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The Hungarian Komárom-Esztergom County (KEC) and the Slovak Nitra Region boarders with each other via natural boarder line in the Danube River. This neighbourhood means numerous inherit and mutually beneficial cross-border cooperation possibilities. In both counties, the automotive sector is one of the flagship of the regional economic development engine. In this context, it is crucial to gain a clear view about the main characteristics of the global automotive industry to get deeper understanding on KEC regional competitive advantages and the reasons beyond them. This paper is aiming to make interregional analysis and comparison between the Hungarian Komárom-Esztergom County and the Slovak Nitra Region automotive sector. In this context, Nitra Region and its automotive sector (Jaguar Land Rover-JLR) briefly summarized (main factors and the employment, education, innovation and the cross-border relations). At the same time, revealing the differences between the Hungarian-Slovak economical governance and regulation system, draw conclusions and adoptable recommendations for the domestic decision makers.

In the time of accession to the EU, Hungary drops to the second part of the programming period 2000-2006. The Central-Hungarian region (which includes the capital and Pest County) was classified as a less developed region, similarly to all of the six ‚rural‘ regions and thus the area received the highest amount of the supporting sources. In the programming period 2007–2013, the Central-Hungarian region belonged to the transitional regions and so it received continuously decreasing subsidies. In the case of Budapest, the value of GDP per capita refers to the development, but based on the measurement, Pest County was supposed to belong to the transitional areas. Between the years 2014–2020, the whole area of the Central-Hungarian region was getting to the level of a developed region. It means that this area is not entitled to get Cohesion sources anymore. On the 30th of October 2015, Pest County Assembly made a decision about Pest County’s disruption and declared its intent to create a separated region. As long as the government stood for the idea and it met with a warm response in Brussels, Pest County could operate as an independent region from 2018. Our study will draw attention to the huge territorial differences between the capital and its agglomeration and the surrounding areas.

We have conducted a case-control study to explore the relation between the consumption of selected foods and psoriasis. The out-patient services of nine teaching hospitals and five general hospitals in northern and southern Italy took part. Cases were newly diagnosed psoriatics with a history of skin problems of no more than 2 years. As controls, we selected subjects with newly diagnosed skin conditions, other than psoriasis, who were seen in the same out-patient clinics. Inclusion of cases and controls was limited to the age group 16–65 years. A total of 316 psoriatics and 366 controls were recruited. Anthropometric measures, including height and weight, were obtained. Diet was assessed by a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. Psoriasis appeared to be positively associated with body mass index (X12 trend 4.3, P<0.05). Significant inverse relations with psoriasis were also observed for the intake of carrots (X12 trend 4.8, P<0.05), tomatoes (X12 trend 26.3, P < 0.01), fresh fruit (X12 trend 11.7, P<0.01) and index of beta-carotene intake (S12 trend 9.1, P<0.01). Although largely explorative, these results provide some evidence for a potential role of diet in psoriasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The association of guttate psoriasis with streptococcal pharyngitis is well accepted. The association of other risk factors is less well defined., Objective: We attempted to provide an estimate of the risk for guttate psoriasis associated with a recent infectious disease and to explore other potential risk factors, including family history of psoriasis and psychologic stress., Methods: This was a case-control study. Cases were patients with a first diagnosis ever of acute guttate psoriasis, made by a dermatologist. Controls were patients newly diagnosed as having dermatologic conditions other than psoriasis and seen in the same outpatient services as the cases. Inclusion of cases and controls was restricted to patients older than 16 years. The Holmes and Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale was used to assess stressful life events during the 6 months before diagnosis. A total of 73 cases (median age, 26 years) and 430 controls (median age, 28 years) were included in the analysis., Results: A family history of psoriasis was strongly associated with guttate psoriasis, the multivariate odds ratio being 7.0 (95% confidence interval, 3.7-13.5) for subjects who reported a history of the disease in parents or siblings. Stressful life events were also associated with guttate psoriasis. The multivariate odds ratio was 1.7 (95% confidence interval, 0.8-3.6) for subjects scoring 41 to 100 and 2.6 (95% confidence interval, 1.3-5.2) for those scoring more than 100 on the Holmes and Rahe Scale. The risk increased with the reported history of any infectious disease. The analysis of specific diagnoses documented a high and significant association with acute pharyngitis, the adjusted odds ratio being 7.8 (95% confidence interval, 1.8-32.5)., Conclusion: The study confirmed that recent pharyngeal infection is a risk factor for guttate psoriasis. It also documented the strong association between guttate psoriasis and a family history of psoriasis. Finally, the study added evidence to the belief that stressful life events may represent risk factors for the onset of psoriasis. By relying on the clinical diagnosis we possibly underestimate the association of guttate psoriasis with infection.

Objective: To analyze the association of psoriasis with smoking habits and alcohol consumption before first diagnosis by a dermatologist., Design: A multicenter case-control study. Interviews were conducted by trained medical investigators using a structured questionnaire., Setting: Outpatient services of 10 general and 10 teaching hospitals in northern and southern Italy., Subjects: Patients with a first diagnosis of psoriasis made by a dermatologist and a history of skin manifestations of no longer than 2 years after the reported disease onset. Patients with new diagnoses of skin diseases other than psoriasis were selected as control subjects. A total of 404 case patients (median age, 35 years) and 616 controls (median age, 36 years) were included in the analysis., Results: The risk for psoriasis was higher in ex-smokers and in current smokers than in patients who never smoked. The relation with smoking was stronger and more consistent among women than men. In men, a significant association was restricted to the ex-smoker status. Smoking was strongly associated with pustular lesions (29 patients) with an adjusted odds ratio of 10.5 (95% confidence interval, 3.3-33.5) for those smoking more than 15 cigarettes per day. No significant overall association with alcohol consumption was documented after controlling for smoking habits. However, the risk seemed to vary according to sex, with a moderate association being documented in men., Conclusions: Cigarette smoking and, in men, alcohol consumption are associated with psoriasis. There is a strong association between smoking and pustular lesions.