Calcium sensitizers: What have we learned over the last 25years?

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A magyarországi közművállalatok tehernövekedését eredményező állami intézkedések hatása. Három magyarországi víziközmű-vállalkozás GDP-megoszlásának tanulságai

A közmű-szolgáltatások fogyasztói árának általános hatósági csökkentése, a gazdasági és pénzügyi válság sújtotta magyar lakosságot "védő" kormányzati intézkedéssorozat részeként, mára szervesen betagozódott az európai közvéleményt egyaránt foglalkoztató kérdések sorába. A tagországok által eleddig szakpolitikai szinten kezelt témakör az általános politika szintjére emelkedett. Az árcsökkentéssel együtt járó, a közműcégeket az eddigieknél nagyobb mértékű tehervállalásra kényszerítő intézkedések következményei azonban egyelőre még nem ismertek. Az elemzés három magyarországi víziközmű-vállalkozás által előállított GDP megoszlását vizsgálja, az elmúlt években állandósult adóterhek következtében kialakult, valamint azok esetleges további növelése esetén bekövetkező szolgáltatói magatartás modellezésére tesz kísérletet. Az eredmények elemzése során pedig arra a következtetésre jut, hogy a vállalatokat eddigiekben terhelő elvonási arányok negatív irányba történő megváltoztatása, a jövőben fenntarthatatlan működésre kényszerítheti ezeket a vállalkozásokat

British Perspectives on the Hungarian Post-war Settlement and the Treaty of Trianon

British foreign policy examined Hungary’s role with respect to its effect on the European powerbalance: it judged Hungary favourably as long as it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, but, as Hungarian separatist ambitions grew stronger, the country was treated as a threat. The paper looks at how the members of the British delegation at the Paris Peace Conference saw differently the way through which the maintenance of the above mentioned power balance could have been reached. Moreover, it is also scrutinised how various interest groups could exercise considerable impact on the outcome of the negotiations. On the one hand, Arthur Balfour, head of the British Foreign Office, thought that a long-term peace was possible only by strengthening the new, winner nation states, whose tasks were to hinder further German expansion towards the Balkans, and Bolshevism towards Europe. On the other hand, David Lloyd George, head of the British Cabinet, was on the opinion that only the extension of the Wilsonian Principles on the loser states could bring enduring peace in Europe. This study also investigates to what extent utilizing the nationalist movements proved to be  effective tactics for the Entente Powers in reaching their war aims. Namely, the Entente proclaimed independence for the nationalities and a just settlement, but at the same time, they tried to comply with the secret covenants concluded during the war. These secret agreements did not take nationalist interests into consideration at all, and they meant specifically unjust arrangement to Hungary. Consequently, the paper argues that the Trianon Treaty was not only the result of political instability in Hungary and the Carpathian Basin in general as well as the validation of the Great Powers’ political interests on the continent, which proposed to impede German expansion and Russian Bolshevism, but also the result of the more effective propaganda activity of the anti-Hungarian group of British political activists and their international network led by Wickham Steed and Seton-Watson

Effects of sub-base surface roughness on shrinkage cracking of industrial floors

Avoiding the formation of shrinkage cracks is one of the most important tasks in construction of concrete industrial floors. Cracks appear on the surface of floors when the nonlinear processes in the structure lead to internal stresses that exceed the actual tensile strength of the concrete. The tensile stresses developed depend on the constrained deformation of the floor during shrinkage and the elastic modulus of the material of the concrete slab. However, on the top surface of the floor, the tensile stresses can be increased, if the shrinkage deformations are constrained by the uneven evaporation and the generated friction between the sub-base and the floor. The value of friction coefficient is depended primarily on the surface roughness of the subbase and the type of polyethylene foil used between the sub-base and the concrete slab. The paper presents the results of experimental investigations on the friction coefficient and the effects of its value on the cracking process of industrial concrete floor slabs

British perspectives on the Hungarian post-war settlement and the treaty of Trianon

British foreign policy examined Hungary’s role with respect to its effect on the European powerbalance: it judged Hungary favourably as long as it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, but, as Hungarian separatist ambitions grew stronger, the country was treated as a threat The paper looks at how the members of the British delegation at the Paris Peace Conference saw differently the way through which the maintenance of the above mentioned power balance could have been reached. Moreover, it is also scrutinised how various interest groups could exercise considerable impact on the outcome of the negotiations. On the one hand, Arthur Balfour, head of the British Foreign Office, thought that a long-term peace was possible only by strengthening the new, winner nation states, whose tasks were to hinder further German expansion towards the Balkans, and Bolshevism towards Europe. On the other hand, David Lloyd George, head of the British Cabinet, was on the opinion that only the extension of the Wilsonian Principles on the loser states could bring enduring peace in Europe. This study also investigates to what extent utilizing the nationalist movements proved to be effective tactics for the Entente Powers in reaching their war aims. Namely, the Entente proclaimed independence for the nationalities and a just settlement, but at the same time, they tried to comply with the secret covenants concluded during the war. These secret agreements did not take nationalist interests into consideration at all, and they meant specifically unjust arrangement to Hungary. Consequently, the paper argues that the Trianon Treaty was not only the result of political instability in Hungary and the Carpathian Basin in general as well as the validation of the Great Powers’ political interests on the continent, which proposed to impede German expansion and Russian Bolshevism, but also the result of the more effective propaganda activity of the anti-Hungarian group of British political activists and their international network led by Wickham Steed and Seton-Watson

