Music as Therapy: Treating the Effects of Alzheimer’s Disease

This senior project deals with music therapy and methods used especially with Alzheimer’s patients. Topics concerning music therapy include definitions of music therapy, the history of music therapy, and the training necessary to become a licensed music therapist. The research includes general information concerning Alzheimer’s disease as well as its history and symptoms. In addition to conducting research, the music therapy methods were employed with Alzheimer’s patients at the Brookhaven Retirement Community’s Alzheimer’s Unit in Brookville, Ohio. With the guidance of research, professional music therapists, and medical personnel, positive feedback was observed in the patients’ responses

Production and perception of speaker-specific phonetic detail at word boundaries

Experiments show that learning about familiar voices affects speech processing in many tasks. However, most studies focus on isolated phonemes or words and do not explore which phonetic properties are learned about or retained in memory. This work investigated inter-speaker phonetic variation involving word boundaries, and its perceptual consequences. A production experiment found significant variation in the extent to which speakers used a number of acoustic properties to distinguish junctural minimal pairs e.g. 'So he diced them'—'So he'd iced them'. A perception experiment then tested intelligibility in noise of the junctural minimal pairs before and after familiarisation with a particular voice. Subjects who heard the same voice during testing as during the familiarisation period showed significantly more improvement in identification of words and syllable constituents around word boundaries than those who heard different voices. These data support the view that perceptual learning about the particular pronunciations associated with individual speakers helps listeners to identify syllabic structure and the location of word boundaries

Processing changes when listening to foreign-accented speech

This study investigates the mechanisms responsible for fast changes in processing foreign-accented speech. Event Related brain Potentials (ERPs) were obtained while native speakers of Spanish listened to native and foreign-accented speakers of Spanish. We observed a less positive P200 component for foreign-accented speech relative to native speech comprehension. This suggests that the extraction of spectral information and other important acoustic features was hampered during foreign-accented speech comprehension. However, the amplitude of the N400 component for foreign-accented speech comprehension decreased across the experiment, suggesting the use of a higher level, lexical mechanism. Furthermore, during native speech comprehension, semantic violations in the critical words elicited an N400 effect followed by a late positivity. During foreign-accented speech comprehension, semantic violations only elicited an N400 effect. Overall, our results suggest that, despite a lack of improvement in phonetic discrimination, native listeners experience changes at lexical-semantic levels of processing after brief exposure to foreign-accented speech. Moreover, these results suggest that lexical access, semantic integration and linguistic re-analysis processes are permeable to external factors, such as the accent of the speaker

Increasing of organizational and technical system reliability with a help of differential approach

This article is devoted to the application of the competence approach for increasing of the stability of the information systems functioning taking into account the human factor. The method of accounting for human factors is proposed. The results of using the competence approach in the construction of reliable organizational and technical systems based on information technologies are presented

Mathematical model specification of the automated control system subject based on the differential approach

This article is devoted to describing the process of mathematical model specification of an automated control system subject based on a differential approach with a help of statistical data of parameters that affect the reliability of the psychological testing results. The mathematical model of the subject is based on the fuzzy logic conclusion system, which with a greater adequacy allows to describe the subject in comparison with similar solutions, which are also based on the differential approach. There are description of the ideas and results of statistical analysis and research, the stages of the model specification process, explanations each of these stages, formulation the main provisions on the possibility of additional application of the developed mathematical model in the article

Be Bažnyčios nėra išganymo

Gauta 1999Vytauto Didžiojo universiteta

Does legal treatment of buying alliances require more detailed regulation of competition law?

