CAB Abstracts

Backround: In recent years, there is an increasing number of data supporting the relation between lunar cycle and alterations in human body. For instance, it has been proved that hospitalized spontaneous abortions are significantly associated with the lunar cycle . Given that the most common cause of spontaneous abortion is chromosomal abnormalities of the embryo, we presumed that the lunar cycle could influence the occurrence of chromosomal diseases. From the point of bioethics it is a question if it is applicable to talk with patients about possible impact of cosmobiological factors on their case of chromosomal anomaly. Patients and Methods: We have selected 52 patients, who were bearing a fetus with a prenatally diagnosed chromosomal disorder, which included Down, Turner, Klinefelter, Patau and Edward syndromes. The control group (n=92) consisted of families, that were prenatally tested for chromosomal abnormalities and the results were negative. Then we gathered and analyzed information from patients' medical histories about various factors, which could have predisposed chromosomal disorders: age of both progenitors, consumption of medications during pregnancy, number of miscarriages, number of abortions, cases of genetic disorders in relatives, lunar phase on the day of conception. Results: Lunar phases at the time of conception in the test group distributed as following: new Moon 32.7 percent, first quarter 25.0 percent, full Moon 28.8 percent, third quarter 13.5 percent. In the control group lunar phases distributed as following: new Moon 29.3 percent, first quarter 27.2 percent, full Moon 26.1 percent, third quarter 17.4 percent. There was observed no statistically significant difference between test and control groups (p>0.05). OR for conception with chromosomal anomalies were increased in July (2.7(CI 95% 1.5-4.9) and December (3.2 (CI 95% 1.5-5.2) (p<0.05). OR showed decreased risk for chromosomal anomalies during conception at January (0.3 (CI 95% 0.1-0.7) , April (0.5 (CI 95% 0.2-0.7) and June 0.5 (CI 95% 0.2-0.8) (p<0.05). Conclusions: Our study showed there were no associations between lunar phase at the time of conception with the rates of chromosomal mutations. Conception in July and December increases the risk of chromosomal anomalies during conception. In contrast conception in January, April and June decreases chromosomal anomalies rates.

The tourism industry plays an important role in boosting economic growth, providing job opportunities, and reducing the poverty rates in many countries. For this reason, the factors influencing tourism should be investigated, to ensure continued growth within the industry. Few studies had examined the effect of violent crime on tourist arrivals and price competitiveness in Malaysia. An increasing criminal activity and a rise in prices may discourage tourism arrivals. This paper applies an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model to estimate Malaysia's determinants of tourism arrivals, on the period from 1986 to 2016. Tourism demand is modeled as a function of economic growth, tourism accommodation, prices (proxied by exchange rates and inflation), unemployment, and the crime index to proxy criminal activity in Malaysia. The results showed that inflation can reduce the number of tourists in the long run and in the short run. Similarly, the results also show that a higher exchange rate and violent crime index can reduce the number of tourists visiting Malaysia in the short run. Economic growth can attract more tourists to Malaysia in the long run.These findings are important for the formulation and implementation of policies. The Malaysian government should combat violent crime in the first place to prevent any reduction in tourist arrivals. Increasing government expenditure on national security could lead to a reduction in the violent crime index, thus increasing the number of tourist arrivals in Malaysia.

  Background: Despite all efforts to ensure road safety, road deaths rank eighth in the world. More than 3,500 people die on the world's roads every day, almost 1.3 million. avoided deaths and around 50 million injuries annually. Aim  of  the  Study: The aim of the study was to investigate the links between risky driving and psychopathic traits. Materials  and  Methods: 257 drivers participated, ranged from 18 to 66 years. A multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to determine if psychopathy predicts risky driving. Methods used in the study: the Driving Behavior Questionnaire to measure risky driving and the Triarchial Psychopathic Measures Questionnaire to measure psychopathic traits. Results: Drivers with a higher degree of psychopathic disinhibition trait commit more driving errors, slips and lapses, aggressive and ordinary driving violations; Drivers with a higher degree of psychopathic meanness trait commit more aggressive and ordinary driving violations; Drivers with a higher degree of psychopathic boldness trait make fewer driving mistakes and have a lower overall risk of driving; Psychopathy traits can predict risky driving and the disinhibition trait of psychopathy has the highest prognostic value in predicting risky driving. Conclusion: Psychopathy traits shows relationship with risky driving and psychopathy trait disinhibition can prognose risky driving.    

Social pain is usually defined as the experience of pain because of interpersonal rejection or loss. However, some research suggests that social pain could also arise from low income or subjective perceptions regarding socioeconomic status. To contribute to promoting effective public administration or social policy solutions, over the last few decades, many scientific studies were conducted worldwide. Many authors have investigated social wellbeing as it could create direct and indirect financial losses to the state. This study aimed to find out the peculiarities of attitudes towards social relations in different groups of income and perceived socio-economic status in a representative sample of Lithuanian population (n=1001). We have found that mean ranks in the lowest-income quintile, agreeing that "my relationships are supportive and rewarding", were almost twice lower than in the highest-income quintile. A similar tendency was observed with the statements "I actively contribute to the happiness and well-being of others" and “People respect me”. Mean ranks in the subjectively poorest group regarding perceived respect from people were almost three times lower than in the subjectively rich group. It appears that having low income and low subjective socioeconomic status may harm psychological wellbeing. Our study raises concern regarding societal wellbeing: we suggest that to achieve the prosperity of society, it is necessary to reduce socio-economic inequalities and through various programs and projects strengthen people’s ability to establish and maintain supportive, compassionate social contacts

