Ecotourism and tourism development in Hungary

Hungary is situated in Central Europe, in the Carpathian basin. It has an area of93,032 km2 and shares its borders with the Slovak Republic to the north, Austria to the west, the former Yugoslavia to the south as well as both Romania and the CIS to the east. The climate is continental, however, it is sometimes subject to maritime and Mediterranean influences. The average temperature in summer is 22-24° C. The coldest month is January, with an average temperature of -1.2° C, and the warmest month is July, with an average temperature of 21. 7°C. The annual average temperature is 10.9° C while the annual rainfall is 500 to 1,000 mm. In 1992 the population of Hungary was 10,335,000. The population density was 111 persons per km2. However distribution is uneven, since one fifth of the inhabitants live in the capital, Budapest. Almost 60% of the population live in towns. The largest towns are Budapest, Debrecen, Miskolc, Szeged, Pees, Gyor. Hungary played a key role in the changes that took place in the Eastern European countries region. The transformation from a monolithic structure to a multi-party system took place peacefully, almost according to a national consensus. The level of political openness in the country has significantly increased and this is generating interest in Hungary, which in turn contributes to development of investment and tourism. The geographic layout of the existing transport infrastructure of Hungary is very favourable to tourism. development. At the same time, the quality and quantity of roads, railway lines and rolling stock are below international standards. Connections between Budapest and European cities are provided by 45 direct and 7 international lines. The line between Budapest and Vienna developed rapidly, where Eurocity trains provide quick transport. The country's only airport capable of receiving large aircraft and scheduled air traffic is Budapest Ferihegy Airport. With respect to water transport, the most important routes are through the Danube and Lake Balaton.peer-reviewe

Self-esteem and Language Learning: empirical evidences from the past two decades

Self-esteem is among the well-researched emotional variables in any field of study. Language learning is a specific domain at which self-esteem plays an important role and where it is particularly endangered because of the unique nature of the language classroom. While there is an abundance of studies regarding self-esteem in educational psychology, few have focused on its effect on language learning. This study aimed to present an overview of the current developments and trends in the studies regarding self-esteem and language learning in the past two decades. Employing keyword search collocations of self-esteem and language learning, self-esteem and second language, self-esteem and foreign language, this review utilized 20 articles for full-text analysis after elimination of other variables. The results, divided into three trends, consistently show that there exist relationships between self-esteem and language skills, self-esteem and second or foreign language proficiency, as well as self-esteem and other emotional variables within the language classroom. Keywords: self-esteem, language learning, second language, language proficiency, correlation

LIGHTING DESIGN OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, INA AND JACK KAY THEATRE, DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND AT COLLEGE PARK.

The purpose of this thesis is to document the lighting design process for the production of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, produced by the Department of Theatre at the University of Maryland, College Park on March 3, 2005. The thesis begins with Chapter 1 in which an in-depth textual and production analysis of The Taming of the Shrew is explored. Chapter 2 discusses the production concept, its application to the lighting design, and the collaborative effort made between the lighting, costume, scenic, and sound designers to develop an environmentally cohesive stage design. Chapter 3 explores the steps taken to execute the process as the design makes the leap from intellectual to realized ideas. The thesis concludes in Chapter 4 with a critical analysis of the overall success of the production as well as a personal critique of my role as lighting designer. Following the written portion of the document is a series of appendices intended to provide visual documentation of the design process--ranging from research images to paperwork samples to production photographs

