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The in fluence of cultural changes on the transformation of perception of postmodern society: the transition of perception of “normality” to the dictate of “exception”.
No full textWe will analyse the cultural phenomenon as a product created by human genius. We will ask how works the interaction of culture and human life today and how cultural transformation influences the process of modelling perceptions of man himself. We will analyse how the cultural perception of what is “normal” or what is “value” is replaced by what is pleasant and useful. How a new concept of normality and value is created. We are creating a society on the foundation of exceptions without borders or a respectful and tolerant society
Bandymas susieti titnago radinių kompleksą su šiaurės elnio rago Rangifer tarandus kirviu iš Parupėsradavietės šiaurės Lietuvoje.
No full textThe recent intensification of AMS 14C assays of bone and antler artefacts in the east and southeast Baltic region has revealed a number of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) antler axes, and their prevalence in the Late Palaeolithic osseous toolkit. One of the oldest, dating from 11 221–11 048 cal BC, was discovered in 2014 in the village of Parupė, on the left bank of the River Nemunėlis, in northern Lithuania. Until now, no such organic implements discovered in the region in question have been associated with any Late Palaeolithic taxonomic group, but at the location of the antler axe at Parupė between 2015 and 2019, three concentrations of numerous lithic findings have been identified, whose typological and technological features allow for the consideration of their possible association with the dated axe. In this paper, we present three concentrations of lithic finds (sites 1–3) at Parupė village, providing their technological and typological data, and their possible chronology and taxonomy, reflecting the Late Palaeolithic and Early and Late Mesolithic. We conclude that the moderate lithic complex from site 1 should be associated with Late Palaeolithic technology, and can possibly be linked with the antler axe
Gammarus (Amphipoda) species competitive exclusion or coexistence as a result of climate change in the Arctic? /
No full textThe coexistence of two congeneric amphipods, boreal Gammarus oceanicus, and arctic G. setosus, was studied during the summer seasons of 2017–2019 in the region of Isfjorden, Forlandsundet, and Prins Karl Forland island in the west-central part of the Svalbard archipelago (Arctic). Across the study area species distribution often overlapped, but the domination patterns mirrored environmental conditions preferred by each species. Both species, however, were able to survive in suboptimal conditions. On a small spatial scale (in one sample) the species were separated, which may suggest an antagonistic relationship between them. The ongoing changes in the environment of Svalbard will likely affect these two species differently. The increasing intrusion of Atlantic waters will probably favor the further expansion of G. oceanicus along the Svalbard coasts. This will be due to the gradual advance of the existing population, as an influx of individuals from the Nordic seas seems unlikely. G. setosus will remain the dominant species in cold-water areas such as the inner fjords and the northeastern coast of Svalbard and may find new suitable habitats in lagoons or estuaries fed by melting glaciers. Despite predicted changes in the distribution range of both species, their future coexistence should still be possible due to the wide range of environmental tolerance and the heterogeneity of the Svalbard coastal habitats
Beyond the front-line: the coping strategies and discretion of Lithuanian street-level bureaucracy during COVID-19 /
No full textThis article presents the results of a project funded by the Research Council of Lithuania: ‘Public policy solutions and their improvement to overcome the COVID-19 crisis in Lithuanian municipalities: solution tools and service delivery.’ The research methodology is based on street-level bureaucracy theory and ongoing qualitative research in the form of interviews with social workers and doctors. Interviews were conducted in the Lithuanian municipalities which became the first COVID-19 hotspots in March-April 2020. The aim is to identify the response and coping strategies of street-level bureaucracy. The findings of current research suggest that the workload of street-level bureaucrats increased, the situation changed very rapidly, and there was a constant need to adopt rules and even recommendations issued by the ministry. Fear of COVID-19 infection, a lack of accurate information, uncertainty, and the possibility of allowing staff with children to leave the workplace led to staff shortages. This in turn motivated the administration and the remaining employees to look for suitable coping strategies
The use of performance information in local government administration: the case study of Klaipėda region.
