Hungarian Study Research Articles

The Impact of Self-Service Technologies on Cinemagoing Experiences: A Hungarian Case Study

This study investigates the relationship between self-service technologies (SSTs) and cinemagoing experiences. An online questionnaire was created and filled out by 202 respondents to assess their preferences regarding SSTs in Hungarian cinemas. The analysis was conducted in R based on the following factors: gender, age, place of residence, and cinema attendance frequency. The results showed that 78.43% of males and 79.47% of females preferred hybrid systems combining both human staff and SSTs. There was no significant relationship between gender and SST preference. However, respondents aged 26–35 years and those over 50 years were less likely to prefer SSTs. In addition, people who live in capital cities showed a higher likelihood of preferring SSTs. Despite minor demographic differences, the overall results indicate a strong preference for SSTs across all groups. Predictions using ordinal logistic regression suggest that future cinemagoers will continue to prefer SSTs, with probabilities ranging from 65.58% to 75.90%. These results can help in understanding the growing acceptance of SSTs in cinemas and suggest that their implementation could be well-received by future audiences.

Revising cancer incidence in a Central European country: a Hungarian nationwide study between 2011-2019 based on a health insurance fund database.

The nationwide HUN-CANCER EPI study examined cancer incidence and mortality rates in Hungary from 2011 to 2019. Using data from the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO), our retrospective study analyzed newly diagnosed malignancies between Jan 1, 2011, and Dec 31, 2019. Age-standardized incidence and mortality rates were calculated for all and for different tumor types using both the 1976 and 2013 European Standard Populations (ESP). The number of newly diagnosed cancer cases decreased from 60,554 to 56,675 between 2011-2019. Age-standardized incidence rates were much lower in 2018, than previously estimated (475.5 vs. 580.5/100,000 person-years [PYs] in males and 383.6 vs. 438.5/100,000 PYs in females; ESP 1976). All-site cancer incidence showed a mean annual decrease of 1.9% (95% CI: 2.4%-1.4%) in men and 1.0% (95% CI:1.42%-0.66%) in women, parallel to mortality trends (-1.6% in males and -0.6% in females; ESP 2013). In 2018, the highest age-standardized incidence rates were found for lung (88.3), colorectal (82.2), and prostate cancer (62.3) in men, and breast (104.6), lung (47.7), and colorectal cancer (45.8) in women. The most significant decreases in incidence rates were observed for stomach (4.7%), laryngeal (4.4%), and gallbladder cancers (3.5%), with parallel decreases in mortality rates (3.9%, 2.7% and 3.2%, respectively). We found a lower incidence of newly diagnosed cancer cases for Hungary compared to previous estimates, and decreasing trends in cancer incidence and mortality, in line with global findings and the declining prevalence of smoking.

Intended effort and self-related and social experiences during study abroad at a European university

ABSTRACT This study investigates the role of individual difference (ID) variables in a single-setting Hungarian study abroad (SA) context. We contribute to the growing body of research dealing with students in European SA contexts highlighting the importance of social and academic circumstances as well. Data was collected with a validated questionnaire (N = 106) that measured international students’ intended effort, self-regulation, self-efficacy beliefs, and social experiences. Our main results present a rather positive picture of international students’ IDs, but we found differences among students studying at various levels and length of stay. In terms of the relationships among the scales, it seems that students’ intended effort was shaped by their self-efficacy beliefs pertaining to evaluation and students’ experiences of community-related issues. Hence, we conclude that when it comes to the role of IDs in SA contexts, it is not only academic activity-related variations that should be considered, but also the social characteristics of the context. Our results have significant implications for pedagogical practice and future research, highlighting the importance of not only the support students receive before and during their SA, which can positively influence their self-efficacy beliefs, but also underscoring the relevance of community-related support at the host institute.

