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Learning tactile Braille reading leverages cross-modal plasticity, emphasizing the brain’s ability to reallocate functions across sensory domains. This neuroplasticity engages motor and somatosensory areas and reaches language and cognitive centers like the visual word form area (VWFA), even in sighted subjects following training. No study has employed a complex reading task to monitor neural activity during the first weeks of Braille training. Since neuroplasticity can occur within days, understanding neural reorganization during early learning stages is critical. Moreover, such activation was not tested in visual and tactile domains using comparable tasks. Furthermore, implicit reading has not been studied in tactile Braille. Although visual reading in the native script occurs automatically, it remains uncertain whether the same applies to tactile reading. An implicit reading task could extend the knowledge of linguistic processing in Braille. Our study involved 17 sighted adults who learned Braille for 7 months and 19 controls. The experimental group participated in 7 testing sessions (1 week before the course, on the first day, after 1 and 6 weeks, after 3 and 7 months, and after 3 month-long hiatus). Using the fMRI Lexical Decision Task, we observed increased activity within the reading network, including the inferior frontal and supramarginal gyri, 1 week into learning in tactile and visual Braille. Interestingly, VWFA activation was observed after 1 week in the visual domain but only after 6 weeks in the tactile domain. This suggests that skill level in tactile reading influences the onset of involvement of VWFA. Once this activation was achieved, the peak level of VWFA engagement remained stable, even after the follow-up. Furthermore, an implicit reading task revealed increased activity within the reading network, including the VWFA, among participants learning Braille compared to the passive controls. Possibly, implicit reading occurs during non-reading tactile tasks where the Braille alphabet is present. We showed that the VWFA activity peak occurs faster in the visual domain compared to the tactile domain. We also showed that sighted subjects can process tactile Braille implicitly. These results enrich our understanding of neural adaptation mechanisms and the interplay between sensory modalities during complex, cross-modal learning.

Motor imagery (MI) encompasses kinesthetic motor imagery (KMI), internal visual-motor motor imagery (IVMI), and external visual-motor motor imagery (EVMI). This study explored α/β oscillations during MI of left-/right-hand movement from KMI/IVMI/EVMI perspectives in a group of left- (N = 20) and right-handed (N = 20), volunteers selected based on their laterality quotient (RH > 80; LH > −80). We analyzed changes in the power of α/β oscillations from visual- and motor-related clusters of independent components, connectivity (imaginary part of coherence; ICOH) between electroencephalographic activity from selected regions of interest (ROIs), and the correctness of the MI. The left-handed individuals showed more robust α/β activity in visual-related ROI during EVMI for their non-dominant hand, compared during IVMI. However, they did not show a difference in brain activity for EVMI/IVMI compared with KMI and connectivity variance across EVMI/IVMI and KMI. The right-handed individuals exhibited visual area suppression during KMI, which could signify focusing on internal sensations and blocking visual processing in this condition. ICOH connectivity in the RH group varied depending on the task and hand involved, with more robust connections for EVMI of the non-dominant hand compared with IVMI and stronger connections for EVMI and KMI of the non-dominant hand compared with the dominant hand. The results suggest that left-handed individuals rely more on visual representations during MI, especially for their non-dominant hand. At the same time, right-handed people may create more multimodal images during the same tasks.

Novel nonterminal liquid crystalline epoxy resin has been synthesized, and its structure and nature have been determined via nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and polarized optical microscopy (POM). Then, it was cured with the use of 4,4′-diaminodiphenylmethane (4,4′-DDM). The curing process has been investigated via differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) methods. Polymerization has been conducted with (1.2 T) and without the presence of a strong magnetic field. The properties of the obtained polymers have been described using DSC, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dielectric spectroscopy (DS) and X-ray scattering studies (WAXS/SAXS). It has been proved that the magnetic field induces molecular ordering and increases the glass transition temperature (Tg) by over 20 °C. The obtained ordered polymers are thermally stable up to over 300 °C, undergo vitrification at slightly elevated temperature (37.5 °C), and their electrical conductivity rises significantly at the transition to an elastic state, which, among other possibilities, makes them a proper candidate for a smart, lightweight polymers with tuneable properties by a subtle temperature rise and possibility of tailoring its structure by a magnetic field.

Lowe syndrome (oculocerebrorenal syndrome of Lowe – LS) is an ultra-rare, recessive X-linked, multisystem disorder that primarily occurs in males and affects the eyes, nervous system, and kidneys. It is a consequence of mutation of the OCRL gene on chromosome Xq25-26, which encodes phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate 5 phosphatase, a protein present in the Golgi complex, lysosomes, and endosomes. The most common symptoms of LS involve congenital cataracts, neurological retardation, and incomplete Fanconi syndrome, ultimately leading to end-stage renal disease between the second and fourth decade of life. The authors present a boy with the intoxication of vitamin D3 and suspicion of congenital cytomegaly eventually diagnosed with LS at the age of 16 months.

