THE PRESENT STATE AND PROSPECTS OF HUNGARIAN GOOSE FARMS AFTER EU ACCESSION

Hungary has centuries-old goose-breeding traditions. Fat goose-liver takes a high-ranking place in the line of so-called „Hungaricums†(i.e. typically Hungar-ian products). Its meat is particularly favoured on Márton’s-day especially in the countryside. Hungary produces 1,800-1,900 tons of fat goose-liver every year. About 75% of the production is exported generating an income of 30-35 million USD per year. Several goose-products (such as breast and thigh) represent an increasing pro-portion of exported poultry products in the last few years. The future production of Hungarian goose-liver will be determined by export-prices, but the Animal Protection Act in the EU will also have some influence on the operations of this sector. Typically in Europe there is a growing antagonism against forced feeding of animals. The report of the Animal Protection Scientific Committee of the EU disapproves the practise of forced feeding in goose keeping. According to „The draft recommendation to goose-keeping†the practise of the forced feeding is to be banned within 15 years. Our main objective was to develop and propose a variety of solutions to this problem to the people engaged in producing fat goose-liver. As the export market of fat goose-liver may be restricted in future, the widening of Hungarian market opportunities for the products of goose farms should be considered. In addition to stimulating domestic consumption it would be useful to promote the sale of goose-products, which have been popular in the past. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Magyarországon a lúdtartásnak évszázados hagyományai vannak. A hízott libamáj elÅ‘kelÅ‘ helyet foglal el az úgynevezett hungaricumok sorában. A lúdhús pedig –nem csak Márton-nap táján- kedvelt pecsenye, fÅ‘leg faluhelyen. Az évente termelt 1800-1900 tonna hízott libamáj 75-80 %-át exportáljuk, az ebbÅ‘l befolyt összeg évente 30-35 millió euró árbevételt biztosít Magyarországnak. Az exportált baromfitermékek összvolumenén belül az utóbbi években egyre nagyobb arányt képviselnek a víziszrányasokból készült különféle termékek (li-bamell, -comb stb.). A magyar hízott libamáj termelésének jövÅ‘jét elsÅ‘sorban az exportárak döntik el, de az EU-ban érvényes (és nagyon szigorú) állatvédelmi szabályok betartása ugyancsak befolyással lesz az ágazat működésére. Európában az állatok kényszeretetésével (például a libatöméssel) szembeni fogyasztói ellenérzés erÅ‘södése a jellemzÅ‘. Az EU Ãllatvédelmi Tudományos Bizottságának jelentése ellenzi a kényszeretetés gyakorlatát a libatartás során. Az EU „Házilúd tartására vonatkozó ajánlástervezetâ€- e szerint a tömés gyakorlatát 15 éven belül meg kell szüntetni. Ezek ismeretében a kérdés az, hogy hosszabb távon mi jelenthet megoldást a lúdágazatban a hízott máj előállítással foglalkozók számára?goose liver, high share in export, enimal healthcare regulation, libamáj, magas exportárbevétel, állatjóléti szabályok, Agribusiness, Livestock Production/Industries,

Towards a data-driven object recognition framework using temporal depth-data

Object recognition using depth-sensors such as the Kinect device has received a lot of attention in recent years. Yet the limitations of such devices such as large noise and missing data makes the problem very challenging. In this work I propose a framework for data-driven object recognition that uses a combination of local and global features as well as time varying depth information

Crop Yield and Plant Density under Different Tillage Systems

To determine the optimal ploughing depth and to make tillage simpler and less costly, but also taking account of edaphic and climatic conditions as well as biological and agrotechnical requirements of crops grown, long-term investigations (1994-2009) have been carried out on Stagnic Luvisol of sloping terrains in central Croatia near Daruvar. The paper presents the results relating to plant density and yields of maize (Zea mays L.), soybean (Glycine max L.), oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.), winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). Investigation results point to the conclusion that high density crops (winter wheat, spring barley and oilseed rape) are suitable for growing under reduced tillage systems. Yields of low density spring crops (maize and soybean) obtained under the no-tillage system are not satisfactory, especially in climatically extreme years

