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We use photometric and spectroscopic observations of four detached eclipsing binaries in the globular cluster NGC 3201 to derive masses, radii, and luminosities of the component stars. Spanning across almost three magnitudes in the colour–magnitude diagram, the components offer a unique possibility to test the theory of stellar evolution. Their masses, radii, and luminosities range from 0.66 to 0.84 M⊙, 0.68 to 2.46 R⊙, and 0.38 to 5.56 L⊙, respectively. The distance to the cluster measured from the distance moduli of the component stars amounts to 4.54$^{+0.11}_{-0.14}$ kpc and agrees with the recent estimate based on Gaia parallaxes. By comparing the M − R and M − L diagrams of the component stars and the colour–magnitude diagram of NGC 3201 to Dartmouth model isochrones, we estimate the most probable age of the cluster to be 11.5 ± 0.5 Gyr. This estimate is based on three binaries only, as the fourth one seems to evolve along a different path, probably due to non-standard chemical composition and/or history. We confirm the tendency, observed in earlier CASE papers, for the age indicated by the M − R diagram to be younger than that implied by the colour–magnitude diagram.

Important but broad values such as "social responsibility" are understood differently by different groups, understandings that often reflect the values and traits of the ingroup. This research examines whether the tendency to project the characteristics of the ingroup onto understandings of “social responsibility” correlates with negative intergroup attitudes as would be expected on the basis of the ingroup projection literature. Building on recent research, we also examined whether reassuring people of their group’s identification as socially responsible might remove the correlation between projection and negative outgroups attitudes without reducing the rate of projection. Two experimental studies using the ingroup projection model provide support for these expectations. The research was conducted at a secular university (N = 188) and a religious university (N = 69) that profess different understandings of social responsibility. At both universities, projection and negative attitudes were correlated when the ingroup’s membership in the broader category of socially responsible students was threatened and in the control condition, but not when their membership in the broader category was reassured. Importantly, the rates of projection did not differ across the three conditions (control, threat, and reassurance), suggesting that reassurance does not reduce projection, but rather changes its defensive nature. These findings suggest the value of reassuring groups of their membership within broad, abstract categories, as it may allow for the kinds of conceptual disagreements that make up healthy societal debate while simultaneously discouraging the tendency for those disagreements to spill over into more general negative intergroup attitudes.

Art is a rich area in which to study psychological life through the lens of cultural psychology. While any kind of art can be studied within cultural psychology, in the current piece we argue that an art form known as the donor portrait, and more particularly a subcategory thereof known as the contact portrait, visually depicts core aspects of our psychological lives that constitute matters of fundamental interest within cultural psychology. After briefly discussing this particular art form, we focus on how these portraits visually depict four core aspects of cultural psychology. We first explore how the contact portrait navigates the “frontier problem” found at the intersection of individuality and commonality. We then examine how contact portraits catalyze, but do not cause, the viewer’s emotional engagement. The third aspect concerns the human struggle to make sense out of an unknown future. Finally, we discuss the search for meaningfulness beyond meaning-making depicted within these images and lying at the core of our psychological lives. These characteristics of the contact portrait attest to our human striving towards what lies beyond our current state, something that finds expression in the idea of Schaufrömmigkeit—a pious, humble need to see that which is ultimately unseeable.

Despite widespread awareness of the psychological dimensions of pain, researchers often and easily slip into essentializing understandings that treat pain as a purely physiological experience that can be isolated within experimental research. This drive towards scientific objectivity, while at times of tremendous utility, can also limit our understanding of pain to reductionistic conceptualizations that in effect deny the subjective and even the psychological dimensions of pain. In other words, researchers often attempt to understand pain by means of empirical, scientific explanations, while being simultaneously aware that such an approach cannot grasp the phenomenon in its entirety. This yearning for deeper, ontological understanding in a world that admits of only empirical, scientific explanations has been called Cartesian anxiety. In the current study, it is argued that cultural psychology can help to alleviate this Cartesian anxiety by helping us to appreciate the psychological aspects of pain as dynamic processes of meaning making.