No full textWith the modernization of public administration in the world, the traditional bureaucratic management model has been abandoned and results-oriented management has been introduced, which essence is efficiency and effectiveness, the level of satisfaction of public needs and the quality of services provided in the public sector. The implementation of results-oriented management has determined and formed one of the trends of results-oriented management – performance management, which takes place in several stages: planning, monitoring and evaluating performance and it covers performance, its evaluation, available and obtained data, setting evaluation criteria and information use. Performance information use is one of the main ways to ensure performance management in local self-government, and local self-governments in the Klaipėda region are no exception. Taking into account the benefits of performance information use and the lack of scientific literature on the analyzed topic, the following theoretical and empirical research will be carried out, which problem can be formulated with the question: How do local self-governments of Klaipėda region use performance information? The object of the work: Performance information use in local self-government administration. The aim of the work: to theoretically and empirically investigate the opportunities of performance information use in local self-government; In the theoretical part of the work, the first chapter reveals the theoretical aspects of results-oriented management in local self-government, delves into the concept of results-oriented management, peculiarities and its stages, such as planning, monitoring and evaluation, during which performance information is obtained in local self-government. The second chapter discusses the concept of performance information, identifies the factors that determine performance information use, the goals, opportunities and arising problems of performance information use. The empirical part of the work analyzes how local self-governments of the Klaipėda region use performance information. The research was carried out in two methods: by analyzing the data of the annual implementation reports of the strategic plans of local self-governments of the Klaipėda region and by conducting online interviews with local self-governments specialists of Klaipėda region. During the analysis of documents, statistical data on the implementation of measures was analyzed; during the research, it became clear that it is difficult to access performance information in public space in local self-governments of Klaipėda region, local self-governments distinguish different amounts of measures; it can be seen that cities have greater opportunities and finances than regional municipalities, local self-governments try and implement the planned measures, and the measures are not implemented quite rarely and the main reasons for non-implementation of the measures are revealed. After the analysis of the data of the interviews, the factors determining the collection and use of performance information in local self-governments of Klaipėda region were singled out, planning, monitoring, evaluation processes were examined, the main factors complicating planning, monitoring and evaluation frequencies were revealed, the importance of performance information, impact on the decision-making process, factors determining successful performance information, ways of involving the interested parties in the performance information use are revealed. In summarizing the research, performance information, its obtaining, use in local self-governments of Klaipėda region is smooth and useful, however, it was noticed that employees lack understanding of planning, monitoring and evaluation processes and they narrowly understand the goals and opportunities of performance information use
Model-driven optimization of coastal sea observatories through data assimilation in a finite element hydrodynamic model (SHYFEM v.7_5_65) /
No full textMonitoring networks aims at capturing the spatial and temporal variability of one or several environmental variables in a specific environment. The optimal placement of sensors in an ocean or coastal observatory should maximize the amount of collected information and minimize the development and operational costs for the whole monitoring network. In this study, the problem of the design and optimization of ocean monitoring networks is tackled throughout the implementation of data assimilation techniques in the Shallow water Hydrodynamic Finite Element Model (SHYFEM). Two data assimilation methods – Nudging and Ensemble Square Root Filter – have been applied and tested in the Lagoon of Venice (Italy), where an extensive water level monitoring network exists. A total of 29 tide gauge stations were available and the assimilation of the observations result in an improvement of the performance of the SHYFEM model that went from an initial root mean square error (RMSE) on the water level of 5.8 cm to a final value of about 2.1 and 3.2 cm for the two data assimilation methods, respectively. In the monitoring network optimization procedure, by excluding just one tide gauge at a time, and always the station that contributes less to the improvement of the RMSE, a minimum number of tide gauges can be found that still allow for a successful description of the water level variability. Both data assimilation methods allow identifying the number of stations and their distribution that correctly represent the state variable in the investigated system. However, the more advanced Ensemble Square Root Filter has the benefit of keeping a physically and mass conservative solution of the governing equations, which results in a better reproduction of the hydrodynamics over the whole system. In the case of the Lagoon of Venice, we found that, with the help of a process-based and observation-driven numerical model, two-thirds of the monitoring network can be dismissed. In this way, if some of the stations must be decommissioned due to a lack of funding, an a-priori choice can be made, and the importance of the single monitoring site can be evaluated. The developed procedure may also be applied to the continuous monitoring of other ocean variables, like sea temperature and salinity
