Accepted Abstracts

Polányi Károly és Mihály: együtt vagy külön?

Type of Abstract (select): Paper presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Polányi Károly és Mihály: mindkettővel hatalmas irodalom foglalkozik, de eltérő világnézettel. Akik Károly követői, többnyire szocialisták, míg Mihályt főként idealista filozófusok és jórészt protestáns lelkészek követik. Károly szimpatizált a 30-as évekbeli Szovjetunióval, míg Mihály mindig antimaterialista és harcos antikommunista volt. Míg Károly méltatói és követői a montreali Institute of Political Economy által kétévente szervezettt konferenciákon gyűlnek össze, addig Mihály követői az angol Appraisal folyóirat és a British Personalist Forum évenkénti rendezvényein vesznek részt. A két tábor nem vesz tudomást egymásról. Én voltam az első, aki a két Polányiról először tartottam elődást 1992-ben egy montreali konferencián, és 2018-ban publikáltam egy könyvet kettejükről Keserédes testvérség: Polányi Károly és Polányi Mihály címmel. Bár különböző világnézetet és filozófiát vallottak, Károly a gazdaságtörténet és gazdasági antropológia területén működött és egy antikapitalista beágyazott gazdaság mellett érvelt, Mihály pedig egy antipozitivista tudáselméletet dolgozott ki(Personal Knowledge,1957) és híve maradt a szabad piacgazdaságnak, de mindketten egyetértettek az '56-os magyar forradalom nagyrabecsülésében.Továbbá komolyan vették, hogy apjuk Károly gondjaira bízta Mihályt a halálos ágyán. (Előadás magyarul)


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
1968-ban végeztem jogot Szegeden. Állam-és jogtudományokból kandidáltam 1979-ben, történettudományból habilitáltam 1994-ben, az MTA doktora címet 2008-ban szereztem meg.Mintegy 20 cikket publikáltam a két Polányiból angolul és magyarul Kanadában, USA-ban, Angliában és Magyarországon, s egy könyvet 2018-ban(Keserédes testvérség.

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Hungarian Scientists in the United States

Type of Abstract (select): Paper presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Hungarian scientists came to the United States in several waves over the last hundred years. Many of them became world-famous Nobel Prize winners in the twentieth century, others have been working in the United States for decades, while many came more recently. The combination of the knowledge provided by the Hungarian education system and the conditions offered by the US research and scientific community is a special characteristic of most of these scientists. Last year I started organizing conferences dedicated to the scientific heritage of the great Hungarian minds, but with a future-oriented perspective. We want to see what the future holds for science. Our starting point was John von Neumann, who had an immense impact on various fields such as computer science/artificial intelligence, mathematics, physics, chemistry, economics and even meteorology and climate change. But other Martians of the last century have also given a lot to the world, and the new generation of young scientists is also on the rise. In November 2023, probably the largest multidisciplinary conference ever dedicated to Hungarian science was held at New York University. In April this year, Philadelphia became the venue for the next major scientific event, a city where Katalin Kariko spent several decades to achieve her outstanding scientific results, that earned her the Nobel Prize. This year is also memorable because two outstanding scientists, Gyorgy Olah and John Harasnyi, received the Nobel Prize exactly 30 years ago. In addition, 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the invention of Erno Rubik's famous cube, which has enchanted hundreds of millions of people over the past decades. These events and anniversaries give us further opportunities to strengthen cooperation between Hungarian and American scientists and educators through innovative ideas and events.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Tamas Novak has been an S&T diplomat at the Consulate General of Hungary in New York since 2018. Prior to his current position, he worked at the Budapest Business School, where he was the Chair of International Business and held various leadership positions. In addition to his teaching duties, he was a research fellow at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In 2013-2014, he spent a year at SAIS in Washington DC. as a research fellow of the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation. Tamas holds an MSc in Economics and a PhD in International Relations from Corvinus University in Budapest.

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You Are What You Eat or Drink... – The Chemo-preventive Effects of Some Polyphenols and Coffee

Type of Abstract (select): Paper presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Our study investigated the cancer-preventive properties of several plant extracts. These included green tea (Camellia sinensis), a blend of polyphenols from blackberries (Rubus fruticosus), blackcurrants (Ribes nigrum) with added resveratrol, extract from Chinese bayberry (Myrica rubra), and coffee (Coffea arabica). We focused on their impact on the expression of certain microRNAs and the mTOR gene in the liver, spleen, and kidneys of mice exposed to the carcinogen 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA). Our findings revealed that these extracts generally reduced the DMBA-induced elevation of these genes, with some variations among the different extracts and organs. For instance, the Chinese bayberry extract did not affect miR-132 in the liver, and the polyphenol mix didn't impact miR-132 in the kidneys. In the group given coffee extract, significant reductions were noted in miR-9-3 and mTOR in the liver, miR-134 in the spleen, and miR-124-1 in the kidney. The results align with existing literature indicating that DMBA can stimulate inflammatory and proliferative pathways, involving molecules like TNF, IL1, IL6, NF-κB, RAS, and MYC. The plant extracts studied appeared to counteract these effects, showing antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. They inhibited the DMBA-activated pathways, including the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, and simultaneously promoted the expression of tumor suppressor genes like PTEN and SIRT.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Joe Petersburger (József L. Szentpéteri) is a multidisciplinary scientist and artist. He is originally a behavioral scientist. His reportages predominantly on Hungary were published three times as feature stories on the pages of National Geographic Magazine. His scientific research topics include animal behavior, taxonomy, evolution, biochemistry, virology, and food science.

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