Tourism Challenges in the Baltic States Since EU Enlargement

The paper gives explanation of tourism processes changes in the three Baltic States since 1st May, 2004. The number of tourists are increased in the all three Baltic States during EU enlargement. It does not mean that the benefits from tourism and travel industry is increased at the same figures at the same time because of many tourists are spending small amount of money or they are not spending at all. The main issue is to provide sustainable tourism products for foreign markets, not seperate activities. At the same time it is necessary to develop new sustainable tourism attractions in cities and in rural areas by local initiative if Baltic States wants to increase income from tourism and travel industry.

ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS PERCEPTION OF YOUNG PEOPLE LIVING IN THE BIOSPHERE RESERVE IN LATVIA

Environmental education issues are topical at all levels of education, from kindergarten to lifelong learning. The focus of this study was on young people. Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences (ViA) is located in Vidzeme region in Latvia, where the only biosphere reserve in Latvia is located. ViA researchers started research in this area already in 2006, surveying the local population on environmental, social and economic issues in 2007. In 2018 ViA students repeatedly carried out a study of this area by surveying young people up to the age of 19 (n = 120) with an aim of exploring the views of young people living in the biosphere reserve on environmental issues. Environmental awareness is one of the key factors influencing people's behaviour in deciding on a sustainable lifestyle.The European Union regularly conducts research of its citizens on environmental issues. In the latest report the respondents from Latvia have shown one of the lowest indicators when responding to the statement "You can participate in environmental protection yourself" – 76% agree with this statement, in comparison with, for example, the Netherlands – 97%, Sweden – 96%. The youth survey in a face-to-face form was conducted from April to May 2018; it was done by the students and the obtained results were analyzed and compared with the study of 2007 by the authors of the article to characterize the trends in the perception of young people of environmental issues in a specially protected nature territory.The perception of environmental issues was analyzed according to Bolscho environmental awareness dimensions. In general, the understanding and knowledge of environmental issues of the young people surveyed living in the territory of North Vidzeme Biosphere Reserve (NVBR) is positive, especially on resource-responsible, economical use. In terms of attitudes and values, young people express their support for the preservation of cultural traditions. With regard to the visibility of the NVBR, more work is required to explain the functions and possibilities of the NVBR. Compared to 2007, the feeling of pride of the fact that a respondent lives in a protected nature area has increased.

Tourism Challenges in the Baltic States Since EU Enlargement

The paper gives explanation of tourism processes changes in the three Baltic States since 1st May, 2004. The number of tourists are increased in the all three Baltic States during EU enlargement. It does not mean that the benefits from tourism and travel industry is increased at the same figures at the same time because of many tourists are spending small amount of money or they are not spending at all. The main issue is to provide sustainable tourism products for foreign markets, not seperate activities. At the same time it is necessary to develop new sustainable tourism attractions in cities and in rural areas by local initiative if Baltic States wants to increase income from tourism and travel industry

Design and analysis of multiple read port techniques using bank division with XOR method for multi-ported-memory on FPGA platform

The multiple read and write operations are performed simultaneously by multi-ported memories and are used in advanced digital design applications on reprogrammable field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to achieve higher bandwidth. The Memory modules are configured by block RAM (BRAMs), which utilizes more area and power on FPGA. In this manuscript, the techniques to increase the read ports for multi-ported memory modules are designed using the bank division with XOR (BDX) approach. The read port techniques like two read-one write (2R1W) memory, hybrid mode approach either 2R1W or 4R memory, and hierarchical BDX (HBDX) Approach using 2R1W/4R memory are designed on FPGA platform. The Proposed work utilizes only slices and look-up table (LUT's) rather than BRAMs while designing the memory modules on FPGA, which reduces the computational complexity and improves the system performance.  The experimental results are analyzed on Artix-7 FPGA. The performance parameters like slices, LUT utilization, maximum frequency (Fmax), and hardware efficiency are analyzed by concerning different memory depths. The 4R1W memory design using the HBDX approach utilizes 4% slices and works at 449.697 MHz operating frequency on Artix-7 FPGA. The proposed work provides a better platform to choose the proper read port technique to design an efficient modular multiport memory architecture

