Approved for public release; distribution in unlimited. / This thesis uses an agent-based simulation model named EINSTein to perform an exploratory study on the feasibility of using Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs) to augment or replace the current defenses of Expeditionary Strike Groups (ESG). Specifically, LCS's ability to help defend an ESGs in an anti-access scenario against a high-density small boat attack is simulated. Numbers of CRUDES (CRUiser, DEStroyer, Frigate) ships are removed and LCSs are added to the ESG force structure in varying amounts to identify force mixes that minimize ship losses. In addition, this thesis explores various conceptual capabilities that might be given to LCS. For example, helicopter/Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (helo/UCAVs), Stealth technology, close-in high volume firepower, and 50+ knot sprint capability. Using graphical analysis, analysis of variance, and large-sample comparison tests we find that being able to control aircraft is the most influential factor for minimizing ship losses. Stealth technology is another significant factor, and the combination of the two is highly effective in reducing ship losses. Close-in high volume firepower is effective only when interacting with helo/UCAVs or stealth. 50+ knot sprint capability is potentially detrimental in this scenario. An effective total sum of CRUDES ships and LCS is between five and seven platforms. / http://hdl.handle.net/10945/855 / Lieutenant, United States Navy

Tyrimo objektas – Lietuvos gyvybės draudimo įmonės. Tyrimo dalykas – Lietuvos gyvybės draudimo įmonių veikla. Darbo tikslas – išskyrus pagrindinius vertintojus ir jų tikslus, parinkti vertinimo kriterijus ir įvertinti Lietuvos gyvybės draudimo įmonių veiklą. Uždaviniai: 1) įvardinti gyvybės draudimo reikšmę, privalumus bei identifikuoti pagrindines gyvybės draudimo įmonių vertinimo problemas; 2) nustatyti gyvybės draudimo įmonių vertintojus, suformuluoti jų tikslus bei numatyti gyvybės draudimo įmonių vertinimo kriterijus; 3) parengti gyvybės draudimo įmonių vertinimo metodiką; 4) pagal parengtą metodiką, įvertinti Lietuvos gyvybės draudimo įmones. Tyrimo metodai – mokslinės literatūros analizė ir sintezė, loginė analizė ir sintezė, lyginamoji analizė, horizontalioji ir vertikalioji analizė, apibendrinimo ir reitingavimo metodai. Tyrimo rezultatai – atlikus mokslinę Lietuvos ir užsienio literatūros analizę, išanalizavus Lietuvos draudimo įstatyminę bazę bei valstybinės draudimo priežiūros komisijos teikiamus duomenis, buvo atrinkti penki gyvybės draudimo įmonių vertintojai, nustatyti jų vertinimo kriterijai ir rodikliai, pagal kuriuos buvo sureitinguotos ir įvertintos Lietuvos gyvybės draudimo įmonės bei numatytos tendencijos. / Research object – Life insurance companies in Lithuania. Research subject – The practice of Life insurance companies in Lithuania Research aim – except the main estimators and their goals, select the criterions and evaluate the life insurance companies in Lithuania. Objectives: 1) specify the meaning of life insurance, its advantages, and identify the main evaluation problems of life insurance companies; 2) except the main estimators of life insurance, formulate their goals and predict the criterions of evaluation; 3) frame the methodology of evaluation of life insurance companies; 4) according to the methodology, which was prepared, evaluate the life insurance companies. Research methods – the analysis and synthesis of scientific literature, logical analysis and synthesis, comparable analysis, horizontal and vertical analysis, methods of summation and rating. Research results – doing the analysis of Lithuanian and foreign scientific literature, Lithuanian insurance law base and national insurance supervision commission information, helped to sort five estimators of Life Insurance companies, to identify their criterions and indexes. In accordance with them the Life insurance companies were rated, evaluated and the tendencies were forecasted.