While victimization is as old as human history, the notion of victimhood as currently understood is a relatively recent phenomenon. Over the last several decades, the notion of victimhood has been increasing discussed both within academia and the wider public, a trend that has intensified in recent years. In order to gain a clearer vision of this social phenomenon, the current piece follows the lead of Georg Simmel, and identifies a new Simmelian social type—the Victim. After discussing Simmel’s understanding of social types and tracing the origins of the Victim, we examine some of the characteristics of this new social type. While the Victim is best understood on a high level of abstraction—as are all social types—a richer appreciation of the emergence and nature of the Victim will help us to better understand current discussions around victimhood in both academia and the wider public. These philosophical and sociological reflections on the nature of the Victim can thus be of help for better understanding a social phenomenon of considerable importance in today’s world.

The apple tree (Malus domestica Borkh.) is a flowering tree whose productivity depends on successful cross-pollination. The efficiency of the pollination process significantly affects the quantity and quality of apple fruits. In addition to the basic requirements for fruit set and tree productivity, the presence of different pollen sources (different cultivars of the orchard) has a positive effect on fruit quality parameters. It is possible to make a profit from an apple orchard several years after planting, so the choice of cultivar is very important, because the economic feasibility of growing plants depends on it. The purpose of this study was to determine the viability of pollen of columnar apple cultivars and the selection of pollinator cultivar. The research was carried out during 2019–2022 at the V. L. Symyrenko Department of Horticulture of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine. According to the results of the research, it was established that in the conditions of the Western Forest Steppe of Ukraine, the investigated columnar varieties form pollen of medium viability, pollen tubes reach a medium length, insufficient cross-fertility is observed, and the best pollinators for them are universal pollinators, Golden Gem’ and Professor Springer’ cultivars. In general, columnar fruit set is good from free pollination. Several conditions are necessary for satisfactory cross-pollination, namely: flowering of the pollinator cultivar must be simultaneous with the main cultivar; the pollinator cultivar must have pollen of high viability; the location of the pollinator cultivar should be near the fruit-bearing tree; the garden requires the presence of bees and other insects during flowering.

Com a crescente disponibilização de dados abertos em saúde no portal do DATASUS, surgem várias oportunidades de estudos no sentido de gerar informações para subsidiar a tomada de decisão e elaboração de ações em saúde. Um desafio para sistemas computacionais é executar consultas em diferentes fontes de dados, sendo necessária a implementação de uma solução capaz de tratar as diferenças semânticas dos dados. Esta pesquisa descreve um estudo de caso de integração dados abertos em saúde por meio de ferramentas OBDA (Ontology Based Data Access), utilizando uma ontologia no domínio da cirurgia bariátrica como camada conceitual sobre os dados. A principal contribuição da pesquisa é apresentar e discutir o uso de ferramentas OBDA por meio de um experimento prático de integração de dados do DATASUS.

Dialogism posits that at the core of life lies honest, open, mutual relationships between otherwise independent beings. This position differs from the psychologism that lies at the core of many dialectical philosophies in psychology. The current article examines the two core elements of such dialogue—that which pulls us apart and recognizes the uniqueness of the individual (the intrinsic, centrifugal voice), and that which expands us beyond ourselves and that builds bridges across our divisions (the extrinsic, centripetal voice). The text explores these two elements within the framework of communion with historically significant elements of nature. More specifically, it examines how two particular trees—one in Warsaw, Poland and one in Basking Ridge, New Jersey—inspire deep I-Thou dialogue (in the language of Martin Buber) in ways that differently highlight the importance of the centripetal and centrifugal elements of genuine dialogue. The text explores how we can meaningfully engage with individual non-human voices from nature. It also highlights the importance of materiality within dialogism, and it shows how historically important objects can speak to history in ways that show variation in degrees of intrinsic and extrinsic focus.

