24. Svjetski dan bolesnika 24th World Day of the Sick

U koga se čovjek danas može pouzdati? Kome može vjerovati? To su pitanja koja postaju sve aktualnijima kako u javnom životu tako, nažalost, sve više i u osobnim kontaktima i neformalnim susretima. U takvom vremenu nesigurnosti, podjela, pa i straha pred budućnošću i u vremenu u kojem nasilje i tragične posljedice ratova mijenjaju sliku svijeta i Europe, papa Franjo u Poruci za 24. svjetski dan bolesnika 2016. poziva na razmišljanje o temi: Pouzdati se u milosrdnoga Isusa poput Marije: „Što god vam rekne, učinite!“ (Iv 2,5). (usp. Papa Franjo, Pouzdati se u milosrdnog Isusa poput Marije: „Što god vam rekne, učinite!“ /Iv 2,5/, u: Službeni vjesnik Zagrebačke nadbiskupije 102 /2015/, br. 5, 453-454). Tema „pouzdati se“ povezuje se uz „milosrdnu ljubav“, uz Izvanrednu godinu milosrđa koja se u Katoličkoj Crkvi slavi od 8. prosinca 2015. do 20. studenoga 2016

Designing brighter near-infrared fluorescent proteins : insights from structural and biochemical studies

Brighter near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent proteins (FPs) are required for multicolor microscopy and deep-tissue imaging. Here, we present structural and biochemical analyses of three monomeric, spectrally distinct phytochrome-based NIR FPs, termed miRFPs. The miRFPs are closely related and differ by only a few amino acids, which define their molecular brightness, brightness in mammalian cells, and spectral properties. We have identified the residues responsible for the spectral red-shift, revealed a new chromophore bound simultaneously to two cysteine residues in the PAS and GAF domains in blue-shifted NIR FPs, and uncovered the importance of amino acid residues in the N-terminus of NIR FPs for their molecular and cellular brightness. The novel chromophore covalently links the N-terminus of NIR FPs with their C-terminal GAF domain, forming a topologically closed knot in the structure, and also contributes to the increased brightness. Based on our studies, we suggest a strategy to develop spectrally distinct NIR FPs with enhanced brightness.Peer reviewe

Allosteric effects of chromophore interaction with dimeric near-infrared fluorescent proteins engineered from bacterial phytochromes

Fluorescent proteins (FPs) engineered from bacterial phytochromes attract attention as probes for in vivo imaging due to their near-infrared (NIR) spectra and use of available in mammalian cells biliverdin (BV) as chromophore. We studied spectral properties of the iRFP670, iRFP682 and iRFP713 proteins and their mutants having Cys residues able to bind BV either in both PAS (Cys15) and GAF (Cys256) domains, in one of these domains, or without these Cys residues. We show that the absorption and fluorescence spectra and the chromophore binding depend on the location of the Cys residues. Compared with NIR FPs in which BV covalently binds to Cys15 or those that incorporate BV noncovalently, the proteins with BV covalently bound to Cys256 have blue-shifted spectra and higher quantum yield. In dimeric NIR FPs without Cys15, the covalent binding of BV to Cys256 in one monomer allosterically inhibits the covalent binding of BV to the other monomer, whereas the presence of Cys15 allosterically promotes BV binding to Cys256 in both monomers. The NIR FPs with both Cys residues have the narrowest blue-shifted spectra and the highest quantum yield. Our analysis resulted in the iRFP713/Val256Cys protein with the highest brightness in mammalian cells among available NIR FPs.Peer reviewe