Youth sport programs in Lithuania are delivered in public and private sports schools, also by private sport clubs and various non-government organizations. However, a recent shift from public sector towards private sector has been observed. As a result, public-private partnerships in sport sector and, particularly, in youth sport program delivery, could be seen as a logical next step in strive for good governance. Private sector is mainly focused on utilization of sport facilities, while public sector – the owner of sport facilities – is mainly concerned with the economics of facility maintenance and additional income to offset budget reductions. Similarly to the findings of Legg and colleagues (2018), potential partnership efficiencies are not always realized due to a lack of goal alignment and limited resources. Using a qualitative interpretive approach, data were collected through online questionnaires from 8municipality representatives who were either the heads of sport division or had direct contact with youth sports programs. Research findings were constructed along three phases of partnership governance – formation, management, and outcomes. Study results provide insights into the advantages and disadvantages of public-private partnerships in youth sport delivery, as well as identify possible solutions towards increased effectiveness of collaboration in future. Multiple positive outcomes were identified by this study – from improved infrastructure, increased sport participation numbers to successful collaboration in event management and constructive influence on the establishment of a more efficient regulatory framework. And although, this research has not uncovered more systematic findings regarding public-private partnerships, it clearly proved that benefits outweighed shortcomings, thus, indicating future potential of such governance model.

Intensive soil management in vineyards makes them vulnerable to the degradation of physical characteristics and soil erosion. Sustainable management practices in young vineyards should be adopted to ensure soil longevity and ecosystem stability. The aim of this research was to compare the effects of grass-covering and straw-mulching on the mitigation of soil degradation through the reduction of chemical and physical soil degradation and initial soil erosion. The soil sampling and rainfall simulations were performed in an immature vineyard, which was established in Stagnosol, in a semi-humid climate in order to study the intrinsic relationships between soil properties and soil degradation/erosion. The grass-covering treatment significantly increased the values of soil organic matter, mean weight diameter, water-stable aggregates, ponding and runoff times, and significantly reduced the values of water runoff, sediment concentration, sediment loss, carbon loss, phosphorous loss and as a consequence, increased the available phosphorous, and soil water content. The opposite result was observed for the tilled treatment. Straw-mulching did not affect soil properties, however it decreased water, soil, and nutrient losses. Grass-covering is highlighted as the most sustainable soil management strategy as it mitigates water, sediment and nutrient losses in young vineyards.

This article explores the impact of government financial support on the financial performance and other indicators of small businesses in Lithuania. To achieve the objective of the paper both survey method and statistical analysis are used. Research results provide evidence that there exists a statistically significant relationship between the magnitude of financial support and the financial indicators of SMEs. The impact of financial support on business performance in selected areas is stronger with an increase in the size of SMEs. This paper contributes to a better understanding of what kind of financial support and what features of aid recipients make the financial support more effective in the context of Lithuania's specific business and institutional environment.

The digital transformation is now a reality in Moldova, as Moldova has begun to transfer social, legal, and civil service delivery online. Sped-up digitalization can be expected to create new business models and opportunities for digital jumping in traditional industries. The Coronavirus crisis has highlighted the need for support and investments in digital transformation and effective digital governance, especially to guarantee the continuity and delivery of core government functions. The digital transformation is changing not just business models but the methods of production and distribution and the industry's competitiveness. Further analysis has been made to generate specific steps/recommendations regarding the digitization of the Moldova industry. The interview with experts who work closely in digitalization or competitiveness was done, and the SWOT analysis was done. Based on the research made, the recommendations for Moldova were prepared and presented in this article.

During the COVID-19 crisis, there were many restrictions to transportation. Due to that, a significant disruption in the food supply chain has emerged. The transportation of the fresh food and maintaining the quality, from farm to the table or distributing and then collecting from the warehouses and delivering to the consumer, has become crucial. Technologies and especially IoT, have become the primary tool to fight it. The research objective is to analyze and create new knowledge about digital technologies used to improve and make more effective the food supply chain processes. An exploratory case study methodology helps to investigate a large consortium based on IoT technologies, implemented in pilot cases on farm level and measuring their performance over the period of four years. This is an interpretative study, and the method of semi-structured interviews and document review for collecting the data was used. The results show IoT-connected sensors and systems in food and beverage supply chain logistics offer real-time visibility and data-driven analytics, allowing stakeholders to improve performance, cut operating costs, conduct predictive maintenance to avoid downtime, and even decrease energy usage or reduce negative environmental impacts.

The goal of the current paper is to show that the factors that are related to individual customers’ usage of banking services are vital for banks’ profitability. In the current research, profitability is expressed by return on assets, return on equity and net interest margin. The following determinants influencing profitability were determined from the literature: number of cards, number of branches, number of automated teller machines (ATMs), number of point-of-sale (POS) terminals, number of internet banking users, number of mobile banking users, customers trust. It was found that five of them (except the number of cards and number of mobile banking users) have a positive influence on commercial banking sector profitability in Lithuania.