In recent decades we have seen an exponential growth in the amount of data gathered within psychological research without a corresponding growth of theory that could meaningfully organize these research findings. For this reason, considerable attention today is given to discussions of such broader, higher-order concepts as theory and paradigm. However, another area important to consider is the nature of the questions psychologists are asking. Key to any discussion about the scientific status of psychology or about progress in the field (scientific or otherwise) is the nature of the questions that inspire psychological research. Psychologists concerned about scientific progress and the growth of theory in the field would be well served by more robust conversations about the nature of the questions being asked. Honest, curiosity-driven questions—questions that admit to our ignorance and that express an active and optimistic yearning for what we do not yet know—can help to propel psychology forward in a manner similar to the development of theory or paradigm. However, existing as it does in the “twilight zone” between the natural sciences and the humanities, psychology is fertile ground for questions of wide-ranging natures, and thus the nature of progress in the field can be variously understood, not all of which will be “scientific.” Recent psychological research in three areas (cognition, memory, and disorders/differences of sex development) are discussed as examples of how curiosity-driven questions being asked from a position of informed ignorance can lead to progress in the field.

Frost stress strongly affects the spatial distribution of plants. Among various weather hazards, frost causes the greatest economic losses in agriculture. Among various environmental hazards, it is frost that causes the greatest economic losses in agriculture. Although frost severely limits life forms and creates enormous economic losses, it has not been studied as thoroughly as other biotic or abiotic stresses. Frost resistance can be affected by many factors, including microclimate, soil condition, plant height, but they must be studied in a complex. The purpose of the research was to select frost-resistant cultivars and hybrids of the columnar apple tree under the conditions of the Forest Steppe of Ukraine. The research was carried out during 2021–2022 at the V.L. Symyrenko Department of Horticulture of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine. The experimental basis for conducting research was the columnar apple tree plantations of the Training Laboratory «Fruit and Vegetable Garden». Frost resistance was determined during the period of deep rest by the method of direct freezing of one-year increments. Freezing was performed in the laboratory of plant physiology and microbiology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. In the researched plantations, when the test samples were frozen at temperatures of -25 and -30 °C during deep rest, different resistance of varieties and shoot parts to low temperatures was found. In all cultivars and hybrids of columnar type apple trees, the apical bud and generative buds were the most vulnerable, and the tissues of the middle and upper part of the shoot were the most resistant to frost. The damage index during general freezing was the lowest in the cultivars Valuta’, Sparta’, Favoryt’, Bilosnizhka’, as well as in the hybrids 9/110 Mykhailivske’, 11/15(2)’ and 9/78 Viktoriia’; it was the largest in the Bolero’ cultivars. Freezing of experimental samples at temperatures of -25 and -30 °C did not result in frostbite, critical for plants. All studied cultivars and hybrids of columnar apple trees are recommended for further research and production. The obtained results will be interesting for both experienced gardeners and amateur gardeners who plan to grow columnar apple trees in their garden.

The current study explores cross-cultural differences of male and female body image ideals within a rapidly developing intercultural, immigration context that has garnered a considerable degree of popular and scholarly interest; recent Arab immigration to Germany. One hundred eighty participants (Arab immigrants or ethnic Germans) completed self-report online questionnaires (in either Arabic or German) regarding male and female body image ideals, as well as an assessment of their own body image perception. The data suggest cross-cultural differences in the body image ideals of, and held by, men and women of both groups. Slimmer ideals were held by Germans, especially German women, something that has repercussions for selfperceptions of being over- or under-weight by both Arabs and Germans. Culturally-bound body image ideals are important for the study of demographic changes in such socio-biological patterns as weight, weight-related health issues, and intergroup attraction and reproduction. The current study highlights the importance of psychological research on body image ideals for better understanding trends observed in "objective" measures of physiology (e.g., weight, weight-related health conditions) or relationship patterns (e.g., marriages, reproduction).

