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Publications - 6374

Crisis and constitutional politics in Central Europe

Péter Smuk

Publication Name: Frontiers in Political Science

Publication Date: 2025-01-01

Volume: 7

Issue: Unknown

Page Range: Unknown

Description:

This paper aims to examine the impact of significant crisis situations on the constitutional framework over the past decade, including financial crisis, migration, pandemics and war. The paper focuses on the Visegrad countries, especially Hungary, and analyses the constitutional amendments adopted and the relevant constitutional court decisions. By examining the justifications for the amendments and decisions, it is possible to observe the efforts of legislators and governing parties to overcome difficult governance situations in crisis management. The study aims to interpret the relationship between constitutional responses to social crises and crises of democratic political systems, and argues that the inherent feature of constitutional changes triggered by crises is that they remain part of the political system in the longer term. In turn, their impact determines not only the resilience of states and societies, but also the direction in which democratic systems evolve.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.3389/fpos.2025.1545816

ESG Ratings, Scope Emissions, and Corporate Creditworthiness: Insights into Rating Divergence in the U.S. and EU

Árpád Tóth Bence Lukács

Publication Name: Ecocycles

Publication Date: 2025-01-01

Volume: 11

Issue: 2

Page Range: 27-34

Description:

This study explores the relationship between corporate credit ratings, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) ratings, and Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions for the largest 100 publicly traded companies by market capitalization in the U.S. and the EU. By integrating credit ratings from Moody’s and S&P Global, ESG ratings from Refinitiv and S&P Global, and emissions data from corporate sustainability reports, this research addresses the inconsistencies in how emissions transparency impacts creditworthiness. Employing statistical analyses such as correlation, regression, and quartile comparisons, the study provides novel insights into the weak association between ESG ratings and actual emissions performance. The findings reveal that higher credit-rated companies tend to report higher Scope 1 and 2 emissions, while ESG ratings, despite being seen as indicators of sustainability, fail to consistently reflect a company’s emissions data, particularly Scope 3 emissions. This study contributes to the literature by underlining the methodological divergences among ESG rating agencies, emphasizing their limited alignment with environmental performance metrics. Highlighting the need for a standardized ESG reporting framework, this paper calls attention to the limitations of current ESG scores as a proxy for corporate sustainability and their implications for credit rating assessments.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.19040/ecocycles.v11i2.498

Elements of Divergence in Urbanization between Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Core of the Continent

Dávid Fekete Krisztina Gálos Péter Faragó

Publication Name: Sustainability Switzerland

Publication Date: 2022-10-01

Volume: 14

Issue: 19

Page Range: Unknown

Description:

There is an ongoing debate regarding whether the EU-10 converges at the core of Europe or not. Although the evidence supports both perspectives, the gap in urbanization is undeniable. In this explorative study, two economic processes contributing to this disparity—foreign direct investment and migration—were analyzed and contextualized with respect to urbanization using grounded theory. It was concluded that there is slight convergence in the frontier, usually in urbanized areas of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), but not in the rural areas; additionally, the rural–urban dichotomy within the CEE countries is deepening due to the self-enhancing nature of the analyzed processes.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.3390/su141912377

Robust Road Surface Normal and Pitch Prediction via IMU-Camera Fusion

Áron Ballagi Zoltan Rozsa Zoltan Rozsa Norbert Marko Tamas Sziranyi

Publication Name: Lecture Notes in Computer Science

Publication Date: 2026-01-01

Volume: 15656 LNCS

Issue: Unknown

Page Range: 591-603

Description:

Predicting road surface normal and pitch with image-based algorithms remains a significant challenge, especially when steep inclines, declines, and sudden changes in road inclination are involved. To solve this problem, we propose a novel image-based algorithm that leverages homography decomposition to achieve accurate ground plane normal and pitch prediction. By integrating a Kalman Filter, our method enhances prediction stability. Further, we incorporate robust sensor fusion by integrating IMU-based odometry, ensuring that the estimates are accurately aligned with real-world motion. Overall, our approach outperforms existing techniques in both accuracy and responsiveness for dynamic driving environments. Experimental results show that our approach achieves superior performance, reducing average pitch and normal errors by 0.493∘ and 0.483∘, respectively, compared to the current state-of-the-art, and exhibits a shorter transient response in case of a sudden road inclination change. Code is available at: https://norbertmarko.github.io/ground-normal-prediction/.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-07343-3_47

