Institutional Repository of the General Jonas Zemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania
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663 research outputs found
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A case study on the assessment of chemical and physical pollution levels during the copying process /
No full textIn accordance with sustainable development goals (SDG’s), urgent action should be taken to make the societal and natural environments better for human beings. People spend most of their time indoors, therefore growing attention is devoted to address indoor air pollution. When the sources of anthropogenic indoor air pollution (copiers, laser printers) are operated indoors, then chemical and physical indoor air pollution may be higher than air pollution outdoors. Ozone, aerosol particles and volatile organic compounds are the result of pollution caused by copiers and printers. The research was carried out in a copying room by recording chemical (ozone and aerosol particles) and physical (noise) environmental pollution. To determine instantaneous ozone concentrations in the copying room, an ozone analyzer O3 41M was used, while to evaluate the effect of ozone on the ambient air of the copying room, passive samplers were used. To determine the number and concentration of aerosol particles in the ambient air of the office, a particle counter AZ-5 was used. In addition, a DrDAQ data logger was used to measure noise emitted by the copier and ambient temperature as well as relative air humidity. It was found that the distribution of ozone and aerosol particles in the copying room was mostly determined by the copying intensity. The maximum concentration of ozone and aerosol particles was determined during automatic copying (91–120 copies/min)
Perceived stress and hair cortisol levels amongst conscripts during basic military training: a repeated measures study /
No full textThe aim was to examine hair cortisol levels and self-reported stress amongst conscripts during their basic military training, and how they are related to four types of theory-derived determinants. The following prediction was made: lower levels of perceived stress and hair cortisol will be associated with: (1) higher levels of emotional stability (the individual nonmilitary aspect); (2) a lower degree of private life problems (the contextual nonmilitary aspect); (3) more positive attitudes toward the military, higher engagement in military service, and higher adaptability to military conditions (the individual-military aspect); and (4) stronger group cohesion and better leadership (the contextual-military aspect). The sample consisted of a total of 107 male Lithuanian conscripts. Assessments were made at the beginning of their basic military training, in the middle, and at the end. Established instruments were used on all self-reported scales. Hair cortisol levels were established through analyses of hair samples. Low to moderate levels of stress were found throughout the basic training period regarding perceived stress levels. Hair cortisol levels were mainly unrelated to the self-rating scales. Regarding perceived stress, the prediction was fully confirmed. The future value of the theoretical model is discussed
The effect of supply chain learning on flexibility performance: an empirical study /
No full textToday’s intensely competitive business is undergoing significant shifts, which render it a challenging environment to compete in. Production processes are evolving as customer demands change, which leads to greater variability. Firms must respond to changing environmental conditions to remain sustainable. Companies today look for ways to overcome their problems not only on their own but also with their supply chains. Reduced cost and improved performance are two significant benefits of supply chain management. Because companies can work together in the face of challenging market conditions throughout their supply chains, it makes sense for them to collaborate. When companies work together, they can collaborate to produce better-designed products and more efficient manufacturing processes. Learning, supply chain integration, and flexibility throughout the supply chain are critical to successful supply chain management. In this study, the effect of supply chain learning on supply chain integration and production flexibility has been investigated. The mediating role of supply chain integration on the impact of supply-chain learning on production flexibility has been tested. For this purpose, survey data was collected from the 144 companies selected out of Turkey's largest exporting companies. The data were analyzed via structural equation modeling and process macro methods. As a result of the structural equation model analysis, it was found that supply chain learning significantly affects the chain’s integration and its production flexibility. As a result of the intermediation test, it was determined that the integration of the supply chain has a vital intermediary role regarding the effect of supply chain learning on the flexibility of production
