Barok w mistyce – hipertrofia myśli i emocji? (1)

In mysticism, I am mostly interested in emanations of some type of intensity of existence, which abstracts from the biological one. Revoking a treaty with time results in a puzzling personal experience, the story of which can be treated as an existential lesson. In mysticism, the truth becomes known through faith. It finds its source in love, which is the soul’s response for the salutary love of God directed at it. As a refusal of the demands of human nature, mysticism offers an entrance into the realm of the spirit and transcendence. The latter is approached by man through a sacrifice of love, which cleanses him of the ontological stain and guilt. The first stage of this peregrination is purification. It is an act of conscience stimulated by the vision of Christ’s passion, foreseeing death and inevitable Judgement. Purification is an encouragement for contrition and responsibility going beyond the temporal limits. In the second stage of the journey to God (illumination), a prayer for grace of life under the aegis of the cross substitutes the lament over oneself. It will be a life of humility, contemplation and doloristic imitation, crowned with love understood as following the intention of God

W zderzeniu z naturą - świętość Brata Alberta : naturalne uwarunkowania życia duchowego świętego Alberta Chmielowskiego

The work is a study of the role of natural factors (psychophysical and socio-cultural) that influenced the shape of the spiritual life of Saint. Albert Chmielowski (1845–1916). Although the first cause of his spiritual life was supernatural grace, natural factors also influenced to some extent the way it was manifested. In the analysis of psychophysical factors affecting the spiritual life of Brother Albert, in which psychological theoretical models have been used (RB Cattell’s sixteen-factor model, P. Costa and R. McCrae’s five-factor model, GW Allport’s criteria of personality maturity and the K. Dąbrowski’s theory of positive disintegration), showed their influence on some areas of Saint. Albert’s spiritual life. Similarly, socio-cultural factors (including the role of the family environment, participation in the armed struggle, artistic activity, and the impact of culture and society at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in Poland and in the world) influenced in a bottom-up manner on creating Chmielowski’s spiritual profile. The richness of his nature (artistic talents, various experiences, and especially experienced suffering) bore fruit thanks to the cooperation with grace, deep spiritual life, which was a synthesis of active service with a contemplative life, the centre of which was Humble Christ (Ecce Homo). The thesis, referring to the theological axiom: “grace builds on nature and improves it”, shows the complex and broad influence of various natural dynamisms which God uses to develop human’s talents, bringing him to holiness. For the people interested in Saint Albert’s spirituality and Polish spirituality in the late 19th and early 20th centuries the publication can help to understand the process of developing the spiritual life against the background of an epoch. The study can also serve the congregations founded by Saint Albert for which a deepened study of their founder’s spiritual personality and its psychophysical and environmental conditions is always valid. The research on the determinants of the spiritual life can also be useful for monastic, seminary teachers or the leaders of religious groups showing that for spiritual formation it is crucial to take the human development into account (e.g. the knowledge of personality features and alumni’s typical conditions). The work can also be used by psychologists, psychotherapists and teachers that take into consideration the spirituality in developing some attitudes and working on the integral development of others. Both the historians and art historians making a research into Adam Chmielowski’s artistic biography can find some hints referring to the connections between the culture, art and the spiritual life

Unamuno o życiu i nieśmiertelności (z Nietzschem w tle)

Unamuno i Nietzschego, wybitnych przedstawicieli filozofii życia, dzieli stosunek do życia, a jeszcze bardziej do nieśmiertelności. Nietzsche pełnymi garściami czerpie z tradycji greckiej, dołączając do niej swój witalizm oparty na rozpoznaniu tragiczności istnienia i na etycznym wymogu afirmacji. Unamuno jest katolikiem bliskim mistyce hiszpańskiego baroku i kontestującym tomistyczną unifikację chrześcijaństwa, która racjonalistyczno-pragmatycznym kunktatorstwem tłumi prymarną w człowieku sferę emocjonalno-wolitywną. Wobec Nietzschego, którego filozofia uchodzi za promocję siły i dynamiki, jakości odnajdywanych przez niego w naturze i transponowanych na kulturę, Unamuno występuje z zarzutem niemęskości i defetyzmu. Oto człowiek egzaltujący się życiem wymyśla pokrętną koncepcję wiecznego powrotu, najpewniej wyrażającą tęsknotę za trwaniem, zamiast skorzystać z gotowej oferty chrześcijańskiej wizji nieśmiertelności. Dopiero ten, zdaniem Unamuno, jest prawdziwym wyznawcą i apologetą życia, kto chce je utrwalić aż po wieczność i kto a fortiori nie waha się nim szafować jako temporalnym epizodem. Co prawda Nietzsche zaiste nie był pod tym względem małoduszny: sądził, że są wartości wyższe aniżeli biologiczne trwanie. Wiedząc o tym, Unamuno i tak wytyka mu, podobnie jak Spinozie, stoicką, przefiltrowaną przez ewaluacje rozumu, aprobatę dla śmierci. Według niego witalizm manifestuje się prawdziwie dopiero w ogłaszanej przez wolę niezgodzie na śmierć. Rozum szermujący swoją ewidencją w sprawie konieczności umierania jest instancją zabijania ducha i grzęźnięcia w małostkowości. Wchodząc w mariaż z racjonalnością i aprobując skończoność jednostkowej egzystencji, Nietzsche kontaminuje swoją deklaratywną przynależność do witalizmu. Życiowy entuzjazm i entuzjazm dla życia weryfikują się według Unamuno przekonująco w bezwzględnej wierze w osobową nieśmiertelność. W enuncjacji z Critique de la Modernité, mogącej stanowić pendant do dyskusji Unamuno z Nietzschem, Alain Touraine zwraca uwagę, że stanowiska eskalujące motywy życia i pragnienia, frenetyczne koncepcje witalistyczne lansujące żywiołowość i entuzjazm, demonstrowały się w historii jako nieempatyczne lub wrogie wobec demokracji

