The roots of "Western European societal evolution". A concept of Europe by Jenő Szűcs

Jenő Szűcs wrote his essay entitled Sketch on the three regions of Europe in the early 1980s in Hungary. During these years, a historically well-argued opinion emphasising a substantial difference between Central European and Eastern European societies was warmly received in various circles of the political opposition. In a wider European perspective Szűcs used the old “liberty topos” which claims that the history of Europe is no other than the fulfillment of liberty. In his Sketch, Szűcs does not only concentrate on questions concerning the Middle Ages in Western Europe. Yet it is this stream of thought which brought a new perspective to explaining European history. His picture of the Middle Ages represents well that there is a way to integrate all typical Western motifs of post-war self-definition into a single theory. Mainly, the “liberty motif”, as a sign of “Europeanism” – in the interpretation of Bibó’s concept, Anglo-saxon Marxists and Weber’s social theory –, developed from medieval concepts of state and society and from an analysis of economic and social structures. Szűcs’s historical aspect was a typical intellectual product of the 1980s: this was the time when a few Central European historians started to outline non-Marxist aspects of social theory and categories of modernisation theories, but concealing them with Marxist terminology

Sustainable management of biomass energy in rural and urban context

The most sustainable energy is the energy not used. Best way to (not) use energy is the proper design of a facility or an energy consuming system. The remaining energy needs have to be covered with energy utilisation of waste materials, renewable energy sources and, until the previous solutions are not sufficient to satisfy the energy demands, the last is the use of conventional fossil and nuclear energy sources. In terms of renewable energy, biomass has an important role today. However, there is a difference between available inputs and utilisation when considering biomass energy possibilities in rural and urban context. This paper suggests biomass energy possibilities that are recommendable in rural context: possibilities of solid biomass combustion, of liquid biofuels and of anaerobe digestion. Also important are possibilities of solid biomass combustion and wet biomass digestion for urban energy production, although with some remarks on system considerations of urban biomass. Most advanced solutions for sustainable management of biomass energy include circular systems, both in rural and urban context, as recommended

Anti glutamate-decarboxylase antibodies: A liaison between localisation related epilepsy, stiff-person syndrome and type-1 diabetes mellitus

We present two patients with partial epilepsy, type-1 diabetes and stiff person syndrome associated with high serum autoantibody levels to glutamate-decarboxylase (anti-GAD). Both patients were or have suffered from additional autoimmune conditions. The presence of stiff person syndrome and elevated anti-GAD levels have to make clinicians look for additional autoimmune conditions including type-1 diabetes. On the other hand, the co-morbidity of partial epilepsy with autoimmune conditions in patients with elevated serum anti-GAD suggests an autoimmune mechanism of partial epilepsy in these cases

Studies on the toxic interaction between monensin and tiamulin in rats: effects on P450 activities

Studies were carried out to investigate the effects of monensin and tiamulin, and the simultaneous administration of both compounds on microsomal enzymes in rats. In Phase I of the experiments the effects of monensin and tiamulin were studied separately (monensin 10, 30, and 50 mg/kg or tiamulin 40, 120, and 200 mg/kg body weight, respectively), while in Phase II the two compounds were administered simultaneously (monensin 10 mg/kg and tiamulin 40 mg/kg b.w., respectively). When monensin was administered by itself, it exerted no significant effect on microsomal liver enzymes. In a few cases, slight inhibition of certain enzyme activities was seen. Tiamulin provoked a dose-dependent hepatic enzyme induction. The combined administration of monensin and tiamulin at low doses (10 and 40 mg/kg, respectively) resulted in marked elevation of P450-related enzyme activities. The enzyme induction was more pronounced in females than in males. The results suggest that the simultaneous administration of tiamulin may influence the biotransformation of monensin, possibly increasing the amount of reactive metabolite(s) of the ionophore antibiotic

Postoperative interictal spikes during sleep contralateral to the operated side is associated with unfavourable surgical outcome in patients with preoperative bitemporal spikes

AbstractPurpose: To correlate the persistence of contralateral spikes during sleep after unilateral surgery with seizure outcome in a temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) population and to test the existing hypotheses about the origin of the contralateral spikes in temporal lobe epilepsy. Methods: In the 19 patients selected for this study unilateral temporal lobe surgery was performed. To investigate the course of bilateral interictal epileptiform discharges observed before surgery in awake or sleep over the temporal lobe contralateral to surgery, 24h mobile 12 channel EEG recording was performed at minimum two, in average 4.6 (2–10) years after the surgery. Results: The association of postoperative contralateral spikes and non-seizure free outcome was highly significant. The existence of unilateral pathology before surgery was highly predictive for good outcome and disappearance of contralateral spikes. The association between good seizure outcome, disappearance of contralateral spikes and the existence of unilateral pathology before surgery was also significant. Our data partially satisfies the expectations of both the “seizure induced” and mirror type secondary epileptogenesis hypotheses concerning origin of contralateral spikes, but were not completely congruent with either of them. Conclusions: Unfavourable surgical outcome in a temporal lobe epilepsy group with preoperative independent bilateral interictal spikes was associated with the persistence of postoperative contralateral spikes and lack of unilateral pathology. Compared with seizure outcome the presence/absence and distribution of postoperative interictal spikes in NREM sleep not entirely fit to the predictions of existing secondary epileptogenesis hypotheses

Effect of breed, live weight on the fatty acid, amino acid content and on the biological value of beef

The meat of 21 Hungarian Simmental and 17 Holstein-Friesian cattles was analysed for fatty acid and amino acid content, and also for the biological value of the meat protein. It can be established that the proportion of the saturated and the mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids compared to each other is not significantly influenced by the breed and the live weight at the various types and weight categories. The increase in the live weight goes together with the increase in the ratio of the monounsaturated fatty acids in the meat in case of both breeds. The amino acid content of the meat was not significantly influenced by the breed, even the live weight didn't demonstrate any effects. The essential amino acid content and the biological value of the meet of the Hungarian Simmental are practically the same as those of the Holstein-Friesian

Band structure and optical properties of germanium sheet polymers

The band structure of H-terminated Ge sheet polymers is calculated using density-functional theory in the local density approximation and compared to the optical properties of epitaxial polygermyne layers as determined from reflection, photoluminescence, and photoluminescence excitation measurements. A direct band gap of 1.7 eV is predicted and a near resonant excitation of the photoluminescence is observed experimentally close to this energy