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Hackathons are characterized by their dynamic and collaborative nature, acting as incubators for innovation in diverse contexts. They are celebrated for nurturing creativity and tackling current challenges while offering distinctive educational opportunities. However, participants' lack of confidence and increased anxiety can diminish the utility of a hackathon's outcomes, adversely affecting both the resolution of the challenges at hand and the educational value of the experience. Drawing on 398 responses from verified hackathon participants, we examined associations among experience, intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, confidence and anxiety. The findings confirm that experience at hackathons has a beneficial effect on individuals' confidence levels and concurrently diminishes anxiety. Additionally, intrinsic motivations show negative associations with anxiety and positive associations with confidence, while extrinsic motivations have unequivocal effects. These insights deepen our comprehension of the hackathon ecosystem, underscoring the criticality of participant's well-being and motivation. The ramifications of these findings are multifaceted: they not only inform the enhancement of hackathon frameworks, emphasizing a participant-focused approach, but also facilitate the strategic incorporation of hackathons within educational and organizational contexts.

The aim is to recognise the importance and role of geodiscovery as part of a wider sustainable local development strategy to benefit residents and tourists alike. The research was conducted on a massive erratic boulder discovered in February 2024, in NW Poland. The study included the collection of data on dimensions, petrographic type, erratic boulder type and specific microforms indicating the influence of morphogenetic processes from subglacial, periglacial and modern environments on the erratic boulder. The Jarosik Boulder in northwest Poland is crucial for advancing earth sciences, ecological awareness, and regional economic development. Residents of Grabowo and Kamień Pomorski value and monitor the area's geo-diversity to anticipate environmental changes. The boulder has a strong emotional connection with locals, who actively engage in its preservation and online discussions. Promoting the boulder can enhance the region's environment, culture, and well-being, contributing to sustainable development. Local initiatives and effective promotion through media and community events are essential for boosting geotourism and benefiting both residents and visitors. Recognised as a cultural asset, Jarosik Boulder can realise its full potential through the commitment of local authorities to improving the community. As a unique aspect of geodiversity in NW Poland, Jarosik Boulder serves as a catalyst to promote geological science, support environmental education efforts, and foster sustainable economic and regional development.

The aim of the work is to examine the possibilities of developing geotourism in the context of existing, but not yet recognised, geoheritage in the north-eastern Wielkopolska, western Poland. Pałuki is characterised by exceptional geodiversity, which has enormous potential for diversifying the present tourist offer. The valorisation method of selected 12 geosites was used, taking into account geomorphological, additional and utility categories. The results of the analytical part made it possible to identify the most valuable and geotouristically attractive geosites. They form two original geotourism trails under the common name of "Geodiversified Pałuki". In order to increase the possibilities of developing local geotourism, two proposals for thematic geotourism trail focusing on the most interesting, and highly rated, geosites in the research area are presented.

In north-western Poland, cultural and historical structures were erected using erratic boulders of Scandinavian origin. These structures have yet to be subjected to detailed analysis with the aim of determining their origin, type of erratic boulders and rock abundance of a given petrographic type. This topic has not been addressed by art historians in previous studies of similar structures. The objective of this paper is to present five illustrative examples of stone structures that are closely related to cultural heritage in north-western Poland. A comprehensive inventory of the stone material is presented, categorised according to petrographic types. This is accompanied by a guide to the erratics. Furthermore, this article addresses the principles of geoethics and the concept of sense of place, with the objective of fostering a sense of pride in cultural heritage among residents and viewers. The objective was to identify the current and potential future geosystem services that erratic boulders can provide at the aforementioned locations. The survey methods were non-intrusive and included a comprehensive analysis of the stone material at eye level. Furthermore, in addition to graphic and photographic archiving, the petrographic type of rock and the type of indicative erratics were identified in carefully designed test fields. The results were subjected to basic statistical calculations. The results obtained represent a new corpus of knowledge that can be employed in the sustainable development of the five regions through the utilisation of a tool such as geotourism. It is anticipated that the implementation of innovative initiatives aimed at fostering geoenvironmental awareness and providing educational benefits, such as disseminating knowledge about the petrography and history of the sites (including the evolution of stone workshops and techniques), the role of historic buildings in strengthening attachment to roots, and their promotion in the media and on the internet, will result in the attraction of a more diverse group of tourists with interests beyond the current tourist and recreational offerings.

The article presents a new geosite in a small provincial town in central Poland. It contains twelve Scandinavian erratic boulders from the area, deposited by the Pleistocene ice sheet about 130,000 years ago. The geotrail is equipped with three informative boards, a folder, and each boulder has its own identifier. The article also draws attention to petrographic types and types of erratic boulders among the collected boulders. Their basic dimensions, age, and source area are given. Specific features of rock morphology are discussed. Records of sub/inglacial processes, periglacial processes affecting the forefield of the melting ice sheet, and contemporary morphogenetic processes are also analyzed. The recipient/beneficiary of such information can be anyone who is sensitive to the beauty of abiotic nature, feels heir to the geological past of his region, or wants to broaden his horizons with knowledge from the ice age. The recognized and disseminated heritage of abiotic objects in nature through the transfer of expert knowledge has great potential to become an effective generator of sustainable socio-economic development of peripheral tourist areas. The paper presents in detail expert knowledge and specific examples of improving the quality of life with the creation of this geosite. The tool to be used here is geotourism; it deals with the study of geodiversity and the development of elements of abiotic nature to perform tourist functions in accordance with the principles of nature protection. It protects the geological heritage by effectively securing geosites, widely disseminating geological sciences, and promoting their educational and tourist functions.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the leading cause of dementia, is a growing health issue with very limited treatment options. To meet the need for novel therapeutics, existing drugs with additional preferred pharmacological profiles could be recruited. This strategy is known as ‘drug repurposing’. Here, we describe dimethyl fumarate (DMF), a drug approved to treat multiple sclerosis (MS), to be tested as a candidate for other brain diseases. We used an APP-transgenic model (APPtg) of senile β-amyloidosis mice to further investigate the potential of DMF as a novel AD therapeutic. We treated male and female APPtg mice through drinking water at late stages of β-amyloid (Aβ) deposition. We found that DMF treatment did not result in modulating effects on Aβ deposition at this stage. Interestingly, we found that glutathione-modified DMF interacts with the ATP-binding cassette transporter ABCC1, an important gatekeeper at the blood–brain and blood–plexus barriers and a key player for Aβ export from the brain. Our findings suggest that ABCC1 prevents the effects of DMF, which makes DMF unsuitable as a novel therapeutic drug against AD. The discovered effects of ABCC1 also have implications for DMF treatment of multiple sclerosis.