This thesis is focused on the assessment of contamination of non-agricultural soils of selected locations in Ostrava of hazardous metals. Selection of locations was based on the stationary pollution source REZZO1. Total 36 collected samples from 12 locations in three times periods between July 2010 and March 2011 that each collection represented a different time period for characteristic emissions conditions. The risk of metals mercury, cadmium, lead, copper and chromium were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry (F AAS, ET AAS, AMA 254).The influence of the distance of locations from stationary sources of REZZO1 on the extent of soil contamination by selected metals was confirmed.

The aim of Master thesis "Control and monitoring unit for optical link station" is a web server, enabling communication microcontroller with the user. The communication is based on TCP/IP model. Work an overview of the various parts of the TCP/IP model. The main part of this work is devoted to the software created. The core of unit are microcontroller C8051F120 and ethernet controller CP2200 made by Silicon Laboratories.

This dissertation work deals with analysis of nickel hydroxide phases, their oxidation compounds, their stability and degradation mechanisms of electrochemically more active alpha phase on standard beta phase. The active material was prepared by both methods, electrodeposition and chemical precipitation. Main analysis method was Electrochemical Quartz Crystal Microbalance in combination with common analytical methods (cyclic voltammetry, potenciometry) can resolute between alpha and beta phases and quantitatively describe differences in main reaction by monitoring mass changes in the active material. Poor stability of the ?-Ni(OH)2 were improved by adding cations with valence two three and four into the structure instead of Ni atoms. The most important role plays cobalt and its hydroxide. Totally new way is to use titanium in combination with other cations. In electrolyte the most significant addition is LiOH, which has beneficial influent on cycle ability, stability in strong alkaline medium and cycle life.

Ce travail de thèse a porté sur l’étude structurale de peptides urotensinergiques humains par DC, RMN etmodélisation moléculaire. L’hUII (11 aa) et son analogue l’URP (8 aa) sont considérés comme les peptides vasoactifs les plus puissants connus à ce jour et sont impliqués dans divers systèmes biologiques, notamment le système cardiovasculaire et la prolifération des cellules tumorales. Ces deux peptides sont des ligands endogènes d'un RCPG, l’UT. Ils peuvent exercer des actions physiologiques communes mais aussi divergentes. Afin d’apporter des éléments permettant une meilleure compréhension de leurs activités biologiques, nous avons, dans un premier temps, déterminé la structure 3D de trois agonistes (hUII4-11, URP,P5U) et d’un antagoniste (urantide) dans un milieu micellaire mimant les membranes des cellules eucaryotes, le DPC. Dans les quatre peptides, nous avons observé la présence de deux conformations majoritaires du pont disulfure, RHStaple et LHHook, qui sont connues pour être essentielles à l’activité biologique. Nous avons mis en évidence une différence de nature de coude entre les agonistes (coude β de type I) et l’antagoniste (coude β de type II’). Nos analyses ont également permis de montrer l’existence de variations d’orientation des chaînes latérales des résidus F6, Y9 et plus spécialement celle de W7 entre les agonistes etl’antagoniste. Le groupe indole du D-W7 présente ainsi une rotation de 180°. Dans un deuxième temps, nous avons mis en évidence un impact de la concentration sur la conformation de l’hUII qui n’est pas observé pour l’URP. Ce phénomène d’auto-association pourrait avoir une influence sur l’interaction avec le récepteur et être à l’origine des divergences d’activités biologiques entre l’hUII et l’URP. / This work aims to characterize the structure of human urotensinergic peptides by CD, NMR and molecular modelling. hUII (11 aa) and its analogue URP (8 aa) are considered as the most potent vasoactive peptides known so far and are involved in various biological systems, including the cardiovascular system and tumor cell proliferation. These two peptides are endogenous ligands of a GPCR, UT, and exert common but also divergent physiological actions. In order to gain a better understanding of their biological activities, we determined the structures of three agonists (hUII4-11, URP, P5U) and one antagonist (urantide), in DPC micelles, a cellular eukaryotic mimetic membrane. For all peptides, we observed the presence of two major forms of the disulfide bridge, RHStaple and LHHook, which are known to be essential for biological activity. We showed a difference in the turn nature between agonists (type I β turn) and the antagonist (type II’ β turn). Our analyses also revealed that, in agonists and antagonist, the side chain orientations of residues F6, Y9 and more specifically W7 were different. Indeed, the indole group of D-W7 exhibited a 180° rotation. Secondly, we showed that, contrary to URP, the conformation of hUII was dependent on concentration. This selfassembly phenomenon may impact the interaction with the receptor and be responsible for the differential biological activities of hUII and URP.