Nevoi ale pacienților oncologici în asistență psihologică

Scopul: Evaluarea nevoilor psihologice ale pacienților oncologici și identificarea barierelor întâmpinate la asigurarea acestor nevoi, în vederea elaborării recomandărilor privind oferirea asistenței psihologice necesare pacienților diagnosticați cu cancer. Obiectivele: Analiza experiențelor practicilor internaționale și naționale privind nevoile pacienților oncologici și determinarea necesităților în consilierea psihologică; identificarea și evaluarea nevoilor psihologice percepute ale pacienților oncologici; stabilirea și analiza impedimentelor în asigurarea asistenței psihologice pacienților oncologici la nivel de țară; elaborarea recomandărilor privind asigurarea asistenței psihologice focusate pe nevoile pacienților oncologici din Republica Moldova. Materiale și metode: Tipul studiului: transversal mixt (cantitativ și calitativ). Cercetarea cantitativă a fost efectuată prin chestionarea a 404 pacienți oncologici adulți cu discernământ care s-au adresat pentru servicii în instituțiile medicale publice. Cercetarea calitativă a fost efectuată prin organizarea de discuții în focu-grupuri cu psihologi (25 participanți) și interviuri în profunzime cu medici oncologi și psihologi care prestează servicii pacienților oncologici. Studiul a fost realizat în perioada 1.11.2022-1.03.2023. Rezultate obținute: În studiul cantitativ, conform analizei după criteriul de vârstă predomină grupul de 50-69 ani (cca. 51%), urmată de 30-49 ani (cca. 25%) și peste 70 ani (cca. 20%), grupa de pacienți tineri fiind cea mai puțin numeroasă (cca. 4%) – ceea ce corespunde cu distribuția pe vârste a prevalenței cancerului în Republica Moldova, conform datelor Biroului Național de Statistică. Distribuția eșantionului după criteriul oraș/sat este relativ uniformă, cu o prevalență ușoară a mediului urban (52%). Pe criterii de gen, se constată o prevalență a genului feminin (63%). Privitor la percepții și cunoștințe referitor la condiția medicală proprie, 39% din respondenți au răspuns că nu își cunosc starea, 26% din pacienți trec cu succes tratamentul și boala se retrage, 12% au finisat tratamentul și boala nu progresează, 7,7% au terminat tratamentul și boala progresează, pe când 5,5% afirmă că tratamentul nu este eficient și boala progresează, iar 9,9% susțin că nu mai au boala, dar își urmăresc starea. Respondenții au fost rugați să-și estimeze starea generală prin calificativele „bună”, „satisfăcătoare” sau „rea” și a fost constatat faptul că starea generală rea este raportată de 43% din pacienții care nu cunosc situația în care se află. Studiul relevă o deficiență la nivelul etapei de screening a nevoilor psihologice, astfel 46% din pacienții oncologici au raportat că nu au făcut testări sau consultații cu psihologul, 28% – nu cunosc și doar 17% au făcut testări psihologice cu oncologul, iar 9% au avut testări/consultații cu psihologul. Cele mai des trăite emoții în momentul diagnosticării sunt cele de neliniște, frică și tristețe. Pe parcursul bolii, 54% din respondenți des sau întotdeauna simt frică de durere, 79,5% des și întotdeauna își fac griji pentru familie. Marea majoritate a pacienților (cca. 95%) au calificat ca fiind importante și foarte importante așa nevoi precum: tratarea cu respect de către personalul medical; informarea despre evoluția bolii; informarea despre tot ce ține de boală, tratament și urmări, despre efectele adverse înainte de a începe terapia; informarea în scris despre boală, tratament, rezultate și unde s-ar putea adresa pentru anumite servicii după externare; instruirea cum să facă față bolii desinestătător acasă; oferirea unui suport suport psihologic pacientului și familiei acestuia ș.a. Conform datelor studiului calitativ, psihologii și majoritatea medicilor oncologi posedă cunoștințe despre nevoile psihosociale ale pacienților oncologici, le consideră importante și cunosc modalități de satisfacerea a acestora. În același timp, recunosc că nivelul de satisfacere a acestor nevoi este nesatisfăcător și mediu. Ei raportează următoarele bariere și impedimente în realizarea lor: lipsa specialiștilor (psiho-oncologilor), volumul mare de lucru, nivelul scăzut de alfabetizare referitor la cancer a pacienților, lipsa conștientizării necesității suportului psihosocial (inclusiv din partea pacienților), dificultăți de comunicare cu pacienții, aspecte deficitare sub aspectul bugetării; interacțiune nesatisfăcătoare între psiho-oncologi, clinicieni și asistența socială în țara noastră. Concluzii: Impactul biopsihosocial al cancerului se manifestă prin dificultăți de ordin fiziologic și psihologic care dictează nevoile psihosociale ale pacientului (de a fi informat, de a fi ajutat în gestionarea bolii și a problemelor de ordin psihologic care însoțesc boala și tratamentul etc.). Ele necesită o abordare holistică prin screening și identificarea serviciilor necesare fiecărui caz aparte pentru un suport psihosocial optimal. Aceste nevoi, după părerea pacienților oncologici din Republica Moldova, sunt foarte importante, dar în mare parte rămân nesatisfăcute din punctul de vedere al oncologilor și psihologilor. O îmbunătățire a furnizării suportului psihosocial pentru pacienții oncologici în Republica Moldova e realizabilă prin: o atenție sporită și o investiție în dezvoltarea resurselor umane calificate, îmbunătățirea comunicării cu pacienții, creșterea gradului de conștientizare a importanței suportului psihosocial, abordarea multidisciplinară și prin implementarea modalităților eficiente de asistență psihologică. Toate acestea pot contribui la creșterea calității vieții și satisfacției pacienților oncologici

