Additions and corrections to the checklist of true bugs of Hungary (Hemiptera: Heteroptera)

The checklist of the Heteroptera fauna of Hungary is complemented. Xylocoris (Stictosynechia) lativentris (J. Sahlberg, 1870) (Anthocoridae), Orsillus maculatus (Fieber, 1861) (Lygaeidae) and Ochetostethus balcanicus (Wagner, 1940) (Cydnidae) are reported as new species to the fauna of Hungary. Re-examination of voucher specimens concluded that the following species were recorded from Hungary by misidentified specimens only, therefore these are deleted from the Hungarian checklist: Scutelleridae: Odontotarsus robustus Jakovlev, 1884; Pentatomidae: Neottiglossa lineolata (Mulsant and Rey, 1852). Species previously recorded from Hungary but erroneously omitted from the latest published checklist are discussed as well

SI-traceable quantification of clinically relevant proteins

Current requirements of the EU in-vitro diagnostic directive (IVDD) has established the requirement for routine devices to provide results that are traceable to higher order reference standards, where available. Routine blood tests are an essential component of prognostic and diagnostic medicine; however, these often use arbitrary international units (IU) to facilitate comparability, which lack metrological traceability. Whilst a number of certified reference materials (CRMs) are available for small molecules, little has been done in developing SI-traceable biological reference materials. In this thesis, the first task is to develop an SI-traceable quantified B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) standard by adapting the current isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS) methods. The standard is used to develop a reference method for the SI-traceable quantification of BNP in plasma. The difficulties associated with the purity assessment of synthetic peptides, stabilisation of BNP in plasma, measurement of large intact peptides by mass spectrometry (MS) and multiplexing the method for monitoring for the presence of degradation products are addressed. Many circulating peptides such as BNP, are routinely measured and External Quality Assessment Schemes (EQAS) are already established. BNP is an essential biomarker for heart failure. The reference method was used to participate in EQAS to assess the capability of the method to supply reference values to EQAS samples. The ultimate goal of the reference method to develop a commutable certified reference material (CRM) to assist the standardization of BNP measurements and to ascertain the direct benefits of metrological traceability in clinical diagnostics and evidence based medicine.This project also aims to include the higher order reference method in the Joint Committee for Traceability in Laboratory medicine (JCTLM) database

A több évtizeden át tartó testedzés hatása az irizin hormon szintjére

Kutatásunk során célul tűztük ki, hogy felderítsük az élethosszon át tartó edzés hatását a vér irizin szintjére. Vizsgálatunkban edzett és nem edzett közép/időskorú személyek vettek részt. Az irizin hormon, ami egy myokin és adipokin, a fizikai aktivitás során termelődik a peroxiszóma proliferátor aktivált receptor gamma koaktivátor 1 alfa (PGC1A) fehérje jelenlétében. Az irizin számos fontos élettani hatással bír, melyek főként fizikai aktivitás hatására aktiválódnak. Elsősorban a szervezet anyagcsere folyamatait szabályozza, de kapcsolatba hozták már az agyműködéssel és a telomer hosszal is. Legjobb tudomásunk szerint korábban nem vizsgálták még a több évtizedes edzés hatását az irizinre. Eredményeink alapján azt találtuk, hogy az irizin hormon szintje nem mutat korrelációt a VO2max értékkel. Többváltozós regressziós analízis alkalmazása során az irizin és a HDL koncentrációja a vérben korrelációt mutatott egymással a különböző funkcionális paraméterek figyelembe vétele mellett. Maximális erő mérés eredményei alapján az edzett és az edzetlen férfi csoport nagyobb maximális erővel rendelkezik, mint az edzett és edzetlen női csoport, azonban a két férfi csoport között nem mutatható ki különbség. Az edzett férfiak robbanékony ereje nagyobb a két női csoporthoz képest. A becsült VO2max értékek szignifikánsan magasabbak az edzett férfi csoportban az edzetlen csoportokhoz képest. Az edzett nők magasabb HDL szinttel rendelkeznek, mint az edzetlen férfiak és az edzetlen nők. A HDL, mint előnyös funkciókkal rendelkező lipoprotein, elképzelhető, hogy hasonló élettani adaptációs folyamatok mentén fejti ki a hatásait, mint az irizin. A VO2max és az irizin szint között nem találtunk korrelációt, amiből arra következtethetünk, hogy az edzésre adott élettani válaszok komplexebbek annál, minthogy egyetlen mutatóval próbáljuk meg jellemezni azt

