Suchergebnisse

Injury from causes such as falls, traffic accidents, or violence is a major public health issue globally. Injury prevention research aims to identify vulnerable populations and places by analyzing the spatial patters of demographic and socio-economic risk factors associated with elevated injury rates. The stakeholders in injury prevention and control are often distributed across government and public health institutions, non-profits, and even the private sector (e.g. insurance firms). While this situation calls for distributed, online research tools, their implementation may conflict with health data confidentiality and license limitations for socio-economic data. In this paper, we present the Online Injury Atlas for Ontario, which was designed with the explicit goal to make use of, and contribute to, the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure. We propose a service-based architecture that integrates publicly accessible map services with protected data layers. Thereby, we demonstrate the benefits of using spatial data infrastructures alongside private data at different levels of protection. In addition, we discuss the extensive data processing needs and specific cartographic design requirements of a Web atlas in the health and social sciences domain. ; C. Rinner, B. Moldofsky, M.D. Cusimano, S.P. Marshall, T. Hernandez (2011) Exploring the Boundaries of Web Map Services: The Example of the Online Injury Atlas for Ontario. Transactions in GIS 15(2): 129-145

The subject of my paper is the author. I aim to explore how the self-conscious author functions in Fish-Hair Woman (2012), a metafictional novel by Merlinda Bobis. I begin with a brief discussion of how the author is constructed, first, in Philippine literary criticism, and second, in light of the collapse of the humanist tradition of valorizing the writer, which prompted the proclamation of the author's "death" and rendered her irrelevant to the text and to criticism. But does the author stay dead? In metafiction, in particular, the author manages to "write" herself into the text using self-consciousness. I find that, while it is impossible to overlook the author's decentered status, it is equally untenable to ignore how an overt "manifestation" of the author functions within the text. Through my reading of Fish-Hair Woman, I attempt to examine how the author's self-consciousness results in two seemingly contradicting implications. On the one hand, the author's constant references to herself allows her to "live" through the text, reinforcing the Barthesian notion that the author limits the text and its possible interpretations. On the other hand, the author's constant references to herself as a subject exposes the author's own limitations. This, in turn, "re-opens" the text, by giving room to questions about other perspectives that are not or cannot be represented in the text.

In today's world, growing cultural integration has a direct impact on the development of tourism, which is important from the economic as well as the social, political or ecological perspective. Given the rapid expansion of tourism on the global market and the ever-increasing competitiveness of the tourism sector, it is important to assess the state of the tourism sector in Lithuania and determine the potential for its development. The results of the qualitative research have demonstrated that the policy options that could allow for the smooth development of Lithuanian tourism have eluded clear identification owing to the less than appropriate regulation of this area and the absence of effective tourism management. It has been discovered that the legal framework so far remains underdeveloped. In addition, when it comes to tourism policy management, the relevant functions tend to not be performed properly. Moreover, there is a lack of cooperation among the institutions responsible for tourism coordination or otherwise indirectly connected to the area, whereas cooperation between the local and the national level is minimal. This shows that a number of areas may require improvement in order for the country's tourism development policy to become more effective. However, if the country manages to perform a targeted elimination of the problematic areas and makes proper use of its strengths and existing potential in the tourism sector, such as the favorable geographical location, a well-developed sector of tourism-related services, rich recreational resources, or an attractive ratio between the quality and price of tourism products, the effective development of tourism in Lithuania will become possible in the long term.

The healthcare system forms premises to carry out citizen's health protection, provide health care services to the customer – the patient. The health system, its financing, structure, the peculiarity of interaction between its elements are defined by the health protection policy carried out by the country, which is determined by the countries regime, traditions, moral values, economical, political, demographical and other factors. The health protection policy forms strategic aims and the priority directions of action in the questions of health protection. Many of the economic and management law are applicable in the health protection sector. The growth of the healthcare market of European Union is caused by the technical medicine progress, the more diverse choice of healthcare services, the expectations of patients, and the development of information and communication technologies. Acquired pharmaceutical and medicine technology innovations allow offering patients a large variety of choices to improve health. Although, health protection is one of the sectors, where specific distortions arise because of the market, so government participation and resource distribution is necessary. Discussions arise both in the society and different institutions, about the range of government intervention that will bring the optimal benefit, how to not create preconditions for unnaturally high demand for medical treatment services and medicaments, still guaranteeing free health protection. This way, during the formation of the health protection policy the choice between innovations and economic growth promotion, expenses control and cost reduction, searching for the benefit and effectiveness ratio. Also, the democratic society principles and the mutual respect between the services provider and consumer should be implemented in the health protection domain. Judging from the above regulations, we can assume that the question of health insurance is one of the most important health protection policy questions in the European Union.The ...

