Sticking With It: ER-PM Membrane Contact Sites as a Coordinating Nexus for Regulating Lipids and Proteins at the Cell Cortex

Membrane contact sites between the cortical endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the plasma membrane (PM) provide a direct conduit for small molecule transfer and signaling between the two largest membranes of the cell. Contact is established through ER integral membrane proteins that physically tether the two membranes together, though the general mechanism is remarkably non-specific given the diversity of different tethering proteins. Primary tethers including VAMP-associated proteins (VAPs), Anoctamin/TMEM16/Ist2p homologs, and extended synaptotagmins (E-Syts), are largely conserved in most eukaryotes and are both necessary and sufficient for establishing ER-PM association. In addition, other species-specific ER-PM tether proteins impart unique functional attributes to both membranes at the cell cortex. This review distils recent functional and structural findings about conserved and species-specific tethers that form ER-PM contact sites, with an emphasis on their roles in the coordinate regulation of lipid metabolism, cellular structure, and responses to membrane stress

Diverzifikacija poslovnih aktivnosti u savremenom konceptu univerzalnog bankarstva

In a dynamic environment, modern banks expand the range of their business activities by affirming the concept of universal banking. Universal banks are characterised by high innovation, which leads to the emergence of complex financial products and complex institutions. The combination of different types of activities leads to an increase in non-interest income and risk diversification, which improves the performance of banks, but potentially can negatively affect financial stability. The global financial crisis has reopened a debate on the optimal banking model and the limitation of banking activities for the purpose of minimisinge the costs imposed on taxpayers through the state support of too large and overly complex institutions. The aim of the dissertation is to examine the diversification of business activities in modern banks from different aspects in order to draw conclusions about the characteristics, the role and importance of the concept of universal banking, as well as the perspective of its further development. The disseration provides an overview and comparison of often opposite theoretical opinions that explain nature and the importance of diversifying business activities for the banks themselves as well as their clients. The concept of universal banking is observed in the context of the global financial crisis in order to give conclusions about the role of universal banks in its emergence and development and evaluate the resistance of this model in crisis conditions. Research in the impact of diversification of business activities of banks in the Republic of Serbia on their profitability and risk was carried out, based on data from the balance sheets and profit and loss accounts of banks for the period from 2003 to 2016. On the basis of the obtained results, it can be concluded that traditional intermediary activities are the ones that shape their performance to the greatest extent. The degree of diversification of the activities of banks, either has no significance for their performance, or improves them (which depends on the observed dimension of diversification). The greater reliance of banks on non-interest income, especially on fees and commission income, generates benefits in terms of improving profitability and increasing the stability of banking business

