"Rátok nincs szükség"

Az, hogy egy teljes állásban dolgozó munkavállaló legalább a saját megélhetését finanszírozni tudja, magától értetődőnek tűnik. Mégis, ezt a szakszervezeti oldalról több évtizedes követelést a rendszerváltás óta sokáig nem tudták elérni. Azonban 2016-ban a magyar kormány a szakszervezetekkel és a munkáltatói érdekképviselettel egy olyan, több éves bérmegállapodást kötött, melynek köszönhetően 2018-ra a minimálbér meghaladta a létminimumot. Mi változott most? A köztudottan gyengélkedő szakszervezeteknek milyen nyomásgyakorló eszközök álltak rendelkezésükre, hogy egy ilyen ügyet sikerre vigyenek? A jelek szerint semmilyenek. A 2010 után átalakított társadalmi párbeszéd rendszerében csak szűk mozgástere maradt a versenyszférában dolgozó érdekképviseleteknek. Az érintettekkel készített interjúim segítségével ezt az átalakítást mutatom be

The allocation of FIFA World Cup slots based on the Elo method and pairwise comparisons

Qualifications for several world championships in sports are organised such that different sets of teams play in their own tournament for a predetermined number of slots. This paper provides a reasonable approach to allocate the slots based on matches between these sets of teams. We focus on the FIFA World Cup due to the existence of an official rating system and its recent expansion to 48 teams. Our proposal adapts the methodology of the FIFA World Ranking to compare the strengths of five confederations. Various allocations are presented depending on the length of the sample, the set of teams considered, as well as the frequency of rating updates. The results show that more European and South American teams should play in the FIFA World Cup. The ranking of continents by the number of deserved slots is different from the ranking implied by FIFA policy. We recommend allocating at least some FIFA World Cup slots transparently, based on historical performances, similar to the access list of the UEFA Champions League.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figures, 6 table

District Power-To-Heat/Cool Complemented by Sewage Heat Recovery

District heating and cooling (DHC), when combined with waste or renewable energy sources, is an environmentally sound alternative to individual heating and cooling systems in buildings. In this work, the theoretical energy and economic performances of a DHC network complemented by compression heat pump and sewage heat exchanger are assessed through dynamic, year-round energy simulations. The proposed system comprises also a water storage and a PV plant. The study stems from the operational experience on a DHC network in Budapest, in which a new sewage heat recovery system is in place and provided the experimental base for assessing main operational parameters of the sewage heat exchanger, like effectiveness, parasitic energy consumption and impact of cleaning. The energy and economic potential is explored for a commercial district in Italy. It is found that the overall seasonal COP and EER are 3.10 and 3.64, while the seasonal COP and EER of the heat pump alone achieve 3.74 and 4.03, respectively. The economic feasibility is investigated by means of the levelized cost of heating and cooling (LCOHC). With an overall LCOHC between 79.1 and 89.9 €/MWh, the proposed system can be an attractive solution with respect to individual heat pumps.This research was funded by the European Commission, H2020-project Heat4Cool, grant number 723925. The work has also been supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) under Contract No. 16.0082

Optrode for multimodal deep-brain infrared stimulation

AbstractIn recent years, optical stimulation in neuroscience has emerged as an alternative to electrical stimulation. In this work, we present the concept and optical simulation of an optrode capable of delivering focused infrared light to brain tissue, while simultaneously recording electrical signals from the surrounding area. The system combines the advantages of silicon microfabrication and silicon's transparency in the near-infrared. For efficient coupling into the probe and controlling the illuminated volume in the brain, silicon microlenses were simulated using MATLAB. The lens system can focus light in 2-D, with configurable focal length and spot size

A Multimodal, SU-8-Platinum - Polyimide Microelectrode Array for Chronic In Vivo Neurophysiology

Utilization of polymers as insulator and bulk materials of microelectrode arrays (MEAs) makes the realization of flexible, biocompatible sensors possible, which are suitable for various neurophysiological experiments such as in vivo detection of local field potential changes on the surface of the neocortex or unit activities within the brain tissue. In this paper the microfabrication of a novel, all-flexible, polymer-based MEA is presented. The device consists of a three dimensional sensor configuration with an implantable depth electrode array and brain surface electrodes, allowing the recording of electrocorticographic (ECoG) signals with laminar ones, simultaneously. In vivo recordings were performed in anesthetized rat brain to test the functionality of the device under both acute and chronic conditions. The ECoG electrodes recorded slow-wave thalamocortical oscillations, while the implanted component provided high quality depth recordings. The implants remained viable for detecting action potentials of individual neurons for at least 15 weeks