Orientador: João Ruggiero Neto / Resumo: Os peptídeos sintéticos L1A (IDGLKAIWKKVADLLKNT-NH2, Q = +3e) e seu análogo acetilado (acL1A, Q = +2e) utilizados neste estudo foram projetados para que tenham características estruturais semelhantes ao peptídeo Polybia-MP1 extraído do veneno da vespa Polybia paulista, em que um dos dois resíduos ácidos ocupa a segunda posição na região Nterminal, e resíduos básicos são terceiros e/ou quartos vizinhos dos resíduos ácidos. Esses peptídeos possuem significativa atividade bactericida seletiva para bactérias Gram-negativas, especialmente Escherichia coli, sem serem hemolíticos. Estudos anteriores, em sistemas modelo, demonstraram que a acetilação do N-terminal resultou no aumento da atividade lítica em vesículas aniônicas (8POPC/2POPG) em comparação com o L1A, o que sugeriu perturbação do empacotamento lipídico de modo mais eficaz para o análogo que é menos carregado. Considerando que a membrana plasmática de bactérias Gram-negativas contém majoritariamente fosfatidiletanolamina (PE) e fosfatidilglicerol (PG), o presente trabalho propôs investigar o impacto dos peptídeos L1A e acL1A em membranas modelo compostas por 3POPE/1DOPG utilizando uma variedade de técnicas experimentais. Os resultados demonstraram que ambos os peptídeos induziram segregação lipídica, sendo o análogo acetilado mais eficiente em recrutar PG e segregar PE. / Abstract: The synthetic peptides L1A (IDGLKAIWKKVADLLKNT-NH2, Q = +3e) and its acetylated analog (acL1A, Q = +2e) used in this study were designed to have some structural features similar to the peptide Polybia-MP1 extracted from the venom of the wasp Polybia paulista, in which one of the acidic residues occupies the second position on the N-terminus region and basic residues are third and/or fourth neighbors of the acidic residues. These peptides display significant bactericidal activity against Gram-negative bacteria, especially Escherichia coli, being non-hemolytic. Previous work performed in model membrane systems has shown that the N-terminal acetylation led to an increase on the lytic activity in anionic vesicles (8POPC/2POPG) compared with L1A, suggesting that the less charged peptide has higher ability to perturb the lipid-packing. Considering that the Gram-negative cell membranes contain mainly phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and phosphatidylglycerol (PG), the present work proposed to investigate the impact of L1A and acL1A on model membranes composed of 3POPE/1DOPG using a variety of experimental techniques. The results suggested that both peptides induced lipid segregation being the acetylated analog more efficient in recruiting PG and segregating PE. / Mestre