Revolutionizing brain tumor diagnoses: a ResNet18 and focal loss approach to magnetic resonance imaging-based classification in neuro-oncology

Brain tumor diagnosis remains a critical challenge in neuro- oncology, where accurate and timely identification of malignancies can significantly impact patient outcomes. This research explores the integration of deep learning techniques, specifically leveraging the ResNet18 architecture coupled with focal loss, to enhance the classification accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based brain tumor diagnoses. ResNet18, known for its powerful feature extraction capabilities, was employed to analyze MRI scans, while focal loss was utilized to address class imbalance issues prevalent in medical datasets. The model was trained on a comprehensive dataset, achieving an accuracy of 95.54%. These results demonstrate the potential of this approach in providing robust and precise diagnostic support in clinical settings, potentially revolutionizing the current methodologies in brain tumor detection and classification. The integration of advanced neural networks with specialized loss functions presents a significant advancement in the field, paving the way for more reliable and automated neuro-oncological diagnostics

The role of a pharmacist in the health care system.

FarmācijaVeselības aprūpePharmacyHealth CareDruva L. Farmaceita loma veselības aprūpes sistēmā. Pētnieciskais darbs. Darba vadītāja Inga Urtāne. Rīgas Stradiņa Universitāte. Darbs sastāv no 42 lappusēm, 4 pielikumiem, 6 tabulām, 8 attēliem un 31 bibliogrāfijas nosaukumu latviešu un angļu valodā. Farmaceits ir vispieejamākais veselības aprūpes speciālists, kura loma pacientu aprūpē ir paplašinājusies no tradicionālajiem medikamentu izsniegšanas un konsultēšanas uzdevumiem līdz sadarbībai ar citiem veselības aprūpes profesionāļiem un sabiedrību. Pētījuma mērķis: novērtēt iedzīvotāju, ģimenes ārstu, farmaceitu un farmaceitu asistentu viedokli par aptiekās sniegto un potenciālo pakalpojumu lomu veselības aprūpes sistēmā. Materiāli un metodes: pētījuma veikšanai tika izmantota kvantitatīvā metode-anketēšana. Anketēšana tika veikta trīs mērķauditorijās: ģimenes ārsti, iedzīvotāji, farmācijas speciālisti. Kopumā pētījumā piedalījās 134 ģimenes ārsti, 140 iedzīvotāji, 132 farmācijas speciālisti. Rezultāti: atvērta tipa aptieku farmaceitu potenciāls netiek izmantots pilnībā. 70,5% aptieku trūkst konsultāciju telpas. Kaut gan iedzīvotāji izsaka augstu uzticību farmaceita viedoklim, 24,3% aptaujāto iedzīvotāju vieglu saslimšanas simptomu gadījumos vienmēr vēršas pie ģimenes ārsta un tikai 8,6% - pie farmaceita. Aptiekas pakalpojumu klāstā kā vēlamākie pakalpojumi būtu zāļu piegāde mājās un attālinātās konsultācijas. Farmaceitu asistenti jūtas pārliecinātāki attālināto konsultāciju sniegšanā (p=0,026) un terapijas izvērtēšanā (p=0,046) nekā farmaceiti. Secinājumi: attīstoties veselības aprūpes sistēmai, farmaceitu pienākumi paplašinās. Pamatpienākumos vairs neietilpst tikai informācijas sniegšana par medikamentiem. No farmaceitiem tiek sagaidīts daudz plašāks darbības diapazons, ieskaitot paškontroles testu veikšanu, veselīga dzīvesveida veicināšanu un ciešu sadarbību ar citiem veselības aprūpes speciālistiem, lai nodrošinātu augstvērtīgu un uz pierādījumiem balstītu farmaceitisko aprūpi.Druva L. The role of a pharmacist in the health care system. Research work. Supervisor Inga Urtāne. Riga Stradins University. The work consists of 42 pages, 4 appendices, 6 tables, 8 figures, and 31 bibliographic titles in Latvian and English. The pharmacist is the most accessible healthcare professional, whose role in patient care has expanded from traditional medication dispensing and counseling tasks to collaboration with other healthcare professionals and society. Aim of the study: To evaluate the opinion of the population, general practitioners, pharmacists, and pharmacist assistants about the role of services provided in pharmacies and potential services in the health care system. Materials and methods: The quantitative method-questionnaire was used in the particular study. The survey was conducted in three target groups: general practitioners, members of the public, pharmacy specialists. In total, 134 general practitioners, 140 members of the public, 132 pharmacists participated in the study. Results: The potential of pharmacists in open pharmacies is not fully exploited. 70.5% of pharmacies are lacking consultation rooms. Although society trusts the recommendations of a pharmacist, 24.3% of the surveyed individuals admit turning to a family doctor in cases of mild illness and only 8.6% prefer pharmacist advice. In the range of pharmacy services, home delivery of medicines and remote consultations are the most desirable services. Pharmacist assistants feel more confident in providing remote consultation (p = 0.026) and evaluation of therapy (p = 0.046) than pharmacists. Conclusions: Since the health care system is developing, the responsibilities of pharmacists have become more extensive. The basic obligations are no longer limited to the provision of information on medications. Pharmacists are expected to provide a much wider range of activities, including self-monitoring tests, the promotion of a healthy lifestyle, and close collaboration with other healthcare professionals to ensure high-quality and evidence-based pharmaceutical care

