Regulation of AQP0 water permeability is enhanced by cooperativity.

Aquaporin 0 (AQP0), essential for lens clarity, is a tetrameric protein composed of four identical monomers, each of which has its own water pore. The water permeability of AQP0 expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes can be approximately doubled by changes in calcium concentration or pH. Although each monomer pore functions as a water channel, under certain conditions the pores act cooperatively. In other words, the tetramer is the functional unit. In this paper, we show that changes in external pH and calcium can induce an increase in water permeability that exhibits either a positive cooperativity switch-like increase in water permeability or an increase in water permeability in which each monomer acts independently and additively. Because the concentrations of calcium and hydrogen ions increase toward the center of the lens, a concentration signal could trigger a regulatory change in AQP0 water permeability. It thus seems plausible that the cooperative modes of water permeability regulation by AQP0 tetramers mediated by decreased pH and elevated calcium are the physiologically important ones in the living lens

INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE RETURN VOLTAGE AND POLARIZATION SPECTRUM OF INSULATIONS

The step-by-step method has been used to calculate the value and determine the shape of the return voltage after a longer charging-up the insulation with a DC voltage, followed by a temporary short circuit [1]. In this paper is given a computer simulation method to investigate the long time-constant range of the polarization spectrum. This range can be investigated by successive calculation of the value of polarizability (polarization intensity), or the initial slope of the return voltage curve obtained at different ratios between the charging and the discharging times. Also the simulation method is used for the investigation of the polarization spectrum obtained from the return voltage measurements. Finally a comparison has been done between the calculated and experimental results

The Effect of Continuous Suspension Constraint on the Free Vibration and Buckling of a Beam

In this paper, the free vibration and the buckling of a continuously suspended simply-supported beam are analyzed. A semi-analytical approach is used to calculate the natural circular frequencies and the critical forces of the beam. The length of the suspension is used as a parameter, and the natural circular frequencies and the critical forces are presented in a frequency map or a buckling map. The maps are analyzed in view of the trivial solutions, and the frequency map is compared to the map of discrete cable-stayed beams. Finally, for the validation of the results a numerical, finite element analysis is performed

Pixel-level APS Sensor Integration and Sensitivity Scaling for Vision Based Speed Measurement

A dual-pixel APS sensor architecture is proposed in this paper, for vision based speed measurement applications, based on a novel double exposure method. The sensor integrates two type of imaging elements on pixel level, and is designed to generate two spatially and temporally coherent images. The primary sensor generates a good quality image for vehicle identification, while the output of the secondary sensor is used to calculate speed estimates, based on the intra-frame displacement of the vehicle's headlight. A scaling process has also been developed for the sensitivity of the secondary sensor, based on photodiode parasitic capacitor discharge time

Surveying viruses on ornamental trees and shrubs in two Hungarian botanical gardens and an arboretum

In Hungary the most common disease of fruit trees causing the most severe damages is Plum pox virus (PPV). This is why it is important to know other woody host plants that can be considered as source of infection. National surveys have been carried out since 2002 for revealing the distribution of PPV on ornamental and wild Prunus species.From 2005 this work has been extended to studying other viruses on other woody plants. In two botanical gardens and an arboretum we selected plants (species and varieties) showing virus symptoms among various thousands of woody plants and submitted them to indexing on woody and herbaceous indicators, as well as to testing with ELISA for the presence of the following 11 viruses occurring on woody plants: PPV, Prune dwarf virus (PDV), Prunus necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV), Cherry leafroll virus (CLRV), Apple stem pitting virus (ASPV), Apple stem grooving virus (ASGV), Apple mosaic virus (ApMV), Apple chlorotic leafspot virus (ACLSV), Strawberry latent ringspot virus (SLRV), Tomato black ring virus (TBRV) and Arabis mosaic virus (ArMV).Up to now, in 28 plant species and varieties, PPV, PDV, PNRSV, CLRV and ASPV have been detected so far. The presence of PPV was found in 9 species/varieties, such as Prunus cerasifera ’Pendula’, P. cerasifera ’Pissardii’, P. glandulosa, P. glandulosa ‘Alba Plena’, P. glandulosa ’Sinensis’, P. japonica, P. sogdiana, P. tomentosa (from Tibet) and P. x blireana.Seventeen species/varieties were found to be infected with PDV: Lonicera caucasica, L. maackii, L. sachalinensis, Prunus mume ’Omoi-no-mama’, P. salicina (from China), P. spinosa ’Plena’, P. spinosa ’Purpurea’, P. serrulata ’Amanogawa’, P. serrulata ’Ichiyo’, P. serrulata ’Pink Perfection’, P. serrulata ’Taihaku’, P. serrulata ’Yedo-sakura’, P. subhirtella ’Plena’, P. tenella, P. yedoensis, P. yedoensis ’Moerheimii’ and Syringa yunnanensis. Certain species/varieties infected with PDV were positive also for CLRV, such as P. spinosa ’Purpurea’, P. yedoensis, P. yedoensis ’Moerheimii’, P. subhirtella ’Plena’, P. serrulata ’Yedo-sakura’ and to ASPV: P. subhirtella ’Plena’ and P. serrulata ’Yedo-sakura’. PNRSV was detected in P. cerasifera ’ Nigra ’ and ’Hollywood’. The difference of symptoms provoked by PDV on herbaceous hosts suggests that various strains of this virus affect hosts, mainly yellow mottle disease described as a separate strain by Ramaswamy and Posnette on ornamental cherries in 1972. Molecular studies are in progress to confirm the above results. Keywords: ornamental trees and shrubs, virus symptoms, ELISA, Prunus, Lonicera, Syring

