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Objective: To analyse the productivity of post-Soviet countries, adjusted by population, in terms of research papers published and the proportions of those papers indexed by Scopus and the Web of Science. Methods: Relevant data on the journals indexed in Scopus and the Web of Science were analysed. Where required, data were also extracted from Russian Science Citation Index databases and websites of journals. Results: On average, the post-Soviet countries had 31 researchers per 10,000 people. The average numbers of publications per researcher in journals indexed by Scopus was 1.04 and the corresponding figure for the Web of Science was 0.87. In terms of the number of journals indexed in Scopus and the Web of Science, the leading countries were Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Conclusion: Although the post-Soviet countries differed considerably in terms of bibliometric indices, the overall values were low. Main features of the journals were as follows: articles published in national languages - in Russian in many cases - and in English, articles mostly by authors within the region, and only a minority of foreigners as members of editorial boards. Thus most of the journals cannot be considered international. All the journals examined have websites in a national language and/or in English and invariably carry information on ethical practices, although such information is not given in a uniform format and varies from country to country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of this study is to describe and evaluate how nurses caring for COVID and non‐COVID patients assess changes in their work and in nursing activities during the two waves of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Methods: Two cross‐sectional surveys were conducted for Estonian nurses working during the first and second waves of the COVID‐19 pandemic, using The impact of COVID‐19 emergency on nursing care questionnaire. Based on convenience sampling, the data were collected among the members of professional organizations, unions and associations. Responses from the first (n = 162) and second wave (n = 284) were analysed using descriptive statistics, Fisher's exact test and McNemar's test. Results: The COVID‐19 pandemic changed the working context during both waves for nurses caring for COVID and non‐COVID patients. Changes were considered to a greater extent during the second wave, when Estonia was severely affected, and by nurses caring for COVID patients. During the second wave, the number and complexity of patients increased, and nurses caring for COVID patients performed fundamental care, nursing techniques and symptom control significantly more frequently compared to nurses caring for non‐COVID patients. Conclusion: Taking care of COVID patients is demanding, requiring nurses to perform more direct patient care. However, the pandemic also increased the frequency of activities not related with direct patient care. Summary statement: What is already known about this topic? The COVID‐19 pandemic has influenced the context of care and all dimensions of nurses' work.Despite increasing research on the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on nursing care, little attention has been given to differences between caring for COVID and non‐COVID patients during the different waves of the COVID‐19 pandemic. What this paper adds? Nursing care for COVID patients requires from nurses more direct patient care through fundamental care activities, nursing techniques and symptom control compared to non‐COVID patients.The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on nurses' work reflects the severity and progress of different waves of the pandemic, which needs to be considered in preparing for future pandemics.Nursing care during a pandemic may also lead to an extensive workload due to tasks not related to direct patient care as nurses contribute to the management of the pandemic on all levels of health care. The implications of this paper: The COVID‐19 pandemic has had a significant impact on nursing, where the mitigation of long‐term effects of the pandemic is still ongoing, and thus, knowledge about the details of the resulting changes is required.Study findings enable us to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on nurses and to highlight aspects that need to be taken into account when preparing for future pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a novel approach for transferring the entire set of low-level control systems from one robot bus, i.e., an autonomous vehicle (AV) shuttle, to another with distinct electronics and mechanical specifications. The research entails a series of experiments to assess the reliability and safety of the AV shuttle after integrating the critical control systems responsible for steering, accelerating, and braking into the target shuttle. The ultimate goal is to meet the necessary requirements for registering the target AV shuttle as a legal vehicle on the roads in Estonia. Consequently, several crucial tests of the shuttle's low-level control system were conducted, e.g., intentionally disconnecting different subsystems to simulate sudden failures and evaluate whether the shuttle responds in accordance with the appropriate protocols. As a case study, the upgraded autonomous shuttle was tested on the streets of Tallinn. The most relevant findings are introduced in the second part of this paper. The outcomes of the study demonstrate the feasibility of seamlessly transferring low-level control systems between various models of autonomous shuttles, eliminating the risk of encountering safety or reliability issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the technical efficiency of conventional and organic dairy farms in Estonia in the period 2006-2015 using Farm Accountancy Data Network. We analyse self-selection into organic farming using the propensity-score-matching approach and explicitly test the hypothesis that organic and conventional farms apply homogeneous technology. We find that organic farms are less efficient. However, the difference in technical efficiency between organic and conventional farms decreases substantially when the technical efficiency assessment incorporates the use of the appropriate technology. The lack of growth of technical efficiency over time indicates that there might be a lack of knowledge in organic milk production that hinders its development. Since technical efficiency increases with farm size, it is important that organic dairy farms increase their scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the expectancy-value perspective on identity and identity formation, this paper explores the relationship between math identity (MI) and the dimensions of motivation (i.e. intrinsic value, attainment value, utility value and perceived competence) and math achievement in primary school. An additional aim of our research was to explore these relationships in different cultural contexts and investigate potential gender and grade differences concerning MI. The participants were 11,782 primary school students from Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Finland, Portugal and Serbia. All predictors from the motivation spectrum were significant for students' MI across the examined countries and had a stronger association with MI than math achievement. Among the motivational dimensions, intrinsic value had the strongest association with students' MI. Boys had significantly more positive math identities than girls in Estonia, Finland, Norway and Portugal. The results showed that the grade 4 students perceived themselves less as "math persons" than their grade 3 peers in all countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teacher beliefs and practices related to them could provide varying opportunities for students to develop their agency related to learning math. The aim of the current paper is to explore how different math teacher beliefs (concerning the nature of mathematics, constructivist beliefs, and self-efficacy) relate to different dimensions of student agency in primary education. A two-level multilevel model was analyzed to find out to what extent selected teacher beliefs are associated with student math competence and agency dimensions. The study was conducted in Estonia and data from 3rd and 4th grade students (N = 1557) and their teachers (N = 121) was included in the analysis. The results showed that teacher self-efficacy beliefs, constructivist beliefs, and static views on the nature of mathematics were related to students' agency dimensions. Possible explanations and directions for further studies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the road corvée, a practice of using unpaid labour for road maintenance, in the nineteenth and twentieth century. I focus on the case of Estonia, where the road corvée, originating in the feudal economic system, persisted surprisingly long, being abolished only in 1959. Earlier studies on the road corvée have focused mainly on road construction and have therefore failed to recognise the use of the practice beyond absolutist Europe and colonial Africa. Focusing on maintenance reveals that the corvée was also widespread in twentieth-century Europe. I examine how the road corvée was organised and debated to reveal what inhibited and what accelerated its abolition. The study shows how maintenance practices can be deeply embedded