The article discusses questions of growing need of cross-cultural management and ethics in business. Globalization and migration are the main causes of growing number of multicultural enterprises. Globalization is affecting the environment in which managers must function. Fast developments of technologies, growing competition, networks of enterprises are consequences of globalization. Multicultural business environment conditions different problems. Different aspects of culture are affected by technological and economic change. Effective solutions are needed for enterprises. Cross-cultural management and ethics helps to make preventive actions and solve the existing problems. Global managers are concerned with legal and political characteristics of countries, which are derived from their history and culture. The main task of cross-cultural management and ethics in business is to propose effective and mostly adapted to situations decisions of problems. There are different cross-cultural problems such as standards, practice, laws, ethics, culture, customs, management system, and socioeconomic system. Managers of multicultural enterprises use different techniques useful to their situation. International managers face a variety of decisions every day. Resources must be allocated, employees selected, and the attractiveness of joint venture partners evaluated. All must be done in a highly complex international environment. Work in virtual teams, difference in time zones, understanding and values in different cultures makes difficulties for managers. Appropriate solutions of cross-cultural problems may be effective knowledge management, effective management of human resources, virtual teams, and bicultural skills. Especially is important effective work with human resources in the enterprises. Positive view to different attitudes and values help prevent problematic situations and possible conflicts. Here helps organizational culture also. As empirical research results show the most important cross-cultural barriers are ...

The article examines public participation and mechanisms of citizens'involvement in the governance of the electrical energy sector. Three aspects of publicengagement are analysed: 1) the participants of this process; 2) the level ofengagement; 3) the phase of the governance process during which the public isinvolved. To provide a comprehensive review of the main characteristics of thegovernance of the Lithuanian electrical energy sector, a semi-structured interview ofexperts was carried out. Institutions that formulate and implement governancepolicies are reviewed, the possibilities of public participation and the potential toolsof engagement are analysed. Finally, the mechanisms that create proper conditionsfor citizens' involvement in the governance of the electrical energy sector (asconsumers and active electricity sector participants) are discussed.

The basic idea of the article is that in the era of information society development notonly the functions of the state in information sphere change, but also there are newopportunities and threats. To understand how information functions of the state change,the concept and features of an information society are considered, positive and negativeconsequences of information society are defined. As a result of this consideration theconclusion on new opportunities and threats for the state and the government is made. "Egovernment"is considered as a new opportunity, which allows essentially raising thequality of state services, and as a new threat – distribution of virtual communities capableunder certain conditions to harm to the state and society.

Lisbon strategy of the European Union (EU) and the respective goal for sustainable EU development provides for economically and socially agreed and equal support for the entire society, including everyone individually in the economic, political and social processes through consolidating, integrating and developing the society as well as it is possible. The labour market of Latvia has changed fast over the last five years and the employment opportunities have increased. Statistics over this period prove that the unemployment level has reduced and the employment has increased. In recent months Latvia and other countries have been experiencing changes in the economic life. Statistical data in the labour market over the previous quarter prove it. In contrast to the above described, the unemployment level has started to grow but the employment - to reduce. There is a general understanding in the country that labour costs should be reduced. That means not only lowering salaries but also lowering other labour costs. The employers try to reduce labour costs by using part-time employment, split employment or distance employment, e.g. costs related to arranging an office.In general, when considering employment problems in the country, in their research the authors single out a risk group – people after the maternity leave. Taking into account the current complicated economic conditions, this risk group should be specially protected. When analyzing employee motivation, it can be concluded that salary increase is not always a motivator for this risk group. When analyzing the labour market research, it can be concluded that one of the motivation factors is social guarantees and flexible work hours, especially for that risk group that returns to the labour market after the maternity leave.The unemployment situation, which has especially intensified recently in the country, attests to the employment problems. Therefore in their research the authors study one of the potential factors promoting the labour market for people after the ...

Aiming to identify the trends of county and regional governance transformation after the Parliamentaryelections of 2008, the article analyses the guidelines of the following documents: the election programmesof different political parties, the agreement of the ruling coalition, and the Government Programme. Thediscussion regarding the future of the counties is finalized in the Government Programme, which statesthat counties have to be dissolved. It is stated that the Government speaks up for the assignment of thecounty functions to municipalities; it is planned to give self-government rights to regions; institutions ofthe regions should be formed on the principle of delegation. A two tier territorial self-government systemshould be formed in Lithuania. The article shows that a detailed plan of implementation of the county andregional governance reform does not yet exist.

Under the conditions of globalisation countries can not function sequestered and be unaffected by the various processes in the world. The global crisis made the remarkable impact on the countries' economic and social spheres. The situation in European Union (EU) countries' labour markets became unstable. Under the pressure of global economic recession in all EU erected one of the biggest social and economic problems – unemployment, which is understood as misbalance of demand and supply of labour force. Increase of unemployment is entailed by many social, demographic, psychological problems.During last year unemployment rate in EU countries inceased very significant. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) developed economies and the European Union saw the largest increase in the regional unemployment rate – about 3.5 million people lost their jobs in this region this year. For this reason this period is called "Global Job Crisis".From 2002 years Lithuanian economy has grown faster than in any period and there were seen positive development trends - GDP was rising, investments were growing up. Furthermore the labour market in Lithuania has in the recent past been characterised also by positive changes - the unemployment was falling, wages were growing up. Fast developing market was causing specific requirements for the human resources, especially for the universities' graduates. Furthermore, the business sector forms new and specific requirements for the human resources. At that time in politicians' and scientists' discussions the main problem was how to solve the lack of labour force which is the main brake for the development of country's economy. The shortage of qualified labour force was felt especially in the sectors which need highly qualified employees. In the end of 2008 the economic recession affected Lithuanian labour market. The companies started to respond to the challenges which were rising under the influence of economic downturn. Some of the companies were looking for the possible ways ...