Occurrence of Grey Mould on Bucida buceras, a Tree of Subtropical Origin, under Indoor Conditions - A Disease Note

In December 2012 then in the following winter season, the occurrence of whitish mycelial coat was observed on the collar of 3- to 6-m high Bucida buceras trees grown in hydrocultures to decorate a spacious indoor community space in Vienna. (This plant [shown in Fig. 1] belongs to Combretaceae, Myrtales and commonly named black olive tree, bullet tree, gregorywood and oxhorn bucida.) The mycelium-infested area of the bark appeared to be water-soaked. Near the surface of the potting mix (earth ball embedded in clay pebbles), the roots were also covered with whitish mycelia (Fig. 2). Over the winter season when the indoor temperature increased from 20 °C to 25 °C, these symptoms were unnoticeable. Regardless of the season, the rhizosphere contained numbers of sclerotia, dark-grey, globose and 8–12 mm in diameter that occasionally developed rhizomorph-like mycelial cords. Direct plating of mycelium fragments from the bark and sclerotia from the rhizosphere onto potato dextrose agar amended with ampicillin (500 mg/l) eventually yielded pure fungal cultures of similar characteristics. Cultures routinely incubated in the dark developed white and submerged colonies with sparse aerial mycelia. The fungus grew well between 10 °C and 25 °C, and failed to grow at either 5 °C or 32 °C. The optimal growth was measured at 20 °C with an average radial growth rate of 11 mm per day. After 10 to 12 days, a ring of sclerotia begun to develop near the edge of the colonies; they turned dark grey and sized 3–8 mm. Rather misleadingly, neither conidia, nor sexual spores were observed in these cultures. However, when the fungus was cultured in natural light under laboratory conditions at 25 °C, a completely different colony pattern was observed; it was cottony, greyish then dark grey, and produced abundant hyaline conidia borne on grey, branching tree-like conidiophores. Conidia were one-celled and egg-shaped, and their dimensions fell in the range of 9.89–14.63 (11.48±0.31) µm×7.05–10.05 (8.31±0.20) µm. These features concurred with those characterising the polyphagous grey mould fungus Botryotinia fuckeliana (anamorph: Botrytis cinerea) (Elad et al., 2007). The ITS1/ITS2 including the 5.8S subunit of rDNA of one of the isolates were amplified with primers ITS1-F/ITS4, then the PCR products were sequenced. The ITS sequence determined in this way was identical to known sequences of B. fuckeliana strains, e.g. that of CBS 131.28 (GenBank accession number: KF859918), the type material of Botrytis cinerea f. lini, DAOM 231372 (GenBank accession number: KF859924) and so on. Pathogenicity tests resulted in rapidly (within 2 weeks) developing disease symptoms around the site of wound inoculation with a 5-mm-diametre mycelial agar plug: fruit rot on apple and lemon in the laboratory, and sunken lesions on stems of hydrocultured ornamental plants such as the herbaceous Monstera deliciosa and the woody Dracena marginata. To fulfill Koch’s postulates, the fungus was re-isolated from symptomatic apple fruit, and was found to exhibit the afore-mentioned morpho-physiological characteristics. Inoculation test on Bucida was not performed because of the costly risk i.e., the sale price of the trees is € 3 to 10 thousand. Consequently, the actual sensitivity of Bucida to grey mould remains uncertain, so much the more because this plant species has not been recorded as a host of the pathogen or other important parasitic fungi in natural (subtropical) environment (e.g. Whelburg et al., 1975). To our knowledge, this report is the first description of Botryotinia fuckeliana on Bucida buceras. In addition to the fact that periodic emergence of fungal mycelia on the trunk impairs the tree’s aesthetic appearance, the sclerotia resting in the potting mix may cause more serious problems in the long term. However, it cannot be precluded that the elevated indoor temperature reduces disease progression and thus the economic importance of the pathogen on this plant