Konkurencijos teisės paskirtis yra saugoti sąžiningos konkurencijos laisvę. Konkurencija visais laikais vaidino vieną svarbiausių vaidmenų ekonominiuose ūkiniuose santykiuose. Šiame darbe atskleista konkurencijos teisės objekto - pirkimo aljanso samprata, išnagrinėta pirkimo aljansų veikla konkurencijos teisės plotmėje, poveikis horizontaliems ir vertikaliems santykiams. Šiame darbe iškeltos hipotezės pasitvirtino - pirkimo aljansų veiklos reglamentavimas nacionalinėje teisėje yra nepakankamas sąžiningai konkurencijai užtikrinti; reikalingas detalesnis pirkimo aljansų veiklos teisinis reglamentavimas. Tai patvirtinama darbe suformuluotais argumentais – išvadomis. Europos Komisijos, taip pat ES senbuvių narių konkurencijos priežiūros institucijų išleistuose teisės aktuose, taip pat individualiuose spendimuose nurodoma, kad pirkimo aljansų veikla gali būti tiek skatinanti konkurenciją, tiek ją varžanti. ES mastu vykdančių veiklą smulkių prekybininkų įkurtas pirkimo aljansas beveik visais atvejais skatins konkurenciją, jei tokio aljanso narių užimama rinkos dalis neviršija 15 %, o apyvarta neviršija 50 mln. eurų. Pirkimo aljansai negali vykdyti veiklos, uždraustos ir pavieniams ūkio subjektams: jokiais atvejais neleistini kainų ir rinkos padalijimo susitarimai, nurodyti Steigimo Sutarties 81(3) straipsnyje. Lietuvoje atitinkamai LR Konkurencijos įstatymo 5 str. draudžia konkurenciją ribojančius susitarimus, o 6 str. 1 d. suteikia bendrąją išimtį susitarimams, kurie skatina techninę ir ekonominę pažangą arba pagerina prekių gamybą ir paskirstymą. Sąlygos dėl bendrosios išimties suteikimo yra nustatytos LR Konkurencijos tarybos 2004 m. rugsėjo 2 d. nutarimu Nr. 1S-132 „Dėl susitarimų, tenkinančių Lietuvos Respublikos Konkurencijos įstatymo 6 str. 1 d. sąlygas ir dėl kai kurių Lietuvos Respublikos Konkurencijos tarybos nutarimų pripažinimo netekusiais galios“, kuris nurodo reglamentų, tiesiogiai taikomų nacionalinėje teisėje, sąrašą, išskyrus apyvartos požymius, kurie yra mažinami 10 kartų, palyginus su nustatytais ES teisės aktų. Todėl bendrosios išimties atžvilgiu Lietuvos teisės normos daugiausia yra blanketinės, t.y. su nuorodomis į tiesiogiai taikomas ES teisės normas. Kitas LR Konkurencijos tarybos 2000 m. sausio 13 d. nutarimas Nr. 1 „Dėl reikalavimų ir sąlygų susitarimams, kurie dėl savo mažareikšmio poveikio negali itin riboti konkurencijos, patvirtinimo“ iš esmės atkartoja Europos Komisijos „Pranešimą dėl mažareikšmių susitarimų, kurie negali itin riboti konkurencijos“ OJ, (2001/C 368/07). Todėl darytina išvada, kad Lietuvos Respublikos teisės aktai, taikytini pirkimo aljansų veiklos srityje, iš esmės atkartoja Europos Sąjungos konkurencijos teisės normas. Analizuojant LR Konkurencijos įstatymą ir poįstatyminius teisės aktus, matome, kad ūkio subjekto buvimas yra būtina sąlyga koncentracijos kontrolės priemonėms vykdyti. LR Konkurencijos įstatymo 3 str. 14 d. nurodo, kad koncentracija – tai: 1) susijungimas, kai prie ūkio subjekto, kuris tęsia veiklą, prijungiami vienas ar keletas kitų ūkio subjektų; 2) kontrolės įgijimas, kai [...] įgaunama kito ūkio subjekto kontrolė [...] į visą ūkio subjekto turtą ar turto dalį, akcijas ar kitus vertybinius popierius, balsavimo teises, sudarant sutartis ar kitu būdu. LR Konkurencijos įstatymo 3 str. 12 d. ir 17 d. pateikia susijusių ūkio subjektų grupės bei lemiamos įtakos sąvokas per bendrai valdomo akcinio kapitalo prizmę arba per galimybę paveikti kontroliuojamo subjekto sprendimų įgyvendinimą per jo valdymo organus. Tačiau praktikoje pirkimo aljansai ne visada savo veiklą organizuoja steigdami juridinį asmenį. Dažnai bendrų interesų siekiama neįsteigiant juridinio asmens. Lietuvoje veikia keletas pirkimo aljansų, tačiau iki šiol LR Konkurencijos taryba neįvertina pirkimo aljansų kaip vieno koncentracijos veiksnių, todėl galima pagrįstai teigti, jog atsižvelgiant į šiuolaikinę komercinių teisinių santykių įvairovę, tikslinga praplėsti susijusių asmenų apibrėžimą LR Konkurencijos įstatyme, nustatyti pirkimo aljanso sąvoką ir peržiūrėti nusistovėjusias teisės normas dėl koncentracijos kontrolės. Europos Komisija ir ES šalių narių konkurencijos priežiūros institucijos teisės aktų nustatyta tvarka metodiškai vertina koncentracijos atvejus pasveriant atsirandanti efektyvumą ir galimus konkurencijos suvaržymus. Tačiau istoriškai susiklostė toks ekonominis ir teisinis mąstymas, dėl kurio teisės aktuose ir nusistovėjusioje praktikoje būdavo vertinama pardavimo (gamintojo) galia, tačiau neįvertinama pirkimo (prekybininko) galia. Kaip jau minėjau, Europos Komisijos Reglamentas (EC) 2790/1999 dėl Steigimo Sutarties 81(3) straipsnio taikymo vertikaliųjų susitarimų ir suderintų veiksmų srityje nagrinėja gamintojo ir prekybininko santykius vertinant beveik vien tik pardavimo (gamintojo) galią ir iš to galinčius kilti konkurencijos apribojimus. Be to, Europos Komisijos rekomendacija dėl atitinkamos rinkos apibrėžimo Bendrijos konkurencijos teisėje nenurodo pirkimo rinkos