Deformability Tests of Pure Niobium

research team at the University of Miskolc's Faculty of Materials Science and Technology has signed a cooperation agreement with the Geneva-based European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) for testing of the materials employed in the Crab Cavities will be installed in the next generation of the LHC (the so-called High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider – HL-LHC). At the University of Miskolc, high purity niobium rolling experiments were carried out in conventional (unidirectional) and cross-rolled manners in order to increase the deep drawability of the final sheet. The deformability of niobium was measured by Watts- Ford and compression tests. The microstructure and anisotropy (texture) results of the initial material and the straight-rolled products are reported

Improved Characterization of EV Preparations Based on Protein to Lipid Ratio and Lipid Properties.

In recent years the study of extracellular vesicles has gathered much scientific and clinical interest. As the field is expanding, it is becoming clear that better methods for characterization and quantification of extracellular vesicles as well as better standards to compare studies are warranted. The goal of the present work was to find improved parameters to characterize extracellular vesicle preparations. Here we introduce a simple 96 well plate-based total lipid assay for determination of lipid content and protein to lipid ratios of extracellular vesicle preparations from various myeloid and lymphoid cell lines as well as blood plasma. These preparations included apoptotic bodies, microvesicles/microparticles, and exosomes isolated by size-based fractionation. We also investigated lipid bilayer order of extracellular vesicle subpopulations using Di-4-ANEPPDHQ lipid probe, and lipid composition using affinity reagents to clustered cholesterol (monoclonal anti-cholesterol antibody) and ganglioside GM1 (cholera toxin subunit B). We have consistently found different protein to lipid ratios characteristic for the investigated extracellular vesicle subpopulations which were substantially altered in the case of vesicular damage or protein contamination. Spectral ratiometric imaging and flow cytometric analysis also revealed marked differences between the various vesicle populations in their lipid order and their clustered membrane cholesterol and GM1 content. Our study introduces for the first time a simple and readily available lipid assay to complement the widely used protein assays in order to better characterize extracellular vesicle preparations. Besides differentiating extracellular vesicle subpopulations, the novel parameters introduced in this work (protein to lipid ratio, lipid bilayer order, and lipid composition), may prove useful for quality control of extracellular vesicle related basic and clinical studies

Three Essays in Public Economics

This thesis contains three chapters based on my studies in the field of demographic, public, and to a smaller extent, labor economics. The chapters are connected by the common theme of studying the interaction between government interventions and household behavior, touching on three major aspects of life: fertility, charity, and housing. My job market paper, titled ”Tax Incentives and Completed Fertility”, constitutes the first chapter of the thesis. It studies the effect of tax incentives on the number of children by the end of the female fertility cycle by identifying the impact of a large-scale family tax break reform in Hungary. I use linked Census data to estimate the average treatment effect on the treated, explore the heterogeneity of the effect, and build a small structural model to examine counterfactual policy scenarios. I find a positive impact of the policy on completed fertility in a relatively large magnitude compared to the previous literature. The second chapter is the result of a joint project with a Ph.D. colleague, Francesca Leombroni, titled ”Charitable Behavior and Public Intervention: a Survey Experiment”. We examine how the availability of donations affects the overall welfare of the poor in a society with equilibrium tax rates using a survey experiment in the U.S., in which participants elicited their preferences over taxes, their donation expectations, and their choices conditional on tax rates. We find that in the U.S. the availability of donations plays a pivotal role in providing financial resources to the poor. Finally, the third chapter, titled ”Housing and Fertility”, studies the interaction between housing choices and fertility in the context of a housing subsidy conditional on the number of children introduced in Hungary. I build and estimate a life-cycle model of households, and I simulate temporal pseudo-equilibria on the housing market to examine how different policy instruments would affect fertility, location, and house size choices of families. I find that while housing policies with children-related requirements positively impact fertility for poorer households, their housing conditions would worsen in the long run

The Effects of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention on the Flow in Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients—Geometry in Focus

