University of Latvia

Ever since the European Union launched its first Africa Strategy in December 2005, the question of China's presence and interest in the continent has been bothering European policymakers, spilling into the media discourse over China's role, approach, and agenda for Africa (Deutscher Budestag in Das Engagement der Volksrepublik China in Afrika. Interessen, Strategien und Auswirkungen, 2007). With this context in mind, this chapter aims to examine how the story of China’s presence on the African continent appears in the European media by identifying specific frames and the tone of reporting. Preliminary data on the European reporting of China’s activities in Africa were collected via Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone (GDELT), further applying frame and sentiment analysis. Qualitative analysis was performed to detect the tone of the reporting, frames, information sources mentioned in the context of China's presence in Africa, reporting specificity (whole-of-continent or country specific). Additionally, an unsupervised lexicon-based document level sentiment analysis of news articles has also been carried out employing two different sentiment analysis methods and four well-known and robustly established dictionaries. The contribution of the study is the conclusion that the polarity of news coverage is not consistent over all media outlets, and application of varied news frames to China's coverage is associated with different sentiment polarity outcomes. Whilst the frames that focus on the harmful consequences China's activities have in Africa are clearly negative, all the other frames look at China with a recognition of strategic success, keeping the overall polarity of the reporting neutral or in many cases even positive.

Gastric cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related mortality, requiring the urgent development of innovative diagnostic tools for early detection. This study presents an integrated infrared spectroscopic electronic nose system, a novel device that combines infrared (IR) spectroscopy and electronic nose (eNose) concepts for analyzing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath. This system was calibrated using relevant gas mixtures and then tested during a feasibility study involving 26 gastric cancer patients and 32 healthy controls using chemometric analyses to distinguish between exhaled breath profiles. The obtained results demonstrated that the integration of IR spectroscopy and eNose technologies significantly enhanced the accuracy of VOCs fingerprinting via principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least-squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Distinct differences between the study groups were revealed with an accuracy of prediction of 0.96 in exhaled breath samples. This combined system offers a high sensitivity and specificity and could potetially facilitate rapid on-site testing rendering the technology an accessible option for early screening particularly in underserved populations.

Objectives We hypothesized that semiquantitative visual scoring of lung MRI is suitable for GOLD-grade specific characterization of parenchymal and airway disease in COPD and that MRI scores correlate with quantitative CT (QCT) and pulmonary function test (PFT) parameters. Methods Five hundred ninety-eight subjects from the COSYCONET study (median age = 67 (60–72)) at risk for COPD or with GOLD1-4 underwent PFT, same-day paired inspiratory/expiratory CT, and structural and contrast-enhanced MRI. QCT assessed total lung volume (TLV), emphysema, and air trapping by parametric response mapping (PRM Emph , PRM fSAD ) and airway disease by wall percentage (WP). MRI was analyzed using a semiquantitative visual scoring system for parenchymal defects, perfusion defects, and airway abnormalities. Descriptive statistics, Spearman correlations, and ANOVA analyses were performed. Results TLV, PRM Emph , and MRI scores for parenchymal and perfusion defects were all higher with each GOLD grade, reflecting the extension of emphysema (all p < 0.001). Airway analysis showed the same trends with higher WP and higher MRI large airway disease scores in GOLD3 and lower WP and MRI scores in GOLD4 ( p = 0.236 and p < 0.001). Regional heterogeneity was less evident on MRI, while PRM Emph and MRI perfusion defect scores were higher in the upper lobes, and WP and MRI large airway disease scores were higher in the lower lobes. MRI parenchymal and perfusion scores correlated moderately with PRM Emph ( r = 0.61 and r = 0.60) and moderately with FEV1/FVC ( r = −0.56). Conclusion Multi-center semiquantitative MRI assessments of parenchymal and airway disease in COPD matched GOLD grade-specific imaging features on QCT and detected regional disease heterogeneity. MRI parenchymal disease scores were correlated with QCT and lung function parameters. Key Points Question Do MRI-based scores correlate with QCT and PFT parameters for GOLD-grade specific disease characterization of COPD ? Findings MRI can visualize the parenchymal and airway disease features of COPD . Clinical relevance Lung MRI is suitable for GOLD-grade specific disease characterization of COPD and may serve as a radiation-free imaging modality in scientific and clinical settings, given careful consideration of its potential and limitations .

