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Although the most favourable conditions for the use of geothermal energy are found in the Tatra region, in addition, the Foreland of the Carpathians in Poland is rich in low-temperature geothermal waters, both in Cenomanian sandstones and Middle Jurassic sandstones. The geothermal activity is manifested by thermal waters in boreholes situated between the towns of Wl̵oszczowa, Mys´lenice and Tarno´w. Here the Mesozoic waters occur 200 to 2000 m below the surface and their temperatures vary between 20 and 70 °C. The continuous artesian outflow of geothermal waters was observed in many wells during long-term tests. The maximum artesian outflow of fresh water was observed in the zone north of Cracow, i.e. 100 m3/h with a temperature of about 20 °C. The results of the analyses which were carried out on the Mesozoic formation confirmed considerable zonation and the existence of local constraints on the reservoir parameters which result from the characteristics of the deposited environment. A distinct relationship was also noted between the total thickness and other reservoir parameters. Moreover, a strong correlation was observed between the degree of water mineralization and the distance from the infiltration zone or depth at which the waters occurred. In the western zones, located close to the recharge areas, waters are fresh or nearly fresh and their temperatures are influenced by surface waters. Favourable conditions for the financial investment in geothermal energy in the Mesozoic Basin of this region are associated with the low mineralization (allowing for exploitation with a single well) and shallowness of the aquifers (i.e. low drilling costs). The paper presents results of analyses of the temperature characteristics of the Mesozoic formation, yields from existing wells and the energy potential of geothermal waters from the point of view of future geothermal projects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Road transport is one of the sources of groundwater pollution. The aim of the article is to find out whether the largest roads in Poland have a negative impact on groundwater quality and to assess the extent of their influence. The water chemistry in the area of roads with heavy traffic in north-west and central Poland in 2007-2020 was analyzed. The groundwater quality status and the dynamics of changes in concentrations of selected chemical constituents were assessed. Data was taken from the national chemical monitoring network managed by the Polish Geological Institute - National Research Institute. The results of monitoring tests at 42 selected points were subject to detailed statistical analysis. The mentioned points were located within 100 m from the roads. A statistical analysis of selected chemical parameters and a correlation matrix for selected components were performed. The distribution of electrolytic conductivity in the analyzed 42 points in 2019 is presented in the form of a contour map against the background of the main roads in the analyzed area. Based on archival data, a 7-year prediction of changes in concentrations of selected chemical components, using the autoregressive method, was made. The predicted distribution of concentrations of individual chemical components in groundwater indicates that the vicinity (up to 50 m) of roads may negatively affect the groundwater quality. The increased concentration of chloride and sodium ions was found in most sites. An upward trend was also observed for specific electrolytic conductivity., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has served as a magnifying glass for cyberchondria, while the internet emerged as one of the main sources of medical information and support. The core ambition of this study was to estimate the level of cyberchondria and describe the socio-demographic, clinical and pandemic-related factors affecting its severity amid the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. A cross-sectional study was performed between 16 May 2020 and 29 December 2020 in Poland within a sample of 538 adult internet users. The online survey tool included a Polish adaptation of the Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS-PL) and the Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI), complemented with a set of questions covering sociodemographic, clinical and pandemic-related factors. Participants were clustered according to severity of health anxiety and cyberchondria symptoms. The performed binary logistic regression indicated professional inactivity, having a chronic mental disorder and subjectively limited access to healthcare due to COVID-19 to be key determinants of severe health anxiety and cyberchondria. Cyberchondria might be a remarkable public health issue as large proportion of respondents from the analyzed sample population of internet users met the criteria for severe symptoms. Key determinants of intense cyberchondria corresponded with employment stability, mental resilience and accessibility of healthcare services, which could be greatly challenged amid the pandemic.

Students worldwide have been impacted by nationwide safety closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, creating an environment with loss of interaction with colleagues, social isolation, boredom, and economic uncertainty. Since university students were considered uniquely vulnerable to mental health problems even before the pandemic, this study aimed to investigate lifestyle and behavioral changes experienced by this population due to the epidemiological situation and their effect on their mental health. Data were collected via an online survey conducted among university students across Poland. The survey addressed recent lifestyle changes that were a result of the pandemic as well as psychological distress, symptoms of insomnia and symptoms of post-traumatic stress. The results indicate that protective factors include maintaining a daily routine, staying physically active, following a usual eating pattern and taking care of sleep hygiene. Changes in behavior contributing to poorer mental health included giving up a daily routine, neglecting meals, tidiness, hygiene as well as social relationships, changes in food intake, sleeping schedule, a decrease in physical activity and the onset of sexual dysfunctions. A history of psychiatric treatment and an increase in self-harm as well as an increase in alcohol and tobacco consumption were also found to be associated with psychological distress. Experienced lifestyle and behavioral changes and their impact on mental health were apparent throughout the obtained data, highlighting the need for psychological support in the studied population. Based on the results we were able to establish a list of protective and risk factors influencing the everyday life and psychological wellbeing of students amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, which could also be translated into life skills.