Evaluation of the effect of three dimensional (3D) coronary plaque characteristics derived from two dimensional (2D) invasive angiography images (ICA) on coronary flow determined by TIMI frame count (TFC) in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) has not been thoroughly investigated. A total of 71 patients with STEMI, and 73 with NSTEMI were enrolled after primary angioplasty. Pre- and post-PCI TFCs were obtained. From 2D images, 3D reconstruction was performed of the culprit vessel, and multiple plaque parameters were measured. In STEMI, the average post-PCI frame count decreased significantly, resulting in better flow. With regards to 2/3D parameters, no differences were found between the STEMI and NSTEMI groups. The 3D parameters in the subgroup with an increase with at least three frames resulting in worsening post-PCI flow were compared to parameters of the patients with improved or significantly not change flow (delta frame count < 3), and greater minimal luminal diameter and area was found in the worsening (increased) frame group. In STEMI 2/3D, parameters showed no correlation with worsening flow, whereas in NSTEMI, greater minimal luminal diameter and area correlated with decreased flow. We can conclude that certain 2/3D parameters can predict slower flow in ACS, resulting in the use of GP IIb/IIIa receptor blocker

Modulation of micro-rheological and hematological parameters in the presence of artificial carotid-jugular fistula in rats

Search term Clear input Advanced Help Result Filters Format: Abstract Send to Clin Hemorheol Microcirc. 2018 Jun 9. doi: 10.3233/CH-180411. [Epub ahead of print] Modulation of micro-rheological and hematological parameters in the presence of artificial carotid-jugular fistula in rats. Ghanem S1, Somogyi V1, Tanczos B1, Szabo B1, Deak A1, Nemeth N1. Author information Abstract BACKGROUND: Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) may affect erythrocytes through many pathways (e.g., mechanical, inflammatory). However, these effects haven't been elucidated completely yet. OBJECTIVE: To follow-up the hemorheological and the hematological changes in the presence of artificial carotid-jugular fistula in rats. METHODS: Female Wistar rats were subjected to sham-operated group (SG, n = 6) and to fistula group (FG, n = 10). Under general anesthesia, the right carotid artery and jugular vein were isolated via a neck incision, and in the FG carotid-jugular fistula was performed by microsurgical techniques Hematological variables, red blood cell (RBC) deformability and membrane (mechanical) stability parameters were determined before operation and on the 1st and 6th postoperative weeks. Density separated samples ('young' and 'old' RBCs) were also tested. RESULTS: In FG group hematocrit, RBC and platelet counts increased gradually to reach highly significant level of increment on the 6th postoperative week. RBC deformability significantly was impaired. The membrane stability test showed lower deformability values after applying mechanical shearing. No significant differences were observed between density separated RBC subpopulations. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of arterio-venous fistula may lead to an increment of RBC mass and impairment of RBC deformability. These changes could be one of the pathways through which the fistula influences the microcirculation

Safety and Efficacy of Weekly 30,000 IU Vitamin D Supplementation as a Slower Loading Dose Administration Compared to a Daily Maintenance Schedule in Deficient Patients: A Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial

Introduction: The primary objective of the study was to assess the safety and the efficacy of a “Slower Loading” dose of 30,000 IU vitamin D3 supplementation administered in a weekly schedule for 12 weeks in vitamin D deficient patients compared to the daily equivalent dose of 1000 IU/day regimens in a clinical trial.Methods: This open label, randomized, controlled, multicenter clinical trial was performed during the spring and summer period enrolling adult subjects with 25O HD levels 30 ng/ml): 91% vs. 10% of subjects in after 8 weeks with 30,000 IU/wk and 1000 IU/d doses and 95% vs. 24% by end of the 12 weeks of treatment. The treatment-related increment potential was in a range of 2.26-2.92 ng/week for the weekly 30K dosing group compared to 1.32-1.70 ng/week for the 1000 IU/day standard maintenance dose group after 8 weeks.Treatment with 30,000 IU doses of Vitamin D3 in a weekly administration for 12 weeks did not abolish serum calcium levels. No difference in frequency of laboratory adverse events and other safety parameters was observed compared to lower maintenance doses or to control group.Conclusion: The safety of weekly loading oral doses of 30,000 IU vitamin D3 tablets was demonstrated and efficacy compared to the maintenance treatment with a daily dose equivalent of 1000 IU/d, in a daily or in monthly schedule in vitamin D deficient, adult population. Weekly administration of 30,000 IU loading dose for 12 weeks does not raise safety concern, but provides an effective tool for normalization of 25O HD levels to the desirable level of >30ng/mL in deficient patients

An open access AI-based pattern recognition tool for application in MSK imaging – suitability and limitations of resources today

Abstract and poster of the submission accepted for the Swiss Congress of Radiology (SCR 2023) in Davos (CH). Acknowledgements: Financial support from Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) grant TMSGI3_211463