Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra

The central agglomeration Němčice in Moravia gave the name – the Němčice/Roseldorf type – to the entire gradually recognised group of large lowland settlements with production and distribution functions existing in La Tène Europe in the 3 rd –2 nd century BC. In addition to settlement and production features, several ditched quadrangular enclosures were also identified at the Němčice settlement. One of these, feature 525, was investigated in 2022. The history of the enclosure is demonstrated by finds and structures found in its inner space and from the individual layers of the fill of its ditch, which document development from the burial and perhaps other ritual functions of the enclosure ending with the deposition of fragments of weapons in the ditch, up to the incorporation of the feature into the space used for settlement activities. Ditched quadrangular enclosures, as are known besides Němčice especially from Roseldorf in eastern Austria and from other settlements in the corridor of the Amber Road, reflect significant changes in the ritual behaviour of the La Tène population in Central Europe in this period.

This chapter deals with the education and knowledge of primary school pupils in Slovakia in the field of natural sciences with a special regard to geography. After the introductory section, we deal with the results of pupils in science literacy in the latest PISA 2022 testing. In the next section, we describe the current school curriculum reform of primary schools in Slovakia, specifically focusing on natural science subjects, including geography. From September 2023, the first 39 primary schools began to educate first-grade pupils according to the new curriculum, which will be compulsory for all primary schools from the school year 2026/2027 according to the new State Education Program, (SEP). In the following section, we analyze and discuss the new SEP using a SWOT analysis. The effort of the new SEP is to globalize education with the use of innovative methods so that it approaches the needs of the twenty-first century. However, for this to happen, it will be necessary to eliminate several shortcomings that the authors of the curriculum reform did not anticipate. In the section Policy Suggestions, we briefly present recommendations for improving the new SEP to achieve better results of primary school pupils in natural science subjects, especially geography.

The visual capture of the world has been an integral part of the formation of ethnology and cultural anthropology since the beginning. It meant not only a source of knowledge of the local community, but especially of the time at which it was created. Sometimes photographs were taken accidentally during research trips as more or less documentary material, which were only superficially analysed and served to visually confirm the investigated state, or were a targeted photo documentation of disappearing phenomena, objects of material culture, ceremonies or genius loci of the researched area. At other times, photographs were created as a result of purposeful research and documentation of selected phenomena. The result of this is an interpretive openness and an effort to find and establish new analytical and interpretive processes that would be able to convey anthropological knowledge more effectively. Is art, or in our specific case artistic photography, usable for research or for interpretation of cultural or anthropological phenomena? We try to find an answer to this question by analysing the collection of photographs of the Creative Creatures project (subtitled Last Survivors) from Papua New Guinea, by art photographer Martin Machaj. We analyse not only its artistic rendering but also the ethnological, anthropological content and message of the work of art.

The present study deals with two prominent personalities of literary, cultural, and social life, respectively their (in their time) important works. One of them is Dominik Tatarka and his cardinal work Démon súhlasu [The Demon of Consent, in magazine form in 1956, in book form in 1963] and Ladislav Mňačko and his Oneskorené reportáže [Delayed Reports, 1963]. In the turbulent years after the Second World War, when Czechoslovakia struggled to define its state character, both representatives radically sided with the regime and supported it in all their activities. For example, both Tatarka and Mňačko were involved (to some extent) in the conviction of wrongly accused individuals. However, they were among the first to understand the system’s destruction and criticise it publicly. The works, Démon súhlasu [The Demon of Consent] and Oneskorené reportáže [Delayed Reports], became significant in this regard. At the time of their publication, both texts boldly named the pernicious practices of communist totalitarianism and foreshadowed and contributed to the change in the social climate that led to the Prague Spring. Based on an interpretative probe, the present study aims to approach the semantic dimensions of these works and, through literary instrumentation, make accessible a mode of critical reflection on the communist regime.