To determine the speed of a vehicle in a collision with body deformation, the kinetic energy input of the vehicle to cause body damage must be estimated. This paper analyzes the methods for estimating the energy equivalent of vehicle damage. A finite element model of a Toyota Yaris developed by the National Crash Analysis Center (NCAC) for use in the LS DYNA R.11.0.0 software environment is used for the simulation. The simulations include tests of the vehicle hitting a non-deformable wall, an object simulating a pole or a tree. The residual deformations obtained are used to determine the energy equivalent speed (EES) values using the “Crash 3—EBS Calculation 12.0” software and a visual comparison with the EES catalog database, where the EES parameter value is recalculated to take into account the difference in the mass of the vehicles.

This article describes the concept of a research project carried out by the “Młodzi Frazeolodzy” (Young Phraseologists) working group. The project aimed to create a handy lexicon containing the idioms most frequently used in informal speech by the academic community at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. The entries included in the collection represent units that are familiar to most members of the academic community. The keywords were provided with a definition of the idiom, possible variants, a style marker, an etymology or motivation, examples of use, a phonetic transcription, illustrations and equivalents in English, German, Ukrainian and Russian. Access to such a lexicon can support different groups of people who have come to Poland for specific reasons, e.g., to educate themselves. The lexicon can also serve people who want to improve their language skills or delve into the field of metaphorical language. The paper describes the research steps undertaken and the preferred methodology. The characteristics of the units we describe – idioms – are also mentioned. In addition, specific examples of dictionary entries are given, which are complemented by graphics. To illustrate the information collected during the research, statistical data are also provided.

Suggesting the proper location for logistics facility can be considered as a decision making problem, wherein the final solution/decision is affected by multiple external or even internal circumstances. In order to address the decision making issues, various multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) techniques may be implemented; and hence, they can be applied even when making a decision about an adequate logistics service center (LSC) placement in an examined territory (i.e., national logistics network of the selected territory), which is an aim of this manuscript. Following the statements above, as for the individual instruments of MCDM to be implemented in terms of the crucial objective of this research, the definite decision making process will be carried out by applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) followed by the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), on the basis of criteria weights defined by the Saaty pairwise comparison method. The methods used appear to be ideal instruments towards decision making on the most suitable location which is represented by the region in our case. Subsequently, these will be ordered from the most preferred to least one by using a preference ranking. As a result of the application of AHP and TOPSIS approaches, based on the conducted calculations in regard to decision making on identifying the proper LSC location out of eight selected regions, one specific region will be defined as the most suitable (so-called compromise) scenario. Individual tools allow for reducing the number of assigned criteria that are taken into account in searching process for individual solutions. In order to objectify the entire decision making procedure, ten topic-involved experts having practical experience with a subject of logistics object allocation will be asked to participate in the process. Preferences differ from one decision maker (expert) to another; hence, the outcome depends on who is making decisions and what their goals and preferences are.

The predominant goal of the research presented in this paper is the design of a manipulator for a conveyor of bulk materials based on the given requirements. This issue is an emerging topical one mainly for the reasons of increasing efficiency and speed, as well as the safety of maintenance of machines and equipment. Especially, another essential aspect is the reduction of the physical strain on operators during service operations on the conveyor of bulk materials. The introductory part of this paper attends to the materials used for the production of steel structures, their technological processing, as well as different types of joining of their components. The practical part was set out to ascertain the mass and position of the center of gravity of the load itself – the conveyor. From the perspective of acting, it loads the entire proposed structure, although in different operating modes.

Road transport safety, apart from environmental protection, is one of the most important tasks for the contemporary world. Annually, about 50 million people are injured in road accidents around the world, of which nearly 1.5 million die as a result. Transport safety consists of many activities and includes various initiatives, including legal changes, training, preventive actions, building safe road infrastructure, and the production of safe vehicles and control systems. This article deals with the issue of performing roadside technical inspections in the Slovak Republic. Specifically, it analyses the results of these roadside technical inspections in individual counties of the Slovak Republic and examines their possible impact on transport and logistics systems in these counties. The correlation analysis showed that the number of checks under the technical roadside inspections is weakly related to the number of logistics centres, but the number of such inspections is moderate in relation to the number of failed vehicles (correlation coefficient = 0.44079). In addition, due to the age of the vehicles, the number of serious and dangerous faults found on them during maintenance inspection increases.

