MIĘDZY WIARĄ A ROZUMEM, TRÓJCA ŚWIĘTA W PISMACH ANDRZEJA WISZOWATEGO (Between faith and reason, the Holy Trinity in the writings of Andrzej Wiszovaty)

Fundament prawdziwej wolnych ludzi swobody w tym jest, kiedy im wolno czynić to, co bez krzywdy cudzej sobie być rozumieją potrzebnego i pożytecznego, i o to się żadnej peny i karania nie boją. Tego fundamentu pokój dissidentium postrzega, kiedy zabrania, aby ci niepokojeni i penowani nie byli, którzy sobie drogę do nieba taką obrali, jaką rozumieją być najprostszą i najsposobniejszą. … Przeto ten pokój jest lex fundamentalis wolności. Samuel Przypkowski, Braterska deklaracja na niebraterskie napomnienie. (Między wiarą a rozumem, Trójca Święta w pismach Andrzeja Wiszowatego… Between faith and reason, the Holy Trinity in the writings of Andrzej Wiszowaty will be analayzed the Andrzej Wiszowaty argumentation which was presented during the discussion which waged two eminent thinkers: Andreas Wissowatius, Polish sycynianin and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibinz, German philosopher of enlightenment, in the late seventeenth century. Presented exchange of views makes it possible to observe the philosophical premises that require rejection of the dogma of the Holy Trinity for Andrzej Wiszowaty. The discussion from which the Antitrinitarians arguments were quoted, bounced off a huge echo in the European theologians and philosophers environment, mainly due to the fame enjoyed, decades later, by Leibniz. The discussion became known in Germany, thanks to Lessing, who was editor and commentator of the dispute about the Holy Trinity as well as an advocate of tolerance, German writer of enlightenment.

Structural investigation of functional nucleic acids

DNA enzymes, also known as deoxyribozymes, are synthetic single-stranded DNA molecules able to catalyze chemical reactions. There are two main reasons for studying deoxyribozymes: their practical value in various applications, and the understanding of basic properties - such as folding and catalysis - of a biopolymer that is of central importance for life. Compared to ribozymes, the DNA enzymes have a potential value as tools for industrial or therapeutic applications, owing to more cost-effective synthesis and higher stability. The first crystal structure of a deoxyribozyme demonstrated that DNA possesses the intrinsic ability to adopt complex tertiary folds that support catalysis and unveiled the active site of a DNA enzyme in the post-catalytic state (Ponce-Salvatierra, Wawrzyniak-Turek et al. 2016). The second reported crystal structure of the RNA-cleaving deoxyribozyme complements observations about the folds and catalysis of DNA enzymes although the structure was derived with DNA as a substrate mimic of RNA (Liu, Yu et al. 2017). These crystal structures represent a breakthrough in the field, but they are still insufficient to derive a clear mechanistic picture of the specific features of different RNA ligating and RNA cleaving deoxyribozymes. Therefore, ongoing efforts are devoted to structurally investigating additional deoxyribozymes. The new DNA enzymes were evolved to discriminate modified and unmodified RNA substrates and provide attractive tools for studying the natural epitranscriptomic RNA modification N6-methyladenosine (Sednev, Mykhailiuk et al. 2018). In the present study, the goal is to elucidate the structural basis for recognition of the methylated nucleobase by solving the crystal structure of the m6A sensitive RNA-cleaving deoxyribozyme in complex with an uncleavable analog of the RNA substrate, containing either methylated and unmethylated adenosine. Surprisingly, the RNA substrate dissociated from the deoxyribozyme during the crystallization process. Two structures for unmethylated and one of the methylated RNA substrate analog were solved. The next goal is to elucidate the crystal structure of the RNA-ligating deoxyribozyme in the pre-catalytic state of reaction. The previously reported crystal structure of the 9DB1 in the post-catalytic state of reaction could not explain the role of magnesium cations as cofactors for accelerating RNA ligation and properly describe the ligation mechanism. The structural investigation of the 9DB1 in the pre-catalytic state resulted in the ligation of the two RNA substrates during the crystallization process. In the future, other strategies are necessary to solve the questions on substrate recognition and catalytic mechanism of the RNA-cleaving and RNA-ligating deoxyribozymes investigated in this study. The second project deals with synthetic RNA aptamers that were identified by in vitro selection to mimic fluorescent proteins for RNA imaging and the development of biosensors. Several examples of fluorogen-activating RNA aptamers are known, and for some, the crystal structures have recently been solved e.g. of the Spinach, Mango, and Corn aptamers, that bind synthetic analogs of the GFP chromophore (Neubacher and Hennig 2019). The Chili is a new fluorogenic-RNA aptamer that mimics large Stokes shift (LSS) fluorescent proteins (FPs) by inducing highly Stokes‐shifted emission from several new green and red HBI (4-hydroxybenzylidene imidazolinone) derivatives that are non‐fluorescent when free in solution (Steinmetzger, Palanisamy et al. 2019). The new fluorophores are the first variants of fluorogenic aptamer ligands with permanently cationic sidechains that are bound by the RNA in their protonated phenol form, while emission occurs from the phenolate intermediate after excited-state proton transfer. The Chili–DMHBO+ complex is the longest wavelength-emitting (592 nm) and tightest binding (KD=12 nM) RNA fluorophore currently known in the growing family of HBI-binding aptamers. By employing X-ray crystallography, I have elucidated the three-dimensional structure of the Chili fluorophore binding site and revealed the structural basis for the large apparent Stokes shift and the promiscuity of the Chili aptamer to activate red and green-emitting chromophores2022-03-2