Hair cortisol, perceived stress, and the effect of group dynamics: a longitudinal study of young men during compulsory military training in Lithuania /
No full textPrevious research shows a nonlinear dependency between hair cortisol concentrations and perceived stress levels. This may be due to stress being targeted at the individual level despite it also being a social phenomenon which is often affected by group dynamics. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the influence of perceived stress on the hair cortisol level, considering the impact of the variables of group dynamics (interpersonal, task, and norm cohesion). Information was collected on 11 groups of, in total, 112 young men in three phases of time during their compulsory military training (covering nine months in total). The classification and regression tree (C&RT) method was used to predict hair cortisol concentrations in groups. The results show that the variability of the hair cortisol level in young men groups can be explained by perceived stress only when the groups were in formation process (47.7% normalised importance in Model 1) and when the groups were working on their final tasks (37.80% normalised importance in Model 3); meanwhile, the importance of perceived stress in explaining hair cortisol concentrations is low when the group is in a routine period of a group life-span (28.9% normalised importance in Model 2). Interpersonal cohesion (normalised importance 100% in Model 1 and 80.0% in Model 3) and task cohesion (normalised importance 78.6% in Model 2) were the most important predictors in the study area. These results point to the importance of the elements of group dynamics when it comes to explaining the nature of hair cortisol as accumulated stress biomarkers in young men
You Shall Not Pass: The Strategic Narratives Defining Russia’s Soft Power in Lithuania /
No full textThe article argues that states’ narratives about themselves and each other, shaped by the foreign policy decision-makers, create filters for the achievement of soft power goals. A state agent can shape narratives that can be rejected by the state’s target’s society because they would undermine dominating biographical and strategic narratives of the state target. The empirical analysis of the narratives of the president, minister of foreign affairs, and spokesperson of the MFA of Russia illustrates how Russia prevents itself from soft power expansion by “othering” Lithuania. At the same time, analysis of the narratives of presidents and the minister of the foreign affairs of Lithuania illustrates how they shield society from Russia’s narratives and, thus, soft power while searching for “sameness” with the Euro-Atlantic partners
Three-faceted approach to perceived stress: a longitudinal study of stress hormones, personality, and group cohesion in the real-life setting of compulsory basic military training /
No full textCompulsory basic military training is characterized not only by being challenging but also by being stressful. Assuming a high frequency of perceived stress events as a negative outcome of training, this article provides evidence on how the perceived frequency of stressful situations is affected by three types of factors: (i) biological stress response variables measured by hair steroid hormone levels, (ii) personality traits measured using the Big Five personality test, and (iii) group cohesion measures in military squads. A total of 112 conscripts in 11 squads participated in the research at the beginning (T1), in the middle (T2), and at the end (T3) of compulsory basic military training. Hair steroid hormone levels (cortisol, cortisone, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)) levels were measured by liquid mass spectrometry; other data were collected using self-report questionnaires. The results of the Poisson regression analysis indicated that hair steroid hormone cortisol had a statistically significantly impact and could increase the perceived frequency of stressful situations by up to 1.317 (e0.275, T2) times. The concentrations of other hormones (cortisone = 1.157, e0.146, T3 and DHEA = 1.020, e0.020, T3) also had a statistically significant effect. Other factors had a decreasing effect on the frequency. Extraversion was significant with an effect of 0.907 (e−0.098, T2) and 0.847 (e−0.166, T3), while task cohesion had an effect of 0.946 (e−0.056) and norm cohesion of 0.954 (e−0.047). The research indicates that the three groups of factors affect the perceived frequency of stressful situations during compulsory basic military training, but their impacts are considerably different
Ekonominių veiksnių poveikis gynybos naštai pasirinktose NATO šalyse.
