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Indoor-guided navigation for people who are blind: crowdsourcing for route mapping and assistance /
No full textThis paper presents an approach to enhance electronic traveling aids (ETAs) for people who are blind and severely visually impaired (BSVI) using indoor orientation and guided navigation by employing social outsourcing of indoor route mapping and assistance processes. This type of approach is necessary because GPS does not work well, and infrastructural investments are absent or too costly to install for indoor navigation. Our approach proposes the prior outsourcing of vision-based recordings of indoor routes from an online network of seeing volunteers, who gather and constantly update a web cloud database of indoor routes using specialized sensory equipment and web services. Computational intelligence-based algorithms process sensory data and prepare them for BSVI usage. In this way, people who are BSVI can obtain ready-to-use access to the indoor routes database. This type of service has not previously been offered in such a setting. Specialized wearable sensory ETA equipment, depth cameras, smartphones, computer vision algorithms, tactile and audio interfaces, and computational intelligence algorithms are employed for that matter. The integration of semantic data of points of interest (such as stairs, doors, WC, entrances/exits) and evacuation schemes could make the proposed approach even more attractive to BVSI users. Presented approach crowdsources volunteers’ real-time online help for complex navigational situations using a mobile app, a live video stream from BSVI wearable cameras, and digitalized maps of buildings’ evacuation schemes
The role of the leader in the integral system of ethics management in municipalities /
No full textSeeking good governance at local self-government, ethics management is a significant function in a public administration organization, in line with transparency, accountability, responsibility, openness and efficiency. Leadership is a key factor in driving organization towards ethical culture. Given this fact, the aim of this article is to disclose the role of leaders of the municipality in the formation and implementation of the integral ethics management system. The integral system of ethics management in the municipality is measured through the ethics management measures, processes and structures from the perspective of leaders at the political and administrative level, taking Lithuania as a case for the study. Quantitative research in the form of a structured and standardized questionnaire was used. Research sample includes 274 respondents from Lithuanian municipalities. The findings of the research show that the political leader– the mayor of the municipality– is more symbolic one, more as supporter of the ethics management in a municipality, while the administrative leader – the director of the administration (head of the division) – is considered as the main figure in ethics management processes, as well the initiator and the personal example of ethical behavior
Alcohol consumption by youth /
No full textAlcohol consumption strongly contributes to a global burden of disease and injury, with dependence-producing properties causing significant social and economic problems in societies. The main preventative strategy to reduce the negative effect of alcohol misuse is to avoid or postpone premature alcohol consumption as long as possible. Early onset of alcohol consumption creates a biopsychosocial risk to youth, developing into life-long problems at the individual and social levels. One reason teens are more vulnerable to alcohol is brain development at this age, and impulse control is not fully matured. It may lead to problems with peers at school, university, or in the family, also impaired mental health and cognitive disabilities. Early onset of alcohol consumption is also linked to increased risk for addiction problems in later life. However, underage alcohol consumption is preventable with individual, family, or organization-based interventions that are well proven or research-based
Creating a model for b2b customer service quality supervision evaluation.
No full textThe article analyses the specifics of business-to-business services and customer service quality factors. Ensuring and maintaining the quality of customer service is clearly a more challenging issue when there is collaboration between multiple organisations to deliver goods, services or information. In a business-to-business context, the requirements for quality, its standards and its maintenance, are much stricter and more controlled. This, in turn, determines the complexity of the problem under investigation. Service quality assurance in this case cannot be seen as a mechanical action, it is building relationships with customers as business partners, consistent, long-term, effort-intensive work that requires a systematic approach. The research problem: what factors of customer service quality are relevant in assessing the quality of services provided in a business-to-business context. Subject: quality of customer service. The aim of the work: after analysing the specifics of business-to-business services, to create a model that enables an organisation to better ensure the quality of its customer service. Objectives: y to name the factors determining the quality of customer service, and their importance in the development and implementation of service quality supervision systems; y to create a customer service quality supervision model which includes the assessment of factors determining quality, and enables the organisation to better ensure the supervision of customer service quality. Research methods: the comparative and systematic logical analysis of scientific literature and conceptual content analysis were used. The analysis of factors determining the quality of customer service shows that the importance of factors in the process of providing a service may be revealed at different stages of the provision of the service. Services are human resource-intensive, and the specifics of B2B services relate to information management solutions in the design and implementation phases of the service. Conclusions. Assessing factors that determine the quality of a company’s customer service includes solutions to measure, control and manage the process of providing services. Identifying factors that determine the quality of customer service is the basis for the implementation of a service quality monitoring system, which is significant for the customer, the company providing the service, and the employees involved in the process of providing services. A business-oriented and process-oriented model for business-to-business service quality assessment is recommended, encompassing perceived quality formed by customer expectations and the image of the service provider, covering five assessment areas: (1) the potential quality of service providers; (2) the quality of direct service staff; (3) process quality; (4) technical quality; and (5) the quality of the result obtained
Implementation of participatory governance in Klaipeda city municipality.
No full textThe implementation of participatory governance in Klaipėda was examined using the participatory action research method conducted in 2018 - 2020. Issues examined: how Klaipėda city municipal institutions ensure the application of the principles of participatory governance; what are the reasons for involvement or inclusion; what are the motivations of the participants and the shortcomings of participation. The task was set to implement a participatory budget in Klaipeda. It has been established that the dynamics of ensuring inclusion necessary for the implementation of KMS participatory governance in 2018–2021 can be assessed as growing, but insufficient, and the main reasons for this are incompetence and unresolved structural problems of the public sector. Positive dynamics in the extent and power of citizen participation have been identified, but not enough to keep participatory governance in place. The set goal to implement a participatory budget in Klaipeda has been achieved. The paper provides references to the descriptions of the identified reasons for the lack of inclusion and participation and the recommendations made to stakeholders in the implementation of participatory governance
The concept of hope and its change in marginal situations.
