Photosynthetic performance of two freshwater red algal species

Photosynthetic performances of two freshwater red algal populations from freshwaters of the Carpathian basin were measured in this study. Populations were collected from different habitats: Bangia atropurpurea from Lake Balaton and Batrachospermum gelatinosum from the Tapolca stream. Their photosynthesis was studied in a wide range of temperature (5–35 °C) and light intensity (0–1150 μmol m–2 s‑1) in a photosynthetron. We found both species’ photosynthesis maxima at 25°C but B. atropurpurea had significantly higher photosynthetic production. Low and medium values were calculated for the species’ photoadaptation parameters. Compensation light intensities determined in this study were similar to those obtained in previous studies. Both species utilized light efficiently; photoinhibition was detected only at two measuring temperatures for Bangia and at four measuring temperatures for Batrachospermum. P-T characteristics of the species revealed that both have temperature optima at 25 °C under high and medium light intensities but there are no such remarkable optima at low irradiance. The biomass specific respiration of both species increased with increasing temperature. We confirmed the good light utilization of these red algal species but found temperature optima higher than reported previously

Populációgenetikai paraméterek, tenyészértékek, fenotípusos és genetikai trendek limousin tehenek első ellési életkorára

Some environmental effects, population genetic parameters, breeding value of Limousin breeding bulls, also phenotypic and genetic trends in the age at first calving (AFC) of cows between 1992 and 2013 were estimated. Data were served by the Limousin and Blonde d’Aquitaine Breeders Association, in Hungary. The study was extended to three herds and 1157 cows. GLM method was used for the study of different effects, the BLUP animal model for estimation of population genetic parameters and breeding values (BV), and one-way linear regression analysis for trend calculations. The overall mean value of the AFC was estimated to be 34.7±0.4 months. The contribution of the evaluated factors to the phenotype was as follows: herd 73.51%, birth year of cow 13.02%, sire 6.74%, birth season of cow 1.62%. The heritability of AFC proved to be low (h2 = 0.08±0.07 and h2 = 0.01±0.04). There were relatively small differences in the estimated BV of the studied sires for the AFC. Based on the phenotypic trend calculation, the AFC of cows decreased by an average of 0.33 months per year, however no significant change was found in the genetic trend during the study period.A Szerzők a Limousin és Blonde d’Aquitaine Tenyésztők Egyesületének országos adatbázisát felhasználva néhány környezeti tényező hatását vizsgálták limousin tehenek első ellési életkorára vonatkozóan 1992 és 2013 között. A munka során az első elléskori életkor populációgenetikai paramétereit, a tenyészbikák tenyészértékét, valamint a tulajdonság fenotípusos és genetikai trendjét is megbecsülték. A munkát három nagy tehénlétszámmal rendelkező tenyészetre és 1157 tehénre terjesztették ki. A környezeti tényezők hatásának vizsgálatára GLM (univariate analysis of variance) eljárást, a populációgenetikai paraméterek és tenyészértékek meghatározására BLUP egyedmodellt, a fenotípusos és genetikai trend számításához egytényezős lineáris regresszió analízist használtak. Az első ellési életkor átlaga 34,7±0,4 hónap volt. A környezeti tényezők szerepe a fenotípus kialakításában a következőképp alakult: tenyészet 73,51%, születési év 13,02%, apa 6,74%, születési évszak 1,62%. Az első elléskori életkor tulajdonság öröklődhetősége kicsi volt (h2 = 0,08±0,07 and h2 = 0,01±0,04). A tenyészbikák első ellési életkor tulajdonságra becsült tenyészértéke között meglehetősen kicsi különbségeket találtak. A fenotípusos trendszámítás eredményei alapján a vizsgált időszakban a limousin tehenek első ellési életkora évenként 0,33 hónappal csökkent. A genetikai trendszámítás eredményei nem jeleztek érdemi változást a vizsgált tulajdonság átlagos tenyészértékének évenkénti alakulásában

A user-friendly, high-throughput tool for the precise fluorescent quantification of deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates from biological samples

Cells maintain a fine-tuned, dynamic concentration balance in the pool of deoxyribonucleoside 5′-triphosphates (dNTPs). This balance is essential for physiological processes including cell cycle control or antiviral defense. Its perturbation results in increased mutation frequencies, replication arrest and may promote cancer development. An easily accessible and relatively high-throughput method would greatly accelerate the exploration of the diversified consequences of dNTP imbalances. The dNTP incorporation based, fluorescent TaqMan-like assay published by Wilson et al. has the aforementioned advantages over mass spectrometry, radioactive or chromatography based dNTP quantification methods. Nevertheless, the assay failed to produce reliable data in several biological samples. Therefore, we applied enzyme kinetics analysis on the fluorescent dNTP incorporation curves and found that the Taq polymerase exhibits a dNTP independent exonuclease activity that decouples signal generation from dNTP incorporation. Furthermore, we found that both polymerization and exonuclease activities are unpredictably inhibited by the sample matrix. To resolve these issues, we established a kinetics based data analysis method which identifies the signal generated by dNTP incorporation. We automated the analysis process in the nucleoTIDY software which enables even the inexperienced user to calculate the final and accurate dNTP amounts in a 96-well-plate setup within minutes

