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This paper examines the impact of business cycles on unemployment rates in EU countries. The relationship between changes in gross domestic product and changes in the unemployment rate is referred to in the academic literature as Okun’s law. This law is of particular importance and the relationship has been extensively investigated in the scientific literature, but there are not many studies that analyse the European Union countries. This paper examines the relationship between the unemployment rate and real GDP in the EU-27. The data used for the study cover the period 2007–2019. The results of a correlation regression analysis provide evidence of the inverse relationship between the unemployment rate and real GDP as established by theory. The results also show that the relationship between business cycles and unemployment varies from country to country: in Lithuania and the UK, there is a very strong inverse relationship between the unemployment rate and real GDP. In Lithuania, the coefficient was –0.9377, and a similar coefficient was found in the United Kingdom (-0.9337). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty-two EU member states, including Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, oblige some lay participation (lay judges/jury) in the administration of justice. However, the models of this institute differ among countries. Based on the analysis of lay participation models in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, this article aims to point out and describe their advantages and disadvantages. To achieve this aim, qualitative research was carried out. The methods employed for data collection included thematic analysis and document selection. Document content analysis (i.e., the analysis of research papers, scientific literature on the topic, the Constitutions of Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, and other international and national legislation) was applied for data processing, and the methods of a dogmatic and comparative analysis were employed for data analysis. The findings of the research disclose that lay judges and jurors are ordinary citizens who work together with legal judges to decide several different types of criminal cases in the Danish and Swedish district and regional courts. Meanwhile, Sweden also has this institute in civil and administrative cases. Finland has only lay judges in criminal cases. This article is divided into four sections: the first section discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the Danish model; the second outlines the Swedish model; and the third describes the Finnish model. The last section compares these models and provides a discussion on the issue. Finally, the article provides conclusions based on the analysis of scientific sources and documents, and the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to review the global research on household saving behaviour, to review the scientific literature, and to consider the selection of the optimal research methodology for the thesis ‘Lithuanian Households’ Saving Behaviour for Retirement in an Ageing Society’. The paper reviews the main theoretical perspectives defining household behaviour and the methodological approaches of research conducted in the USA, Germany, Japan, the UK and Scandinavian countries. The traditional approach of economists to the human being in the economy is compared with the theoretical perspective of behavioural economists. The article presents recommendations for the methodology of research in Lithuania, by proposing to analyse the data from the Household Finance and Consumption Survey, and, based on the assumptions of behavioural economists, to provide recommendations to help people save more for retirement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2021, aviation industry companies are facing one of the biggest crisis during the last two decades. Due to that, affected aviation companies must adapt their business models and rearrange their business interactions. The article describes the impact of the crises on aviation companies and crises management to decrease damage to the business. The concept of the crises is discussed as well as its nature, typology, unique factors, and classification based on scientific literature. The article briefly covers the biggest crises the aviation industry suffered in the last decades. Business partnership management is discussed as one of the instruments to decrease the effect of the crisis, to manage and neutralize them. The paper provides insights into criteria for partner selection in the aviation industry and based on expert evaluationseeks to provide insights how aviation companies can choose and evaluate their business partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-tech industry stands out as progressive, inovative field of industry which continuously makes investments towards R&D development. High-tech industry also has distinguishing features such as rapid use of new science findings and constant investments to new equipment, which tends to quickly depreciate and is replaced. Also, high-tech industry companies typicaly cooperate with international organisations, research centers and universities. It is not unusual for high-tech industry companies to have a lot of patents and licences. It is difficult to implement business improvement models, which tend to increase competitive advantage by reducing production cost, increasing production speed and reducing delivery time in continiously evolving high-tech industry companies. In this paper the posibility to implement business improvement models in high-tech industry is analyzed. Additionaly, employee motivation and initiative, as factors of business model implementation success is analyzed. Finally, based on the research of scientific literature and empirical data of two high-tech industry companies a model for high-tech industry performance improvement is proposed, which also introduces tools to improve employee motivation and initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the issue of establishing and developing start-up business. Possibilities