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The perspectives of participatory governance implementation in Neringa municipality.
No full textThe aim of the work is to assess the perspectives of participatory governance implementation in Neringa municipality. Participatory governance implementation is an integral part of democratic governance, and participation itself is identified as one of the core democratic values, which effectiveness depends on the implementation mechanism. The main factors that will help ensure the smooth running of this mechanism are the right to participate, the opportunities and the participants. In order to ensure the participation of civil society based on the principles of transparency and accountability, the regulation of this process as defined in the legal acts must be followed. The analysis of legal acts has shown that national and international documents emphasize the rights and obligations of citizens and civil servants to participate in public governance, and they are more detailed in the domestic laws of the Republic of Lithuania. After the research, it was found that participatory governance implementation in Neringa municipality is more theoretical than practical. The situation is aggravated by the discrepancy between the attitude of residents and civil servants towards the existing problems. Residents lack information, appropriate conditions for involvement and cooperation from government representatives, and the municipal employees do not see their mistakes in believing that all measures are taken to encourage participation. Such a contradiction leads to a negative development of participatory governance, therefore, it would be appropriate to take the following steps: first, dissemination of detailed and clear information on the planned actions through various information dissemination channels (on social networks, the municipality website, in the press, also not to eliminate the possibility of leaving leaflets in mailboxes when discussing issues of particular relevance to the residents), with a greater focus on youth and the elderly. Secondly, and probably most importantly, SWOT analysis of participatory governance implementation in Neringa municipality should be performed and a plan for ensuring this process should be prepared, indicating the goals, objectives, and defining the implementation period in stages
Ideal cardiovascular health status and health-related quality of life in adolescents: the LabMed physical activity study /
No full textObjective: Adolescent’s ideal cardiovascular health index (ICVH) seems to be an important indicator of youth’s lifestyles and cardiometabolic health with potential positive consequences for their Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL). The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between the ICVH index and HRQoL in adolescents. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study based on secondary analyses from the LabMed Physical Activity Study (n=407 adolescents, 53% girls). ICVH, as defined by the American Heart Association, was determined as meeting ideal behaviors (physical activity, body mass index, smoking status, and diet intake) and health factors (blood pressure, total glucose, and cholesterol). HRQoL was measured with the Kidscreen-10 self-report questionnaire. Results: Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed a significant association between the accumulation of ideal cardiovascular health metrics and HRQoL (F(4,403)=4.160; p=0.003). In addition, the higher the number of ideal health behaviors accumulated, the higher the mean values of HRQoL (p-value for trend=0.001), after adjustments for age, sex, socioeconomic status and pubertal stage. Conclusions: ICVH index was positively associated with HRQoL in adolescents. Ideal health behaviors metrics seem to have a stronger association with HRQoL than the ideal health factors metrics in adolescents
Cross-shore profile evolution after an extreme erosion event – Palanga, Lithuania /
No full textWe report cross-shore profile evolution at Palanga, eastern Baltic Sea, where short period waves dominate. Cross-shore profile studies began directly after a significant coastal erosion event caused by storm “Anatol”, in December of 1999, and continued for a year. Further measurements were undertaken sixteen years later. Cross-shore profile changes were described, and cross-shore transport rates were calculated. A K-means clustering technique was applied to determine sections of the profile with the same development tendencies. Profile evolution was strongly influenced by the depth of closure which is constrained by a moraine layer, and the presence of a groyne. The method used divided the profile into four clusters: the first cluster in the deepest water represents profile evolution limited by the depth of closure, and the second and third are mainly affected by processes induced by wind, wave and water level changes. The most intensive sediment volume changes were observed directly after the coastal erosion event. The largest sand accumulation was in the fourth profile cluster, which includes the upper beach and dunes. Seaward extension of the dune system caused a narrowing of the visible beach, which has led to an increased sand volume (accretion) being misinterpreted as erosion
Vanimad savist tubakapiibud Vilniuses: päritolu, kronoloogia ja sotsiaalse konteksti tõlgendamine.