Alterations in religious rituals due to COVID-19 could be related to intragroup negativity: a case of changes in receiving holy communion in the Roman Catholic community in Poland

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected various domains of everyday life, including important religious rituals. In the Roman Catholic Church in Poland, the reception of Holy Communion was substantially altered. The suggestion of the Polish Episcopal Conference and diocesan bishops was to receive Holy Communion on the hand during the pandemic, while receiving on the tongue had been the default form before the pandemic. The present studies investigated whether alterations in the form of receiving Holy Communion during the pandemic resulted in intragroup negativity. A total of 376 Polish Roman Catholics participated in two online studies. The most ambivalent emotions toward their religious community were experienced by the followers who recognized reception of Holy Communion on the hand only. Intergroup bias occurred within the “hand only” and the “mouth only” groups and consisted in out-group favoritism (within the “hand only”) and out-group derogation (“mouth only”) in their perception of religious orientation. Intergroup empathy bias occurred in the “hand only” and “spiritual reception” groups, which reported less empathy toward those of the out-group (“mouth only”) infected with SARS-CoV-2. The highest legitimacy of the Church authority was agreed upon by the supporters of both forms of receiving Holy Communion

Review of nuclear medicine methods applied in diabetology.

The aim of this paper is to present the most relevant clinical applications of positron emission tomography/computed tomography, scintigraphy and single photon emission tomography with different radiotracers allowing to visualize e.g. glucose metabolism, amino acids metabolism, receptor density or inflammation and infections in diabetology.The aim of this paper is to present the most relevant clinical applications of positron emission tomography/computed tomography, scintigraphy and single photon emission tomography with different radiotracers allowing to visualise e.g. glucose metabolism, amino acids metabolism, receptor density or inflammation and infections in diabetology

Natural exceptional points in the excitation spectrum of a light-matter system

We observe natural exceptional points in the excitation spectrum of an exciton-polariton system by optically tuning the light-matter interactions. The observed exceptional points do not require any spatial or polarization degrees of freedom and result solely from the transition from weak to strong light-matter coupling. We demonstrate that they do not coincide with the threshold for photon lasing, confirming previous theoretical predictions [Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 185301 (2019), Optica 7, 1015 (2020) ]. Using a technique where a strong coherent laser pump induces up-converted excitations, we encircle the exceptional point in the parameter space of coupling strength and particle momentum. Our method of local optical control of light-matter coupling paves the way to investigation of fundamental phenomena including dissipative phase transitions and non-Hermitian topological states

PROPERTIES OF DIAMOND-LIKE CARBON COATINGS DEPOSITED ON CoCrMo ALLOYS

This paper presents results of the structure analysis and tribological testing of a-C:H type diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings produced by the Plasma Assisted Chemical Vapour Deposition (PACVD) technology on CoCrMo specimens. The DLC coating structure was studied by observing the surface topography using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) in the SE and STEM modes and a profilometer. Raman spectroscopy provided information on hybridized covalent bonds. The structural analysis involved observing the cross-sections of the coatings using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) with an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) to determine the concentration and distribution of the constituent elements in the coating. Wear resistance was studied by applying a T-17 pin-on-plate tribological system: a polymeric pin made of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and a CoCrMo plate with a DLC coating. The testing was conducted under friction conditions using Ringer’s solution as a lubricant. The test results showed that the application of DLC coatings definitely improves the serviceability of a surface