IMAGINE THERE’S A HEAVEN REASONABLE RELIGION, RELIGIOUS REASON

Religious fundamentalism, on the one hand, as manifested in terrorist activity and extreme rationalism which leads to atheism on the other seem to be untenable choices for any honest man. Both put faith and reason at odds with one another. If neither is acceptable, then there must be a middle way. Thomas Aquinas has spoken about the medium virtutis, the golden mean, when it comes to virtuous acts, which avoid vicious extremes in any moral act. How do we find this medium virtutis between faith and reason? After looking at prudence as the recta ratio agibilium and seeing that the guide for the recta ratio is the truth, we then discover that, for moral truth, which is involved in the medium virtutis of faith and reason, the bridging criterion is human nature, and that reason spans not only the empirical realm, but the philosophical and supernatural realms as well

Person, Personality, Persona and Privacy

Belakangan ini kita sering diingatkan tentang bahayanya memasuki Internet: beberapa orang menunjukkan bahaya moralnya seperti akses mudah ke pornografi; sementara yang lain memperingatkan tentang bagaimana aplikasi media sosial digunakan untuk mengontrol pemikiran dan perilaku kita. Atas dasar ketidaknyamanan ini, beberapa orang menyarankan kita berpantang saja dari media sosial dan mendesak kita untuk menghapus aplikasi ini dari ponsel kita. Pertanyaan yang ingin kami jawab dalam artikel ini adalah: apakah mereka benar? Haruskah kita menolak terlibat dalam internet dan media sosial? Apakah menghindari diri dari Internet dan media sosial berarti menjadi lebih manusiawi dan otentik secara manusiawi? Peneliti ingin meyakini pembaca bahwa dunia internet adalah sebuah perubahan dalam kehidupan manusia yang tidak terlalu jauh dari pengalaman pergeseran paradigma sebelumnya yang dialami pada masa lalu. Seperti transisi-transisi sebelumnya, situasi ini menghadirkan bahaya, tetapi juga memberikan peluang. Jika manusia benar-benar makhluk sosial, sebuah platform sosial baru dapat menjadi bermanfaat bagi kehidupan sosial dan tidak akan langsung menjadi jahat bagi kita. Baik dan buruknya tergantung pada bagaimana setiap individu menghadapinya dan menyesuaikannya untuk keuntungannya. Tulisan ini secara khusus ingin membedakan antara konsep person, personality dan persona melalui manifestasinya di Internet. Dengan membedakan ketiga konsep ini, kami berharap bahwa kita dapat memahami lebih baik apa yang harus kita lakukan untuk mengubah realitas Internet sehingga menjadi sebuah keuntungan. Metodologi penelitian ini adalah kualitatif dan akan mengambil penjelasan-penjelasan konsep dari artikel-artikel dan bukubuku yang telah ditulis tentang topik ini. Tujuannya adalah membuat sebuah conceptual framework yang bisa dipakai untuk memahami soal privacy dan hubungannya dengan person. Penelitian ini akhirnya melihat bahwa manusia tetap harus coba dalam lingkungan baru yang dibentuk oleh Internet, memang dengan menjaga perkembangan baik personalitasnya, tapi dengan tetap menghadapi pertualangan di dalam dunia maya supaya dia bisa berkembang sebagai manusia yang moderen

IMAGINE THERE’S A HEAVEN REASONABLE RELIGION, RELIGIOUS REASON

Religious fundamentalism, on the one hand, as manifested in terrorist activity and extreme rationalism which leads to atheism on the other seem to be untenable choices for any honest man. Both put faith and reason at odds with one another. If neither is acceptable, then there must be a middle way. Thomas Aquinas has spoken about the medium virtutis, the golden mean, when it comes to virtuous acts, which avoid vicious extremes in any moral act. How do we find this medium virtutis between faith and reason? After looking at prudence as the recta ratio agibilium and seeing that the guide for the recta ratio is the truth, we then discover that, for moral truth, which is involved in the medium virtutis of faith and reason, the bridging criterion is human nature, and that reason spans not only the empirical realm, but the philosophical and supernatural realms as well

Radical‐medicated end‐group transformation of amphiphilic methacrylate random copolymers for modulation of antimicrobial and hemolytic activities