Modelling Cell Orientation In Artificial Tissues

Engineered tissues have many potential applications both as experimental systems and in therapeutic devices and treatments. Specially, there is potential to repair damaged spinal cord, however work is still needed to predict the process of tissue growth. Computational physics has potential to signicantly accelerate the progress of development and to improve the properties of engineered neural tissue (ENT). Research has found that correlation exists between physical forces and the arrangement of cells in engineered tissue. In this thesis, emphasis is put on the interaction between astrocytes within engineered neural tissue (ENT). The main aim of this work is to create a computational model which will be able to predict the arrangement of these cells in ENT. Computational techniques of soft matter physics are used to describe the final growth state of cells in ENT. In this thesis, we treat tissue as a two dimensional mesh. Interactions are described by both a simple Hamiltonian related to cell orientation and the dipole force model (DFM) and a more advanced Hamiltonian, which takes into account the inuence of the extracellular matrix and cells. To find the minimum energy state of the system a simulated annealing algorithm was used. The first set of results presents a two-dimensional map of real articial engineered neural tissue and shows the statistical distribution of the average angles and positions of groups of cells within the tissue. Next, we present results generated by a simple Hamiltonian and more advanced model to investigate information about orientation, arrangement and shape of the whole tissue. It is found that an extended DFM where cells can move and change orientation is able to reproduce several features of the experimental data including an approximation to the delta regions and the aligned behaviour in the centre of the sample

From local clientelism to populism – the case of Radu Mazăre

The fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe imposed not only a transition towards a new regime, but also the reconstruction of the democratic institutions. That meant, as Peter Mair puts it, that the firsts to come to power had the great advantage of shaping the administration and government agencies for their own benefit. This consequently led to establishing clientelistic networks and party patronage by spoiling offices. At the same time, the new post-communist democracies had to transform themselves, from a totalitarian regime with a unique party which controlled merely every aspect of politics and society, into pluralistic societies with multiparty systems. That also meant that the political actors had to win their positions through an open and democratic electoral process, thus having to create electoral linkages in order to secure their sits. Many local political figures in post-communist Romania interpreted this new situation by buying the votes and by establishing clientelistic linkages, based on offering various goods, favors or social security benefits in the exchange of the vote and of the electoral support. These practices led to the emergence of powerful local political elites, with increased popular support and significant influence in the party structure due to their electoral linkages, the so-called local barons. This paper seeks to explore the connection between such local electoral clientelistic networks and the populist approach employed by the respective local political elites

Z dziejów Zjednoczonego Stronnictwa Ludowego w województwie lubelskim w latach 1949-1956

Niezależny ruch ludowy został zlikwidowany w końcu 1947 r., gdy kierownictwo PSL przejęli przeciwnicy mikołajczykowskiej linii politycznej. W latach 1949-1956 Zjednoczone Stronnictwo Ludowe było w pełni kontrolowane i sterowane przez komunistów. W tym okresie działalność PZPR i stronnictw satelickich, Związku Młodzieży Polskiej oraz aparatu państwowego koncentrowała się na totalnej walce z ”wrogiem klasowym”, religią i Kościołem katolickim, inicjatywą obywatelską, własności prywatną

