THE SAPARD PROGRAM IN HUNGARY: PROBLEMS AND PERSPECTIVES

The EU Agenda 2000 program, made public in 1997, established the basis for future EU member countries to develop their rural areas and agriculture. This was the SAPARD program, which was aimed at assisting 10 countries ready to join the union. The monetary fund of the program amounted to 520 million EUROs/year for the period 2000-2006, which the countries involved could apply for. Our research is trying to find an answer to problems emerging in the process of rural and agricultural development, in conflicts between two alternative programs; furthermore, it also covers various processes in a smaller area. We are focusing on the advantages and disadvantages of certain areas, on opportunities offered by a program of this type. Successful competition can only be achieved, when it is based on a cooperation and agreement of the local participants. We are illustrating this process through the history of the competition of the Keszthely- Hévíz Sub-Regional Association

Properties of Pt Schottky Type Contacts On High-Resistivity CdZnTe Detectors

In this paper we present studies of the I-V characteristics of CdZnTe detectors with Pt contacts fabricated from high-resistivity single crystals grown by the high-pressure Brigman process. We have analyzed the experimental I-V curves using a model that approximates the CZT detector as a system consisting of a reversed Schottky contact in series with the bulk resistance. Least square fits to the experimental data yield 0.78-0.79 eV for the Pt-CZT Schottky barrier height, and <20 V for the voltage required to deplete a 2 mm thick CZT detector. We demonstrate that at high bias the thermionic current over the Schottky barrier, the height of which is reduced due to an interfacial layer between the contact and CZT material, controls the leakage current of the detectors. In many cases the dark current is not determined by the resistivity of the bulk material, but rather the properties of the contacts; namely by the interfacial layer between the contact and CZT material.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figure

Robotic equipment carrying RN detectors: requirements and capabilities for testing

77 pags., 32 figs., 5 tabs.-- ERNCIP Radiological and Nuclear Threats to Critical Infrastructure Thematic Group . -- This publication is a Technical report by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) . -- JRC128728 . -- EUR 31044 ENThe research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union as part of the European Reference Network for Critical Infrastructure Protection (ERNCIP) projec

Molecular Dynamics Studies of Dislocations in CdTe Crystals from a New Bond Order Potential

Cd1-xZnxTe (CZT) crystals are the leading semiconductors for radiation detection, but their application is limited by the high cost of detector-grade materials. High crystal costs primarily result from property non-uniformity that causes low manufacturing yield. While tremendous efforts have been made in the past to reduce Te inclusions / precipitates in CZT, this has not resulted in an anticipated improvement in material property uniformity. Moreover, it is recognized that in addition to Te particles, dislocation cells can also cause electric field perturbation and the associated property non-uniformity. Further improvement of the material, therefore, requires that dislocations in CZT crystals be understood and controlled. Here we use a recently developed CZT bond order potential to perform representative molecular dynamics simulations to study configurations, energies, and mobilities of 29 different types of possible dislocations in CdTe (i.e., x = 1) crystals. An efficient method to derive activation free energies and activation volumes of thermally activated dislocation motion will be explored. Our focus gives insight into understanding important dislocations in the material, and gives guidance toward experimental efforts for improving dislocation network structures in CZT crystals

Mandatory chromosomal segment balance in aneuploid tumor cells

Copyright: Copyright 2013 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Background: Euploid chromosome balance is vitally important for normal development, but is profoundly changed in many tumors. Is each tumor dependent on its own structurally and numerically changed chromosome complement that has evolved during its development and progression? We have previously shown that normal chromosome 3 transfer into the KH39 renal cell carcinoma line and into the Hone1 nasopharyngeal carcinoma line inhibited their tumorigenicity. The aim of the present study was to distinguish between a qualitative and a quantitative model of this suppression. According to the former, a damaged or deleted tumor suppressor gene would be restored by the transfer of a normal chromosome. If so, suppression would be released only when the corresponding sequences of the exogenous normal chromosome are lost or inactivated. According to the alternative quantitative model, the tumor cell would not tolerate an increased dosage of the relevant gene or segment. If so, either a normal cell derived, or, a tumor derived endogenous segment could be lost. Methods: Fluorescence in Situ Hybridization based methods, as well as analysis of polymorphic microsatellite markers were used to follow chromosome 3 constitution changes in monochromosomal hybrids. Results: In both tumor lines with introduced supernumerary chromosomes 3, the copy number of 3p21 or the entire 3p tended to fall back to the original level during both in vitro and in vivo growth. An exogenous, normal cell derived, or an endogenous, tumor derived, chromosome segment was lost with similar probability. Identification of the lost versus retained segments showed that the intolerance for increased copy number was particularly strong for 3p14-p21, and weaker for other 3p regions. Gains in copy number were, on the other hand, well tolerated in the long arm and particularly the 3q26-q27 region. Conclusion: The inability of the cell to tolerate an experimentally imposed gain in 3p14-p21 in contrast to the well tolerated gain in 3q26-q27 is consistent with the fact that the former is often deleted in human tumors, whereas the latter is frequently amplified. The findings emphasize the importance of even minor changes in copy number in seemingly unbalanced aneuploid tumors.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Neonatal Plasma Polarizes TLR4-Mediated Cytokine Responses towards Low IL-12p70 and High IL-10 Production via Distinct Factors

