Comparison of Different Maize Hybrids Cultivated and Fermented With or Without Sorghum

In Hungary our key forage crop is silage maize, however, the joint growing of maize and sorghum is increasingly important in arid regions. The reason is, that sorghum varieties tolerate well the various ecological stresses (drought). The joint growing of maize and sorghum varieties has several advantages and disadvantageous in respect of yields, safety of production, fermentability of the crop and nutrient content of the silage. The basis of realising the complementary qualities of the two crops and of the successful joint growing and preservation is the suitable pairing of hybrid varieties

Directional Anisotropy of Swift Gamma-Ray Bursts

Swift satellite measurements contributed substantially to the gamma-ray burst (GRB) redshift observations through fast slewing to the source of the GRBs. Still, a large number of bursts are without redshift. We study the celestial distribution of bursts with various methods and compare them to a random catalog using Monte-Carlo simulations. We find an anisotropy in the distribution of the intermediate class of bursts and find that the short and long population are distributed isotropically.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, appeared in The Ancient Universe With Gamma-Ray Bursts. AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 1279, pp. 457-459 (2010

A novel forest state assessment methodology to support conservation and forest management planning

A new forest state assessment methodology to complement existing conservation and forestry data has been developed. The aim is to provide tools for strategic planning including spatial distribution of conservation priorities. The method is point-based using a dense systematic sampling grid and provides more detailed information than vegetation maps or forest subcompartment descriptions, but requires less effort than forest inventories. Indicators include canopy composition and structure, deadwood, herbs, microhabitats, disturbances, shrubs and regeneration. The results can inform managers about the structural and compositional diversity of forest stands in the form of thematic maps and can provide the basis for analysis of habitat suitability for forest-dwelling organisms. A smartphone application has been developed to enable electronic data collection. PostGIS and Python scripts were used in the data flow. In this paper, we outline the development of the assessment protocol, and present the sampling design and the variables recorded. The main advantages of the survey methodology are also shown by case-studies based on data collected during the first field season in 2014. The protocol has been designed for low mountain forests in Hungary, but it can be modified to fit other forest types

The effects of stand characteristics on the understory vegetation in Quercus petraea and Q. cerris dominated forests

The shelterwood system used in Hungary has many effects on the composition and structure of the herb layer. The aim of our study was to identify the main variables that affect the occurence of herbs and seedlings in Turkey oak-sessile oak (Quercus cerris and Q. petraea) stands. The study was carried out in the Bükk mountains, Hungary. 122 sampling plots were established in 50-150 year old oak forests, where we studied the species composition and structure of the understorey and overstorey. The occurence of herbs was affected by canopy closure, the heterogenity and patchiness of the stand, the slope and the east-west component of the aspect. The composition of saplings was significantly explained by the ratio of the two major oak species in the stand and the proximity of the adult plants. An important result for forest management was that sessile oaks were able to regenerate almost only where they were dominant in the overstorey

Genetic variation in the estrogen metabolic pathway and mammographic density as an intermediate phenotype of breast cancer

Introduction: Several studies have examined the effect of genetic variants in genes involved in the estrogen metabolic pathway on mammographic density, but the number of loci studied and the sample sizes evaluated have been small and pathways have not been evaluated comprehensively. In this study, we evaluate the association between mammographic density and genetic variants of the estrogen metabolic pathway. Methods: A total of 239 SNPs in 34 estrogen metabolic genes were studied in 1,731 Swedish women who participated in a breast cancer case-control study, of which 891 were cases and 840 were controls. Film mammograms of the medio-lateral oblique view were digitalized and the software Cumulus was used for computer-assisted semi-automated thresholding of mammographic density. Generalized linear models controlling for possible confounders were used to evaluate the effects of SNPs on mammographic density. Results found to be nominally significant were examined in two independent populations. The admixture maximum likelihood-based global test was performed to evaluate the cumulative effect from multiple SNPs within the whole metabolic pathway and three subpathways for androgen synthesis, androgen-to-estrogen conversion and estrogen removal. Results: Genetic variants of genes involved in estrogen metabolism exhibited no appreciable effect on mammographic density. None of the nominally significant findings were validated. In addition, global analyses on the overall estrogen metabolic pathway and its subpathways did not yield statistically significant results. Conclusions: Overall, there is no conclusive evidence that genetic variants in genes involved in the estrogen metabolic pathway are associated with mammographic density in postmenopausal women

A comparative methodical study of the faecal steroid analysis on birds: looking for a valid method of testosterone determination

In a comparative study, a relatively simple and high sensitivity method was developed for analysis of testosterone-equivalent(s) in the faeces of different bird species. To determine the recovery of extractions and purifications, tritium-labelled testosterone was added to the wet samples. Then the samples were treated with sodium dodecil sulphate (SDS), an emulsificator to “open-up” the complex, lipid-coated particles of faecal samples. This emulsification resulted in the decrease of the quantity of interfering substances after diethyl-ether extraction and the linearity of the measured testosterone equivalents from aliquots in the range of 2 and 10 mg of faeces. In the RIA, we applied a group specific polyclonal testosterone antibody which cross-reacted with reduced metabolites and at a certain level with sulphate conjugates as well. The use of Helix enzymes did not modified significantly the results of the analysis relating to a low level of conjugated androgens in the faecal extracts. The biological validity of the method was tested on domestic cockerels, where between the plasma and faecal testosterone values a four hours phase shift was observed, with a correlation of 0.6355. This method is suitable for “non invasive”, behavioural-ethological studies

Assessment of environmental radiation monitoring data in Hungary following the Fukushima accident

The unusually strong earthquake in Japan on 11 March 2011 and the following extreme tsunami caused enormous damage in the buildings of Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) situated on the Pacific coastline of Japan. The accident led to the release of a large amount of radioactive material into the environment. According to the measurements of the Radiological Monitoring and Data Acquisitions Network (RAMDAN) the radioactive plume reached Hungary on 24 March 2011. The main volatile fission products – 131I, 134Cs, and 137Cs radioisotopes – were measurable in aerosol and fallout samples in Hungary. Their activity concentration in air reached the maximum value in the last days of March and returned to the background level in the first half of May. As a consequence of respiration of contaminated air, a maximum of 1 Bq per capita of 131I could be accumulated in the thyroid gland of the Hungarian population during the given period. The calculated upper limits of the committed effective dose from inhalation of 131I were 4 nSv and 10 nSv to the Hungarian adults and infants, respectively. These values are a hundred thousand times less than the annual radiation dose from natural sources to the Hungarian population. The radiation dose from radioactive caesium isotopes originating from Fukushima was even less, around 1 nSv on average, to Hungarian residents. No health deterioration can be expected from this radiation burden