Agroforestry research and development in Hungary

PosterHungary is a traditionally agricultural country, therefore the „old” agroforestry technologies (windbreaks, shelter-belts, hedgerows, wooded pastures) had been applied in large scale in the past centuries. From the early nineties the positive trend of increasing area of protective forest belts first stopped, then reversed. The former area of forest belts (35 000 hectares) has decreased by 50% up to this time. The high ratio of “risky” territories demonstrates the strong need for the development of rural areas, by eg. the implementation of innovative agricultural technology able to increase social-economic sustainability. Followed from the forest belt research project started in the ’60s and ran over the course of several decades, a new line of experiments has started some years ago in the UWH Faculty of Forestry with the aim to develop a modell for the design and construction of forest belts by the combination of digital modelling and field sampling with analytical methods. The examination and development of windbreaks and shelter belt system will be continued within the frame of a national project focused on climate – vegetation relationship. In 2012 the UWH Cooperational Research Centre, together with local cooperatives and farmers have set the objective of integrating modern agroforestry technologies in their on-farm agricultural activity and establishing new experimental sites available for future research and demonstration purposes. This cooperation will also contribute to the „AGFORWARD” international research project on agroforestry. In the Corvinus University of Budapest, Department of Ecological Farming and Sustainable Production Systems an R&D project on forest gardens started in 2010. From this year agroforestry appears among the “determinative research and development subjects” of the Ministry of Rural Development. This development and the increasing number of research projects show agroforestry rising again in Hungary

Nutritional Deficiencies and Phospholipid Metabolism

Phospholipids are important components of the cell membranes of all living species. They contribute to the physicochemical properties of the membrane and thus influence the conformation and function of membrane-bound proteins, such as receptors, ion channels, and transporters and also influence cell function by serving as precursors for prostaglandins and other signaling molecules and modulating gene expression through the transcription activation. The components of the diet are determinant for cell functionality. In this review, the effects of macro and micronutrients deficiency on the quality, quantity and metabolism of different phospholipids and their distribution in cells of different organs is presented. Alterations in the amount of both saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins A, E and folate, and other micronutrients, such as zinc and magnesium, are discussed. In all cases we observe alterations in the pattern of phospholipids, the more affected ones being phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine and sphingomyelin. The deficiency of certain nutrients, such as essential fatty acids, fat-soluble vitamins and some metals may contribute to a variety of diseases that can be irreversible even after replacement with normal amount of the nutrients. Usually, the sequelae are more important when the deficiency is present at an early age

Retrograde Alteration of Basaltic Rocks in the Þeistareykir High-Temperature Geothermal Field, North-Iceland

RES Master´s ThesisHydrothermal alteration of basaltic rocks in a drill core from well ÞR-7 in the geothermal area on Þeistareykir was studied by microscope and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) methods. Emphasis was laid on the study of clay minerals (sheet silicates) and zeolites formed by hydrothermal alteration. The reservoir rocks in the area are medium to highly hydrothermally altered. The rock forming minerals have been transformed to clay minerals or sheet silicates and several secondary minerals have been precipitated in vugs and factures. Several different clay mineral types were identified in the altered rocks: smectite, chlorite, mixed-layer minerals of of chlorite/smectite, mostly irregular types and irregular chloritic mixed-layer sheet silicates. Smectie/illite mixed-layer minerals were also encountered. The XRD diffraction patterns of the clay mineral samples from well ÞR-7, are quite complex and not easy to interpret, as the minerals are often poorly crystalline and not pure components of any single type of minerals. A regular clay zonation from smectite through mixed layer smectite-chlorite to chlorite, as is common in high-temperature geothermal fields in Iceland, is not observed in the ÞR-7 core. The zeolite types identified in the core are laumontite, yugawaralite, mordenite and wairakite. The zeolite yugawairalite is quite rare and previously only encountered in three localities in Iceland. The higher temperature zeolite wairakite is found in the middle of a zone dominated by the lower temperature zeolite laumontite. Therefore dispersion of the secondary minerals does not show a very clear zonation of the alteration minerals, and correlation to rock temperature is not easily obtained. Some of the clay minerals/sheet silicates encountered suggest a retrograde alteration of previously formed clay minerals at lower temperatures than the original hydrothermal alteration. The occurrence of zeolites in the core implies a similarity to the higher temperature zeolite wairakite that occurs in a laumontite dominant zone. The rock temperature in well ÞR-7 appears to have been higher at earlier times than at present, showing an overprint of lower temperature secondary minerals

Possible Biochemical Processes Underlying the Positive Health Effects of Plant-Based Diets—A Narrative Review

Plant-based diets are becoming more popular for many reasons, and epidemiological as well as clinical data also suggest that a well-balanced vegan diet can be adopted for the prevention, and in some cases, in the treatment of many diseases. In this narrative review, we provide an overview of the relationships between these diets and various conditions and their potential biochemical background. As whole plant foods are very rich in food-derived antioxidants and other phytochemicals, they have many positive physiological effects on different aspects of health. In the background of the beneficial health effects, several biochemical processes could stand, including the reduced formation of trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) or decreased serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels and altered signaling pathways such as mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR). In addition, the composition of plant-based diets may play a role in preventing lipotoxicity, avoiding N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc), and reducing foodborne endotoxin intake. In this article, we attempt to draw attention to the growing knowledge about these diets and provide starting points for further research

Synthesis and Reactivity of the 3-Substituted Isoindolinone Framework to Assemble Highly Functionalized Related Structures

An efficient potassium carbonate-catalyzed synthesis of 3- substituted isoindolinones through tandem aldol/cyclization reactions of active methylene compounds with 2-cyanobenzaldehyde is described. The utility of the obtained isoindolinones has been demonstrated through an exploration of the chemical space by employing a series of interesting methodologies that led to diverse, highly functionalized compounds. Among them, a surprisingly straightforward potassium carbonate-catalyzed double tandem reaction led to tricyclic hemiaminal derivatives

AMUSE: the Astrophysical Multipurpose Software Environment

A Python framework to combine existing astrophysical simulation codes in numerical experiments. With AMUSE you can simulate objects such as star clusters, proto-planetary disks and galaxies

AMUSE: the Astrophysical Multipurpose Software Environment

A Python framework to combine existing astrophysical simulation codes in numerical experiments. With AMUSE you can simulate objects such as star clusters, proto-planetary disks and galaxies

AMUSE: the Astrophysical Multipurpose Software Environment

A Python framework to combine existing astrophysical simulation codes in numerical experiments. With AMUSE you can simulate objects such as star clusters, proto-planetary disks and galaxies