EKONOMSKA ODRŽIVOST PRIMJENE POSTRNIH USJEVA U EKOLOŠKOM UZGOJU KUKURUZA

Although organic crop production has numerous advantages, concerns about economic sustainability, both environmental and financial, make farmers reluctant to convert their conventional production into the organic production. Certain agricultural methods, such as second crop use, can alleviate some problems regarding soil tilth, erosion prevention, nutrients availability and weed control, thus contributing toward more sustainable crop production. Also, the added value crop growth, such as maize (Zea mais L.) hybrid\u27s parental line production, with lower yields but higher prices, can contribute to sustainability of organic production. In order to test the hypothesis that the use of second crops can contribute toward the sustainability of organically grown maize after soybean (Glycine max L.) as a previous crop in the crop rotation, the experimental site was established in Valpovo, Croatia, in the eutric brown soil type, during the years 2005 and 2006. The experimental design was set up as a CRBD in four repetitions, with six second crop treatments: CT – Control, without second crop; WW – winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) second crop; RY – rye (Secale cereale L.) second crop; FP – fodder pea (Pisum arvense L.) second crop; WP – mixture of WW and FP; and RP – mixture of RY and FP. In order to assess the soil surface protection and evaluate the weed suppression, the second crop coverage had been recorded. Regarding the economic sustainability, the second crop use depending costs were analysed in relation to the extra produced maize yield. The RY treatment had the highest profitability, followed by WW, RP and O. The WP and FP revealed lower relative profitability than O, thus presenting the evidence of sustainability risk of these treatments.Premda ekološka poljoprivreda ima brojnih prednosti, zabrinutost zbog održivosti, i ekološke i ekonomske, farmere često odvraća od prijelaza s konvencionalne proizvodnje na ekološku. Intenzifikacijom plodoreda uporabom postrnih usjeva, mogu ukloniti neke probleme vezane za ugorenost tla, prevenciju erozije, dostupnost hraniva i suzbijanje korova, doprinoseći na taj način održivosti proizvodnje usjeva. Također, uzgoj usjeva s dodatnom vrijednošću, kao što su roditeljske linije za proizvodnju hibrida kukuruza (Zea mais L.), s nižim prinosima ali višom cijenom, može pridonijeti održivosti (profitabilnosti) ekološke proizvodnje. U namjeri da se potvrdi hipoteza da postrni usjevi mogu doprinijeti održivosti ekološkog uzgoja kukuruza u dvopoljnom plodoredu sa sojom (Glycine max L.) kao prethodnim usjevom, postavljeno je pokušalište u Valpovu, Hrvatska, na eutričnom smeđem tlu, tijekom 2005. i 2006. godine. Pokus je postavljen kao potpuno slučajan blok raspored u četiri ponavljanja, sa šest tretmana postrnih usjeva: CT – kontrola, bez postrnih usjeva; WW – ozima pšenica (Triticum aestivum L.); RY – ozima raž (Secale cereale L.); FP – stočni grašak (Pisum arvense L.); WP – smjesa WW i FP; te RP – smjesa RY i FP. U cilju određivanja zaštite površine tla i evaluacije suzbijanja korova, zabilježena je pokrivenost postrnim usjevima. Glede isplativosti, analizirani su relativni troškovi upotrebe postrnih usjeva u odnosu na dodatno proizvedeni urod kukuruza. RY tretman je zabilježio najvišu profitabilnost, a pratili su ga tretmani WW, RP i O. Tretmani WP i FP pokazali su se manje profitabilni od O, time pružajući dokaze o rizičnoj održivosti ovih tretmana