The “agonistic perspective” on criminal justice posits that tensions are ubiquitous in the field irrespective of time, place, and the given paradigm. While the study of conflict and contestation is important, it is equally necessary to study harmony and shared interests. In the present article, we explore a period in the history of European penal reform that was marked by such a convergence of interests, and which would in Poland wed institutional reactions to crime with pedagogy, rather than the field of law as seen in many other nations. Macro-level shifts following the First World War allowed for the convergence of three broad “currents” of the day: national penal reform; the field of pedagogy; and the self-ascribed social mission of the Polish intelligentsia. By taking seriously practical collaboration and ideological harmony we are also reminded that the (penal) systems of the West (particularly the USA and the UK) are not obvious, automatic, or necessary.

This article examines two conceptualizations of time— kairic and prophetic—to illustrate the semiotic multistability of time: the Gestalt-like switch between conceptualizations. We will use two well-known novellas about time and salvation (by Charles Dickens and C. S. Lewis) to explore how the features of these two schemata cluster together thereby creating these two different understandings of time, while simultaneously blocking the view to each other. Finally, we will explore how the tensions between these two schemata are of interest for the logic of psychological science. It will be argued that many of the classic tensions within psychology speak to the multistability of our conceptual schemata regarding time and causation, something that is particularly exemplified by the challenges posed by Peirce’s notion of abduction. As we opt for one vision of time, we occlude others, even as we remain aware of their presence just beyond our conceptual reach.

Positivism has had a tremendous impact on the development of the social sciences over the past two centuries. It has deeply influenced method and theory, and has seeped deeply into our broader understandings of the nature of the social sciences. Postmodernism has attempted to loosen the grip of positivism on our thinking, and while it has not been without its successes, postmodernism has worked more to deconstruct positivism than to construct something new in its place. Psychologists today perennially wrestle to find and retain their intellectual balance within the methodological, theoretical, and epistemological struggles between positivism and postmodernism. In the process, pre-postmodern criticisms of positivism have been largely forgotten. Although they remain deeply buried at the core of psychology, these early alternatives to positivism are rarely given explicit hearing today. The current piece explores some of the early critiques of positivism, particularly of its scientism, as well as early suggestions to tip the scales (back) in favor ofsapientia(“wisdom”). This third option, largely overlooked within mainstream psychology, is of tremendous value today as it is both deconstructive and constructive relative to the shortcomings of positivism. It avoids the overly reductionistic “trivial order” of positivism, as well as the deeply unsatisfying and disorienting “barbaric vagueness” of postmodernism, while simultaneously embracing important core elements of both currents of thought.

This chapter explores how donor portraits, and particularly contact portraits, are illustrative of cultural psychological processes. We will examine how by engaging with a contact portrait we are “doing” cultural psychology. What is more, both the donor and the donor portrait can be understood as a Vorbild (a guide, a role model), in the sense that they catalyze the forward-thinking psychological engagement of the viewer in the present. It is argued that cultural psychology and the cultural psychologist can be similarly engaging, inviting the other into cultural explorations of their own. An example of such a Vorbild in cultural psychology can be seen in the work and person of Jaan Valsiner.

Mass violence always takes place in a particular geopolitical context, and how that context is understood influences perceptions of collective responsibility. As international borders shift, often in the wake of war, events that occurred within one geopolitical entity can be understood has having taken place in another. The influence of such geopolitical framing on judgments of collective responsibility remains understudied. Two studies examine how geopolitical frames lead to shifting assessments of collective responsibility for historical mass violence. By depicting historical violence within a particular geopolitical entity (e.g., a country), that entity was perceived as being more responsible for the violence. The studies are set within the contexts of German-occupied Poland and the British occupation of the Indian subcontinent. The ramifications of these findings are discussed for the teaching of history, the commemoration of historical victimhood, and for our understanding of assessments of collective responsibility and geopolitical framing more broadly.

