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Moterų informuotumas ir požiūris į taikomas krūties vėžio profilaktines programas Lietuvoje /
No full textEven in fateful situations a vital optimism remains: social work "accompaniment" with persons with cancer /
No full textTo advance a social work model for working with patients with diagnoses of cancer in diverse global contexts, this paper draws from qualitative research with clients diagnosed with cancer, and their social workers, in Lithuania. As in many countries, Lithuanian social work is a new profession, finding its way to helping people through many life stressors in a unique cultural context. The threat cancer presents – of dying from a protracted and painful illness – requires social work strategies, especially because many countries lack Hospice supports. Key aspects of the findings are the life crisis that a diagnosis of cancer presents, with great fear, anguish, and shifts in personal identity. Clients and social workers describe physical and emotional suffering and alienation from others. While some aspects of clients’ suffering cannot be alleviated by social workers, alienation can be, so here we focus on that possibility. The data from clients and social workers are used to revise crisis intervention theories to suit this unique type of crisis, and an alternative concept of “accompaniment” is offered to capture how social workers can reduce alienation. Drawing from the work of Farmer, Watkins, and O’Donoghue, accompaniment is compatible with strengths-based and wholistic approaches to practice and is adaptable for those with any belief system
Opportunities and challenges for crowdfunding as an alternative way to invest in sustainable projects.
No full textThe lack of financial resources is one of the main obstacles to starting and implementing sustainable projects. The development of projects to reduce environmental impact can be encouraged through new forms of funding and greater involvement of citizens. Crowdfunding is becoming an alternative solution to attracting funds for the implementation of sustainable projects. Through crowdfunding platforms, sponsors fund individual companies and projects that might not be funded through traditional funding opportunities. According to N. Nigam et al. (2018: 195), crowdfunding is becoming a viable alternative to traditional financing, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. The crowdfunding process usually involves three participants: sponsors, entrepreneurs and the platform. Crowdfunding helps to raise funds, build relationships, replicate successful experiences, access a large group of potential investors, attract other external investors, and overcome other challenges relating to raising the necessary funds. In 2019, the size of the crowdfunding market was 13.93 billion USD, and in 2026 it is projected to grow threefold to 39.7 billion USD (Statista, 2020). The following types of crowdfunding can be distinguished: donation-based crowdfunding, peer-to-peer lending, equity crowdfunding, reward-based crowdfunding, profit-sharing crowdfunding, debt-securities crowdfunding, and hybrid models. In Europe (excluding the UK), reward crowdfunding generated the largest transaction value in 2018. In the process of selecting a crowdfunding platform, it is recommended to pay attention to the following aspects: the size of the platform, the common values, the value-added services provided by the platform, the duration, the structure of the participants, and the sustainability of the platform. Focus of the research: crowdfunding. Aim of the research: after analysing the principles of crowdfunding, identifying the opportunities and challenges of crowdfunding as an alternative way of attracting necessary funds for the implementation of sustainable projects. Research methods: analysis of scientific literature, analysis of crowdfunding platforms for sustainable projects, statistical analysis. After analysing the possibilities of crowdfunding contributing to the implementation of sustainable projects, it can be stated that the developers of such projects may incur higher costs, because additional efforts are needed to present their value proposition and convince potential investors (Maehle, 2020: 281). In addition, more attention needs to be paid to building relationships with investors or sponsors, by explaining the potential risks of the project, and providing additional information. The social and psychological motivation of investors to contribute to the implementation of sustainable projects can be the same or even more important than the financial return. The analysis of crowdfunding platforms suitable for investing in sustainable projects has shown that suitable platforms could be: StartEngine, Citizenergy, Goteo.org, Kiva, GoFundMe, Kickstarter, and others. To sum up, crowdfunding is an acceptable way of investing in sustainable projects, supported by the growing value of sustainable project transactions each year, and by the growing number of successful projects
Shape matters: the relationship between cell geometry and diversity in phytoplankton /
No full textSize and shape profoundly influence an organism’s ecophysiological performance and evolutionary fitness, suggesting a link between morphology and diversity. However, not much is known about how body shape is related to taxonomic richness, especially in microbes. Here we analyse global datasets of unicellular marine phytoplankton, a major group of primary producers with an exceptional diversity of cell sizes and shapes and, additionally, heterotrophic protists. Using two measures of cell shape elongation, we quantify taxonomic diversity as a function of cell size and shape. We find that cells of intermediate volume have the greatest shape variation, from oblate to extremely elongated forms, while small and large cells are mostly compact (e.g. spherical or cubic). Taxonomic diversity is strongly related to cell elongation and cell volume, together explaining up to 92% of total variance. Taxonomic diversity decays exponentially with cell elongation and displays a log-normal dependence on cell volume, peaking for intermediate-volume cells with compact shapes. These previously unreported broad patterns in phytoplankton diversity reveal selective pressures and ecophysiological constraints on the geometry of phytoplankton cells which may improve our understanding of marine ecology and the evolutionary rules of life
Evaluation of organizational culture of small enterprises.
No full textThe solutions needed to strengthen the organizational culture of small companies are analysed in this master’s thesis. The aim of the work is to analyse the theoretical assumptions of organizational culture and systematically identify the elements of organizational culture specific to small enterprises, to evaluate the organizational culture in small enterprises by offering recommendations for strengthening the organizational culture. The work consists of three main parts. In the first part of the work, by conducting comparative analysis the concept of organizational culture is defined, the types of organizational culture and their peculiarities are distinguished; the importance of organizational culture and its benefits for the competitiveness of the organization’s activities are indicated; the stages of organizational culture development and their importance in small enterprises are accentuated. In the second part of the work, a methodology is developed, validating the choice and applicability of semi-structured interview and questionnaire survey research methods. A model of organizational culture evaluation is developed. A model of change management is constructed and discussed in the thesis. The results discussed in the third part show that small companies focus on a solid united goal, which is directly related to the results of companies and compliance with customer requirements, but the balance between personal life and work processes is lost. In the process of forming organizational culture, there is no agreement on the use of elements of organizational culture and their significance. The goals of organizations are related to the efforts of employees to perform the job or assigned functions well, but not to the value system that connects them. The recommendations focus on the development of competencies of employees and managers