Analysing Competitiveness of the Hungarian Agro-Food Chains

Based on the Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) approach this paper provides an assessment of the competitive position of the Hungarian agro-food industry in view of EU integration. The situation in the food processing sector is assessed with the use of actual cost data from representative Hungarian companies. The paper presents an assessment of the current situation prior to EU integration as well as a future outlook under various scenarios with regard to the expected policy environment and the rate of technological change. The actual measurement of competitiveness in this study focuses mainly on Private Resource Cost (PRC) which indicates competitiveness under real market conditions and Domestic Resource Cost (DRC) which gives an assessment on the social or economic efficiency of an activity, i.e. whether domestic resources are really used efficiently in current production. In the food processing sector 21 different food products have been investigated which fall into four industries: meat, poultry, dairy, and fruits and vegetables. Under current conditions only some products are competitive in private terms. The situation would improve after EU integration especially for poultry, fruits and vegetables, because agricultural policy conditions are more favourable under the CAP. If additional FDI(Foreign Direct Investments) would flow into the country after EU membership, this would boost profitability. As far as DRC values are concerned, it must be stated that only some of the production activities are clearly efficient. Dairy, fruits and vegetables, and roast goose production show relatively weak social competitiveness, while other poultry and fruit and vegetables products are more favourable from the economic point of view. As EU policies provide on average higher protection levels, the competitiveness of Hungarian food processing on world markets would deteriorate for most products after EU accession. However, these effects can be offset by additional technological change due to FDI inflows or otherwise induced technological progress.competitiveness, strategy, accession, technology development, investment, Agribusiness,

A mikroflóra és a bélnyálkahártya kölcsönhatása az irritábilis bél, irritábilis szem és irritábilis elme szindróma kórtanában és kezelésében

Accumulating clinical evidence supports co-morbidity of irritable bowel, irritable eye and irritable mind symptoms. Furthermore, perturbation of the microbiota-host symbiosis (dysbiosis) is considered a common pathogenic mechanism connecting gastrointestinal, ocular and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Consequently, maintaining or restoring microbiota-host symbiosis represents a new approach to treat these symptoms or to prevent their relapses. Current treatment approach assigned a primary role to live probiotics alone or in combination with prebiotics to enhance colonization of beneficial bacteria and to strengthen the symbiosis. However, several papers showed major benefits of heat-killed probiotics as compared to their live counterparts on both intestinal and systemic symptoms. Recently, in addition to killing probiotics, in a proof of concept study lysates (fragments) of probiotics in combination with vitamins A, B, D and omega 3 fatty acids were successfully tested. These findings suggested a conceptual change in the approach addressed to both the microbiota and host as targets for intervention. Orv. Hetil., 2014, 155(37), 1454-1460

Thickness dependent magnetic anisotropy of ultrathin LCMO epitaxial thin films

The magnetic properties of La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (LCMO) manganite thin films were studied with magnetometry and ferromagnetic resonance as a function of film thickness. They maintain the colossal magnetoresistance behavior with a pronounced metal-insulator transition around 150-200 K, except for the very thinnest films studied (3 nm). Nevertheless, LCMO films as thin as 3 nm remain ferromagnetic, without a decrease in saturation magnetization, indicating an absence of dead-layers, although below approx. 6 nm the films remain insulating at low temperature. Magnetization hysteresis loops reveal that the magnetic easy axes lie in the plane of the film for thicknesses in the range of 4-15 nm. Ferromagnetic resonance studies confirm that the easy axes are in-plane, and find a biaxial symmetry in-plane with two, perpendicular easy axes. The directions of the easy axes with respect to the crystallographic directions of the cubic SrTiO3 substrate differ by 45 degrees in 4 nm and 15 nm thick LCMO films.Comment: Presented at Intermag conference (Madrid, 2008). Accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Magnetic

