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Abstract Pencycuron, a phenylurea-type antifungal agent, is used in agriculture worldwide for inhibiting the growth of various fungal pathogens of crops. Pencycuron residues were found in vegetables, soil and drinking water. Accordingly, both occupational and consumer exposure can be expected and may be significant. However, human toxicity studies on its genotoxic, mutagenic or carcinogenic potential are lacking. Therefore, a collaborative study was performed in two laboratories to investigate whether pencycuron exposure can induce DNA damage. The genotoxic effect of 0–100 μg/ml pencycuron in in vitro cultures of human mononuclear white blood cells (MWBCs) and human hepatocytes (HepG2) was detected by cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay and comet assay. The combined results of the two labs showed a dose-dependent DNA damage detected by micronucleus frequency, which reached statistical significance at 100 μg/ml concentration after 21-h exposure in HepG2 cells (p = 0.048). Significant genotoxic effect could also be observed in the comet assay from 50 μg/ml concentration in MWBCs, and at 100 μg/ml concentration in HepG2 cells in one lab. Nevertheless, this finding was not confirmed by the other lab in HepG2 cells, where Fpg-dependent oxidative DNA damage could also not be detected. The results indicate that pencycuron may have DNA-damaging potential as well as point out inter-laboratory variability that calls for further studies to confirm the genotoxicity of this fungicide. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Pencycuron genotoxicity was investigated in collaboration of two laboratories. • The fungicide was able to induce statistically significant DNA damage. • Inter-lab variability was observed in comet assay results. • Further studies on the genotoxic characteristics of pencycuron are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenothrin, a synthetic pyrethroid compound, is widely used to control agricultural and household insects, as well as to eliminate human louse infestation. Toxicity studies on the direct DNA-damaging effect of phenothrin are lacking. We therefore investigated whether phenothrin exposure can lead to increased DNA damage in vitro in human peripheral blood lymphocytes and in human hepatocytes. Genotoxicity was evaluated by means of the comet assay modified with formamidopyrimidine DNA-glycosylase post-treatment for the detection of oxidative base-damage in DNA. We also assessed the cytotoxic potential of this compound by use of combined fluorescence viability staining. Our results show that phenothrin induces statistically significant, dose-dependent DNA damage in the absence of marked cytotoxicity at concentrations higher than 20μM and 50μM in human blood peripheral lymphocytes and hepatocytes, respectively. Oxidative DNA damage could also be detected in the two cell types, although this did not reach statistical significance. These findings provide evidence of the DNA-damaging potential of phenothrin and call for additional studies to reveal the genotoxic properties of this pyrethroid. The observations also point at the importance of using caution when considering the use of phenothrin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: An Agreement of Cooperation was concluded in 2008 on the setting up of an Energy Security Centre amongst the Hungarian Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Economy and Transport, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Office for Research and Technology and the Prime Minister''s Office. This paper summarizes the findings for the setting up of the Centre and creating the necessary conditions required for its operation. The main idea is that qualitatively new conditions to facilitate effective problem solving to meet the demands of mankind for energy are needed. The key part of this work is the creation of the structures of a global problem solving network. It will function as a network of energy security knowledge centres (KC). A number of KC with different specialisation will be built on these structures, resulting in a global network with new synergies, which will in return foster the development of new capabilities and the emergence of new way of thinking. The paper discusses the results related to the application of a global approach to energy security and points out the necessity of regarding energy security and environmental protection as integral parts of the system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The decline of farmland and grassland biodiversity is one the major conservation concerns nowadays. The European roller is a secondary cavity nester species typically inhabiting grasslands and farmlands. It has suffered large declines both in size and range of the population since the 1960s, but this negative trend has been reversed in several countries by applying direct conservation actions. As part of this study we aimed to evaluate the current habitat suitability of the historical breeding area of the species within Hungary, to promote the recolonization and the enlargement of the breeding range in the Carpathian Basin, and to evaluate the potential significance of the Natura 2000 network in this process. We applied species distribution modelling (SDM) based on nest-box occupancy data to map potential areas for nest-box supplementation. Grasslands, broad-leaved forests and agricultural sites with significant areas of natural vegetation were found to be the most important predictors. The majority (71%) of the predicted area has no occupied nest-boxes. A significantly larger proportion of grid cells with archive data still preserve suitable land cover composition for rollers, than cells where former breeding was not confirmed, and only a small proportion of former breeding area has become completely unsuitable for the species. Our results indicate large overlaps between the Natura 2000 network and the predicted area, of which 28.3% overlaps with Special Protection Area (SPA) sites and 23.8% with Special Area of Conservation (SAC/SCI) sites. Our study highlights the importance of promoting the recolonization of the European roller in the Transdanubian region of Hungary and provides a useful tool for direct conservation planning for the species. Our results also suggest that a coordinated network of protected areas such as Natura 2000 can potentially serve as core areas in the recolonization processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The year 2010 was a milestone in the history of transplantation in Hungary. Hungarian politicians became interested in solving the serious problems facing organ transplantation in our country. The State Secretary announced a program to (1) increase waiting lists, (2) raise donor numbers, (3) establish a lung transplant program, (4) promote education and increase the knowledge base regarding transplantation for the public and the medical profession, and finally, (5) to begin the negotiations for Hungary to join Eurotransplant. Joining Eurotransplant has been a priority of the transplant community. Finally, this year saw the Budapest Transplant Center perform 20% of their transplants from living kidney donors, up from 5% historically. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Hungary joined Eurotransplant International (ET) to improve the chance of transplantation for Hungarian patients and patient outcomes, including access and graft and patient survival. After 5 years of full membership, the evaluation of numbers and quality indicators is possible. A comparison was made between 5 years prior to a preliminary cooperation agreement (2007-2011) and 5 years after full ET membership (2014-2018). During the 2 study periods, we analyzed numbers and circumstances of deceased organ donors, multiorgan donors, donated organs, and transplantations in Hungary and development of waiting lists along with international organ exchanges. The number of actual organ donors increased by 22.09% (729 vs 890), an additional 823 organ removals represents an increase of 42.71% (1927 vs 2750). There were 46.51% more transplants managed in the selected periods (1561 vs 2287). The number of new patients on the waiting list increased (2305 vs 3247; 40.87%). The mean kidney mismatch number decreased from 3.21 to 2.96. Joining ET has been an effective and efficient in terms of increasing access to organs and the lives of patients on the Hungarian waiting list posttransplant. It is also a benefit for patients with special needs because the number of organ transplants is greater than the increased number of donors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gradual increase in the global population has led to the rising demand for agricultural products worldwide. This required the introduction of environment- and public health-friendly advanced technologies for plant protection to guard yields from pest destruction in a sustainable way. Encapsulation technology is a promising procedure to increase the effectiveness of pesticide active ingredients while reducing human exposure and environmental impact. Despite the presumed favorable properties of encapsulated pesticide formulations on human health, it is necessary to systematically assess whether they are less harmful to human health than conventional pesticide products. We aim to systematically review the literature to answer the question of whether micro- or nano-encapsulated pesticide formulations exert different degrees of toxicity than their conventional (not-encapsulated) counterparts in in vivo animal and in vitro (human, animal, and bacterial cell) non-target models. The answer is important to estimate the possible differences in the toxicological hazards of the two different types of pesticide formulations. Because our extracted data will come from different models, we also aim to perform subgroup analyses to investigate how toxicity varies across different models. A pooled toxicity effect estimate will also be performed by meta -analysis when appropriate. The systematic review will follow the guidelines developed by the National Toxicology Program's Office of Health Assessment and Translation (NTP/OHAT). The protocol adheres to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and meta-analyses Protocol (PRISMA-P) statement. PubMed (NLM), Scopus (Elsevier), Web of Science Core Collection (Clarivate), Embase (Elsevier), and Agricola (EBSCOhost) electronic databases will be comprehensively searched in September 2022 to identify eligible studies using multiple search terms of "pesticide", "encapsulation" and "toxicity" along with their synonyms and other words that are semantically related. The reference lists of all eligible articles and retrieved reviews will be manually screened to identify additional relevant papers. We will include peer-reviewed experimental (non-target in vivo animal model and in vitro human, animal, and bacterial cell cultures) studies published as full-text articles in English language that simultaneously investigate the effect of any micro- or nano-encapsulated pesticide formulation, applied in all ranges of concentrations, duration, and routes of exposure, and its corresponding active ingredient(s) or its conventional non-encapsulated product formulation(s) used in the same ranges of concentrations, duration, and routes of exposure on the same pathophysiological outcome. We will exclude studies that examine pesticidal activity on target organisms, cultures of cells isolated from target organisms exposed in vivo or in vitro , and those using biological materials isolated from target organisms/cells. Studies identified by the search will be screened and managed according to the review inclusion and exclusion criteria in the Covidence systematic review tool by two reviewers, who will also blindly extract the data and assess the risk of bias of included studies. The OHAT risk of bias tool will be applied to evaluate the quality and risk of bias in the included studies. Study findings will be synthesized narratively by important features of the study populations, design, exposure, and endpoints. If findings make it possible, a meta -analysis will be performed on identified toxicity outcomes. To rate the certainty in the body of evidence, we will use the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In vitro and in vivo activities of amikacin and imipenem alone, and in combination, were studied against an extended-spectrum β-lactamase–producing Klebsiella pneumoniae strain. The strain was in vitro susceptible to both antimicrobials at 105 and 107 CFU/mL. In time–kill studies amikacin, imipenem, and amikacin plus imipenem decreased the bacterial counts; difference between the bactericidal effects was not observed. Chequerboard technique showed no interaction between the tested drugs. Mice infected with 107 CFU/g of the K. pneumoniae were treated by amikacin (15 mg/kg every 8 h), imipenem (40 mg/kg every 4 h), or amikacin plus imipenem for 24 h. Blood bacterial counts in the group treated with amikacin plus imipenem did not differ significantly from the groups treated with amikacin or imipenem alone. Combination of amikacin and imipenem did not demonstrate any advantage over imipenem alone either in vitro or in vivo. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]