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Hungarian experiences of the transition from traditional work to telework1

Laszlo Vasa P. Karácsony Yuriy Bilan Katalin Lipták

Publication Name: Transformations in Business and Economics

Publication Date: 2021-01-01

Volume: 20

Issue: 3

Page Range: 168-182

Description:

The global outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic has radically transformed people’s daily lives since the spring of 2020. In addition to the direct health consequences of the virus, the epidemic has had a significant impact on the functioning of society, people’s lifestyles and has also had a fundamental impact on the world of work. The year 2020 marked a breakthrough in the spread of telework and “home office” work in Hungary, as this form of work was one of the necessary tools in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic in order to reduce the number of personal contacts. Both employers and the masses of employees were able to experience the pros and cons of this. This period can be therefore considered as the main challenge of teleworking and working from home, which is undoubtedly caused by the COVID-19 epidemic. The research aims to answer the question of the impact of telework on the daily lives of Hungarian workers. In international comparison, the proportion of teleworkers in Hungary was low before the pandemic. As a result, a great many have experienced a drastic transition from traditional work to teleworking. The given questionnaire survey also confirmed that a significant proportion of employees had difficulties with teleworking at the beginning of the transition. These difficulties were mainly due to the fact that they were not technically prepared and that their daily routine, which they had become accustomed to in their traditional work, had been changed.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: DOI not available

The Forerunner UAV Concept for the Increased Safety of First Responders

Antal Hiba Ádám Kisari Mihály Nagy Istvan Drotar Attila Gáti Péter Bauer Balázs Lattes

Publication Name: International Conference on Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems Vehits Proceedings

Publication Date: 2021-01-01

Volume: 2021-April

Issue: Unknown

Page Range: 362-369

Description:

This paper proposes a novel Forerunner UAV concept to increase the safety of first responders by monitoring the road in front of their emergency ground vehicle (EGV) and notifying the driver about any violation of his/her right of way or approaching danger. The developments are conducted in an R&D project in Hungary. The proposed UAV for the planned urban demonstration is a hexacopter with triple redundant architecture applying a gimbaled camera to monitor the surroundings. In the cooperative control of the EGV and UAV the UAV must fly in front of the EGV which is possible through wireless communication of route data and velocity. Besides the real system a computer simulation representation is also applied including CARLA and Matlab to make exhaustive tests of the system capabilities. Increased attention is devoted to the possible wireless communication solutions as these are safety critical parts of the system. The article ends with the lists of planned simulation and real test scenarios to evaluate the system.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: DOI not available

Relationship between direct and maternal genetic effects on weaning weight of Limousin and crossbred beef calves

Szabolcs Bene Eszter Szabó Márton Szűcs Judit Márton Ferenc Szabó

Publication Name: Czech Journal of Animal Science

Publication Date: 2021-01-01

Volume: 66

Issue: 7

Page Range: 262-270

Description:

Population genetic parameters, direct and maternal breeding value, genetic trend in the weaning weight of Limousin beef cattle calves were estimated in the period 1992–2019. Data of 19 764 calves (15 437 purebred Limousin and 4 327 crossbred) were computed. Crossbred calves were sired by Limousin breeding bulls from Simmental dams. Calves in question came from 37 herds and from 240 sires in Hungary. DFREML and MTDFREML software was used for the estimation of population genetic parameters, BLUP animal model for breeding value estimation. Weighted linear regression model was used for describing genetic trends. The maternal heritability (h2m ± SE = 0.29 ± 0.03; 0.32 ± 0.10) was approximately half of the direct heritability (h2d ± SE = 0.63 ± 0.05; 0.68 ± 0.12). The direct maternal covariance is negative, the direct maternal genetic correlation coefficients (rdm ± SE = –0.80 ± 0.03 and –0.96 ± 0.07) are strong negative. The Spearman rank correlation between direct and maternal breeding value in purebred population is moderate and negative (rrank = –0.33; P < 0.01), in crossbred population it is strong and negative (rrank = –0.99; P < 0.01). According to direct and maternal breeding values of sires the genetic trend of the weaning weight of purebred and crossbred Limousin calves appeared stagnant during the examined period (b = +0.01 kg/year to +0.19 kg/year).

