Collaboration between artist-researchers and scientists in developing research competencies.

Recently, more and more artists cooperate with various scientific institutions in creating new projects or works, together with applications for funding both on a national and international scale. Collaboration occupies an important place in modern management processes, as well as in the field of art. Cooperation makes it possible for the most unexpected projects to take place (Julijonos Urbonas and Vilnius University's (VU) project ``Observatory of Ideas") and makes it possible to implement ideas and transfer your competences and knowledge to other environments. In this paper is trying to find out which methods of cooperation develop the competences of artists-researchers and scientists. In this work, more attention will be paid to the cooperation of exact science institutions and artist-researchers. From this point of view, the topic is not studied in Lithuania, mainly the interface between artist-researchers and humanities is studied. The work takes a new look at the possibilities of cooperation in developing research competences between artist-researchers and scientists in the field of exact sciences. The problem: What kind of cooperation between artists-researchers and scientists develops the competences of the researched? Subject: cooperation between artists-researchers and scientists in the development of research competences. Purpose: to create an empirically based model of cooperation between artist-researchers and scientists in the development of research competences. Objectives: 1. Conceptualize the concepts of collaboration between artists-researchers, scientists; 2. To analyse the stages, types, types, levels and models of cooperation. 3. After determining the research competences of artists-researchers and scientists, compare them. Results: in Lithuania, cooperation between artists-researchers and scientists usually takes place at a personal level. Through collaboration between artists-researchers and scientists, the following research competencies of artists-researchers are developed: argumentation competencies; ability to clearly identify research motives; ability to combine theory and practice; problem-solving, creating long-term impact, ability to manage time and resources, ability to verbalize research and make it universally understandable, originality; experimentation; professionalism based on artistic skills; development of an individual artistic method, understanding the possibilities of transferring research skills to other environments. And the following research competencies are developed by scientists: understanding the possibilities of applying research results in a cultural, social, and economic context; contributing to experimental development, education of beginning researchers, cooperation with other researchers in presenting research results, transferring knowledge and skills to other environments; creating a culture of research ethics and scientific integrity, open science within the institution and beyond; is able to strengthen mutual trust and cooperation among researchers, is able to contribute to the development of researchers' careers, and to attract talented researchers. The main ways of collaboration between artist-researchers and scientists in developing research competencies are exhibitions, innovation creation, and educational activities/laboratories

Socialinių tinklų influencerių charakteristikų poveikis tūkstantmečio kartos sprendimams dėl internetinių švietimo paslaugų įsigijimo.

Problem formulation: This thesis examines how the characteristics of social media influencers—trustworthiness, expertise, and attractiveness—impact millennials' purchase decisions for online language learning services. The aim of this research is to explore whether these characteristics influence purchase intentions and determine which characteristic has the most significant effect. Additionally, it examines the ways these characteristics relate to each other, and whether gender has a moderator impact. The objectives include: measuring the influence of trustworthiness, expertise, and attractiveness on purchase intentions; identifying the most significant characteristic; and examining the role of gender and interactions. The current research consists of three major parts: a literature review, research methods, and an analysis of the research results. The literature review provides an overview of the concept of influencer marketing and its impact on millennials' purchasing behavior in the context of online language learning services. The analysis explores the characteristics of social media influencers—trustworthiness, expertise, and attractiveness—that may influence purchase intentions. These variables are examined alongside moderating factors, such as gender, and the mediating role of trustworthiness in shaping consumer behavior. The study emphasizes the importance of these attributes in determining the effectiveness of influencer marketing in the online education sector. A quantitative research design was adopted, employing a structured survey distributed via social media platforms, and 284 participants’ responses were used in the analysis. Established scales were used to measure influencer characteristics and purchase intentions. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and regression modeling using SPSS. Key findings reveal that trustworthiness is the most influential factor, significantly affecting purchase intentions, while expertise and attractiveness have weaker effects. Trustworthiness mediates the relationship between expertise and purchase intentions, enhancing credibility. Gender was found not to moderate these effects. Conclusions highlight the importance of trustworthiness in influencer marketing for online education services. Recommendations include selecting trustworthy influencers for campaigns targeting millennials, offering valuable insights for marketers to enhance engagement and conversion rates

Value tensions in machine learning engineering: a study of developers' attitudes.

This work explores, through engineering process analysis, how machine learning applications impact society. To analyse the impact of these applications, their engineering is studied as a cultural process, consisting of various conflicts that determine the final impact of these applications on society. The paper presents the decisional tension points experienced by machine learning programmers, the concepts and values that guide their decision-making, and interprets the impact of these decisions on the social impact of machine learning programmes

Employees as brand ambassadors qualities influence in jewelery products purchase intention in e-commerce.