in social and economic structures – like the agricultural system in this case – and ultimately be highly inert and resistant to change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adscripti glebae is a condition where peasants legally belong to a particular landholding. Its purpose was to maintain a stable labour force at the disposal of the landholder. Peasants who did not abide by this immobility requirement were termed runaways. Runaways have been episodically mentioned in medieval and early modern social history, particularly in demographic history, urban history, and histories of serfdom. Yet they have rarely been the central focus of historical studies. This paper examines the runaway on the background of the particular conditions of serfdom in the provinces of Estland and Livland. The paper describes how serfdom was practiced in these provinces, proceeds to peasant agency by considering the numerous diverse reasons for running away and outlines the reasoning behind the efforts of both nobility and government aimed at maintaining the status quo. The court records of a few extradition cases are highlighted to illustrate aspects of the issue of keeping serfs bound to the land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Driving teacher training program was updated towards more constructivist approach. • Updated method: sample lesson videos quantified by web-based speech recognition tool. • Renewed method improved quality of example lessons recorded for final examination. • More constructivist aspects: formulating objectives, open-ended questions, and feedback. • Recent graduates independently utilize more constructivist methodology. Modern learning focuses heavily on theory and ideals, offering scant practical guidance on execution and outcome evaluation. This research paper aims to show that the integration, in 2018, of a contemporary educational approach into the driving teacher training program at Tallinn University, Estonia, with specific implementation and evaluation criteria, changes actual teaching behavior towards constructivist principles. This approach involved a change in which students began video recording their driving lessons and transcribing them using a web-based speech recognition tool while following specific instructions. This process allowed for feedback and self-analysis throughout the learning process. The study analyzed 145 videotaped driving lessons, which were submitted as final examinations in the driving teacher training curriculum at Tallinn University Haapsalu College between 2017 and 2021. The natural quasiexperimental study compared transcripts of recordings (N = 145; 115 males) before (n = 38) and after (n = 107) the methodology change. The findings reveal a significant increase in the implementation of constructivist principles within the lessons after methodology change in 2018: lesson objectives and evaluation criteria were formulated more often, leading to an increase in open-ended inquiries and a higher prevalence of feedback and analysis. Additional pilot analysis of data from 11 driving teacher certificate renewers in a brief education program supported the efficacy of revised approach: the exam lesson recordings exhibited significantly more constructivist elements compared to the initial stage of the program. There were variations in the length of training both pre and post methodology change. While longer training displayed more constructivist elements, the impact of the methodology shift was notably more pronounced. In summary, the utilization of specific expectations, evaluation criteria and assessment tool in the driving teacher training program promotes a shift in which graduating teachers independently use more constructivist and learning-centered methodology. This approach has the potential to shape more responsible drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Very little is known about men's options for coping with abusive relationships and post-separation abuse in Estonia, in North-Eastern Europe. There are however several indicators that indicate men are struggling to cope. The impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) and post-separation abuse on men is known to be detrimental on physical and mental health. Methods: This paper examines male victims of IPV in a part of Europe that have some of the most visible consequences of men's failing health. Results and implications: The cross-sectional national Safety Survey indicates a higher prevalence of men report being exposed to IPV, and men as victims of domestic homicide and intimate partner homicide are not uncommon. The summarized findings illustrate how the sparse knowledge on men as victims of IPV can be used as platform for research efforts aimed at understanding men's roles in IPV in Estonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper provides theoretical research on how gender equality and gender justice are conceptualised in general and in Estonia and Norway in particular. The theoretical part examines the origins of the concepts of gender equality and gender justice, emphasising the importance of addressing aspects of recognition and distribution. It then turns to the specific cases of Estonia and Norway, applying this two-dimensional approach. We underscore the contrasting realities in Estonia and Norway: while both countries have legal frameworks for gender equality, there are significant differences in popular support. We also analyse the influence of religious factors on the conceptualisation of gender equality and gender justice in Estonia and Norway. Estonia's complex relationship with religion, influenced by its Soviet past and nationalist sentiments, poses challenges to promoting gender equality. In contrast, Norway's more substantial religious presence, particularly with the role of the Church of Norway, does not seem to have hindered a wider acceptance of gender equality. Understanding the intersection of religious influences, societal contexts and legal frameworks is crucial for advancing gender justice in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are no systematic approaches available in current specialist literature when it comes to the optimization of the process of drying out hardwood species of wood, such as birch, aspen, or black alder, all of which find industrial uses in Estonia. In order to investigate the drying of these three hardwood species, this paper has made use of an experimental and theoretical drying optimization methodology which was developed previously for pine sapwood within the framework of the EIC Grant No. 16200 project. The same methodology was used to determine the critical diffusion coefficient and corresponding critical relative humidity levels (RH) in relation to the surrounding air, with those levels being important from the point of view of drying optimization, and calculating those levels separately for each species of hardwood. For alder it was found that the critical diffusion coefficient is Dcr = 36.57 * (10−4 mm2 s−1), while for aspen the figure was Dcr = 30.71 * (10−4 mm2 s−1), and for birch it was Dcr = 16.35 * (10−4 mm2 s−1). It was found that the time dependencies for the total deformation of different tree species tend to differ considerably, although the same drying regime was used for all of those tree species which were incorporated into the experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uncovers previously unstudied patterns of interregional movement and life histories of migrant glassworkers in 17th-19th-century Estonia. Using material and archival traces of 1,231 individuals associated with glassworking or production sites, workers’ lives are followed from childhood to old age. Guild-based division of skilled professions restricted access to positions within the glass industry to the enserfed locals, leading to a constant demand for foreign labour until the 1840s. The Wentzell, Hagen, and Runge families of the migrant-led industry are presented as case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In December 1948 the first academic session of the Tallinn State Conservatoire took place. The organisation of this event was directly related to the resolution of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union "On Muradeli's Opera The Great Friendship", which was issued on 10 February 1948 and marked a significant increase in ideological pressure on the musical life of the USSR. In accordance with the demands of the Party, the session concentrated on (re)evaluating Estonia's musical heritage according to the principles of Marxist-Leninist aesthetics and on seeking the relationship between Estonian and Russian culture. This article examines the papers of the session from the perspective of the expression of Soviet ideology. One of the strategies of the Soviet regime for implementing its worldview was the re-evaluation of the past by rewriting history. From the point of view of Estonian music history, the Conservatoire's session papers were one of the first documented pieces of evidence of such a reassessment. The purpose of the article is therefore to analyse what elements of Soviet ideology are present in the texts and how and by which means the authors associated them with Estonian music history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the last curriculum reform in 2011, all Estonian lower-secondary students have to conduct a year-long creative work. Unfortunately, in many cases, it is implemented