Integrating sustainable competences and green skills in the hungarian environmental engineering education

Engineering plays a crucial part in responding to the biggest challenges of our era, including the transition toward a green economy by meeting the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and by achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Engineering education could be the leading actor in preparing engineers for these complex tasks and spread the necessary green knowledge, interdisciplinary skills, and competences to pursue a sustainable future. Hungary's education system has improved significantly in the last decade, considering the Central Eastern European region. A new national higher education strategy in 2014 set new directions for its development in many aspects, including an emphasis on soft skill development in the curricula. The Hungarian higher education system was characterized for decades by memorizing facts and figures; therefore, the effective integration of soft skill development is a slow process. In our study, we first provide a systematic review of the international and national literature to identify fundamental sustainability skills and competences for engineering. We also examine the Hungarian higher education frameworks and the skill-related output requirements in the environmental engineering programs. In the second part of the research, we present a qualitative study of in-depth interviews with Hungarian experts with different academic profiles and a focus group study with environmental engineering students about their views on green skills. Our results show that the concept of green skills is slowly spreading in environmental engineering university communities in Hungary; however, the effective implementation into the curricula will require some more time and work

Certificate-Based Good Practice To Motivate Engineering Students To Learn Sustainability Skills

Engineering plays a crucial role both in addressing sustainability challenges and in helping to achieve the sustainability transition. However, tackling the complex problems of sustainability needs a broader understanding of these issues from nonengineering perspectives as well. The Department of Environmental Economics and Sustainable Development of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences (GTK), has developed a unique method for a uniform certification of studies in the fields of sustainability, environmental economics, and environmental management for engineering students. The so-called green certificate is provided after the successful completion of at least five elective courses such as sustainable business models, green economic development, smart and sustainable digitalisation-related solutions, sustainable rural or urban development, sustainable energy management or climate change oriented courses etc. The certificate can be obtained either in the framework of a bachelor\u27s or master\u27s degree programme, and it is available both in Hungarian and in English, even for incoming mobility students. By achieving the green certificate, the engineering students gain a complex vision, a sustainability mindset and a truly green attitude. Our study analyses the green certificates\u27 data quantitatively, focusing on the engineering students\u27 profiles and the most frequently chosen courses. Our results can help further refine our methods to reach even more engineering students, and it can serve as a good practice to follow for other universities

Célzott terápiára alkalmas új peptidkonjugátumok szintézise és alkalmazása rosszindulatú daganatok kezelésében. = Development of new peptide conjugates for targeted therapy of cancer.

Célunk az volt, hogy olyan hatóanyag szállító rendszereket állítsunk elő, amelyek a tumornövekedést gátló hatóanyagokat szelektíven juttatják a tumoros sejtekbe. Ennek érdekében előállítottunk több mint 70 vegyületet, ezen belül kb. 50 GnRH illetve oligotuftsin hordozó – hatóanyag konjugátumot. Vizsgáltuk a konjugátumok in vitro tumorellenes hatását, sejtbe jutásukat, enzim stabilitásukat, metabolizmusukat és a metabolitok DNS kötődését. Összehasonlítottuk néhány vegyület receptorkötődési képességét. Szerkezet-hatás összefüggések vizsgálatával megállapítottuk, hogy milyen szekvencia módosítások, peptid-hatóanyag közötti kötéstípusok (pl. oxim, észter, hidrazon,) eredményeznek hatékonyabb konjugátumokat. A tumorellenes hatást több hatóanyag sejtbe juttatásával is fokozni kívántuk. Ezért a konjugátumok dimerjeit, illetve több drog molekulát tartalmazó konjugátumot is előállítottunk. Vizsgáltuk a vegyületek kemotaxisát és sejtadhézióra gyakorolt hatását, amelyek fontosak a tumor metasztázisában. Az vizsgálatok megkönnyítése érdekében saját fejlesztésű kemotaxis chippet készítettünk. A tumorsejtekben kezelés hatására lejátszódó, fehérje és RNS szintű változások tanulmányozására proteomikai és RT-PCR módszereket alkalmaztunk. A kutatás adott fázisában az aktuálisan leghatékonyabb vegyületek in vivo tumorellenes hatását vizsgáltuk vastagbél tumorral beoltott egereken. Az eredményekből olyan következtetéseket vontunk le, amelyek jelentősek a további kísérletek szempontjából. | The aim of our project was the development of drug delivery systems that target anticancer drugs selectively to the tumor cells. For this purpose more than 70 new compounds, among them ca. 50 GnRH and oligotuftsin based carrier – drug conjugates, were prepared. In vitro antitumor activity, cellular uptake, enzyme stability and metabolism of the conjugates were studied. The DNA binding of the metabolites was also investigated. The receptor binding activity of several compounds was checked and compared. The structure – activity relationship studies showed the allowed substitutions in the peptide sequences. The influence of types of bond (e.g. oxime, ester, hydrazone) between the drug and carrier molecule on efficient drug release was identified. The antitumor activity of the compounds could be increased by the elevation of drug molecules (identical or different) on carrier molecules or by dimerization of the drug containing monomer conjugates. For the development of metastasis preventing compounds the chemotactic activity of the conjugates and their influence on cell adhesion were also studied. For these studies new chemotactic chips were developed. The protein or RNA based changes in the treated cells compared to untreated cells were studied by proteome analysis or by RT-PCR. The best compounds were selected for in vivo studies. The antitumor activity of the compounds was measured on colon cancer bearing mice. The results of the project are useful for the further research