Supervisor – Assoc. Prof. Elzė Rudienė Work was prepared – Vilnius, 2024. Scope of work – 78 pages. Number of tables – 14 pcs. Number of pictures – 8 pcs. Number of literature sources – 78 pcs. The aim of this study is to determine the influence of employees as brand ambassadors qualities on the intention to purchase jewelry products in e-commerce. This bachelor thesis consists of three parts: a review of academic literature, research methodology and analysis of research results. The first part explores the scientific literature on the concept, diversity, and communication characteristics of employees as brand ambassadors. Models related to the information acquisition process and the evaluation of source credibility are also presented. The second part of the thesis describes the research methodology, introduces the developed research model, presents the hypotheses, and assesses the reliability of the questionnaire. The third part focuses on the analysis of the collected data, using linear and multiple regression analyses. Data for the quantitative research was collected through a standardized online survey, which included a description of the employee ambassador, photos and example posts for social media. A convenience sampling method was used, with a total of 321 respondents answers analyzed in the study. The results showed that employee ambassador traits, such as expertise, trustworthiness and attractiveness, significantly impact the intention to purchase jewelry online. Expertise and trustworthiness are particularly important for consumers who are familiar with the ambassador, while trustworthiness has the strongest influence on audiences unfamiliar with the ambassador. Attractiveness has a positive effect only on consumers familiar with the ambassador, but it has no significance for new consumers

Developing esports in the context of commercialization.

This paper examines the impact of e-sports commercial strategies on consumer engagement and market development. The research problem is how different commercial solutions affect consumer attitudes and satisfaction. The aim is to find out how different commercial tools influence audience engagement and satisfaction with the content provided by eSports. Objectives: Identify the target market audience, analyse the use of platforms and consumer behaviour, assess attitudes towards commercial strategies and evaluate their effectiveness. The study was carried out using a quantitative approach, with a survey on the Google Forms platform. IBM SPSS Statistics was used for data processing and analysis, and Microsoft Excel was used to configure the tables. Kruskal-Wallis; ANOVA; Bivariate Correlations; pairwise comparisons were used for data analysis. The results showed that consumers value large-scale commercial projects and market growth solutions more than commercial strategies that affect their personal satisfaction. The results show that the target audience is made up of Generation Z males. E-sports consumers value a sustainable market expansion

Saugaus paslaugos trikdymo atakos skaitytuvo tinklo auditavimui tyrimas.

Denial-of-service attacks are one of the most prominent cyber attacks that are being launched in increasing numbers every year. This is due to those attacks being relatively uncomplicated, easily executable and even available for sale online as a service. It is a constant challenge in the information technology field to prevent these attacks from happening, and mitigate them when they happen. Therefore, it is of vital importance to detect them as early as possible. In this research, a way of detecting DoS attacks by measuring two TCP traffic properties is proposed. First - Euclidean distance between data and control planes, second - packet size entropy metrics. It uses Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) algorithm to improve detection accuracy and re- duce the likelihood of false positives. A practical model implemented to support this research is described, including methodology of detection logic and test results

Analytical methods and tools for evaluating the development of computational thinking abilities /

Computational thinking has gained an important place in modern education, enabling individuals to approach problem-solving in a logical and structured manner. This cross-curricular competence is important and applicable in any field of science, not just for computer science professionals. By fostering problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity, among other skills, computational thinking is crucial in today's education. In the digital age, computational thinking is not just a technical skill, or one related to programming and robotics, but a way of thinking that can transform, or at least provide a different perspective, the way we approach everyday challenges and opportunities in our daily lives. To assess this new competency, analytical tools and methods that are not too general are needed. To achieve this, that is, to assess computational thinking, the process is currently complex and requires a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. In this way, analytical rubrics, portfolio analysis, and standardized tests are essential tools that help provide a comprehensive and accurate assessment of students' skills related to this competence. In our project, we also work on assessing computational thinking using Bebras-type tasks and applying data analysis. Data analysis facilitates the continuous improvement of teaching and assessment methods. By monitoring and analyzing data over time, educators can identify the most effective strategies and make adjustments to improve learning outcomes. In this paper, we introduce COMATH, an assessment tool grounded in research, which has undergone two phases of piloting across six counties. This process involved collaboration with subject-matter experts and the participation of over 4500 students and 100 teachers. We employ tasks designed to evaluate computational thinking and share some of the findings we have gathered to date

Increasing efficiency and reducing execution fees in ethereum smart contracts using high-performance computing techniques.