apibrėžimo. Lietuva yra nauja Europos Sąjungos narė ir seka ES tradicijas konkurencijos teisėje, todėl Europos Komisijos vaidmuo leidžiant teisės aktus ir priimant sprendimus dėl koncentracijos bei kitais konkurencijos teisės aspektais yra labai svarbus Lietuvai. Reikalinga modernizuoti Europos Sąjungos konkurencijos tiesę atnaujinant ir papildant esamus teisės aktus, apibrėžiančius pirkimo (pirkėjo) galią ir su tuo susijusius konkurencijos teisės apribojimus pirkėjui tenkančius susiliejimo, įsigijimo ir pirkimo aljansų veiklos atvejais; kartu reikia peržiūrėti ir atitinkamos rinkos apibrėžimą. Šiame kontekste yra įdomus LR Konkurencijos tarybos 2000 m. gegužės 17 d. nutarimas Nr. 52 „Dėl Konkurencijos tarybos paaiškinimų dėl dominuojančios padėties nustatymo“, kurio 4 p. nurodo, kad pirkėjo dominuojanti padėtis nustatoma pagal tuos pačius principus, kaip ir dominuojančio pardavėjo, tačiau vietoj pardavėjo bus atitinkamai nagrinėjamas pirkėjas. Tačiau žymesnių pokyčių Lietuvos konkurencijos teisėje nebus tol, kol tokie pokyčiai neįvyks Europos Sąjungos konkurencijos teisėje. Taigi atlikus mokslinę dokumentų ir literatūros analizę, apklausus maisto produktų gamybos bendrovės atstovus, taip pat prekybos bendrovės atstovą, atlikus lyginamąją analizę bei padarius išvadas, siūloma: 1) papildyti LR Konkurencijos įstatymo koncentracijos, kontrolės įgijimo ir lemiamos įtakos sąvokas jas praplečiant ir pritaikant susitarimams, kuomet pirkimo aljansų veikla vykdoma aljanso narių susitarimo pagrindu, o ne vien tik susijungimo būdu ar kitaip įgyjant ūkio subjekto kontrolę (aljanso) kontrolę; 2) pakeisti ir papildyti ES teisės aktus, apibrėžiančius pirkimo (pirkėjo) galią ir su tuo susijusius konkurencijos teisės apribojimus pirkėjui tenkančius susiliejimo, įsigijimo ir pirkimo aljansų veiklos atvejais; nauji ES teisės aktai turėtų aiškiai atriboti konkurenciją skatinančius veiksmus nuo konkurenciją ribojančių veiksmų.Abstract Hypotheses arisen: Does competition law effectively promote fair competition in the Republic of Lithuania when dealing with buying alliances? Is more detailed legal treatment of buying alliances needed? Purpose of Work. To substantiate or to deny the hypotheses arisen in the paper. Research methods used in work: analysis of scientific literature and documents, comparative analysis, descriptive method, synthesis, interview. Hypotheses are approved by these conclusions: The purpose of competition law is to protect the freedom of fair competition. Competition has played a very important role in economic affairs at all times. Being one of the objects of competition law, the concept of buying alliance is unfolded in this paper along with its effect on horizontal and vertical relations The hypothesis arisen in this paper are proven: legal treatment of buying alliances in the national law is insufficient; more detailed legal treatment of buying alliances is needed. That conclusion is proven by the reasoning and conclusions based on findings. EU law, the decisions of European Commission and competition authorities of some old EU members reveal that buying alliances could be a tool promoting competition or could be anti-competitive. Usually, whenever small retailers establish a buying alliance dealing within several EU countries, it is regarded pro-competitive, unless market share of that alliance is not more than 15 % and turnover does not exceed 50 million Euro. Any buying alliance, however, is not allowed to act contradictory to Article 81(1) of the Treaty establishing the European Community: price fixing and division of the markets. Lithuanian Law on Competition, art. 5, prohibits agreements and practices limiting competition whereas art. 6 clause 1 of the Law grants block exemption to those agreements promoting technical and economic progress, improving goods manufacturing and distribution. More detailed provisions on block exemption are prescribed in the Resolution of Lithuanian Competition Council of September 2, 2004, No. 1S-132 “In regard of agreements satisfying provisions of art. 6 clause 1 of Competition Law of Republic of Lithuania and invalidation some Resolutions of Competition Council of Republic of Lithuania” that prescribes EU regulations directly applicable to the national law except turnover provision that is 10 times less than identified in the said EU regulations. Therefore Lithuanian rules on block exemption are mostly referring to EU regulations which are directly applicable to the Lithuanian competition law. Another Resolution of Lithuanian Competition Council of January 13, 2000, No. 1 “In regard of requirements and conditions of agreements of minor importance which do not appreciably restrict competition“ in the essence corresponds the Commission Notice on agreements of minor importance which do not appreciably restrict competition under Article 81(1) of the Treaty establishing the European Community (de minimis), OJ (2001/C 368/07). Therefore the conclusion could be