A terrorizmus elleni fellépés eszközrendszerének fejlődése, különös tekintettel a terrorizmus finanszírozása elleni küzdelemre = The development of measures for combating terrorism with special respect to the fight against financing terrorism

Az előirányzott munkaterv szerint részt vettünk a Nemzetközi Büntetőjogi Társaság (AIDP) égisze alatt a 2009. szeptember 20-27. között Isztambulban megrendezésre került XVIII. Nemzetközi Büntetőjogi Kongresszuson. A 2009. évben anyaggyűjtési és adatfeldolgozási, rendszerezési munkálatok kerültek napirendre annak érdekében, hogy előkészítésre kerüljön a terrorizmus összefüggésében fentebb részletezett tématerületek összehasonlító jogi szempontok szerint történő továbbgondolása. 2009. novemberében Európai és Nemzetközi Büntetőjog címmel megrendezett konferencián mutattuk be a kutatás eredményeit. 2010.-nem a konferencia anyagát a Jog-Állam-Politika szakfolyóiratban tettük közzé. Ennek keretében megjelent publikációkat korábban ismertettük. Az előirányzott munkaterv szerint 2010. júniusában kutatást végeztünk a Columbia Egyetem könyvtárában. 2011. júniusában a kutatási tervnek megfelelően látogatást tettünk a Bűnügyi Tudományok Nemzetközi Intézetében (Syracusa, Olaszország), ahol a záró tanulmány elkészítéséhez még hiányzó szakmai anyagokat beszereztük. Az eredeti kutatási tervben rögzítettek szerint a munka eredményeit összefoglaló zárótanulmányt 2011 július hónapban véglegesítettük. Ennek keretében önálló fejezetet szenteltünk a terrorizmus fogalma, a terrorizmus kriminológiai és A záró-tanulmány monografikus feldolgozásban az UNIVERSITAS-GYŐR Nonprofit Kft. gondozásában 2011. nyarán nyomtatásban is megjelent. | Pursuant to the original research plan, the final summary of the results stemming from the research project was made in April 2011. This material discusses the mainstreams of our work in single chapters, where the concept of terrorism, the criminological and criminal policy aspects of terrorism, as well as the national and international means and legislative efforts of fighting against terrorism are focused upon. The monographical version of this summary has been finally published by UNIVERSITAS-GYŐR Nonprofit Ltd. in the end of summer 2011

Source apportionment of carbonaceous chemical species to fossil fuel combustion, biomass burning and biogenic emissions by a coupled radiocarbon-levoglucosan marker method

An intensive aerosol measurement and sample collection campaign was conducted in central Budapest in a mild winter for 2 weeks. The online instruments included an FDMS-TEOM, RT-OC/EC analyser, DMPS, gas pollutant analysers and meteorological sensors. The aerosol samples were collected on quartz fibre filters by a low-volume sampler using the tandem filter method. Elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), levoglucosan, mannosan, galactosan, arabitol and mannitol were determined, and radiocarbon analysis was performed on the aerosol samples. Median atmospheric concentrations of EC, OC and PM2.5 mass were 0.97, 4.9 and 25 mu g m(-3), respectively. The EC and organic matter (1.6 x OC) accounted for 4.8 and 37 %, respectively, of the PM2.5 mass. Fossil fuel (FF) combustion represented 36% of the total carbon (TC = EC + OC) in the PM2.5 size fraction. Biomass burning (BB) was a major source (40 %) for the OC in the PM2.5 size fraction, and a substantial source (11 %) for the PM10 mass. We propose and apply here a novel, straightforward, coupled radiocarbon-levoglucosan marker method for source apportionment of the major carbonaceous chemical species. The contributions of EC and OC from FF combustion (ECFF and OCFF to the TC were 11.0 and 25 %, respectively, EC and OC from BB (ECBB and OCBB were responsible for 5.8 and 34 %, respectively, of the TC, while the OC from biogenic sources (OCBIO made up 24% of the TC. The overall relative uncertainty of the OCBIO and OCBB contributions was assessed to be up to 30 %, while the relative uncertainty for the other apportioned species is expected to be below 20 %. Evaluation of the apportioned atmospheric concentrations revealed some of their important properties and relationships among them. ECFF and OCFF were associated with different FF combustion sources. Most ECFF was emitted by vehicular road traffic, while the contribution of non-vehicular sources such as domestic and industrial heating or cooking using gas, oil or coal to OCFF was substantial. The mean contribution of BB to EC particles was smaller by a factor of approximately 2 than that of road traffic. The main formation processes of OCFF, OCBB and OCBIO from volatile organic compounds were jointly influenced by a common factor, which is most likely the atmospheric photochemistry, while primary organic emissions can also be important. Technological improvements and control measures for various BB appliances, together with efficient education and training of their users, in particular on the admissible fuel types, offer an important potential for improving the air quality in Budapest, and likely in other cities as well