Comparison of assays for the detection of West Nile virus antibodies in equine serum after vaccination

Introduction: The West Nile virus (WNV) mainly infects birds, horses and humans. Outcomes of the infection range from light uncharacteristic symptoms to fatal neurologic disease. The Hungarian equine WNV outbreak reported in 2008 was the first caused by a lineage 2 sub-Saharan strain in Europe. To protect horses from serious disease an inactivated virus vaccine is available in Hungary since 2009. Objectives: The main objectives of the present study were to measure serum IgG and IgM antibodies in naturally exposed and vaccinated horses, and to compare hemagglutination-inhibition test (HIT) results with those of competitive and IgM antibody capture (MAC) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Methods: Altogether 268 animals were tested with HIT for WNV antibodies and 34 horses were examined for both IgG and IgM with HIT and ELISA simultaneously. After primary screening for WNV antibodies, all horses were vaccinated. Samples were taken immediately before and 3-5 weeks after each vaccination. McNemar chi-squared and percent agreement tests were used to detect concordance between HIT and ELISA. Results: Analyses by HIT confirmed the presence of WNV antibodies in 38/123 (30,89%) from naturally exposed horses. Sera from 63/72 (87,5%) vaccinated animals were positive before the first booster and from 11/11 (100%) before the second booster. HIT and ELISA tests were non-concordant with a low positive percentage agreement value concerning the IgM measurements. HIT was less sensitive when detecting IgG antibodies. We could detect post vaccination IgM in 9 cases with MAC ELISA and in 7 cases with HIT. Discussion and conclusions: WNV is endemic in Hungary causing regular natural infections. Antibodies could not be detected in each individual case 12 months after primary injections, protection is more reliable after the first yearly booster. Based on our findings it may not be possible to differentiate infected horses from recently vaccinated horses using the MAC ELISA. HIT does not substitute ELISA when detecting IgM in acute infections. The study was permitted by the Animal Health and Welfare Directorate of National Food Chain Safety Office (22.1./1606/003/2009). Aknowledgement to Bólyai János research Grant

Paklitaxeltartalmú kemoterápiás kombináció metasztatikus cervixtumor első vonali és reindukciós palliatív kezelésében = Paclitaxel containing chemotherapeutic regimens in first line and reintroduced palliative treatment of metastatic cervical cancer

Absztrakt: Bevezetés: A paklitaxel-karboplatin kombináció az áttétes és helyileg kiújuló méhnyakrák kezelésében a nemzetközi ajánlások alapján az első vonalban választható kemoterápia. Módszer: A szerzők áttekintik a Petz Aladár Kórházban három év alatt paklitaxel-platina kombinációval kezelt hét betegük kórtörténetét. Egy eset kapcsán bemutatják a sürgősségi, illetve a reindukciós alkalmazás lehetőségét is. Eredmények: Az átlagos progressziómentes túlélés 10 hónap. A cikk írásának idején minden beteg életben van. Következtetés: Az eredmények megerősítik, hogy a paklitaxel-karboplatin AUC 5 és a paklitaxel-ciszplatin kombinációk a metasztatikus cervixdaganat kezelésében hatásos palliatív kemoterápiás protokollok. Orv Hetil. 2018; 159(24): 974–977. | Abstract: Introduction: The paclitaxel-carboplatin doublet is an alternative choice in the first line treatment of metastatic or recurrent cervical cancer according to international guidelines. Method: The history of seven patients treated with paclitaxel-platinum in the last three years in the Petz Aladár Hospital is reported. A case report, supporting the efficacy of the combination in emergency and in reintroduced settings is presented as well. Results: The average progression-free survival was 10 months. All patients were alive at the time of the submission of the article. Conclusion: The results confirm the efficacy of the paclitaxel-carboplatin AUC 5 and the paclitaxel-cisplatin combinations in the treatment of metastatic cervical cancer. Orv Hetil. 2018; 159(24): 974–977

Suppression of AMPK/aak-2 by NRF2/SKN-1 down-regulates autophagy during prolonged oxidative stress.