Selected English-Language Bibliography of Interest for Hungarian Cultural Studies: 2023–2024

Selected English-Language Bibliography of Interest for Hungarian Cultural Studies: 2023–2024

Fall prevention practices among nurses and the factors that influence them: a Hungarian study

Fall prevention practices among nurses and the factors that influence them: a Hungarian study

Roma Youth’s Perspective on an Inclusive Higher Education Community: A Hungarian Case Study

Roma Youth’s Perspective on an Inclusive Higher Education Community: A Hungarian Case Study

Report on the conference Hungarian Studies in Poland

Report on the conference Hungarian Studies in Poland. Poznań 17-18.11.2023.

Diagnosis and therapy of medullary thyroid cancer. A real-life, retrospective, multicentric, Hungarian study

Diagnosis and therapy of medullary thyroid cancer. A real-life, retrospective, multicentric, Hungarian study

Toleration in the European Union: a forgotten virtue

ABSTRACT When the Hungarian Parliament passed legislation prohibiting the dissemination of information on diverse sexual and gender identities to minors, the Commission launched infringement proceedings pleading a breach of the common values under Article 2 TEU, amongst others. The dispute constitutes the occasion to explore the meaning of toleration in the EU and its scope, i.e., whether alleged intolerance of national minorities does or should lead to transnational intolerance of the EU vis-à-vis its Member States. Putting the work of the political philosopher Rainer Forst into dialogue with EU constitutional theories, this article identifies three justifications for transnational toleration: (1) functional; (2) liberal multicultural; and (3) liberal constitutional. By reference to the Hungarian case study, the article shows that these justifications are liable to legitimise transnational toleration on ethical rather than moral grounds. The dense structure of EU constitutionalism impairs a moral justification by way of Article 2 TEU.

The Economic Potential of Agrivoltaic Systems in Apple Cultivation—A Hungarian Case Study

Agrivoltaic systems (AVS) allow the simultaneous use of land—as a limited resource—for crop production and electricity generation. This paper introduces the development prospects of AVS in Hungary with insights into international trends. The most important part is a complex economic analysis and a unit cost analysis of a 38 MWp capacity AVS, considering the most typical basic data in electricity and apple production. The applied risk analysis is based on a Monte Carlo simulation, the distribution function, and probabilities. To introduce the economic facet of the competitiveness of AVS, a comparative analysis was carried out between AVS, ground-mounted photovoltaic (GM-PV) systems, and conventional apple production systems (ConAPS). In the most probable scenario, the AVS was financially attractive (NPV = 70 million EUR under 30 years). Our correlation analysis shows that feed-in tariff (FIT) price and the role of financing are considered the dominant economic factors. A favorable FIT price enhances the profitability of AVS; however, it makes GM-PV systems more profitable compared to AVS, so it negatively affects the competitiveness of AVS systems. AVS operations result in a more balanced unit cost of apples and of electricity compared to the independent operation of GM-PV systems and of ConAPS; in addition, it allows for land saving and more intensive land use.

Quality of Life in Hungarian Parents of Autistic Individuals.

Parents of autistic individuals have been known to have a lower overall quality of life (QQL) than those of typically developing children. We present the first Hungarian large-sample study whose objective was to explore the differences in QOL between parents of autistic individuals (AS) and those of neurotypical (NT) persons. Based on the ABCX model we developed a questionnaire comprising standardized scales to characterize the life of parents involved. Our data came from parents of 842 individuals (ASD = 521, NT = 321) between 0 and 49 years. Battery deployed standardized instruments to examine quality of life (WHO-QQL BREF and Quality of Life in Autism questionnaire, QOLA). We assessed the families' socio-economic/demographic characteristics, parents' psychological well-being, the autistic/neurotypical individuals' characteristics, and the interventions. Our data showed significantly lower QOL in parents of autistic individuals in all domains of questionnaires. We analyzed 20 relevant factors to uncover the predictors of parental QOL. We confirmed the existence of most but not all predictors present in earlier literature and identified intervention-related predictors. Our study confirms the importance of supporting parents in their role, and of providing health and social supports that focus on quality of life, in addition to child care.

