Razlike med narodnimi kulturami so pomembne

Aims: Global business today usually requires organizations to be present locally in countries where their customers are. To do this successfully, good cooperation with local people is needed. Therefore, this paper focuses on the integration of cultures in the business world. The insights from this study are expected to benefit Slovenian expatriates to foreign companies in South Korea, as well as national culture researchers. The main goals of this research include a comparison of Hofstede’s IBM survey results with the researched working environment, and identifying the benefits of merging two national cultures for the working environment. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to purposive samples within the researched working environments and the collected data analysed used SPSS, where the hypotheses were tested using a chi-square test and t-test for independent samples. Results: The results revealed significant differences between the two national cultures in the working environment, e.g.: fear of expressing disagreement towards superiors, commitment to work, preference of challenges, tendency to avoid conflicts and innovations - all differed according to nationality. Conclusion: Working together with people from different cultures requires a certain amount of adaptation (learning about another culture, expecting situations that are not usual). If this adaptation is successful, then cooperation between the different cultures can also be successful, leading to a potential output that is even better than cooperation between people from the same culture.Cilji: Globalni posel danes po navadi od organizacij terja, da so prisotne lokalno v državah, kjer so njihovi kupci. Za uspeh tega je potrebno dobro sodelovanje z domačini, zato se ta članek osredotoča na integracijo različnih narodnih kultur v poslovnem svetu. Doprinos članka je pričakovan za slovenske delavce v tujih podjetjih v Južni Koreji, kot tudi za ostale raziskovalce narodnih kultur. Glavni cilji te raziskave vključujejo primerjavo rezultatov Hofstedejeve IBM raziskave z raziskovanim delovnim okoljem, kot tudi ugotavljanje prednosti za delovno okolje pri združitvah dveh narodnih kultur. Metode: Ciljnim skupinam znotraj raziskovanega delovnega okolja je bil razdeljen vprašalnik, zbrani podatki pa analizirani s pomočjo SPSS, pri čemer so bile hipoteze testirane s hi-kvadrat testi in t-testi za neodvisne vzorce. Rezultati: Rezultati so pokazali značilne razlike med dvema narodnima kulturama znotraj delovnega okolja. Razlike glede na narodnost so tako pristone npr. pri strahu ped izražanjem nestrinjanja z nadrejenim, predanosti delu, obravnavanju izzivov, nagnjenosti k izogibanju konfliktom in inovacijam. Zaključek: Delo z ljudmi iz drugih narodnih kultur zahteva določeno mero prilagodljivosti (učenje o drugi kulturi, pričakovanje neobičajnih situacij). Če je ta prilagoditev uspešna, potem je lahko upsešno tudi sodelovanje med različnimi kulturami, kar lahko pripelje do rezultatov, ki so lahko še boljši kot rezultati kadar delajo skupaj ljudje iz iste narodne kulture

A novel time-lapse imaging method for studying developing bacterial biofilms

In nature, bacteria prevailingly reside in the form of biofilms. These elaborately organized surface‑bound assemblages of bacterial cells show numerous features of multicellular organization. We recently showed that biofilm growth is a true developmental process, which resembles developmental processes in multicellular eukaryotes. To study the biofilm growth in a fashion of eukaryotic ontogeny, it is essential to define dynamics and critical transitional phases of this process. The first step in this endeavor is to record the gross morphological changes of biofilm ontogeny under standardized conditions. This visual information is instrumental in guiding the sampling strategy for the later omics analyses of biofilm ontogeny. However, none of the currently available visualizations methods is specifically tailored for recording gross morphology across the whole biofilm development. To address this void, here we present an affordable Arduino‑based approach for time‑lapse visualization of complete biofilm ontogeny using bright field stereomicroscopy with episcopic illumination. The major challenge in recording biofilm development on the air–solid interphase is water condensation, which compromises filming directly through the lid of a Petri dish. To overcome these trade‑offs, we developed an Arduino microcontroller setup which synchronizes a robotic arm, responsible for opening and closing the Petri dish lid, with the activity of a stereomicroscope‑mounted camera and lighting conditions. We placed this setup into a microbiological incubator that maintains temperature and humidity during the biofilm growth. As a proof‑of‑principle, we recorded biofilm development of five Bacillus subtilis strains that show different morphological and developmental dynamics

Design of coiled coil tetrahedral protein origami fused with fluorescence and luciferase protein domains