Mycorrhizal symbiosis in coastal plants and its possible importance of adaptation

Elektroniskā versija nesatur pielikumusPromocijas darba “Mikorizu simbioze jūras piekrastes augiem un tās iespējamā adaptīvā nozīme” Anotācija Darba mērėis – analizējot jūras piekrastes augu mikorizu simbiozes kvantitatīvos un kvalitatīvos aspektus saistībā ar vides faktoru izmaiĦām un augu fizioloăisko stāvokli, noskaidrot simbiozes iespējamo adaptīvo nozīmi. Pētījumi veikti dabiskajās augu augšanas vietās ar 29 jūras piekrastes sugām. Visām pētītajām jūras piekrastes biotopu augu sugām sakĦu paraugos novērotas simbiozei raksturīgas struktūras. Par nemikorizālām uzskatītu augu sugu sakĦu paraugos atklāti arbuskulārās mikorizas sēnēm specifiski DNS fragmenti. Mikorizu simbiozes kolonizācijas intensitātes un frekvences izmaiĦas veăetācijas sezonas laikā ir saistītas gan ar saimniekauga augšanas un attīstības īpatnībām, gan ar vides abiotisko faktoru ietekmi. Krasi heterogēnos jūras piekrastes biotopu apstākĜos mikorizu simbioze saistīta galvenokārt ar augu izturības veicināšanu. Atslēgas vārdi: mikoriza, savvaĜas augi, augsne, adaptācija, piekrasteDoctoral work “Mycorrhizal symbiosis in coastal plants and its possible importance of adaptation” Annotation The aim of the study was to search for putative adaptive character of mycorrhizal symbiosis by analyzing both quantitative and qualitative aspects of symbiosis in coastal plants. The study was performed in natural conditions with 29 coastal plant species. Structures characteristic for mycorrhizal symbiosis were found in roots of all species from different coastal habitats. Even in roots of so called non-mycorrhizal species DNA fragments specific for arbusuclar mycorrhiza-forming fungi were found. Changes of both intensity and frequency of mycorrhizal colonization within the vegetation season were related both to developmental features of the host plant as well as to effect of abiotic environmental factors. In highly heterogeneous conditions of coastal habitats mycorrhizal symbiosis is mostly related to stimulation of plant tolerance. Key words: mycorrhiza, wild plants, soil, adaptation, seacoas

Fostering appropriate reflective learning in an undergraduate radiography course

Reflective learning is an important feature of many radiography courses. Writing tasks are used both to promote and monitor student reflective learning. However, students may not always fully understand the rationale behind this form of learning, nor have clear expectations about the writing required. This paper reports on an intervention to address issues identified in student reflective writing tasks based on clinical experiences. Lecturers noted a lack of depth in student observations and tendency to express criticism in a judgemental and self-righteous tone. In response to this, a workshop was developed to prepare students for reflective learning and to develop their awareness and skills in the reflective writing process. Potential areas of difficulty in reflective learning are considered in this article, as well as how to promote a critical perspective while also encouraging students to maintain a positive regard for the patients, practitioners and institutions that enable them to learn on clinical placement