Nursing Staffs’ Views on Physical and Psychosocial Care Provision in Slovenian Nursing Homes

The aim of this study was to explore nursing staffs’ perceptions of the physical and psychological care needs of elderly residents, their views on the relative importance of these needs and their perceived ability to meet them. The literature reveals that the quality of elder care in nursing homes should comprise both physical and psychosocial care. Despite this, the nursing staffs’ perceptions of the physical and psychosocial care provision have not often been researched. As a method cross-sectional research design was used, with structured questionnaires and unstructured interviews. Our sample consisted of members of the nursing staff from four nursing homes inSlovenia(survey: n=148; interview: n=16). The resulting data was processed by means of statistical analysis and conventional content analysis. The nursing staff reported more knowledge of, skills with and willingness to meet residents’ physical needs than psychosocial needs. On the other hand, communication, conversation, self-care and a home-like environment were considered by nursing staff as marking quality elder care. Consequently, nursing home administrators should try to strengthen psychosocial care provision to improve the residents’ quality of life. Conversation, as the most often recognised aspect of psychosocial care, should be promoted, since improvements in this area would not be costly, and each nursing staff member may decide individually how best to include more conversation in the daily routines of elder care provision

Antimikrobna aktivnost – najvažnije svojstvo probiotičkih bakterija i starter kultura

The antimicrobial activity of industrially important lactic acid bacteria as starter cultures and probiotic bacteria is the main subject of this review. This activity has been attributed to the production of metabolites such as organic acids (lactic and acetic acid), hydrogen peroxide, ethanol, diacetyl, acetaldehyde, acetoine, carbon dioxide, reuterin, reutericyclin and bacteriocins. The potential of using bacteriocins of lactic acid bacteria, primarily used as biopreservatives, represents a perspective, alternative antimicrobial strategy for continuously increasing problem with antibiotic resistance. Another strategy in resolving this problem is an application of probiotics for different gastrointestinal and urogenital infection therapies.Glavna je tema ovoga rada antimikrobno djelovanje industrijski važnih bakterija mliječne kiseline što se koriste kao starter kulture i probiotičke bakterije. Njihovo antimikrobno djelovanje potječe od proizvedenih metabolita, kao što su organske kiseline (mliječna i octena kiselina), vodikov peroksid, etanol, diacetil, acetaldehid, acetoin, ugljikov dioksid, reuterin, reutericiklin i bakteriocini. Primjena bakteriocina bakterija mliječne kiseline, u prvom redu kao biokonzervansa, može biti alternativa rješavanju sve većeg problema antibiotičke rezistencije. Druga je mogućnost u rješavanju toga problema primjena probiotika u terapiji različitih gastrointestinalnih i urogenitalnih infekcija

An Extremely Stable Interprotein Tetrahedral Hg(Cys) ₄ Core Forms in the Zinc Hook Domain of Rad50 Protein at Physiological pH

In nature, thiolate-based systems are the primary targets of divalent mercury (HgII ) toxicity. The formation of Hg(Cys)x cores in catalytic and structural protein centers mediates mercury's toxic effects and ultimately leads to cellular damage. Multiple studies have revealed distinct HgII -thiolate coordination preferences, among which linear HgII complexes are the most commonly observed in solution at physiological pH. Trigonal or tetrahedral geometries are formed at basic pH or in tight intraprotein Cys-rich metal sites. So far, no interprotein tetrahedral HgII complex formed at neutral pH has been reported. Rad50 protein is a part of the multiprotein MRN complex, a major player in DNA damage-repair processes. Its central region consists of a conserved CXXC motif that enables dimerization of two Rad50 molecules by coordinating ZnII . Dimerized motifs form a unique interprotein zinc hook domain (Hk) that is critical for the biological activity of the MRN. Using a series of length-differentiated peptide models of the Pyrococcus furiosus zinc hook domain, we investigated its interaction with HgII . Using UV-Vis, CD, PAC, and 199 Hg NMR spectroscopies as well as anisotropy decay, we discovered that all Rad50 fragments preferentially form homodimeric Hg(Hk)2 species with a distorted tetrahedral HgS4 coordination environment at physiological pH; this is the first example of an interprotein mercury site displaying tetrahedral geometry in solution. At higher HgII content, monomeric HgHk complexes with linear geometry are formed. The Hg(Cys)4 core of Rad50 is extremely stable and does not compete with cyanides, NAC, or DTT. Applying ITC, we found that the stability constant of the Rad50 Hg(Hk)2 complex is approximately three orders of magnitude higher than those of the strongest HgII complexes known to date

Antimikrobna aktivnost – najvažnije svojstvo probiotičkih bakterija i starter kultura

The antimicrobial activity of industrially important lactic acid bacteria as starter cultures and probiotic bacteria is the main subject of this review. This activity has been attributed to the production of metabolites such as organic acids (lactic and acetic acid), hydrogen peroxide, ethanol, diacetyl, acetaldehyde, acetoine, carbon dioxide, reuterin, reutericyclin and bacteriocins. The potential of using bacteriocins of lactic acid bacteria, primarily used as biopreservatives, represents a perspective, alternative antimicrobial strategy for continuously increasing problem with antibiotic resistance. Another strategy in resolving this problem is an application of probiotics for different gastrointestinal and urogenital infection therapies.Glavna je tema ovoga rada antimikrobno djelovanje industrijski važnih bakterija mliječne kiseline što se koriste kao starter kulture i probiotičke bakterije. Njihovo antimikrobno djelovanje potječe od proizvedenih metabolita, kao što su organske kiseline (mliječna i octena kiselina), vodikov peroksid, etanol, diacetil, acetaldehid, acetoin, ugljikov dioksid, reuterin, reutericiklin i bakteriocini. Primjena bakteriocina bakterija mliječne kiseline, u prvom redu kao biokonzervansa, može biti alternativa rješavanju sve većeg problema antibiotičke rezistencije. Druga je mogućnost u rješavanju toga problema primjena probiotika u terapiji različitih gastrointestinalnih i urogenitalnih infekcija