Pneumatic suspension is increasingly used in many cars. Control of a car body level is the main function of the pneumatic suspension. The experimental determination of the pneumatic spring characteristics suitable for the design and modeling of the car level control system is presented. The characteristics of the pneumatic spring are determined, that determine the quality of the control system. The effect of temperature changes inside the pneumatic spring is experimentally determined due to heat exchange on air pressure and vertical force during alignment of the car body. In addition, through modeling is evaluated by changing the level of the car body due to the impact of heat transfer. An original method of controlling the lifting and lowering of the vehicle body is proposed. The method is based on the energy balance and is the basis for reducing the number of strokes of the electropneumatic valve. The change in the level of the body due to the temperature effect is leveled due to the indirect consideration of this effect using the pressure sensor in the cylinder.

Urinary incontinence is one of the most common symptoms in children and adolescents. Due to numerous causes, a thorough examination is necessary. We present a case of a 6-year-old boy with diurnal enuresis, who was admitted to our Department for further treatment after the procedure of bilateral ureteroneocystostomy due to suspected bilateral ureter stenosis. With the persistence of the incontinence, our examination revealed a posterior urethral valve which was incised and the symptoms subsided.

The goal of the paper is to investigate the impact of tire tread depth on road accident risk and to develop an accident rate prediction model. The state of 4288 vehicle tires using tread depth gauge was inspected and processed statistically. The tread depth of the most worn tire from each vehicle was registered for further analy-sis. Based on the collected data, a statistical tire tread depth model for an insurance company vehicle fleet had been developed. The conformity of the gamma distribu-tion to the data was verified upon applying the Pearson compatibility criterion. The paper provides the histo-grams of the frequencies of tire tread depths and the theoretical curves of the distribution density. The prob-ability of the accident risk depending on the tire tread depth (adaptive risk index) was calculated applying the formed distributions and risk index dependence on the tire tread depth for the inspected vehicle fleet. Accord-ing to the developed prediction model, an upgrade of the regulation for the minimum allowed tire tread depth by 2 mm (up to 3.6 mm) could reduce road accident risk (caused by poor adhesion to road surface) to 19.3% for the chosen vehicle fleet. Such models are useful for road safety experts, insurance companies and accident cost evaluation specialists by predicting expenses related to insurance events.

This work is focused on the possible ways of improving the running safety of a railway vehicle, which uses IRWs (independently rotating wheels) in a bogie. It discusses the main positive and negative properties of an application of IRWs for a railway vehicle while it is running in a curve. There are evaluated running properties of a railway vehicle in terms of safety for IRWs and a standard wheelset (SW). It is assumed that a wheelset design with IRWs will reduce the risk of derailment of a railway vehicle in a curve with a smaller radius because it will be reached a more favourable distribution of decisive forces in the wheel/rail contact. A designed wheelset with IRWs differs from other IRWs designs; in this case, only a flange can rotate independently from a wheel treat surface about the axis of rotation. Further, this research presents an analysis of a friction forces distribution of the friction forces in a contact of a flange and a rail head and a comparison with an SW. The obtained results allow concluding that it is advisable to use the wheels with the perspective wheel design (including independently rotating) to reduce the resistance to movement and improve the running properties of a railway vehicle for safety.

Learning tactile Braille reading leverages cross-modal plasticity, emphasizing the brain's ability to reallocate functions across sensory domains. This neuroplasticity engages motor and somatosensory areas and reaches language and cognitive centers like the visual word form area (VWFA), even in sighted subjects following training. No study has employed a complex reading task to monitor neural activity during the first weeks of Braille training. Since neuroplasticity can occur within days, understanding neural reorganization during early learning stages is critical. Moreover, such activation was not tested in visual and tactile domains using comparable tasks. Furthermore, implicit reading has not been studied in tactile Braille. Although visual reading in the native script occurs automatically, it remains uncertain whether the same applies to tactile reading. An implicit reading task could extend the knowledge of linguistic processing in Braille. Our study involved 17 sighted adults who learned Braille for 7 months and 19 controls. The experimental group participated in 7 testing sessions (1 week before the course, on the first day, after 1 and 6 weeks, after 3 and 7 months, and after 3 month-long hiatus). Using the fMRI Lexical Decision Task, we observed increased activity within the reading network, including the inferior frontal and supramarginal gyri, 1 week into learning in tactile and visual Braille. Interestingly, VWFA activation was observed after 1 week in the visual domain but only after 6 weeks in the tactile domain. This suggests that skill level in tactile reading influences the onset of involvement of VWFA. Once this activation was achieved, the peak level of VWFA engagement remained stable, even after the follow-up. Furthermore, an implicit reading task revealed increased activity within the reading network, including the VWFA, among participants learning Braille compared to the passive controls. Possibly, implicit reading occurs during non-reading tactile tasks where the Braille alphabet is present. We showed that the VWFA activity peak occurs faster in the visual domain compared to the tactile domain. We also showed that sighted subjects can process tactile Braille implicitly. These results enrich our understanding of neural adaptation mechanisms and the interplay between sensory modalities during complex, cross-modal learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) is a rare, autosomal recessive multi-system ciliopathy. Its diagnosis is based on a constellation of characteristic clinical symptoms that appear in childhood, including kidney defects, obesity, retinal dystrophy, polydactyly, intellectual dysfunction, and hypogonadism. We present a case of an 18-year-old girl with a postnatal diagnosis of postaxial polydactyly of the feet and hands and bilateral cutaneous syndactyly of the 2nd and 3rd toes, who successively developed most of the typical BBS manifestations. Despite this, the correct diagnosis was made only 3 months before adulthood in our clinic, to which the patient was referred because of suspicion of hypertension. Molecular testing confirmed the clinical diagnosis of BBS (homozygous variant c.619-1G>C in the BBS5 gene). The presented case is an example of a delayed diagnosis of BBS. The main reason was the lack of a comprehensive assessment of the multi-system disorders characteristic of BBS.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is currently a main public health problem worldwide. The clinical symptoms relate primarily to the respiratory system but may also involve multiple organs. The course of COVID-19 in children is usually mild, but in some cases may cause late complications, particularly the pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome (PIMS-TS). One of its symptoms may be acute kidney injury. We present a 10-year-old boy who developed nonspecific symptoms a few weeks after mild COVID-19, including weakness, weight loss, and polyuria. Clinical evaluation revealed acute renal failure secondary to acute tubulointerstitial nephritis (ATIN). Treatment with glucocorticoids resulted in rapid clinical and laboratory improvement. We hypothesize that the development of ATIN could be causally related to COVID-19 in an immune pathomechanism similar to PIMS-TS. The case provides new insights into possible complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection and indicates the need for renal follow-up after COVID-19.

