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Several protection systems of farm animal genetic resources (AnGR) have been elaborated to accomplish conservation programmes. However, conservation practice may differ from region to region even within one country, according to the local environment, climate, agricultural traditions and uniqueness for the region local breeds and ecotypes. The paper introduces the Hungarian protection system, which consists of gene banks, gene protection and gene conservation as main elements of local farm animal breed protection with an important additional element of the system for the Carpathian Basin: gene rescue. It aims to retain all precious heritage of local livestock being out of the scope of the current gene conservation programmes (critically endangered varieties, landraces, ecotypes, specific populations or even individuals with fixed characteristic properties). Next to the brief introduction of the Hungarian protection ystem and HáGK research scopes of AnGR conservation, the authors provide examples of local breeds and ecotypes for which the gene rescue programme have been or should be started in Szeklerland, Transylvania. The programme is called “The Szekler Gene Ring” or in Hungarian “A Székely Géngyur ˝ u”. ˝ Some technical details of the Gene Ring programme are also mentioned. It is concluded that urgent action and the cooperation of breeders, conservationists of related countries are required to start special gene rescue projects with the aim of collecting animals, starting nucleus stock breeding in situ, supporting the existing and elaborating new gene conservation programmes of distinct local breeds and ecotypes traditional for the Carpathian Basin. Introducing cases of general conservation or specific gene rescue programmes that might be useful for other regions and countries, including Southeast Asia, where unique local breeds still exist, can be a further objective of this paper.

Biomarkers for pulmonary manifestations in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are missing. Plasma samples of nine SLE patients with known pulmonary involvement (SLEpulm) and nine SLE patients without pulmonary involvement (SLE) were tested by multiplex microarray analysis for various cyto- and chemokines. Significantly decreased lung function paramters for forced vital capacity (FVC), total lung capacity (TLC), diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) and diffusion of CO corrected on lung volume (KLCO) were observed in SLEpulm as compared to SLE patients. CC chemokine ligand 21 (CCL21) and interferon gamma-induced protein 10 (IP-10) levels were significantly higher in SLEpulm, than in patients without pulmonary manifestations. CCL21 correlated negatively with DLCO ( r = −0.73; p CO ( r = −0.62; p CO/KLCO changes and were associated with significant increase in CCL21 and IP-10. These chemokines might serve as potential biomarkers of lung involvement in SLE patients.

Bioconversion of mycophenolic acid (MPA, I) having considerable immuno-suppressant activity was attempted with a great number of microorganisms. Four Streptomyces strains were selected, which transformed MPA to various bioconversion products. These derivatives of MPA (II–VI) were isolated and their structures were determined by IR, 1 H , 13 C NMR and mass spectroscopic methods. In the course of bioconversions, mycophenolic acid underwent one or more of the following transformations: hydroxylation on the side chain or on the lactone ring, amide and alcohol formation from the carboxylic acid group, oxidative cyclizations of the side chain and glycosylation.

In our microbial screening program, we have isolated a fungal strain which produced mycophenolic acid (MPA). This compound is a selective inhibitor of guanine synthesis and, therefore, it has antibacterial, antiviral, antitumor and selective immunosuppressive activities, too. This last effect was utilised by Roche-Syntex to develop a derivative of MPA to the immunosuppressive drug CellCept®. In order to obtain novel derivatives of MPA with an enhanced activity, we applied bioconversion of MPA with various microorganisms. TLC with densitometric evaluation and HPLC methods were developed for measurement of MPA derivatives. In the course of the bioconversion of MPA by using various types of microorganisms amidation of the carboxyl group, hydroxylation of the C4-methyl group and formation of glycoside derivatives from the hydroxyl group located on C7 were observed as the most frequently occurring transformations. The structures of bioconversion products were determined by UV, IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and mass spectroscopic methods. The taxonomic features of cultures of the species applied in the bioconversion were also determined.

It has seemed at times that there is no neutral territory between those who see Bakhtin as the practitioner of a kind of neo-Marxist, or at least materialist, deconstruction and those who look at the same texts and see a defender of traditional, liberal humanist values and classical conceptions of order, a conservative in the true sense of the term. Arising from a conference under the same title held at Texas Tech University, Carnivalizing Difference seeks to explore the actual and possible relationships between Bakhtinian theory and cultural practice. The introduction explores the changing configurations of our understanding of Bakhtin's work in the context of recent theory and outlines how that understanding can inform, and be informed by, culture both ancient and modern. Eleven articles, spanning a wide range of periods and cultural forms, then address these issues in detail, revealing the ways in which Bakhtinian thought illuminates, sometimes obfuscates, but always challenges.

Foreword Katalin Bogyay New Paradigms in Changing Spaces: An Introduction Peter I. Barta 1. The Wall Has Fallen on All of Us Dubravka Ugresic 2. Twenty Years after the Curtain Fell A Personal Account by an Austrian Gabriele Matzner-Holzer 3. The Rediscovery of Central Europe in the 1980s Catherine Horel 4. Gulfs and Gaps--Prague and Lisbon--1989 and 2009 Wolfgang Muller-Funk 5. Borders in Mind or How to Re-invent Identities Rudiger Gorner 6. The Iron Curtain, The Wall and Performative 'Verfremdung' Annelis Kuhlmann 7. The Re-Emergence of National Cultures Following Independence in the Baltic States Charles de Chassiron 8. Explosions, Shifts and Backtracking in Post-Soviet Fiction Helene Melat 9. Neither East Nor West: Polyphony and Deterritorialization in Contemporary European Fiction Maria Rubins 10. The Fall of the Iron Curtain and the New Linguistic Landscape of East-Central Europe Michael Moser

