“Kjarnorkubær” Litháens í hnattvæddum heimi: Viðhorf þúsaldarkynslóðar Visaginas til kjarnorkuímyndar bæjarins við lokun Ignalina kjarnorkuversins.

When the single enterprise of a mono-industrial town closes, the residents tend to experience socioeconomic consequences and seek employment in neighbouring towns or cities. The closure of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP) has left its satellite town, Visaginas, at a crossroad. Its residents experienced socioeconomic consequences caused by loss of the main industry and by the town’s Soviet past. These, along with Visaginas’s remote location and the dominance of the Russian language in an independent Lithuania, reduced Visaginians’ employment opportunities in other Lithuanian towns. The primary aim of this research was to explore how local millennials perceive Visaginas’s natural and urban environments in the context of globalisation. The secondary aim was to explore local millennials’ attitudes towards the impacts Visaginas’s “nuclear” past have on the town’s development and its future. Eleven qualitative, in-depth interviews were taken with local millennials. The interviews took place in Visaginas in September 2020. In this thesis, Tim Ingold’s concept of the landscape and his theoretical approach to human perception were used to explore the interviewees’ perceptions of Visaginas’s natural and urban environments. The concept of globalisation as approached by Anthony Giddens was used to analyse global forces shaping Visaginas’s past and present. The results show that the local millennials welcome increasing foreign investments, tourism, and other economically beneficial effects of globalisation in Visaginas. However, the replacement of deteriorating Soviet-era buildings with modern ones and the proposal to open an area of the town for private houses to help attract investors are seen as threatening the unique urban image. The local millennials, who no longer see Visaginas as a “nuclear” town, find nuclear energy the preferred energy type. Instead of being polluted, they envision Visaginas as a town, surrounded by clean nature, that should focus on nature tourism. Some contradictions were observed in millennials’ opinions about Visaginas’s natural environment. While millennials see the expansion of nature tourism as an opportunity that would assist the town’s socioeconomic recovery, many still want Visaginas’s surrounding natural environment to remain untouched and uncrowded.Þegar eina fyrirtækið í iðnaðarbæ lokar, upplifa íbúarnir félags- og fjárhagslegar afleiðingar og sækjast eftir vinnu í nágrannabæjum eða borgum. Lokun Ignalina kjarnorkuversins hefur valdið kaflaskiptum í bænum Visaginas, sem tilheyrði kjarnorkuverinu. Missir aðal atvinnufyrirtækisins og rússnesk fortíð bæjarins hafði mikil áhrif á líf íbúana. Afskekkt staðsetning Visaginas og að rússneska hélst aðal tungumál íbúanna eftir að Litháen endurheimti sjálfstæði sitt, dró úr atvinnumöguleikum íbúa Visaginas í öðrum bæjum í Litháen. Fyrsta markmið þessarar rannsóknar var að kanna hvaða augum þúsaldarkynslóðin lítur náttúrulegt umhverfi Visaginas og byggðina í ljósi hnattvæðingar. Hitt markmiðið var að kanna afstöðu unga fólksins til hlutverks fortíðar Visaginas sem „kjarnorkubær“ í þróun bæjarins. Ellefu djúpviðtöl voru tekin við fólk af þúsaldarkynslóð bæjarins. Viðtölin voru tekin í Visaginas í september 2020. Í ritgerð þessari er hugmynd Tim Ingolds um landslag og fræðileg nálgun hans á mannlega skynjun notuð til að kanna hvernig viðmælendur skynja náttúrulegt og byggt umhverfi Visaginas. Nálgun Anthony Giddens að hugmyndinni að hnattvæðingu var nýtt til að greina alþjóðleg áhrif á mótun Visaginas í fortíð og nútíð. Niðurstöðurnar sýna að ungmenni bæjarins taka aukinni erlendri fjárfestingu, ferðaþjónustu og öðrum jákvæðum hagrænum áhrifum hnattvæðingar fagnandi. En þau hafna hugmyndum um að skipta út niðurníddum byggingum sovíet tímans fyrir nýbyggingar í stað þess að gera þær upp og að skipuleggja einbýlishúsahverfi til að laða að fjárfesta ógni afar sérstakri ímynd byggðarinnar í Visaginas. Þúsaldarkynslóðin, sem lítur ekki lengur á Visaginas sem „kjarnorku“ bæ, telja þó kjarnorku vera bestu orkutegundina. Í stað þess að vera mengaður bær, finnst þeim Visaginas vera bæ sem er umlukinn hreinni náttúru og ætti að stefna á náttúruferðamennsku. Það eru vissar mótsagnir í viðhorfum unga fólksins til náttúrulegs umhverfis Visaginas. Um leið og þúsaldarkynslóðin lítur vöxt náttúruferðamennsku sem tækifæri sem myndi stuðla að velferð bæjarins vilja þau að náttúra Visaginas haldist ósnortin, villt og mannlaus