Корпоративне управління і його роль в забезпеченні беззбитковості і конкурентоспроможності промислових підприємств

У статті виявлено позитивний вплив міжнародного рівня конкуренції на конкурентоспроможність промислових підприємств і створення стимулів до ефективності корпоративного управління. Надано рекомендації щодо розвитку корпоративного управління промислових підприємств. The author of the article considers the positive influence of international competition level on the competitiveness of industrial enterprises and the creation of stimulus for efficiency of corporate management. Recommendations concerning development of corporative management of industrial enterprises are given

Formula partitioning revisited

Dividing a Boolean formula into smaller independent sub-formulae can be a useful technique for accelerating the solution of Boolean problems, including SAT and #SAT. Nevertheless, and despite promising early results, formula partitioning is hardly used in state-of-the-art solvers. In this paper, we show that this is rooted in a lack of consistency of the usefulness of formula partitioning techniques. In particular, we evaluate two existing and a novel partitioning model, coupled with two existing and two novel partitioning algorithms, on a wide range of benchmark instances. Our results show that there is no one-size-fits-all solution: for different formula types, different partitioning models and algorithms are the most suitable. While these results might seem negative, they help to improve our understanding about formula partitioning; moreover, the findings also give guidance as to which method to use for what kinds of formulae

First record of wormlion Vermileo vermileo (Diptera: Vermileonidae) from Greece = Πρώτη αναφορά του Vermileo vermileo (Diptera: Vermileonidae) στην Ελλάδα

In this work, we present the first record of the species Vermileo vermileo from Greece. The larvae and pupae of Vermileo vermileo (Linnaeus, 1758) (Diptera, Vermileonidae) and Myrmeleon inconspicuus Rambur, 1842 (Neuroptera, Myrmeleontidae) species were collected from pits on a dry soil surface, in well-protected from rain places, from the Greek island of Thasos during the summer of 2017, in close proximity to Potos and Skala Potamias resort areas. The individuals were further kept under laboratory conditions for definite identification. According to available literature, the dipteran species V. vermileo is new for the Greek fauna

A humán myocardium kontraktilis fehérjéinek oxidációja és annak mechanikai következményei = The mechanical consequence of contractile protein oxidation in the human myocardium

Megfigyeléseink szerint a szívelégtelenség előrehaladott stádiumaiban a kontraktilis fehérjék Ca2+-érzékenysége fokozódik, mely leginkább a troponin I fehérjék alul-foszforforiláltságával függhet össze. Amennyiben a funkciózavar diastolés komponenssel is rendelkezik, úgy a csökkent miofilemantáris fehérjefoszforiláció a szarkomer titin nevű óriásfehérjéjét is érintheti, ezáltal fokozva a szívizomsejtek passzív feszülését. Ezeket az eltéréseket a nitro-oxidatív stressz fokozódásával járó állapotokban további fehérjekárosodások egészíthetik ki. In vitro teszt körülmények között a szívizomfehérjék szulfhidril csoportjainak (SH) ditiodipiridin segítségével létrehozott oxidációja, a tirozin oldalláncok peroxinitrit segítségével kiváltott nitrációja, vagy karbonilációja a szívizomsejtek Ca2+-ra adott válaszadó-képességét egyaránt csökkentik. A szarkomerek mechanikai funkciójának változásit azonban ezekben az esetekben más és más fehérjék idézik elő. Míg a szarkomerfehérjék nitrációja elsősorban strukturális változásokat eredményez, addig az SH-oxidáció és a fehérjekarboniláció a kontraktilis fehérjerendszer működésének szabályozását károsítja. Összességében, a szívbetegségek során a kontraktilis erő Ca2+-érzékenységének növekedése vagy csökkenése a szakomert alkotó fehérjék egymáshoz viszonyított hierarchikus rendszerétől és a fehérjekárosodások egymásra gyakorolt hatásaitól függhetnek. Ez magyarázhatja azt is, hogy infarktuson átesett egerek (fokozott fehéjekarbonilációjával járó) szívelégtelenségében, dacára a troponin I hipofoszforilációjának, a kontraktilis erő Ca2+-érzékenységének csökkenése alakul ki. | Our results suggest that at progressed stages of heart failure beta-adrenergic down-regulation is accompanied by an increase in the Ca2+-sensitivity of force production mainly because of troponin I hypophosphorylation. In cases of diastolic dysfunction myofilament hypophosphorylation involves the giant sarcomeric protein titin, thereby increasing the passive stiffness of cardiomyocytes. These protein alterations might be complemented by additional ones during conditions leading to nitro-oxidative stress. Under in vitro test conditions selective oxidation of sulfhydryl groups (SH) by dithiodipyridine, nitration of tyrosine residues by peroxynitrite, or protein carbonylation all decrease the Ca2+-responsiveness of force production in permeabilized cardiomyocytes. However, the sarcomeric proteins affected by these insults and the mechanisms by which they evoke sarcomeric dysfunctions are divergent. Our results suggested predominant structural alterations of the sarcomere following protein nitration, while SH-oxidation or protein carbonylation were associated with changes in the fine regulation of sarcomeric function. Collectively, the direction of change in the Ca2+-sensitivity of force production may depend on the hierarchy of sarcomeric protein alterations and on their interactions in the diseased heart. For example, in a postischemic murine model of heart failure (with increased protein carbonylation) we found a decreased Ca2+-sensitivity of force production in cardiomyocytes at the infarcted zone despite troponin I hypophosphorylation