Development and characterization of composites produced from recycled polyethylene terephthalate and waste marble dust

Ferenc Ronkay László Lendvai Vishal Ahlawat Guangming Wang Sicong Zhang Shaofeng Guo Tej Singh

Publication Name: Polymer Composites

Publication Date: 2022-06-01

Volume: 43

Issue: 6

Page Range: 3951-3959

Description:

The current paper presents the results of a study on the processing and characterization of waste marble powder-reinforced recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) composites. Samples with up to 20 wt% marble dust (MD) content were produced with twin-screw extrusion followed by injection molding. Subsequently, the morphological and mechanical features and the wear resistance of the developed composites were studied. In terms of mechanical properties, the incorporation of MD steadily improved both the tensile and flexural modulus of rPET, while the strength values showed an optimum at 2.5–5.0 wt%, depending on the mode of loading. Above the optimal MD concentration, the strength values deteriorated, however, even at maximum (20 wt%) marble content they were still similar to that of neat rPET, which proves the potential of utilizing waste MD in this specific polymer as filler material. The surface hardness of the fabricated samples also gradually improved with higher marble content, yet it came at the cost of impact toughness. The analysis of wear performance revealed an increasing resistance against wear up to 5.0 wt% filler loading, above which the dust particles got easily peeled off from the matrix, decreasing its efficiency.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1002/pc.26669

Thermally conductive and electrically resistive acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)/boron nitride composites: Optimal design using a multi-criteria decision-making approach

László Lendvai Daniele Rigotti Tej Singh Alessandro Pegoretti

Publication Name: Journal of Materials Research and Technology

Publication Date: 2023-09-01

Volume: 26

Issue: Unknown

Page Range: 8776-8788

Description:

The purpose of this work is to propose a decision-making algorithm to select the optimal composite material for thermally conductive but electrically insulating applications, such as microelectronic packaging heat sinks, diodes, and other electronic devices. In particular, an algorithm based on the criteria importance through inter-criteria correlation (CRITIC) and additive ratio assessment (ARAS) methods are used to evaluate several conflicting attributes. The evaluated samples were acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) composites filled with 0–30 vol% of boron nitride (BN) particles and prepared through melt compounding. The performance attributes considered through testing were heat conductivity, electrical resistivity, density, hardness, and tensile properties (Young's modulus, tensile strength, and elongation). As expected, the composite containing 30 vol% BN exhibited the highest heat conductivity, electrical resistivity, and Young's modulus. Meanwhile, unfilled ABS had the highest elongation at break, tensile strength, and lowest density. With respect to hardness, the 1 vol% BN-loaded composite proved to be superior. Therefore, the experimental data revealed a considerable compositional dependence with no obvious trend. The optimal composition was identified by adopting the CRITIC-ARAS multi-criteria decision-making algorithm, based on which the 30 vol% BN-containing composite was dominant among all the prepared samples. A validation through other decision-making techniques was performed to support the robustness of the proposed technique. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis was carried out on several weight exchange scenarios to see the stability of the ranking results.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1016/j.jmrt.2023.09.165

What are cultural metaphors?

Judit Baranyiné Kóczy

Publication Name: Magyar Nyelvor

Publication Date: 2017-01-01

Volume: 141

Issue: 4

Page Range: 404-425

Description:

One of the central issues in metaphor research is the interrelation of metaphors and cultural experience (Gibbs 2017; Kövecses 2005a, 2015; Sharifian 2011). As part of that research agenda, the notion of cultural metaphor has become one of the major categories of cultural linguistics (Sharifian 2011, to appear). The multidisciplinary theoretical framework interprets cultural metaphors within the set of cultural conceptualisations whose common trait is that they are rooted in a system of values and principles characteristic of a community. The aim of this paper is to outline the notion of cultural metaphor, and present its most important characteristics and dimensions of study in a cultural linguistic framework. First, its close connection is introduced with cultural schemas (including emotional schemas and event schemas) and cultural categories, and then it is argued that individual cultural metaphors cannot be taken to be elaborations of a more generic conceptual metaphor (Kövecses 2005ab). Next, it is discussed how source domains and target domains can be brought to bear on cultural cognition. Finally, metaphor preference (Benczes & Ságvári to appear) is discussed as an instance, broadly construed, of cultural metaphors. It is argued that, albeit cultural metaphors are of a conceptual nature, their conceptual structure is largely determined by cultural experience, hence their analysis primarily targets experiences and suppositions that make them culturally decisive. The theoretical claims of the paper are illustrated by cultural metaphors taken from Hungarian folk songs, along with examples borrowed from the relevant literature (Yu 2017; Yu-Jia 2016).

