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This study focuses on the relationship between the age of acquisition of Polish Sign Language (PJM) by deaf individuals and their receptive language skills at the phonological, morphological and syntactic levels. Sixty Deaf signers of PJM were recruited into three equal groups (n = 20): (1) a group exposed to PJM from birth from their deaf parents; (2) a group of childhood learners of PJM, who reported learning PJM between 4 and 8 years; (3) a group of adolescent learners of PJM, who reported learning PJM between 9 and 13 years. The PJM Perception and Comprehension Test was used to assess three aspects of language processing: phonological, morphological and syntactic. Participants were asked to decide whether a series of signs and sentences were acceptable in PJM. Results show that the age of PJM acquisition has a significant impact on performance on this task. The earlier deaf people acquire PJM, the more likely they were to distinguish signs and sentences considered permissible and impermissible in PJM by native signers. Native signers had significantly greater accuracy on the phonological, morphological, and syntactic items than either the Childhood or the Adolescent signers. Further, the Childhood signers had significantly greater accuracy than the Adolescent signers on all three parts of the test. Comparing performance on specific structures targeted within each part of the test revealed that multi-channel signs and negative suffixes posed the greatest challenge for Adolescent signers relative to the Native signers. The above results provide evidence from a less-commonly studied signed language that the age of onset of first language acquisition affects ultimate outcomes in language acquisition across all levels of grammatical structure. In addition, this research corroborates prior studies demonstrating that the critical period is independent of language modality. Contrary to a common public health assumption that early exposure to language is less vital to signed than to spoken language development, the results of this study demonstrate that early exposure to a signed language promotes sensitivity to phonological, morphological and syntactic patterns in language.

The main issue addressed in this paper is a practical application of sign language in early development support for deaf and hard of hearing children in Poland. This discussion is set in a broad cultural, linguistic, psychological and rehabilitation context. This paper presents the concept of Mary Pat Moeller which includes four approaches to the use of sign language in the programming of language in DHH. The discussion on the possibility of Polish rehabilitation centres adopting these solutions required an explanation of the diff erences between auditory deprivation and language deprivation, which is another important issue addressed in this paper. The main aim of this publication is to propose a fl exible approach to the creation of a model of education for deaf and hard of hearing children, one that will completely fulfi ll the needs of a specifi c child and to substantially argue about the conviction that sign language is a factor potentially detrimental to the development of these children.

The aim of this paper is to show shifts in the language development of deaf and hard of hearing children over the last 30 years. The paper presents an overview of Western and Polish studies on education and language development in deaf children in terms of psycholinguistics. Perceptions of the perceptual and cognitive capabilities of such children must be subject to revision and continual methodological reflection due to rapidly changing variables, such as technological progress, social and cultural conditions of primary socialization and the aims of deaf education. Now that an increasing number of deaf children undergo cochlear implantation, and digital hearing aids can provide 70-75 dB of gain, thus enabling the children to spontaneously develop speech, many of them function in a bimodal environment of the sign and the speech. However, they perform at different levels of educational and developmental success. This paper elucidates the issues of language flexibility in and heterogenization of children using hearing aids or implants on a daily basis.

Despite the need for an early assessment of the linguistic competence of deaf children using sign language, there are no instruments available for individuals who use Polish Sign Language (PSL). In order to encourage the development of such tools, this paper presents several instruments used to assess individuals using American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign Language (BSL). These instruments assess various aspects of linguistic competence, including vocabulary, morphology, syntax, and metalinguistic awareness. The development of such tools would benefit children using PSL, who need early diagnosis and intervention to enhance their language outcomes.

Ethanol, as a small-molecule organic compound exhibiting both hydrophilic and lipophilic properties, quickly pass through the biological barriers. Over 95% of absorbed ethanol undergoes biotransformation, the remaining amount is excreted unchanged, mainly with urine and exhaled air.The main route of ethyl alcohol metabolism is its oxidation to acetaldehyde, which is converted into acetic acid with the participation of cytosolic NAD+ - dependent alcohol (ADH) and aldehyde (ALDH) dehydrogenases. Oxidative biotransformation pathways of ethanol also include reactions catalyzed by the microsomal ethanol oxidizing system (MEOS), peroxisomal catalase and aldehyde (AOX) and xanthine (XOR) oxidases. The resulting acetic acid can be activated to acetyl-CoA by the acetyl-CoA synthetase (ACS).It is also possible, to a much smaller extent, non-oxidative routes of ethanol biotransformation including its esterification with fatty acids by ethyl fatty acid synthase (FAEES), re-esterification of phospholipids, especially phosphatidylcholines, with phospholipase D (PLD), coupling with sulfuric acid by alcohol sulfotransferase (SULT) and with glucuronic acid using UDP-glucuronyl transferase (UGT, syn. UDPGT).The intestinal microbiome plays a significant role in the ethanol biotransformation and in the initiation and progression of liver diseases stimulated by ethanol and its metabolite - acetaldehyde, or by lipopolysaccharide and ROS.