The aim of the study was to analyse the association between self-rated health (SRH) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors (RFs) by age and sex in Latvia. A sample of 6000 individuals was formed using random selection from the population (aged 25–74) in Latvia. The survey consisted of an interview, physical examinations, and collection of blood samples. SRH was assessed by a question about the health self-rate. In total, 4070 individuals were interviewed; blood samples were taken from 2218 respondents. The prevalence of good SRH was 48%, fair in 43.3%, and poor in 8.7%. Good SRH was reported by: 33.5% of individuals with raised blood pressure (≥140/90 mmHg), 45.5% of individuals with elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level (≥3 mmol/l), 33.6% of individuals with raised glucose level (≥5.6 mmol/l), 43.0% of daily smokers; and 32.3% of individuals with body mass index ≥30 kg/m ² . There were statistically significant differences in SRH categories between population with normal and elevated levels of the risk factors ( p < 0.001). Individuals with 0 RF had good SRH in 74%; 1 RF – in 65%; 2 RFs – in 50%; 3 RFs – in 40%; 4 RFs – in 30%; and 5 RFs – in 23%; p < 0.001. Aging, elevated BP, elevated glucose level, smoking and non-normal body mass index were associated with a lower SRH while male sex and elevated LDL-C were associated with a higher SRH, adjusted for other covariates included in the model. 32.3% to 48.6% of the population with CVD RFs rated their health misleadingly high. To improve the situation, specifically targeted public education on the relationship of RFs to SRH is necessary.

Kidney transplantation has become a preferred treatment for many patients with end-stage renal disease, leading to increased quality of life. In recent decades, results in kidney transplantation have been improving, but allograft rejection remains an important clinical problem. This retrospective study reviewed all kidney allograft biopsies performed at Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital from January 2014 to December 2022, with the aim to determine clinical and histopathological characteristics, treatment, and short-term outcomes of biopsy-proven kidney graft rejection in Latvia. Rejection was diagnosed according to clinical, laboratory, and biopsy-proven acute rejection histological criteria; classified and subdivided using Banff criteria (a total five groups). Treatment strategies, laboratory data at the time of biopsy and after one-year follow-up were analysed. A total of 153 allograft biopsies were included. The majority of the grafts were from deceased donors. Besides augmented maintenance immunosuppression for almost all patients, pulse steroids were the most administered treatment, followed by plasma exchange, rituximab, immunoglobulins, and anti-thymocyte globulin in different, mainly non-homogenous combinations. Acute antibody-mediated rejection was diagnosed most often. The most favourable outcomes considering allograft function were in the acute cellular rejection group after one-year treatment compared to the worst outcome chronic-active antibody mediated rejection (caAMR) group ( p = 0.03). Furthermore, the caAMR group had the highest number of patients who returned to dialysis or died after one year.

Silica or silicon dioxide nanoparticles (SiNPs) are one of the most widely spread nanoparticles in the environment, particularly, in urban areas in the form of dust. Influence of SiNPs on plant cells is unclear. This research was conducted to test a hypothesis that plant cell relative fluorescence and SiNP toxicity differ depending on the genetic properties and environmental conditions. Young pollen cells of lime trees in the mid to late one-nucleate developmental stage were found to be more sensitive to detect the influence of SiNPs and UV irradiation. Alteration of cell relative fluorescence depending on tree growth conditions was observed. Cells from trees grown in the urban area of Rīga had much lower reaction to SiNPs in comparison with cells from trees grown in the greenhouse. Lime trees growing for a long time in urban areas have complex adaptive features to a variable environment and can used as source-material to propagate lime trees for growing in such conditions. Flow cytometry can be applied for evaluation of plant reaction to factors that affect plants in the urban environment.

A general entry to enantiopure N -substituted sulfoximines via direct stereospecific S -alkylation of sulfinamides with Zn-carbenoids is disclosed.

The reduction in the Latvian population has created an urgent need to increase retention in the labour market, of not only high skilled entrepreneurs and competitive employees, but also to ensure that most of the VET students obtain a qualification relevant to the labour market. This also refers to vocational students at risk of dropping out due to a variety of reasons, including their unfavourable socio-economic backgrounds. In Latvia, after the EU accession it was a political decision to invest major funds in the development of VET, to increase the number of vocational students, as compared to the number of students in general education. According to the evaluation of the OECD and Cedefop, the progress is slow but steady. The success of the policy was determined by a set of factors, that included the modernisation of the curricula, successful introduction of the competence-based approach and work-based learning, as well as improving the overall competence of teachers and their well-being, to promote their individualised work with students and to avoid burn-out due to heavy workloads. Alongside these factors, massive investment in the VET institutions’ infrastructure and equipment, and co-operation with employers, has improved the prestige and attractiveness of VET. This has created the pre-conditions for retaining maximum numbers of students in the education system, including the students at risk of dropping out, especially due to disadvantaged socio-economic conditions.

