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Despite the sustainability, biodegradability, and biocompatibility of microbial polyesters, as well as their potential to replace polyolefins, the market share of these biopolymers is still marginal. The primary factors that impede the success of microbial polyesters are related to their poor thermal stability and the degradation during processing that negatively affects the mechanical performance of the final product. Due to the complexity of the mechanism of degradation and the vast number of factors that influence the mechanism, the outcome of the degradation cannot be predicted with high confidence. Our present work addresses both difficulties. First, the thermal stability of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) was successfully improved by a stabilizer system based on pomegranate extract. Second, we have developed a computational method that can be used for the estimation of the mechanical properties of processed microbial polyesters from IR data. The computational method is based on an unprecedented hybrid model that incorporates both linear and nonlinear components. The linear component is based on multivariate data analysis and quantizes the correlation between IR data and the extent of degradation. In contrast, the second component consists of a power function in order to be able to describe the nonlinear correlation between the extent of degradation and the mechanical properties. By using the hybrid model, indicators of mechanical performance, such as tensile strength, can be estimated from IR data, which was not achieved before.

BACKGROUND: Two jewel beetle species native to Europe, the cypress jewel beetle, Lamprodila (Palmar, Ovalisia) festiva L. (Buprestidae, Coleoptera), and the sinuate pear tree borer, Agrilus sinuatus Olivier (Buprestidae, Coleoptera), are key pests of ornamental thuja and junipers and of orchard and ornamental rosaceous trees, respectively. Although chemical control measures are available, due to the beetles’ small size, agility, and cryptic lifestyle at the larval stage, efficient tools for their detection and monitoring are missing. Consequently, by the time emerging jewel beetle adults are noticed, the trees are typically significantly damaged. METHODS: Thus, the aim of this study was to initiate the development of monitoring traps. Transparent, light green, and purple sticky sheets and multifunnel traps were compared in field experiments in Hungary. RESULTS: Light green and transparent sticky traps caught more L. festiva and A. sinuatus jewel beetles than non-sticky multifunnel traps, regardless of the larger size of the colored surface of the funnel traps. CONCLUSIONS: Although light green sticky sheets turned out to be optimal for both species, using transparent sheets can reduce catches of non-target insects. The key to the effectiveness of sticky traps, despite their reduced suitability for quantitative comparisons, may lie in the behavioral responses of the beetles to the optical features of the traps.

Microbial polyesters saw limited use in the field of tissue engineering, even though the biocompatibility of these polymers makes them ideal candidates for this role. The primary factor that hinders the proliferation of microbial polyesters in this market is that their processing with conventional techniques, such as electrospinning or 3D printing, is challenging. However, the full potential of these biopolymers could still be utilized by applying unconventional manufacturing methods, such as those based on the concept of salt leaching. An implementation of this concept facilitates the production of scaffolds that simultaneously have high porosity and excellent permeability. Moreover, the average pore size can also be varied in the range from 50 to 400 µm, which was reported to be optimal for the cultivation of eucaryotic cell cultures. By adjusting the pore size, the scaffold can be tailored to the eucaryotic cells the tissue consists of. Furthermore, we have developed an entirely new computational method for the approximation of the pore size distribution of the scaffolds. The method relies on 3D data reconstructed by the software of a digital optical microscope and also facilitates the modeling of the average pore size of scaffolds. Thus, besides the control of the pore size, our method enables its prediction as well.

Uncommon micrometer-sized aluminium phosphates and sulphates of the alunite supergroup (APS minerals) associated with clay minerals were found in a polymictic Permian granite hosted hydrothermal breccia in the Velence Mts. (Hungary). The mineral assemblage was studied with TEM, XRD, EMPA and FTIR with the aim of revealing the formation conditions and the genetic link to the hydrothermal processes that affected the granite host. Two breccia types were identified in the granite. In a polymictic, strongly silicified breccia type zoned plumbogummite was found in association with rolled tube-shaped halloysite and kaolinite. Calcium, barium and lead zonation of the plumbogummite and the Cl and S contents of the halloysite indicate the hypogene origin of this assemblage. Kaolinite, halloysite and plumbogummite form under acidic conditions at temperatures ≤150 °C in hydrothermal systems. APS minerals belonging to the woodhouseite solid solution series (s.s.s.) were detected in the matrix of argillic polymictic breccia beside the alunite in a kaolinite/dickite, illite rich matrix. Alunite and woodhouseite form under acidic conditions in hydrothermal systems. Kaolinite/dickite and illite also suggest acidic conditions and temperatures of ≥240 °C. The close vicinity of the studied breccias to hydrothermal centres hosted by Palaeogene andesitic volcanic series, the strike of the studied breccia veins as well as the similarities in the mineral assemblages imply that the brecciation is spatially and genetically related to the high-sulfidation epithermal systems of the Palaeogene magmatic-hydrothermal activity. In our model, strongly acidic and hot hydrothermal fluids entered into the granite along E-W trending faults that resulted in silicification, brecciation and the formation of APS minerals in association with clay mineral assemblages.