Kancerogeni policiklični aromatični ugljovodonici u ekonomiji i zakonodavstvu

There are certain opposites in the relation of economy and ecology, but at the present days the ultimate task is to realize reciprocity between them. The interaction between economy and nature has come to the phase which demands permanent tracking, and action as well. This is a necessity not only due to the restricted natural resources, but primarily due to the releasement of waste materials which exceeds the absorption capacity of global environment. Every responsible economy has to develop strategies of environmental protection and sustainable development. These strategies have to be based on objective, and professionally determined state, economic and law principles. Recently, an increasing public concern and a scientific investigations have been focused on the occurrence of PAHs and their control in air, water, soil, and herbal and animal products. Polyciclyc Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of several hundred diverse compounds usually containing two to seven fused benzene rings. They belong to a special group of ubiquitous contaminants known as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), which are subject to long-range atmospheric transport (LRAT), and most can be photo-oxidized and degraded to simpler substances, which is very important for their distribution and fate in the environment and biota. PAH exposure through air, water, soil, tobacco smoke and food sources, occurs on a regular basis for most people. Routes of exposure include ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact in both occupational and non-occupational settings. It was essential, in order to protect public health, and environment in general, to keep these contaminants, which are considered to be genotoxic carcinogens, at levels which are toxicologically acceptable. Maximum levels in foodstuffs, water, and air have been set at a strict levels by specific agencies in many countries. The 16 PAHs are included in the list of priority pollutants in EU: benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), cyclopenta(c,d)pyrene (CPP), indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene (IcP), benzo(c)fluorene (BcL), benzo(a)anthracene (BaA), chrysene (CHR), 5-methylchrysene (5MC), benzo(b)fluoranthene (BbF), benzo(j)fluoranthene (BjF), benzo(k)fluoranthene (BkF), benzo(g,h,i)perylene (BgP), dibenzo(a,h)anthracene (DhA), dibenzo(a,e)pyrene (DeP), dibenzo(a,h)pyrene (DhP), dibenzo(a,i)pyrene (DiP) and dibenzo(a,l)pyrene (DlP). The most known potent carcinogen, benzo(a)pyrene, is commonly used as an environmental indicator for PAHs. A recent directive of the European Commission (The Commission of the European Communities) uses BaP as a marker for the carcinogenic risk of PAHs and sets a limit value for this toxicant, to be attained as far as possible 1 ng/m3. The carcinogenicity of BaP and of other PAHs is well established in laboratory animals. Researchers have reported incidences of skin, lung, bladder, liver, and stomach cancers, in animals. Animal studies showed that certain PAHs also can affect the immune systems and produce reproductive, neurologic, and developmental effects.Na relaciji ekonomija - ekologija postoje određene suprotnosti, ali je u današnjem trenutku nužno iznalaženje njihove uzajamnosti. Interakcija privrede sa prirodom ušla je u fazu koja iziskuje permanentno praćenje i aktivne mere. Ovo je neophodno ne samo zbog limitiranosti prirodnih resursa, već pre svega zbog ispuštanja otpada koji prevazilazi apsorpcioni kapacitet globalnog prirodnog okruženja. Svaka odgovorna nacija mora da razvije strategije ekološke zaštite i prihvatljivog i održivog razvoja. Te strategije se moraju zasnivati na objektivno, stručno utvrđenom stanju, ekonomskim principima i zakonskim mogućnostima. U najnovije vreme, povećana zabrinutost javnosti, kao i naučna istraživanja, bili su fokusirani na postojanje policikličnih aromatičnih ugljovodonika (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, PAHs) i njihovu kontrolu u vazduhu, vodi, zemljištu, kao i biljnim i životinjskim produktima. PAH-ovi pripadaju klasi od nekoliko stotina različitih jedinjenja, koja uobičajeno sadrže dva do sedam kondenzovanih benzenovih prstenova. Oni takođe pripadaju posebnoj grupi sveprisutnih kontaminanata poznatih kao perzistentni organski zagađivači (Persistent Organic Pollutants, POPs) i podležu transportu na velike udaljenosti (long-range atmospheric transport, LRAT), kao i foto-oksidaciji i degradaciji u jednostavnije supstance, što je od velikog značaja za njihovu disrtibuciju i sudbinu u životnoj sredini i živom svetu. Za većinu ljudi, izloženost PAH-ovima ide preko vazduha, vode, zemljišta, duvanskog dima i hrane. Putevi izloženosti uključuju ingestiju, inhalaciju i preko kože i to kako u okruženju radnog mesta, tako i van njega. Da bi se zaštitilo javno zdravlje i uopšte, životna sredina, od esencijalne važnosti je bilo da se ovi kontaminanti koji se smatraju genotoksičnim kancerogenima, drže na nivoima koji su toksikološki prihvatljivi. Maksimalne dozvoljene koncentracije u namirnicama, vodi i vazduhu ustanovljene su od strane odgovarajućih agencija u mnogim državama. Na listi prioritetnih zagađivača u EU nalazi se 16 PAHs jedinjenja: benzo(a)piren (BaP), ciklopenta(c,d)piren (CPP), indeno(1,2,3-cd)piren (IcP), benzo(c)fluoren (BcL), benzo(a)antracen (BaA), hrizen (CHR), 5-metilhrizen (5MC), benzo(b)fluoranten (BbF), benzo(j)fluoranten (BjF), benzo(k)fluoranten (BkF), benzo(g,h,i)perilen (BgP), dibenzo(a,h)antracen (DhA), dibenzo(a,e)piren (DeP), dibenzo(a,h)piren (DhP), dibenzo(a,i)piren (DiP) i dibenzo(a,l)piren (DlP). Najpoznatiji potencijalni kancerogen, benzo(a)piren, uobičajeno se koristi kao karakterističan indikator za PAH jedinjenja u životnoj sredini. Poslednja preporuka Evropske komisije (The Commission of the European Communities), koristi BaP kao marker kancerogenog rizika i definiše njegov maksimum od 1 ng/m3. Kancerogenost BaP i drugih PAH-ova temeljno je ispitana na eksperimentalnim životinjama. Istraživači su kod životinja zabeležili slučajeve kancera kože, pluća, bešike, jetre i želuca. Studije na životinjama pokazale su da neki PAHovi mogu da utiču na imuni sistem i da izazovu reproduktivne, neurološke i razvojne efekte