Critical discourse regarding National Socialism was well developed during the short period of the Second Polish Republic (1918–1939). These critical scholarly voices remain largely unknown. This historical discourse was in effect removed from the historical record, as these voices arose from religious, cultural, and political positions that were unacceptable to the post-war communist government – features that make these voices of such interest today. In attempting to explain the rise of Nazism, most of Western scholarship after the Second World War looks back in time through the lens of what came later, primarily the Holocaust and the wider horrors of World War II. Pre-war critical discourse in Poland developed side-by-side with the rise of Nazism itself, and can therefore provide invaluable insights into the phenomenon in real time. The current article is an attempt to raise awareness in the English-speaking world of these untranslated critical voices of the religious and ‘pseudo-religious’ aspects of the rise of National Socialism.

Physical and physiological experiences greatly differ in the degree to which they become meaningful elements of our narratives. Some experiences, however, are uniquely imbued with the power to evoke, or catalyze, the search for meaningful engagement with the environment. One such area is illness. This study examines differences in meaning-making processes involving commonplace experiences of physical sensations, particularly changes in temperature, and it does so within the uniquely charged context of illness. Semistructured interviews were conducted in two countries (Poland and the US). The data show interesting points of both convergence and divergence on the interpersonal, intergroup, and cross-situational levels. While we are all familiar with the particular physical experiences in question (drafts of air and sitting on a cold, hard surface), they are meaningful, and thus captured in participant narratives, only in some social contexts and/or only in conjunction with certain catalysts (e.g. illness). What is more, in the absence of such meaningful, shared explanatory tools, participants showed confusion as to the source of the illness. This study includes an exploration of the poetic notion of “catching the wolf” (a Polish expression for falling ill after sitting on a cold, hard surface).

Background There are currently roughly 10,000 Germans on the organ waiting list, and that number is over 113,000 in the USA. There is a clear need to increase support for organ donation in general and to increase the number of registered donors in particular. Objective The current study examines the relationship between disgust sensitivity and attitudes towards organ donation and the possession of an organ donor card. The study also examines other important correlates of attitudes towards organ donation, such as fear, trust, and knowledge regarding organ donation. Design The study involved an online questionnaire. Participants Six hundred and eighteen Germans filled out an online questionnaire. Main Measures The questionnaire contained the following measures: attitude towards organ donation, disgust sensitivity, trust towards the medical community, fear of organ donation, and knowledge regarding organ donation, as well as such demographic information as age, biological sex, degree of formal education, religious affiliation and level of religiosity, political orientation, and possession of an organ donor card. Key Results The results replicated previous findings regarding the influence of trust and fear on attitudes towards organ donation, but only partially supported those regarding the importance of knowledge. Importantly, disgust sensitivity had a significant impact on attitudes towards organ donation, even after controlling for other variables hereto identified as important correlates in the literature (e.g., fear, trust, knowledge). What is more, there was a significant interaction between biological sex and disgust sensitivity indicating that the relationship between disgust sensitivity and attitudes towards organ donation was stronger among women than men. Conclusions While disgust is often disregarded as a “silly,” bairnish emotion and unbefitting of discussions of serious issues such as organ donation, in line with the “affective turn” in psychology, the results of the current study suggest that in order to improve attitudes towards organ donation, we should take feelings of disgust seriously.

In many cases of mass violence and genocide there is ambiguity and uncertainty as to whether and how external bystanders (i.e., third parties) should respond. How does the way we construe genocide influence our evaluations of particular cases of mass violence and our willingness to intervene? In five studies, using content analyses and experiments, prototype theory is applied to this important social issue. Studies 1 and 2 examine the prototype structure of genocide; finding among a student and a community sample that some features are perceived as more central to genocide than others. Studies 3 and 4 show the effects of this prototype on the cognitive processing of the category. Study 5 investigates how this prototype structure affects evaluations of mass violence and support for political and military intervention. Taken together, these studies suggest that socially shared prototypes of genocide matter: The more a case of mass violence is represented in accordance with this prototype, the more people remember and respond to it, for example, by supporting policies aimed at preventing and halting mass violence. These findings have important policy implications for how cases of mass violence are framed and discussed in the public and political sphere.