Tetraedrične kletke, ki jih tvorijo obvite vijačnice, so uspešen primer načrtovanja proteinskih nanomaterialov. Cilj magistrske naloge je bil načrtovati, pripraviti in izolirati tetraedrične proteine, ki imajo na vsa oglišča vezano Renilla luciferazo in zeleni fluorescenčni protein v različnih kombinacijah. Za povečanje fleksibilnosti strukture in s tem produkcije topnega proteina smo luciferazne domene vezali na oglišča preko tri, šest ali devet aminokislinskega povezovalnega zaporedja. Sintetizirane proteine smo očistili z Ni-NTA kromatografijo in gelsko izključitveno kromatografijo. Iz SEC kromatogramov smo razbrali, da je v vzorcih konstruktov s tri-aminokislinskim povezovalnim zaporedjem nižja koncentracija monomernega proteina, kot pri enakih konstruktih s šest aminokislin dolgim povezovalcem. Konstrukti z devet-aminokislinskim povezovalcem so bili izolirani v prenizki koncentraciji za nadaljno karakterizacijo. Uspešno izoliranim proteinskim konstruktom smo določili velikost, delež monomernega proteina in vsebnost sekundarnih struktur z NaDS-PAGE elektroforezo, SEC-MALS in cirkularnim dikroizmom. Konstrukti so imeli najvišjo topnost, najvišji delež monomernega proteina in so bili izolirani v najvišji koncentraciji, če je bila luciferaza na ogrodje vezana preko šest aminokislin dolgega povezovalnega zaporedja. Izolirani proteinski konstrukti so bili pričakovane velikosti in so imeli CD spektre značilne za strukture, ki so večinsko sestavljene iz alfa vijačnic. Dokazali smo uspešno izolacijo tetraedričnega ogrodja z vezanimi domenami luciferaze in zelenega fluorescenčnega proteina.Tetrahedral shaped cages built from concatenated coiled-coils are a successful example of protein nanotechnology. Master thesis project aimed to design and isolate tetrahedral proteins with Renilla luciferase and fluorescent protein domains fused on all of its vertices. Three, six or nine amino acids long linkers were added to luciferase domain to adjust the flexibility of introduced folded domain and improve production of soluble protein. Purification of produced proteins was done with Ni-NTA and size-exclusion chromatography. SEC results showed that protein constructs with three amino acids linkers have lower fraction of monomeric protein in the sample than the same constructs with six amino acid linkers. The amount of purified protein construct with nine amino acid linkers was insufficient for protein characterization. Protein size, fraction of the monomeric form and the secondary structures content were determined by SDS-PAGE electrophoresis, SEC-MALS and circular dichroism. Constructs with six amino acid linkers were most soluble with the highest fraction of monomeric protein and were isolated at the highest concentration among the produced constructs. The isolated proteins had expected sizes and CD spectra demonstrated high content of alfa helices. We have demonstrated that it is possible to successfully isolate coiled-coil tetrahedral origami fused with fluorescence and luciferase protein domains in their vertices

The influence of the bread sample size on the sensation of salty taste in consumers

Namen raziskave je bil ugotoviti, ali velikost postreženega vzorca kruha vpliva na njegovo hedonsko oceno in na oceno slanega okusa, ter ali potrošniki razlikujejo intenzivnost slanega okusa med vzorci kruha z različno vsebnostjo soli, pa tudi ali zaznavajo različne stopnje slanosti kruha iste vrste, ko uživajo vzorec kruha z oblogo iz sira. Na treh vzorcih predpakiranih štruc in treh vzorcih kajzeric iz bele pšenične moke smo opravili senzorično ocenjevanje s 30 članskim panelom mladih potrošnikov. Uporabili smo tri različne senzorične metode: ocenjevanje všečnosti z 9-točkovno hedonsko lestvico, lestvico Ravno prav (JAR) in Razvrščanje po intenzivnosti slanega okusa ter všečnosti vzorcev. Poleg tega smo izvedli še kemijsko analizo vsebnosti suhe snovi, pepela in določenih mineralov v ocenjevanih vzorcih. Da bi pridobili vpogled v nakupovalne in prehranjevalne navade v zvezi s kruhom, smo izvedli spletno anketo, v kateri smo zajeli 252 odraslih oseb. Na podlagi senzoričnih ocen in statistične obdelave podatkov smo ugotovili, da velikost vzorca kruha ni bistveno vplivala na hedonske ocene in všečnost vzorcev, saj nismo potrdili statistično značilnih razlik med obema velikostma vzorcev. Pri štrucah kot tudi pri kajzericah smo opazili, da je dodatek sira dvignil povprečno hedonsko oceno vzorcev, ne glede na postreženo velikost. Pri rezultatih razvrščanja vzorcev po intenzivnosti slanosti ni prišlo do bistvenih razlik glede na različni velikosti vzorcev. Poleg tega je manj kot polovica preskuševalcev pravilno razvrstila vzorce štruc in kajzeric z in brez sira glede na analizirane vsebnosti soli. S pomočjo kemijske analize smo primerjali deklarirane in analizirane vsebnosti soli, ki so bile znotraj dovoljenih odstopanj, vendar so pokazale nekoliko drugačno zaporedje vzorcev glede na vsebnost soli od prvotnega, privzetega iz deklaracij.The aim of the study was to determine whether the size of the served bread sample affects hedonic score and the evaluation of salty taste, and whether consumers differentiate the intensity of salty taste between bread samples with different salt content, as well as whether they perceive different salt contents of the same type of bread, when they eat the sample with a topping. We conducted a sensory evaluation on three samples of prepackaged white wheat breads and three samples of plain rolls with a 30-member panel of young consumers. We used three different sensory methods: hedonic liking with a 9-point hedonic scale, the Just About Right scale (JAR) and sorting by salty taste intensity and sample liking. In addition, we performed a chemical analysis of dry matter, ash and certain mineral content in the evaluated samples. To gain insight into shopping and eating habits related to bread, we conducted an online survey of 252 adults. Based on sensory estimates and statistical data processing, we found that sample size did not significantly affect the hedonic estimates and liking of the samples, as we found no statistically significant differences between the two sample sizes. In bread as well as in plain rolls, we observed that the addition of cheese raised the average hedonic score of the samples, regardless of samples size. When classifying the samples according to salt content, there were no significant differences in the results, regardless of sample size. In addition, less than half of the participants correctly classified the samples of breads and plain rolls with and without cheese, according to the analysed salt contents. The chemical analysis allowed us to compare the declared and the analysed salt contents that were within the tolerances, but showed a slightly different ranking of the samples in terms of salt content compared to the original, as assumed from the declarations