Parental Involvement on Child’s Education at Home during COVID-19 Pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic strikes, the Philippine educational system has been interrupted, with regular classrooms being replaced with distance learning. Parents are compelled to act as teachers or tutors in their children\u27s home education. This study aims to find out how parents participate in distance learning at the height of the pandemic. This research used a descriptive-correlational research design. Researcher-made questionnaires were used to collect data from 60 parents chosen through stratified intentional sampling. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Kendall’s Tau B for correlations. Findings revealed that family income and parental educational attainment are related to parental involvement. Parental educational attainment and barriers are quite important. Parental educational attainment and parental involvement with barriers are quite important. Family income with barriers is insignificant. The biggest difficulties that parents found were internet connectivity, lack of devices or gadgets, access to the internet, and difficulty instructing their children at home. It is suggested that the Department of Education adopt and stay current with distance learning education as a supplement to traditional methods of teaching-learning to ensure continuity during difficult times. In every situation, parents must accept the critical role of becoming involved in their child\u27s learning process

Phytochemicals as antibiotic alternatives to promote growth and enhance host health

There are heightened concerns globally on emerging drug-resistant superbugs and the lack of new antibiotics for treating human and animal diseases. For the agricultural industry, there is an urgent need to develop strategies to replace antibiotics for food-producing animals, especially poultry and livestock. The 2nd International Symposium on Alternatives to Antibiotics was held at the World Organization for Animal Health in Paris, France, December 12-15, 2016 to discuss recent scientific developments on strategic antibiotic-free management plans, to evaluate regional differences in policies regarding the reduction of antibiotics in animal agriculture and to develop antibiotic alternatives to combat the global increase in antibiotic resistance. More than 270 participants from academia, government research institutions, regulatory agencies, and private animal industries from >25 different countries came together to discuss recent research and promising novel technologies that could provide alternatives to antibiotics for use in animal health and production; assess challenges associated with their commercialization; and devise actionable strategies to facilitate the development of alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) without hampering animal production. The 3-day meeting consisted of four scientific sessions including vaccines, microbial products, phytochemicals, immune-related products, and innovative drugs, chemicals and enzymes, followed by the last session on regulation and funding. Each session was followed by an expert panel discussion that included industry representatives and session speakers. The session on phytochemicals included talks describing recent research achievements, with examples of successful agricultural use of various phytochemicals as antibiotic alternatives and their mode of action in major agricultural animals (poultry, swine and ruminants). Scientists from industry and academia and government research institutes shared their experience in developing and applying potential antibiotic-alternative phytochemicals commercially to reduce AGPs and to develop a sustainable animal production system in the absence of antibiotics.Fil: Lillehoj, Hyun. United States Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Research Service; ArgentinaFil: Liu, Yanhong. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Calsamiglia, Sergio. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Fernandez Miyakawa, Mariano Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Patobiología; ArgentinaFil: Chi, Fang. Amlan International; Estados UnidosFil: Cravens, Ron L.. Amlan International; Estados UnidosFil: Oh, Sungtaek. United States Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Research Service; ArgentinaFil: Gay, Cyril G.. United States Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Research Service; Argentin

Modulations of the Chicken Cecal Microbiome and Metagenome in Response to Anticoccidial and Growth Promoter Treatment

With increasing pressures to reduce or eliminate the use of antimicrobials for growth promotion purposes in production animals, there is a growing need to better understand the effects elicited by these agents in order to identify alternative approaches that might be used to maintain animal health. Antibiotic usage at subtherapeutic levels is postulated to confer a number of modulations in the microbes within the gut that ultimately result in growth promotion and reduced occurrence of disease. This study examined the effects of the coccidiostat monensin and the growth promoters virginiamycin and tylosin on the broiler chicken cecal microbiome and metagenome. Using a longitudinal design, cecal contents of commercial chickens were extracted and examined using 16S rRNA and total DNA shotgun metagenomic pyrosequencing. A number of genus-level enrichments and depletions were observed in response to monensin alone, or monensin in combination with virginiamycin or tylosin. Of note, monensin effects included depletions of Roseburia, Lactobacillus and Enterococcus, and enrichments in Coprococcus and Anaerofilum. The most notable effect observed in the monensin/virginiamycin and monensin/tylosin treatments, but not in the monensin-alone treatments, was enrichments in Escherichia coli. Analysis of the metagenomic dataset identified enrichments in transport system genes, type I fimbrial genes, and type IV conjugative secretion system genes. No significant differences were observed with regard to antimicrobial resistance gene counts. Overall, this study provides a more comprehensive glimpse of the chicken cecum microbial community, the modulations of this community in response to growth promoters, and targets for future efforts to mimic these effects using alternative approaches

Healthcare Access and Quality Index based on mortality from causes amenable to personal health care in 195 countries and territories, 1990-2015 : a novel analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