No full textThe paper examines the links between economic indicators and the defence burden in selected NATO countries during the period between 1980 and 2020. Three of the largest NATO spenders in terms of defence, such as Greece, Turke, and the USA, have been chosen for the investigation. The question being posed by this research is whether economic factors have an impact on the defence burden. To answer this question, the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (further ARDL) modelling has been employed. The results reveal that, in the long-run, the defence burden responds negatively to output changes in the cases of Turkey and Greece. Inflation and the number of military personnel have positive effects on the defence burden in all three countries in the long-run. While in Greece the government gross debt affects the defence burden positively, in the United States and Turkey the government gross debt affects the defence burden negatively. Moreover, the investigation has shown that defence expenditure is less affected by economic determinants in the short term rather than in the long term. The outcomes of the study could be incorporated into the economic development policies of Greece, Turkey and the USA
Technology transfer from Nordic capital parenting companies to Lithuanian and Estonian subsidiaries or joint capital companies: The analysis of the obtained primary data /
No full textScientific literature describes various factors that influence knowledge transfer and successful adoption, assimilation, transformation, and exploitation. These four components are mostly related to the absorptive capacity of the company. However, more factors influence both developments of innovations or patents and the lack of ability to use external and internal information (knowledge). Using external knowledge is often associated with previous experience, or even a point of view towards investment in innovation or developing patents. Thus, the companies might be divided into innovators and imitators. The research addresses several problems (questions). What external factors are influencing knowledge transfer and further development of innovation? What factors are influencing absorptive capacity? What factors are essential in cooperation and knowledge transfer to switch from a linear to a circular economy? To collect data, a computer-assisted telephone interviewing method was used. The survey was addressed to subsidiaries, joint companies, Lithuanian-Nordic, Estonian-Nordic capital companies, or companies in close collaboration with the Nordic countries. A total of 158 companies from Estonia and Lithuania agreed to answer all the questions. The survey involves companies of various sizes and ages from different business sectors. Reliability was denoted, as Cronbach’s Alpha was estimated. The KMO test was used to measure whether the data were suitable for principal component analysis. Additionally, PCA was performed. PCA reduced the number of variables into an extracted number of components. The separate row of the component defined a linear composite of the component score that would be the expected value of the associated variable. The dataset may be used to develop interlinkages among the research mentioned above questions, and the results of introducing innovation, the company’s size, and age might be used as control variables. The article aims to analyze the factors that determine innovation development and their interlinkages while technology is transferred from Nordic parenting companies to the subsidiaries. The article’s results contribute to the interdisciplinary knowledge transfer, innovations, and internationalization field
Reserve soldiers’ psychological resilience impact to sustainable military competences: on the mediating role of psychological skills (effort, self-efficacy, proactivity) /
No full textThis research aims to explore an analytical model, gauge the interplay between psychological resilience and achieved military competencies, and examine an intermediary role of effort, proactivity, and self-efficacy. In this study, 337 reserve soldiers from Lithuania were investigated with the Lithuanian Military Training Competences Assessment Scale, Resilience Scale, Self-Efficacy Scale, Short Grit Scale (Grit-S), and Proactivity Scale. Our findings highlighted the importance of the psychological resilience of reserve soldiers due to its positive relationship with the personality traits. Implicit interconnectedness between psychological resilience and psychological skills together with military competences was researched, and it became evident that self-efficacy determined a statistically important mediating role (indirect effect = 0.264 **, p 0.1; proactivity indirect effect = 0.094, p > 0.1). The research findings are important because of greater prominence of the role of reserve troops in military operations around the world and achievements in the domain of security and defense. This study has great theoretical and empirical value in making decisions concerning the psychological resilience of reserve soldiers’ promotion and sustainable improvement of military preparedness strategies
Determinants of the Nordic hedge fund performance /
No full textHedge funds have become an important part of the financial sector. The development of the hedge funds in the Nordic countries has been rather robust. Therefore, it is important to identify the determinants of the hedge fund performance and isolate the managerial performance, i.e., the Jensen’s alpha. To this end, this paper construct cross sectional and panel model for the Nordic hedge funds over 2005–2018. The Fung-Hsieh 8-factor model and other models are developed to identify the determinants of the Nordic hedge fund performance. The effects of crises of different nature (local to global, hedge funds to banking sector) are also tested. The results indicate that Nordic hedge funds are capable to generate positive alpha during the crisis even exceeding the alpha of the economically stable time periods