The COVID-19 pandemic had led universities to introduce lockdowns, which has led to significant shifts in students' lives. Classes were moved online, students had to leave dorms and move; they had to forgo regular meetings with their peers. Subsequently, a vital demand for examining students' mental health emerged. The data were collected at a time when universities in Poland were under lockdowns. Participants represented students of many different fields of study. The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) was used. Student's subjective evaluation of online learning and their adaptation to academic life shifts were reviewed. A total of 1123 participants took part in this study. Relationship analysis included tests, such as U Mann-Whitney, appropriate for specific variables. The impact of variables connected with the pandemic on the GHQ scores was tested using multivariate regression analysis. The results were considered significant at a p -value set at 0.05. Overall, 76.96% of the participants manifested psychopathological symptoms measured by the GHQ. Four demographical variables were possibly associated with the GHQ scores: female sex, living in a big city, necessity to move back home, and being in a relationship. Negative correlations between subjective evaluation of variables concerning e-learning, such as its efficiency or quality, and the GHQ scores were found. Some variables were found to be potential protective factors, whereas others could have contributed to worsened mental health. The study provides data on students' worsened mental health due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the shifts in academic life it caused. Therefore, recommendations for early psychosocial interventions among students are strongly advised.

Background: There is a growing number of studies showing interactions between genetic polymorphisms associated with dopaminergic neurotransmission and traumatic life events (TLEs) on a risk of psychotic-like experiences (PLEs). Anomalous self-experiences (ASEs) have been associated both with TLEs as well as with PLEs. However, it remains unknown what is the role of ASEs in the complexity of gene-environment interactions on the emergence of PLEs., Patients and Methods: We included 445 young adults-university students from three big cities in Poland. We used the Traumatic Events Checklist to assess TLEs, the Inventory of Psychotic-Like anomalous self-experiences in order to measure ASEs, and the Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ16) to record the level of PLEs. The following gene polymorphisms, related to dopaminergic neurotransmission, were determined: the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) rs4680 polymorphism, the dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) rs6277 polymorphism, and the dopamine transporter 1 (DAT1) rs28363170 polymorphism., Results: There was a significant effect of the interaction between the DAT1 polymorphism, a severity of ASEs, and a history of TLEs on the level of PLEs. Among the DAT1 10R/10R homozygotes with low level of ASEs, a severity of PLEs was significantly higher in individuals with a history of any TLEs. Higher scores of the PQ16 were associated with a greater severity of ASEs both in the DAT1 9R allele carriers and the DAT1 10R/10R homozygotes., Conclusion: Our findings imply that genetic liability related to aberrant dopamine transport might impact the association between TLEs and PLEs in subjects with high levels of ASEs.

Background: Childhood traumatic events are risk factors for psychotic-like experiences (PLEs). However, the mechanisms explaining how trauma may contribute to the development of PLEs are not fully understood. In our study, we investigated whether cannabis use and cognitive biases mediate the relationship between early trauma and PLEs., Methods: A total sample of 6,772 young adults (age 26.6 ± 4.7, 2,181 male and 3,433 female) was recruited from the general population to participate in an online survey. We excluded 1,158 individuals due to a self-reported lifetime diagnosis of any mental disorder. The online survey included selected items from the following questionnaires: Traumatic Experience Checklist (TEC, 3 items), Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire (CECA.Q, 3 items), Cannabis Problems Questionnaire (CPQ, 10 items), Davos Assessment of Cognitive Biases Scale (DACOBS-18, 9 items), and Prodromal Questionnaire-16 (PQ-16). Mediation analyses were performed with respect to different categories of traumatic experiences (emotional, physical and sexual abuse as well as emotional neglect)., Results: Our results showed significant associations of any time of childhood trauma with higher scores of cannabis use (CPQ), cognitive biases (DACOBS), and PLEs (PQ-16) (p < 0.001). We found a direct effect of childhood trauma on PLEs as well as significant indirect effect mediated through cannabis use and cognitive biases. All models tested for the effects of specific childhood adversities revealed similar results. The percentage of variance in PQ-16 scores explained by serial mediation models varied between 32.8 and 34.2% depending on childhood trauma category., Conclusion: Cannabis use and cognitive biases play an important mediating role in the relationship between childhood traumatic events and the development of PLEs in a nonclinical young adult population.

Background: In their professional work, nurses struggle repeatedly with difficult situations that are causes of stress. Another issue is the low prestige of the nursing profession compared with other professions, which results in dissatisfaction, increased frustration, and lack of precision when performing professional tasks. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between mental health and quality of life and satisfaction with life in nurses with many years of experience in the profession., Methods: The study was conducted in a group of 523 randomly selected professionally active nurses aged over 40 years old from the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Standardized questionnaires were used, including WHOQOL-BREF, a short version of a questionnaire assessing quality of life, the general health questionnaire (GHQ-28), and the satisfaction with life scale (SWLS)., Results: The mental health component was found to be significantly affected by financial situation ( p = 0.005). Among respondents describing their financial status as bad, the assessment of negative mental health symptoms was higher. The remaining studied variables-work experience, nature of work, place of residence, age, material status, having a partner, and having children-did not affect the respondents' mental health status. The co-occurrence of chronic diseases affected ( p = 0.008) the intensification of negative mental health symptoms such as somatic symptoms, anxiety, insomnia, and social dysfunction. The intensification of negative mental health symptoms was not connected with absence from work., Conclusions: The financial situation of the respondents significantly determined their quality of life as well as influencing mental health components. Nurses' satisfaction with life was correlated with all studied domains of quality of life.