of establishing a business in Lithuania, tendencies of promoting young and innovative companies and problems of long-term establishment in the market are reviewed. According to the tendencies and methods described in the scientific literature, a survey of Lithuanian small and medium business was conducted. The business environment and opportunities in the eyes of developers, the steps of business development and the obstacles encountered were examined. The paper presents the generalized results of the surveyed companies. Based on the problems identified during the study, the model is presented, as well as conclusions and suggestions on what essential mistakes should be avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat pumps are becoming increasingly popular and are playing an important role in the heat and cooling supply chain of buildings sector. Although more than 160 years have passed since the manufacture of the first heat pump, this technology, designed to recover low-potential heat energy and its useful use, can be called an innovative and efficient energy transformer. Air-to-water and air-to-air heat pumps are becoming more popular today due to their installation cost compared to ground-to-water heat pumps. It has been noticed that recently air-to-air heat pumps are more often installed in modern air handling units. The main energy transformers in these air handling units are the air-to-air heat pump and recovery heat exchanger. In the scientific literature little attention is paid to the thermodynamic cycle of the combination of the air handling unit and the heat pump, as well as the search for new possibilities to change and control it, this is a potential direction that can increase the efficiency of the whole system. To study the control capabilities of the unit, an experimental stand of the heat pump built into the ventilation unit is needed; it would help validate the results of theoretical studies and investigate the possibilities of expanding the control. Therefore, this paper presents a review of the experimental stands of non-integrated heat pumps and integrated heat pumps in air handling unit. Based on this review, the basic requirements for the installation of an experimental stand of a heat pump built into an air handling unit are formulated and a conceptual scheme of this stand is drawn up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maintaining a competitive edge in today's markets with short product life cycles and competitors quickly copying commercial success ideas is a significant challenge. Service organisations have to look for ways to quickly adapt to environmental changes and offer the most satisfying services to demanding and rushing customers. One of the possible ways to achieve these goals is to apply the principles of modular design to services. Although the modular design is widely used in the production of goods, its applicability to services has not yet been sufficiently researched. There is a lack of consensus on the terms used, there is no clear definition of the modular service system requirements, there are many doubts in the application of quantitative decision methods for modular service system management, and so forth. The article aims to identify the fundamental problems associated with the use of modular design for services. Based on the results of the analysis of the scientific literature, we propose a scheme describing the service system, and identify the important problematic issues related to the application of modular design to services. In this paper, we use methods of systematic analysis, abstraction, synthesis, and critical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to investigate the history of the Cyrillic manuscript transcription of Selenographia (1647), which details Moon observation - the work of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth astronomer Johannes Hevelius (Jan Heweliusz, 1611-1687). The codex is relevant in two aspects: first, as an example of a late-17th century book, incorporating the characteristics of both a manuscript and a printed publication; and second - as an example of scientific literature in the Commonwealth. Hevelius is a well-known sciencist. The researcher is recognized as the first precise topographer of the Moon. He has composed a catalogue of 1564 stars, discovered four comets, and defined new boundaries of several constellations. In historiography, the manuscript translation of Selenographia has been known since the end of the 19th century. However, in the beginning of the 20th century, the transcript was equated to a piece owned by Tsar Feodor III Alexeyevich (1661-1682), which was present in his library in 1682. The manuscript has been studied by multiple linguists, astronomers, and museologists from various countries; however, it is still yet to receive attention from Lithuanian scientists. This article aims to clarify the currently available scientific information regarding the manuscript version of J. Hevelius's work Selenographia, which is presently kept in the Manuscript Department of the Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences (LMAVB). This study also seeks to answer the following questions: whether the scientists of the GDL were aware of the piece and its Slavic translation, if there is a possibility that the codex may have belonged to the library of Tsar Feodor III Alexeyevich, and what are the history and the lifecycle of the codex. The object of this investigation is a manuscript codex (LMAVB RS F19-318) archived in the LMAVB. A digital copy of an exemplar archived in the Zurich ETH Library was used for comparative analysis. The history of astronomy in 17th century Europe and the GDL, as well as the placement of this work of Hevelius in that history, is shortly discussed and based on a literary analysis. This information was used to evaluate the scientific value of the manuscript codex under investigation and make conclusions regarding any possible demand for the translations of Selenographia in the GDL's scientific environment of that time. Codicological and comparative analyses with the original print enabled to consider the circumstances of the