w dzisiejszych czasach możliwe między innymi dzięki możliwości współtworzenia wartości dodanej dla konsumenta w ramach działań szeroko pojętego marketingu społecznościowego, zwanego także social media marketing.Social media marketing is a rapidly growing form of virtual marketing and can be classified in context of Web 2.0. philosophy based on a specific, twoway form of communication carried out via social media. As a result, users of social media are not only customers, but also full-fledged creators of the published content and active participants of the marketing communications activities. The main objective of this work is to present a comprehensive concept of social media marketing and its critical analysis, with particular emphasis on the importance of social media in brand management, virtual communities creation and brand promotion

In vitro antibacterial activity of different pulp capping materials

Background: Direct pulp capping involves the application of a dental material to seal communications between the exposed pulp and the oral cavity (mechanical and carious pulp exposures) in an attempt to act as a barrier, protect the dental pulp complex and preserve its vitality. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare, by the agar disc diffusion test, the antimicrobial activity of six different pulp-capping materials: Dycal (Dentsply), Calcicur (Voco), Calcimol LC (Voco), TheraCal LC (Bisco), MTA Angelus (Angelus), Biodentine (Septodont). Material and Methods: Streptococcus salivarius , Streptococcus sanguis and Streptococcus mutans strains were selected to evaluate the antimicrobial activity by the agar disc diffusion test of different pulp capping materials. Paper disks were impregnated whit each pulp capping materials and placed onto culture agar-plates pre-adsorbed with bacterial cells and further incubated for 24 h at 37°C. The growth inhibition zones around each pulp capping materials were recorded and compared for each bacterial strain. Results: For the investigation of the antibacterial properties the ANOVA showed the presence of significant differences among the various materials. Tukey test showed that MTA-based materials induced lower growth inhibition zones. Conclusions: MTA-based products show a discrete antibacterial activity varying from calcium hydroxide-based materials which present an higher antibacterial activity

Application of soil test methods to study the availability of phosphorus in beef cattle manure

Characterizing beef cattle (Bos taurus) manure P and its crop availability is essential to improve the utilization of this resource. The objectives of this study were to survey beef cattle manure in Iowa, analyze manure for P and other chemical properties, and determine the crop-availability of selected sources by soil testing. The survey samples (107) were classified into five categories according to animal and manure management: with bedding (BEDDED), open concrete floor (CONCRETE), dirt floor (DIRT), no feeding of corn (Zea mays L.) co-products (NoCCP), and slurry from deep pits (PIT). Manure total P (TP) and proportion of water-soluble P (MWSP) were higher for BEDDED, CONCRETE, and PIT [10, 11, 15 g TP kg-1 - dry matter (DM) basis - and 59, 57, and 55% of MWSP, respectively] than for DIRT and NoCCP. Representative samples from each group were selected for P fractionation analysis, and a P source-soil 23-wk incubation study that also included di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and a control. All P sources were applied at 87 kg TP ha-1. Soils were Adair (Aquertic Argiudolls), Harps (Typic Calciaquolls), and Nicollet (Aquic Hapludolls). There were not significant or small and inconsistent changes of Bray-1 (BP), Mehlich-3 (M3P), Olsen (OP), and water-extractable (WEP) P levels over the incubation period between all sources and soils. On average, manure P effectiveness relative to DAP was greater for M3P and OP (79 and 80%) than for BP and WEP (77 and 74%); and 73, 84, and 76% with Adair, Harps, and Nicollet soils, respectively. On average across all soil P test methods, soils, and sources manure P efficiency relative to DAP differed among sources and was greatest for BEDDED and CONCRETE (84 and 85%), intermediate for PIT and DIRT (77 and 74%), and lowest for NoCCP (69%)