NF-E2-related factor 2 (NRF2) transcription factor has a fundamental role in cell homeostasis maintenance as one of the master regulators of oxidative and electrophilic stress responses. Previous studies have shown that a regulatory connection exists between NRF2 and autophagy during reactive oxygen species-generated oxidative stress. The aim of the present study was to investigate how autophagy is turned off during prolonged oxidative stress, to avoid overeating and destruction of essential cellular components. AMPK is a key cellular energy sensor highly conserved in eukaryotic organisms, and it has an essential role in autophagy activation at various stress events. Here the role of human AMPK and its Caenorhabditis elegans counterpart AAK-2 was explored upon oxidative stress. We investigated the regulatory connection between NRF2 and AMPK during oxidative stress induced by tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) in HEK293T cells and C. elegans. Putative conserved NRF2/protein skinhead-1 binding sites were found in AMPK/aak-2 genes by in silico analysis and were later confirmed experimentally by using EMSA. After addition of TBHP, NRF2 and AMPK showed a quick activation; AMPK was later down-regulated, however, while NRF2 level remained high. Autophagosome formation and Unc-51-like autophagy activating kinase 1 phosphorylation were initially stimulated, but they returned to basal values after 4 h of TBHP treatment. The silencing of NRF2 resulted in a constant activation of AMPK leading to hyperactivation of autophagy during oxidative stress. We observed the same effects in C. elegans demonstrating the conservation of this self-defense mechanism to save cells from hyperactivated autophagy upon prolonged oxidative stress. We conclude that NRF2 negatively regulates autophagy through delayed down-regulation of the expression of AMPK upon prolonged oxidative stress. This regulatory connection between NRF2 and AMPK may have an important role in understanding how autophagy is regulated in chronic human morbidities characterized by oxidative stress, such as neurodegenerative diseases, certain cancer types, and in metabolic diseases.-Kosztelnik, M., Kurucz, A., Papp, D., Jones, E., Sigmond, T., Barna, J., Traka, M. H., Lorincz, T., Szarka, A., Banhegyi, G., Vellai, T., Korcsmaros, T., Kapuy, O. Suppression of AMPK/aak-2 by NRF2/SKN-1 down-regulates autophagy during prolonged oxidative stress

Comparison of assays for the detection of West Nile virus antibodies in equine serum after natural infection or vaccination

West Nile virus (WNV) mainly infects birds, horses and humans. Outcomes of the infection range from light uncharacteristic signs to fatal neurologic disease. The main objectives of the present study were to measure serum IgG and IgM antibodies in naturally exposed and vaccinated horses and to compare results of hemagglutination-inhibition test (HIT), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT). Altogether 224 animals were tested with HIT for WNV antibodies and 41 horses were simultaneously examined with ELISA and PRNT. After primary screening for WNV antibodies, horses were vaccinated. Samples were taken immediately before and 3-5 weeks after each vaccination. McNemar chi-squared and percent agreement tests were used to detect concordance between HIT, ELISA and PRNT. Analyses by HIT confirmed the presence of WNV antibodies in 27/105 (25.71 %) from naturally exposed horses. Sera from 57/66 (86.36%) vaccinated animals were positive before the first booster and from 11/11 (100%) before the second booster. HIT was less sensitive when detecting IgG antibodies. We could detect post vaccination IgM in 13 cases with MAC-ELISA and in 7 cases with HIT. WNV is endemic in Hungary causing regular natural infections. Protective antibodies could not be measured in each individual case 12 months after primary injections; protection is more reliable after the first yearly booster. Based on our findings it was not be possible to differentiate infected horses from recently vaccinated horses using IgM antibody capture ELISA (MAC-ELISA). HIT does not substitute ELISA or PRNT when detecting IgG, but was useful tool in this study to gain statistical information about the tendencies within a fixed population of horses