Differences between National Cultures Matter – Case of Slovenian-Korean Working Environment

Aims: Global business today usually requires organizations to be present locally in countries where their customers are. To do this successfully, good cooperation with local people is needed. Therefore, this paper focuses on the integration of cultures in the business world. The insights from this study are expected to benefit Slovenian expatriates to foreign companies in South Korea, as well as national culture researchers. The main goals of this research include a comparison of Hofstede’s IBM survey results with the researched working environment, and identifying the benefits of merging two national cultures for the working environment

Razlike med narodnimi kulturami so pomembne – primer slovensko-korejskega delovnega okolja

Aims: Global business today usually requires organizations to be present locally in countries where their customers are. To do this successfully, good cooperation with local people is needed. Therefore, this paper focuses on the integration of cultures in the business world. The insights from this study are expected to benefit Slovenian expatriates to foreign companies in South Korea, as well as national culture researchers. The main goals of this research include a comparison of Hofstede’s IBM survey results with the researched working environment, and identifying the benefits of merging two national cultures for the working environment. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to purposive samples within the researched working environments and the collected data analysed used SPSS, where the hypotheses were tested using a chi-square test and t-test for independent samples. Results: The results revealed significant differences between the two national cultures in the working environment, e.g.: fear of expressing disagreement towards superiors, commitment to work, preference of challenges, tendency to avoid conflicts and innovations – all differed according to nationality. Conclusion: Working together with people from different cultures requires a certain amount of adaptation (learning about another culture, expecting situations that are not usual). If this adaptation is successful, then cooperation between the different cultures can also be successful, leading to a potential output that is even better than cooperation between people from the same culture.Cilji: Globalni posel danes po navadi od organizacij terja, da so prisotne lokalno v državah, kjer so njihovi kupci. Za uspeh tega je potrebno dobro sodelovanje z domačini, zato se ta članek osredotoča na integracijo različnih narodnih kultur v poslovnem svetu. Doprinos članka je pričakovan za slovenske delavce v tujih podjetjih v Južni Koreji, kot tudi za ostale raziskovalce narodnih kultur. Glavni cilji te raziskave vključujejo primerjavo rezultatov Hofstedejeve IBM raziskave z raziskovanim delovnim okoljem, kot tudi ugotavljanje prednosti za delovno okolje pri združitvah dveh narodnih kultur. Metode: Ciljnim skupinam znotraj raziskovanega delovnega okolja je bil razdeljen vprašalnik, zbrani podatki pa analizirani s pomočjo SPSS, pri čemer so bile hipoteze testirane s hi-kvadrat testi in t-testi za neodvisne vzorce. Rezultati: Rezultati so pokazali značilne razlike med dvema narodnima kulturama znotraj delovnega okolja. Razlike glede na narodnost so tako pristone npr. pri strahu ped izražanjem nestrinjanja z nadrejenim, predanosti delu, obravnavanju izzivov, nagnjenosti k izogibanju konfliktom in inovacijam. Zaključek: Delo z ljudmi iz drugih narodnih kultur zahteva določeno mero prilagodljivosti (učenje o drugi kulturi, pričakovanje neobičajnih situacij). Če je ta prilagoditev uspešna, potem je lahko upsešno tudi sodelovanje med različnimi kulturami, kar lahko pripelje do rezultatov, ki so lahko še boljši kot rezultati kadar delajo skupaj ljudje iz iste narodne kulture