Pokoncilska situacija žene u Hrvata

Die Erörterung der nachkonziliaren Situation der Frau unter den Kroaten soll innerhalb der gesellschaftlichen und der kirchlichen Kontextes gesehen werden. Nach dem zweiten Weltkrieg sind große Veränderungen angetreten, sodaß von einer Emanzipation der Frau in der Familie und in der Gesellschaft gesprochen werden kann. Trotzdem ist diese Emanzipation im Sinne einer Gleichberechtigung von Mann und Frau immer noch nicht optimal. Vielmehr ereignet sich in Kroatien und Jugoslawien eine große Konzentration von Frauen in den bestimmten Berufen. Dementsprechend kann man von einer Feminisierung des Gesundheitss - und Bildungswesen sprechen. Parallel bestehen Berufe in denen die Frauen prozentual wenig vertreten sind. In der nachkonziliaren Zeit ereignate sich nicht die gewünschte und erwartete Beförderung und Emanzipation der Frau als gleichberechtigte und auf allen kirchlichen Ebenen mitverantwortende pastorale Mitarbeiterin. Deswegen soll von einer partiellen Emanzipation und Befreiung der Frau gesprochen werden, da vielmehr oder meistens die Ordansfrau befördert wurde und nicht die Frau überhaupt bzw. die Frau als Laie. Die meisten Studentinnen an der kirchlichen Hochschulen und Instituten bilden Ordensfrauen. Dieselbe Situation ist in den Pfarreien, in denen nur die Ordensfraufen wieder die Mitarbeiterinnen vom Priester sind. Der Kirche unter den Kroaten besteht im großen Maße noch bevore, die Überwindung der klerikalen Mentalität und die Veränderung des patriarchalen Bewußtseins sowie Aneignung der Mentalität von gleichberechtigten Mitarbeitern zwischen Mann und Frau in der Kirche

Social Activities of Priests. Initiatives by Dr. Vilko Anderlić (1882 - 1957)

Prema do sada uglavnom neobrađenoj literaturi članak obrađuje zanimanje i poticaje dr. Vilka Anderlića u odnosu na socijalno djelovanje svećenika u prvoj polovici dvadesetog stoljeća u Hrvatskoj. Tema je važna i zbog toga što socijalno djelovanje svećenika u tom vremenskom razdoblju još uvijek nije znanstveno istraženo. U prvoj točki autor ukratko ukazuje na značenje koje Anderlić daje rješavanju socijalnog pitanja pišući knjigu pod nazivom \u27Socijologija\u27 (1912.) koja je prva takve vrste u hrvatskoj teološkoj literaturi. Druga i središnja točka rada pod nazivom \u27Svećenik je dužan socijalno djelovati\u27 bavi se pitanjem svećenikova socijalnog djelovanja. Prema Anderliću svećenikovo socijalno djelovanje ide u dva smjera: u crkvi i u susretanju s vjernicima i kulturno i materijalno djelovanje svećenika. Za Anderlića je svećenikovo socijalno djelovanje sastavni dio njegova života i pastoralnog djelovanja; svećenik treba biti aktivan kako \u27ad intra\u27 tako posebno \u27ad extra\u27. Treća točka ovoga rada raspravlja o aktualnosti Anderlićeva socijalnog govora danas posebno na pastoralno-praktičnoj razini. Autor u zaključku tvrdi da je u hrvatskoj Crkvi potrebno mijenjati mentalitet prema kojemu se svećenici i Crkva trebaju brinuti isključivo za duhovno, a socijalno djelovanje se ograničuje na prakticiranje kršćanskog caritasa. U tom kontekstu je Aderlić kao svećenik-župnik i kao intelektualac poticaj današnjim svećenicima.According to some resources that mostly haven\u27t been thouroughly studied yet, the article elaborates on Dr. Vilko Anderlić\u27s interests and initiatives related to social activities of priests in Croatia in the first half of the 20th century. This topic is also important because social activities of priests in this period haven\u27t been explored yet. In the first section the author briefly explains the significance Anderlić attributed to the solution of social issues in his book " Sociology " ( 1 9 1 2), which was the first in Croatian theological literature to deal with the issue. The second and the core point of this article titled "The priest\u27s duty is to act" deals with the issue of priests\u27 social activities. There are two different directions of priests\u27 social activities according to Anderlić: the first in the church during the encounter with the faithful, whereas the second is manifested in priests\u27 activities related to cultural and material issues. According to Anderlić a priest\u27s social activities are a consistent part of his everyday life and his pastoral work; a priest should take an active part "ad intra" and especially "ad extra". The third section of the article examines the impact of Anderlić\u27s social discourse on our time, especially at the pastoral-practical level. In the conclusion the author claims that the Church in Croatia has need of change of the existing mentality according to which the Church and its priests should only take care of the spiritual, while their social activities are limited to Christian charity. Having this in mind we can say that Anderlić as a parish priest and as an intellectual can serve as an example and a driving force to modern priests