as an individual written report that has little to do with improving learners' digital competence or Computational Thinking skills. In the new national curriculum (to be in force from 2023), an alternative model is proposed for creative project work inspired by how the software development teams are working today: agile, collaborative design, rapid prototyping, and emphatic involvement of the target group. This paper introduces the process and the results of design-based research aimed at prototyping and piloting a set of learning resources (templates, tutorials, examples, etc.) for the redefined, collaborative creative project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of online platforms in shaping a nostalgic discourse around Estonia’s Soviet past, focusing on the Facebook group “Советская Эстония – Eesti NSV” (Soviet Estonia). Despite official condemnation of the Soviet legacy, this bilingual Russian-Estonian group fosters a positive representation of the era through shared photos and personal memories. Utilizing sociolinguistic methods, the study examines posts and comment threads, unveiling discursive mechanisms employed to reinforce group identity and leverage nostalgia. Members engage in discussions that not only counter the official narrative regarding the past but also extend to contemporary political issues. The research highlights the impact of digital tools and social media in facilitating the construction of collective memory and challenging dominant historical perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of how Estonia used action research and systems theory to improve the performance their Open Government Data (OGD) ecosystem. This paper understands performance of OGD ecosystems of as consisting of three parts: 1) OGD supply, 2) OGD usage, 3) communication, interaction, and linkages between OGD suppliers and users. It was believed that by taking a holistic approach, encouraging transparency and co-creation, and manipulating feedback loops it was possible to improve the performance of the ecosystem. The research uses and validates previous research on open government data ecosystems and by doing so also achieved increased levels of performance in Estonia's OGD ecosystem. The paper's main contributions are the creation of a framework based on systems theory, systems thinking, and action research for enacting strategic change in OGD ecosystems, conceptualizing feedback loops as a core part of OGD ecosystems, and the conceptualization of performance in OGD ecosystems. The paper concludes by offering nine core insights related to OGD ecosystems and their performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a training course »Living e-Motions« for people living with mental health challenges in the context of their recovery. The course was developed in the joint project of partners from Spain, Estonia, Slovenia and the UK. The curriculum of the course is focused on emotional education. It uses a narrative approach as a practical way for participants to explore and regulate their emotions and consequently take charge of their recovery. Design/methodology/approach: Seventeen participants were included in the pilot training in Spain and Estonia. Impact of the training was assessed on measures of life satisfaction, emotion regulation, positive and negative affect and recovery at baseline and directly after training. Findings: The analysis revealed that participants reported higher life satisfaction, emotion regulation skills, positive affect and recovery after the training. However, because of the small sample size, the mean differences did not reach statistical significance. Further studies on larger samples are needed to test the effectiveness of the training course. Practical implications: Pilot study findings are encouraging and show that the developed training course has a potential for improving key competencies and abilities needed in daily life, concretely in emotion regulation, positive and negative affect, life satisfaction and recovery. Originality/value: This paper presents a novel training course that uses a narrative approach and focuses on recovery and improvement of key competencies and abilities of individuals with mental health issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In February 2023 98-year-old former President Jimmy Carter entered hospice care and began spending his remaining time at home with his family. This paper describes his personal, and The Carter Center's financial, support for applying psychoanalytic approaches to understanding and calming large-group conflicts in Estonia and Albania and helping to enrich psychoanalytic knowledge of large-group psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Income redistribution is determined, to some extent, by how fair citizens judge the income distribution in their societies to be. Nonetheless, there seems to be a contradiction between what people declare as a fair income distribution, and the increase in inequalities across countries. An unexplored methodological reason for that is that survey instruments do not perfectly capture individual's perception of income fairness, biasing results. Therefore, in this paper we use data from a Multitrait-Multimethod experiment conducted in wave 6 of the probability-based CROss-National Online Survey (CRONOS) panel in Great Britain, Estonia and Slovenia. Specifically, we explore the effect of three different scales on how fair people report an income to be, and the subsequent measurement quality of these answers. Overall, we find that survey scales do have an impact on what people report as a fair income, and the quality of these answers. Specifically, we find that the use of branching scales increases participants' likelihood of considering an income distribution as "Fair", while using partial-labelling and visual clues to separate (fair/unfair) dimensions increases the likelihood of considering these as "extremely unfair high/low." In addition, our results suggest that using a 9-point fully labelled unfolding scale without visual clues yields the best measurement quality across all countries, being preferred over the other tested methods (9-point partially labelled unfolding scale with visual clues; 9-point fully labelled branching scale without visual clues). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, open government data (OGD) was often used as a valuable crisis management resource. Unfortunately, there is limited research that explores how OGD can be used during times of crisis as a crisis management tool. To ensure that OGD can be used effectively in future crises, there is a need to understand how it may be used and what benefits its usage may bring. This paper brings new insight into this topic by conducting a comparative exploratory case study of three Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries – Czech Republic, Estonia and Latvia, where OGD was used at different levels to help manage different aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of this research, three contributions are made: (1) it integrates OGD into previous crisis management literature, offering new and initial conceptual propositions; (2) it demonstrates how OGD enables the co-creation of new services that create public value during times of crisis; and (3) it provides empirical examples of OGD-driven co-created services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on two domains of a survey to map the religious literacy of Estonian basic school graduates undertaken in 2022 to understand how well the respondents distinguish religion as a discursive category and how much they know about basic concepts of world religions and the Estonian religious landscape. The sample consisted of 392 respondents from schools all over Estonia, both from large urban and small rural schools. The survey was conducted with an original instrument designed according to the Estonian religious landscape, the content of the National Curriculum for basic schools, the educational model of religious literacy according to Francis and Dinham, and the characterization of religious literacy by Moore, Prothero, Francis and Dinham. The results reflect the reality of the Estonian situation. Being one of the least religious countries in the world and with almost no education about religions and worldviews in public education, the students do not have enough competencies in the examined areas to operate well in a religiously diverse world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Most previous studies of teaching styles and reading skills have been cross‐sectional. Longitudinal research is needed to clarify the direction of effects. The present longitudinal study examined the degree to which differences in teaching styles in the third grade predict the sixth‐grade reading performance. The consistency of the findings was addressed by comparing results across students in two countries (Finland and Estonia). Methods: A total of 1,057 students (50.9% boys) were followed from the third to sixth grade. Teaching styles of third‐grade teachers (N = 70) were examined as predictors of the development of reading (i.e., third‐grade to sixth‐grade reading fluency and comprehension). Results: Five patterns of third‐grade teaching practices were found across two countries: child‐centred style, teacher‐directed style, child‐dominated style, extreme child‐centred style, and mixed child‐centred and teacher‐directed style (mixed