This chapter outlines and discusses the main research findings by triangulating them based on the personal strategies of socially vulnerable VET students, the pathways of empowerment provided by the VET systems and the capacities of VET schools. It also provides insights into their implications for VET research and practice, as well as suggestions for future research in the field of empowerment for vulnerable VET students.

The paper presents the results of the ParlaMint II project, which comprise comparable corpora of parliamentary debates of 29 European countries and autonomous regions, covering at least the period from 2015 to 2022, and containing over 1 billion words. The corpora are uniformly encoded, contain rich metadata about their 24 thousand speakers, and are linguistically annotated up to the level of Universal Dependencies syntax and named entities. The paper focuses on the enhancement made since the ParlaMint I project and presents the compilation of the corpora, including the encoding infrastructure, use of GitHub, the production of individual corpora, the common pipeline for producing their distribution, and use of CLARIN services for dissemination. It then gives a quantitative overview of the produced corpora, followed by the qualitative additions made within the ParlaMint II project, namely metadata localisation, the addition of new metadata, such as the political orientation of political parties, the machine translation of the corpora to English and its tagging with semantic classes, and the production of pilot speech corpora. Finally, outreach activities and further work are discussed.

The article highlights the features of management innovation companies based business cost indicators. The estimation of the value of business cost indicators constituting the three approaches, namely, market, cost and income. The necessity to use the highly-qualified labour resources, the last scientific inventions and researches, as well as the newest innovation technologies is emphasized. The innovation model of development should be used at the enterprise for this purpose. For the effective management of innovation companies it is necessary to control the situation on the market and execute management on the basis of indicators of the business cost. The management of the innovation companies on the basis of the business cost includes: management of the organizational capital, management of the intellectual capital, and management of information capital. As a result, the innovation company receives the wide client base, competitive prices, the high level of service, the high quality of the offered innovation services, the availability of the own innovation developments and highly-skilled staff.

Migratory animals rely on multiple sites during their annual cycles. Deteriorating conditions at any site can have population-level consequences, with long-distance migrants seen as especially susceptible to such changes. Reduced adult survival caused by persecution at non-breeding sites has been suggested a major reason for the catastrophic decline of a formerly abundant, long-distance migratory songbird, the Yellow-breasted Bunting Emberiza aureola. However, it is unknown whether the ongoing extinction of this Eurasian species especially in the west of its range could be related to differences in survival or migration routes. We investigated survival rates of populations from both western and eastern parts of the breeding range and successfully tracked the migration of individuals from two eastern populations with light-level geolocators. We found moderate apparent local survival rates in eastern populations, but observed no returning birds in western populations. Our tracking data highlights (1) a joint migration corridor of eastern populations through eastern China, (2) long autumn stopovers likely used for moult and re-fuelling, and (3) very long occurrences at wintering sites. These areas should be given priority for future conservation measures. We call for an increased monitoring of adult survival and breeding output in multiple populations (including western ones) of this critically endangered species to determine (1) the causes for the observed differences in apparent local survival and (2) whether the current survival rates are sufficient to sustain viable breeding populations.

Type safety is an important property of any type system. Modern programming languages support different mechanisms to work in type safe manner, e.g., properties, methods, events, attributes (annotations) and other structures. Some programming languages allow access to metadata: type information, type member information and information about applied attributes. But none of the existing mainstream programming languages which support reflection provides fully type safe metadata combining mechanism built in the programming language. Combining of metadata means a class member metadata combining with data, type metadata and constraints. Existing solutions provide no or limited type safe metadata combining mechanism; they are complex and processed at runtime, which by definition is not built-in type-safe metadata combining. Problem can be solved by introducing syntax and methods for type safe metadata combining so that, metadata could be processed at compile time in a fully type safe way. Common metadata combining use cases are data abstraction layer creation and database querying.

This chapter explores the hindering and supporting factors in the development of energy citizenship in Latvia. This contribution identifies key threats arising from the complex economic landscape shaped by geopolitical dynamics and escalating energy costs, as well as the level of political commitment in the field of climate policy and renewable energy. The chapter identifies a lack of confidence in public institutions and collective efforts as one of the critical obstacles to broader engagement with energy citizenship initiatives. The chapter also highlights several factors that contribute to the development of a framework energy citizenship. These include robust financing and investment prospects in this field, initiated by the EU and national level support schemes; the pivotal role of decarbonisation technologies and renewable energy sources, particularly household solar installations as well as Latvia's natural resources, encompassing residual forestry materials and solid biomass. National policy recommendations are included to conclude this chapter. Overall, this contribution broadens the understandings of energy citizenship development in Latvia, paving the way for future potential policy decisions and strategic interventions.

