Transition and unemployment — The case of Hungary

The paper examines the present situation on the Hungarian labour market. Since the political and economic transition in the beginning of the 90s, unemployment is on the rise in Hungary like in all other post-socialist countries. During socialism the political leaders sacrified economic efficiency for the sake of the idea of full employment. It resulted not only an ill working economy but a latent unemployment, the so called indoor unemployment within the large factories and companies. According to contemporary western estimates the socialist production yield could have been achieved by 20% less labour staff. After the transition the rate of unemployment was not growing so fast as it could be expected, however. The study sheds light on the causes. The most serious problems are the high rate of unemployment of the young and the number of unqualified working age population, especially the Gypsis. From west to east the labour situation is getting worse in the countryside. When surveying the future perspectives the study presents estimates on the expected number of the unemployment and describes the defects of the government measures taken in this field.     

Effective utilization of seismic reflection technique with moderate cost in uranium exploration

In participation with numerous industrial partners, the Seismic Laboratory of the University of Saskatchewan has conducted a variety of active seismic reflection experiments; both on the west and east sides of the Athabasca Basin. Results of the investigations at Shea Creek, McArthur River and Keefe Lake illustrate that the seismic investigations deliver effective, highly relevant primary structural images of the subsurface, with resolution that no other geophysical technique can match. Correlation of similar seismic signatures, on several distant but inter-related seismic sections, allowed spatial extension of promising exploration target zones previously unrecognized. Within the three-dimensional seismic volume, comparable reflectivity patterns defined the complex areal distribution of mineralization-related fault systems. Beyond these novel contributions, extended analysis of seismic signal attributes (amplitude and frequency), optical televiewer, and full-wave sonic data offer detailed lithological characterization, including alteration zones, clay content, as well as porosity and fracture density information. Although these structural and geologically relevant anomalies are primary indicators of mineralization, presenting novel exploration advantages, the seismic method is still not a standard component of the Athabasca Basin exploration approach, due to the negative perception that ‘it is very expensive’. Comparing the costs of all geophysical techniques to the cost of a single logged drill hole illustrates that the results of a properly designed seismic data acquisition program not only leads to more effective planning of a drilling program, but also would lead to a much quicker recognition of the major mineralized zone(s), and a reduction in the number of required exploration boreholes. This integrated approach to exploration would then translate into a significant reduction of the total exploration expenditures. Unquestionably, the drilling of boreholes provides the most explicit, reliable information to a certain depth, but only within a very small area. Directly connecting the borehole information to seismic results extends the local reliable data; permitting reduction of the number of boreholes to create accurate two-dimensional or three-dimensional subsurface images and reduction of the expenditures of the total exploration program.     

NDVI dynamics as reflected in climatic variables: spatial and temporal trends – a case study of Hungary

Understanding climate change and revealing its future paths on a local level is a great challenge for the future. Beside the expanding sets of available climatic data, satellite images provide a valuable source of information. In our study we aimed to reveal whether satellite data are an appropriate way to identify global trends, given their shorter available time range. We used the CARPATCLIM (CC) database (1961–2010) and the MODIS NDVI images (2000–2016) and evaluated the time period covered by both (2000–2010). We performed a regression analysis between the NDVI and CC variables, and a time series analysis for the 1961–2008 and 2000–2008 periods at all data points. The results justified the belief that maximum temperature (TMAX), potential evapotranspiration and aridity all have a strong correlation with the NDVI; furthermore, the short period trend of TMAX can be described with a functional connection with its long period trend. Consequently, TMAX is an appropriate tool as an explanatory variable for NDVI spatial and temporal variance. Spatial pattern analysis revealed that with regression coefficients, macro-regions reflected topography (plains, hills and mountains), while in the case of time series regression slopes, it justified a decreasing trend from western areas (Transdanubia) to eastern ones (The Great Hungarian Plain). This is an important consideration for future agricultural and land use planning; i.e. that western areas have to allow for greater effects of climate change.     

Study on the Chemical Character of Water Soluble Organic Compounds in Fine Atmospheric Aerosol at the Jungfraujoch

In this study the chemical nature of the bulk of water soluble organic compounds in fine atmospheric aerosol collected during summer 1998 at the Jungfraujoch, Switzerland (3580 m asl) is characterised. The mass concentration of water soluble organic substances was similar to those of major inorganic ions, and the water soluble organic matter was found to be composed of two main fractions: (i) highly polyconjugated, acidic compounds with a varying degree of hydrophobicity and (ii) slightly polyconjugated, neutral and very hydrophilic compounds. The contribution of both fractions to the total water soluble organic carbon was about 50%. Separation into individual components was impossible either by HPLC or capillary electrophoresis which indicates the presence of a high number of chemically similar but not identical species. Results obtained by ultrafiltration and HPLC-MS have shown that the molecular weights are of the order of several hundreds. Most of the protonation constants for the acidic compounds determined by capillary electrophoresis were in the range 10⁴–10⁷.     

Stable and unstable orbits around Mercury

This paper provides a study of the stable and unstable regions around the smaller primary in the framework of the spatial elliptic restricted three-body problem. The definitions and methods used to determine stable and unstable regions are extended to three dimensions. New results concerning the stable and unstable regions around Mercury are obtained in the Sun–Mercury system.     

The regional differentiation of the Hungarian economy in transition

After 1989, the East Central European countries had to face three major challenges: stabilization and modernization of their economies and the transition to a market economy. Hungary, partly because of the early liberalization of the command economic regime enjoyed a significant competitive edge in the region in all three areas. The stabilization, modernization and restructuring of the economy was followed by the strengthening of processes of regional differentiation, the fast gaining on, and loosing of importance by certain areas and settlements. The capital city and the agglomeration area around it became the centre of the Hungarian as well as East Central European economic changes in all respects, the Western Transdanubian area is speedily integrating with the North Italian, Austrian, Southern German economic region, while the Southern parts of the country are presently in a state of transition and a prolonged crisis can be forecasted for the Eastern regions of the country.