Road verges are important secondary habitats for grassland arthropods

Semi-natural linear landscape elements such as road verges, hedgerows and feld margins are important in maintaining the connectivity between habitat fragments of highly modifed landscapes. Preservation of habitat specialist fauna requires conservation of the remaining natural habitat patches and connectivity of fragments. Our study focuses on the spider, ant and true bug fauna and functional diversity (FD) of fragmented forest steppe patches, moderately grazed pastures and road verges embedded in a matrix of forest plantations in Hungary, Central Europe. We established total 30 sampling sites, 10 in each, the grassland component of forest-steppes (F), pastures (P) and road verges (R) near pine forests. We collected arthropods with pitfall and sweep-net techniques. We calculated FD and species composition of arthropods using linear mixed models. We observed higher species richness in road verges for spiders and ants. We also found higher FD values for spiders and diferent trait composition for all taxa in road verges when compared with forest steppes and pastures. Species composition suggests that road verges do not serve as habitat for several forest-steppe and grassland species, in spite of the fact that numerous specialist species were found in the road verges. We show that forest steppes have higher species richness of spiders than pastures, and there are diferences in species assemblage composition of the two habitat types for all taxa. Our results indicate that road verges should be considered as an important refuge for grassland specialist arthropods, as road verges provide secondary linear habitats for many arthropod species, and we would suggest the maintenance of these grassy strips in order to preserve arthropod biodiversity

A candidate liquid chromatography mass spectrometry reference method for the quantification of the cardiac marker 1-32 B-type natriuretic peptide

B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a 32 amino acid cardiac hormone routinely measured by immunoassays to diagnose heart failure. While it is reported that immunoassay results can vary up to 45%, no attempt of standardization and/or harmonization through the development of certified reference materials (CRMs) or reference measurement procedures (RMPs) has yet been carried out. B-type natriuretic peptide primary calibrator was quantified traceably to the International System of Units (SI) by both amino acid analysis and tryptic digestion. A method for the stabilization of BNP in plasma followed by protein precipitation, solid phase extraction (SPE) and liquid chromatography (LC) mass spectrometry (MS) was then developed and validated for the quantification of BNP at clinically relevant concentrations (15-150 fmol/g). The candidate reference method was applied to the quantification of BNP in a number of samples from the UK NEQAS Cardiac Markers Scheme to demonstrate its applicability to generate reference values and to preliminary evaluate the commutability of a potential CRM. The results from the reference method were consistently lower than the immunoassay results and discrepancy between the immunoassays was observed confirming previous data. The application of the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method to the UK NEQAS samples and the correlation of the results with the immunoassay results shows the potential of the method to support external quality assessment schemes, to improve understanding of the bias of the assays and to establish RMPs for BNP measurements. Furthermore, the method has the potential to be multiplexed for monitoring circulating truncated forms of BNP

Functional composition of ant assemblages in habitat islands is driven by habitat factors and landscape composition

Fragmented natural habitats within human-transformed landscapes play a key role in preserving biodiversity. Ants as keystone species are essential elements of terrestrial ecosystems; thus, it is important to understand the factors influencing their presence. In a large-scale multi-site study, we surveyed ant assemblages using sweep netting and D-vac sampling on 158 ancient burial mounds preserving grassland habitats in agricultural landscapes in East-Hungary. We asked the following questions: (1) How do habitat factors and landscape composition affect species richness and functional diversity of ants? (2) Which ant traits are affected by habitat factors and landscape composition? Despite their small sizes, mounds as permanent and relatively undisturbed landscape elements could provide safe havens for diverse ant assemblages even in transformed agricultural landscapes. The complex habitat structure of wooded mounds supported high species and functional diversity of ant assemblages. Ant species on wooded mounds had small or medium-sized colonies, enabling the co-existence of more species. The effect of landscape composition on ant assemblages was mediated by habitat factors: steep slopes buffered the negative effect of the cropland matrix and enabled higher ant diversity