translation and transcription of Selenographia and establish the characteristics of the manuscript codex. It was determined that the text is written in a hybrid Church Slavic language; it is written by several scribes in the Calligraphic Book Font with characteristics of the Chancellerie Font, distinctive to the cursives used in the 17th century in Kiev and Moscow. The transcription of the translation is illustrated with original copper engravings (17 of 140), hand-drawn copies of original drawings (17), and original (3) pictures. The majority of illustrations are missing, some blank gaps meant for tables are present, and several tables have been redacted completely. The contents of Selenographia were adapted to fit the environment of its purchaser: all dedications and celebratory texts dedicated to Hevelius were removed and supplementary texts were eliminated, an original preface created by the translator was added, and only an anonymous "ruler" is mentioned. The transcription of the text was intended to maintain the order of the text and illustrations as well as the exact glosses system present in the margins. All numbers and dates have been written in the Cyrillic alphabet; however a Western year numbering system was maintained, and the surnames of scientists were retained in their original Latin forms; objects named in schemes and diagrams were presented in the Latin alphabet. The coinciding fragments of an extant Selenographia translation (chapters 48, 51, 54, and 55) and texts of the codex kept in the LMAVB archives allow us to conclude that it is a translation made by S. Chizhinski during his service in Posol'skii prikaz (Moscow) in 1678-1681. Based on all the defined characteristics, as well as the unfinished appearance of the book and the variety of paper used, it may be concluded that it is a transcription meant for the diplomatic needs of Posol'skii prikaz rather than for the personal library of the Tsar. Efforts to find any evidence of the discussed Selenographia translation in the history of astronomy and book history in Lithuania were unsuccessful. It was not possible to clarify the history of the function of the codex as well. Nonetheless, the history of this book focuses one's attention to another little-studied topic in Lithuania - the connections of literature and book culture in the 17th century that bridge the GDL and the Tsardom of Russia. To sum up, it may be concluded that access to new archival sources in Russia and Lithuania and a detailed chemical analysis of materials making up the codex (the ink in particular) would affirm or deny the conclusions reached in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The act of mentalisation refers to the capacity of understanding oneself and others in terms of intentional mental states (feelings, beliefs, intentions, and desires). Different definitions of this capacity for understanding mental states - such as theory of mind or reflective function - can be found in scientific literature along with subtle differences in conceptualisations of its development. Nevertheless, an increasing interest in interpersonal factors of development in mentalisation can be observed lately. One of the approaches in understanding the development of mentalisation is suggested by Fonagy and colleagues (1991, 2004), according to who the parent-child attachment and parental mentalisation are seen as key factors in the development of a mentalising capacity in children. Of these relationships, the ones in early development are discussed more widely. Much less is known theoretically and empirically about the relationships between parental mentalisation, a child's attachment and mentalisation in middle childhood and adolescence. During these stages of development, important changes take place in the attachment system as well as within behaviors and needs of a child, including a move towards more integrated attachment representations together with socio-cognitive developmental changes related to puberty. It is not clear if parental mentalisation and a child's attachment security remain of the same importance as they are in early childhood to the development and manifestation of child's mentalisation from middle childhood to adolescence. Within this context, the aim of this paper is to analyse and reveal the most important empirical findings related to the research of mentalisation in childhood and adolescence. In this way, we aim to highlight and critically evaluate certain theoretical assumptions about the mentalisation of parents and a child's attachment security as factors of a child's mentalisation development. In this context, the aim of this paper is to analyze and to reveal the most important empirical findings related to the study of mentalisation in childhood and adolescence. An analysis of empirical studies showed that good parental mentalisation is important for attachment security and acquisition of theory of mind in early development. Data also reveals the importance of maternal reflective functioning for the development of organised attachment strategies. Moreover, poor maternal reflective functioning was related with disorganised attachment, which, according to different studies, was related to poorer mentalisation in early and in later development. Even though links between attachment security and mentalisation remain significant in middle childhood and adolescence, research findings indicate different relationships between strategies of attachment and mentalisation. It might be that not the attachment security itself, but the organisation of attachment representations might be an important condition for the development of mentalisation. Research findings show that maternal mentalisation remains important for the mentalisation of a child. On the other hand, there is still a lack of empirical data which could provide an opportunity to explain the mechanisms of how these processes interact in later development. An analysis of existing studies allows us to state that the approach-proposed development of mentalisation proposed by Fonagy and colleagues can partly be transferred to middle childhood and adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]