Search

Teaching modern physics in school is a hard task. This is especially true for particle physics where the typical size scale is [10.sup.-18] m. It is difficult to visualize these particles, which are invisible to the eye, or to make experiments. At the same time the number of scientists and engineers is decreasing in Hungary. It is obvious that we need to find ways to interest students in these professions. In Budapest, at the Wigner Research Centre for Physics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, a research laboratory was established for high school students where, under the supervision of teachers and with the help of the local scientists, students can take part in particle physics research. In the program students can get involved in real work and construct particle detectors for demonstration purposes. Measurements prove the positive change in the students' attitude, motivation, and particular knowledge of the subject. Key words: research-based teaching, motivating students, winning students for science, particle detectors, teaching particle physics. L'enseignement de la physique moderne a l'ecole est une tache difficile. Ceci est particulierement vrai pour la physique des particules ou l'echelle de grandeur est de l'ordre de [10.sup.-18] m. Il est difficile de visualiser ces particules invisibles a l'oeil ou de concevoir des experiences les concernant. Dans le meme temps, le nombre de scientifiques et d'ingenieurs decroit en Hongrie. Il est evident que nous devons trouver des moyens pour attirer des etudiant/es dans ces professions. A Budapest, au Centre de recherche Wigner pour la physique de l'Academie des Sciences de Hongrie, un laboratoire de recherche a ete etabli pour les etudiant/e/s du secondaire, ou sous la supervision de professeurs et avec l'aide de scientifiques locaux, les etudiants peuvent participer a des recherches en physique des particules. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles : enseignement base sur la recherche, motivation des etudiants, interesser les etudiants aux sciences, detecteurs de particules, enseignement de la physique en equipe., Changes are needed in teaching physics Teaching physics has gone through fundamental changes in the last few years, mostly thanks to the initiation of the national curriculum. The different disciplines [...]

This study scrutinizes the potential correlation between Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scores and the profitability of firms listed in the selected STOXX Europe 600 index. Utilizing panel regression analysis, the study examines data from 385 non-financial companies over the period 2017 to 2021, correlating CSRHub's ESG scores and selected financial variables with corporate profitability measured by ROA. The investigation reveals that, overall, ESG scores do not have a significant impact on profitability, except for the ESG-community sub-score, which shows a slight negative influence. Thus, this paper partially supports studies that show a negative correlation between ESG and profitability, even though such results are in the minority in the literature. The overall results suggest that while ESG scores may reflect a company's ethical stance, they are not a predominant factor influencing its profitability. However, this is not the case for leverage, as the importance of capital structure for profitability is confirmed. AcknowledgmentThis research has been supported by the Scientific Grant Agency of the Slovak Republic under project VEGA No. 1/0579/21.

Summary: The study investigates age-related decline in listening abilities, particularly in noisy environments, where the challenge lies in extracting meaningful information from variable sensory input (figure-ground segregation). The research focuses on peripheral and central factors contributing to this decline using a tone-cloud-based figure detection task. Results based on behavioral measures and event-related brain potentials (ERPs) indicate that, despite delayed perceptual processes and some deterioration in attention and executive functions with aging, the ability to detect sound sources in noise remains relatively intact. However, even mild hearing impairment significantly hampers the segregation of individual sound sources within a complex auditory scene. The severity of the hearing deficit correlates with an increased susceptibility to masking noise. The study underscores the impact of hearing impairment on auditory scene analysis and highlights the need for personalized interventions based on individual abilities.

The seemingly effortless ability of our auditory system to rapidly detect new events in a dynamic environment is crucial for survival. Whether the underlying brain processes are innate is unknown. To answer this question, electroencephalography was recorded while regularly patterned (REG) versus random (RAND) tone sequences were presented to sleeping neonates. Regular relative to random sequences elicited differential neural responses after only a single repetition of the pattern indicating the existence of an innate capacity of the auditory system to detect auditory sequential regularities. We show that the newborn auditory system accumulates evidence only somewhat longer than the minimum amount determined by the ideal Bayesian observer model (the prediction from a variable-order Markov chain model) before detecting a repeating pattern. Thus, newborns can quickly form representations for regular features of the sound input, preparing the way for learning the contingencies of the environment.

The price of Dogecoin has been influenced by Elon Musk’s tweets on several occasions. Moreover, there are repeating patterns in the Dogecoin prices. However, is there also a pattern to the timing of the tweets? Applying linear regression, we have been able to make the reverse analysis – to use hard financial data (prices) to analyse the human behaviour (tweets) that preceded and influenced the financial data. Selected tweets could be paired thanks to the projections of their timing on the regression line that had been created over the prices. Our model exhibits inaccuracies only in the order of the days. That is surprising, as pump schemes do not usually require such a high level of long-term deterministic timing.