UTJECAJ POSTRNIH USJEVA NA PRINOS I KOMPONENTE PRINOSA U EKOLOŠKOM UZGOJU KUKURUZA

The second crop use in organic agriculture is a known method of maintaining the soil tilth, soil protection against environmental deterioration, soil nutrients conservation and even the weed control. The nitrogen conservation from previous leguminose crop is even more important, especially in the organic agriculture where use of N-fertilizers is the strictly forbiden, and second crops can be used as a catch crops for nutrients in rotation prior to the crops with the high N requirement. The choice of the proper second crop has, however, been insufficiently investigated, especially for agri-environmental conditions of the Panonian agricultural area in Croatia. The second crop experiment was established in Valpovo, Croatia, in the eutric brown soil type, during the years 2005 and 2006. The aim of the experiment was to investigate the effects of different second crops and their combinations on maize (Zea mais L.) yield and yield components in organic agriculture after soybean (Glycine max L.) in crop rotation. The experimental design was set up as a CRBD in four repetitions, with soybean as a previous crop in crop rotation. The six second crop treatments were: O – Control, without second crop; WW – winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) second crop; RY – rye (Secale cereale L.) second crop; FP – fodder pea (Pisum arvense L.) second crop; WP – mixture of the WW and FP; and RP – mixture of RY and FP. The WW treatment had the highest second crop dry mass, whereas FP had the lowest dry mass. The highest plant density was recorded for FP, and it was higher than the RP plant density, which also had the lowest plant height. The achieved maize yields were the highest for RY, but they were not significanlty different from the O, RP, and WW treatments. However, the yield achieved by RY treatment was significantly higher than the yields recorded for WP and FP treatments. The absolute mass and hectolitre mass did not show any statistical differences among treatments.Upotreba postrnih usjeva u ekološkoj/organskoj poljoprivredi je priznata metoda za održavanje ugorenosti tla, zaštite tla protiv vremenskih neprilika, konzervacije hraniva u tlu te čak i borbe protiv korova. Konzervacija dušika od prethodnog leguminoznog usjeva je čak važnija funkcija, posebice u ekološkoj poljoprivredi gdje je upotreba mineralnih dušičnih gnojiva izrijekom zabranjena, te postrni usjevi mogu poslužiti za čuvanje dušika od ispiranja iz tla za sljedeći usjev u plodoredu s visokim zahtjevima za dušikom. Nažalost, izbor postrnih usjeva nije dostatno istražen, posebice za agroekološke uvjete u Hrvatskoj. Stoga je postavljen pokus u Valpovu, Republika Hrvatska, na eutričnom smeđem tlu, tijekom 2005. i 2006. godine, s ciljem da se istraže učinci različitih postrnih usjeva i njihovih kombinacija na komponente prinosa i prinos kukuruza (Zea mais L.) u ekološkoj (organskoj) poljoprivredi, a u plodoredu iza predusjeva soje (Glycine max L.). Pokus je postavljen kao potpuno slučajan blok raspored u četiri repeticije, sa šest tretmana postrnih usjeva: CT – kontrola, bez postrnih usjeva; WW – ozima pšenica (Triticum aestivum L.); RY – ozima raž (Secale cereale L.); FP – stočni grašak (Pisum arvense L.); WP – mješavina WW i FP; te RP – mješavina RY i FP. WW tretman imao je najveću masu postrnih usjeva, dok je FP imao najmanju masu postrnih usjeva. Najgušći sklop zabilježen je na FP tretmanu, značajno viši nego sklop na RP tretmanu, koji je također imao i najnižu visinu stabljika usjeva kukuruza. Ostvareni prinosi kukuruza bili su najviši na RY tretmanu, no nisu bili signifi-kantno različiti od O, RP i WW tretmana. Ipak, prinos zabilježen na RY tretmanu bio je signifikantno viši od prinosa na WP i FP tretma-nima. Apsolutna i hektolitarska masa nije se statistički razlikovala između tretmana

Differential genetic effect of the norepinephrine transporter promoter polymorphisms on attention problems in clinical and non-clinical samples

Among the monoaminergic modulatory neurotransmitters, norepinephrine is involved in task orienting, hence noradrenergic genetic variants have been studied in connection to attentional processes. The role of this catecholamine system is also highlighted by the selective norepinephrine transporter blocking atomoxetine, which has proved to be effective in the pharmacological treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In the present genetic association study three single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs28386840, rs2242446, rs3785143 SNPs) were analyzed from the 5′ region of the norepinephrine transporter (NET, SLC6A2) gene, which have been linked to ADHD previously. Attention problems scores of the mother-rated Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) were used in separate analyses of 88 preschoolers (59.1% male, 6 years of age) recruited from the general population and 120 child psychiatry patients with ADHD diagnosis (85.8% male, age: 9.8 ± 2.9). The NET SNPs showed associations with attention problems, but the direction was different in the two groups. Regarding the promoter variant rs28386840, which showed the most consistent association, the T-allele-carrier patients with ADHD had lower CBCL attention problems scores compared to patients with AA genotype (p = 0.023), whereas T-allele-carriers in the community sample had more attention problems (p = 0.042). Based on previous reports of lower NE levels in ADHD children and the inverted-U shape effect of NE on cognitive functions, we propose that rs28386840 (-3081) T-allele, which is associated with lower NET expression (and potentially higher synaptic NE level) would support attention processes among ADHD patients (similarly as atomoxetine increases NE levels), whereas it would hinder cortical functions in healthy children