Background National levels of personal health-care access and quality can be approximated by measuring mortality rates from causes that should not be fatal in the presence of effective medical care (ie, amenable mortality). Previous analyses of mortality amenable to health care only focused on high-income countries and faced several methodological challenges. In the present analysis, we use the highly standardised cause of death and risk factor estimates generated through the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) to improve and expand the quantification of personal health-care access and quality for 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2015. Methods We mapped the most widely used list of causes amenable to personal health care developed by Nolte and McKee to 32 GBD causes. We accounted for variations in cause of death certification and misclassifications through the extensive data standardisation processes and redistribution algorithms developed for GBD. To isolate the effects of personal health-care access and quality, we risk-standardised cause-specific mortality rates for each geography-year by removing the joint effects of local environmental and behavioural risks, and adding back the global levels of risk exposure as estimated for GBD 2015. We employed principal component analysis to create a single, interpretable summary measure-the Healthcare Quality and Access (HAQ) Index-on a scale of 0 to 100. The HAQ Index showed strong convergence validity as compared with other health-system indicators, including health expenditure per capita (r= 0.88), an index of 11 universal health coverage interventions (r= 0.83), and human resources for health per 1000 (r= 0.77). We used free disposal hull analysis with bootstrapping to produce a frontier based on the relationship between the HAQ Index and the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a measure of overall development consisting of income per capita, average years of education, and total fertility rates. This frontier allowed us to better quantify the maximum levels of personal health-care access and quality achieved across the development spectrum, and pinpoint geographies where gaps between observed and potential levels have narrowed or widened over time. Findings Between 1990 and 2015, nearly all countries and territories saw their HAQ Index values improve; nonetheless, the difference between the highest and lowest observed HAQ Index was larger in 2015 than in 1990, ranging from 28.6 to 94.6. Of 195 geographies, 167 had statistically significant increases in HAQ Index levels since 1990, with South Korea, Turkey, Peru, China, and the Maldives recording among the largest gains by 2015. Performance on the HAQ Index and individual causes showed distinct patterns by region and level of development, yet substantial heterogeneities emerged for several causes, including cancers in highest-SDI countries; chronic kidney disease, diabetes, diarrhoeal diseases, and lower respiratory infections among middle-SDI countries; and measles and tetanus among lowest-SDI countries. While the global HAQ Index average rose from 40.7 (95% uncertainty interval, 39.0-42.8) in 1990 to 53.7 (52.2-55.4) in 2015, far less progress occurred in narrowing the gap between observed HAQ Index values and maximum levels achieved; at the global level, the difference between the observed and frontier HAQ Index only decreased from 21.2 in 1990 to 20.1 in 2015. If every country and territory had achieved the highest observed HAQ Index by their corresponding level of SDI, the global average would have been 73.8 in 2015. Several countries, particularly in eastern and western sub-Saharan Africa, reached HAQ Index values similar to or beyond their development levels, whereas others, namely in southern sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and south Asia, lagged behind what geographies of similar development attained between 1990 and 2015. Interpretation This novel extension of the GBD Study shows the untapped potential for personal health-care access and quality improvement across the development spectrum. Amid substantive advances in personal health care at the national level, heterogeneous patterns for individual causes in given countries or territories suggest that few places have consistently achieved optimal health-care access and quality across health-system functions and therapeutic areas. This is especially evident in middle-SDI countries, many of which have recently undergone or are currently experiencing epidemiological transitions. The HAQ Index, if paired with other measures of health-systemcharacteristics such as intervention coverage, could provide a robust avenue for tracking progress on universal health coverage and identifying local priorities for strengthening personal health-care quality and access throughout the world. Copyright (C) The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Auxiliary variables a weight against nonresponse bias : A simulation study

Today’s surveys face a growing problem with increasing nonresponse.  The increase in nonresponse rate causes a need for better and more effective ways to reduce the nonresponse bias.  There are three major scientific orientation of today’s research dealing with nonresponse. One is examining the social factors, the second one studies different data collection methods and the third investigating the use of weights to adjust estimators for nonresponse.  We would like to contribute to the third orientation by evaluating estimators which use and adjust weights based on auxiliary variables to balance the survey nonresponse through simulations. For the simulation we use an artificial population consisting of 35455 participants from the Representativity Indicators for Survey Quality project. We model three nonresponse mechanisms (MCAR, MAR and MNAR) with three different coefficient of determination s between our study variable and the auxiliary variables and under three response rates resulting in 63 simulation scenarios. The scenarios are replicated 1000 times to acquire the results. We outline our findings and results for each estimator in all scenarios with the help of bias measures