Recently a trend has come about of transferring the registered offices of parent companies or their subsidiaries to jurisdictions often marked as tax havens worldwide. This trend can also be seen in Slovakia. Our main aim is to examine the possible links between criteria such as the NACE sector, the jurisdiction category, the size of share capital invested, ownership interests and the number of years from the start of business (company formation) to the year of transferring the registered office to the tax haven, and to justify the tendencies in behaviour from the subsidiaries point of view. The formulation of assumptions is based on the statements of corporate service providers (CSPs), which directly, partially or fully, help companies set up or restructure their international corporate structures by using tax haven jurisdictions. This survey is based on the available database of Slovak companies obtained from the databases of Bisnode Slovakia, ltd. We analysed the available data on 3,483 Slovak companies between 2005-2015 by using both graphical methods and statistical induction methods (mainly Fisher’s exact test of independence) of randomly selected data from the entire database. Our results confirm that there is a statistically significant relationship between the jurisdiction category and three parameters: the NACE sector, ownership interests and the share capital. On the other hand, the relationship between the jurisdiction category and the period of transferring of registered office to tax havens has not been statistically confirmed.

This paper compares how Czech and Slovak microentrepreneurs perceive the volume and ease of access to finance that they face. Having an adequate number of sources of finance and easier access to them can help improve both enterprise and country performance. Chi-square and Z score tests for population proportions were used to test hypotheses. 740 microenterprises from Czech Republic and 287 microenterprises from Slovakia were included for the analyses that were performed by this study. The results show that Czech microentrepreneurs feel they have more sources of finance and have easier access to them than their Slovak counterparts. These differences may in part be linked to other factors such as the experience and age of microentrepreneurs and micro-firms, amount of business loans and microfinancing organizations, credit interest rates and credit rejection rates, the relative degree of economic freedom, the volume of government guarantees, relative GDP levels, the quality of business environment and ease of doing business. Additionally, The Moran’s I spatial autocorrelation index was performed to evaluate influence of location on the perception of Czech and Slovak microenterprises that were located in different regions of both countries. The paper also discusses the results’ policy implications for governments and financial institutions.

This paper investigates the impact of the global economy on the forest-based sector in Slovakia in the early years of the 21st century. Indicators such as gross domestic product, production value of forestry-wood sectors, net exports, foreign direct investments, and the ratio indices of foreign direct investment to GDP in industrial production and foreign direct investment to production value were used to analyze this sector in the context of globalization. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the factors that significantly affect the development of the forest-based sector and to shed light on how globalization impacts the analyzed sector. The results showed that the forest-based sector had a minor impact of the Slovak economy with less than 5% share on the whole GDP. Using multiple regression analysis it was found that globalization factors such as foreign direct investment and net export did not have a significant influence (p > 0.44175) on the forest-based sector during the investigated period. Nevertheless, the highest globalization indicators were detected by the pulp and paper industry (x ̅ = 2.72; 29.14) and the furniture manufacturing (x ̅ = 1.60; 27.57). The highest variability of FDI was identified in the forest sector (vx = 72.38%; 67.32%) by influence of zero FDI in the last three years and in the wood industry (vx = 38.90%; 38.51%).

This paper investigates the financial aspects of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Slovak wood-processing industry. The aim of the survey was to determine the level of understanding and implementation of financial controlling, and to identify its potential for future implementation. The survey revealed a low level of understanding and implementation of this tool in Slovak wood-processing SMEs, because the use of all analyzed instruments of financial controlling was in small enterprises in a range of 15% and in medium-sized enterprises up to 40%. However, medium-sized enterprises were substantially more equipped than small enterprises at applying and recognizing the benefits of financial controlling. Based on the results of this research, the framework for a standardized model of financial controlling for Slovak wood-processing SMEs was proposed, as a practical way of improving company performance models.

In the paper, the risk and risk management issues are discussed. We try to offer differentdefinitions and characteristics of business risk together with categorisation of riskconnected with the entrepreneurship. Specific risks in the SMEs sector are emphasized andsome solutions for process-oriented risk management are offered.

Barely 50 years old, video games are among the newest media today, and still a source of fascination and a site of anxiety for cultural critics and parents. Since the 1970s, a generation of video gamers have grown up and as they began to have children of their own, video games have become objects evoking fond memories of the past. Nostalgia for simpler times is evident in the aesthetic choices game designers make: pixelated graphics, 8-bit music, and frustratingly hard levels are all reminiscent of arcade-style and third-generation console games that have been etched into the memory of Generation X. At the same time, major AAA titles have become so photorealistic and full of cinematic ambition that video games can also serve as vehicles for nostalgia by “faithfully„ recreating the past. From historical recreations of major cities in the Assassin’s Creed series and L. A. Noire, to the resurrection of old art styles in 80 Days, Firewatch or Cuphead all speak of the extent to which computer gaming is suffused with a longing for pasts that never were but might have been. This paper investigates the design of games to examine how nostalgia is used to manipulate affect and player experience, and how it contributes to the themes that these computer games explore. Far from ruining video games, nostalgia nonetheless exploits the associations the players have with certain historical eras, including earlier eras of video gaming. Even so, the juxtaposition of period media and dystopic rampages or difficult levels critically comment upon the futility of nostalgia.