No full textSince the late 16th – early 17th century, tobacco smoking habit in Europe spread widely, which led to a new business branch – the production and sale of pipes. Due to the lack of historical data about when the habit of smoking tobacco emerged in eastern Baltic, it is imperative to pay attention to clay pipes that are considered to be a particularly suitable group of findings to specify the chronological limits. The article analyses in detail the chronologically earliest clay pipes found during archaeological research in Vilnius. Based on the typology of findings and known analogues, the author singles out the oldest pipes, names the possible places of their production, provides an interpretation of the appearance of pipes in the city. The article provides an overview of the development of smoking in Vilnius in the first half of the 17th century, as the text focuses not only on the analysis of findings, but also briefly introduces the historical, social and cultural contexts that led to the smoking of one or another type of tobacco pipe in Vilnius
Investigation of effect on environmental performance of using LNG as fuel for engines in seaport tugboats /
No full textDecarbonization of ship power plants and reduction of harmful emissions has become a priority in the technological development of maritime transport, including ships operating in seaports. Engines fueled by diesel without using secondary emission reduction technologies cannot meet MARPOL 73/78 Tier III regulations. The MEPC.203 (62) EEDI directive of the IMO also stipulates a standard for CO2 emissions. This study presents the results of research on ecological parameters when a CAT 3516C diesel engine is replaced by a dual-fuel (diesel-liquefied natural gas) powered Wartsila 9L20DF engine on an existing seaport tugboat. CO2, SO2 and NOx emission reductions were estimated using data from the actual engine load cycle, the fuel consumption of the KLASCO-3 tugboat, and engine-prototype experimental data. Emission analysis was performed to verify the efficiency of the dual-fuel engine in reducing CO2, SO2 and NOx emissions of seaport tugboats. The study found that replacing a diesel engine with a dual-fuel-powered engine led to a reduction in annual emissions of 10% for CO2, 91% for SO2, and 65% for NOx. Based on today’s fuel price market data an economic impact assessment was conducted based on the estimated annual fuel consumption of the existing KLASCO-3 seaport tugboat when a diesel-powered engine is replaced by a dual-fuel (diesel-natural gas)-powered engine. The study showed that a 33% fuel costs savings can be achieved each year. Based on the approved methodology, an ecological impact assessment was conducted for the entire fleet of tugboats operating in the Baltic Sea ports if the fuel type was changed from diesel to natural gas. The results of the assessment showed that replacing diesel fuel with natural gas achieved 78% environmental impact in terms of NOx emissions according to MARPOL 73/78 Tier III regulations. The research concludes that new-generation engines on the market powered by environmentally friendly fuels such as LNG can modernise a large number of existing seaport tugboats, significantly reducing their emissions in ECA regions such as the Baltic Sea
Active DNRA and denitrification in oxic hypereutrophic waters /
No full textSince the start of synthetic fertilizer production more than a hundred years ago, the coastal ocean has been exposed to increasing nutrient loading, which has led to eutrophication and extensive algal blooms. Such hypereutrophic waters might harbour anaerobic nitrogen (N) cycling processes due to low-oxygen microniches associated with abundant organic particles, but studies on nitrate reduction in coastal pelagic environments are scarce. Here, we report on 15N isotope-labelling experiments, metagenome, and RT-qPCR data from a large hypereutrophic lagoon indicating that dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) and denitrification were active processes, even though the bulk water was fully oxygenated (> 224 µM O2). DNRA in the bottom water corresponded to 83 % of whole ecosystem DNRA (water + sediment), while denitrification was predominant in the sediment. Microbial taxa important for DNRA according to the metagenomic data were dominated by Bacteroidetes (genus Parabacteroides) and Proteobacteria (genus Wolinella), while denitrification was mainly associated with proteobacterial genera Pseudomonas, Achromobacter, and Brucella. The metagenomic and microscopy data suggest that these anaerobic processes were likely occurring in low-oxygen microniches related to extensive growth of filamentous cyanobacteria, including diazotrophic Dolichospermum and non-diazotrophic Planktothrix. By summing the total nitrate (NO3 −) fluxes through DNRA and denitrification, it results that DNRA retains approximately one fifth (19 %) of the fixed N that goes through the NO3 − pool. This is noteworthy as DNRA represents thus a very important recycling mechanism for fixed N, which sustains algal proliferation and leads to further enhancement of eutrophication in these endangered ecosystems
Classification of Gaussian spatio-temporal data with stationary separable covariances /
No full textThe novel approach to classification of spatio-temporal data based on Bayes discriminant functions is developed. We focus on the problem of supervised classifying of the spatiotemporal Gaussian random field (GRF) observation into one of two classes specified by different drift parameters, separable nonlinear covariance functions and nonstationary label field. The performance of proposed classification rule is validated by the values of local Bayes and empirical error rates realized by leave one out procedure. A simulation study for spatial covariance functions belonging to powered-exponential family and temporal covariance functions of AR(1) models is carried out. The influence of the values of spatial and temporal covariance parameters to error rates for several label field models are studied. The results showed that the proposed classification methodology can be applied successfully in practice with small error rates and can be a useful tool for discriminant analysis of spatio-temporal data
