Research of microgrid operation modes.

The master thesis investigates the power quality assurance of an islanded microgrid using advanced control techniques and power electronics. The relevance is driven by the increasing share of distributed generation in power systems, as well as the need to ensure a stable and high quality supply when operating independently of the main grid. A microgrid with integrated photovoltaic and wind power sources, a diesel generator, a battery storage and a unified power quality controller is under investigation

Epithets and their translations in advertising texts of lithuanian jewelry designer shop “YURGA”.

Jewelry has been a fascinating subject since the earliest times of human civilization, so it’s not surprising that jewelry is still an important part of life today, and a status symbol. In the global trade market, the enormous competition to sell jewelry requires the use of various sales strategies and effective advertising. To solve these conundrums, a variety of artistic and rhetorical expressions can come in hand. The final project is devoted to a review one of these tools - epithets and their translations in the advertising texts of Lithuanian jewelry designers. The choice for picking Lithuanian jewelry makers’ advertising texts and their translations as an object was made because although in Lithuanian linguistics one can find studies on Lithuanian advertising and its peculiarities, but these are general scientific research articles and there is still a lack of concrete understanding that describes the use of epithets for these types of advertising texts as a whole, so this final project is one of the first steps into this under-researched area. The final project aims to look at how Lithuanian jewelry designer copywriters use epithets and what solutions they use to translate them. Jewelry advertising texts are chosen because they show a strong use of this rhetorical device, but it is observed that there are often difficulties in creating and translating texts of this type. Creativity is often avoided and texts look unnatural, so the aim of the thesis is to look at the usage of epithets and their translations into English in advertising texts of the Lithuanian jewelry store YURGA. This shop was chosen because of its very extensive range of jewelry and the abundance of product descriptions. The project’s objectives are set and carried out by introducing aspects of language of advertising, then describing the importance of various artistic and rhetorical expressions in advertisment language, introducing various definitions of an epithet and finally, various techniques for text translation. According to theoretical sources, the use of different rhetorical figures and persuasive tools in advertising language is undeniably impactful on the success of advertising message. An epithet vividly describes an object, a phenomenon or a person, and in order to translate it well, a suitable translation technique must be chosen. The study shows that YURGA’s copywriters avoid creative translation when drafting and translating texts, and that the translations of epithets is mostly done using literal translation technique, but tat doesn’t negate the effect of persuasion. The vast majority of epithets are adjectival and participial epithets, with the highest number of epithets come from the lexical semantic group of Value. This decision from copywriters to use this lexical semantic group of epithets is likely based for the intent to convey positive emotions to the customer as convincingly as possible, therefore epithets are most often utilized in emphasizing important peculiarities of pieces of jewelry such as worth, what kind of metal is used and what they symbolize

Effects of co-fermentation with lactic acid bacteria and yeast on gliadin degradation in whole-wheat sourdough /

This study investigates the potential of utilising the proteolytic activity of two different strains, Levilactobacillus brevis FST140 and Pediococcus pentosaceus FST22, to assess their impact on wheat gluten proteins. A high-power ultrasound (US) treatment (850 kHz; 500 W/cm2; 35 °C) was used to activate the proteolytic system of LAB to promote gliadin-like protein degradation in wheat wholemeal-based sourdough. The proteolytic activity of L. brevis and P. pentosaceus increased two-fold with 10 and 20 min US stimulation, respectively, compared to fermentation without ultrasonication. Regarding the impact of proteolysis and sonication on gliadin proteins, fermentation with both strains reduced gliadin content in commercial gluten by an average of 77.4% compared to the untreated sample, and additional US treatment further enhanced gliadin degradation efficiency to an average of 83.5%. The combined application of US and lactic acid fermentation initiated a seven-fold decrease in wheat wholemeal flour (WF) gliadin levels compared to the untreated sample (47.2 mg/g). Furthermore, the synergistic application of US, LAB, and yeast fermentation allowed us to reduce gliadin content up to 1.6 mg/g, as well as to reduce gluten content in the sourdough up to 3 mg/g. Despite complete hydrolysis of the gliadin fraction under the combined effects of US and fermentation, glutenins were less affected by the applied treatments in all cases. The technology presented in this study offers a promising approach for producing gluten-free or low-gluten fermented products in the bread-making industry