Analysing Competitiveness of the Hungarian Agro-Food Chains

Based on the Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) approach this paper provides an assessment of the competitive position of the Hungarian agro-food industry in view of EU integration. The situation in the food processing sector is assessed with the use of actual cost data from representative Hungarian companies. The paper presents an assessment of the current situation prior to EU integration as well as a future outlook under various scenarios with regard to the expected policy environment and the rate of technological change. The actual measurement of competitiveness in this study focuses mainly on Private Resource Cost (PRC) which indicates competitiveness under real market conditions and Domestic Resource Cost (DRC) which gives an assessment on the social or economic efficiency of an activity, i.e. whether domestic resources are really used efficiently in current production. In the food processing sector 21 different food products have been investigated which fall into four industries: meat, poultry, dairy, and fruits and vegetables. Under current conditions only some products are competitive in private terms. The situation would improve after EU integration especially for poultry, fruits and vegetables, because agricultural policy conditions are more favourable under the CAP. If additional FDI(Foreign Direct Investments) would flow into the country after EU membership, this would boost profitability. As far as DRC values are concerned, it must be stated that only some of the production activities are clearly efficient. Dairy, fruits and vegetables, and roast goose production show relatively weak social competitiveness, while other poultry and fruit and vegetables products are more favourable from the economic point of view. As EU policies provide on average higher protection levels, the competitiveness of Hungarian food processing on world markets would deteriorate for most products after EU accession. However, these effects can be offset by additional technological change due to FDI inflows or otherwise induced technological progress

Hypoxic relaxation of penile arteries: involvement of endothelial nitric oxide and modulation by reactive oxygen species

Although obesity-related cardiovascular disease and hypoxia are associated with erectile dysfunction, little is known about the direct effects of hypoxia on penile arteries. In the present study, the effects of acute hypoxia (Po2 = ∼10 Torr, 20 min) were investigated in isolated penile arteries to determine the influence of endothelium removal, nitric oxide (NO) synthase (NOS), cyclooxygenase (COX), NADPH oxidase, changes in reactive oxygen species (ROS), and a high-fat diet. Hypoxia-relaxed penile arteries contracted with phenylephrine by ∼50%. Relaxation to hypoxia and acetylcholine was reduced by endothelium removal and by inhibition of NOS (Nω-nitro-l-arginine) and COX (indomethacin) but was enhanced by Tempol and by NADPH oxidase inhibition with apocynin and gp91ds-tat. Basal superoxide levels detected by lucigenin chemiluminescence were reduced by Tempol and gp91ds-tat and were enhanced by NOS blockade. Hypoxic relaxant responses were enhanced by catalase and ebselen. Exogenous peroxide evoked relaxations of penile arteries, which were partially inhibited by endothelium removal and by the inhibition of COX and extracellular signal-regulated mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) but enhanced by p38 MAPK blockade. The NO-dependent component of relaxation to hypoxia was impaired in penile arteries from high-fat diet-fed, obese rats associated with increased superoxide production. Thus hypoxic relaxation of penile arteries is partially mediated by endothelial NO in a manner that is normally attenuated by endogenous ROS production. Obesity further increases superoxide production and impairs the influence of NO. Therefore, cardiovascular disease involving decreased NO bioavailability and/or enhanced ROS generation may contribute to erectile dysfunction through impairing the relaxation of penile arteries to hypoxia

Caveolin-1 limits the contribution of BK(Ca) channel to EDHF-mediated arteriolar dilation: implications in diet-induced obesity

AIMS: Caveolin-1 (Cav-1) interacts with large conductance Ca(2+)-activated potassium channels (BKCa) and likely exerts a negative regulatory effect on the channel activity. We investigated the role of Cav-1 in modulating BK(Ca) channel-mediated, endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF)-dependent arteriolar dilation in normal condition and in an experimental model of obesity. METHODS AND RESULTS: In isolated, pressurized (80 mmHg) gracilis muscle arterioles (approximately 100 microm) of Cav-1 knockout mice, acetylcholine (ACh)-induced, EDHF-mediated dilations were enhanced and were significantly reduced by the BK(Ca) channel inhibitor, iberiotoxin (IBTX), whereas IBTX had no effect on EDHF-mediated dilations in the wild-type mice. Dilations to the selective BK(Ca) channel opener, NS-1619 were augmented in the Cav-1 knockout mice. In high-fat diet-treated, obese rats ACh-induced coronary arteriolar dilations were preserved, whereas IBTX-sensitive, ACh-induced and also NS-1619-evoked vasodilations were augmented when compared with lean animals. In coronary arterioles of obese rats a reduced protein expression of Cav-1 was detected by western immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry. Moreover, in coronary arterioles of lean rats, disruption of caveolae with methyl-beta-cyclodextrin augmented IBTX-sensitive, ACh-induced, and also NS-1619-evoked dilations. CONCLUSION: Thus, under normal conditions, Cav-1 limits the contribution of the BK(Ca) channel to EDHF-mediated arteriolar dilation. In obesity, a reduced expression of Cav-1 leads to greater contribution of the BK(Ca) channel to EDHF-mediated response, which seems essential for maintained coronary dilation