A plant breeding approach to eliminate the development of calcium deficiency symptoms in sweet pepper growing

Plants show significant differences regarding the dynamics of the uptake and transport of the nutrients. The results of our experiments gave an explanation of the fact that the Ca2+ uptake and transport ability of pepper is different in each genotype. The Ca2+ requirement of the fruits of certain varieties is significantly higher than the amount the plant itself can take up. The determined selection and the further breeding work aimed to solve this anomaly and enable the safe growing of sweet pepper irrespectively of the CaCO3 level of the soil. The basic goal of our breeding work was to improve the calcium utilization efficiency of the tomato-shaped sweet pepper variety ’PAZ’ which is sensitive to calcium deficiency. Crossing with a suitable partner (Torkál F1) resulted in a hybrid (Tokyo) the Ca2+ uptake, translocation and ecological adaptability of which proved to be far better compared to the free-pollinating variety. Regarding fruit quality, the hybrid did not leg behind the biological and consumers’ values of the parental genotypes

The impact of the first year of COVID-19 pandemic on suicides in a collection of 27 EU-related countries

Disasters, including epidemics, have a characteristic course, both in terms of the specific events and the human reactions to them. However, it is difficult to predict whether the COVID-19 pandemic will eventually lead to an increase in suicide rates. We aimed to provide a general pattern of the change in suicide rates in the countries linked to the European Union by direct comparison of the years 2019 and 2020 by gender and age group, grouped according to the predominant religions. Overall, 27 countries were included in the analysis. Incidence rate ratios and their 95% confidence intervals were calculated to characterise annual changes in the incidence of suicide deaths. In almost two-thirds of the countries studied, suicide rates did not increase. The largest increases were observed in Catholic-majority and ‘mixed’ Catholic-Protestant countries, but this was significant only for the oldest age group (over 65 years). This increase was even more marked within some Catholic-majority countries (Hungary, Ireland, and Spain) during the first months of the pandemic. There was no statistically significant increase overall in the suicide death rates in Europe. However, the pattern of suicide rates has changed significantly in some countries, and by age group and religion, respectively

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide rates in Hungary: an interrupted time-series analysis

BACKGROUND: From 2010 to 2019, suicide mortality fell steadily and substantially in Hungary: the declining trend remained stable, and the suicide rate decreased by more than one-third which was remarkable even from an international perspective. However, despite the declining trend, regional inequalities have always characterised the distribution of suicide mortality in Hungary. Following these favourable trends, COVID-19 appeared in Hungary on the 4(th) of March 2020 which might lead to an increase in suicides. We aimed to investigate this hypothesis in Hungary by gender, age, educational attainment, and region, as well. METHODS: To test whether the pandemic changed the declining trend of Hungarian suicide rates, the observed number of suicides during March–December 2020 (pre-vaccination period) was compared with the expected numbers (without the appearance of COVID-19). An interrupted time-series analysis was conducted by negative binomial regression using monthly data from January 2010 to February 2020 (pre-pandemic period). RESULTS: Suicide mortality increased significantly compared to the trend during the pre-pandemic period: overall (by 16.7%), among males (18.5%), in the age group 35–49 years (32.8%), and among vocational school graduates (26.1%). Additionally, significant growths in suicide rates were detected in the two regions (Central Hungary and Central Transdanubia) with the lowest COVID mortality rates (by 27.3% and 22.2%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed reversed trend in suicide mortality during the pre-vaccination period compared to the pre-pandemic period in Hungary. There were significant differences in the pattern of suicide rates by gender, age group, educational attainment, and region during the pre-vaccination period in Hungary, which might be attributed to the socio-economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings could prove useful in preventive strategies as the identification of groups at higher risk may be important for suicide prevention; however, further investigations are needed to explore the reasons. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12888-022-04322-2