Circular economy in agriculture: the case for bioactive compounds from sea buckthorn by-products :

The implementation of closed-loop manufacturing models in berry farming represents a transformative approach to sustainable agriculture, enhancing both environmental sustainability and economic resilience. By integrating waste materials back into the production cycle, these models minimize environmental impact while maximizing resource efficiency. In the context of sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.), a crop with significant nutritional and medicinal properties, utilizing by-products such as fruit residues pomace, leaves and twigs offers a practical solution to waste management challenges while creating high-value products for the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries. Food Institute of Kaunas University of Technology has implemented the project “Circular manufacturing model for producing biologically active materials”, validating the soundness of closed-loop manufacturing systems for berries by demonstrating sustainable practices for the extraction and utilization of bioactive compounds from sea buckthorn by-products. The project results emphasize the feasibility of integrating eco-friendly extraction methods while addressing environmental and economic challenges

Phenothiazine-based self-assembled monolayer with thiophene head groups minimizes buried interface losses in tin perovskite solar cells /

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) have revolutionized the fabrication of lead-based perovskite solar cells, but they still remain underexplored in tin perovskite systems. To date, PEDOT remains the most effective hole-selective layer in tin perovskite solar cells (TPSCs), yet it presents challenges for both performance and stability. MeO-2PACz, the only SAM reported for tin perovskites consistently underperforms when compared to PEDOT. In this work, it is identified that MeO-2PACz's limitations stem from excessively strong interactions with the perovskite surface and poor lattice matching, which leads to inferior interface quality. To address these issues, a novel SAM-forming molecule called Th-2EPT is designed, synthesized, and characterized. Density functional theory (DFT) is used to evaluate coordination strength and lattice compatibility, complemented by electro-optical characterisation techniques that show significantly reduced interfacial recombination and improve material crystallinity in Th-2EPT/Perovskite films. With Th-2EPT, the first SAM-based tin perovskite solar cells that outperform PEDOT-based devices, delivering a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.2% with a DMSO-free solvent system, are demonstrated

Use of amino acids and organic waste extracts to improve the quality of liquid nitrogen–calcium–magnesium fertilizers /

Agriculture is one of the most important sectors of the global economy, but it increasingly faces sustainability challenges in meeting rising food demands. The intensive use of mineral fertilizers not only improves yields, but also causes negative environmental impacts such as increasing greenhouse gas emissions, water eutrophication, and soil degradation. To develop more sustainable solutions, the focus is on organic fertilizers, which are produced using waste and biostimulants such as amino acids. The aim of this study was to develop and characterize liquid nitrogen–calcium–magnesium fertilizers produced by decomposing dolomite with nitric acid followed by further processing and to enrich them with a powdered amino acid concentrate Naturamin-WSP and liquid extracts from digestate, a by-product of biogas production. Nutrient-rich extracts were obtained using water and potassium hydroxide solutions, with the latter proving more effective by yielding a higher organic carbon content (4495 ± 0.52 mg/L) and humic substances, which can improve soil structure. The produced fertilizers demonstrated favourable physical properties, including appropriate viscosity and density, as well as low crystallization temperatures (eutectic points from –3 to –34 °C), which are essential for storage and application in cold climates. These properties were achieved by adjusting the content of nitrogenous compounds and bioactive extracts. The results of the study show that liquid fertilizers enriched with organic matter can be an effective and more environmentally friendly alternative to mineral fertilizers, contributing to the development of the circular economy and sustainable agriculture

Influence of niobium substitution on the properties of Pb2Fe2O5 thin films synthesized via reactive magnetron sputtering /

