Slovenia: National Regulations in the Shadow of a Common Past

For many years, until the country’s independence, Slovenian criminal law developed under the influ- ence of communism. With the new modern Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia, it was necessary for the country to establish its own modern criminal law, which would no longer be tied to past communist patterns. Accordingly, both criminal procedural law and criminal substantive law have been revised. New Slovenian criminal law is based on the general principles, such as the principle of legitimacy and restricted repression in connection with the rule of law, the principle of humanity, the principle of individualization of criminal sanctions, the principle of legality, the principle of fairness of procedure, the principle of formality, the principle of material truth, the debate principal, the principle of free judgement of evidence, the principle of subjective or guilty responsibility, the principle in dubio pro reo, and finally, the assumption of innocence. In addition to these principles, Slovenian criminal law also rests on the general concept of criminal offense, which is formed by three key elements, namely the fulfillment of the nature of the offense, illegality, and guilt. All of the above represent the key pillars of Slovenian criminal law, making it fair, modern, and comparable to other criminal systems in European countries

Road traffic safety of electric vehicles

Na začetku diplomskega dela sta na kratko predstavljeni zgodovina električnega vozila ter razlika med električnim in hibridnim vozilom. Predstavljene so prednosti in slabosti električnega vozila. V nadaljevanju so predstavljeni varnost električnih vozil, kako so zasnovana, varnost električnih sistemov, varnost baterije, vzdrževanje in varnost električnega vozila po trku. Predstavljeni so tudi podatki testov trčenja električnega vozila. Opisana je analiza vožnje z električnim vozilom. Predstavljeni so tudi predlogi in izboljšave, ter raziskave in mnenja za in proti električna vozila. Izvedeni sta bili tudi dve anketi. Prvi anketni vprašalnik je bil za lastnike električnih vozil, drugi pa za posameznike, ki bi morda kupili električno vozilo. Ugotovili smo, da je električno vozilo zelo varno, saj so testi trčenja dosegali nadpovprečne ocene. Problem električnega vozila je, da so neslišna, kar pomeni, da jih ostali udeleženci v prometu ne slišijo, kar lahko privede do nesreče. S pomočjo rezultatov ankete smo ugotovili, da bi ljudje kupili električno vozilo, vendar je problem še vedno cena. V empiričnem delu smo v okviru vsake od dveh anket anketirali 100 ljudi. Anketi sta bili objavljeni na socialnem omrežju Facebook in na forumu za lastnike električnih vozil. Vse podatke za teoretični del smo povzeli iz strokovnih člankov, spletnih virov ter knjig in jih smiselno razčlenili na poglavja.At the beginning of the thesis, the history of electric vehicles and the difference between an electric and hybrid vehicle are briefly presented. Presented are also advantages and disadvantages of electric vehicles. Later on, the thesis presents safety of electric vehicles, how they are designed, safety of electric systems, battery safety, maintenance and safety of the electric vehicle after a crash. Presented is also data on crash tests of electric vehicles. Described is the analysis of driving an electric vehicle. Suggestions and improvements are also presented, as well as research and opinions for and against electric vehicles. Two survey were conducted. The first questionnaire was intended for electric vehicle owners and the second one for individuals, who might buy an electric vehicle. We found that electric vehicles are very safe, since they scored above average at crash tests. The problem of electric vehicles is that they do not make sounds, meaning that other traffic participants do not hear them, which can lead to accidents. The results of the survey helped us to determine that people would buy an electric vehicle, but their price is still an issue. Within the empirical part, we questioned 100 people per survey. The surveys were published on the social network Facebook and on a forum for electric vehicle owners. We summarized all the data for the theoretical part from professional articles, online sources and books, and rationally structured them into chapters