The influence of institutional characteristics on implementing school-based universal addiction prevention: a Hungarian mixed-methods nationwide study on the state of implementation, barriers, and facilitators

BackgroundIn Hungary, as in other European countries, substance and behavioral addictions are an increasing problem among children and adolescents. Schools play a vital role in providing the knowledge and skills needed to prevent addictions. However, various factors influence the overall effectiveness of such efforts. To design more effective preventive interventions, it is necessary to evaluate existing programs and identify possible points to intervene. Our aim was to assess the current state of addiction prevention in Hungarian schools, identify barriers, and explore facilitators that contribute to the successful implementation of addiction prevention.MethodsA nationwide cross-sectional survey-based quantitative study was performed to investigate the implementation of addiction prevention in Hungarian elementary schools (N = 2,892). With the participation of 37 teachers from 21 elementary schools, a focus group-based qualitative study was conducted to investigate teachers’ perspectives on such programs and ways to improve them.ResultsAmong the addiction topics, alcohol (61.9%), smoking (73.6%), and drug use (71.3%) were the most covered themes. Problematic use of the internet and electronic devices was addressed in 60.9% of the schools, while gaming and gambling were addressed in only 18.9%. Of schools, 55.1% reported having regular programs to support pupils’ mental health, and this differed significantly by school type and size. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the type of school, the support for teachers’ work, and the diversity of implementers were significantly associated with the quality of implementation of addiction prevention. The qualitative study showed that addiction prevention is hindered by inappropriate family or teacher models, increased workloads, and challenges in collaborating with colleagues and parents. According to the teachers, they can do the most for the health of children at school, but they need support for effective implementation.ConclusionOur results indicate the importance of school characteristics in addiction prevention implementation and call for the support and empowerment of teachers and greater organizational capacity to ensure the effectiveness of school-based addiction prevention activities. By understanding these barriers and facilitators, policymakers and educators can develop evidence-based strategies to improve the effectiveness of prevention programs.

Climate Change, Pressures, and Adaptation Capacities of Farmers: Empirical Evidence from Hungary

This paper aims to analyze comprehensively the climate exposure, sensitivity, perception, adaptive capacity, vulnerability, and resilience of the Hungarian agricultural sector, particularly focusing on fruit, vegetable, and grape producers. Four distinct Hungarian case studies were examined, representing different regions with diverse environmental and socioeconomic conditions. The research combined quantitative and qualitative methods, including statistical and GIS analysis of climate, agricultural, and socioeconomic data, as well as field research and semi-structured interviews. The study investigated exposure, sensitivity, perception, and adaptation, leading to the identification of key components and influencing factors. Qualitative research revealed that farms operating in geographically close proximity, in the same regulatory and support environment, can have different adaptive capacities. In the current state of the adaptation process, the extent to which farmers can rely on supportive professional networks and seek out and adopt new practices is crucial. Field experience suggests that without a strong and supportive producer organization (extension network), farmers may prefer to resort to extensification (afforestation) to mitigate production risks. From a development policy perspective, it is worthwhile to present good practices and provide information on possible adaptation techniques through existing local sectoral organizations.

Forest Disturbance Monitoring Using Cloud-Based Sentinel-2 Satellite Imagery and Machine Learning.

Forest damage has become more frequent in Hungary in the last decades, and remote sensing offers a powerful tool for monitoring them rapidly and cost-effectively. A combined approach was developed to utilise high-resolution ESA Sentinel-2 satellite imagery and Google Earth Engine cloud computing and field-based forest inventory data. Maps and charts were derived from vegetation indices (NDVI and Z∙NDVI) of satellite images to detect forest disturbances in the Hungarian study site for the period of 2017-2020. The NDVI maps were classified to reveal forest disturbances, and the cloud-based method successfully showed drought and frost damage in the oak-dominated Nagyerdő forest of Debrecen. Differences in the reactions to damage between tree species were visible on the index maps; therefore, a random forest machine learning classifier was applied to show the spatial distribution of dominant species. An accuracy assessment was accomplished with confusion matrices that compared classified index maps to field-surveyed data, demonstrating 99.1% producer, 71% user, and 71% total accuracies for forest damage and 81.9% for tree species. Based on the results of this study and the resilience of Google Earth Engine, the presented method has the potential to be extended to monitor all of Hungary in a faster, more accurate way using systematically collected field-data, the latest satellite imagery, and artificial intelligence.

