A genetikailag módosított szervezetek bevezetésének politikai tényezői összehasonlító perspektívában = The factors of GMO-policy in comparative perspective

A kutatás célja a genetikailag módosított szervezetekkel (GMO) foglalkozó magyarországi és olaszországi politikai mező összehasonlítása volt. A kutatási kérdések arra vonatkoztak, hogy milyen diskurzusok alakulnak ki a GMO-k alkalmazásával kapcsolatban, illetve hogyan függenek össze a szabályozás változásával. A kutatás diszkurzív politikatudományi vizsgálatra, illetve a szabályozásba bekapcsolódó szereplőkkel készített strukturált interjúk kvalitatív szociológiai szövegelemzésére épült, valamint áttekintettük a géntechnológiát szabályozó Európai Uniós és hazai jogszabályokat. Magyarországon a GMO-diskurzusokat erős szakmai nyelvezet és szakértői megalapozottság jellemzi. Összesen öt elkülönülő GMO-diskurzust sikerült azonosítanunk. A GMO-politika magyarországi témaazonosítására a környezeti-mezőgazdasági keretek jellemzőek. A GMO-politika alakítása közpolitikai-akadémiai szakértői vita keretében zajlott, társadalmi mozgalmak szakértői mozgósítással vettek benne részt. Olaszországban a GMO-ellenes koalíció játszotta a legfontosabb szerepet. Sikere elsősorban a széles és szinte egyhangúan GMO-ellenes társadalmi támogatottságának köszönhető. Ehhez hozzájárult a mozgalom értelmezési és közvélemény-alakító stratégiája: az első GMO-élelmiszerek megjelenésekor képes volt az olasz nemzeti identitás velejéig hatolni egy pozitív gasztro-kulturális identitás elemeinek felvázolásával. A témaazonosításra a mezőgazdasági-élemiszerbiztonsági-önrendelkezési keretek jellemzők. | This research project compared fields and processes of policy making regarding genetically modified organisms (GMO) in Hungary and Italy. Our research questions concerned the identification of public policy discourses that were most relevant for the policy making process, and how these discourses affected policy making. Our research methods focused on the analysis of policy discourses and qualitative sociological interviews. We conducted interviews with diverse participants of the policy process, reviewed national and European regulations, and analysed selected press materials. In Hungary, GMO debates are characterized by professional and academic expert discourses (even social movements mobilized experts). We identified five major competing discourses. In terms of policy agendas, environmental and agricultural frames dominate the field. In Italy, a wide anti-GMO movement coalition played a major role in the policy making process. This movement coalition successfully created a unifed anti-GMO public opinion by framing GMOs negatively as opposed to a gastro-cultural identity that is at the heart of Italian national identity. The Italian policy agendas are characterized by agricultural and food safety frames

QUALIFICATION OF ASSESSORS IN FOOD PROFILE ANALYSIS AND OTHER NEW DEVELOPMENTS OF PROFISENS

Sensory analysis is a fundamental tool in food quality assurance. Beside consumer tests (that focus on the acceptance of products), trained panels provide much detailed sensory data on the intensity of the most relevant attributes. The analysis of descriptive sensory data is a very complex task of this science. One of the key issues is the reliability of the panel members in making decisions. The research group of BME and BCU has created a specialized software - ProfiSens - for food profile analysis. ProfiSens was applied in research and education, in designing and carrying out profile analyses by different panelists in hundreds of cases. Several times not only the food samples, but also the group of panelists were to be qualified. In our paper we discuss a new method based on geometrical properties of the profile polygon, which offers a fast way for the qualification of the assessors. We also often met the problem of willing to use earlier defined profile analysis scoresheets or even only some of their attributes. The solution for these problems is to create a DataBase, containing all the data of designed scoresheets, and to make possible searching and picking up any wanted attributes from the DB. We discuss our results in this field as well

ProfiSens - A PROFILE ANALYSIS SUPPORTING SOFTWARE IN FOOD INDUSTRY, RELATED RESEARCH AND EDUCATION

The Sensory Laboratory of Postharvest Department (Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration, BUESPA) has a specially designed sensory booth system which was established in accordance with the relevant ISO standards \cite2. The researchers of the Sensory Laboratory (BUESPA) and of the Department of Chemical Information Technology (Budapest University of Technology and Economics, BUTE) developed a profile analysis supporting software, the ProfiSens. The main functions of ProfiSens are the following: it creates kitchen lists for the sample preparation and score sheets for the assessors, collects data from the completed score sheets, performs statistical data evaluation and draws diagrams of the results. The language of the software is Visual Basic for Excel. The first version of ProfiSens has been used in the 2002/2003 academic year in research, education and industrial food tests as well. In our paper we discuss the results of each mentioned field and introduce the latest developments on the software

Body fat distribution and metabolic consequences — Examination opportunities in dogs

The relationship between metabolic disorders and the distribution of fat in different body regions is not clearly understood in humans. The aim of this study was to develop a suitable method for assessing the regional distribution of fat deposits and their metabolic effects in dogs. Twenty-five dogs were subjected to computed tomographic (CT) imaging and blood sampling in order to characterise their metabolic status. The different fat areas were measured on a cross-sectional scan, and the animals’ metabolic status was evaluated by measuring fasting glucose, insulin and leptin levels. The volume of visceral adipose tissue is the main determinant of leptin levels. The correlation of visceral fat volume and leptin concentration was found to be independent of insulin levels or the degree of insulin resistance. There was a positive correlation between the visceral to subcutaneous fat volume ratio and serum insulin concentration, and a similar trend was observed in the relationship of fat ratio and insulin resistance. The distribution of body fat essentially influences the metabolic parameters in dogs, but the effects of adiposity differ between humans and dogs. The findings can facilitate a possible extrapolation of results from animal studies to humans with regard to the metabolic consequences of different obesity types