This article describes the impact of limiting human mobility related to the COVID-19 pandemic on the level of air pollution related to transport. The city of Krakow and the emission level of nitrogen oxides (NOx) were used as a case study. This article describes the air quality monitoring system in Krakow and the measurement results from the measurement station at Krasinskiego Avenue. The average values of the pollution level in April 2018–2020 were compared. For the selected range of data, a significance test was performed, which resulted in no grounds for rejecting the hypothesis of the equality of the mean levels of nitrogen oxides concentrations in the spring. The analysis takes into account the average monthly temperatures in the discussed years.

The growing demand for products made of polymeric materials, including the commonly used polypropylene (PP), is accompanied by the problem of storing and disposing of non-biodegradable waste, increasing greenhouse gas emissions, climate change and the creation of toxic products that constitute a health hazard of all living organisms. Moreover, most of the synthetic polymers used are made from petrochemical feedstocks from non-renewable resources. The use of petrochemical raw materials also causes degradation of the natural environment. A potential solution to these problems is the use of biopolymers. Biopolymers include biodegradable or biosynthesizable polymers, i.e., obtained from renewable sources or produced synthetically but from raw materials of natural origin. One of them is the poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (P3HB) biopolymer, whose properties are comparable to PP. Unfortunately, it is necessary to modify its properties to improve its processing and operational properties. In the work, hybrid polymer nanobiocomposites based on P3HB, with the addition of chain, uncross-linked polyurethane (PU) and layered aluminosilicate modified with organic salts (Cloisite®30B) were produced by extrusion process. The introduction of PU and Cloisite®30B to the polymer matrix (P3HB) influenced the processing parameters beneficially and resulted in a decrease in the extrusion temperature of more than 10 °C. The influence of the simultaneous addition of a constant amount of PU (10 m/m%) and the different amounts of nanoadditives (1, 2 and 3 m/m%) on the compatibility, morphology and static mechanical properties of the resulted nanobiocomposites were examined. The component interactions by Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis, nano- and microscale structure studies using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and morphology by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were carried out, and the hardness and tensile strength of the obtained polymer nanobiocomposites were determined. FTIR analysis identified the compatibility of the polyester matrix, PU, and organomodified montmorillonite, the greatest being 3 m/m% Cloisite30B content. The addition of PU to the polyester elasticizes the material and decreases the material's strength and ductility. The presence of nanoclay enhanced the mechanical properties of nanobiocomposites. The resulting nanobiocomposites can be used in the production of short-life materials applied in gardening or agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lorry frame is the main carrying part of a lorry, composed of several components. These components are connected by joints into one structural unit and it forms the lorry chassis. The contribution of this article is focused on the strength analyses of a backbone frame, which is used on an off-road lorry chassis. Strength analyses are carried out utilising the finite element method. This article presents a created three-dimensional model of the frame and definition of boundary conditions (loads, the definition of degrees of freedom) needed for simulation computations. Results of the numerical calculations are the main parts of this article. Attention is mainly centred on the distribution of stresses of the frame under defined loads and its deformations.