To assess the long-term efficacy and safety of olanzapine long-acting injection (LAI) in the treatment of schizophrenia, focusing on clinical trial data consistent with the approved indication and dosing recommendations in the European label and which forms the basis for treatment decisions made by clinicians in daily clinical practice. This was a post hoc analysis of a 6-year open-label study of olanzapine LAI in patients (male or female, 18-75 years old) with schizophrenia entering this study following feeder studies of olanzapine LAI. Patients were flexibly dosed (45-405 mg, 2- to 4-week intervals), but those receiving oral olanzapine supplementation whose total olanzapine dose was >20 mg/day equivalent were excluded from this post hoc analysis. Data from 669 patients were analyzed (44.5% completed). Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale total scores did not change significantly from baseline to endpoint; Clinical Global Impression-Severity scores improved significantly. Mean weight change was +2.19 kg (P<0.001), with 40.8% of patients experiencing ≥7% weight gain. There were 24 occurrences of post-injection delirium/sedation syndrome (PDSS). Olanzapine LAI appeared to be effective in the long-term maintenance of schizophrenia, and the safety profile was consistent with that of oral olanzapine, except for injection-related events and PDSS events.

The objective of the present analysis is to determine the impact of the 3-hour observation period for olanzapine long-acting injection (LAI) on patient satisfaction and well-being by comparing data collected before and after its implementation. This is a post hoc analysis of patients treated with olanzapine LAI in 1) a 6-month fixed-dose randomized controlled trial and/or 2) a 6-year open-label safety study. This analysis was limited to patients with schizophrenia who were treated with olanzapine LAI consistent with the approved indication and dosing recommendations of the European Union Summary of Product Characteristics (N=966). Of the 966 patients, the analysis further focused only on those patients who received both 1) at least one injection before the implementation of the 3-hour observation period and 2) at least one injection after implementation of the 3-hour observation period (N=487). Patient satisfaction was assessed with the three-item Patient Satisfaction with Medication Questionnaire-Modified. Responses were averaged across all postbaseline visits occurring before (ie, without) the implementation of the 3-hour observation period and across all postbaseline visits occurring after (ie, with) the implementation of the 3-hour observation period. In addition, the rate of postinjection delirium/sedation syndrome events was calculated. There was no meaningful change after implementation of the 3-hour observation period in satisfaction (before: mean [SD] =4.0 [1.02] and after: mean [SD] =4.1 [0.82]), preference for olanzapine LAI over oral medication (before: mean [SD] =4.0 [0.90] and after: mean [SD] =4.1 [0.77]), or ratings of satisfaction regarding side effects (before: mean [SD] =1.9 [0.79] and after: mean [SD] =1.8 [0.60]). For the total population (N=966), postinjection delirium/sedation syndrome occurred in 26 (0.07%) of 38,010 injections. For patients with schizophrenia receiving treatment with olanzapine LAI, the 3-hour observation period had no impact on their satisfaction with the medication or on their subjective well-being.

This paper demonstrates how the parallel examination of distributional data and frame semantic information can expose word senses that are not documented in FrameNet. In our case study, we compare the distributional features of the word crime to its properties stored in the FrameNet database also considering dictionary data that we find in three online monolingual dictionaries. Our analysis indicates that crime has senses that are absent from FrameNet. The five senses that we identify can be separated on the basis of (a) frame hierarchies, (b) frame elements, (c) syntactic and semantic data extracted from corpora using lexicographical tools and (d) distributional similarity. Annotated examples are provided to demonstrate each sense.

