Regional Development and Well-Being of Regions in Hungary

The purpose of this study is to formulate policy views from the perceived trends in regional development, as measured by the change in regional well-being indicators and urban prosperity factors. The theoretical foundations of these development policies are formulated by place-based regional strategies. Based on the OECD database on well-being indicators, ranking by the Global Urban Competitiveness Research Centre and the International Congress and Convention Association, the authors have found that despite regional disparities and the centrum-periphery gaps, well-being in Hungarian regions has improved. Moreover, Budapest has good potentials in strengthening connections and accelerating development, and may display its advantages in attracting global production factors

Learning More About the Underground Economy : A Case-Study of Keyloggers and Dropzones

We study an active underground economy that trades stolen digital credentials.We present a method with which it is possible to directly analyze the amount of data harvested through these types of attacks in a highly automated fashion. We exemplify this method by applying it to keylogger-based stealing of credentials via dropzones, anonymous collection points of illicitly collected data. Based on the collected data from more than 70 dropzones, we present the first empirical study of this phenomenon, giving many first-hand details about the attacks that were observed during a seven-month period between April and October 2008. This helps us better understand the nature and size of these quickly emerging underground marketplaces

Social Malcode : Benutzerabhängige Schadprogramme

In den letzten Jahren ist ein Wandel bezüglich der Verbreitungsmethoden von Schadprogrammen, wie Viren, Würmern und Trojanern, zu verzeichnen. Während sich frühere Schadprogramme vermehrt voll automatisiert durch das Ausnutzen von Sicherheitslücken verbreiteten, rückt diese Methode der Verbreitung heutzutage aufgrund von immer sichereren Kommunikationsprotokollen und Betriebssystemen in den Hintergrund. Stattdessen nutzen Schadprogramme reguläre Kommunikationswege, wie z.B. E-Mails oder Instant Messaging Programme, für ihre Verbreitung. Die Autoren der Schadprogramme sind jedoch auf die Mithilfe ihrer Opfer angewiesen: Sie müssen diese durch Social Engineering dazu bewegen, beispielsweise den Anhang einer E-Mail auszuführen oder einem zugeschickten Verweis zu folgen, damit solch ein Schadprogramm den oder die Rechner eines Opfers infizieren kann. Diese immer häufiger anzutreffende Art von Schadprogrammen haben wir Social Malcode genannt. In der vorliegenden Dissertation haben wir die Verbreitung solcher Schadprogramme näher untersucht. Neben einer formalen Definition von Social Malcode, haben wir deren Verbreitung simuliert und die Ergebnisse durch anschauliche Verbreitungsverläufe visualisiert. Die dafür notwendigen Simulationsparameter, die unter anderem das menschliche Verhalten von Computerbenutzern modellieren, haben wir durch umfangreiche Versuche und Skripte experimentell bestimmt. Zusammenfassend kann man festhalten, dass die Verbreitung von Social Malcode von wesentlich mehr Faktoren abhängt als die Verbreitung autonomer Schadprogrammen. So verbreitet sich Social Malcode beispielsweise aufgrund der Abhängigkeit von menschlichen Handlungen wesentlich langsamer

Solvent Selection for Liquid-Liquid Extraction of Acetic Acid from Biomass Hydrolysate

Biofuels are one of the most hopeful alternative energy sources to fossil fuels. However, the processing and production of biofuels needs improvement to be economically competitive in the current market. One drawback is the presence of naturally occurring compounds that decrease the bioethanol production rate and yield; these are called inhibitors. A resolution to this problem is to remove the inhibitors from biomass fermentation broth prior to fermentation. This project examined liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) for removal of acetic acid, a major inhibitor. Initially, a stock solution of glucose, xylose, acetic acid, and water was combined with an additional organic solvent to form a two-phase system. After mixing, the concentrations of the components in the water phase were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The compounds remaining in the solvent-rich phase were calculated via a simple mass balance. Nine different organic solvents were tested with the same mixture of compounds, after which the four most effective solvents were tested with liquid fermentation broth. The four best solvents were: ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, ethyl propionate, and isobutyl acetate. These four solvents had the highest split fraction, meaning that the acetic acid separated in the desired direction into the organic solvent. Butyl acetate was the best solvent because it extracted the most acetic acid, while retaining the sugars within the aqueous phase. Further research must be done on the organic phase analysis to ensure that the compound mass balance is closed. This research can help promote a more efficient production of biofuel

