Application of Cold Storage and Short In Vitro Germination for Somatic Embryos of Pinus radiata and P. sylvestris

Somatic embryogenesis (SE) is an advanced vegetative propagation technology that, when used in combination with breeding and cryopreservation, offers the forest industry a powerful tool for the deployment of elite genotypes. Germination and acclimatization are critical and cost-intensive phases in the production of somatic plants. The efficient conversion of somatic embryos into robust plants is a necessity if a propagation protocol is to be successfully adopted by the industry. In this work, these late phases of the SE protocol of two pine species were investigated. A shortened germination protocol and more controlled acclimatization were investigated for Pinus radiata, testing embryos from 18 embryogenic cell lines. A more simplified protocol, including a cold storage phase, was also compared among 10 of these cell lines. A shortened germination period and more controlled protocols significantly improved the acclimatization of somatic embryos directly from the lab to the glasshouse. When results for all cell lines were pooled, there were significant improvements in all growth characteristics (shoot height, root length, root collar diameter, and root quadrant score). When the more simplified protocol involving cold storage was tested, improvements were seen in the root architecture. For Pinus sylvestris, the late phases of somatic embryogenesis were investigated on seven cell lines in a set of two trials (four to seven cell lines per trial). During the germination phase, a shortened and simplified in vitro period, a cold storage option and basal media were explored. Viable plants were obtained from all treatments. However, there is still the need to improve germination and related protocols together with growing regimes for Pinus sylvestris. The improvements to protocols presented here, particularly for Pinus radiata, result in greater survival and quality of somatic emblings, leading to reduced costs and increased confidence in the technology. Simplified protocols using a cold storage option show great promise and, with some further research, could lead to reductions in the cost of the technology

Systematic bibliometric review of artificial intelligence technology in organizational management, development, change and culture

Even now, in the times of advanced digitization, the planning and implementation of many organizational measures remain human-driven. Corresponding to a global trend of application of artificial intelligence in all areas of life, it has received more attention in the last few years and garnered emerging clusters of research in usage of this technology for organizational issues. Some companies already offer tools that support different management tasks in the area of organizational development, but they are not holistic. According to the google trend analysis of the search for artificial intelligence, the inquiry to this topic continues increasing. The purpose of the described investigation was to identify the academic trends in research interaction between such scientific fields, as Artificial Intelligence, Organizational Management, Organizational Development, Organizational Change, and Organizational Culture using bibliometric and network publication analysis. In order to achieve this purpose, we systematically analysed 191 publications between 1983 and 2020 as well as cited and citing publications. The findings of this study provide important conclusions of the current research state. The insightful results are presented in the form of critical review and frame the body of knowledge

Influence of financial literacy on management of personal finances in a young household

The article focuses on the importance of financial literacy to management of personal finances in a young household. Responsible management of personal finances should be fostered since early stages of life, as financial mistakes made during the years of youth can be costly and difficult to correct in the future. Moreover, a high level of financial literacy has a positive impact on day­to­day decision making and leads to higher saving rates, which improves the quality of life in the long run. The paper deals with main factors affecting the low level of financial literacy in Lithuania and other countries. Results of the survey of Lithuanian residents are compared to results of similar foreign researches. Finansinio raštingumo įtaka jaunimo asmeninių finansų valdymui Santrauka Straipsnyje analizuojama finansinio raštingumo įtaka jaunų namų ūkių asmeninių finansų valdymui. Atsakingas asmeninių finansų valdymas privalomas nuo mažų dienų. Anksti gyvenime padarytos finansinės klaidos gali kainuoti dideles sumas pinigų ir būti sunkiai ištaisomos ateityje. Be to, geros finansinio raštingumo žinios sudaro sąlygas priimti racionalesnius kasdienius sprendimus ir padeda išleisti mažiau pinigų. Žmogus sutaupo kur kas daugiau, o tai per ilgą laikotarpį gerina ir jo gyvenimo kokybę. Straipsnyje analizuojamos pagrindinės žemą finansinį raštingumą Lietuvoje ir kitose šalyse lemiančios priežastys. Atlikus Lietuvos gyventoju apklausą, gauti rezultatai lyginami su panašiais užsienio tyrėju darbais. Reikšminiai žodžiai: finansinis raštingumas, asmeniniai finansai, asmeninių finansų valdymas, jauni namų ūkiai

Effect of macroeconomic business environment on the development of corporate social responsibility in Baltic Countries and Slovakia

Research background: Fluctuations in economic activity forced companies to change the traditional methods of organization and management and to search for new tools, knowledge, resources and competences in order to strengthen their positions. This has particularly intensified debates on corporate social responsibility (CSR) not only between business people, but also between pieces of research,  industry leaders and government representatives. The ongoing global ecologic crisis quickened discussions about how the alternation of macroeconomic business environment influences the development of CSR. Purpose of the article: The aim of this paper is to investigate how the changes in macroeconomic business environment influence the development of socially responsible activities in Baltic Countries and Slovakia. Methods: A statistical analysis of secondary data was used in order to reanalyse the data for the purpose of gaining new insights. The objectives of statistical analysis in this paper were twofold: firstly, to identify the challenges in macroeconomic business environment; secondly, to explore the development of socially responsible activities in different countries. The research period covered the years 2006–2016. The choice of this period is determined by data availability. Findings & Value added: The authors found that economic conditions may diversely affect the development of different dimensions of CSR. Even in unfavourable macroeconomic conditions companies continue to be involved in socially responsible actions because of long-run CSR benefits. The analysis is useful at an international level because it justified the development of socially responsible businesses in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia, and has provided an opportunity to assess the tendencies of CSR development during the different period of economic cycle