This work describes synthesis of antimicrobial methacrylate copolymers by reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization and examines the versatility of this approach for improving chemical optimization to create potent, non‐toxic antimicrobial polymers. Specifically, this study focuses on the radical‐mediated transformation of end group of antimicrobial peptide‐mimetic polymer. RAFT polymerization using 2‐cyano‐2‐yl‐dithiobenzoate provided a statistical methacrylate copolymer consisting of aminobutyl and ethyl groups in the side chains. The following radical‐mediated modification using free radical initiators successfully transformed the ω‐end group of parent copolymer from dithiobenzoate to a cyanoisobutyl or aminoethyl cyanopentanoate group without any significant changes to the polymer molecular weight. In general, the parent polymer and variants showed a broad spectrum of activity against a panel of bacteria, but low hemolytic activity against human red blood cells. The parent copolymer with the dithiobenzoate end‐group showed highest antimicrobial and hemolytic activities as compared with other copolymers. The copolymers caused membrane depolarization in Staphylococcus aureus, while the ability of copolymers for membrane disruption is not dependent on the end‐group structures. The synthetic route reported in this study will be useful for further study of the role of polymer end‐groups in the antimicrobial activity of copolymers. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017, 55, 304–312Cationic amphiphilic methacrylate copolymers with antimicrobial activity were prepared by RAFT polymerization. The radical‐mediated modification method transformed the ω‐end groups from the RAFT agent to different functional groups, which modulate their antibacterial and hemolytic activities. The radical‐medicated approach would be a viable option to optimize the structures of methacrylate copolymers for their antimicrobial activity and selectivity to bacteria through pinpoint end‐group transformation as well as to functionalize polymers for potential applications such as surface modifications.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135523/1/pola28384.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135523/2/pola28384-sup-0001-suppinfo1.pd

Designing polymeric adhesives for antimicrobial materials: poly(ethylene imine) polymer, graphene, graphene oxide and molybdenum trioxide – a biomimetic approach

The synthesis of biocompatible polymers for coating applications has gained significant attention in recent years due to the increasing spread of infectious diseases via contaminated surfaces. One strategy to combat this problem is to apply antimicrobial coatings to surfaces prone to microbial contamination. This study presents a series of biomimetic polymers that can be used as adhesives to immobilize known antimicrobial agents on the surfaces as coatings. Several polymers containing dopamine methacrylate as co-polymers were synthesized and investigated as adhesives for the deposition of an antimicrobial polymer (polyethyleneimine) and antimicrobial nanoparticles (graphene, graphene oxide and molybdenum trioxide) onto glass surfaces. The results showed that different antimicrobials required different types of adhesives for effective coating. Overall, the coatings fabricated from these composites were shown to inactivate E. coli and B. subtilis within 1 h. These coatings were also effective to prevent biofilm growth and demonstrated to be non-toxic to the human corneal epithelial cell line (htCEpi). Leaching tests of the coatings proved that the coatings were stable under biological conditions

A Cationic Amphiphilic Random Copolymer with pH-Responsive Activity against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

In this report, we demonstrate the pH-dependent, in vitro antimicrobial activity of a cationic, amphiphilic random copolymer against clinical isolates of drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The polymer was developed toward a long-term goal of potential utility in the treatment of skin infections. The proposed mechanism of action of the polymer is through selectively binding to bacterial membranes and subsequent disruption of the membrane structure/integrity, ultimately resulting in bacterial cell death. The polymer showed bactericidal activity against clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant or vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus. The polymer was effective in killing S. aureus at neutral pH, but inactive under acidic conditions (pH 5.5). The polymer did not exhibit any significant hemolytic activity against human red blood cells or display cytotoxicity to human dermal fibroblasts over a range of pH values (5.5-7.4). These results indicate that the polymer activity was selective against bacteria over human cells. Using this polymer, we propose a new potential strategy for treatment of skin infections using the pH-sensitive antimicrobial polymer agent that would selectively target infections at pH-neutral wound sites, but not the acidic, healthy skin

para-Selective C-H amidation of simple arenes with nitriles

A para-selective C-H amidation of simple arenes with nitriles has been developed. By increasing the amount of arenes, a further meta-selective C-H arylation of the produced amides occurred. Both steric and electronic effects are utilized to control the selectivity, resulting in only para-selective amidation products. The readily available nitriles as amidation reagents instead of amides makes the synthesis of N-arylamides more accessible

Late stage C―H activation of a privileged scaffold; synthesis of a library of benzodiazepines

A library of over twenty 5-(2-arylphenyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-ones has been formed by a microwave-mediated late-stage palladium-catalysed arylation of 1,4-benzodiazepines using diaryliodonium salts. This can also be applied to nordazepam (7-chloro-5-phenyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-one), the active metabolite of diazepam, and subsequent N-alkylation and/or H/D exchange allows further diversification towards elaborated pharmaceuticals and their 3,3'-deuterated analogues