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.17221/298/2020-CJAS

Helianthus tuberosus at home and away: Stronger ecological impacts in invaded than in native range are not explained by arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization

Robert W. Pal Rita Filep Bradley J. Cook David U. Nagy K. Nagy A. Lengyel Ádám Imri Klára Czakó-Vér Ágnes Farkas

Publication Name: Preslia

Publication Date: 2021-01-01

Volume: 93

Issue: 4

Page Range: 363-376

Description:

The impact of invasive plants on vegetation can vary greatly depending on the characteristics of the invaders and community invasibility. As to the factors that influence a plant's ability to invade, recent studies suggest that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) may be important regulators in plant invasions. To better understand the interactions of Helianthus tuberosus with co-occurring species in its native NorthAmerican and invaded European ranges,we carried out plot-based field surveys to determine whether the cover of H. tuberosus, its stem number and height, bare ground cover and amount of litter differ between ranges and how they interact with numbers of species in the plant community. To provide information aboutAMFcolonization of H. tuberosus,we evaluatedAMFcolonization in both ranges and tested the difference between continents, the effect of cover of H. tuberosus and their interaction with AMF. In the invaded range in Europe, H. tuberosus plants grew taller, had a greater stem density and there were fewer species in the invaded plant communities than in its native range in North America. In contrast, the cover of H. tuberosus and litter cover did not differ between the two continents. Plants of H. tuberosus were colonized by AMF in both ranges, but we found no statistical support for the potential effects of continent, the cover of H. tuberosus and their interaction with AMF. Overall, our study revealed that H. tuberosus exerts a negative impact on co-occurring species in the invaded European range, but not in North America where the species is native. To our knowledge, this is the first evaluation of AMF colonization of H. tuberosus at home and away and the results do not support either the degraded or enhanced mutualism hypotheses.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.23855/preslia.2021.363

Examining the links between logistics outsourcing, company competitiveness and selected performances: the evidence from an emerging country

Innocent Senyo Kwasi Acquah Yaw Agyabeng-Mensah Ebenezer Afum Joseph Amponsah Owusu Essel Dacosta Charles Baah Clifford Sekyere Owusu

Publication Name: International Journal of Logistics Management

Publication Date: 2021-01-01

Volume: 32

Issue: 3

Page Range: 1068-1090

Description:

Purpose: This study examines the mediation effects of time-based competitiveness, cost-based competitiveness and customer performance between logistics outsourcing and financial performance. Design/methodology/approach: The study relied on a questionnaire as the primary data collection instrument and further employed partial least squares structural equation modelling technique to test all formulated hypotheses. Findings: The results demonstrate that logistics outsourcing has a significant positive impact on time-based competitiveness, cost-based competitiveness, customer performance and financial performance. Time-based competitiveness and cost-based competitiveness were both found to have a significant positive impact on financial performance; however, customer performance had no significant impact on financial performance. The mediation analysis further indicates that while both time-based competitiveness and cost-based competitiveness play mediation effects between logistics outsourcing and financial performance, customer performance plays no mediation effect between logistics outsourcing and financial performance. Research limitations/implications: The sampled firms for this study came from a single emerging country; hence, the results cannot be generalized or imported to reflect the results that may be obtained from other emerging geographical settings. Practical implications: The results provide sufficient evidence for managers to turn their attention to logistics outsourcing, as a transformative business initiative, to gain time-based and cost-based competitiveness so as to improve financial performance. Originality/value: The study provides significant insight and makes an additional contribution to literature in the area of logistics outsourcing, especially by collecting data from an emerging country. Modelling time-based competitiveness, cost-based competitiveness and customer performance as mediating variables between logistics outsourcing and financial performance make this work relatively different from other studies.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1108/IJLM-05-2020-0205

Enablers of Augmented Reality in the Food Supply Chain: A Systematic Literature Review

John G. Keogh Abderahman Rejeb Karim Rejeb

Publication Name: Journal of Foodservice Business Research

Publication Date: 2021-01-01

Volume: 24

Issue: 4

Page Range: 415-444

Description:

The food industry represents one of the most critically important sectors of the economy. Food is a basic necessity for human life and requires specialized handling, preparation, and logistics to be safe for human consumption. Moreover, food supply chains have become more globalized, fragmented, and complex. Food industry stakeholders are forced to reconsider conventional ways of managing food chains and coping with the latest technology innovation trends. As technology unlocks several opportunities in supply chains, food businesses have a vested interest in exploring Augmented Reality (AR). AR denotes the technology of overlaying virtual objects upon the real-world environment. Despite being a well-established technology, AR possibilities in the food supply chain remain an unexplored research area. Therefore, to fill this knowledge gap and capture the latest developments in this field, we conducted a systematic literature review. Fifty-one (51) publications were thoroughly analyzed to identify the enablers of AR in the food industry. Findings revealed five main areas where AR potentially offers substantial business value. These include food process efficiencies, food decision-making, food marketing, food training, and food safety. Finally, research contributions, trajectories and limitations were highlighted.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1080/15378020.2020.1859973

