From strategy to practice: Tough issues ahead for plastics. EPC Policy Brief, 7 December 2018

The EU has acknowledged that the unsustainable production, use, and disposal of plastics is a severe problem that requires urgent policy attention. Plastics lead to CO2 emissions, economic costs (landfilling, fishing and tourism) and continuous accumulation of plastic waste in the environment, especially in marine ecosystems, with implications on human health. In 2018, the EU has adopted a European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy, following the earlier Circular Economy package (2015). Since its adoption, the European Commission has submitted legislative proposals, launched a voluntary campaign, proposed financial instruments, and requested further evaluations as a basis for future policy action on plastics. Although considerable work has been done by the EU so far, further efforts are certainly needed. The EU needs to ensure that alternatives to single-use plastics (SUP) provide clear advantages for the environment, the economy and society. The member states must introduce the extended producer responsibility (SUP) regulation in a way that will incentivise eco-design while minimising the administrative and financial burden on industry and consumers. The EU must also set common quality standards for recycled plastics and a mandatory uptake of this material into new products. Lastly, the EU needs to quickly adapt to China's ban on plastic waste imports

Bakterioklorofill fluoreszcencia, mint a fotoszintetikus baktériumok fiziológiai állapotának jelzőrendszere

Photosynthesis is a biological process whereby the energy of the Sun is captured and stored by series of events that convert the free energy of light into different forms of free energy needed to feed cellular processes. (Blankenship 2014). The photosynthesis provides the foundation for essentially all life and has altered the Earth itself over geologic time profoundly. It provides all of our foods and most of our energy resources. Since essentially all energy used on Earth can be traced back to the photosynthetic transformation of solar energy into chemical energy, it is not surprising that the study of photosynthesis is at the center of scientific interest (Govindjee et al. 2005; Eaton-Rye et al. 2012; Niederman 2017). In photosynthetic bacteria, the energy conversion processes are considerably simpler than in green plants. While there are two photochemical reactions in green plants, there is only one in the bacteria. In contrast to the linear electron transport chain of green plants, the electron transport in bacteria is cyclic, in which the free energy of the charge pair produced in the reaction center (RC) is utilized by a cyclic pathway of electron building up a proton gradient across the photosynthetic membrane. The reaction center and the cytochrome bc1 complex (via the Q-cycle) constitute a proton-pump mechanism that translocates protons from the cytoplasmic side to the periplasmic side of the membrane. In the modern photosynthesis research, the non-sulfur type of purple bacteria plays a significant role, because the three-dimensional determination of the reaction center at atomic level (Deisenhofer et al. 1984) has made it possible to identify the structure and function of a photosynthetic energy conversion system. Although the details of the transformation of energy may vary in different species, there are structural and functional similarities. The bacterial reaction center has a very high photochemical quantum yield (~ 100%) since nearly all of the absorbed photons create charge pairs (Wraight and Clayton 1974). The highest free-energy loss relates to the reduction of the primary quinone (QA), which also means that physiological conditions make this process irreversible. The photosynthetic bacteria protect and operate their energy conversion system with remarkable efficiency and rate. An important part of this process is the light-dependent production and protection of tripled states of bacteriochlorophylls (BChl) essential for the survival of photosynthetic organisms. The energy of the BChl tripled state can be transmitted easily to triplet molecular oxygen (3O2) that generates harmful singlet excited oxygen (1O2*, strong oxidant). To avoid this reaction, several pathways are operating in all of which carotenoid (Car) pigments play prominent role. In addition to high light intensity, photosynthetic bacteria are exposed to numerous stress effects including heavy metal ions. The organisms can maintain their functions even under harmful conditions. How do they do it and what can be learned from these experiences? What makes the intact photosynthetic bacterium and its reaction center robust and yet flexible enough to function efficiently under different stress conditions? These are the fundamental questions I set in the frontline of the dissertation