Optimization of Breakpoint Chlorination Technologies for Drinking Water Treatment: a Hungarian Case Study

Ammonium ion is one of the major pollutants found in drinking water sources in Hungary, especially in deep aquifers. under oxidative conditions, ammonium can transform into nitrite ions in the water system, posing potential health risks. In Hungary mostly biological process or breakpoint chlorination are used to eliminate ammonium ion from raw water during the drinking water treatment process. When breakpoint chlorination is applied, harmful by-products are formed. Trihalomethanes concentrations have long been regulated in Hungary, therefore during the design and optimization of the breakpoint technologies trihalomethane concentrations have been considered. However, haloacetic acids (HAA5) and chlorate ion have been recently regulated in accordance with EU Directive 2020/2184. Chlorate is a by-product that appears in treated water when sodium hypochlorite is used in breakpoint chlorination.Experiments were carried out at four Hungarian case study areas to determine the optimal strategy for breakpoint chlorination: applying higher chlorine dosages with lower contact times, or lower chlorine dosages with higher contact times. The investigations concluded that the preferable dosing strategy is to use lower chlorine concentrations and longer contact times. This approach reduces chemical demand (cost-effective) and has a neutral effect on THMs formation. it can be concluded that when the raw water contains ammonium ion concentrations above 0.5 mg/l, the use of sodium hypochlorite may raise concerns due to elevated chlorate ion levels in the treated water, particularly during summer. Further research is required to expand the optimization strategy, considering not only ammonium and trihalomethane concentrations but also chlorate concentrations.

Testimony in context

ABSTRACT The article explores how video-testimony can be effectively harnessed for education in various contexts: classroom, and public remembrance spaces including museums, in a localized manner to develop empathy, critical thinking, and civic engagement in students and the methodological culture of educators. The article focuses on the testimonies of the USC Shoah Foundation and the possibilities testimony-based materials offer for education in general and Holocaust education in particular, based on educational evaluation research results and decades of practice. Localization and student-engagement are approached through Hungarian case studies via the work of local educational NGO Zachor Foundation. The article argues for the importance of local contexts and localized educational materials and underscores the power of video testimonies as multimedia sources in delving into and dissecting historical, social, and psychological processes, revealing their intricate nuances and how they can be used by to educate youth toward a more informed and compassionate global citizenry.

Study protocol of the Hungarian Longitudinal Study of Healthy Brain Aging (HuBA).

<p>Neuro&shy;cog&shy;nitive aging and the associated brain diseases impose a major social and economic burden. Therefore, substantial efforts have been put into revealing the lifestyle, the neurobiological and the genetic underpinnings of healthy neurocognitive aging. However, these studies take place almost exclusively in a limited number of highly-developed countries. Thus, it is an important open question to what extent their findings may generalize to neurocognitive aging in other, not yet investigated regions. The purpose of the Hungarian Longitudinal Study of Healthy Brain Aging (HuBA) is to collect multi-modal longitudinal data on healthy neurocognitive aging to address the data gap in this field in Central and Eastern Europe.</p>. <p>We adapted the Australian Ima&shy;ging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) study of aging study protocol to local circumstances and collected demographic, lifestyle, men&shy;tal&nbsp;and physical health, medication and medical history related information as well as re&shy;cor&shy;ded a series of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. In addition, participants were al&shy;so offered to participate in the collection of blood samples to assess circulating in&shy;flam&shy;matory biomarkers as well as a sleep study aimed at evaluating the general sleep quality based on multi-day collection of subjective sleep questionnaires and whole-night elec&shy;troencephalographic (EEG) data.</p>. <p>Baseline data collection has al&shy;ready been accomplished for more than a hundred participants and data collection in the se&shy;cond<br>session is on the way. The collected data might reveal specific local trends or could also indicate the generalizability of previous findings. Moreover, as the HuBA protocol al&shy;so offers a sleep study designed for tho&shy;rough characterization of participants&rsquo; sleep quality and related factors, our extended multi-modal dataset might provide a base for incorporating these measures into healthy and clinical aging research.&nbsp;</p>. <p>Besides its straightforward na&shy;tional benefits in terms of health ex&shy;pen&shy;di&shy;ture, we hope that this Hungarian initiative could provide results valid for the whole Cent&shy;ral and Eastern European region and could also promote aging and Alzheimer&rsquo;s disease research in these countries.</p>.

