Polymorphism of four X-chromosomal STR loci in Belarusians and Slovaks

We have investigated four X-chromosomal STR loci (a tetranucleotide repeat marker HPRTB, DXS7423 and trinucleotide repeat systems DXS101, DXS8377) in population samples of unrelated Belarusian and Slovak males (N = 180 and 116, respectively).Markers were amplified in a multiplex PCR reaction with primers labeled with fluorescent dyes 5-FAM and 5-JOE (dye set F). The separation and detection of PCR products were performed by capillary electrophoresis on a 3130 Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystems), using positive controls (K562 and NA9947A) and the GeneScan-500 ROX internal lane standard. Allele designation was based on comparison with the constructed allelic ladder. We performed statistical analysis estimating power of discrimination for males (PD_male). Our data was compared with European populations from Poland and Germany. The obtained data are useful in forensic practice and they contribute to creation of national X-STR databases in Belarus and Slovakia.     

Polish martial law of 1981 in Polish post-communist films: Between romanticism and postmodernism

This essay discusses representations of Polish martial law of 1981 in Polish feature films made after communism collapsed. It considers them against the political history of Poland over the last thirty years, especially the history of Solidarity and the shift from communism to post-communism. It argues that the way martial law is portrayed changed over the years. While initially, as represented by Kutz's Death as a Slice of Bread, the aim was to commemorate the victims of martial law and condemn the authorities, in later films we observe more complex portrayals that reflect the growing erosion of the myth of Solidarity and the Church.     

Ultrastructural changes in liver after the test exposition of laser irradiation

The aim of this research was to verify characteristic morphological changes in the liver with regard to survival time after laser irradiation. The duration of irradiation was constant. For the purpose of irradiation we used a helium-neon laser. The value of the energy absorbed during the exposition amounted to about 2.5 J. Segments from the irradiated liver field of rats were taken directly after decapitation following different times of survival, and the changes were estimated in an ultrastructural microscope. Our results showed dependence of certain morphological changes (perceptible only by ultrastructural examination) on the time of survival after irradiation.     

Gendered perceptions: women in the labour market in Poland

Abstract

This paper considers the consequences of economic and political change in the early 1990s for women's situation in the Polish labour market. New types of employment emerged in various sectors of the Polish economy around the mid-1970s. Some, such as finance, insurance, education and health care became highly feminised. Under the Communist system, many regulations were introduced to allow women to combine paid labour with taking care of the household. In the new post-Communist economic situation, these gender-specific regulations work against women, making them less attractive to employers. In a situation of high unemployment, employers in the growing private sector can afford to make specific demands of their employees: that they be young, male, and mobile. Women are thus in a worse situation in the labour market even though they are often more educated than the men with whom they must compete for work. There is urgent need to introduce mechanisms to create a more equal labour market.     

Assessment of bone age based on morphometric study of the upper end of the humerus

Assessment of changes in the spongy bone structure of the upper end of the humerus is one of the common methods of age estimation. This method was devised many years ago (1894) and has never been verified in an objective numerical testing. We projected an objective morphometric method assessment of the upper end of the humerus. The study was carried out on humeri from cadavers of 88 men and 84 women. The surface area of atrophy of the spongy structure (medullary cavity) was calculated on the longitudinal section of the humerus. A new morphometric method was applied, which allowed numerical presentation of results. The results of the study show a lack of statistical correlation between atrophy of the spongy structure within the upper end of the humerus and the chronological age. Therefore, it can be concluded that the assessment of humerus structure should be omitted in the forensic medical age estimation.     

Neonatal death following clozapine self-poisoning in late pregnancy: an unusual case report

The report presents a fatal poisoning of a neonate occurring in the final stage of gestational life and evoked by his mother, who, while 9 months pregnant, took a toxic dose of clozapine aiming at committing suicide. She was also severely poisoned, but ultimately was saved. The woman had been taking the medication due to schizophrenia and depression prior to conception, and the discontinuation of the drug in the course of pregnancy increased the risk of the woman attempting suicide. In the course of comprehensive toxicological analysis based on the developed analytical procedure with the use of LC-APCI-MS, clozapine and its two metabolites, norclozapine and clozapine-N-oxide, were determined in postmortem blood, liver and kidney in concentrations explaining the death of the neonate. The interpretation of the above-described case is complex and--apart from toxicological aspects--also involves issues associated with psychiatry, pharmacotherapy in pregnancy and medicolegal problems.     

The Struggle for the Legal Status of Religion in the Polish Constitution

The use of specific language in the democratic Polish Constitution enacted on 2 April 1997 has created the essential differences in the status of religions and Churches in Poland to this in some other countries. It accepts the modern principles and values (tolerance, freedom, mutual independence of state and churches) but precludes the atheistic, hostile or indifferent to religions interpretations and implementations of these values and principles.