teaching style). The mixed teaching style and the child‐centred style in the third grade were related to the greatest increases in reading fluency from the third to sixth grade, over and above the contribution of age, gender and maternal education. Conclusions: The findings underscore the importance of the flexible use of child‐centred and teacher‐directed practices, which are both linked to the development of reading fluency during late primary school years. Highlights: What is already known about this topicA person‐oriented approach is an effective method to identify groups of teaching practices, known as teaching styles.Teaching styles have been differentially linked to reading skills, but the associations have been limited to cross‐sectional data.Finnish teachers apply effective teaching styles more often than Estonian teachers. What this paper addsThis paper adds to previous studies by examining longitudinal associations between teaching styles and reading skills.The study established the consistency of teaching styles between Finland and Estonia.The study found that mixed teaching style is beneficial for reading fluency development. Implications for theory, policy or practiceThe combinations of child‐centred practices and teacher‐directed practices are the most effective teaching styles for reading development.The beneficial effect is consistent across Finland and Estonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim/Purpose This paper explores an intervention approach (in the form of workshops) focusing on doctoral progress, to address the problems of low emotional well-being experienced by many doctoral candidates. Background Doctoral education suffers from two severe overlapping problems: high dropout rates and widespread low emotional well-being (e.g., depression or anxiety symptoms). Yet, there are few interventional approaches specifically designed to address them in the doctoral student population. Among structural, psychosocial, and demographic factors influencing these problems, the self-perception of progress has emerged recently as a crucial motivational factor in doctoral persistence. Methodology This paper reports on an iterative design-based research study of workshop interventions to foster such perception of progress in doctoral students' everyday practice. We gathered mixed data over four iterations, with a total of 82 doctoral students from multiple disciplines in Spain and Estonia. Contribution An approach to preventive interventions that combines research-backed education about mental health and productivity, peer sharing and discussion of experiences, and indicators of progress, as well as self-tracking, analysis, and reflection upon everyday evidence of their own progress. The paper provides initial evidence of the effectiveness of the proposed interventions, across two institutions in two different countries. Further, our data confirms emergent research on the relationships among progress, emotional well-being, and dropout ideation in two new contexts. Finally, the paper also distills design knowledge about doctoral interventions that focus on progress, relevant for doctoral trainers, institutions, and researchers. Findings Our quantitative and qualitative results confirm previous findings on the relationships among progress, burnout, and dropout ideation. Our iterative evaluation of the workshops also revealed a large positive effect in students' positive psychological capital after the workshops (Cohen's d=0.83). Our quantitative and qualitative analyses also started teasing out individual factors in the variance of these benefits. Recommendations for Practitioners Intervention design guidelines for doctoral trainers include focusing on actionable productivity and mental health practices, the use of activities targeting perception biases and taboos, or the use of active practices and real (anonymous) data from the participants to make progress visible and encourage reflection. Recommendations for Researchers The construct of progress, its components, and its relationships with both emotional well-being and doctoral dropout need to be more deeply studied, using multiple methods of data collection, especially from more frequent, ecologically valid data sources (e.g., diaries). Impact on Society The proposed interventions (and focusing on doctoral progress more generally) hold promise to address the current emotional well-being and dropout challenges facing hundreds of thousands of doctoral students worldwide, ultimately helping increase the research and innovation potential of society as a whole. Future Research More rigorous evaluative studies of the proposed approach need to be conducted, with larger samples and in other countries/contexts. Aside from the proposed one-shot training events, complementary longitudinal interventions focusing on supporting everyday progress and reflection throughout the doctoral process should be trialed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The harbor porpoise, a small marine mammal related to dolphins and whales, is nowadays very rarely seen in the eastern part of the Baltic Sea, and was not common here in recent centuries. However, the bones of this animal have been found on many Stone Age archaeological sites dating from the period 4000–2000 BC along the coasts of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which shows that it was frequently being hunted by the coastal communities of that time. In this period, the Baltic Sea was saltier than it is today, making conditions more favorable for marine species such as the porpoise. In addition to meat and blubber, the porpoise also provided a tool for decorating pottery vessels made by the Stone Age inhabitants. This instrument was made from the animal's jaw bone, the teeth being impressed in the clay to produce a distinctive row of marks. Such decoration on pottery may have symbolized the coastal way of life and joint hunting activities. Pottery with porpoise tooth ornamentation has been found on many coastal Stone Age sites in the region and also in smaller amounts at inland sites, providing evidence of contact between coastal and inland communities. Compared with the history of seals in the Baltic Sea, the porpoise has received much less research attention. The harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) has been quite rare in the eastern Baltic in recent centuries, but according to archaeological finds, its population was quite numerous here ca. 6000–4000 years ago (ca. 4000–2000 cal. BC). This paper deals with all known archaeological assemblages of porpoise so far discovered in the eastern Baltic (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), discusses the hunting strategies and studies the exploitation of this small cetacean by the Neolithic hunter-gatherers. Fauna historical aspects include new archaeological data in addition to those published previously. We consider whether these new data change the temporal and spatial pattern of porpoise hunting and examine how, in addition to the expected use of porpoise meat and blubber, the porpoise's toothed mandibles were used for patterning ceramics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout Estonian history, the language ideologies prevailing in Europe have had great influence on Estonian language planning. Language planners, in turn, have influenced the views of Estonian society. In this paper we analyse how language ideologies have supported myths and beliefs throughout the history of cultivating Standard Estonian. The privileged status of Standard Estonian (compared to local dialects) strengthened considerably from the early 20th century. Although Estonian language planning became more tolerant and democratic since the 1980s, a totalitarian understanding of the language still remains in the background. Using foreign words and the mixing of languages and registers is considered especially objectionable due to the ideology of a small nation, which has to defend itself and its language. In the 2020s, discussions about language change and the principles of language planning re-emerged. These have been interesting, because language planning wishes to make the “top-down” language norms of Standard Estonian closer to actual language use, while language maintenance experts still see any potential changes as a threat to the Estonian language and even the nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The coronavirus pandemic has affected education worldwide. Estonian schools moved to distance learning on March 16. Objectives: This paper outlines the stages of unexpected and temporary changes affecting different stakeholders based on activity and content of the messages in the Facebook group 'Homeschooling with technology'. Also the applicability of the concerns‐based adoption model was explored to explain these changes. Methods: The investigated timespan includes the week before the emergency situation and the weeks of the school term and school holidays during the emergency situation, with 52 days in total, divided into seven periods. The 872 messages were coded by two researchers and changes were examined. Results and Conclusions: Four stages were identified, from low exposure and involvement with the change to focusing on collaboration and skipping the consequence stage. Furthermore, the new changes in the educational system might focus people again on personal concerns. Implications: The results help capture the changes in teaching and