Energy Integration of Vertical Farms for Higher Efficiency and Sustainability

Jean Pimentel Ferenc Pongrácz György Ágoston Zoltán Sejpes Zsolt Bukodi István Kenyeres Ferenc Friedler

Publication Name: Chemical Engineering Transactions

Publication Date: 2021-01-01

Volume: 88

Issue: Unknown

Page Range: 727-732

Description:

As a result of the increasing human population, the availability of resources per capita has been vastly diminished in the last decades. Naturally, the depletion of valuable environmental assets such as water and arable land, poses a threat to mankind’s sustainable development. In this regard, various novel ideas have been proposed for processing agricultural products ecologically and sustainably; one of such ideas is vertical farming (VF). VF is a novel production technology that aims at enhancing both the yield and the product quality, by growing them in highly packed, high energy-density systems with high mass-flow rates and in a controlled environment. The technologies required for VF have been developed and successfully tested, thereby producing crops that meet the requirements of food safety, adequate nutrient content, and maximum yield. However, the extremely high biomass densities and high turnover rates employed to give rise to challenges regarding to energy efficiency and homogeneity patterns. In this work, a P-graph model is presented for the integration of VF systems. The algorithmic approach is employed to evaluate options for process integration and intensification of VF with plausible synergetic production processes into a dense urban environment. As a result, 115 integrated process alternatives are identified for the base case, with the best structure exhibiting a total cost of 41,920 EUR/y, thereby yielding reductions up to 11% for the total cost of the integrated network. The pareto front of economic performance and CO2 emission is presented to illustrate the potential benefits of integration, and the capability of the methodology to evaluate alternative designs.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.3303/CET2188121

The effect of soil physicochemical characteristics on zinc analysis methods

Csaba Centeri Renato Kalocsai G. Milics Zsolt Biró Viktoria Vona A. J. Kovács Endre Andor Tóth István Mihály Kulmány Gergely Jakab Zsolt Giczi

Publication Name: Soil and Water Research

Publication Date: 2021-01-01

Volume: 16

Issue: 3

Page Range: 180-190

Description:

Zn is an essential micronutrient involved in a wide variety of physiological processes. Soils are tested for zinc in many countries with several extractants. Each country has its validated methods, best-suited for its soils. The current study was designed to compare different zinc content measuring methods with seventy-one samples from Hungary. The data were first compared for the whole dataset and then in certain categories such as CaCO3-content, pH, texture and clay content. The zinc content was determined by the water extraction, KCl-EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid), Mehlich 3, CoHex (cobalt hexamine trichloride), and XRF (X-ray fluorescence) methods. Based on the analyses of all the data, we can conclude that all the methods are different. However, further analyses during the comparison of the methods based on the influencing factors, such as the pH, lime content, texture class, and clay content proved that, in some of the cases, there are similarities among the methods and, this way, we can get more knowledge on the measurements and the results provided. Farmers can gain extra knowledge from the comparison of the influencing factors to know where intervention is needed to use extra Zn for the proper fertilisation of their plants.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.17221/53/2020-SWR

Heat Integrated Water Regeneration Network Synthesis via Graph-Theoretic Sequential Method

Ákos Orosz Bing Shen How Sin Yong Teng Juin Yau Lim Ferenc Friedler

Publication Name: Chemical Engineering Transactions

Publication Date: 2021-01-01

Volume: 88

Issue: Unknown

Page Range: 49-54

Description:

The integration of multiple resources conservation networks is necessary to attain the ever-stringent sustainable goals. This work takes initiatives to develop a heat integrated water network via a proposed P-graph-based sequential methodology. In the first step, a set of feasible water regeneration networks is generated using the conventional P-graph framework. Then, the obtained feasible networks will be used as the inputs in the second stage which aims to generate various sets of feasible heat exchanger networks. It is worth noting that the second model is solved by an extended P-graph framework (P-HENS) for combinatorial process network optimization. The solutions are then ranked based on the total network cost. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, a typical water regeneration network (three sources and three sinks) with multi-contaminants is used. The results show a total of 103 feasible water network structures (water network cost ranging from 0.76 M$/y to 1.18 M$/y). Thereafter, a list of feasible HIWRN can be determined using P-HENS. The top four HIWRNs which offer similar total network cost (~1.639 M$/y) are demonstrated. This proposed method provides valuable insights that allow decision-makers to further select the optimal solution which may be more beneficial as compared to the one obtained via conventional methods.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.3303/CET2188008