Human neonates are highly susceptible to infection, which may be due in part to impaired innate immune function. Neonatal Toll-like receptor (TLR) responses are biased against the generation of pro-inflammatory/Th1-polarizing cytokines, yet the underlying mechanisms are incompletely defined. Here, we demonstrate that neonatal plasma polarizes TLR4-mediated cytokine production. When exposed to cord blood plasma, mononuclear cells (MCs) produced significantly lower TLR4-mediated IL-12p70 and higher IL-10 compared to MC exposed to adult plasma. Suppression by neonatal plasma of TLR4-mediated IL-12p70 production, but not induction of TLR4-mediated IL-10 production, was maintained up to the age of 1 month. Cord blood plasma conferred a similar pattern of MC cytokine responses to TLR3 and TLR8 agonists, demonstrating activity towards both MyD88-dependent and MyD88-independent agonists. The factor causing increased TLR4-mediated IL-10 production by cord blood plasma was heat-labile, lost after protein depletion and independent of lipoprotein binding protein (LBP) or soluble CD14 (sCD14). The factor causing inhibition of TLR4-mediated IL-12p70 production by cord blood plasma was resistant to heat inactivation or protein depletion and was independent of IL-10, vitamin D and prostaglandin E2. In conclusion, human neonatal plasma contains at least two distinct factors that suppress TLR4-mediated IL-12p70 production or induce IL-10 or production. Further identification of these factors will provide insight into the ontogeny of innate immune development and might identify novel targets for the prevention and treatment of neonatal infection

Multiple Deprivation, Severity and Latent Sub-Groups:Advantages of Factor Mixture Modelling for Analysing Material Deprivation

Material deprivation is represented in different forms and manifestations. Two individuals with the same deprivation score (i.e. number of deprivations), for instance, are likely to be unable to afford or access entirely or partially different sets of goods and services, while one individual may fail to purchase clothes and consumer durables and another one may lack access to healthcare and be deprived of adequate housing . As such, the number of possible patterns or combinations of multiple deprivation become increasingly complex for a higher number of indicators. Given this difficulty, there is interest in poverty research in understanding multiple deprivation, as this analysis might lead to the identification of meaningful population sub-groups that could be the subjects of specific policies. This article applies a factor mixture model (FMM) to a real dataset and discusses its conceptual and empirical advantages and disadvantages with respect to other methods that have been used in poverty research . The exercise suggests that FMM is based on more sensible assumptions (i.e. deprivation covary within each class), provides valuable information with which to understand multiple deprivation and is useful to understand severity of deprivation and the additive properties of deprivation indicators

Genome wide mapping reveals PDE4B as an IL-2 induced STAT5 target gene in activated human PBMCs and lymphoid cancer cells

IL-2 is the primary growth factor for promoting survival and proliferation of activated T cells that occurs following engagement of the Janus Kinase (JAK)1-3/and Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription (STAT) 5 signaling pathway. STAT5 has two isoforms: STAT5A and STAT5B ( commonly referred to as STAT5) which, in T cells, play redundant roles transcribing cell cycle and survival genes. As such, inhibition of STAT5 by a variety of mechanisms can rapidly induce apoptosis in certain lymphoid tumor cells, suggesting that it and its target genes represent therapeutic targets to control certain lymphoid diseases. To search for these molecules we aligned IL-2 regulated genes detected by Affymetrix gene expression microarrays with the STAT5 cistrome identified by chip-on-ChIP analysis in an IL-2-dependent human leukemia cell line, Kit225. Select overlapping genes were then validated using qRT(2)PCR medium-throughput arrays in human PHA-activated PBMCs. Of 19 putative genes, one key regulator of T cell receptor signaling, PDE4B, was identified as a novel target, which was readily up-regulated at the protein level (3 h) in IL-2 stimulated, activated human PBMCs. Surprisingly, only purified CD8+ primary T-cells expressed PDE4B, but not CD4+ cells. Moreover, PDE4B was found to be highly expressed in CD4+ lymphoid cancer cells, which suggests that it may represent a physiological role unique to the CD8+ and lymphoid cancer cells and thus might represent a target for pharmaceutical intervention for certain lymphoid diseases

A novel nonparametric item response theory approach to measuring socioeconomic position: a comparison using household expenditure data from a Vietnam health survey, 2003

BACKGROUND: Measures of household socio-economic position (SEP) are widely used in health research. There exist a number of approaches to their measurement, with Principal Components Analysis (PCA) applied to a basket of household assets being one of the most common. PCA, however, carries a number of assumptions about the distribution of the data which may be untenable, and alternative, non-parametric, approaches may be preferred. Mokken scale analysis is a non-parametric, item response theory approach to scale development which appears never to have been applied to household asset data. A Mokken scale can be used to rank order items (measures of wealth) as well as households. Using data on household asset ownership from a national sample of 4,154 consenting households in the World Health Survey from Vietnam, 2003, we construct two measures of household SEP. Seventeen items asking about assets, and utility and infrastructure use were used. Mokken Scaling and PCA were applied to the data. A single item measure of total household expenditure is used as a point of contrast. RESULTS: An 11 item scale, out of the 17 items, was identified that conformed to the assumptions of a Mokken Scale. All the items in the scale were identified as strong items (Hi > .5). Two PCA measures of SEP were developed as a point of contrast. One PCA measure was developed using all 17 available asset items, the other used the reduced set of 11 items identified in the Mokken scale analaysis. The Mokken Scale measure of SEP and the 17 item PCA measure had a very high correlation (r = .98), and they both correlated moderately with total household expenditure: r = .59 and r = .57 respectively. In contrast the 11 item PCA measure correlated moderately with the Mokken scale (r = .68), and weakly with the total household expenditure (r = .18). CONCLUSION: The Mokken scale measure of household SEP performed at least as well as PCA, and outperformed the PCA measure developed with the 11 items used in the Mokken scale. Unlike PCA, Mokken scaling carries no assumptions about the underlying shape of the distribution of the data, and can be used simultaneous to order household SEP and items. The approach, however, has not been tested with data from other countries and remains an interesting, but under researched approach