Prognostic impact of the IASLC grading system of lung adenocarcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Aims: Tumour grading is an essential part of the pathologic assessment that promotes patient management. The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) proposed a grading system for non-mucinous lung adenocarcinoma in 2020. We aimed to validate the prognostic impact of this novel grading system on overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) based on literature data. Methods and Results: The review protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023396059). We aimed to identify randomized or non-randomized controlled trials published after 2020 comparing different IASLC grade categories in Medline, Embase, and CENTRAL. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of OS and RFS were pooled and the Quality In Prognosis Studies (QUIPS) tool was used to assess the risk of bias in the included studies. Ten articles were eligible for this review. Regarding OS estimates, grade 1 lung adenocarcinomas were better than grade 3 both in univariate and multivariate analyses (HROSuni = 0.19, 95% CI: 0.05-0.66, p = 0.009; HROSmulti = 0.21, 95% CI: 0.12-0.38, p < 0.001). Regarding RFS estimates, grade 3 adenocarcinomas had a worse prognosis than grade 1 in multivariate analysis (HRRFSmulti: 0.22, 95% CI: 0.14-0.35, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The literature data and the result of our meta-analysis demonstrate the prognostic relevance of the IASLC grading system. This supports the inclusion of this prognostic parameter in daily routine worldwide

Patterns of suicide deaths in Hungary between 1995 and 2017

Hungary has had one of the highest suicide mortality rates in the world for decades. Investigating seasonality of suicide deaths is essential as its findings could be key elements in the prevention. In our study we have analyzed the seasonal effect in suicide mortality in relation to possible risk factors in Hungary during 1995–2017. Data on the numbers of suicide deaths were obtained from a published online database. Negative binomial regression was employed to investigate the effect of possible risk factors and seasonal and annual trends in suicide rates. The seasonal effect was further investigated, adding a significant risk factor from the “initial” negative binomial regression. The suicide risk was significantly (p < 0.001) higher in men than in women (incidence rate ratio: 3.48), and it increased with age and decreased with education level. Marriage was a protective factor against suicide. Annual suicide mortality declined significantly (p < 0.001 for trend) from 36.7 (95% confidence interval: 35.5–37.9) to 16.5 (15.7–17.3) per 100,000 persons per year during the study period. Significant seasonality was found in suicide rates with a peak in late June. Similar peaks were observed at each level of each risk factor. There were differences in peaks by suicide method. The peak of non-violent suicides was in early June; suicides committed by violent methods peaked half a month later. This study suggests that there was a significant seasonal effect on suicide deaths between 1995 and 2017, which remained significant even in the presence of each risk factor. To our knowledge, this has been the first study to investigate the seasonal pattern so extensively in Hungary. Our findings confirm that the environmental effects are involved in the etiology of suicide mortality

In vitro culture utilization in Hungarian triticale breeding program

The doubled haploid plants can play a key role in applied research to map the agronomically, botanically important traits and acceleration of the breeding process in crop plants. The efficiency of triticale anther culture was tested by two field- and greenhouse grown winter triticale varieties (GK Idus and GK Szemes). The effect of growing conditions and genotype and their interaction were tested on four androgenic parameters (number of embryo-like structures, total, green and albino plantlets). The androgenesis was induced in each treatment of the two tested genotypes. Cultivar GK Szemes produced more embryo-like structures, total and albino plantlets, while the field grown GK Idus produced the most green plantlets/Petri dish. In the experiments of growing conditions, the efficiency of this tested method was higher in anther culture of field grown materials if compare to greenhouse origin materials. Based on this promising data, we can suggest the using of this method in applied research (production of mapping population) and practical breeding

Szénhidrátok dehidratációja és hidrogénezése vízoldható katalizátorok jelenlétében = Dehydration and Hydrogenation of Carbohydrates in the Presence of Water Soluble Catalysts