drawn that legal regulations of Republic of Lithuania on buying alliances replicate EU competition law. Analyzing Lithuanian Competition Law, some important deficiencies of concentration and control are noted. Lithuanian Law on Competition, art. 3 clause 14 provides with the definition of concentration, which is: 1) a merger, when one legal entity incorporates another one or more legal entity or entities that cease to exist; 2) a gain of control, when one could control some legal entity, or its assets, or owns its shares or could greatly influence voting rights by entering into agreements or otherwise. Lithuanian Competition Law, art. 3 clauses 12 and 17 provide definition of critical influence, which is viewed through shares capital control or other possible ways to influence decision – making by influencing management bodies of the legal entity. In practice, however, buying alliances are not often so incorporated into legal entities, sometimes they are acting on the basis of agreement. There are some buying alliances acting in Lithuania: Coopernic international buying alliance that owns IKI retail chain and Aibė that connects small privately – owned retailers in Lithuania. Aibė buying alliance is voluntary partnership organization with its members are free to join and separate. In 2004 and 2005 Lithuanian Competition Council studied retail concentration in Lithuania. According to the study, 4 biggest retailers in Lithuania accounted for 61,9 % of total retail market in 2004, and for 64,7% - in 2005. Some market participants estimate around 5 % market share of Aibė buying alliance, therefore in reality Lithuanian retail market should in fact be more concentrated than officially observed. By now there is no official recognition of buying alliances influence of retail market concentration in Lithuania. Taking into account the role buying alliances now add into retail market concentration, a conclusion could be drawn that provisions of Competition Law on the definition of buying alliance must be included along with modification of the definitions of related persons and critical influence; consequently, concentration control measures shall be improved on buying alliances inclusion. Historically, more insights have been applied to the drawing up guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of seller power with little movement towards development of the guidelines on the treatment of buyer power. Commission Regulation (EC) 2790/1999 of 22 December 1999 on the application of Article 81(3) of the Treaty to categories of vertical agreements and concerted practices, OJ (1999/L 336/21) focuses mostly on vertical restraints arising from seller power and have no guidance on buyer-related restraints. Commission Notice on the definition of the relevant market for the purposes of Community competition law OJ (1997/C 372/3) does not answer the question of how to define procurement market. In view of these factors, the role of European Commission is fundamentally important as there is a need to develop new consistent and transparent competition policy in EU. There is a great need to revisit and update EU legislation defining buyer power and related competition constraints not only in case of mergers and acquisitions, but also when buying alliances come into the scene. Definition of relevant market given in the Commission Notice on the definition of the relevant market for the purposes of Community competition law OJ (1997/C 372/3) needs to be supplemented and improved. Lithuania is a new EU member and basically follows EU competition law traditions. There are signs of noticeably progressive movement towards assessment of buyer power in Lithuanian Competition council Resolution No.52 of May 17, 2000 “In regard of Competition counsel reasoning for establishing of dominant position”, whereas clause 4 states that buyer’s dominant position shall be established using the same principles whereas seller’s dominant position is established and buyer behaviour shall be considered instead of seller behaviour. But in general no major changes in Lithuanian competition law are foreseen unless EU competition law changes its approach towards buyer power. Taken into consideration the comparative analysis of EU and Lithuanian legislation on competition and scholar literature, interviews with manufacturer representatives as well as one retailer representative, I propose: 1) to supplement definitions of concentration, gain of control and critical influence laid down in Lithuanian Competition law by adding agreements on which basis buying alliances may act; 2) to change and supplement EU legislation defining buyer power and related competition restraints applicable to the buyer as a result of merge or acquisition or acting through a buying alliance; redefine relevant market definition; 3) novelties in the EU legislation shall clearly draw a line between pro-competitive and anti-competitive behaviour.Vytauto Didžiojo universiteta