Search

Copyright of Business: Theory & Practice is the property of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Science: Future of Lithuania / Mokslas: Lietuvos Ateitis is the property of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Until World War II, there were few Lithuanians in Australia. Their numbers were boosted when 10,000 Lithuanian refugees arrived in this country in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Many congregated in the larger cities and established the structures necessary for the preservation of their national identity. These structures included Lithuanian newspapers and books, weekend schools, choirs and folk-dancing groups, Lithuanian libraries, credit unions, etc. All these initiatives were aimed at preserving the Lithuanian heritage, the "lietuvybė", and were addressed at the Lithuanian-speaking newcomers. These former refugees were still passionately hoping for an early liberation of their homeland, especially in their early years in Australia. At the same time, prompt assimilation of the European immigrants was in the forefront of the Australian Government's policy. Most Lithuanians managed to meet the Government's requirement without losing their "lietuvybė" -- an interesting phenomenon that has been studied in its own right and needs further in-depth discussion. In spite of the significant input by 10,000 Lithuanian migrants, however, the Australian population at large knew very little, or nothing at all, about Lithuania and its people. The Australian Lithuanians, aided by their Baltic colleagues, belatedly realised that it was not enough to document the Lithuanian identity and heritage just in Lithuanian. All about the Lithuanians, and the other Balts, had to be made known to Australians, in English. As a short-term measure, new newspapers, bulletins, leaflets and media releases were produced in English, featuring the facts of the foreign rule in the Baltics. Books started appearing on similar topics. In Australia today, some of the Lithuanian heritage continues to be recorded and published, in English. However, this work is carried out piecemeal and under difficul conditions. There is only one English-language Lithuanian journal in Australasia and in the whole Southern Hemisphere (Lithuanian Papers). Over 30 English-language books published in Australia during the past 50 years describe Lithuania and its people. Some are devoted entirely to this topic. Others have merely a chapter or two on Lithuania. Whether lengthy or brief, a number of these volumes are of a high standard; but several others are erroneous and misleading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlabelled: Alcohol abuse is considered one of the most important risk-taking behaviors among young people in the world. This paper presents the results of the WHO collaborative cross-national study on Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) carried out in Lithuania and other European countries also in USA, Canada, and Israel in 1994, 1998, 2002, and 2006., Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze features and trends in alcohol consumption among the samples of 11-, 13-, and 15-year-old adolescents (school-aged children) in Lithuania during 1994-2006., Material and Methods: Representative samples of 5428, 4513, 5645, and 5632 respondents aged 11, 13, and 15 years were included into school-based questionnaire surveys in 1994, 1998, 2002, and 2006, respectively. The standardized research methods were applied. The students have filled in the questionnaires anonymously in the classroom according to the methodology of international HBSC study. The students were asked about lifestyle habits, alcohol consumption, and episodes of drunkenness., Results: The number of students who had been drunk two or more times has increased by 2.5 times (from 9.8%. to 25.6%) during 1994-2006. A significant increase in alcohol consumption was observed among 15-year-old girls - the percentage of girls who have reported alcohol consumption almost approached the percentage of boys (50.3% and 56.8%, respectively; P=0.006). The reported mean age of the onset of first drinking had shifted by 2 years towards younger age during the period of 1994-2006. The comparison of data from 37 countries, participating in this cross-national study, revealed that the prevalence of alcohol consumption among Lithuanian school children is one of the highest (29.0% of boys and 22.1% of girls) and was in the second worst position on a rating scale when comparing with other 36 countries involved in HBSC study. The results suggest that increased use of light alcoholic beverages can cause an increase in the number of drinking teenagers. Ready-to-drink beverages ("alcopops") at least once per week were used by 15.3% of boys and 17.5% of girls (P=0.216); beer - 16.9% of boys and 5.6% of girls (P<0.001)., Conclusions: A significant shift of the onset of drinking alcohol towards younger age was observed in Lithuania during 1994-2006. In recent years, Lithuanian students as compared to peers from other countries are among those who consume alcohol most frequently.

Diabetes is becoming one of the major public health problems because a great proportion of the healthcare expenditure has been spent on the treatment of its associated morbidity and mortality. Diabetes is also a major cause of premature mortality, stroke, cardiovascular disease, peripheral vascular disease, congenital malformations as well as long- and short-term disability. In addition, persons with diabetic complications have a lower quality of life compared with persons without diabetes. The goal of this paper is to review the studies on the costs of diabetes, to identify the strengths and limitations of currently available diabetes cost studies, and to identify future research areas that will help us to better understand the economic burden of diabetes. The economic burden of diabetes mellitus is enormous in the world. Cost or illness estimates are often cited as an important element in the choices made regarding diabetes care and management. Studying these economic aspects presents several challenges, such as collecting the appropriate epidemiological and cost data, determining the diabetes attributable factors for premature morbidity and mortality, and determining methods to account for premature morality, disability, and reduced quality of life. The cost to care for diabetes puts a tremendous burden on both the patient and the payer. The direct cost of diabetes increased from 1.7 billion US dollars in 1969 to 44.4 billion US dollars in 1997. Several studies over the years have found that indirect costs related to diabetes are higher than direct. Indirect costs during 28 years increased 33 times, from 1.6 billion US dollars in 1969 to 54.1 billion US dollars in 1997. The expenses of one diabetic patient highly vary in different countries: from 13 US dollars in Bangladesh to 11,157 US dollars in USA per one year. Most of diabetes expenditure is used to pay for inpatient services (60-85%); the biggest part of it is incurred because of late diabetes complications (70%). Diabetes accounted to 3-12% of total healthcare expenditure in different countries. In this era of limited resources and escalating costs, it is critical to have an understanding of the economics of diabetes in order to develop and implement sound public health and prevention policies.