Ichheiser’s Polish language texts from before the Second World War cover a wide range of phenomena (e.g., vocational psychology, psychological conflict, life in both big cities and the countryside) and provide valuable insite into the history of social psychology. While these texts are different in their research foci, they are all written in a singular voice, a voice that speaks to a clear vision of what social psychology is and what role it can play—and can come to play—in the bettering of society. This chapter reviews Ichheiser’s Polish texts and does so through the lens of his vision for the field. These texts are not only useful because of their scholarly analyses of the particular topics in question but also because they present Ichheiser’s understanding of the role such research should play in both the development of the social sciences and the advancement of a just society. This chapter will provide a window into Ichheiser’s Polish language texts in a manner that highlights how he practiced what he preached, that is, by writing as one acutely aware that his voice as a researcher was valuable and even intelligible only as embedded within a wider social context. This remains a valuable lesson for the field, but also one that remains difficult to truly grasp and even more difficult to put into practice.

Muzafer Sherif's work on group dynamics and intergroup relations appears to be shaped by his personal background and political fate. This chapter reviews Sherif's multifaceted contributions to the study of group and intergroup relations. It highlights the complexity of his thinking about these issues. The chapter explores his ongoing relevance for research on these issues. Sherif's presumably most known contribution to the study of group and intergroup relations is the set of studies referred to as the Robbers Cave experiments. Sherif posited a positive relationship between group cohesion and the correlation between social rank and skill ratings. Accordingly, Sherif differentiated not only the nature of interpersonal relations from group dynamics, but also intra-group processes from intergroup dynamics. According to Sherif, the key element in determining the nature of intergroup relations is the relationship of each group to the goals of other groups.

The author reviews Daniel Bar-Tal’s summary of the social-psychological research on mass violence, particularly intractable conflicts, and critically examines his synthesis of this large and growing body of literature. What actually defines a conflict as intractable is discussed, and an overview of past research is presented. The author explores Bar-Tal’s thinking on the escalation of conflict, how societies are shaped by conflict, how conflicts come to be sustained over time so as to become intractable, and finally, how such conflicts might be brought to an end. While sustained, large-scale conflicts are truly awful, in that they cause horror but also astonishment, they arise from the normal, mundane processes underlying intergroup dynamics. In this sense, their “normality” offers invaluable insights into how to assuage the suffering caused by what are otherwise mundane and even valuable social-psychological processes.

Four experiments in the context of the Armenian Genocide (Study 1), the Kielce Pogrom (Study 2), and the Holocaust (Studies 3 and 4) examined the effects of experiencing acknowledgment (vs. lack of acknowledgment) of historical ingroup victimization on psychological well-being and on intergroup relations. Armenian and Jewish American participants, respectively, read about the former perpetrator group’s acknowledgment or lack of acknowledgment of the ingroup’s victimization. Participants in the acknowledgment condition reported higher levels of psychological well-being (indicated by more positive and less negative affect) and greater willingness to reconcile with the former perpetrator group, compared to participants in the no acknowledgment condition and to a neutral baseline control condition (Study 4). Two studies also revealed significant effects on resentment of the perpetrator group.

Over the last several decades, scholars have lamented the lack of a clear definition of genocide, and many have then proposed one of their own in an attempt to fill this gap. The majority of the definitions put forward, and the discomfort from which they arise, express an explicit or implicit attachment to essentialism, the assumption that the definition need reflect, in an unadulterated fashion, the objective reality out in the world. In other words, many take our failure to settle on a single definition of genocide across fields as a sign that we don't yet know what it is. We seem to want to know not so much what genocide means to us and how this construct might be more useful in our attempts to create a better world, but rather, what it really is at its core. In what follows, we will examine our ongoing attachment to essentialist understandings of genocide, some of the problems that arise as a result, how we have attempted to free ourselves from this approach, and how we might go further in doing so.