In recent years, changes in the approach to deafness and, hence, in the education of the deaf and hard of hearing have been occurring around the world, including Poland. Deafness is increasingly perceived as a sociocultural phenomenon and not merely as a medical one, while sign language is seen as a natural language that can be used in deaf schools and by large numbers of d/Deaf people. Nevertheless, it seems at present that both deafness models are incompatible with each other for ideological reasons although they are concurrent, the medical model being dominant and the sociocultural one being alternative. For that reason, both the d/Deaf community and the deaf education still contend with significan problems related to the language policy, discrimination based on deafness (audism), sign language (linguicism), disability (ableism) or the specificityof conflictsamong the d/Deaf themselves (deafism).All this will be illustrated in this paper, along with suggested possible solutions.

Receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) and toll-like receptors (TLRs) are the key factors indicating a danger to the organism. They recognize the microbial origin pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) or damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). The primary response induced by PAMPs or DAMPs is inflammation. Excessive stimulation of the innate immune system occurs in arterial wall with the participation of effector cells. Persistent adaptive responses can also cause tissue damage and disease. However, inflammation mediated by the molecules innate responses is an important way in which the adaptive immune system protects us from infection. The specific detection of PAMPs and DAMPs by host receptors drives a cascade of signaling that converges at nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and interferon regulatory factors (IRFs) and induces the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines, type I interferon (IFN), and chemokines, which promote direct killing of the pathogen. Therefore, signaling of these receptors’ pathways also appear to present new avenue for the modulation of inflammatory responses and to serve as potential novel therapeutic targets for antiatherosclerotic therapy.

Izoenzym CYP3A4 jest moonoksygenazą zaangażowaną w procesy wewnątrzustrojowych przemian licznych związków endo- i egzogennych (ksenobiotyków), w tym ponad 50% znanych leków. W organizmie człowieka CYP3A4 wykazuje najwyższą aktywność enzymatyczną w hepatocytach i enterocytach. Kodujący to białko enzymatyczne gen CYP3A4 podlega ekspresji regulowanej przez zróżnicowane czynniki egzo- i endogenne, w tym kwasy żółciowe oraz liczne leki, działające za pośrednictwem receptorów wewnątrzkomórkowych, takich jak np. PXR czy FXR. Zrozumienie mechanizmów ekspresji genu CYP3A4 ma kluczowe znaczenie dla zapewnienia bezpiecznej i skutecznej farmakoterapii.

A series of 2-(1H-indol-3-yl)ethylthiourea derivatives were prepared by condensation of 2-(1H-indol-3-yl)ethanamine with appropriate aryl/alkylisothiocyanates in anhydrous media. The structures of the newly synthesized compounds were confirmed by spectroscopic analysis and the molecular structures of 8 and 28 were confirmed by X-ray crystallography. All obtained compounds were tested for antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive cocci, Gram-negative rods and for antifungal activity. Microbiological evaluation was carried out over 20 standard strains and 30 hospital strains. Compound 6 showed significant inhibition against Gram-positive cocci and had inhibitory effect on the S. aureus topoisomerase IV decatenation activity and S. aureus DNA gyrase supercoiling activity. Compounds were tested for cytotoxicity and antiviral activity against a large panel of DNA and RNA viruses, including HIV-1 and other several important human pathogens. Interestingly, derivative 8 showed potent activity against HIV-1 wild type and variants bearing clinically relevant mutations. Newly synthesized tryptamine derivatives showed also a wide spectrum activity, proving to be active against positive- and negative-sense RNA viruses.

Uterine fibroids (UFs) are benign tumors of the reproductive tract, arising from smooth muscle cells of the uterus. Steroid hormones, estrogen, and progesterone are considered to be the most important links in the pathophysiology of UFs. Alpha-tocopherol (AT) is the most active form of vitamin E. What is important as far as UFs are concerned is that ATs contain structural determinants, which makes them possible ligands for estrogen receptors (ERs). We present a retrospective cohort study performed in a university teaching hospital. We included a total of 162 patients divided into 2 groups: with UFs and controls. The effects of age, body mass index (BMI), positive medical history, parity, and AT serum concentrations on the risk for the development of UFs were investigated. Mean AT serum concentrations were 11.66 ± 4.97 μg/ml and 7.83 ± 3.13 μg/ml (medians 10.56 μg/ml and 7.42 μg/ml) in patients with UFs confirmed on ultrasound and controls, respectively. The presented difference was statistically significant. Higher BMI, positive family history, and low parity were found to be major risk factors for UFs. In our study, we confirmed that elevated serum AT concentration might be an important risk factor for UFs in Caucasian women. Further research in this area is necessary.

