The Influence of bacterial Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans polyribonucleotide nucleotidyltransferase protein on the growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Parodontalne bolezni so skupina najbolj razširjenih obolenj ustne votline. Ena izmed invazivnejših oblik parodontalnih bolezni je agresivni parodontitis. Pri pacientih z agresivnim parodontitisom so določili izrazito povišano število bakterije Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (A. a.), ki s svojimi viruletnimi faktorji negativno vpliva na gostiteljsko tkivo. Z bioinformatskim orodji so nedavno ustvarili seznam proteinov seva A. a. D7S, ki naj bi interagirali z molekulami mRNA v človeških celicah. Iz pripravljenega seznama smo izbrali 6 proteinov (PNPaza, DnaK, F0F1 ATP sintaza, RPS1, TadG in ThrRS) in preverili njihov vpliv na rast kvasovke Saccharomyces cerevisiae, v katere smo predhodno transformirali pripravljene plazmidne kostrukte z genom za izbrani protein pod kontrolo galaktoznega promotorja. Ob prisotnosti galaktoze kot edinega vira sladkorja v gojišču, smo tako sprožili izražanje izbranih genov v kvasovki. Ugotovili smo, da sprožitev gena za PNPazo ali za različico tega proteina, ki ima na amino terminalnem koncu pripeto značko 3x-FLAG, inhibira rast kvasovke. Uspešno smo prepoznali tudi ključni aminokislinski ostanek proteina PNPaza, saj ob spremembi aminoksiline na mestu 133 varianta proteina ne deluje inhibitorno na rast kvasovke. Pripravili smo tudi plazmidni konstrukt za s 3x-FLAG tagom označenim proteinom PNPaza pod kontrolo nativnega promotorja bakterije A. a. Verjamemo, da bodo slednji konstrukt in v nalogi pridobljeni rezultati omogočili nadaljnje raziskave, ki bodo preučile vpliv proteina PNPaza na humane celice.Periodontal diseases are the group of the most common diseases of the oral cavity. One of the more invasive forms of periodontal disease is aggressive periodontitis. In patients with aggressive periodontitis, a significantly increased number of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (A. a.) has been found, which has a negative effect on the host tissue with its virulence factors. Using bioinformatics tools, they recently compiled a list of A. a. D7S proteins that are believed to interact with mRNA molecules in human cells. From the prepared list we selected 6 proteins (PNPase, DnaK, F0F1 ATP synthase, RPS1, TadG and ThrRS) and tested their influence on Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeasts, into which we transformed plasmid constructs with genes for the selected protein. Expression of the selected protein was induced when yeast carrying such plasmid construct was grown in medium containing galactose as the sole carbon source. We found that the growth of transformants with induced PNPase gene expression was completely inhibited. The same result was achieved by testing the effect of PNPase to which the 3x-FLAG tail was attached, which will be useful for further research. We have also successfully identified a key catalytic residue in PNPase, that when mutated, precluded the PNPase inhibitory effect. In addition, we also prepared a plasmid construct enabling the 3x-FLAG tagged PNPase expression from its native promoter in A. a. We anticipate that the results obtained in this study will provide a solid basis for further research on the effect of A. a. PNPase on the human cells

THE MONETARY POLICY OF THE EUROSYSTEM DURING THE WORLD FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC CRISIS

Vse članice EU, ki so sprejele euro, so prenesle izvajanje denarne politike iz nacionalne cen-tralne banke na Eurosistem. Trenutno je teh držav 16, med njimi je od 1. januarja 2007 tudi Slovenija. Eurosistem, ki ga sestavljajo ECB in nacionalne centralne banke držav euroobmoč-ja, vodijo organi odločanja ECB. Poglavitni cilj denarne politike Eurosistema je stabilnost cen v euroobmočju. Ena izmed njegovih nalog je tudi skrb za stabilnost finančnega sistema. Eurosistem za izpolnitev svojih ciljev in nalog, uporablja instrumente denarne politike, ki jih razvrstimo v tri skupine: operacije na odprtem trgu, odprte ponudbe bankam in obvezne rezerve. Tekom svetovne finančen in gospodarske krize, Eurosistem z uporabo instrumentov denarne politike sledi svojim ciljem in nalogam.All EU-members that have adopted the Euro have transferred the implementation of their monetary policy from the national central banks to the Eurosystem. At the moment, there are 16 such countries, amongst them also Slovenia (since 1.1.2007). The Eurosystem, consisting of ECB and national banks of the Eurozone, is led by the decision-making bodies of the ECB. The main goal of the Eurosystem’s monetary policy is the price stability in the Eurozone. One of its tasks is also the care for the stability of the financial system. For the achievement of its goals and tasks, the Eurosystem uses instruments of monetary pol-icy that can be classified in three groups: operations in the contestable market, standing facili-ties to banks and compulsory reserves. During the world financial and economic crisis, the Eurosystem follows its goals and tasks, using instruments of monetary policy