Research purpose The study aims to analyse the existing governance framework within the Centre of Government (CoG) in Latvia, exploring operational functions of the CoG, including function implemented by the CoG – to participate in all selection and nomination processes of members of the supervisory boards of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and to provide proposals for strengthening the governance framework of the CoG. Design / Methodology / Approach To compose the framework of the study, the state institutions that constitute the CoG in Latvia were first identified. In the next step of the study, according to the structure defined for the Latvian CoG, a literature review and data analysis were conducted on: (a) governance and its key principles of good governance in public administration and corporate governance, (b) the operational functions performance within the CoG, including its participation in the process of members selection and nomination for the supervisory boards of SOEs. Based on the study results, suggestions for the system of criteria for the governance framework of the CoG were developed. Findings Following the study into the governance framework of the CoG, it is discovered that effectiveness indicators are underused, and quality indicators need rationalization. The findings of the study suggest that the quality of the operational functions of CoG can be measured through the outcomes of the selection and nomination process for potential members of the supervisory boards of SOEs. Based on the study results, the following additional findings were made: (a) in order to achieve good corporate governance results in the selection and nomination process, it is necessary to utilize several additional criteria, which are essential not only for enhancing the effectiveness of the operational functions of CoG but also for effectiveness of the supervisory boards of SOEs; (b) to effectively ensure the development planning system’s process, thereby strengthening its governance, transparency and compliance throughout public administration, there is a necessity in Latvia to enhance the effectiveness of the document development, approval, and monitoring processes. Originality / Value / Practical implications Proposed is a practically applicable criteria system, which allows to monitor and evaluate the management process at the CoG, thereby timely identifying areas of improvement and enhancing the overall quality of governance. The criteria system developed within the study can be flexibly adapted to governance framework development outside Latvia, particularly concerning issues related to the selection and nomination process and effective policy planning management. An original study approach has been implemented since the process of selection and nomination of supervisory board members of SOEs is considered in relation to the operational functions of the CoG.

In today’s business environment, with organizations enhancing performance, maintaining a competitive edge, and fostering innovation, the efficient transfer of knowledge plays an increasingly pivotal role. As industries recognize the importance of and strive for more and more productive knowledge transfer, understanding the factors affecting this process becomes imperative. Manufacturing is considered a strategic sector, and well-performing knowledge transfer is necessary for higher innovation and competitiveness. To increase knowledge transfer performance, companies must have the awareness, ability, and opportunity to identify the main aspects that need operational improvement. Studies based on systematic literature review and mapping impact factors have shown that knowledge transfer is hypothetically affected by a vast variety of factors, which creates challenges for companies in selecting and applying these factors. Therefore, the two research questions of this study are – RQ1: What are the relationships between the knowledge transfer-influencing factors identified in the literature analysis and the dependent variables? RQ2: What is the weight of the statistically significant factors identified in the empirical study? Research purpose Based on the results of the systematic literature review and the complex quantitative analysis, the study aims to develop a method to assess readiness for knowledge transfer. Design / Methodology / Approach To answer the stated research questions, the study compiles diverse research methods: a systematic review of the literature, factors’ mapping, the online survey of manufacturing companies, correlation analysis, and experts’ evaluation using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach, thus ensuring data triangulation. Findings The qualitative study of the literature review through iterative analysis and mapping resulted in 29 factors affecting knowledge transfer. Further, the empirical results led to 14 statistically significant factors in 3 groups ranked sequentially – individual factors (recipient’s absorptive capacity, recipient‘s experience, recipient’s confidence in their abilities, and recipient’s ability to focus on knowledge transfer), mentoring factors (senior management involvement and support, quick decision-making), and organizational factors (training, finances, internal policy, shared vision, organizational structure, staff turnover, HR quantity, and HR quality). The strongest correlations between the factors affecting knowledge transfer and the defined performance variables to measure knowledge transfer manifested in the group of the recipients’ individual factors. The most critical factor is the absorptive capacity of knowledge recipients, which managers should pay attention to. Originality / Value / Practical implications As a result of the compound study, including a proposal of a new definition of knowledge transfer, a unified method with equations’ calculations to quantifiably assess a company’s readiness for knowledge transfer projects was developed, tested and validated. With the help of this study, the hypothetical factors affecting the transfer of knowledge in manufacturing have been identified, and the most important ones have been determined. The study also employed a novel approach of combining statistical analysis and AHP assessments to develop equations’ calculations to quantifiably assess the company’s readiness for knowledge transfer projects.