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The work described in this dissertation focuses on developing simple yet effective assays integrating nucleic acid (NA) aptamers with rolling circle amplification (RCA) for the detection of non-NA biomarkers. The first project, a comprehensive literature review, highlights the current state of the art in functional NA-based RCA applications, and identifies shortcomings in the detection of non-NA targets with RCA. Biosensor design is critically evaluated from four key perspectives: regulation, efficiency, and detection of RCA, and the integration of all three components for point of care (POC) applications. The second project investigates how target-binding to a linear aptamer can be utilized to regulate RCA in a simple and inexpensive format. Phi29 DNA polymerase (DP) exhibits difficulty processing DNA strands that are bound to non-NA materials such as proteins. The work uses this restriction of phi29 DP as a feature by utilizing protein-binding aptamers as primer strands (aptaprimers) for RCA. The simplicity is showcased by adapting the method to a cellulose paper-based device for the real-time detection and quantification of PDGF or thrombin within minutes. As the second project is a turn-off sensor, the third project exploits the inherent 3’-exonuclease activity of phi29 DP to generate a simple turn-on assay instead. As target-bound aptamers were shown to be resistant to exonuclease activity, the phi29 DP preferentially digests target-free aptaprimers instead of target-bound aptaprimers. The target-bound aptaprimer could be liberated by a circular template (CT) by incorporating toehold-mediated strand displacement (TMSD), and used for RCA. Sensitivity was improved relative to project two, though the dynamic range was narrow owing to difficulty liberating target-bound aptaprimer at high target concentrations. Project four instead used RecJ, which has 5’-exonuclease activity, to modulate aptaprimer availability. Similarly to project three, target-binding conferred protection on the aptaprimer from 5’-exonuclease digestion by RecJ. By including a free 3’ terminus on the aptaprimer, inhibition of RCA due to target binding was avoided and CT-mediated TMSD was not needed, simplifying the assay. As well, this approach was generalizable as it was demonstrated using both a protein (thrombin) and a small molecule (ochratoxin A) target. This turn-on method further improved the assay compared to project three with a 100-fold enhancement in sensitivity and a restoration of the dynamic range. In sum, this work contributed multiple simple and sensitive approaches for the real-time fluorescent detection of proteins and small molecules with the RCA of linear aptamers. / Thesis / Doctor of Science (PhD)

Master thesis, 65 pages, 18 pictures, 4 table, 39 literature sources, 5 appendages, Lithuanian language. The object of the work- insurance service marketing. The subject of the work - the research of the insurance service marketing. The aim of the work – to establish and estimate service marketing significance in an insurance business and to make suggestions of marketing implementation for companies. The goals of the work: 1.To analyse the nascency determinant elements of insurance service marketing. 2.To settle and describe a conception, functions, and essential things of insurance service marketing. 3.To analyze the peculiarities of the insurance service marketing and their determinant elements. 4.With reference to facts, to settle the size of Lithuanian insurance service market, to measure the structure of insurance service suppliers’ market and its competitive ability. 5.To find out consumers’ opinion about insurance service. 6.To estimate need and conditions of insurance service marketing implementation. Methods of the research: empirical research (questionnaire), unstruktural interview, analysis and synthesis of nonfiction, statistical material analysis, graphics, comparable, generalization. Analysing Lithuanian and foreign countries nonfiction and periodic literature about insurance service marketing, it is defined the organization particularity of the insurance service marketing, its expedience of adaptability and facility in Lithuanian insurance companies.