Decentralised smart contracts based on blockchain technology and secured by cryptographic means have been developed to address the problems of traditional - centralised - systems. As the Ethereum platform is the first and main platform for smart contracts, an analysis of smart contracts on this platform has been carried out. The analysis, including technical specifications, helped to clarify execution fees problems arising from unoptimized smart contracts code. A few high performance computing techniques, whose practical application in the context of smart contracts has not yet been extensively explored and which could help to address the optimization deficiencies in complex smart contracts, were analysed. Introduced high-performance computing techniques were discussed in the context of a sample optimisation problem - the Knapsack problem. Different Knapsack problem algorithms and their time and space complexities were compared, with further experiments being carried out with the most optimal one. Alternative solutions of cross-chain implementation using “Chainlink CCIP“ and off chain implementation using “Chainlink Functions“ were proposed. A simulated smart contract, complying with a discussed optimisation problem, was introduced for the experiment. Proposed technical solutions were implemented and deployed on the Sepolia network. Different datasets were used to compare execution fees in relation to the algorithm time complexity and the volume of data between the solutions. The results showed, that both cross-chain and off-chain solutions reduce execution fees for example smart contract. Regarding other covered aspects and limitations, integration with “Chainlink Functions“ to implement off-chain solutions was selected as a better alternative to implementing complex smart contracts solely on-chain. Using the proposed off-chain solution may not only reduce the execution fees on the Ethereum platform but may also increase its efficiency by allowing more complex smart contracts to be implemented

Distributed leadership in schools: opportunities and challenges in creating a favorable internal climate.

The master's thesis examines the impact of distributed leadership on the internal school climate, aiming to reveal the opportunities and challenges of this leadership approach in creating a positive school environment. The relevance of the study arises from the limited attention paid to the relationship between distributed leadership (DL) and the internal school climate (ISC) in scientific research. The problem addressed in the thesis is: how does distributed leadership affect the internal school climate? The aim of the study is to reveal the impact of distributed leadership on the internal school climate. The objectives include analyzing the concept and dimensions of DL, highlighting the significance of ISC components, justifying the research methodology, and conducting an empirical study. The theoretical part discusses that distributed leadership is based on the distribution of responsibility and influence among organizational members. It emphasizes trust, collaboration, and collective decision-making, which enhance organizational efficiency and community engagement. The manifestations of distributed leadership, such as communication, distributed decision-making, and initiative encouragement, are particularly relevant in the education sector, as they contribute to the development of an inclusive and collaboration-oriented culture. The internal school climate, encompassing dimensions of relationships, physical environment, personal growth, and system support, directly influences the motivation, satisfaction, and operational quality of the school community. The application of distributed leadership not only helps strengthen internal relationships but also creates conditions for greater collaboration between teachers and school leaders, which is essential for fostering a positive school environment. The empirical study employed literature analysis, semi-structured interviews, and content analysis. School leaders participated in the research. The results revealed that distributed leadership practices, such as promoting collaboration and sharing responsibility, significantly contribute to improving the internal school climate. The implementation of DL strengthens mutual trust, community engagement, and psychological safety. Moreover, DL reduces the level of conflicts, improves decision-making processes, and encourages professional development among staff. The study also identified challenges related to the application of DL in schools. These include communication gaps among educators, resistance to change, time and resource constraints, and individual attitudes. Nevertheless, DL practices offer significant opportunities to reduce teacher burnout, enhance motivation, and ensure a positive school culture. The application of DL is an effective tool for creating and maintaining a favorable internal school climate. Recommendations for school leaders include strengthening relationships and collaboration, improving decision-making processes, and encouraging teacher initiatives. It is emphasized that democratic leadership can contribute to improving the quality of education and achieving long-term organizational success

Impact of sustainable banking in the development of sustainable economy.

Relevance. In today's world, sustainability is a permanent part of the concept of doing business. The concept of sustainability is not just rhetoric, but a practical necessity for which the financial sector, including banking, is becoming increasingly important. Financial institutions are beginning to realise that sustainability is much more than just profit. The problem. How to link the sustainability indicators provided by banks and how to measure the impact on the economy of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, using bank performance indicators such as return on investment (how much of it must be sustainable, green), profit margin and others. Subject of the paper: The impact of sustainable banking on sustainable economic development. The aim of this paper is to introduce the concept of sustainable banking and to examine its impact on sustainable economic development. In order to achieve this objective, the following main objectives will be pursued: 1. To examine the nature and characteristics of the concept of sustainable banking. 2. To describe the concept of sustainable economic development and its relevance to financial markets. 3. To provide an empirical analysis of the impact of sustainable banking on sustainable economic development, based on an analysis of academic literature and case studies. Main hypothesis: Implementing sustainable banking has a positive impact on financial sector stability and on promoting long-term sustainable economic development. In the first part, the concept of sustainable banking and its relevance for the financial sector will be examined. The first part of the paper will provide an overview of the concept and principles of sustainable economic development. The importance of sustainable banking for sustainable economic development. The second part of the paper will provide an empirical study of sustainable banking and its impact on sustainable economic development, based on an analysis of the scientific literature. The third part will be a study to substantiate or reject the hypotheses put forward. The conclusions will set out the main findings of the paper and the results of the study on the impact of sustainable banking on sustainable economic development