The Relationship Between Online Learning and Student Motivation and Engagement

The switch to online learning during the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic impacted the educational world in many ways. University students were moved from traditional in person classroom settings to an online format. This change may have been accompanied by stress, anxiety, and social isolation. Research suggests that a student’s learning environment can either generate success by contributing to motivational strategies through quality of educational support or a learning environment can generate boredom, stress, and confusion. In addition, research demonstrates that personality plays a factor in many outcomes such as education and mental health. There is a lack of research on connecting different students’ personality traits with their perception of their motivation and engagement in their online courses. To better understand these relationships, 190 university undergraduate students (56.8% female; mean age = 19.90, SD = 3.16) completed the Big Five Inventory (BFI), the Online Distance Learning Questionnaire (ODLQ), the Learning Climate Questionnaire (LCQ), the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), and a Demographics Survey. The surveys with subscales were totaled and scored separately. These scores were tested in terms of their correlations with each other using the Pearson Correlation Coefficient to test the correlations between the variables to determine if the hypotheses were supported. A significant relationship between the Learning Climate Questionnaire and the Online Distance Learning Questionnaire was found. Moderate relationships were found for the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire and the Online Distance Learning Questionnaire. A weak relationship was found between the Big Five Factor Inventory trait for neuroticism and the Online Distance Learning Questionnaire. No relationship was determined between the Big Five Factor Inventory trait for extraversion and The Online Distance Learning Questionnaire. Further research is needed to clarify if personality traits have a significant relationship between student perception of online learning

Wpływ synodów w pierwszych pięciu wiekach chrześcijaństwa na obrzędy Eucharystii

Although the synods that took place between the second and fifth centuries were mainly convened for disciplinary and dogmatic reasons, they also dealt with matters of the eucharistic liturgy. In that respect, decisions were made to counteract abuses and promote a certain unification of liturgical celebrations within each province. These decisions concerned matters such as: the wording of prayers, the unification of certain rites, the appropriate places for the celebration of the Eucharist, the canon of books of the Bible used in the Liturgy of the Word, the rite of the Holy Communion or the authority and liturgical vestments of the bishop, presbyter, deacon and other individuals ministering in the liturgy.Choć synody, które odbywały się między II a V wiekiem zwoływane były głównie z powodów dyscyplinarnych i dogmatycznych, to zajmowały się one także sprawami liturgii eucharystycznej. Celem podejmowanych decyzji było przeciwdziałanie pojawiającym się nadużyciom oraz dążenie pewnej do jedności obrzędów liturgicznych w obrębie jednej prowincji. Decyzje synodów dotyczyły takich spraw, jak: treść modlitw, ujednolicenie pewnych obrzędów, miejsce sprawowania Eucharystii, kanon ksiąg Pisma Świętego w Liturgii słowa, obrzędy Komunii św., czy kompetencje oraz strój liturgiczny biskupa, prezbitera, diakona i innych posługujących w liturgii

Insanity as a Defense to the Civil Fraud Penalty

Most neurological diseases are associated with chronic inflammation initiated by the activation of microglia, which produce cytotoxic and inflammatory factors. Signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs) are potent regulators of gene expression but contribution of particular STAT to inflammatory gene expression and STAT-dependent transcriptional networks underlying brain inflammation need to be identified. In the present study, we investigated the genomic distribution of Stat binding sites and the role of Stats in the gene expression in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated primary microglial cultures. Integration of chromatin immunoprecipitation-promoter microarray data and transcriptome data revealed novel Stat-target genes including Jmjd3, Ccl5, Ezr, Ifih1, Irf7, Uba7, and Pim1. While knockdown of individual Stat had little effect on the expression of tested genes, knockdown of both Stat1 and Stat3 inhibited the expression of Jmjd3 and inflammatory genes. Transcriptional regulation of Jmjd3 by Stat1 and Stat3 is a novel mechanism crucial for launching inflammatory responses in microglia. The effects of Jmjd3 on inflammatory gene expression were independent of its H3K27me3 demethylase activity. Forced expression of constitutively activated Stat1 and Stat3 induced the expression of Jmjd3, inflammation-related genes, and the production of proinflammatory cytokines as potently as lipopolysacharide. Gene set enrichment and gene function analysis revealed categories linked to the inflammatory response in LPS and Stat1C + Stat3C groups. We defined upstream pathways that activate STATs in response to LPS and demonstrated contribution of Tlr4 and Il-6 and interferon-. signaling. Our findings define novel direct transcriptional targets of Stat1 and Stat3 and highlight their contribution to inflammatory gene expression