Cooperation and exclusion: An explorative analysis of collaborative networks of hungarian disability organizations

In this paper we present the results of analysis into the collaboration network of disability organizations in Hungary using survey and social network research methods. The aim was to compare Hungarian and international cases regarding cooperation between disability organizations. Consequently, we tried to find answers to the following questions: (1) what types of organizations are disability organizations in contact with? (2) what influences selection of partner organizations? (3) in what areas? (4) how often? and, (5) under what form do these organizations cooperate with each other? Results showed that all forms of cooperation are considered advantageous. By analyzing specific name-generated cooperation networks we also found that the larger, national organizations have a dominant role in applications and project implementation arrangements

Rootkit detection on embedded IoT devices

IoT systems are subject to cyber attacks, including infecting embedded IoT devices with rootkits. Rootkits are malicious software that typically run with elevated privileges, which makes their detection challenging. In this paper, we address this challenge: we propose a rootkit detection approach for embedded IoT devices that takes advantage of a trusted execution environment (TEE), which is often supported on popular IoT platforms, such as ARM based embedded boards. The TEE provides an isolated environment for our rootkit detection algorithms, and prevents the rootkit from interfering with their execution even if the rootkit has root privileges on the untrusted part of the IoT device. Our rootkit detection algorithms identify modifications made by the rootkit to the code of the operating system kernel, to system programs, and to data influencing the control flow (e.g., hooking system calls), as well as inconsistencies created by the rootkit in certain kernel data structures (e.g., those responsible to handle process related information). We also propose algorithms to detect rootkit components in the persistent storage of the device. Besides describing our approach and algorithms in details, we also report on a prototype implementation and on the evaluation of our design and implementation, which is based on testing our prototype with rootkits that we developed for this purpose

Co-Regulation of Metabolic Genes Is Better Explained by Flux Coupling Than by Network Distance

To what extent can modes of gene regulation be explained by systems-level properties of metabolic networks? Prior studies on co-regulation of metabolic genes have mainly focused on graph-theoretical features of metabolic networks and demonstrated a decreasing level of co-expression with increasing network distance, a naïve, but widely used, topological index. Others have suggested that static graph representations can poorly capture dynamic functional associations, e.g., in the form of dependence of metabolic fluxes across genes in the network. Here, we systematically tested the relative importance of metabolic flux coupling and network position on gene co-regulation, using a genome-scale metabolic model of Escherichia coli. After validating the computational method with empirical data on flux correlations, we confirm that genes coupled by their enzymatic fluxes not only show similar expression patterns, but also share transcriptional regulators and frequently reside in the same operon. In contrast, we demonstrate that network distance per se has relatively minor influence on gene co-regulation. Moreover, the type of flux coupling can explain refined properties of the regulatory network that are ignored by simple graph-theoretical indices. Our results underline the importance of studying functional states of cellular networks to define physiologically relevant associations between genes and should stimulate future developments of novel functional genomic tools

Eine Modellanlage für Abdriftmessungen im Obstbau

Eine Modellanlage bietet den Vorteil, die Abdrifteigenschaften von Sprühgeräten unter standardisierten Bedingungen und unabhängig von der Saison vergleichen zu können. Ein Modul aus Stahl, bespannt mit einem Netz, wurde in Anlehnung an den Weinbau-Prüfstand EvaSprayViti entwickelt, um eine Obstanlage zu simulieren. Die Auswahl des Netzes wurde anhand von Vorversuchen zur Tropfen- und Winddurchlässigkeit vorgenommen. Ein Netz mit der Maschenweite 1,38 mm × 1,38 mm, konnte die Charakteristik einer natürlichen Laubwand am besten nachstellen und wurde so zur Bespannung der sechsreihigen Modellanlage verwendet. Es wurden Abdriftmessungen mit unterschiedlichen Gebläsetypen in der Modellanlage und in Obstanlagen durchgeführt. Die erreichten Abdriftminderungswerte zeigten weitestgehend eine gute Übereinstimmung. Das Abdriftverhalten der Sprühgeräte konnte in der Modellanlage realistisch abgebildet werden. Ebenso konnte der Effekt von unterschiedlicher Düsen und reduzierter Arbeitsdruck in der Modellanlage aufgezeigt werden. Weitere Messungen an anderen Standorten sind erforderlich, um die Reproduzierbarkeit aufzuzeigen