Since 2011, or since the entry into force of the Sign Language Act, there has been growing interest in Poland in this form of communication not only among public institutions or mass media but also among scholars. To date, Polish research into sign languages, not very extensive anyway, has focused on their grammar aspects. This paper is an attempt to bring a new, sociolinguist perspective in sign language research in Poland. Hence, it has some of the character of a review. The Authors propose four areas of sociolinguist research into sign language. The first one is the description of lexical variants (especially the phonological and the lexical ones), the second one is the observation of the life of words and the historical changes in the sign language lexis, while the third area involves research on language interactions, especially the codes included in the so called sign language continuum. The last area considered by the Authors is the reconstruction of deaf Poles’ attitudes to sign language. The suggested direction of research is especially important in the light of the global tendency of languages (and thus of cultures) to die out, mostly for reasons of civilization.

Thirty six novel heterocyclic derivatives of ethyl 2-(2-pyridylacetate) were efficiently synthesized. The new compounds involve the linkage of a 2-pyridyl ring with thiosemicarbazide (compounds 1–7), 1,2,4-triazole (compounds 1a–7a), 1,3,4-thiadiazole (compounds 1b–7b), and 1,3,4-oxadiazole (compounds 1f–7f) moieties. The last group of compounds 1e–7e involves the connection of a 2-pyridyl ring with 1,2,4-triazole and thiourea. 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and MS methods were used to confirm the structures of the obtained derivatives. The molecular structures of 3, 3b, 7a and 7f were further confirmed by X-ray crystallography. All obtained compounds were tested in vitro against a number of microorganisms, including Gram-positive cocci, Gram-negative rods and Candida albicans. In addition, the obtained compounds were tested for cytotoxicity and antiviral activity against HIV-1.

This paper discusses the communicative competence of deaf children. It illustrates the process in which such children build narrative texts in interaction with a deaf teacher, and presents the diversity of this process due to the shared vs. non-shared perception of a picture - the source of the topic. Detailed analyses focus on the formal and semantic aspect of the stories, including the length of the text in sign language, the content selected, information categories, and types of answers to the teacher’s questions. This text is our contribution in memory of Professor Grace Wales Shugar, whose idea of dual agentivity of child-adult interaction inspired the research presented here.

Collaboration between industry and academia supports improvement and innovation in industry and helps to ensure industrial relevance in academic research. This article presents an exploratory study of the factors for successful collaboration between industry and academia in software research.

Child visual discourse: The use of language, gestures, and vocalizations by deaf preschoolers1 This exploratory study examined the linguistic activity and conversational skills of deaf preschoolers by observing child-child dyads in free-play situations. Deaf child of deaf parents - deaf child of deaf parents (DCDP-DCDP) pairs were compared with deaf child of hearing parents - deaf child of hearing parents (DCHP-DCHP) pairs. Children from the two groups were videotaped during dyadic peer interactions in a naturalistic play situation. The findings indicated that deaf children were able to engage in successful communicative interaction. However, statistically significant differences were found between the two groups of deaf preschoolers with regard to some categories of communicative behaviors from the point of view of sign and spoken languages (Polish Sign Language and Polish). For example, DCHP were found to be less actively than DCDP through using speech. The results of this study suggest that intervention efforts should be focused on improving the language learning environment by facilitating signing by the parents and increasing their skills in visual-gestural strategies.

Statistical fault prediction models and expert estimations are two popular methods for deciding where to focus the fault detection efforts when the fault detection budget is limited. In this paper, we present a study in which we empirically compare the accuracy of fault prediction offered by statistical prediction models with the accuracy of expert estimations. The study is performed in an industrial setting. We invited eleven experts that are involved in the development of two large telecommunication systems. Our statistical prediction models are built on historical data describing one release of one of those systems. We compare the performance of these statistical fault prediction models with the performance of our experts when predicting faults in the latest releases of both systems. We show that the statistical methods clearly outperform the expert estimations. As the main reason for the superiority of the statistical models we see their ability to cope with large datasets. This makes it possible for statistical models to perform reliable predictions for all components in the system. This also enables prediction at a more fine-grain level, e.g., at the class instead of at the component level. We show that such a prediction is better both from the theoretical and from the practical perspective.