We use photometric and spectroscopic observations of the detached eclipsing binaries V40 and V41 in the globular cluster NGC 6362 to derive masses, radii, and luminosities of the component stars. The orbital periods of these systems are 5.30 and 17.89 d, respectively. The measured masses of the primary and secondary components ($M_p$, $M_s$) are (0.8337$\pm$0.0063, 0.7947$\pm$0.0048) M$_\odot$ for V40 and (0.8215$\pm$0.0058, 0.7280$\pm$0.0047) M$_\odot$ for V41. The measured radii ($R_p$, $R_s$) are (1.3253$\pm$0.0075, 0.997$\pm$0.013) R$_\odot$ for V40 and (1.0739$\pm$0.0048, 0.7307$\pm$0.0046) R$_\odot$ for V41. Based on the derived luminosities, we find that the distance modulus of the cluster is 14.74$\pm$0.04 mag -- in good agreement with 14.72 mag obtained from CMD fitting. We compare the absolute parameters of component stars with theoretical isochrones in mass-radius and mass-luminosity diagrams. For assumed abundances [Fe/H] = -1.07, [$\alpha$/Fe] = 0.4, and Y = 0.25 we find the most probable age of V40 to be 11.7$\pm$0.2 Gyr, compatible with the age of the cluster derived from CMD fitting (12.5$\pm$0.5 Gyr). V41 seems to be markedly younger than V40. If independently confirmed, this result will suggest that V41 belongs to the younger of the two stellar populations recently discovered in NGC 6362. The orbits of both systems are eccentric. Given the orbital period and age of V40, its orbit should have been tidally circularized some $\sim$7 Gyr ago. The observed eccentricity is most likely the result of a relatively recent close stellar encounter., Comment: Accepted by AJ

The potential effect of genetic modification on nutritional properties of potatoes was determined in a rat experiment. The potato cultivar Irga was transformed with viral genome sequences in order to improve its resistance to a necrotic strain of potato virus Y (PVYN). Four clones of genetically-modified potato were compared with the conventional variety Irga and non-transgenic somaclone from cv. Irga. Autoclaved and dried potato tubers were introduced in a high amount (40%) to rat diets. The genetic status of the potato had no effect on the mass of the caecum and caecal digesta. The parameters tested were pH, dry matter content and bacterial enzyme activity, comprising α- and β-glucosidase, α- and β-galactosidase, and β-glucuronidase. The results indicate that improvement of potato resistance to PVYN by genetic transformation had no negative effect on the ecosystem of the caecum of the rats, activity of serum enzymes (aspartate and alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase) and non-specific defence mechanisms (lysozyme and ceruloplasmine level, number of bacteria taken up per cell and the percentage of the phagocytic cells in the serum).

We report on the discovery of eleven multimode SX Phoenicis--type blue stragglers in the field of the southern globular cluster NGC 3201. In these variables both radial and non-radial modes are excited. For three variables the derived period ratio is close to that observed in SX Phoenicis itself, suggesting that these stars are pulsating in the fundamental and the first-overtone radial modes. Using the McNamara (1997) period-luminosity relation we have estimated the apparent distance modulus to NGC 3201 to be 14.08$\pm0.06\pm0.1$mag., Comment: 10 pages, requires mn2e.cls,contact the first author at batka@camk.edu.pl for high-resolution figures

ABSTRA C T We report the results of a CCD search for short-period variables in the field of a southern globular cluster NGC 6362. We identified 19 new candidate variables, five of which are cluster RR Lyraes, four are probable SX Phe-type stars and eight are eclipsing binaries. Of the discovered binaries, three are EA-type systems, two of which are located on the cluster CMD in the turn-off region and the third 1 mag above the turn-off point, in the yellow straggler region. Five other systems are of W UMa type, three of which are foreground objects and two are likely cluster members. The remaining two candidates exhibit a modulation of the brightness level with an amplitude of 0.1‐0.2 mag; further observations are needed to reveal the nature of their variability. Phased VI light curves for 20 variables (18 RR Lyrae stars and two blue stragglers) located in the central region of the cluster are presented.