learning situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic in order to learn from these changes and be prepared for such situations in the future. Lay Description: What is already known about this topicIn the emergency situation, even well‐experienced teachers were not sure what and how to teach.There are several models and there are different models on handling the changes in education.Concerns‐based adoption model (CBAM) looks at how change affects people.Emotions have changed from negative to neutral in social media during school closures What this paper addsPrevious studies have been based mostly on surveys, but this paper adds an in‐depth analysis of messages from social media.Four stages describing how changes affect people have identified.New changes brought back personal concerns and no impact concerns raised.CBAM model is applicable in explaining unexpected temporary changes Implications for practice and/or policyIn teacher training, curricula courses about distance learning methodologies and tools should be added.National guidelines about the management of distance learning situations should be prepared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to discover how this contemporary Finno-Ugric identity has been politically instrumentalized and negotiated in Estonia. First, we look at how the Estonian state engages with the concept of Finno-Ugric world and inscribes it into Estonia's foreign policy goals. Then, we delve into the role of Finno-Ugric traditionalism in Estonian populist and far-right discourses. Third, we discuss how local identity constitutes and cements community building initiatives and projects in the Seto region known for its local specificity and cultural peculiarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since emerging in the early 1990s, Estonian hip-hop has developed in line with other cultural and artistic projects in the country, reflecting attempts to foster a homogeneous society, yet ultimately cultivating one where diversity and multiculturalism prevail. As a genre where minority groups are frequently presented as "authentic," hip-hop and its visual and performative manifestations provide a valuable platform to examine expressions of identity. To this end, several Estonian hip-hop musicians have explored aspects of being "post-Soviet" in contradistinction to official hegemonic discourses, which outright reject the Soviet past and emphasize titular ethnicity as a cornerstone of national identity. This article uses Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Multi-Modal Discourse Analysis (MMDA) to examine the lyrics and accompanying video of popular hip-hop song "für Oksana" by "Nublu featuring Gameboy Tetris." Doing so highlights how the song's basic narrative acts as a metaphor for experiences of integration processes between ethnic Estonians and Russophones since Estonian independence. I argue that through a combination of linguistic and cultural codeswitching, "für Oksana" constitutes an expression, performance, and negotiation of Russophone Estonian identity from both insider and outsider perspectives, emphasizing the need to understand Russophone Estonians as more than simply "Russians who live in Estonia." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In current socio-economic processes, info-communication services play a determining role, modifying the activities of certain actors. The growing dependence that has developed over the past two decades has imposed the need to give political will to security, which has led to an iterative evolution of the regulatory environment. Therefore, the regulatory framework requires certain entities to develop safeguards including controls that enhance both prevention and response in a manner commensurate with the business value of the information to be protected. However, due to the nature of cybersecurity, developing such countermeasures is not the task of a standalone organization but all entities in cyberspace in a wide range, from individuals to the public sector. Therefore, each entity involved must design protection capabilities in a manner commensurate with the risk, which requires strategic tools and methods and drives organizations to learn from their security incidents. Following our previous paper "Business strategy analysis of cybersecurity incidents" (Bederna et al.) on the topic, this paper reviews the essential formal security strategy formulation tools applied in the cases of Yahoo! and Estonia. Both are based on publicly available information. The analysis confirms the importance of managements' or the government's attitude and support for solving cybersecurity challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subject of electronic book (eBook) acquisition and cataloging time and cost management are an unexplored field in Estonia, and based on the information known to the author, there are no similar studies using a "time-driven activity-based costing" (TDABC) methodology for analyzing costs of activities related to eBooks. The purpose of this paper is not to compare the advantages and disadvantages of eBooks. The purpose of the current paper is to verify, by using the Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing method, that the process of purchasing and cataloging eBooks is significantly cheaper, less time-consuming, and ultimately more cost-effective than the process of purchasing and cataloging printed books (pBooks); and to determine whether eBooks streamline the acquisition and cataloging process for books. The results of this study were compared with the results of a previous study on the acquisition and cataloging of print books (pBooks) that was conducted at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) Library in 2012–2013.Methodology.The data used in this paper are based on a review of relevant literature in order to survey the different problems and challenges in the library sector that slow down the success of the eBook management process. Through a case study conducted at TalTech Library, a time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) method was used, such that all activities related to acquisition and cataloging of individually purchased eBooks were identified, recorded in detail and analyzed. More specifically, the study concerned eBooks offered in the Ebook Central platform and covered acquisition processes (such as receipt of purchase requests, communication with patrons, making a purchase, and feedback to the patron).Findings. On the basis of the current study it can be said that the activities related with eBooks take remarkably less staff time and finances than pBooks. The efficiency of staff increases due to electronic retrieval, processing, and delivery of collections. This study led to an understanding that many activities between different units or departments, especially in a large library, actually duplicate each other, and work could be organized in a more effective way if duplication is avoided, which in turn saves time and money. The results of this study suggest that some acquisition of eBooks can eliminate duplication of effort in both the acquisition and cataloging processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the article was to analyse the game success and tactics of the Estonian team in subgroup C of the 2019 European Championship final tournament in sets won and lost. The subjects were the players of the Estonian volleyball team in the final tournament of the European Championship in 2019. The paper analyses Estonia's performance in five games of the European Championship: Hungary - Estonia, Croatia - Estonia, Romania - Estonia, the Netherlands - Estonia and Azerbaijan - Estonia. A total of 19 sets were analysed, four of which the Estonian national team won. As a result, it was concluded that the Estonian volleyball team had higher efficiency indicators in all the four technical elements in the sets they won than in the sets they lost. Ball reception and serve efficiency differed less in the sets won and lost than attacking and blocking efficiency. Thus, it can be concluded that sets were lost mainly because of attack and block, not serve and reception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Sugar baits are not only used to attract butterflies; they are also used to attract nocturnal moths. Similarly to most sampling techniques, the results of bait trapping are influenced by ambient conditions. In order to understand how bait trap catches depend on weather parameters, we performed a study in the north European forest zone using portable weather stations placed next to the traps. We found that the number of moths caught was strongly positively dependent on temperature and negatively dependent on air humidity. Diversity showed a similar dependence on temperature and humidity but was also negatively affected by air pressure and positively affected by the change of pressure during the night. Our findings help to interpret the results of quantitative insect trapping projects as they allow one to properly account for variability in weather conditions. Assemblages of insects need to be quantitatively sampled in the context of various research questions. Light trapping is the most widely used method for sampling nocturnal Lepidoptera. Attracting moths to sugar baits offers a viable alternative. However, this method is rarely used in professional research despite its popularity among amateur lepidopterists. As the activity of insects