In this study, we aimed to assess the fluvial and pluvial flood hazard by a combination of basin and municipal scale assessment using an indicator-based approach, hydrologic-hydraulic modeling, and geographic information systems (GIS). The study area is represented by the Gidra River Basin and 12 municipalities. To calculate a composite flood hazard index (CFHI), we used two components: pluvial flood potential index (PFPI) and fluvial flood hazard index (FFHI). Altogether, five physical-geographical indicators and land use/land cover were used to calculate the PFPI. For determining the FFHI, we calculated three hydraulically modeled indicators for Q100: flood extent, average flow depth, and average flow velocity in each municipality. The most endangered municipalities in terms of the FFHI are located in the central and upper part of the basin while in case of the PFPI, the highest values were obtained by the municipalities located in the lower and central part of the basin. The highest values of CFHI were recorded in municipalities of Cífer, Budmerice, and Jablonec, which are in central part of the studied basin. Reliability of the calculated PFPI and FFHI was proven by the occurrence of past floods in the studied municipalities during the years 1996–2024.

The current concept of children's readiness to enter school also assumes the school's and family's readiness to create optimal conditions for children's adaptation into the new school environment. The presented study analyzes the readiness of parents of future and beginning pupils in relation to the successful adaptation of pupils to the beginning of systematic education. Regarding the issue, pedagogical research experimentally verifyed the impact of the proposed activities on increasing the pedagogical readiness of parents and the school readiness of children in the home environment. By carrying out the research and subsequent statistical analysis of the data, it was confirmed that the implementation of the activities had an impact on the level of adaptation of beginning pupils from the perspective of parents.

The paper focuses on innovative and creative approaches to teaching geometry in the first year of primary school. Geometry is generally not a popular part of mathematics. The findings are based on several studies investigating how students at different educational levels solve different mathematical problems. The link between geometry and the math trail is an interesting one, as it combines knowledge of geometry in the real world with solving problems directly in the field. Through the MathCityMap portal, first grade students were able to solve geometry problems created by a math trail using different measuring tools. The results of the abovementioned outdoor activity showed that the students had gained a positive attitude towards geometry and that they had broadened their perspective on the connections between mathematics, other school subjects and everyday life.

During the pandemic, the government of the Slovak Republic was forced to take various measures related mainly to limiting contact. These facts also affected the Department of Education, so that all educational institutions were closed. The Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Sports of the Slovak Republic was forced to interrupt face-to-face teaching in all schools from kindergarten to university and switch to an online form of education. Even universities were not prepared for this form of education, as few universities offered study programs in which it was possible to study either in a combined or in an online form. In the paper, the focus is on the topic of online education of the students with special needs in tertiary education. As part of the empirical investigation, the aim was to map the opinions of university students with special needs and analyze their experiences with this form of education. The findings resulting from the investigation of the involved 83 respondents indicate that online education had many advantages and disadvantages for students with special needs. The most frequently mentioned advantages were, e.g., recordings from lectures and seminars (appreciated most often by students with learning disabilities), handing in assignments was rated as more practical, teachers were more accommodating, better communication during consultations, feeling more comfortable in the home environment (appreciated most often by students with mental, chronic illness and students with physical disabilities of the lower limbs). There were also negative answers, such as social isolation, technical problems, lack of practice, exercises, problems to concentrate, deterioration of health (depression), uninteresting online teaching, reduced time for writing tests.

The paper presents results of a study the aim of which was to find out what causes difficulty in teaching technical subjects at upper secondary schools. For this purpose, a panel discussion was held with 20 selected staff members of two schools. The task of the panellists was to answer three questions: what are causes of difficulties in teaching technical subjects; what are the effective ways of motivating students to study technical subjects and how is it possible to maintain the motivation of students for a longer period of time; hence, what makes it possible to attract the attention of students more significantly in the teaching of technical subjects. The discussion was led by 3 moderators, university teachers from Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland. As it resulted from about 45-minute discussion of each of the stated questions, the main difficulty of technical subjects teaching is lack of students´ motivation what is partially caused by the way in which the students are assessed, and partially linked with the need to replace verbal teaching methods by other ones.

News spreads most widely on social media; however, these platforms can also disseminate fake news, especially in times of crisis, leading to serious societal consequences. To understand why people share fake news on social media, we examine information-seeking behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social media platforms are using third parties to verify news articles due to the abundance of fake news, which is increasingly time- and resource-intensive. In response, we propose a news representation model that leverages information-seeking patterns to extract syntactic, emotional, lexical diversity, and readability features from social media posts for accurate fake news detection. We demonstrate that the proposed model significantly improves detection performance over traditional language representation models, validated using three social media datasets from the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings indicate that incorporating information search behavior and linguistic features effectively enhances the detection of fake news on social media.