USPOREDBA DVA SUSTAVA OBRADE TLA ZA OZIMI JEČAM I SOJU S KORIŠTENJEM DUŠIKA SAMO IZ REZIDUA SOJE

The winter barley crop growing has not been adequately researched regarding soil tillage systems, especially in crop rotation with the soybean, both crops gaining importance as food or fodder. Also, productivity of such crop rotation in low nitrogen environment is especially interesting for organic crop growing, where mineral nitrogen fertilization is not allowed. The research on two soil tillage systems, the conventional one, based on mouldboard ploughing (PLOW) and reduced soil tillage, based on discharrowing (DISC), with no other nitrogen source except symbiotic soybean bacterial fixation, was conducted at the experimental site Bokšić (Croatia), during the seasons 2004/05 and 2005/06. Results showed low but stable yields of winter barley, between 2.1 and 2.6 t ha-1, where PLOW treatment recorded lower yield than DISC in 2005, and usual soybean yields (between 2.8 and 3.4 t ha-1), with higher soybean grain yields for PLOW only in 2006. The absolute mass and hectolitre mass did not show any statistical differences among treatments either.Uzgoj ozimog ječma nije adekvatno istražen glede sustava obrade tla, posebice u plodoredu sa sojom, a oba usjeva dobivaju na važnosti kao hrana za ljude ili krma za životinje. Isto tako, produktivnost ovakvog plodoreda u uvjetima niske gnojidbe dušikom je osobito zanimljiva za ekološku poljoprivredu, gdje korištenje mineralnih dušičnih gnojiva nije dopušteno. Istraživanje dvaju sustava obrade tla, konvencionalnog, baziranog na oranju lemešnim plugom (PLOW), te reduciranog, baziranog na tanjuranju (DISC), bez ikakvog izvora dušika osim dušika simbiotski vezanog kvržičnim bakterijama na soji, provedeno je na pokušalištu Bokšić (Hrvatska), tijekom sezona 2004/05-2005/06. Rezultati su pokazali niske ali stabilne urode ozimog ječma, između 2.1 i 2.6 t ha-1, gdje je na PLOW tretmanu zabilježen niži prinos nego na DISC tretmanu u 2005. godini, te uobičajene urode soje (između 2.8 i 3.4 t ha-1), s višim urodima zrna soje na PLOW tretmanu samo u 2006. godini. Razlike apsolutne i hektolitarske mase među tretmanima nisu bile statistički opravdane

Predicting blunt cerebrovascular injury in pediatric trauma: Validation of the Utah Score

Risk factors for blunt cerebrovascular injury (BCVI) may differ between children and adults, suggesting that children at low risk for BCVI after trauma receive unnecessary computed tomography angiography (CTA) and high-dose radiation. We previously developed a score for predicting pediatric BCVI based on retrospective cohort analysis. Our objective is to externally validate this prediction score with a retrospective multi-institutional cohort. We included patients who underwent CTA for traumatic cranial injury at four pediatric Level I trauma centers. Each patient in the validation cohort was scored using the “Utah Score” and classified as high or low risk. Before analysis, we defined a misclassification rate <25% as validating the Utah Score. Six hundred forty-five patients (mean age 8.6 ± 5.4 years; 63.4% males) underwent screening for BCVI via CTA. The validation cohort was 411 patients from three sites compared with the training cohort of 234 patients. Twenty-two BCVIs (5.4%) were identified in the validation cohort. The Utah Score was significantly associated with BCVIs in the validation cohort (odds ratio 8.1 [3.3, 19.8], p < 0.001) and discriminated well in the validation cohort (area under the curve 72%). When the Utah Score was applied to the validation cohort, the sensitivity was 59%, specificity was 85%, positive predictive value was 18%, and negative predictive value was 97%. The Utah Score misclassified 16.6% of patients in the validation cohort. The Utah Score for predicting BCVI in pediatric trauma patients was validated with a low misclassification rate using a large, independent, multicenter cohort. Its implementation in the clinical setting may reduce the use of CTA in low-risk patients

Maternal bonding styles in smokers and non-smokers: a comparative study

BACKGROUND: Parental bonding has been implicated in smoking behavior, and the quality of maternal bonding (MB) has been associated with poor mental health and substance use. However, little is known about the association of MB and the smoking of the offspring. METHODS: In our study, 129 smokers and 610 non-smoker medical students completed the parental bonding instrument, which measures MB along two dimensions: care and overprotection. Four categories can be created by high and low scores on care and overprotection: optimal parenting (OP; high care/low overprotection); affectionless control (ALC; low care/high overprotection); affectionate constraint (AC; high care/high overprotection), and neglectful parenting (NP; low care/low overprotection). Nicotine dependence was assessed by the Fagerstrom Nicotine Dependence Test, exhaled CO level, and daily cigarette consumption (CPD). RESULTS: Higher CPD was significantly associated with lower overprotection (p = 0.016) and higher care (p = 0.023) scores. The odds for being a smoker were significantly higher in the neglectful maternal bonding style compared to the other rearing styles (p = 0.022). Besides, smokers showed significantly higher care and lower overprotection scores with the Mann-Whitney U-test than non-smokers, although these associations did not remain significant in multiple regression models. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that focusing on early life relationship between patient and mother can be important in psychotherapeutic interventions for smoking. Registration trials retrospectively registered