The Concept of Sacred in Post-Soviet Literature

Rejecting the prior essentialist assumptions connected with the classical notions of the sacred, this dissertation argues for the redefinition of this concept and its use as an analytical tool. Religion, too, should no longer be held as a privileged space for the emergence of the sacred. The sacred is held not to be a numinous phenomenon experienced privately, a universal term, or of an unchangeable structure. Instead, it is a relative and temporary category constructed through certain cultural practices, which helps us disclose the concepts of meaning, identity and community. Such a redefined notion can be applied when speaking about contemporary culture and literature. This dissertation presents Russian writer Victor Pelevin as a case study, demonstrating the possibility to speak of the sacred in the seemingly secular post-Soviet milieu. It provides insights into the role of the sacred in his works and introduces new possible approaches towards his writings and his position in Russian literature. Moreover, the analysis of Pelevin’s works shows that this redefined understanding of the sacred is productive not only in his writings, but also in general in the studies of sacrality in the postmodern world, making this post-Soviet sacred a more extensive concept, applicable in a wide variety of contexts

The role of the perceived servicescape in a supermarket. : The case of ICA MAXI, Jönköping, Sweden.

As many buying decision are made in retail stores, it is interesting to investigate which factors, such as noise, lighting, music, colour, layout or visual communication have a significant influence on customers’ behaviour in a supermarket. Since only a few studies have been conducted among customers in Sweden, this paper examined their behaviour in the supermarket. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of the various environmental factors in the supermarket as well as how the perceived servicescape influences customers’ behaviour in the store. The research approach used was that of a single case study, based on survey instrument (personal interviews and electronic collection) in order to collect data on facets in regards to the perceived servicescape and customers’ behaviour in the supermarket. A supermarket chain – the ICA group, precisely ICA MAXI in Jönköping was used for this purpose. The collected data was analysed with the means of factor analysis and multiple regression methods in order to obtain factors that can influence customers’ behaviour in the supermarket. The conducted study showed that lighting, noise, colours, signs and symbols as well as space/function conditions such as layout and equipment are the factors that create emotionally pleasant environment in the supermarket. Thus, these factors influence customers’ moods, attitudes or certain beliefs about the supermarket. Moreover, customers may feel happier, more satisfied or relaxed in the supermarket, which lead to arousal – stimulation or excitement. Furthermore, the environmental factors explain the approach behaviour such as exploring the supermarket, spending more time on browsing the products which, consequently, refer to an increased number of items bought

TENTATIVE LEVELS OF POPS IN LITHUANIAN ENVIRONMENT

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are chemical substances that persist in the environment, bioaccumulate through the food web, and pose a risk of causing adverse effects to human health and the environment. The Stockholm Convention is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from POPs. In implementing the Convention, Governments will take measures to eliminate or reduce the release of POPs into the environment. This study was done in order to evaluate tentative POPs levels in Lithuania.Limited amount of PAHs and PCBs were analyzed in Šiauliai air, in two biggest Lithuanian rivers – Nemunas and Neris, and in one of the biggest waste landfill in Lapes. Sampling was done using semi permeable membrane devices (SPMDs). The same procedure of sampling and analyses was used to ensure data comparability. In general, POPs pollution levels were compared with results from other studies

Reversible Self-Assembled Monolayers (rSAMs) as Robust and Fluidic Lipid Bilayer Mimics

Lipid bilayers, forming the outer barrier of cells, display a wide array of proteins and carbohydrates for modulating interfacial biological interactions. Formed by the spontaneous self-assembly of lipid molecules, these bilayers feature liquid crystalline order, while retaining a high degree of lateral mobility. Studies of these dynamic phenomena have been hampered by the fragility and instability of corresponding biomimetic cell membrane models. Here, we present the construct of a series of oligoethylene glycol-terminated reversible self-assembled monolayers (rSAMs) featuring lipid-bilayer-like fluidity, while retaining air and protein stability and resistance. These robust and ordered layers were prepared by simply immersing a carboxylic acid terminated self-assembled monolayer into 5-50 mu M aqueous omega-(4-ethylene glycol-phenoxy)-alpha-(4-amidinophenoxy)decane solutions. It is anticipated that this new class of robust and fluidic two-dimensional biomimetic surfaces will impact the design of rugged cell surface mimics and high-performance biosensors