Lead ferrite (Pb2Fe2O5) is a promising multiferroic material that exhibits both ferroelectric and magnetic properties at room temperature. This study investigates how substituting niobium and adjusting the synthesis temperature affect the structural, morphological, and ferroelectric properties of lead ferrite thin films deposited via reactive magnetron sputtering. Niobium-substituted PFO films (Pb2Fe2(1−x)Nb2xO5), where x corresponds to Nb2O5 contents of 3 wt.%, 5 wt.% and 10 wt.%, were prepared for this study, and denoted as PFONb3, PFONb5 and PFONb10, respectively. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the formation of Nb-substituted PFO phases, while polarization–electric field measurements demonstrated an increase in remnant polarization (Pr), with higher Nb content reaching a maximum Pr of 65 μC/cm2 at 10 wt.% Nb and a substrate temperature of 500 ◦C. Scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy revealed a uniform distribution of elements and a well-defined surface structure. These results highlight the need to fine tune synthesis parameters, such as temperature and substitution concentrations, to achieve optimal ferroelectric characteristics

The impact of consumers' propensity to attribute moral agency towards AI and human decisions on service satisfaction.

The final Master's project aimed to investigate the impact of consumers' propensity to attribute moral agency towards AI and human decisions on service satisfaction. Global market trends indicate that AI systems are being increasingly deployed in various service sectors to improve operational efficiency (BCG, 2024). Businesses emphasise that one of the most important indicators for measuring the effectiveness of an AI strategy is improving customer experience and satisfaction (IBM, 2024). Nevertheless, a major barrier remains the ethical challenges associated with the implementation of AI (IBM, 2024). Business concerns are most acute with the increasing development of solutions based on this technology in areas of business where users directly interact with AI systems. It is unknown how the changing interaction patterns between consumers and service providers affect consumer reactions to AI solutions, especially in morally relevant service contexts. Furthermore, limited knowledge is gained about how consumers react when humans and AI make these decisions. While understanding the impact of consumer interactions with AI systems is important, there is still little research on how identical, morally questionable Human or AI decisions are assessed. Previous research provides evidence that human-AI interactions in morally relevant contexts affect trust; however, compared to satisfaction, trust has a smaller impact on consumers' positive intentions and firms' financial performance (Söderlund, 2023a). Existing research does not provide generalised conclusions on who, in morally ambiguous circumstances, consumers will tend to attribute higher moral agency (AI or human) and how this propensity affects satisfaction with services. To answer these problematic questions, the study's object, aim, objectives, and methods were defined. The object of the study is the impact of the moral agency attributed by consumers towards AI and human decisions on satisfaction with services. The study aims to provide theoretical and empirical justification for consumers' propensity to attribute moral agency towards AI and human decisions and its impact on service satisfaction. Objectives of the study:1. To uncover the relevance and problematics of the impact of consumers' propensity to attribute moral agency towards AI and human decisions on service satisfaction; 2. To theoretically justify a conceptual model explaining the impact of consumers' propensity to attribute moral agency towards AI and human decisions on service satisfaction; 3. To develop a research methodology to investigate the impact of consumers' propensity to attribute moral agency towards AI and human decisions on service satisfaction; 4. To empirically test the impact of consumers' propensity to attribute moral agency towards AI and human decisions on service satisfaction;5.To provide practical recommendations and directions for further research on the impact of consumers' propensity to attribute moral agency to AI and human decisions on service satisfaction. A quantitative, experimental design study revealed that in morally questionable service contexts, consumers' propensity to attribute morality is not influenced by the type of decision maker, AI or human. The ability of AI and humans to behave morally is rated similarly. The propensity to attribute agency is significantly higher in the case of a human decision maker. The propensity to attribute moral agency is significantly positively affected by the favourability of the decision. A favourable decision increases moral agency, an unfavourable decision decreases moral agency, but this relationship is independent of whether the decision was made by a human or an AI. Perceived AI agency remained similar for favourable and unfavourable decisions, and lower than for humans. The tendency to attribute moral agency has a significant positive impact on the perceived fairness of the decision-maker. However, the type of decision-maker does not moderate this relationship. Perceived fairness mediates the relationship between the propensity to attribute morality and service satisfaction. However, perceived fairness does not mediate the relationship between the propensity to attribute agency and satisfaction. Whilst not hypothesised, a direct, positive relationship has been observed between the tendency to attribute morality and consumer satisfaction; in the case of agency, this relationship is negatively skewed