Turn on the screen, turn off the loneliness - analysis of risk factors for binge-watching among Polish medical and non-medical students. A web-based cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine the risk factors for binge-watching (BW) among Polish medical and non-medical students. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A STROBE-compliant cross-sectional observational study, was carried out in Poland from July 2022 - March 2023. The web-based survey consisted of a personal questionnaire, a Binge-Watching Behaviour Questionnaire, a Scale of Motivation for Watching TV Series, a shortened version of the Ryff Well-Being Scale, and the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale. Inclusion criteria were being a student and providing informed consent to participate. The study involved 726 respondents (70.5% female) with an average age of 22.41 (SD=3.89), including 308 (44%) medical students. RESULTS: In the group of Polish medical students, the regression model was well-fitted F(10,287)=30.189; p<0.001, R2=0.496, and the risk factors were escape motivation (ß=0.416; p<0.001), psychological well-being (ß=-0.165; p=0.003), emotional loneliness (ß=0.152; p=0.014), and social loneliness (ß=-0.118; p=0.031). Among Polish students of other majors, the regression model was well-fitted F(10,378)=46.188; p<0.001, R2=0.538, and the influence of escape motivation (ß=0.456; p<0.001), entertainment motivation (ß=0.258; p<0.001), the psychological well-being of students (ß=-0.134; p=0.004), and emotional loneliness (ß=0.111; p=0.032) was demonstrated. CONCLUSIONS: Students are in a high-risk group for behavioural addiction known as binge-watching. Emotional loneliness, the desire to escape from everyday life problems, and reduced psychological well-being intensified binge-watching in all the studied groups. Entertainment motivation and social loneliness differentiated the groups of Polish medical and non-medical students in terms of BW risk factors.

Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Feasibility in Assessing Carotid Plaque Vulnerability-Narrative Review.

The risk assessment for carotid atherosclerotic lesions involves not only determining the degree of stenosis but also plaque morphology and its composition. Recently, carotid contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has gained importance for evaluating vulnerable plaques. This review explores CEUS's utility in detecting carotid plaque surface irregularities and ulcerations as well as intraplaque neovascularization and its alignment with histology. Initial indications suggest that CEUS might have the potential to anticipate cerebrovascular incidents. Nevertheless, there is a need for extensive, multicenter prospective studies that explore the relationships between CEUS observations and patient clinical outcomes in cases of carotid atherosclerotic disease.

Public Vaccination Reluctance: What Makes Us Change Our Minds? Results of A Longitudinal Cohort Survey.

The paper presents a longitudinal cohort survey on the public acceptability of COVID-19 vaccination and real vaccination levels. A survey on a representative sample of adult Polish citizens (n = 1066) was conducted in June 2020 and, one year later, the same group was approached to compare the hypothetical declarations with the real vaccination decisions (n = 438). A significant part of the group that declared reluctance and hesitation toward COVID-19 vaccination before that vaccination was available actually got vaccinated or plans to get vaccinated. Those respondents were asked about the reasons for changing their attitudes. Among the previously vaccine-reluctant individuals, the main reasons included concern about their health and safety (50%) and their desire to travel (26.6%). Vaccine-hesitant individuals also indicated health and safety as their primary concern (69%), as well as the pursuit of herd immunity and a notion of common social safety (12.6%). The main factors helping to increase vaccination acceptance are based on a self-centered pursuit of safety and freedom from restrictions. The survey results may help to prepare a more effective vaccination campaign.

Air Pollution Increases the Incidence of Upper Respiratory Tract Symptoms among Polish Children.

A substantial proportion of airway disease's global burden is attributable to exposure to air pollution. This study aimed to investigate the association between air pollution, assessed as concentrations of particulate matter PM2.5 and PM10 on the upper respiratory tract symptoms (URTS) in children. A nation-wide, questionnaire-based study was conducted in Poland in winter 2018/2019 in a population of 1475 children, comparing URTS throughout the study period with publicly available data on airborne particulate matter. A general regression model was used to evaluate the lag effects between daily changes in PM10 and PM2.5 and the number of children reporting URTS and their severity. PM10 and PM2.5 in the single-pollutant models had significant effects on the number of children reporting URTS. The prevalence of URTS: "runny nose", "sneezing" and "cough" was positively associated with 12-week mean PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations. In the locations with the highest average concentration of PM, the symptoms of runny nose, cough and sneezing were increased by 10%, 9% and 11%, respectively, compared to the cities with the lowest PM concentrations. This study showed that moderate-term exposure (12 week observation period) to air pollution was associated with an increased risk of URTS among children aged 3-12 years in Poland. These findings may influence public debate and future policy at the national and international levels to improve air quality in cities and improve children's health.

Flattening the Curve of COVID-19 Vaccine Rejection-An International Overview.

BACKGROUND: If globally implemented, a safe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program will have broad clinical and socioeconomic benefits. However, individuals who anticipate that the coronavirus vaccine will bring life back to normality may be disappointed, due to the emerging antivaccination attitude within the general population. METHODS: We surveyed a sample of adult Polish citizens (n = 1066), and compared it with the data on international COVID-19 vaccine reluctance. RESULTS: In 20 national surveys, the vaccine averseness for the anticipated COVID-19 vaccine varied from meager (2-6% China) to very high (43%, Czech Republic, and 44%, Turkey) and in most countries was much higher than regular vaccination reluctance, which varies between 3% (Egypt) and 55% (Russia). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that a 67% herd immunity may be possible only if mandatory preventive vaccination programs start early and are combined with coordinated education efforts supported by legislative power and social campaigns.

Probing the response of poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) microgels to solutions of various salts using etalons.

The Hofmeister series is a qualitative ordering of ions according to their ability to precipitate proteins in aqueous solution and is extremely important to consider when trying to understand materials and biomolecular structure and function. Herein, we utilized optical devices (etalons) composed of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAm)-co-10% acrylic acid (AAc) or pNIPAm-based microgels to investigate how various salts in the Hofmeister series influenced the microgel hydration state. Etalons were exposed to a series of salts solutions at different concentrations and the position of the peaks in the reflectance spectra monitored using reflectance spectroscopy. As expected, pNIPAm-co-10%AAc microgel-based etalons responded to the presence of ions, although in this case the response to cations deviated from the Hofmeister series. However, when using etalons prepared with pNIPAm-based microgels, the responses followed the Hofmeister series for both cation and anions. Finally, we observed that the sensitivity of etalons prepared with pNIPAm microgels was significantly higher than the response obtained from etalons composed of pNIPAm-co-10%AAc microgels. This was explained by considering the charge on the pNIPAm-co-10%AAc microgels that influences how osmotic and Hofmeister effects impacts hydration state.