Open Access: Yes

DOI: DOI not available

European Green Transition Implications on Africa’s Livestock Sector Development and Resilience to Climate Change

Kennedy Ndue Goda Pál

Publication Name: Sustainability Switzerland

Publication Date: 2022-11-01

Volume: 14

Issue: 21

Page Range: Unknown

Description:

Green growth and the transition towards green growth are gaining scientific and public interest across Africa at an unprecedented rate. The Paris Agreement ratification by all 54 member states and the African Union (AU) goals in its Agenda 2063 on green economies are sufficient evidence of this. This is in line with the European Green Deal (EGD) aspirations, which envisages making Europe a carbon neutral economy by 2050. One of the EGD’s four main pillars is sustainable food systems. The success of EGD is premised on its ability to inspire and support green transition and effective climate action globally. The borderless nature of climate change necessitates a holistic approach to ensure the EU’s green transition does not come at the cost of development elsewhere. The main challenge is finding Africa’s space and position within the desired holistic approach, as Africa’s economy is agriculturally driven. One key African agricultural sub-sector significantly impacting livelihoods is livestock, which supports up to 80% of the rural livelihoods and which grapples with challenges in satisfying the needs of a fast-growing population. What could the EU green transition mean to this sector? We established that between 2010–2019, the African livestock population grew exponentially, and feed production followed the same path, with the share of land under forests, grasslands and meadows declining drastically. Over the same period, the percentage of land under arable farming increased while the animal-based protein and meat imports curve grew exponentially. This situation puts the continent in a dilemma about finding a sustainable solution for the food–feed and environmental nexus. Against this backdrop, a myriad of questions arises on how the green transition can be established to promote mitigating any loss that might occur in the process. We conducted a detailed sectoral trend analysis based on Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) statistics to find plausible solutions and pathways to achieve a greener transition. We coupled it with intensive policy mapping to develop science-policy-driven solutions that could promote the green transition sustainably. To sustainably accelerate the sectoral growth trajectory while addressing climate change, we recommend adopting and implementing raft measures geared towards increased sectoral efficiency, effectiveness, innovativeness and a holistic approach to the problem. Adopting transformative policies can promote the sector’s competitiveness through incentivisation, technological adoption, financial support, market support and increased awareness of its importance in sustainable development. However, exercising caution in implementing these practices is crucial to ensure there is no leakage effect in implementing the EGD across Africa and beyond.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.3390/su142114401

Sentiment Analysis of Marketplace Lending Platforms: A Study Based on Natural Language Processing

Jewel Kumar Roy

Publication Name: International Journal of Business Analytics

Publication Date: 2025-01-01

Volume: 12

Issue: 1

Page Range: Unknown

Description:

This study explores the link between user sentiment and credit risk on FinTech lending platforms using sentiment analysis techniques like Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) and the Liu Hu method. Analyzing data from 2020 to 2023, findings reveal Kiva leads with 91.16% positive feedback and a 4.7-star rating but fewer reviews (617). LendingClub, with 1.58K reviews, has mixed sentiment (56.08% positive, 39.99% negative) and a lower rating (3.3 stars). Plenti achieves 58.33% positive sentiment but lower coherence, while Mintos balances sentiment (66.69% positive) with the largest review base (100K+). Results show platforms with higher positive sentiment and topic coherence mitigate credit risk more effectively, underscoring the value of user feedback in optimizing marketplace lending. The study offers actionable insights for FinTech stakeholders to improve app performance and user-centric financial solutions through effective sentiment analysis.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.4018/IJBAN.393942