A Novel Polyimide – Platinum – SU-8 Microelectrode Array for Various Electrophysiological Applications

Precise and reproducible construction of microelectrode arrays (MEAs) is possible due to the advanced technology of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Polymer - based MEMS devices are gaining increasing attention in the field of experimental electrophysiology, since their mechanical flexibility allows smooth coupling with the soft neural tissue. In this paper we present a novel MEA with a layer structure of polyimide – platinu m – SU - 8. A single row of electrodes with arrow - like shapes were formed, designed to make possible a slight penetrat ion of the sites into the tissue. Functional tests were performe d on rat brain slices (in vitro) and on intact rat neocortex (in vivo)

Increased Prevalence of Celiac Disease in Patients with Cystic Fibrosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objectives: Immune regulation seems to be altered in cystic fibrosis (CF), thus potentially predisposing patients to developing autoimmune diseases (AID). In this meta-analysis, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence of celiac disease (CeD) among CF patients as by far the most commonly reported autoimmune disease in this population and, secondly, to review the observations on other, less frequently studied autoimmune diseases. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature search for studies that discussed AIDs among CF patients. Following standard selection and data collection, we calculated pooled raw prevalence with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for biopsy-verified CeD and seropositivity. Results: Out of the 21 eligible studies, 15 reported on CeD. Pooled prevalence of biopsy-verified CeD was 1.8% (CI 1.1–2.7%) according to a homogeneous dataset from six prospective, consecutive screening studies, while it proved to be 2.3% (CI 1.1–4.7%) according to a heterogeneous dataset from the other studies. Tissue transglutaminase IgA positivity was detected in 4.5% of CF cases (CI 2.8–6.9%), while tissue transglutaminase IgA–endomysial antibody IgA double positivity was found in 2.4% of them (CI 1.5–3.9%). Findings on other AIDs were strongly limited. Conclusions: The pooled prevalence of CeD in CF seemed to be more than twice as high compared to the global prevalence; therefore, routine screening of CeD could be considered in CF

Klinikopatológiai szemléletű emlőrákkutatások

In the second half of the 20th century research focusing to breast carcinomas at the Semmelweis University had been mostly linked to the 2nd Department of Pathology. Nowadays, following the rapidly improving treatment modalities in breast cancer there is an increasing need for defining new predictive and prognostic markers. The modern molecular pathological approach helps tremendously in mapping the biological behavior of individual cases of breast cancers and meanwhile, it is one of the prerequisites of a more efficient treatment both in neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings, as well as in metastatic disease. We provide a brief review of the relevant results we have obtained in breast cancer research between 2000 and 2015

Identification of a claudin-4 and E-cadherin score to predict prognosis in breast cancer

The elevated expression of claudins (CLDN) and E-cadherin (CDH-1) was found to correlate with poor prognostic features. Our aim was to perform a comprehensive analysis to assess their potential to predict prognosis in breast cancer. The expression of CLDN-1, -3-5, -7, -8, -10, -15, -18, and E-cadherin at the mRNA level was evaluated in correlation with survival in datasets containing expression measurements of 1809 breast cancer patients. The breast cancer tissues of 197 patients were evaluated with tissue microarray technique and immunohistochemical method for CLDN-1-5, -7, and E-cadherin protein expression. An additional validation set of 387 patients was used to test the accuracy of the resulting prognostic score. Based on the bioinformatic screening of publicly-available datasets, the metagene of CLDN-3, -4, -7, and E-cadherin was shown to have the most powerful predictive power in the survival analyses. An immunohistochemical protein profile consisting of CLDN-2, -4, and E-cadherin was able to predict outcome in the most effective manner in the training set. Combining the overlapping members of the above two methods resulted in the claudin-4 and E-cadherin score (CURIO), which was able to accurately predict relapse-free survival in the validation cohort (P=0.029). The multivariate analysis, including clinicopathological variables and the CURIO, showed that the latter kept its predictive power (P=0.040). Furthermore, the CURIO was able to further refine prognosis, separating good versus poor prognosis subgroups in luminal A, luminal B, and triple-negative breast cancer intrinsic subtypes. In breast cancer, the CURIO provides additional prognostic information besides the routinely utilized diagnostic approaches and factors. © 2011 Japanese Cancer Association