A szénhidrátokból előállítható gamma-valerolakton (GVL) ismert fizikai és kémiai tulajdonságai, valamint a munkánk során meghatározott alacsony gőznyomása, kültéri körülmények közötti kiemelkedő stabilítása, jó égési és üzemanyag jellemzői, alacsony toxikussága és kellemes illata különösen alkalmassá teszi arra, hogy fenntartható folyadékként tárolják, szállítsák és energia és/vagy szénalapú termékek termelésére használják. Homogén vagy heterogén katalitikus reakciók megfelelő kombinációjával sikerült szacharózból kiindulva egyre kevesebb oxigént tartalmazó C5-oxigenátokat (levulinsav, GVL, 1,4-butándiol, 2-metil-THF) és végül alkánok keverékét előállítani. A szénhidrátok savak jelenlétében lejátszódó katalitikus dehitratálása során képződő levulin- és hangyasav keverékéből a ruténium alapú Shvo-katalizátor jelenlétében 100%-os szelektivítással képződik a GVL. Ez különösen azért fontos, mert kimutattuk hogy a levulinsav molekuláris hidrogénnel történő hidrogénezésével előállított GVL kismértékű redukciójában keletkező 2-metil-THF könnyen peroxidosodik, amely veszélyezteti a GVL biztonságos használatát. A GVL füst és kellemetlen illatanyagok képződése nélkül ég, jól használható faszén gyújtó folyadékaként és 95 oktánszámú benzinhez keverve az etanolhoz hasonló üzemanyag tulajdonságokat mutat. A GVL-gazdaság kialakulásának kritikus feltétele, hogy a GVL-t vagy a levulinsavat nem-ehető szénhidrátokból gazdaságosan lehessen termelni. | We have proposed that gamma-valerolactone (GVL) exhibits the most important characteristics of an ideal sustainable liquid, which could be used for the production of energy and carbon based consumer products. In addition to its known propeties, we have shown that GVL has low vapor pressure, high stability in aerobic aqueous environments, good burning and fuel properties, which make it particularly suitable for easy storage and transportation even in a large scale. The multi-step conversion of sucrose to various C5-oxygenates (levulinic acid, GVL, 1,4-butanediol, 2-methyl-THF) and alkanes was achieved by integrating various homgeneous or heterogeneous catalytic systems. The catalytic conversion of levulinic and formic acids, formed in acid catalyzed dehydration of carbohydrates, in the presence of the Ru-based Shvo-catalyst resulted in GVL with 100% selectivity. This is a very important result, since we have shown that during the catalytic hydrogenation of levulinic acid to GVL with molecular hydrogen the side product 2-methyl-THF readily forms peroxides, which could be a major safety issue. GVL burns without the formation of smoke and unpleasant smell, can be used effectively as a lighter liquid of charcoal, and has similar fuel properties to that of ethanol, when it is mixed with 95 octane gasoline

The prognostic value of stem cell markers in triple-negative breast cancer

Among the many consecutive theories of cancer, the stem cell theory is currently the most accepted one. Cancer stem cells are located in small niches with specific environment, renew themselves and are believed to be responsible for many recurrences. They can be highlighted with stem cell markers, but often these markers also label tumor cells, and this may represent a phenotypical change associated with prognosis. In this study, we attempted to match tumor outcomes with the expression of the following stem cell markers: ALDH1, AnnexinA1, CD44, CD117, CD166, Nanog and oct-4. Tissue microarray blocks from triple-negative breast cancers were immunostained for the listed markers, and their expression by the majority of tumor cells (diffuse positivity) was correlated with prognosis. Of the 106 tumors investigated, diffuse positivity was seen in 7 (ALDH1), 33 (AnnexinA1), 53 (CD44), 44 (CD117 membranous only), 49 (CD117), 72 (CD166), 19 (Nanog), and 11 (oct-4) cases. With a median follow-up of 83 months, ALDH1 and CD117 expression was associated with DFS, whereas CD44, CD117 and CD166 were associated with OS estimates, based on Kaplan-Meier analyses. In the multivariate Cox proportional hazard models (including the examined markers and clinicopathological data which had a statistical impact in the univariate analysis), the pN category and the lack of ALDH1 expression were independent prognosticators for DFS, and the pN category and diffuse CD44 staining were independent prognosticators for OS. In the multivariate analysis including all of the examined clinicopathological data and markers, only CD117 showed a statistical impact on OS. We failed to demonstrate a prognostic impact for most stem cell markers tested in triple-negative breast cancer, but lack of ALDH1 staining and CD44 expression appears as of prognostic value, requiring further examination in independent studies