Digitalization and Adaptation, from a Regional Perspective – a Hungarian Case Study

Digitalization and Adaptation, from a Regional Perspective – a Hungarian Case Study

A kárpátaljai felsőoktatási intézmények hallgatóinak nyelvhasználati sajátosságai és nyelvi attitűdjei két felmérés részeredményei alapján

The characteristics of language usage and attitudes of students of higher education institutions in Transcarpathia based on the partial results of two surveys A positive attitude towards the mother tongue and the language variety is essential for confident language use. The way we perceive the language of the community where we live, or of other communities, is largely influenced by our knowledge and experience of the language, by the opinions of others, and of course by stereotypes. Education can do the most to overcome these, to develop an objective, confident linguistic awareness and self-awareness, by conveying a scientifically based approach at all levels. In our study, we analyse the partial results of two empirical researches conducted among the students of the Ferenc Rákóczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian College in recent years, which investigate the state language effect in the register of Transcarpathian Hungarian higher education, the interchange of words related to the topic of education and their relationship to the local language variety. The results of our research have shown that, despite the dominance of Hungarian, the language use of students in Transcarpathian Hungarian higher education is characterised by the presence of Ukrainian and Russian language influences, and that most of these are consciously present in their language use. The Ferenc Rákóczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian College considers it important to develop this positive attitude not only in its Hungarian studies, but also in all its training programmes. The presented results show that the group under study has a balancing-functional-segregating attitude towards different languages and language varieties: they are not closed to this variety, they are aware of its functions and importance. They are not excluded from the lower-prestige variety because of previous unpleasant experiences: they express a scientifically well-founded opinion in the survey. Although emotional attachment is also strongly expressed. But we also know that in minority contexts this can play a significant language-preserving role. Keywords: Transcarpathia, college students, loanwords, state language effect, language attitude

Discharge protocol in acute pancreatitis: an international survey and cohort analysis

There are several overlapping clinical practice guidelines in acute pancreatitis (AP), however, none of them contains suggestions on patient discharge. The Hungarian Pancreatic Study Group (HPSG) has recently developed a laboratory data and symptom-based discharge protocol which needs to be validated. (1) A survey was conducted involving all members of the International Association of Pancreatology (IAP) to understand the characteristics of international discharge protocols. (2) We investigated the safety and effectiveness of the HPSG-discharge protocol. According to our international survey, 87.5% (49/56) of the centres had no discharge protocol. Patients discharged based on protocols have a significantly shorter median length of hospitalization (LOH) (7 (5;10) days vs. 8 (5;12) days) p < 0.001), and a lower rate of readmission due to recurrent AP episodes (p = 0.005). There was no difference in median discharge CRP level among the international cohorts (p = 0.586). HPSG-protocol resulted in the shortest LOH (6 (5;9) days) and highest median CRP (35.40 (13.78; 68.40) mg/l). Safety was confirmed by the low rate of readmittance (n = 35; 5%). Discharge protocol is necessary in AP. The discharge protocol used in this study is the first clinically proven protocol. Developing and testifying further protocols are needed to better standardize patients’ care.