is strongly dependent on ambient conditions, the sensitivity of any trapping method to weather parameters needs to be known for the quantitative interpretation of trapping results. In the present paper, we report data on the weather dependence of moth catches obtained by automatic bait traps. The study was performed in Estonia, representing the European hemiboreal forest zone. Portable weather stations set up next to each of the traps were used for collecting weather data. Both abundance and diversity of the moths in the catches depended strongly positively on temperature and negatively on air humidity. Diversity was also negatively correlated with air pressure and positively with the change in pressure during the night. The results show that in situ recording of weather parameters in connection to insect trapping provides useful insights for the study of insect behaviour and the interpretation of the results of monitoring projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the particularities of constitutional control models in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. On the thirtieth anniversary of regaining independence in 2020 for Latvia and Lithuania and in 2021 for Estonia, it is an opportune moment to consider the path taken by constitutional review institutions in each of the three Baltic States. Accordingly, the authors explore the establishment of the particular constitutional review model in each country and discuss the main features of constitutional adjudication: the status and the composition of the constitutional review bodies, the subjects entitled to file a petition, the main elements of their jurisdiction, and the legal effects of the constitutional judgements. The paper also looks briefly at the possible perspectives. The choice of a constitutional control model in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia results in differences in the place of a constitutional control institution in the judicial system, its special competence (other than constitutionality control of legal acts), and composition. However, regardless of which model of constitutional control was implemented, during the transitional period to a more democratic political regime, it has been vital to guarantee the fulfilment of the objectives of the constitutional control bodies without fear of legal or political obstacles and interference. These constitutional justice institutions in the respective country have step by step developed into authoritative bodies that have no peer, are irreplaceable, and are appreciated by state power institutions and the society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The introduction of highly effective direct-acting antiviral therapy has changed the hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment paradigm. However, a recent update on HCV epidemiology in incarcerated settings is necessary to accurately determine the extent of the problem, provide information to policymakers and public healthcare, and meet the World Health Organization's goals by 2030. This systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to determine the prevalence of HCV Ab and RNA in incarcerated settings. Methods: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science for papers published between January 2013 and August 2021. We included studies with information on the prevalence of HCV Ab or RNA in incarcerated settings. A random-effects meta-analysis was done to calculate the pooled prevalence and meta-regression to explore heterogeneity. Results: Ninety-two unique sources reporting data for 36 countries were included. The estimated prevalence of HCV Ab ranged from 0.3% to 74.4%. HCV RNA prevalence (available in 46 sources) ranged from 0% to 56.3%. Genotypes (available in 19 sources) 1(a) and 3 were most frequently reported in incarcerated settings. HCV/HIV coinfection (available in 36 sources) was highest in Italy, Estonia, Pakistan, and Spain. Statistical analysis revealed that almost all observed heterogeneity reflects real differences in prevalence between studies, considering I2 was very high in the meta-analysis. Conclusions: HCV in incarcerated settings is still a significant problem with a higher prevalence than in the general population. It is of utmost importance to start screening for HCV (Ab and RNA) in incarcerated settings to give clear, reliable and recent figures to plan further treatment. This is all in the context of meeting the 2030 WHO targets which are only less than a decade away. Trial registration: PROSPERO: CRD42020162616 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The introduction of highly effective direct-acting antiviral therapy has changed the hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment paradigm. However, a recent update on HCV epidemiology in incarcerated settings is necessary to accurately determine the extent of the problem, provide information to policymakers and public healthcare, and meet the World Health Organization's goals by 2030. This systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to determine the prevalence of HCV Ab and RNA in incarcerated settings.Methods: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science for papers published between January 2013 and August 2021. We included studies with information on the prevalence of HCV Ab or RNA in incarcerated settings. A random-effects meta-analysis was done to calculate the pooled prevalence and meta-regression to explore heterogeneity.Results: Ninety-two unique sources reporting data for 36 countries were included. The estimated prevalence of HCV Ab ranged from 0.3% to 74.4%. HCV RNA prevalence (available in 46 sources) ranged from 0% to 56.3%. Genotypes (available in 19 sources) 1(a) and 3 were most frequently reported in incarcerated settings. HCV/HIV coinfection (available in 36 sources) was highest in Italy, Estonia, Pakistan, and Spain. Statistical analysis revealed that almost all observed heterogeneity reflects real differences in prevalence between studies, considering I2 was very high in the meta-analysis.Conclusions: HCV in incarcerated settings is still a significant problem with a higher prevalence than in the general population. It is of utmost importance to start screening for HCV (Ab and RNA) in incarcerated settings to give clear, reliable and recent figures to plan further treatment. This is all in the context of meeting the 2030 WHO targets which are only less than a decade away.Trial Registration: PROSPERO: CRD42020162616. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of new voting channels, voting technologies and other voting innovations are often thought to improve voter participation in elections and democracy. However, it frequently happens at the expense of administrators, who needs to deliver even more complex elections. This article traces how the introduction of a new voting channel, Internet voting, affects frontline administrators through a qualitative in-depth case study of the 2017 local elections in Estonia. Findings show that the local election administration plays a substantial role in delivering Internet voting, despite the centralized election hierarchy. The case shows little evidence to support the expectation that Internet voting decreases the administrative burden of local election officials. The article outlines the vulnerabilities in Internet voting administration, resulting from the complexity of delivering multi-channel elections, particularly the ones integrating Internet- and paper-based voting channels. The article makes important recommendations for improving the implementation of electronic voting and improving the quality of elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainable development of enterprises is based on three pillars: economic, social, and environmental. Sustainable development aims to limit climate change and its negative impact on the natural environment. The main aim of this paper is to assess the impact of selected energy economy factors (government expenditure, environmental taxes, outlays on renewable energy sources, prices of futures contracts for CO2 emissions, outlays on R&D, and the EU Emissions Trading System (ETSEU)) on the sustainable development of the energy sectors in Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, and Poland, from 2008 to 2022. We use the correlation coefficients, the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Vector Autoregressive (VAR) Models, and the simultaneous equation. The research results indicate a variation in the direction and strength of the influence of individual economic factors in the studied countries (p < 0.05). The results can support operational and strategic decisions sustaining the sustainable development of enterprises in the analyzed countries. The results indicate the need to reform selected economic factors, with an emphasis on the increased importance of environmental taxes and the reform of the EU ETS, which is a key tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions cost-effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The population of adult learners of Estonian in Estonia is extremely numerous and heterogeneous. There are nearly 200,000 residents who need to learn the official language (Centar, 2018), i.e. approximately 15% of Estonia's population, while only 30,000 of them can be considered new residents (Estonian Ministry of Culture, 2019). The size of the group and the number of permanent residents among them