We aimed to perform a cluster analysis to investigate the group structure of a combination of psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and self-disturbances in a non-clinical sample. Non-clinical adults (n = 677) were assessed with the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE), the Davos Assessment of Cognitive Biases Scale (DACOBS) and the Inventory of Psychotic-Like Anomalous Self-Experiences (IPASE). Cluster analysis was conducted based on the positive and negative dimension of CAPE and a total score of IPASE. Four distinct groups were revealed by the cluster analysis. The High Profile group had the highest means, and the Low Profile had the lowest scores of positive and negative subscales of the CAPE and IPASE. The Positive Profile group had a significantly higher level of self-disturbances (in 'Cognition', 'Consciousnesses and 'Somatization' dimensions) from participants with the 'Negative Profile'. The High Profile group had more cognitive biases (i.e., inadequate cognitive inference about internal and external events) related to psychosis as assessed with DACOBS, had the highest means on each IPASE subscale and had a higher level of emotional distress. A combination of high level of PLEs and self-disturbances may capture the highest risk of psychosis in the general population associated with cognitive biases characteristic for psychosis., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Steady employment constitutes one of most important aspects of functional recovery in schizophrenia. Therefore, there is a need for understanding clinical and demographic factors predicting vocational status in schizophrenia., Methods: Clinical and demographic data of 1,010 schizophrenia patients were gathered from public outpatient clinics. We compared patients who maintained employment between the diagnosis time point and the day of assessment, with the patients who were employed in the diagnosis time point but were unemployed on the day of assessment with respect to clinical and demographic variables., Results: Lower educational attainment, lower-income region of residence, medical comorbidities (obesity, diabetes and hypertension), first hospitalization at inpatient unit in comparison with the day hospital, higher total number of hospitalizations and the number of inpatient hospitalizations were found to serve as predictors of unemployment throughout the course of schizophrenia. After application of Bonferroni correction and logistic binary regression analysis, lower educational attainment, higher number of inpatient hospitalizations and obesity predicted unemployment., Conclusion: Education, obesity and the number of inpatient hospitalizations seem to predict vocational outcome in schizophrenia. This study warrants further investigation of medical comorbidities in schizophrenia in terms of social consequences in order to indicate the direction of this relationship., (© The Author(s) 2015.)

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is an epidemiological problem of a great importance in Poland; each year approximately 14,600 new cases of the disease are diagnosed. Mortality associated with CRC reaches approximately 10,400 cases per year (according to the National Cancer Registry). The 5-year survival rate is approximately 25 %, which is one of the lowest rates in Europe. The etiology of sporadic colorectal cancer (CRC) is multifactorial and has been attributed to an interplay between both environmental and genetic risk factors. In addition, there is a general consensus that genetic factors may modulate the influence of environmental insults. Following these assumptions, we performed a study on widely described polymorphisms in xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes and DNA repair genes which may influence individual susceptibility to cancer. We selected five candidate polymorphisms in following genes: ERCC1 Asp118Asn (rs11615), XPC i11C/A (rs2279017), XRCC3 Met241Thr (rs861539) CYP1A1 Ile462Val (rs1048943) and NAT2 A803G (rs1208) and assessed the importance of chosen SNPs on groups consisting of 478 CRC patients and 404 controls. Only CYP1A1 Ile462Val was statistically significant in CRC patients over 50 years old: OR 2.05 (1.29-3.28); p = 1.25E-02 and this association was more pronounced in the female group of CRC patients after the age of 50: OR 2.72 (1.43-5.14); p = 1.14E-02.

Background: The assessment of patients' needs is an essential element of psychiatric health care planning and evaluation. Not much interest has been paid to the study of psychiatric patients' needs in Poland so far., Aims: To assess the relation between inpatients' and their key carers' perception of needs in a Polish sample., Methods: Out of 324 inpatients invited to take part in the study, 60 sets were finally included. Patients and their carers were examined by means of CANSAS to rate patients' and carers' perception of needs., Results: The mean number of general needs indicated by patients themselves was 7.11 (± 2.98), and those indicated by carers equalled 9.53 (± 3.92). The more unmet needs identified by the patient, the more met and general needs of the patient identified by their carer (r = .27, p = .03; r = .38, p = .02, respectively). The more general needs perceived by the patient themself, the higher the indicator of unmet and general needs scored by their carer (r = .32, p = .01; r = .39, p = .001, respectively)., Conclusions: There is a significant association between the inpatients' and their carers' perception of needs. Patients' perspective should serve as a high priority in developing treatment plans.