The film industry can be considered the most important in creative industries since it possesses the characteristics of industrial organization, a high degree of demand uncertainty, contractual agreements, and business practices. What is more, the film industry strongly influences the other sub-sectors, because of the broad-based advantages that it delivers in terms of employment and economic growth. On the other hand, the economic value of creative industries does not arise from their relative contribution to economic value, but from the co-ordination of new ideas and technologies thereby influencing change in economic and cultural processes. Since European film industries are fragmented, there is a constant need to rethink possible model for their continuous growth. This is especially relevant in the context of smaller film industries in Europe such as in the Baltic States, because their budgets for film production are relatively small compared to bigger film industries. Therefore, in order to foster new industry development, which would also reflect the regional context of the Baltic States and its location strengths, the potential of co-productions - mission-economy approach is proposed as it emphasizes market co-creation, co-shaping, partnerships between business and public sector and other managerial and technological innovations. Research purpose and objectives The aim of the study is to provide new recommendations for the film centres in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia regarding film policy based on the mission-economy approach. In order to achieve the aim two objectives were set: 1) to analyse the current financial support model for the national film production and co-productions in the Baltic film industries and 2) to investigate whether the Baltic co-productions can have a new value for the audience. Design / Methodology / Approach The study used both qualitative and quantitative methods for data extraction and analysis. Firstly, descriptive statistics as a method was used to analyse the financial support for national film production in Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian film industries during 2018-2023 and the releases of co-produced films between the Baltic States. Furthermore, 6 semi-structured interviews with experts from the Baltic film industries were conducted. Findings As a result of the research, the authors conclude that there is long-term potential in the Baltic co-production films, but they have to be more oriented towards the audience and reflect the genre as in the case of Nordic films. Moreover, financial support models for co-productions in the Baltic film industries are different in regard to applications and their management. Therefore, a potentially new “Baltic Film and TV Fund” could be established to foster regional co-productions. Originality / Value / Practical implications As a result of the study, the authors have developed recommendations for the film policy that would reflect the new value of the Baltic co-productions. The results of the research can be used by the Lithuanian Film Centre, the National Film Centre of Latvia, and the Estonian Film Institute to continue establishing the “Baltic Film and TV Fund”. The research results will be partly used for further research within the framework of Audrius Dabrovolskas’ doctoral thesis.

Eccentric photorefractometry is widely used to measure eye refraction, accommodation, gaze position, and pupil size. While the individual calibration of refraction and accommodation data has been extensively studied, gaze measurements have received less attention. PowerRef 3 does not incorporate individual calibration for gaze measurements, resulting in a divergent offset between the measured and expected gaze positions. To address this, we proposed two methods to calculate the physiological vergence angle based on the visual vergence data obtained from PowerRef 3. Twenty-three participants aged 25 ± 4 years viewed Maltese cross stimuli at distances of 25, 30, 50, 70, and 600 cm. The expected vergence angles were calculated considering the individual interpupillary distance at far. Our results demonstrate that the PowerRef 3 gaze data deviated from the expected vergence angles by 9.64 ± 2.73° at 25 cm and 9.25 ± 3.52° at 6 m. The kappa angle calibration method reduced the discrepancy to 3.93 ± 1.19° at 25 cm and 3.70 ± 0.36° at 600 cm, whereas the linear regression method further improved the accuracy to 3.30 ± 0.86° at 25 cm and 0.26 ± 0.01° at 600 cm. Both methods improved the gaze results, with the linear regression calibration method showing greater overall accuracy.

The tragic event when Sweden extradited the Balts to the Soviet Union (USSR) in 1946 has been discussed in numerous publications in scientific literature, belles-lettres, and fiction (P. O. Enquist: Legionärerna. En roman om baltutlämningen , 1968), and on the screen (J. Bergen-stråhle: Baltutlämningen , 1970). Sometimes, when historic events are described, deviations from facts, omissions and errors are introduced. The present aim is to summarise some of these and show their possible effects on the overall description of a historical event. Examples were obtained from a review by Kristensen and Burman (2018). The results show that while care should be taken to avoid deviations, omissions and errors, if sufficiently numerous, they may lead to a skewed interpretation of the historical event. Furthermore, the authors “argue that Enquist established a Swedish war trauma that was not self-evident in the social imagination before his novel”, and that the film “changes the focus of the trauma by downplaying the bad conscience of the Swedes”. However, these lines of thought were not followed up, and the authors did not take the opportunity to discuss what could have been a logical continuation. Namely, the possible post-factum application by Enquist of a rhetorical strategy known as playing the victim. This is when an aggressor pretends to be a victim to justify his or her own aggression. In conclusion, the present results suggest that deviations from facts, omissions, and errors may seriously distort the description of the actual event and lead to conclusions not supported by evidence.