Supercritical fluid chromatography and scale up study

The influence of process parameters on supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) and scale-up on to the preparative scale was investigated. In this scope, dependency of pressure, temperature, type and concentration of modifier, and type of stationary phase on the separation were examined separately. Experiments were performed on silica stationary phases in the range of pressures from 100 bar to 250 bar and temperatures from 30°C to 65°C, with use of ethanol and methanol as modifier. Results obtained on analytical scale were used for scale up on preparative (to production) scale. The aim of this study is presentation of the state-of-the-art of SFC through separate effects of process parameters on the separation and investigation of development, benefits and drawbacks of scaling-up process of the SFC.Raziskali smo vpliv procesnih parametrov na kromatografijo s superkritičnimi fluidi (SFC) skupaj z povečevanjem obsega na preparativno merilo. V tem okviru smo posamezno raziskali odvisnost tlaka, temperature, tipa in koncentracije so-topila, ter tipa stacionarne faze na separacijo testnih komponent (kofeina in teofilina) s SFC. Eksperimente smo izvedli na napravah za SFC v analitičnem in pilotnem preparativnem merilu. Separacije smo izvajali na dveh stacionarnih fazah: čisti silica in silica 2-etilpiridina. Kot mobilno fazo smo uporabili $CO_2$/metanol ali $CO_2$/etanol pri povišanih tlakih in temperaturah. Rezultate eksperimentov iz SFC naprave v analitičnem merilu smo uporabili za povečevanje obsega na preparativno merilo. Cilj študije je bila evaluacija vpliva procesnih parametrov na separacijo testnih komponent in praktični prikaz povečevanja obsega in obratovanja pilotne preparativne naprave, ki sodi med večje podobne naprave v globalnem merilu

Crystallographic Study of Peptidoglycan Biosynthesis Enzyme MurD: Domain Movement Revisited.

The biosynthetic pathway of peptidoglycan, an essential component of bacterial cell wall, is a well-recognized target for antibiotic development. Peptidoglycan precursors are synthesized in the bacterial cytosol by various enzymes including the ATP-hydrolyzing Mur ligases, which catalyze the stepwise addition of amino acids to a UDP-MurNAc precursor to yield UDP-MurNAc-pentapeptide. MurD catalyzes the addition of D-glutamic acid to UDP-MurNAc-L-Ala in the presence of ATP; structural and biochemical studies have suggested the binding of the substrates with an ordered kinetic mechanism in which ligand binding inevitably closes the active site. In this work, we challenge this assumption by reporting the crystal structures of intermediate forms of MurD either in the absence of ligands or in the presence of small molecules. A detailed analysis provides insight into the events that lead to the closure of MurD and reveals that minor structural modifications contribute to major overall conformation alterations. These novel insights will be instrumental in the development of new potential antibiotics designed to target the peptidoglycan biosynthetic pathway

Canine leishmaniasis prevalence in the Slovenian dog population

Abstract Introduction: Leishmaniasis is a life-threatening zoonosis of which dogs are the major reservoir and sandflies are the vectors. Until now, the prevalence of canine leishmaniasis (CanL) in the Slovenian dog population was unknown. Material and Methods: Epidemiological data, eye swabs and blood samples were taken from 465 dogs born in Slovenia and older than one year. Commercial ELISA kits and real-time PCR were used. For ELISA-positive samples, an immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT) was performed. Descriptive statistics were used to characterise the samples. The one-sample nonparametric chi-square test was used to test whether the categories of a variable were equally distributed. Results: A 59.9% proportion of the recruited dogs had travelled to endemic regions and 62.1% of them had not been protected by insect repellents. Skin symptoms that might be CanL-related were described in 109 of the dogs’ histories (23.4%), inappetence and/or weight loss in 25 (5.4%), and anaemia, intermittent fever, and/or lymphadenopathy in 19 (4.1%). At the time of recruitment, all dogs were asymptomatic. All samples were PCR negative, nine (1.9%) were ELISA positive, but none were IFAT positive. Five of the nine ELISA-positive dogs were non-travellers. Conclusion: We conclude that the seroprevalence of canine leishmaniasis of 1.9 % in the autochthonous Slovenian dog population may pose a risk of endemic spread of the disease

Biophysical characterization of an indolinone inhibitor in the ATP-binding site of DNA gyrase.

International audienceFighting bacterial resistance is a challenging task in the field of medicinal chemistry. DNA gyrase represents a validated antibacterial target and has drawn much interest in recent years. By a structure-based approach we have previously discovered compound 1, an indolinone derivative, possessing inhibitory activity against DNA gyrase. In the present paper, a detailed biophysical characterization of this inhibitor is described. Using mass spectrometry, NMR spectroscopy, and fluorescence experiments we have demonstrated that compound 1 binds reversibly to the ATP-binding site of the 24 kDa N-terminal fragment of DNA gyrase B from Escherichia coli (GyrB24) with low micromolar affinity. Based on these data, a plausible molecular model of compound 1 in the active site of GyrB24 was constructed. The predicted binding mode explains the competitive inhibitory mechanism with respect to ATP and forms a useful basis for further development of potent DNA gyrase inhibitors