Les neutrophiles infiltrent la muqueuse colique inflammatoire en maladie de Crohn (CD). Cependant, on ignore l’existence d’une corrélation entre la sévérité endoscopique et la fréquence et/ou l’activation des neutrophiles et autres granulocytes. Une cohorte de 73 patients atteints de CD fut recrutée prospectivement. Les participants furent stratifiés selon la Classification de Montréal ou subdivisés selon le phénotype endoscopique (phénotype typique vs apparence endoscopique « UC-Like »). L’index d’Harvey Bradshaw (HBI) et le Simple Endoscopic score (SES-CD) furent calculés au moment de la coloscopie. La fréquence et l’expression de CD66b et de CD64 sur les granulocytes furent évaluées en cytométrie de flux sur des échantillons sanguins et des biopsies coliques. Le SES-CD corrélait avec l’expression du CD66b sur les neutrophiles coliques et du CD64 sur les neutrophiles circulants en présence de maladie active avec comportement inflammatoire (B1). Les fréquences des neutrophiles et des basophiles mais non des eosinophiles étaient augmentées au sein de la muqueuse inflammatoire, mais la fréquence des neutrophiles coliques n’était corrélée avec le SES-CD uniquement en présence d’un phénotype endoscopique « UC-like ». Deux scores d’activation granulocytaire étaient discriminant entre les individus avec maladie légère et sévère dans l’ensemble de la cohorte avec maladie active. L’activation des granulocytes dans le sang et la muqueuse colique corrèle avec le SES-CD dans des sous-groupes de patients avec une maladie B1, alors que les scores d’activation granulocytaire pourraient être pertinent cliniquement pour évaluer la sévérité de la maladie et possiblement avoir une valeur prognostique parmi les individus avec maladie active. / Neutrophils infiltrate the inflamed colon in Crohn’s disease (CD). However, correlation between endoscopic severity, and frequency and/or activation of neutrophils and other granulocytes like basophils and eosinophils remains to be investigated. A cohort of 73 CD patients was prospectively enrolled according to endoscopic severity and treatment history. Patients with active disease were stratified according to Montreal classification or subdivided into typical CD and UC-like endoscopic features. Harvey Bradshaw Index (HBI) and Simple Endoscopic score (SES-CD) were performed at the time of ileocolonoscopy. Frequency and expression of CD66b and CD64 on granulocytes were assessed in paired blood and colonic biopsies using flow cytometry. SES-CD correlated with neutrophil CD66b expression in mucosa but not blood and conversely, with neutrophil CD64 expression in blood but not mucosa in CD patients with inflammatory (B1) active disease. Frequencies of neutrophils and basophils but not eosinophils, increased in inflamed colon, but only in a subgroup of CD patients presenting “UC-like” endoscopic features were the frequencies of colonic neutrophils correlated with SES-CD. Furthermore, a neutrophil activation score (CD66b X CD64 on neutrophils) and a blood granulocyte score (CD66b on eosinophils X CD64 on neutrophils) discriminated between mild and severe disease in the entire cohort of patients with active disease. Activation of granulocytes in blood and/or mucosa correlated with SES-CD in subgroups of patients with B1 inflammatory disease while granulocyte activation scoring systems may be clinically relevant to evaluate disease severity and predict prognosis in the entire cohort of active disease patients.

WWW-Konferenz Videokonferenz aus dem TU-Hoersaal Zur Umstellung der Unix-HOME-Verzeichnisse im URZ GCPP/128 -- aktueller Stand AFS im URZ Neuer Dienst: CD-Service Software-News

Mit der Verbreitung von Linux als Desktopsystem steigen auch die Anforderungen des Nutzers an multimediale Fähigkeiten wie z.B. das Anhören eines digitalisierten Musikstückes, die Einbindung einer Digitalkamera in die Bildverarbeitung, die Nutzung einer Radio/TV-Karte oder gar das Bearbeiten eines kleinen Videofilms.

Protein Nkr-p1b is a surface receptor of cytotoxic NK cells, that mediates inhibitory signal toward the body's own cells. In this study, the ligand binding domain of the mouse protein receptor Nkr-p1b (mNkr-p1b LBD) was prepared by recombinant expression in E. coli cells. Isolated protein was subsequently used for NMR structural analysis. Prediction of protein secondary structures ratio was carried out using three different methods (CD, PSIPRED and TALOS). Results correlate well with the structure of CTLD domain, that plays a key role in ligand binding and thus to function of Nkr-p1b receptor. We managed to prepare this protein in a form suitable for NMR experiments. Based on the data obtained by NMR spectra analysis, a preliminary model of the mNkr-p1b LBD protein structure was created. However, for more precise learning of the 3D structure accurate positions of individual atoms need to be determined by other NMR spectra evaluation in the next phase. Explaining the structure of the ligand binding domain of mNkr-p1b protein could help to better understand the complex mechanism of activation of NK cell cytotoxic activity, thereby contributing to its controlled use as a therapeutic against some viral and tumor diseases.

Scaffolds are proteins with high conformational stability, allowing us to implement multiple mutations into specific parts of the protein. Even with these mutations, the structural integrity of the protein is maintained as well as its physical-chemical properties. These mutations give the specific scaffold new properties. In most cases it is the binding specificity towards previously chosen target. The biggest advantages of scaffolds are their small size, stability, low-cost manufacturing, and easiness of preparation. Scaffold utilized in this thesis is unique for having two binging surfaces designed on which it can be mutated. Each of those two surfaces can be separately mutated to develop a binging site for two different proteins. In our case these mutations led to binding two nonidentical receptors of a human cytokine. Mutations are made with a use of yeast display, one of the methods of directed evolution. The main focus of this thesis is changing an expression system of the binding proteins from the yeast system to a bacterial one, their production and purification followed by characterization of those binding proteins using biophysical methods. These methods were used to evaluate structural and thermal stability, and binding affinity to both receptors of the beforementioned binding proteins....