Precíziós és perszonalizált medicina | Precision and personalized medicine

Absztrakt A szerző meghatározza a „személyre szabott (perszonalizált) medicina” és az újabban bevezetésre került „precíziós, pontosított medicina” koncepcióját. A „precíziós medicina” az egyes betegségek pontosabb jellemzésére a „fenotípus”, az „endotípus” és a „biomarker” fogalmakat alkalmazza. A „biomarkerek” segítségével az egyes homogén betegségtípusok („fenotípusok”) több alcsoportra, „endotípusra” bonthatók, amelyek egymástól eltérő kezelést és finanszírozást igényelnek. A „precíziós medicina” jó eredményei különösen használhatók az allergiás és autoimmun betegségek vonatkozásában. Ennek az új szemléletnek az elsajátítása szükségessé válik a közeli jövőben Magyarországon is az egészségügy művelői, irányítói és finanszírozói számára. Orv. Hetil., 2016, 157(44), 1739–1741. | Abstract The author describes the concept of “personalized medicine” and the newly introduced “precision medicine”. “Precision medicine” applies the terms of “phenotype”, “endotype” and “biomarker” in order to characterize more precisely the various diseases. Using “biomarkers” the homogeneous type of a disease (a “phenotype”) can be divided into subgroups called “endotypes” requiring different forms of treatment and financing. The good results of “precision medicine” have become especially apparent in relation with allergic and autoimmune diseases. The application of this new way of thinking is going to be necessary in Hungary, too, in the near future for participants, controllers and financing boards of healthcare. Orv. Hetil., 2016, 157(44), 1739–1741

Computer-assisted early inclusion of authentic Slavic materials

The author discusses Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Polish, and Russian text taggers, available at http://www.asusilc.net/cgi-bin/newtepajgu.pl. The taggers allow the user to paste in a text, copied from an on-line source and have it tagged with English glosses. They furthermore offer the option of displaying the full inflection of each inflected word form in the text. The taggers are designed with an eye toward securing optimum authenticity and learner autonomy. The present paper summarizes theoretical background of this project and its achievements hitherto. It furthermore identifies major problem areas of this project and outlines its envisaged development hence.El autor trata las expresiones en lengua bosnia, croata, servia, polaca y rusa, disponibles en http://www.asusilc.net/cgi-bin/newtepajgu.pl. Estas frases y párrafos ya elaborados permiten que los usuarios los‘“peguen” en un texto, los copien de una fuente “on-line” y visualizarlos traducidos momentáneamente en lengua inglesa. También permiten la opción de mostrar la inflexión de cada palabra y sus morfemas. Estos textos gozan de una autenticidad óptima y favorecen el aprendizaje autónomo. Este artículo se propone resumir el marco teórico de este proyecto didáctico y dar a conocer algunos de sus logros hasta el momento presente. Además, identifica alguna áreas problemáticas del proyecto y trata de dar soluciones para su desarrollo posterior

The Hardness of Drinking Water Negatively while Socio-Economic Deprivation Positively Correlate with the Age-Adjusted Mortality Rates due to Cardiovascular Diseases in Hungarian Wine Regions

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Dynamics of Nonlinear Diffusion Processes

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze nonlinear diffusion processes. In particular, some of the results arrived at by Newman and Sagan in their 1981 paper Galactic Civilizations: Population Dynamics and Interstellar Diffusion, will be reproduced by different means. First, a thorough analysis of the linear diffusion equation will be performed in order to test a numerical algorithm that can solve the nonlinear diffusion equation and look at the processes of interest with sufficient accuracy. Once the algorithm is tested and shows good resolution it is used to solve the nonlinear equation. The post processing is then done to compare the numerical results with the analytical solution and then they are related to the results arrived at by Newman and Sagan. More precisely, the timescales over which these processes take place are of great interest. A study of the dynamics of these diffusion processes that take place will bring about a better understanding of the nature of nonlinear diffusion and some of its applications