Pregnant radiographers working in diagnostic radiology

Uvod: Med nosečnostjo se radiološke inženirke srečujejo z različnimi nevarnostmi, kot so stres, bolnišnične okužbe, fizični napor ter tudi izpostavljenost ionizirajočem sevanju. Zato je potrebno, da je področje dela urejeno s strani zakonodaje. To področje ureja Zakon o varstvu pred ionizirajočim sevanjem ter jedrski varnosti, ki navaja, da mora biti za nerojenega otroka enako poskrbljeno, kot za ostale posameznike iz prebivalstva. Namen: Namen diplomske naloge je predstaviti pogoje dela nosečnic na radioloških diagnostikah, zakonodajo na tem področju in kakšne so njihove možnosti dela med nosečnostjo. Metode dela: V diplomski nalogi smo uporabili opisno in kvantitativno metodo dela. Uporabljen merski inštrument je bil anketni vprašalnik. V vzorec so bile vključene radiološke inženirke, članice Strokovnega združenja radioloških inženirjev Slovenije. Rezultati: Na podlagi pridobljenih rezultatov smo ugotovili, da kljub temu da je bila anketa poslana vsem članom ZDRI, so na anketo večinoma odgovorile že noseče radiološke inženirke in da je bilo dovolj, da so sporočilo o nosečnosti ustno predale nadrejenemu. Veliko anketirank je tudi imelo možnost o odločitvi o nadaljnjem delu in da so se v večini odločile za delo brez ionizirajočega sevanja, predvsem zaradi preventive in strahu, da se pri plodu razvijejo nepravilnosti. Noseče delavke, ki pa niso imele možnosti o odločitvi, kje bi delale, pa so kot razlog navedle, da zato, ker so jih avtomatsko prestavili na drugo delovno mesto. Ker pa so na anketo odgovarjale tudi delavke, ki še niso bile noseče, smo tudi njih povprašali o tem, kako bi se one odločile, če bi bile noseče in bi se vse odločile za delo brez ionizirajočega sevanja. Razprava in zaključek: V literaturi je navedeno, da je za nosečo radiološko inženirko najbolj priporočljivo, da nadaljuje delo brez izpostavljanja ionizirajočem sevanju. Tako so se v večini tudi odločile anketiranke, tiste, ki pa še niso bile noseče, pa so odgovorile, da bi storile enako. Opazili smo, da se v Sloveniji ne uporablja dodaten dozimeter v višini trebuha, ki pomaga pri natančnejši oceni doze na plod, kar se izvaja v nekaterih tujih državah. Ugotovili smo tudi, da je neurejen način sporočanja in dokazovanja nosečnosti nadrejenim, saj so le-to sporočale različno. Naš predlog je, da bi se lahko to v prihodnosti uredilo ter poenotilo.Introduction: During pregnancy, women radiographers often face a variety of harmful factors, like stress, hospital-acquired infections, physical strain and also exposure to ionising radiation. Because of that it is nimportant that this region of health work is organised by certain laws. This field in perticularis arranged by The law of radiation safety and nuclear safety, which represents that the care for an unborn child should be the same as for an adult human. Purpose: The purpose of this diploma work is present the work conditions of pregnant radiographers on diagnostics, the law that organises this field of work and the options that they have after they found out about the pregnancy. Methods: A descriptive and quantitavie methods were used . We gathered the information with a survey in a form of a web questionnaire. Results: After gathering the results we found out that even though the survey was sent to all the members of the Professional Association of Radiological Engineers, we mostly got answers from radiology technologists who were already pregnant and that it was enought for them to inform their superiors verbally about their pregnancy. A lot of them then had a chance to decide about their further work n the diagnostics. The majority decided to work without radiation because of the chance of irregulations occurance on the unborn child. The ones that did not have the chance to decide, wrote that it was because of them being automaticly transfered to an another work space. In the end we asked all the women radiographers who were not pregnant yet, how would they decide about their further work, if they were pregnant. They all answered that they would choose to work without exposure to ionising radiation. Discussion and conclusion: In the literature it is written that the best choice for them is that they are transfered to a work space without ionising radiation. That was actualy the case with our respondents. We then found out that in Slovenia pregnant radiographers don\u27t get an extra dosimeter on the height of their stomach, that would help estemate the dose affecting the fetus. That is used in different foreign countries. We also aknowladged that there is an unorganised system when it comes to informing the superiors about the pregnancy, because women radographers in Slovenia did it in a variety of ways. We suggest that this have to be sorted out in the future

Vpliv bakterije Klebsiella oxytoca na privzem cinka in svinca pri sončnici (Helianthus annuus)

Ugotoviti vpliv bakterije Klebsiella oxytoca na privzem težkih kovin, predvsem cinka in svinca, pri sončnici (Helianthus annuus). Kalitev sončnice in spremljanje rasti korenin ter poganjkov v treh serijah (kontrola (K), živa bakterija (ŽB), avtoklavirana bakterija (AB)), primerjava sveže in suhe mase poganjkov in korenin, analiza koncentracije kovin v koreninah in poganjkih, merjenje vsebnosti fotosinteznih pigmentov poganjkov, merjenje transpiracije, merjenje učinkovitosti fotosistema II. Statistična obdelava v R studiu, z enosmerno analizo variance (ANOVA), post-hoc s Tukyevim testom ter obdelava podatkov iz rentgenske fluorescenčne spektroskopije s programom Microsoft Office Excel z dodatkom XL Toolbox z metodo Dunnetovega testa. Vidne so nekroze listov pri vseh testiranih serijah, pri seriji z dodatkom živih bakterij opazimo povišane koncentracije izmerjenih elementov (osredotočili smo se na koncentracijo cinka in svinca), v seriji ŽB sta opazni zmanjšana transpiracija in dejanska fotosintezna učinkovitost fotosistema II. Statističnih razlik pri vsebnosti fotosinteznih barvil nismo opazili. Prisotnost bakterije Klebsiella oxytoca poveča privzem snovi v rastlino, kar je v našem primeru predvsem negativno vplivalo na nekatere merljive fiziološke parametre. Za zanesljivejše zaključke bi morali izvesti več ponovitev