Impact of aging on calcium influx and potassium channel characteristics of T lymphocytes

Adaptive immunity and T cell function are affected by aging. Calcium influx patterns, regulated by Kv1.3 and IKCa1 potassium channels, influence T cell activation. We aimed to compare calcium influx kinetics in CD8, Th1 and Th2 cells in human peripheral blood samples obtained from five different age groups (cord blood, 10-15 ys, 25-40 ys, 45-55 ys, 60-75 ys).We measured calcium influx using flow cytometry in samples treated with or without specific inhibitors of Kv1.3 and IKCa1 channels (MGTX and TRAM, respectively).Calcium influx was higher in Th1 cells of adults, however, its extent decreased again with aging. Importantly, these changes were not detected in Th2 cells, where the pattern of calcium influx kinetics is similar throughout all investigated age groups. MGTX had a more pronounced inhibitory effect on calcium influx in Th2 cells, while in Th1 cells the same was true for TRAM in the 25-40 ys and 45-55 ys groups. Calcium influx of CD8 cells were inhibited to a similar extent by both applied inhibitors in these groups, and had no effect in the elderly.Altered lymphocyte potassium channel inhibitory patterns, regulators of calcium influx kinetics, might contribute to the development of age-related changes of T cell function

Establishment of a Mycoplasma hyorhinis challenge model in 5-week-old piglets

IntroductionMycoplasma hyorhinis is an emerging swine pathogen with high prevalence worldwide. The main lesions caused are arthritis and polyserositis, and the clinical manifestation of the disease may result in significant economic losses due to decreased weight gain and enhanced medical costs. We aimed to compare two challenge routes to induce M. hyorhinis infection using the same clinical isolate.MethodsFive-week-old, Choice hybrid pigs were inoculated on 2 consecutive days by intravenous route (Group IV-IV) or by intravenous and intraperitoneal routes (Group IV-IP). Mock-infected animals were used as control (control group). After the challenge, the clinical signs were recorded for 28 days, after which the animals were euthanized. Gross pathological and histopathological examinations, PCR detection, isolation, and genotyping of the re-isolated Mycoplasma sp. and culture of bacteria other than Mycoplasma sp. were carried out. The ELISA test was used to detect anti-M. hyorhinis immunoglobulins in the sera of all animals.ResultsPericarditis and polyarthritis were observed in both challenge groups; however, the serositis was more severe in Group IV-IV. Statistically significant differences were detected between the challenged groups and the control group regarding the average daily weight gain, pathological scores, and ELISA titers. Additionally, histopathological scores in Group IV-IV differed significantly from the scores in the control group. All re-isolated strains were the same or a close genetic variant of the original challenge strain.DiscussionOur results indicate that both challenge routes are suitable for modeling the disease. However, due to the evoked more severe pathological lesions and the application being similar to the hypothesized natural route of infection in Group IV-IV, the two-dose intravenous challenge is recommended by the authors to induce serositis and arthritis associated with M. hyorhinis infection

Deliberatív demokrácia - Döntési eljárások a környezeti problémák megoldásában

INST: L_11

Önkormányzati fenntartásból állami fenntartásba adás a gyakorlatban - konkrét köznevelési intézmények vizsgálata

A pedagógus szakmát jelen dolgozat nem a gyógypedagógia, mint gyógyítás vagy megsegítés oldaláról, hanem a törvények intézményekre gyakorolt hatásáról, valamint a jogszabályok érvényesülésének oldaláról kívánja vizsgálni. Konkrétan: a 2013. január 1-jétől állami feladattá váló köznevelési alapfeladatnak minősülő feladatok állam részéről történő átvételéről

Changes in serum leptin concentrations in relation to the oestrous cycle and body fat content in female dogs - Literature review and own data

SUMMARY Background:Leptin is primarily produced by adipocytes and its serum levels reflect the amount of body fat reserves. Besides adiposity, serum leptin concen-trations are influenced by other factors, such as the levels of sexual hormones during the ovarian cycle. Objectives:We aimed to determine if serum leptin levels are influenced by sex hormone level fluctuations during the reproductive cycle in female Beagle dogs. We also investigated the relationship between body condition score (BCS) and alternative assessments of body fat percentage using morphometric calcula-tions (BF%) or bioimpedance measurements (BMI) and serum leptin levels. Materials and Methods: Seventeen non-pregnant, healthy female dogs were included in the study. For determination of leptin, progesterone, triglyceride and total cholesterol concentrations, blood samples were collected after an over-night fast three times with two-week intervals, starting in late anoestrus or in proestrus. Dogs were divided into two groups according to their body condition. Body fat percentage was determined using bioelectrical impedance analysis and morphometric measurements. Results and Discussion: Serum leptin concentrations remained unchan-ged during the reproductive cycle and were not related to serum progesterone levels. In contrast to other species, changes in serum oestrogen or progesterone concentrations during the cycle have no influence on adipose tissue leptin pro-duction, our results should be interpreted with caution due to our low sample size and frequency of blood collection. Furthermore, differences in leptin assays used between studies may also have contributed to the different results.Similarly to previous reports in dogs, we found significant differences in serum lep-tin levels between overweight animals and dogs with normal condition. We detec-ted a close positive correlation between serum leptin, BCS and BF%, which sug-gests that the latter could also be used in clinical practice to assess adiposity. BMI showed only low to moderate correlation with other measures of body condition