Global Solar Energy Trends and Potential of Building Sector In Hungary

As the present trends show current policies lay more stress on using solar energy and renewable energy sources as some years before. There is a 175 000 TW power of solar energy, which came from the Sun. If it could be exploited, less than 10 % of this would be enough to cover the human economy. The solar energy has an important role in the reduction of the Ecological Footprint of humanity. This research would be offered a survey the global solar energy trends and the potential of building sector in Hungary. Furthermore, also the alternative energy sources appeared in the transport: many governments give financial assistance to the proliferation of electric cars. Government and policy support for renewable energy has increased considerably over the past decade. Two drivers underpin this trend: first, the effort to constrain growth in greenhouse-gas emissions and, second, concerns to diversify the supply mix (promoted particularly by high oil prices, especially in 2005-2008). To address these concerns, more and more governments are adopting targets and taking measures to enhance the share of renewables in the energy mix

Novel platinum complexes with schiff bases and α-Dioximes, their physico-chemical and biological study

In our research project we prepared the following platinum(II) complexes with Schiff bases and -dioximes, such as [Pt(ketone)2A(L2)], (ketone: 2-heptanone, 2-octanone, 3-octanone; A: hydrazine, phenylhydrazine, o-phenylene-diamine; L: 1-naphthylamine, 2-aminopyrimidine, 2-methylimidazole, 2-amino-4-methylpyridine) and [Pt(DioxH)2L2], (DioxH2: methyl-phenyl-dioxime, butyl-methyl-dioxime; L: 1-naphthylamine, 2-methylimidazole, 2-amino-4-methylpyridine, lepidine, 2-methylpyridine, m-toluidine, dicyclohexylamine, 4-isopropylamine, cyclohexylamine), by the reaction of PtCl2 in suitable solvent. After a short bibliographical survey, involving the classification and evolution of platinum complexes with possible applications, we analyzed their physico-chemical properties using FTIR, Raman, NMR, UV-VIS spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), mass spectrometry, thermal analysis (TG, DTG, DTA) and SEM. We also studied the antibacterial effect of complexes on different strains of bacteria. This class of compounds has relevance in biochemistry, some of them are antibacterial agents and potential anti-tumor drugs

Underground metabolism as a rich reservoir for pathway engineering

Motivation: Bioproduction of value-added compounds is frequently achieved by utilizing enzymes from other species. However, expression of such heterologous enzymes can be detrimental due to unexpected interactions within the host cell. Recently, an alternative strategy emerged, which relies on recruiting side activities of host enzymes to establish new biosynthetic pathways. Although such low-level ‘underground’ enzyme activities are prevalent, it remains poorly explored whether they may serve as an important reservoir for pathway engineering. Results: Here, we use genome-scale modeling to estimate the theoretical potential of underground reactions for engineering novel biosynthetic pathways in Escherichia coli. We found that biochemical reactions contributed by underground enzyme activities often enhance the in silico production of compounds with industrial importance, including several cases where underground activities are indispensable for production. Most of these new capabilities can be achieved by the addition of one or two underground reactions to the native network, suggesting that only a few side activities need to be enhanced during implementation. Remarkably, we find that the contribution of underground reactions to the production of value-added compounds is comparable to that of heterologous reactions, underscoring their biotechnological potential. Taken together, our genome-wide study demonstrates that exploiting underground enzyme activities could be a promising addition to the toolbox of industrial strain development