Diabetes is accompanied by fundamental rearrangements in redox homeostasis. Hyperglycemia triggers the production of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species which contributes to tissue damage in various target organs. Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) is a common manifestation of diabetic complications but information on the possible role of reactive intermediates in this condition with special regard to the involvement of the vitreous in PDR-associated redox alterations is scarce. The aim of the study was to determine key parameters of redox homeostasis [advanced glycation endproducts (AGE); protein carbonyl and glutathione (GSH)] content in the vitreous in PDR patients. The study population involved 10 diabetic patients undergoing surgery for complications of proliferative diabetic retinopathy and 8 control (non-diabetic) patients who were undergoing surgery for epiretinal membranes. Vitreal fluids were assayed for the above biochemical parameters. We found elevated levels of AGE in the vitreous of PDR patients (812.10 vs 491.69ng AGE/mg protein). Extent of protein carbonylation was also higher in the samples of diabetic patients (2.08 vs 0.67A/100μg protein). The GSH content also increased in the vitreous of PDR patients as compared to the control group (4.54 vs 2.35μmol/μg protein), respectively. The study demonstrates that diabetes-associated redox alterations also reach the vitreous with the most prominent changes being increased protein carbonylation and increased antioxidant levels.

This paper aims to analyze comprehensively the climate exposure, sensitivity, perception, adaptive capacity, vulnerability, and resilience of the Hungarian agricultural sector, particularly focusing on fruit, vegetable, and grape producers. Four distinct Hungarian case studies were examined, representing different regions with diverse environmental and socioeconomic conditions. The research combined quantitative and qualitative methods, including statistical and GIS analysis of climate, agricultural, and socioeconomic data, as well as field research and semi-structured interviews. The study investigated exposure, sensitivity, perception, and adaptation, leading to the identification of key components and influencing factors. Qualitative research revealed that farms operating in geographically close proximity, in the same regulatory and support environment, can have different adaptive capacities. In the current state of the adaptation process, the extent to which farmers can rely on supportive professional networks and seek out and adopt new practices is crucial. Field experience suggests that without a strong and supportive producer organization (extension network), farmers may prefer to resort to extensification (afforestation) to mitigate production risks. From a development policy perspective, it is worthwhile to present good practices and provide information on possible adaptation techniques through existing local sectoral organizations.

The thematic focus of this article is on school segregation and its relationship to residential segregation as manifested in six villages and two towns in adjacent lagging regions of Hungary and Slovakia. The strong correlation of the two was evident in village ghettos but turned out not to be straightforward in mixed communities where a ghetto school can be created through ‘white flight’ of the non-Roma children even if the proportion of Roma in the community is low. Approximately 60% of Roma in these countries live in segregated neighbourhoods, and their children are taught in segregated schools or classes. These two circumstances already indicate overlap in aspects of marginalisation, which reaches an advanced stage in village and town ghettos. The causes leading to advanced marginality, severe poverty and social exclusion of Roma in the studied research sites were found to be similar on the two sides of the border, as were forms of school segregation. Successive waves of exodus of non-Roma from rural to urban areas were identified as common background patterns to ghettoisation in rural spaces. The wide educational gap between Roma and non-Roma that has been maintained and even grown after the fall of state socialism is also a shared disadvantage of Roma in the two countries, restricting the most skilled to precarious wage labour and the least skilled to virtual joblessness. Research results in rural contexts confirmed that if social and spatial (residential) forms of marginalisation overlap, children of segregated neighbourhoods are becoming trapped with rare exceptions by the separating aspirations of non-Roma parents and the segregating practices of the educational systems.

A mezőgazdasági szektor klímasérülékenysége kiemelkedően magas, különösen a szőlő-, gyümölcs- és zöldségtermesztés ágazataiban. Az éghajlati adaptációt számos nemzetközi és hazai szakpolitikai stratégia prioritásként kezeli. Tanulmányunkban egységes elméleti keretrendszert kívánunk kialakítani, amely lehetővé teszi a klímasérülékenység komplex értelmezését. A kutatás célja a szőlő-, gyümölcs- és zöldségtermesztők klímasérülékenységének elemzése négy hazai mintaterületen, a kitettség, érzékenység és adaptációs képesség vizsgálatán keresztül; a gazdálkodók klímaváltozással kapcsolatos percepciójának bemutatása; a gazdálkodók által használt jó adaptációs gyakorlatok feltárása; a kitettség, az érzékenység, percepció és adaptációs képesség területi különbségeit befolyásoló környezeti, társadalmi és gazdasági tényezők azonosítása. A vizsgálat kvalitatív (félig strukturált interjúk) és kvantitatív (sérülékenységi mutatók számítása) módszereket alkalmazott. Az eredmények alapján a gazdálkodók egyöntetűen érzékelték az éghajlatváltozás negatív hatásait, bár percepciójuk részben eltért a mért adatoktól. A gazdák számos adaptációs gyakorlatot alkalmaznak, az innovatív módszerek különösen a magas társadalmi tőkével és erős hálózatokkal rendelkező területeken terjedtek gyorsan. A sikeres alkalmazkodás nem kizárt sem a magas éghajlati kitettség, sem a kedvezőtlen társadalmi-gazdasági körülmények mellett. Az elszigeteltség ösztönzőleg hathat az adaptációra, de a legrosszabb helyzetben lévő perifériákon az alapvető források és képességek hiánya miatt az alkalmazkodás ellehetetlenülhet.