Role of Urban Public Open Spaces Around Schools

When we say school environment, we usually mean the territory within the fences of the institute – but what happens around the facility? In the last decades, due to the dominance of cars, the usage of the public spaces around schools have been dramatically changed. Not to mention the pandemic that is raising new requirements for public spaces inside and out – for school environments as well. Because of these changing aspects, it is important to review and redefine the role of the urban open spaces around schools. After a brief historical review, authors define the public open spaces around schools and give an overview of international trends and inventions with highlighting the key elements of development approaches that can support the current needs and role of the public open spaces around schools. Through examples, authors review the landscape architectural tools that are relevant around schools while also analysing how can a child-friendly network correlate with greenways and the green network of the city. As school environments can have a very different environmental quality based on the social, cultural, and landscape context, authors have chosen to take a closer look on the Hungarian context

Trading in cooperativity for specificity to maintain uracil-free DNA

Members of the dUTPase superfamily play an important role in the maintenance of the pyrimidine nucleotide balance and of genome integrity. dCTP deaminases and the bifunctional dCTP deaminase-dUTPases are cooperatively regulated by dTTP. However, the manifestation of allosteric behavior within the same trimeric protein architecture of dUTPases, the third member of the superfamily, has been a question of debate for decades. Therefore, we designed hybrid dUTPase trimers to access conformational states potentially mimicking the ones observed in the cooperative relatives. We studied how the interruption of different steps of the enzyme cycle affects the active site cross talk. We found that subunits work independently in dUTPase. The experimental results combined with a comparative structural analysis of dUTPase superfamily enzymes revealed that subtile structural differences within the allosteric loop and the central channel in these enzymes give rise to their dramatically different cooperative behavior. We demonstrate that the lack of allosteric regulation in dUTPase is related to the functional adaptation to more efficient dUTP hydrolysis which is advantageous in uracil-DNA prevention

Application of pulsed laser ablation (pLA) for the size reduction of non‑steroidal anti‑inflammatory drugs (nSAiDs)

We studied the application of pulsed laser ablation (pLA) for particle size reduction in non‑steroidal anti‑inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Grinding of the poorly water‑soluble NSAID crystallites can considerably increase their solubility and bioavailability, thereby the necessary doses can be reduced significantly. We used tablets of ibuprofen, niflumic acid and meloxicam as targets. Nanosecond laser pulses were applied at various wavelengths (KrF excimer laser, λ=248 nm, FWHM=18 ns and Nd:YAG laser, λ1=532 nm/λ2=1064 nm, FWHM=6 ns) and at various fluences. FTIR and Raman spectra showed that the chemical compositions of the drugs had not changed during ablation at 532 nm and 1064 nm laser wavelengths.The size distribution of the ablated products was established using two types of particle size analyzers (SMPS and OPC) having complementary measuring ranges.The mean size of the drug crystallites decreased from the initial 30–80 µm to the submicron to nanometer range. For a better understanding of the ablation mechanism we made several investigations (SEM, Ellipsometry, Fast photography) and some model calculations. We have established that PLA offers a chemical‑free and simple method for the size reduction of poorly water‑soluble drugs and a possible new way for pharmaceutical drug preformulation for nasal administration

Population genetic features of calving interval of the Limousin beef cattle breed in Hungary

Variance, covariance components, heritability, breeding values (BV) and genetic trends in calving interval (CI) of the Limousin population in Hungary were evaluated. A total of 3,008 CI data of 779 cows from three herds in 1996–2016 were processed. For influencing effects GLM method, for population genetic parameters and BV estimation BLUP animal model, for trend analyses linear regression was applied. The average CI obtained was 378.8 ± 3.1 days. The variance distribution components of the phenotype were as follow: age of cow at calving 34.30%, season of calving 26.09%, year of calving 23.00%, sire 7.45%, herd 3.23%, sex of calf 0.33% and type of calving 0.30%. The heritability of CI proved to be low (h 2 d = 0.04 ± 0.02 and 0.03 ± 0.02; h 2 m = 0.01 ± 0.02). The repeatability was low ( R = 0.03 ± 0.02). Based on the phenotypic trend calculation, the CI of cows decreased by an average of 0.60 days per year ( R 2 = 0.19; P < 0.05). In case of genetic trend calculation, the average BV of sires in CI increased 0.07 and 0.17 days per year ( R 2 = 0.23 and 0.27; P < 0.05)