Distributional studies quantify the similarity of words by collecting word co-occurrence frequency information from large text corpora. According to the distributional hypothesis, this similarity is a semantic phenomenon. This paper aims to introduce the basics of Distributional Semantics and a new tool, spaceXplorer, which facilitates distributional investigations by collecting co-occurrence information from a Wikipedia snapshot (with or without using linguistic annotation) and displays word similarity information through a convenient, interactive user interface.

Az értekezés célja a lexikon szerepének, működésének többszempontú vizsgálata. Ennek során először elemzem a lexikai komponens pozícióját a chomskyánus generatív grammatika kiválasztott alternatív elméleteiben, vizsgálva, hogy a mondattan és az alaktan között kialakuló munkamegosztás (különösen a ragozás és a képzés kérdésében) hogyan befolyásolja a nyelvészek lexikonról kialakított elképzeléseit. A folytatásban a poliszémia és homonímia kérdéskörének tömör elemzésével szemléltetem azt, hogy a jelentéstani alapproblémák komoly buktatókat rejteneka lexikon tervezése során. Az elmélet mellett a gyakorlatra is hangsúlyt fektet az értekezés: megvizsgálom, hogy két jelentős lexikai adatbázisban, a WordNet-ben és a FrameNet-ben a jelentés mely aspektusai köré szervezték a tárolt információkat, miközben a WordNet-tel kapcsolatban az elméleti oldalról korábban vizsgált jelenségeket, főként a ragozás és a szóképzés kezelésének módját is elemzem. Ezek az adatbázisok kiemelkednek a természetesnyelv-feldolgozásban használatos szóalapú adatbázisok köréből szerkesztési jegyeik, valamint méretük, kidolgozottságuk miatt.Az értekezés fontos újítása, hogy a vizsgálatba bevonja a konnekcionista, mesterséges neurális hálózat alapúkísérletek releváns tapasztalatait. Előbb egy áttekintő fejezetben látjuk, ahogy felvázolódik a nyelvi információ ábrázolásának egy lehetséges módszertana elsősorban Rumelhart és Elman kísérleteiben, majd bemutatok néhány mesterséges neurális hálózat konstrukciót, melyek a nyelvi bemenet kezelésében jelentős potenciállal rendelkeznek.Végül ismertetem önálló kutatásomat, melyhez kifejlesztettem egy sajátos neurális hálózat szerkezetet, melyet FrameNet-szerű jelentéstani keret (frame) és keret-elem (frame element) felismerésre tanítottam be generált korpuszon. A mesterséges neurális hálózat viselkedését egy kísérletsorban vizsgáltam a betanítottól eltérő bemenet megjelenése esetén. A kísérlethez kifejlesztett „ikertérképes” bemeneti interfész képes nagyszámú szóalak automatikus megkülönböztetésére, így lehetőséget kínál a szóalapú nyelvi bemenet ábrázolására, melynek megoldása a neurális hálózatos kísérletek visszatérő problémája. A hálózat betanítására használt generált betanítókorpusz semmilyen (szófaji, mondattani, jelentéstani) többletinformációt nem tartalmaz. A visszacsatolásos hálózatokból az értekezésben ismertetett módon összeállított struktúra megfelelő általánosítási képességgel és memória-potenciállal rendelkezik a kitűzött feladat végrehajtására: mondatszekvenciák (néhány mondatos szövegrészletek) jelentéstani címkékkel történő annotálására. A kísérletsorozat keretei között a modell képes kompenzálni a hiányos bemenetet (hiányzó mondatok és összetevők), vagy az egyéb jellegű zajt (lecserélt összetevők). A lecserélt összetevőket vizsgáló kísérlet megmutatta, hogy a manipulált bemenet felcímkézése nem csupán a kontextus érintetlenül maradt elemei alapján történt, hanem a csereként beállított összetevők (a velük betanítás során asszociált információdarabkák) is meghatározták annak sikerét. A konnekcionista kísérletekben potenciálisan megjelenő szórványlexikonta disszertáció egy lehetséges, a korábbiaknál ugyan jelenleg nem eredményesebb, de újszerű lexikon-közelítésként mutatja be.