Local self-government in Lithuania /
No full textLithuania is a parliamentary democracy and a decentralised unitary state. In 2018 on 16th of February country celebrated 100 years of the birth of modern Lithuania. In 1918 there was established an independent, modern state of people, which had to be ruled by democratically elected government. Since June 1940 country was occupied by the Soviet Union. Lithuania restored its independence on 11 March 1990. Nowadays Lithuania has the population of 2.8 million (2019) and the territory of 65 300 km2. Lithuania has got one tier local government system. It consists of 60 local authorities or municipalities. Lithuania has constitutional basics of local government, local government are regulated in the Law on Local Government, and European Charter of Local Government was signed in 1996 and ratified in 1999 without reservations. The chapter present brief historical development of local self-government in Lithuania, describes constitution, legal, administrative, financial and other local self-government issues, paying attention to such local self-government dimensions as responsibility, right to associate and protection. Also there are presented future challenges of the implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in country
A global-scale screening of non-native aquatic organisms to identify potentially invasive species under current and future climate conditions /
No full textThe threat posed by invasive non-native species worldwide requires a global approach to identify which introduced species are likely to pose an elevated risk of impact to native species and ecosystems. To inform policy, stakeholders and management decisions on global threats to aquatic ecosystems, 195 assessors representing 120 risk assessment areas across all six inhabited continents screened 819 non-native species from 15 groups of aquatic organisms (freshwater, brackish, marine plants and animals) using the Aquatic Species Invasiveness Screening Kit. This multi-lingual decision-support tool for the risk screening of aquatic organisms provides assessors with risk scores for a species under current and future climate change conditions that, following a statistically based calibration, permits the accurate classification of species into high-, medium- and low-risk categories under current and predicted climate conditions. The 1730 screenings undertaken encompassed wide geographical areas (regions, political entities, parts thereof, water bodies, river basins, lake drainage basins, and marine regions), which permitted thresholds to be identified for almost all aquatic organismal groups screened as well as for tropical, temperate and continental climate classes, and for tropical and temperate marine ecoregions. In total, 33 species were identified as posing a ‘very high risk’ of being or becoming invasive, and the scores of several of these species under current climate increased under future climate conditions, primarily due to their wide thermal tolerances. The risk thresholds determined for taxonomic groups and climate zones provide a basis against which area-specific or climate-based calibrated thresholds may be interpreted. In turn, the risk rankings help decision-makers identify which species require an immediate ‘rapid’ management action (e.g. eradication, control) to avoid or mitigate adverse impacts, which require a full risk assessment, and which are to be restricted or banned with regard to importation and/or sale as ornamental or aquarium/fishery enhancement
DNA markers reveal genetic associations among 11,000-Year-Old Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) found in the Baltic Sea with the present-day gene pools in Lithuania /
No full textWe aimed to extract DNA and amplify PCR fragments at the mitochondrial DNA Nad7.1 locus and 11 nuclear microsatellite loci in nine circa 11,000-year-old individuals of Scots pine found at the bottom of the Baltic sea and test the genetic associations with the present-day gene pool of Scots pine in Lithuania. We followed a strict anticontamination protocol in the lab and, simultaneously with the aDNA specimens, tested DNA-free controls. The DNA was extracted by an ATMAB protocol from the ancient wood specimens sampled underwater from Scots pine stumps located circa 20–30 m deep and circa 12 km ashore in western Lithuania. As the references, we used 30 present-day Lithuanian populations of Scots pine with 25–50 individuals each. The aDNA yield was 11–41 ng/μL. The PCR amplification for the mtDNA Nad7.1 locus and the nDNA loci yielded reliable aDNA fragments for three and seven out of nine ancient pines, respectively. The electrophoresis profiles of all the PCR tested DNA-free controls contained the sizing standard only, indicating low likelihood for contamination. At the mtDNA Nad7.1 locus, all three ancient Scots pine individuals had the type A (300 bp) allele, indicating postglacial migration from the refugia in Balkan peninsula. The GENECLASS Bayesian assignment tests revealed relatively stringer and consistent genetic associations between the ancient Scots pine trees and the present-day southern Lithuanian populations (assignment probability 0.37–0.55) and several wetlands in Lithuania. Our study shows that salty sea water efficiently preserves ancient DNA in wood at the quality levels suitable for genetic testing of trees dated back as far as 11,000 years before present