is noteworthy in the European context and in light of Estonia's small size. Regrettably, the majority of persons who have acquired a Russianlanguage or even Russian-Estonian bilingual education move on directly to lifelong learning since they do not achieve the necessary level of Estonian proficiency by the end of their studies (Integration monitoring, 2020). Studies and reports show that approximately "half of the adults whose native language is other than Estonian do not have an active level of Estonian language proficiency" (Kallaste et al., 2018). Therefore, the need to teach Estonian to adults will not disappear in the near future. Previous studies have indicated that the motivation for learning Estonian is primarily pragmatic. However, there is also evidence of integrative motivation to communicate with Estonians and participate in society and culture. The higher the learner's current level of language proficiency, the greater the role of integrative needs. Everyone's reasons for not learning Estonian are unique, but in general, obstacles include attitudes and a lack of interest in increasing one's level of Estonian proficiency. A lack of interest is related to the fact that it is difficult to see the usefulness of learning Estonian when there is no opportunity to use it, meaning that there is no one with whom to speak it (see also Centar, 2018, p. 81-88; Klaas-Lang & Reile, 2019). The paper proposes a concept, activities and possibilities novel in Estonia of how to improve the effectiveness of adult L2 learners of Estonian with various supportive activities in a community-based manner and by increasing the language awareness of native speakers of Estonian. First, we will analyse the differences in the population of adult L2 learners of Estonian compared to the common European practices and summarise the results of previous studies on the effectiveness of language learning, including the importance of language environment in the learning process. We will then introduce the theoretical framework and practice of community-based language learning and the international (but also Estonian) practices in designing the activities of language coaches. We will also analyse a native speaker's attitude in supporting a new speaker. We will use and further develop the learning path model REDEL (RITA_ REDEL, 2020) of adult new immigrants originally developed by the author and Kristiina Praakli in the course of the RITA_RÄNNE project and the opinions and attitudes of adult L2 learners of Estonian collected from focus group interviews during the project as well as data from interviews with international students and staff conducted in the course of graduate projects supervised by the author (Reile, 2018, Savisto, 2021). In this context, language learning and language acquisition is viewed as a unified process where learning in a classroom, in an e-environment, or any other formal or independent learning should be supported by language learning in an authentic language environment, i.e. in practice, by using the language and becoming increasingly more proficient. In the RITA_RÄNNE project, we introduced the concepts of communitybased language learning and the language coach. While collecting feedback for the learning path model and policy recommendations from working teachers, it became clear that these terms and concepts require a more thorough explanation, a theoretical framework and connection with practices in the Estonian context. We will investigate how language learners perceive this process and if and how teachers manage to connect or continue learning in the classroom with such community-based learning. Community-based learning is characterised as the acquisition of language by using the target language outside the classroom in different contexts and reallife situations and via social practice (Clifford & Reisinger, 2019). "Teaching second languages behind closed classroom doors means to ignore one of the most powerful resources available: language use in everyday social contacts in the surrounding society. Making this resource available for language teaching has the potential to enhance language teaching and learning greatly." (Clark et al., 2018, p. 2-3). To some extent, community-based language learning can be associated with usage-based language learning (Tomasello, 2003; Eskildsen, 2009; Atkinson, 2011), but community-based learning, according to studies, is more than that. The renewal of terminology can probably be explained by the general tendency to view language learning as an interactive and co-effective process where learning is connected to networking, forging and strengthening contacts. In addition to networking and integration, community-based learning views the learner as a subject, not an object, emphasising the learner's activity in the process on the one hand and the supportive role of the environment, the community's language awareness, ability and desire to help the non-native speakers adapt to the new (in the case of immigrants) or newly discovered (in the case of long-term inhabitants) linguistic and cultural environment on the other. Community-based language learning can also be viewed as a process where members of the multilingual and multicultural community are teachers and introducers of their native language(s) and culture(s) to the main population (Borthwick, 2018). The policy recommendations of the REDEL project also included the necessity to increase the awareness and positive attitudes of Estonian residents towards multilingual and multicultural societies (RITA_ REDEL, 2020, p. 22). The role of the native speaker in community-based language learning is firstly to forge connections between the new speaker and the community (RITA_REDEL, 2020) and secondly to support the new speaker's linguistic development by speaking with him/her in Estonian and not in a foreign language. The interviews clearly show that native speakers are not prepared to act as "voluntary language teachers" for new speakers and prefer to choose English or Russian as the language of communication (Reile, 2018; Savisto, 2021; RITA_REDEL, 2020). The primary reason for this is the Estonians' wish to practice their English. Additionally, respondents found that perhaps it is difficult for the locals to watch a foreigner struggle with Estonian. Hence, they switch to English out of politeness and a desire to help. Community-based language learning should also be recommended by the teacher in language courses and included in the learning process. Encouraging the learner to change from a passive recipient to an active language acquirer, from an object of language learning to a subject of language learning taking responsibility for his/her studies also makes it necessary for the teacher, in addition to the usual language instruction, to explain the whole learning process to the learner (in the classroom as well as outside it), to fill it with purpose and activities. The learner could and should also have help on this path - coaches, volunteers, mentors, and language buddies who provide a connection to the community and the society, help the learner to navigate the Estonian language environment and also the digital environment, give advice on language learning, help to find social and cultural activities, etc. For the more widespread implementation of community-based learning, it is naturally necessary to improve overall language awareness and promote the attitude that every native speaker is a language teacher for a new speaker. This attitude is accompanied by the willingness to speak more slowly and use simpler expressions when speaking with a new speaker with poorer language skills, listen patiently and not switch to some major language. The renewed concept of inclusive language learning that includes the community in the process is closely related to the increasingly widespread "communalisation" in society, to networking. Involving communities in language learning will certainly require very close cooperation with all the above-mentioned parties, but first and foremost, it requires a change in paradigms to accept that many other people besides the learner and the teacher can contribute to the effectiveness of the non-native speakers' learning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to many other countries in Europe, Estonia managed to curtail the spread of the new coronavirus rather effectively. This paper offers an overview of the measures undertaken to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic in March-May 2020 and explain why Estonia managed to successfully contain the epidemic. The paper argues that the management of the crisis was facilitated by political factors, quick policy learning, cooperation with the scientific community, and the existing ICT and e-government infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Only sufficient economic wealth can produce science with the highest quality. However, there is room for many intervening factors, which can moderate the process of how money invested into research transforms into a bibliometrically measurable outcome. In this paper, based on the latest update of the Essential Science Indicators (ESI), covering the period 2007-2017, we analyze the progress of Estonian science against the background less successful neighbors, Latvia and Lithuania, in the pursuit of scientific excellence. Estonia improved the impact of scientific papers by eleven positions occupying the 17th position in the