Risk and regulation of financial groups and conglomerates

Recent financial market trends, such as convergence and the spread of conglomerates have changed the nature and structure of the financial sector’s risk profile. The paper investigates this issue from a regulatory policy aspect. Regulatory failures in the 1990s (BCCI, Barings) and the development of the market demonstrate that even „best regulatory practice” does not fulfil the requirements of transparency and efficiency. We investigate the improvement of prudential legislation for financial groups on the example of EU legislation, summarize recommendations made by international forums, and present existing regulatory frameworks in certain countries. In the light of these we address major lacuna in the relevant Hungarian legislation, even going beyond requirements in the field of EU harmonization.financial convergence, financial conglomerates, prudential regulation, European Union, Hungary.

Cryopreservation of common carp sperm

Experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of five extenders (sucrose, glucose, fructose, KCl and a saline carp sperm extender) and two cryoprotectants (dimethyl-sulfoxide (DMSO) and methanol) on the cryopreservation of common carp sperm. Freezing of sperm using glucose extender and methanol as cryoprotectant resulted in the highest post-thaw motility, fertilization as well as hatching rates (63 ± 9%, 74 ± 15% and 67 ± 17% vs. 87 ± 5%, 84 ± 14% and 69 ± 14% using fresh sperm, respectively). In general, sugar-based extenders combined with methanol as cryoprotectant yielded higher motility, fertilization and hatching rates than ionic extenders in combination with DMSO. The jelly-like agglutination observed after thawing in samples frozen with sugar-based extenders did not reduce fertilization and hatching rates. Frozen–thawed sperm samples were able to successfully fertilize 10 g (8000) eggs

Protoplast isolation from Solanum lycopersicum L. leaf tissues and their response to short-term NaCl treatment

Protoplasts were isolated from young leaves of tomato (Solanum lycopersicon L. cvar Rio Fuego). The optimum conditions for protoplast isolation was established by using 2% cellulose R-10 and 0.5% macerozyme R-10 dissolved in 0.4 M sucrose-K3 solution for 12 h cell wall digestion. In order to induce salt stress, the mannitol content of the buffer was partially replaced by NaCl to get an isoosmotic incubation solution containing 100 mM NaCl. It can be concluded that the number of protoplast in unit volume counted by Bürker chamber did not decrease significantly compared to controls due to salt treatment upto 5 hours, but the viability of cells decreased by 55% using fluorescein diacetate staining. Hundred mM NaCl simultaneously enhanced the generation of reactive oxygen species in tomato leaf protoplast. This means that decreases in fluorescein fluorescence is a good and sensitive parameter for the measurement of Na+-induced decrease in cell viability and cell death in protoplast suspensions

Changes in aldehyde oxidase activity and gene expression in Solarium lycopersicum L. shoots under salicylic acid pretreatment and subsequent salt stress

The plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) plays essential role in adaptation and response processes in plants by modifying a number of gene expressions. Aldehyde oxidases (AOs) may participate in stress responses, because it catalyzes the oxidation of abscisic aldehyde to ABA, in the last step of ABA synthesis. In this work the expression levels of the three known tomato AO genes were monitored by quantitative real-time PCR (QRT-PCR) after 3-weeks pretreatment with two salicylic acid (SA) concentrations followed by 1-week-long salt stress. The 10-4 M SA pre-treatment, but not the 10-7 M SA, increased the SlAO2 gene expression, and both SA concentrations increased the transcript amount of SlAO3. The high salinity treatment for one week increased slightly only SlAO2 gene expression in the control shoots. The AO1 enzyme activity, which was studied with native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, was on control level after 4-week pre-treatment with 10-4 M SA, but decreased using 10-7 M SA. One-week 100 mM NaCl treatment decreased the activity of the AO1 isoenzyme excluding the 10-7 M SA pre-treatment. These moderate changes in the gene expressions and enzyme activities may contribute in the acclimation of 10-4 M SA pre-treated tomato plants to subsequent salt stress

Studies on the procyclical behaviour of banks

The three papers in this volume investigate the same subject matter, the procyclicality of banking sector behaviour, from three different perspectives. The first paper of the volume focuses on some regulatory aspects of banks’ procyclical behaviour. The second paper deals both with the depth of financial intermediation and banks’ procyclical behaviour, as in the case of catching-up economies the two subjects are interrelated. The third paper describes some regulatory options that may encourage banks to prepare in due time for a deterioration in loan quality due to changes in the economic environment.Pro-cyclicality, Basel Capital Accord, Credit risk, Provisioning, Regulation.

Oribatid mites of the Balkan Pen­insula (Acari: Oribatida)

A summarizing work on the earlier recorded oribatid mites from the Balkan Peninsula is presented. Several additional new records are also given. Heminothrus targionii (Berlese, 1885) was found in the first time in Serbia and Heminothrus thori (Berlese, 1904) is the first record for Montenegro. The present work lists 727 species from the Balkan Peninsula; 107 species are recorded from Albania, 162 from Bosnia-Herzegovina, 349 from Bulgaria, 156 from Croatia, 246 from Greece, 154 from Macedonia, 84 from Montenegro, 102 from Serbia, 367 from Slovenia, 293 from Romania and 3 from European part of Turkey

Video Gaming and mental health

Introduction: 61% of the total adult Hungarian population (3.8 million) played video games in 2020. Video Gaming is the most popular among the 18-25 age group (66%). Due to the increasing public health importance of game addictions, internet gaming disorder (IGD) has been included into Section III of DSM-5, moreover gaming disorder (GD) also appears in the ICD-11 list

Közelítések a művészetfilozófia és interpretáció alternatívái között : Horváth Nóra és Mitnyán Lajos eszmecseréje

Folyóiratunk 2021. 1-2. számának szerzője, Horváth Nóra, és publikációjának egyik lektora, Mitnyán Lajos véleménykülönbségéből indul ki az alábbi közelítési kísérlet. Horváth Nóra Az átjárhatóság fogalmának jelentésrétegei Frenák Pál művészetében című tanulmánya és annak lektori véleményezése elsősorban művészeti alkotások és filozófiai nézetek közötti kapcsolat megragadásának és megítélésének, valamint a műalkotások elemzésének módszertani problematikáját vetette fel