Currently, there are three major maturational stages of CD19 antigen expressing B-cell precursors (hematogones). In B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL), the malignant counterpart of hematogones, the leukemic blasts share common phenotypic features. The aim of the study was to enumerate the actual differences between the leukemic blasts in the CD10+ and CD10- subgroups of BCP-ALL and hematogones by assessing the expression of the antigens: TdT, CD34, CD45, CD10, CD38, CD20 and CD22.To enable quantitative assessment of antigen expression on the different cell types, an objective scale of antigen expression was developed, the basis of which was direct fluorescence measurement using multicolor flow cytometry.All cases of CD10+ BCP-ALL clustered with type 1 hematogones. Among CD10-- BCP-ALL subgroup, 54.5%, 27.3% and 18.2% of cases clustered with type 1, 2 and 3 hematogones, respectively. In contrast to the CD10- blasts, the CD10+ blasts exhibited significantly higher levels of TdT, CD22, CD34 and CD20 expression. Conversely, CD10- blasts showed significantly higher expression of CD45 than CD10+ blasts, and a higher rate of CD45 antigen overexpression than CD10+ blasts (54.5% vs. 14.9% of cases, respectively).Multiparameter flow cytometry combined with the use of absolute antigen expression scale based on direct fluorescence measurement, has enabled a clear distinction between blasts in BCP-ALL cases and their normal counterparts. This novel and previously undescribed method has allowed the comparative analysis of antigen expression between leukemic blasts and different types of their normal counterparts.

We report results of photometric monitoring of the NGC 2243 eld in V and I lters. Two W UMa- type systems and three detached eclipsing binaries were discovered. Both contact systems are likely members of the cluster. One of the detached binaries { variable V1 {h as a period P=1.188 day. This variable is located at the cluster's turno in the color-magnitude diagram. Determination of parameters for components of V1 can provide direct information about properties of turno stars in NGC 2243 as well as to allow direct determination of cluster's distance. A background RR Lyr variable was found in the monitored eld. The reddening of NGC 2243 is estimated at E(V I )= 0 :10 0: 04 based on the V Icolor exhibited by this star at minimum light. The observed distribution of colors for the background halo stars shows a cuto at (V I) 0:60 what implies E(V I) 0:12 for the cluster.

In a quasioptical approximation we develop a theory of an open cavity with a dielectric plate placed normally to the cavity axis. We find conditions under which some natural frequencies of the cavity are practically independent of the plate position in the cavity. From experimental measurements of one of these frequencies and with variation of the length of the cavity with and without the plate, with the same oscillation- mode structure, we determine the refractive index and plate thickness. Coincidence between the obtained (“design”) thickness and mechanically measured one is a correctness criterion for the results obtained.

We present CCD BVI photometry for Be 33, a previously unstudied open cluster located toward the Galactic Anticentre. The radial extent of the cluster is about 4 arcmin, and it contains about 285 stars with V < 20.5 mag. Examination of the derived colour-magnitude diagrams shows that Be 33 is a strongly reddened object, with an age slightly lower than the age of the Hyades. Its apparent distance modulus is (m − M) V ≃ 14.7, and its reddening is E(B − V) ≃ 0.6 for an assumed metallicity equal to the solar value. Comparison of the cluster colour-magnitude diagram with isochrones published by Bertelli et al. suggests that in fact Be 33 has a metallicity significantly lower than solar