Dataset of measurable indicators of the Slovak state institutions' websites.

The dataset contains 11 measurable indicators for the website evaluation from different points of view. These indicators were collected for 60 websites of the Slovak state institutions. It provides information about the directly measurable variables, which may affect or reflect the usability, popularity and visibility of the website. Most variables were measured by online tools. The dataset is a mixture of binary, ordinal, discrete numeric and continuous numeric variables, which gives many opportunities to analyze the relations between the measurable websites' indicators. It can be used to find the structure consisting of latent variables, which cannot be directly measured (such as usability or popularity of the website). Another use is to find subgroups of state institutions, which have similar websites from some point of view.

Personal Need for Structure and Fractions in Mathematical Education.

The research was aimed at finding relations between mathematical knowledge and cognitive individual variable. We realized the experiment with 162 students of the Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia. We had two variables-the personal need for structure (PNS) as a cognitive-individual variable and knowledge of the fraction as a mathematical variable. The relationships between the factors of the personal need for structure scale and the knowledge of fractions were determined by the IRT model. We have proven a negative correlation between the successful solving of fraction test and score in the PNS scale. This means that the higher the success rate of solving the fraction tasks, the lower the overall score on the personal need for structure scale and its subfactors.

Colonisation of Staphylococcus aureus in patients with Nasal Polyposis.

BACKGROUND: Nasal polyps (NPs) are one of the most common inflammatory mass lesions of the nose, affecting up to 0.5-4% of the population. The pathogenesis of NPs has been studied widely, but it is not clearly understood. A possible role of S. aureus in nasal polyposis has been suggested by numerous studies. This study aimed to map S.aureus colonisation in NP patients in the nose in comparison to healthy controls. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We identified Staphylococcus aureus in nasal mucosal swab, collected from 58 patients with nasal polyposis from the out-patient ENT clinic of the Faculty Hospital in Nitra. We compared them to 50 patients without symptoms of nasal obstruction or NP. Isolated bacterial strains were then further identified. RESULTS: In nasal mucosa membrane, results were not statistically significant. The selected population consisted of 108 patients, of which 58 (54%) had nasal polyps and 50 (46%) didnt. We collected the following information about patients from both groups: age, gender, smoker, presence of asthma, allergy and presence of Staphylococcus aureus by cultivation from nasal mucosa. In addition, for patients with nasal polyposis we have following variables, such as: presence inflammatory diseases, allergy to acylpyrine, cystic fibrosis. Out of 58 patients with nasal polyposis 15% (n=9) were found to have S.aureus in nasal mucosa membrane, compared to the healthy controls where 6% (n=3) of patients had S. aureus. CONCLUSION: Our results did not show that S. aureus found in nasal mucosa membrane is significantly different in patients with or without NP. However, association of the presence of S. aureus in patients with nasal polyposis with asthma, allergy and inflammation has been shown.

Plant chitinase responses to different metal-type stresses reveal specificity.

KEY MESSAGE: Chitinases in Glycine max roots specifically respond to different metal types and reveal a polymorphism that coincides with sensitivity to metal toxicity. Plants evolved various defense mechanisms to cope with metal toxicity. Chitinases (EC 3.2.1.14), belonging to so-called pathogenesis-related proteins, act as possible second line defense compounds in plants exposed to metals. In this work their activity was studied and compared in two selected soybean (Glycine max L.) cultivars, the metal-tolerant cv. Chernyatka and the sensitive cv. Kyivska 98. Roots were exposed to different metal(loid)s such as cadmium, arsenic and aluminum that are expected to cause toxicity in different ways. For comparison, a non-metal, NaCl, was applied as well. The results showed that the sensitivity of roots to different stressors coincides with the responsiveness of chitinases in total protein extracts. Moreover, detailed analyses of acidic and neutral proteins identified one polymorphic chitinase isoform that distinguishes between the two cultivars studied. This isoform was stress responsive and thus could reflect the evolutionary adaptation of soybean to environmental cues. Activities of the individual chitinases were dependent on metal type as well as the cultivar pointing to their more complex role in plant defense during this type of stress.

Cultivar-specific kinetics of chitinase induction in soybean roots during exposure to arsenic.

The kinetics of defense responses was studied in soybean exposed to ecologically relevant concentrations of arsenic for 96 h. In the roots of two soybean cultivars with contrasting tolerance to this metalloid there were observed differences in basal levels of membrane lipid peroxidation as well as a significantly different course of peroxidation upon exposure to As. The different course of stress was reflected in the accumulation of defense components. The responses of individual chitinase isoforms were studied since these enzymes had previously been shown to be stable components of defense against metals. The kinetics and magnitude of accumulation of the three isoforms during exposure to As significantly differed within as well as between the studied cultivars. Furthermore, accumulation of these isoforms appeared to be related to oxidative status in the root tissue. The timing of induced responses is likely to be important for efficient defense against metal(oid) pollution in environment.