Transformation of the Hungarian public health sector and the influence of EU membership on the Hungarian public health activities

Hungary had a long road behind when on 1st May 2004 the country received complete EU membership. The same as all member states, Hungary had to accept the complete EU system, which required the legal harmonization by which our country adopted the aquis, and new capacity (material and human resources) was given or modified.  At the same time Hungary also had to meet several public administration requirements, such as creating a flexible, smaller and cheaper public administration. The public health administration sector also decided to make some structural modifications on the basis of experiences gained since 1991, when the National Public Health and Medical Officer Service was reestablished.These various intentions served as a motor for changes. Some additional facts also contributed to the change: Hungary had to face strong and detailed regulation on the fields of health protection, economy, consumer protection, product safety and more. If someone asked how the EU membership influenced the professional life in Hungary, and we wished to answer shortly, than we would simply say: fundamentally

Improving interfacial adhesion in pla/wood biocomposites

Two reactive coupling agents, N,N-(1,3-phenylene dimaleiimide) (BMI) and 1,1-(methylenedi-4,1-phenylene)bismaleimide (DBMI) were used to improve interfacial adhesion in PLA/wood composites. First the effect of the coupling agents was established in a series of experiments in which the amount of coupling agent changed at constant wood content, and then the effect of coupling was determined at various wood loadings (0-60 vol%). Composites were homogenized in an internal mixer and compression molded to plates. Tensile properties were determined and micromechanical deformations were studied by acoustic emission measurements. The two compounds improved the properties of the composites. Stiffness, strength and deformability increased simultaneously supplying sufficient proof for coupling. Because of the flexibility of the molecule, DBMI is a more efficient coupling agent in the studied composites than BMI. However, the effect of coupling is small, because only a few very large particles debond under the effect of external load. Smaller particles adhere strongly to the matrix even without coupling proving that interfacial adhesion is strong in PLA/wood composites