No full textThis work analyses the concept of hope and its significance in marginal situations of human life. The concept of hope is analysed from three perspectives: philosophical, psychological and theological, presenting the features of the theory of hope and the theology of hope, as well as the possibilities of strengthening hope as a spiritual resilience. The concept of marginal situations, their characteristics, the human attitude in the face of them, such as death, loss and other painful life events, the need for hope and its significance are presented. It has been found that during marginal situations a process of personal maturity takes place, the attitude of individuals towards faith, meaning and purpose of life changes. The attitude of a person in marginal situations depends on the direction of overcoming the crisis: with or without hope. The research on the movement of hope described in the work and the results obtained confirm that hope in marginal situations changes for most people, but not for all, and deepens the person's understanding of true and reliable hope, bringing him closer to the source of Christian hope. The final conclusion of the theoretical and research analysis of the concept of hope and its movement is that hope is faith: in the religious sense, when a person trusts in God, and in the non-religious sense, when a person trusts in himself, in someone else or in something else. Hope is characterised by a long-range and a short-range perspective. The former is more oriented towards transcendence and the supernatural life, the latter towards the hereafter, experiencing and making sense of the reality of life. Although their features may differ to some extent, it can be said that in both cases hope is an important factor in overcoming liminal situations. Hope as a process of personal change and belief is supported by philosophical, psychological and theological sciences and by the research carried out in this thesis. Hope is central to everyone's life, but its essence is most deeply understood in marginal situations
Gairės Pamario seniūnijų ekosisteminių paslaugų valdymui klimato ir globalios kaitos kontekste /
No full textBook review: Tobias Haimin Wung-Sung (2019), Beyond the Border. Young Minorities in the Danish–German Borderlands, 1955-1971, Berghahn Books, New York – Oxford, 270 pages :
No full textClassifying and mapping cultural ecosystem services using artificial intelligence and social media data /
No full textQuantifying and mapping cultural ecosystem services are complex because of their intangibility. Data from social media, such as geo-tagged photographs, has been proposed for mapping cultural use or appreciation of ecosystems. However, manual content analysis and classification of large numbers of photographs is time-consuming. The potential of deep learning for automating the analysis of crowdsourced social media content is still being explored in CES research. Here, we use a new deep learning model for automating the classification of natural and human elements relevant to CES from Flickr images. This approach applies a convolutional neural network architecture to analyze over 29,000 photographs from the Lithuanian coast and uses hierarchical clustering to group these photographs. The accuracy of the classification was assessed by comparison with manual classification. Over 37% of the photographs were taken for the landscape appreciation class, and 28% of the photographs were taken of nature, of animals or plants, which represent the nature appreciation class. The main clusters were identified in urban areas, more precisely in the main coastal cities of Lithuania. The distribution of the nature photographs was concentrated around particular natural attractions, and they were more likely to occur in parks and natural reserves with high levels of vegetation and animal cover. This approach that was developed for clustering the photographs was accurate and saved approximately 100 km of manual work. The method demonstrates how analyzing large numbers of digital photographs expands the analytical toolbox available to researchers and allows the quantification and mapping of CES at large geographical scales. Automated assessment and mapping of cultural ecosystem services could be used to inform urban planning and improve nature reserve management
Physiotherapeutic scoliosis-specific exercise methodologies used for conservative treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, and their effectiveness: an extended literature review of current research and practice /
No full textDue to the multifactorial etiology of scoliosis, a comprehensive treatment plan is essential for conservative management. Physiotherapeutic scoliosis-specific exercise (PSSE) methods have lately gained popularity for the conservative treatment of scoliosis. The aim of this study was to analyze the PSSE methodologies used for conservative treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), as well as their effectiveness. The study was based on an extended literature search conducted in the PubMed, Google Scholar, PEDro, eLABA, and BioMed Central databases. A total of 123 articles were selected for this study (including articles overviewed in systematic reviews and meta-analyses) after applying the inclusion criteria. The study revealed that inappropriate management of AIS could result in serious health problems. Conservative interventions that aid in stabilizing spine curvature and improving esthetics are preferred for scoliosis treatment. Bracing has traditionally been the mainstay of treatment, but growing evidence suggests that PSSE physiotherapy allows effective management of idiopathic adolescent scoliosis. Currently, there are the following PSSE physiotherapy schools in Europe: Schroth, SEAS, BSPTS, FED, FITS, Lyon, Side Shift, and DoboMed. The methodologies of these schools are similar, in that they focus on applying corrective exercises in three planes, developing stability and balance, breathing exercises, and posture awareness. Although high-quality research supporting the effectiveness of PSSE physiotherapy in the treatment of AIS is lacking, existing evidence indicates that PSSE physiotherapy helps to stabilize spinal deformity and improve patients’ quality of life. Among the abovementioned methodologies, Schroth is the most widely studied and has been proven to be effective. However, both SEAS and BSPTS effectively stabilize and even reduce the Cobb angle of scoliosis. Data supporting the validity of other methodologies are very limited. Only the Schroth method significantly reduces the angle of trunk rotation, while both SEAS and Schroth methods greatly improve the quality of life indicators. In any case, the available evidence is insufficient to confirm the advantage of one specific physiotherapy technique over others