world-ranking list of countries/territories, sandwiched between France and Israel who both have approximately two times larger DGP per capita to say nothing about 68 and 12 Nobel Prize winners respectively. By the percentage of papers reaching the topcited category, Estonia occupies the 7th position of the most successful nations. The fact that Estonian papers are cited 30% more frequently than papers recorded by ESI in general is a puzzle because Estonia is spending only about 0.8% of its GDP on the R&D with a dropping tendency during the last three years. Factors that could moderate transformation of the input money into scientific output are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Changes in the world show that the role, importance, and coherence of SSH (social sciences and the humanities) will increase significantly in the coming years. This paper aims to monitor and analyze the evolution (or overlapping) of the SSH thematic pattern through three funding instruments since 2007. Design/methodology/approach: The goal of the paper is to check to what extent the EU Framework Program (FP) affects/does not affect research on national level, and to highlight hot topics from a given period with the help of text analysis. Funded project titles and abstracts derived from the EU FP, Slovenian, and Estonian RIS were used. The final analysis and comparisons between different datasets were made based on the 200 most frequent words. After removing punctuation marks, numeric values, articles, prepositions, conjunctions, and auxiliary verbs, 4,854 unique words in ETIS, 4,421 unique words in the Slovenian Research Information System (SICRIS), and 3,950 unique words in FP were identified. Findings: Across all funding instruments, about a quarter of the top words constitute half of the word occurrences. The text analysis results show that in the majority of cases words do not overlap between FP and nationally funded projects. In some cases, it may be due to using different vocabulary. There is more overlapping between words in the case of Slovenia (SL) and Estonia (EE) and less in the case of Estonia and EU Framework Programmes (FP). At the same time, overlapping words indicate a wider reach (culture, education, social, history, human, innovation, etc.). In nationally funded projects (bottom-up), it was relatively difficult to observe the change in thematic trends over time. More specific results emerged from the comparison of the different programs throughout FP (top-down). Research limitations: Only projects with English titles and abstracts were analyzed. Practical implications: The specifics of SSH have to take into account—the one-to-one meaning of terms/words is not as important as, for example, in the exact sciences. Thus, even in co-word analysis, the final content may go unnoticed. Originality/value: This was the first attempt to monitor the trends of SSH projects using text analysis. The text analysis of the SSH projects of the two new EU Member States used in the study showed that SSH's thematic coverage is not much affected by the EU Framework Program. Whether this result is field-specific or country-specific should be shown in the following study, which targets SSH projects in the so-called old Member States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1999, Estonia has conducted the National Forest Inventory (NFI) on the basis of sample plots. This paper presents a new module, incorporating remote-sensing feature variables from airborne laser scanning (ALS) and from multispectral satellite images, for the construction of maps of forest height, standing-wood volume, and tree species composition for the entire country. The models for sparse ALS point clouds yield coefficients of determination of 89.5–94.8% for stand height and 84.2–91.7% for wood volume. For the tree species prediction, the models yield Cohen's kappa values (taking 95% confidence intervals) of 0.69–0.72 upon comparing model results against a previous map, and values of 0.51–0.54 upon comparing model results against NFI sample plots. This paper additionally examines the influence of foliage phenology on the predictions and discusses options for further enhancement of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in the world show that the role, importance, and coherence of SSH (social sciences and the humanities) will increase significantly in the coming years. This paper aims to monitor and analyze the evolution (or overlapping) of the SSH thematic pattern through three funding instruments since 2007. The goal of the paper is to check to what extent the EU Framework Program (FP) affects/does not affect research on national level, and to highlight hot topics from a given period with the help of text analysis. Funded project titles and abstracts derived from the EU FP, Slovenian, and Estonian RIS were used. The final analysis and comparisons between different datasets were made based on the 200 most frequent words. After removing punctuation marks, numeric values, articles, prepositions, conjunctions, and auxiliary verbs, 4,854 unique words in ETIS, 4,421 unique words in the Slovenian Research Information System (SICRIS), and 3,950 unique words in FP were identified. Across all funding instruments, about a quarter of the top words constitute half of the word occurrences. The text analysis results show that in the majority of cases words do not overlap between FP and nationally funded projects. In some cases, it may be due to using different vocabulary. There is more overlapping between words in the case of Slovenia (SL) and Estonia (EE) and less in the case of Estonia and EU Framework Programmes (FP). At the same time, overlapping words indicate a wider reach (culture, education, social, history, human, innovation, etc.). In nationally funded projects (bottom-up), it was relatively difficult to observe the change in thematic trends over time. More specific results emerged from the comparison of the different programs throughout FP (top-down). Only projects with English titles and abstracts were analyzed. The specifics of SSH have to take into account—the one-to-one meaning of terms/words is not as important as, for example, in the exact sciences. Thus, even in co-word analysis, the final content may go unnoticed. This was the first attempt to monitor the trends of SSH projects using text analysis. The text analysis of the SSH projects of the two new EU Member States used in the study showed that SSH's thematic coverage is not much affected by the EU Framework Program. Whether this result is field-specific or country-specific should be shown in the following study, which targets SSH projects in the so-called old Member States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature on Screen () is an online learning platform focused on film adaptation of literary texts. The paper, that starts with an overview of film education in Estonia, provides a theoretical framework for discussing and analysing adaptations in class with the help of multimodal and digital media. The methodology stems from the tradition of the Tartu-Moscow Semiotic School, which implies a holistic approach to meaning-generating processes in human culture. Literary adaptations are regarded as invariants of the same story existing in different media and discourses. The paper describes the process of the development and testing of the platform in Estonian- and Russian-speaking schools in Estonia. The results of the testing allow us to compare the patterns of media consumption and production in different classrooms and open up opportunities for promoting cultural diversity through adaptation studies. Literature on Screen constitutes a part of Education on Screen, a project developed by the Transmedia Research Group at the University of Tartu. The project's goal is to develop open-access online materials to support the teaching of humanities-related subjects in secondary schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing attention to naturally occurring radionuclides in building materials has a significant societal impact. This impact is apparent in recent research studies and the latest European Council directives, where reference levels for indoor radon concentrations and gamma radiation levels are reported. This paper studies black sand samples from the Estonian coast, mainly from Kihnu island. The results are discussed from various aspects to determine if utilization of these sands as a building material component is viable. For this reason, this paper focuses on the mineralogical and radiological characterization of these samples with special attention to radon emanation and exhalation. Furthermore, a detailed correlation study of mineralogical components against emanation and exhalation factors and the levels of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K was performed. It is found that the sand samples are composed of very high heavy mineral content as compared to the rest of Estonia; the black sands studied here include a heavy fraction dominated by garnets and a light fraction characterized by quartz and feldspars. The analysis also indicates that the higher 232Th and 226Ra content in the samples is correlated with an increase in zircon, ore minerals and garnets; on the other hand, the 40K content is connected to amphiboles. A strong correlation was also found between the 226Ra activity concentration and the measured massic exhalation rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]