The human p68, Saccharomyces cerevisiae DBP2 and Schizosaccharomyces pombe dbp2 genes are closely related members of the 'DEAD-box' RNA helicase superfamily. All three genes contain an intron at a conserved site in RNA helicase motif V. The S.cerevisiae intron is unusual both for its position near the 3'-end of the open reading frame and for its size, 1001 nucleotides. We show here that precise deletion of the intron has no effect on cell viability but leads to an increase in Dbp2p protein expression. Inefficient splicing due to the size of the intron can not account for this difference because the intron is efficiently spliced in Dbp2p-deficient cells. Instead, there is a reciprocal relationship between the amount of Dbp2p in the cell and the efficiency with which DBP2 intron-containing genes are expressed. Inactive Dbp2p mutants are efficiently expressed from DBP2 intron-containing plasmids, and fragments of the DBP2 intron confer Dbp2p-responsiveness on heterologous reporter introns. This suggest that there is an intron-mediated negative feedback loop regulating DBP2 expression, and provides a possible explanation for the retention of such an unusual intron in S.cerevisiae.

We tested the hypothesis that carotid atherosclerosis in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is associated with poor health-related quality of life (HRQOL), which is independent of any association with traditional risk factors (TRFs), lifestyle and socioeconomic factors. Women with SLE completed the RAND Medical Outcome Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey version 1 (MOS SF-36). B-mode Doppler examination of the carotid arteries determined the presence of atherosclerotic plaque. The association between carotid plaque and HRQOL domains was analysed using logistic regression models with sequential adjustments for age, TRFs, education level and employment status. We studied 181 women, 47 (26%) of whom had carotid plaque. Carotid plaque was significantly associated with lower levels of physical functioning (p = 0.047), vitality (p = 0.04), role emotional (p = 0.04) and mental health subscales (p = 0.01) and lower mental component summary score (MCS) (p = 0.03). These associations were no longer significant after adjustment for age and TRFs, especially smoking. Smokers had lower physical functioning, vitality and mental health and more bodily pain. The association between carotid plaque and HRQOL was not independent of TRFs and smoking was a key mediator of the associations found. Poor HRQOL in smokers will need addressing as part of any smoking cessation strategies in SLE patients.

The article offers a quick survey of the history of producing Blackness within Russian epistemological space. It proposes that racism in Russia is tied up with unsuccessful attempts at nation building and, specifically, the failure of producing a satisfactory identity narrative for educational/propagandistic purposes. Following the loss of Empire and the lapse of the monopoly of the official rhetoric of the Communist Party, Russian culture has probed the question of empire and of the space of the Russian « civiliser » and the African « pupil ». Tolstaya, Lipskerov, Prokhanov and Lukinskii in the printed and visual media offer their takes on the question and it is the purpose of this essay to analyse and contextualise these., Barta Peter I. La représentation des Noirs dans la culture russe postsoviétique. In: Revue Russe n°33, 2009. D’autres Russies. Altérité, diversité et complexité dans la Russie d' aujourd’hui. pp. 55-63.

Objectives Oxidative stress plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of cystic fibrosis (CF). In this study airway and systemic oxidative stress was investigated in CF through the measurement of malondialdehyde (MDA), an established by-product of polyunsaturated fatty acid peroxidation. Methods Exhaled breath condensate (EBC), sputum and plasma were collected from 40 clinically stable CF patients during routine clinical visits and from 25 healthy controls. MDA was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. Data are presented as mean±SEM. Results MDA levels in sputum (279.8±14.7 vs. 92.7±9.2 nmol/L, p Pseudomonas aeruginosa or with other bacteria were similar (p=NS). No correlations were found between MDA levels and lung function variables or sputum cell counts (p=NS). The intra- and inter-assay repeatability of MDA measurements was similar in all three types of samples, while the between-visit variability was significantly higher in plasma compared to sputum or EBC. Conclusion MDA is a potential new airway marker of oxidative stress in patients with CF. However, sputum MDA differentiates best between patients and healthy subjects.

Barta Peter I., Dalipagic Catherine, Mélat Olga. La France, pays de cocagne. In: Revue Russe n°21, 2002. pp. 17-28.

The interaction of amino acids with the herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) was studied by charge-transfer chromatography carried out on diatomaceous layers covered with different amount of 2,4-D and the effect of salts on the strength of interaction was elucidated. It was established that Arg, His, Lys, Orn, Phe and Trp binds to 2,4-D, the binding process is of saturation character. Principal component analysis proved that the concentration of 2,4-D exerts the highest impact on the interaction and the effect of salts is of secondary importance. The results suggest that these amino acid residues may account for the binding of 2,4-D to proteins and can play a considerable role in the detoxification processes by forming conjugates with 2,4-D.

Analyzing the results of 99mTc-Technetryle mammascintigraphy in 41 females with breast cancer indicated that polypositional planar mammascintigraphy ensures a high sensitivity (over 88%) in revealing a primary nodule in T1, (more than 95%) in large tumors at above 95% specificity. No nodal accumulation of 99mTc-Technetryle was observed in controls (with fibrocystic mastopathy and suspected coronary heart disease. Mammascintigraphy showed a 85% sensitivity in recognizing axillary lymph nodal metastases too and ascertained that 14 patients had suptaclavicular and subclavian lymph nodal metastases. Therefore, 99mTc-technetryle mammascintigraphy is the method of choice in early detecting a tumorous process, primarily lymphogenic metastasis in breast cancer, and in evaluating its extent.