This paper analyzes dialect-stylizing internet content on current events that depict Slovakia Hungarian dialects speakers. The regular display of dialect phenomena on social media platforms allows rapid spread, constant presence, and the possibility of comments. The figure of the dialect speaker, previously geographically bounded, can become a symbol of authenticity, accessible from anywhere in the world. The paper examines the importance of the views of lay language users and content creators in simple language management and citizen science in the contexts of the recognition of dialects, of their oral and written representation, and of the evaluation of languages and varieties.

In our paper we explore the intricate relationship between language and identity within the Hungarian language minority residing in Slovakia, examining the patterns of identification among high school students in Western Slovakia. Focusing on upper-secondary Hungarian-medium high school students, we investigate the role of the Hungarian language in shaping identity patterns and cultural unity. Through a mixed-methods approach, combining a quantitative questionnaire survey with qualitative focus group discussions, we address research questions regarding the construction of community belonging and adolescents' attachments to their region and homeland. Our study, encompassing 414 students from five Hungarian-medium gymnasiums, sheds light on the identity formation of the Hungarian national minority and highlights divergent tendencies between different age groups. The findings are part of an ongoing state-level research project.

Introduction Over the years eastern Slovakia has been subject to consistent monitoring of high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in both the environment and human populations attributed to the former production of PCBs at the Chemko Strážske plant. We aimed to investigate the extent to which dietary habits and residential location could affect the concentrations of PCBs in the blood serum samples of subjects. Methods We enrolled 602 adult subjects from eastern Slovakia with an average age of 45.14 (±8.49) years. To determine the concentrations of 21 PCB congeners, we used solid phase extraction along with gas chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry. Based on questionnaire data, the assessment of dietary habits and residential location was performed using score calculations and creating a map. Results and discussion Through principal component analysis, the 20 PCB congeners were classified into three groups: PC1, comprising highly chlorinated PCBs, and PC2 and PC3, consisting primarily of low chlorinated PCBs. Stepwise multivariate regression revealed positive and negative associations between PCB congeners represented by PC1-3 and scores related to the residential location and scores related to food consumption, respectively. We confirmed that levels of PCBs represented by PC1-3 increased with age. The geographical proximity to pollution sources proved to be a key contributing factor to the observed PCB levels in individuals residing in eastern Slovakia.

In the present study, we examined the functional interrelationships between microRNAs and plant polyphenols in the regulation of ovarian cell functions. For this purpose, we compared the basic functions of porcine ovarian granulosa cells with or without transfection with miR-152 mimics that were cultured with or without quercetin. The expression levels of miR-152, cell viability, cell proliferation (accumulation of proliferating cell nuclear antigen, PCNA), apoptosis (accumulation of Bax) and the release of progesterone, estradiol, and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) were analyzed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‒qPCR), the Trypan blue exclusion test, quantitative immunocytochemistry, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). Transfection of cells with miR-152 mimics increased miR-152 expression, reduced cell viability, proliferation, apoptosis, and estradiol output, and promoted the release of progesterone and IGF-I. Quercetin decreased all measured parameters. Moreover, quercetin promoted the effect of miR-152 on cell viability, apoptosis, and estradiol and mitigated the effect of miR-152 on cell proliferation and IGF-I output. For instance, miR-152 mimics promoted the effect of quercetin on cell viability, apoptosis, and estradiol but prevented the effect of quercetin on PCNA. These observations demonstrated the involvement of miR-152 and quercetin in the control of ovarian cell functions and their functional interrelationships, mainly synergism, in the regulation of these functions.