Optimization of Acid Production in Food Waste via Anaerobic Respiration

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, one third of all food produced in world is wasted; 1.63 * 109 metric tons of nutrition is lost to transportation, contamination, or neglect every year (FAO 2013). This wasted food, however, could be repurposed as a substrate for microbial conversion into useful chemicals. This research is aimed at finding the optimal conditions for bacterial colonies to generate volatile fatty acids (VFAs): resources that are used as solvents, medicines, and chemical intermediates usually generated from petroleum based resources (Drumright et al., 2000) (Roscher 2000) (Kolt et al., 2007). An empirical approach was applied to determine the optimal conditions for VFA production from food waste. In total, five different batches of food waste were inoculated with primary sludge and incubated in continuously stirred bioreactors while pH, temperature, organic loading rate, and retention time was controlled. Lactic acid was the primary product with concentrations reaching up to 40 g / L. The optimal lactic acid production was at a pH of 5.5, a temperature of 41 °C, and a loading rate of 150 g VS / L after 16 hours. Lactic acid has value in the production of polylactic acid, a biodegradable polymer with properties similar to PTE (Yutaka et al., 2009). Currently polylactic acid-based plastics have been produced from corn and other foods, however, this research demonstrates the viability of producing lactic acid from unrefined sources, which will not compete with food supply or increase land needed for production. The outcomes of this project will help determine if food waste, which usually troublesome to dispose of, could be a viable resource for lactic acid production

The Belt and Road Initiative – a Way Forward to China’s Expansion

A new stage of the global development is envisioned by the initiative known as the “new Silk Road” – the Belt and Road Initiative. Enhanced economic relations between China and the rest of Asia, as well as Africa and Europe, are to be attained, with considerable investments into physical infrastructure (i.e. roads, airports, maritime and energy infrastructure). As a result, China’s economy is expected to accelerate, which is going to influence the economic development of the Western Chinese regions, by counter-balancing the dominance of the Eastern coast and via exporting the excess capacities of Chinese companies. Furthermore, China’s changing geostrategic ambitions are reflected by the initiative, which predicts re-balancing the global power in economic terms

A reversible <i>Renilla </i>luciferase protein complementation assay for rapid identification of protein-protein interactions reveals the existence of an interaction network involved in xyloglucan biosynthesis in the plant Golgi apparatus

A growing body of evidence suggests that protein–protein interactions (PPIs) occur amongst glycosyltransferases (GTs) required for plant glycan biosynthesis (e.g. cell wall polysaccharides and N-glycans) in the Golgi apparatus, and may control the functions of these enzymes. However, identification of PPIs in the endomembrane system in a relatively fast and simple fashion is technically challenging, hampering the progress in understanding the functional coordination of the enzymes in Golgi glycan biosynthesis. To solve the challenges, we adapted and streamlined a reversible Renilla luciferase protein complementation assay (Rluc-PCA), originally reported for use in human cells, for transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana. We tested Rluc-PCA and successfully identified luminescence complementation amongst Golgi-localizing GTs known to form a heterodimer (GAUT1 and GAUT7) and those which homooligomerize (ARAD1). In contrast, no interaction was shown between negative controls (e.g. GAUT7, ARAD1, IRX9). Rluc-PCA was used to investigate PPIs amongst Golgi-localizing GTs involved in biosynthesis of hemicelluloses. Although no PPI was identified among six GTs involved in xylan biosynthesis, Rluc-PCA confirmed three previously proposed interactions and identified seven novel PPIs amongst GTs involved in xyloglucan biosynthesis. Notably, three of the novel PPIs were confirmed by a yeast-based split-ubiquitin assay. Finally, Gateway-enabled expression vectors were generated, allowing rapid construction of fusion proteins to the Rluc reporters and epitope tags. Our results show that Rluc-PCA coupled with transient expression in N. benthamiana is a fast and versatile method suitable for analysis of PPIs between Golgi resident proteins in an easy and mid-throughput fashion in planta