Occupational safety and health is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment. As a secondary effect, it may also protect co-workers, family members, employers, customers, suppliers, nearby communities, and other members of the public who are impacted by the workplace environment. It may involve interactions among many subject areas, including occupational medicine, occupational hygiene, public health, safety engineering, chemistry, health physics, ergonomics, environmental health, industrial relations, public policy, sociology, and occupational health psychology. In the European Union, member states have enforcing authorities to ensure that the basic legal requirements relating to occupational safety and health are met. In many EU countries, there is strong cooperation between employer and worker organizations to ensure good OSH performance as it is recognized this has benefits for both the worker (through maintenance of health) and the enterprise (through improved productivity and quality).In a democratic country every human has got an inborn and constitutional right to free choice of work and business, as well as to have favourable, safe and healthy working conditions. The problems of safety at work and the health of employees are extremely relevant because if someone breaks the basis of the system, people are going to suffer moral consequences. Moreover, hazard often arises to one's health and sometimes even life. To assure the legal adjustment of safety and health of employees, one has to understand the legal system of this field.Occupational health and safety comprises all preventative measures aimed at protecting functional capacity, health and life of employees at work which are used or planned at all operational stages of the company to protect employees from occupational risks or minimize these risks. The main safety objective - the prevention of accidents, increase safety awareness at work, it is important to avoid unsafe ...

The article probes into factors that determine processes of decentralization inmanaging the general education system. The study entails a review of pertinent literatureand an analysis of the distribution of powers among entities managing thegeneral education system in Lithuania. The study concludes that the education managementsystem in Lithuania is gradually being decentralized and de-concentratedon the basis of the subsidiarity principle. A successful implementation of the decentralizationreform requires the following two conditions: political support for proposedchanges and the ability of those charged with carrying out the reform. Ananalysis of literature confirms that decentralization as a process is also a function offactors other than political will and capacity. These factors include trust (the extentof decentralization depends on the central government's trust in the local government,and vice versa), financial troubles, path dependencies, international developments,etc. An analysis of the distribution of decision making powers in areas of financingand human resources demonstrates that there is a trend towards decentralization,albeit inconsistent due to obstacles on the level of centralized management.The article maintains that there has to be an adequate balance between centralization,which is necessary for the implementation of general national educational objectives,and decentralization, which allows teachers, schoolchildren, parents andthe representatives of local communities to participate in education management.

The curriculum "Computer Systems" of RTU faculty's of Computer Science and Information Technology is developed on the basis of classical teaching principles. The curriculum is accredited for 6 years till 2013 on academic bachelor, professional school after bachelor's degree, master and doctoral levels.Despite of the current positive state RTU Institute of Applied Computer Systems (IACS) taking advantages provided by European Social Fund in Latvia is implementing a set of projects directed towards improvement of the educational curriculum "Computer Systems" and the quality of studies. Total amount of the implemented projects is 486800 Latvian lats for the period from October, 2005 till August, 2008. The necessity of revision of learning process, its content and objectives is determined by the following factors: Latvian Republic accession to the European Union; explosion of industry; a new standard of Informatics for secondary education in Latvia.The aim of the paper is to introduce readers to practical exploitation of opportunities provided by ESF in the improvement of IACS's learning process, competitiveness of IACS's graduates and valuable inclusion of Latvian Republic into the common EU scientifi c and educational area.

This article addresses the question of how the emergence and development of NGOs differ in respect to theirenvironmental form in different Baltic states. Attempting to do this, the research looks at three important aspectsrelated to third sector building and performance in the Baltic States. Firstly, the article describes the main politicalfeatures and roles of the civil society in the development of democracy by using collective action theory. Secondly, itanalyzes the conditions for the emergence of NGOs in contemporary Baltic countries, while involving the theory ofregion building and theory of P. Joenniemi about the emergence of NGOs. The article considers a few periods: before1991 and after till 2006, while dividing it into four periods before 1991, and 1991-1997, 1998-2003, 2004-2006. Thefollowing helps to identify the peculiarities more objectively and assess broader results of participation while adaptingcollective action theory. As a result, the article assumes that the development of civil society is progressive, butnot sufficient in the context of international issues and public motivation.

The paper is based on a research dealing with the e-inclusion policy in Lithuania. Authors describeand analyse public and private initiatives, designed to avoid electronic disjuncture, as these initiatives canbe realized through innovative projects. E-inclusion is an activity, an instrument of creation of informationsociety for everyone. e-inclusion helps to decrease the risk of digital disjuncture, to secure that disabledpersons, elder persons and socially sensitive sets be involved in development of e-government and avoidnew forms of disjuncture caused by information illiteracy and poverty of access to internet. Mykolas RomerisUniversity participated as a national correspondent for Lithuania in eInclusion@EU project, whichwas launched under the European Union's Information Society Technology program in 2004. The paper isgrounded on the material of this project.