Purpose Child abuse and trauma are significant risk factors in the etiology of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Apart from affecting the risk of developing BPD, adverse childhood experiences seem to increase its symptoms and related disability. Self-stigma presents another common issue with equally prominent consequences for mental health. Despite being theoretically linked, the connections among childhood trauma, self-stigma, and mental health have not been explored in patients with BPD. This study aimed to provide first insights into this understudied topic. Patients and Methods This cross-sectional study included 283 inpatients diagnosed with BPD participating in a residential transdiagnostic psychotherapeutic program. The patients completed several measurements – the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire – Short Form, the Clinical Global Impression – Severity, the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, the Dissociative Experiences Scale, the Sheehan Disability Scale, and a demographic questionnaire. The data was statistically analyzed using IBM SPSS and AMOS 26 programs, and bivariate correlation tests and structural equation modeling explored the hypotheses. Results Retrospectively reported childhood trauma positively correlated with current self-stigma. Both childhood trauma and self-stigma were also positively related to several indicators of general psychopathology and disability. The significance of these connections was subsequently confirmed by structural equation modeling, where self-stigma acted as a partial mediator of childhood trauma, general psychopathology, and disability. Conclusion Self-stigma significantly mediates the relationship between childhood trauma and selected mental health symptoms among adult patients diagnosed with BPD. Longitudinal studies are necessary to explore the causality of the findings. Therapeutic and societal efforts to tackle childhood trauma or self-stigma might benefit from reflecting its broader psychosocial context.

This paper discusses the relationship between minority identity and place-name use in Hrušov/Körtvélyes . The research location is in the Rožňava/Rozsnyó district of the Košice/Kassa region, near Slovakia's border with Hungary. 79% of the village's population belong to the Hungarian national minority, while 20% of the population identifies as Slovak. The community can be described as bilingual, as they use both Hungarian and Slovak, depending on the situation and context. Most of the settlement's place name stock consists of toponyms in Hungarian, with Slovak toponyms mainly appearing only on maps from the second half of the 20th century. However, even the residents who claim Slovak nationality and/or Slovak mother tongue hardly know and use the Slovak toponyms. This sociological study of place names, including 10% of the population (34 people), proves this. The strong minority identity is reflected in the fact that the community of Hrušov/Körtvélyes uses Hungarian toponyms and has not adopted the artificially created Slovak toponyms. In this context, it is safe to conclude that learning and revisiting the use of toponyms can strengthen identity, as it strengthens the ties to the community.

This study investigates rapid guessing behavior (RGB) in a microlearning environment, which has gained importance due to its growing user base in formal and informal education. The presence of RGB in question responses can distort the perceived difficulty of the content and skew the overall assessment of a student’s abilities. When test-takers respond without careful consideration, their scores may not accurately reflect their knowledge and skills, potentially leading to incorrect conclusions about student performance and the effectiveness of the educational content. The primary goal of this research is to evaluate whether methods designed for RGB detection in traditional testing environments can be effectively applied in microlearning–a low-stakes context that contrasts with traditional high-stakes testing scenarios. Three different approaches to RGB identification, represented by six methods, were selected for this study. These include the nominal time method based on average response time (NT10), visual identification of bimodal distributions in response times, and a group of methods that combine response time and accuracy (RTRA and CUMP). Additionally, the study aims to identify variables that can categorize students based on their behavior and performance and examine how these variables can improve the accuracy of RGB detection. Analyzing real-world data, the study focuses on student interactions with microlearning content, particularly regarding response times, accuracy, and engagement levels. The findings confirm that methods developed for RGB identification in traditional settings can be adapted for use in microlearning environments. Furthermore, the study reveals significant differences in RGB identification when students are clustered by reading speed and learning performance.

Incorporating technology into education has become a crucial component of contemporary teaching practices. Technological advancements have led to the development of innovative teaching tools and methodologies that promote active learning and engagement among students. This study used a modified version of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to analyze the key factors that impact the integration of technology in the teaching practice of higher education instructors. Among the factors to be included in the modified model are technostress and teaching tradition. These factors have been rarely examined within the mandatory technology integration in higher education settings. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) is used to analyse the empirical data collected from 657 higher education teachers in Jordan. Findings reveal that teachers’ technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) played a crucial role in facilitating the effective integration of technology into teaching practices. This boosted self-efficacy, personal innovativeness and perceptions of ease of use and usefulness. Additionally, teachers’ TPACK negatively influenced their technostress and teaching tradition. Indeed, technostress and teaching tradition were identified as significant obstacles to the effective integration of technology into teaching practices. Significant implications for theory and practice can be derived from the findings of this study to effectively incorporate technology in higher education.