The purpose of this study was to make a contribution towards decision–making in complex environmental problems, especially where data is limited and associated with a high degree of uncertainty. As a young scientist, I understood the value of science as a measuring and quantification tool and used to intuitively believe that science was exact and could provide undisputable answers. It was in 1997, during the Safety Assessments done at the Vaalputs National Radioactive Waste Repository that my belief system was challenged. This occurred after there were numerous scientific studies done on the site that was started since the early 1980’s, yet with no conclusion as to how safe the site is in terms of radioactive waste disposal. The Safety Assessment process was developed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to transform the scientific investigations and data into decision–making information for the purposes of radioactive waste management. It was also during the Vaalputs investigations when I learned the value of lateral thinking. There were numerous scientists with doctorate and master’s degrees that worked on the site of which I was one. One of the important requirements was to measure evaporation at the local weather station close to the repository. It was specifically important to measure evaporation as a controlling parameter in the unsaturated zone models. Evaporation was measured with an Apan that is filled with water so that the losses can be measured. Vaalputs is a very dry place and water is scarce. The local weather station site was fenced off, but there was a problem in that the aardvark dug below the fence and drank the water in the A–pan, so that no measurements were possible. The solution from the scientists was to put the fence deeper into the ground. The aardvark did not find it hard to dig even deeper. The next solution was to put a second fence around the weather station and again the aardvark dug below it to drink the water. It was then that Mr Robbie Schoeman, a technician became aware of the problem and put a drinking water container outside the weather station fence for the aardvark and – the problem was solved at a fraction of the cost of the previous complex solutions. I get in contact with the same thinking patterns that intuitively expect that the act of scientific investigations will provide decision–making information or even solve the problem. If the investigation provides more questions than answers, the quest is for more and more data on more detailed scales. There is a difference between problem characterization and solution viidentification. Problem characterization requires scientific and critical thinking, which is an important component but that has to be incorporated with the solution identification process of creative thinking towards decision–making. I am a scientist by heart, but it was necessary to realise that apart from research, practical science must feed into a higher process, such as decision–making to be able to make a practical difference. The process of compilation of this thesis meant a lot to me as I initially thought of doing a PhD and then it changed me, especially in the way I think. This was a life changing process, which is good. As Jesus said in Mathew 3:2 And saying, Repent (think differently; change your mind, regretting your sins and changing your conduct), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Geography and Environmental Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The purpose of this study was to make a contribution towards decision–making in complex environmental problems, especially where data is limited and associated with a high degree of uncertainty. As a young scientist, I understood the value of science as a measuring and quantification tool and used to intuitively believe that science was exact and could provide undisputable answers. It was in 1997, during the Safety Assessments done at the Vaalputs National Radioactive Waste Repository that my belief system was challenged. This occurred after there were numerous scientific studies done on the site that was started since the early 1980’s, yet with no conclusion as to how safe the site is in terms of radioactive waste disposal. The Safety Assessment process was developed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to transform the scientific investigations and data into decision–making information for the purposes of radioactive waste management. It was also during the Vaalputs investigations when I learned the value of lateral thinking. There were numerous scientists with doctorate and master’s degrees that worked on the site of which I was one. One of the important requirements was to measure evaporation at the local weather station close to the repository. It was specifically important to measure evaporation as a controlling parameter in the unsaturated zone models. Evaporation was measured with an Apan that is filled with water so that the losses can be measured. Vaalputs is a very dry place and water is scarce. The local weather station site was fenced off, but there was a problem in that the aardvark dug below the fence and drank the water in the A–pan, so that no measurements were possible. The solution from the scientists was to put the fence deeper into the ground. The aardvark did not find it hard to dig even deeper. The next solution was to put a second fence around the weather station and again the aardvark dug below it to drink the water. It was then that Mr Robbie Schoeman, a technician became aware of the problem and put a drinking water container outside the weather station fence for the aardvark and – the problem was solved at a fraction of the cost of the previous complex solutions. I get in contact with the same thinking patterns that intuitively expect that the act of scientific investigations will provide decision–making information or even solve the problem. If the investigation provides more questions than answers, the quest is for more and more data on more detailed scales. There is a difference between problem characterization and solution viidentification. Problem characterization requires scientific and critical thinking, which is an important component but that has to be incorporated with the solution identification process of creative thinking towards decision–making. I am a scientist by heart, but it was necessary to realise that apart from research, practical science must feed into a higher process, such as decision–making to be able to make a practical difference. The process of compilation of this thesis meant a lot to me as I initially thought of doing a PhD and then it changed me, especially in the way I think. This was a life changing process, which is good. As Jesus said in Mathew 3:2 And saying, Repent (think differently; change your mind, regretting your sins and changing your conduct), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Geography and Environmental Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

In recent years, there have been incidents which decreased people's trust in some organizations and authorities responsible for ratings and accreditation. For a few prominent examples, there was a security breach at Equifax (2017), misconduct was found in the Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (2015), and the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (2022) validated some of the low-performing schools as delivering higher standards than they actually were. A natural solution to these types of issues is to decentralize the relevant trust management processes using blockchain technologies. The research problems which are tackled in this thesis consider the issue of trust in reputation for assessment and review credibility at different angles, in the context of blockchain applications. We first explored the following questions. How can we trust courses in one college to provide students with the type and level of knowledge which is needed in a specific workplace? Micro-accreditation on a blockchain was our solution, including using a peer-review system to determine the rigor of a course (through a consensus). Rigor is the level of difficulty in regard to a student's expected level of knowledge. Currently, we make assumptions about the quality and rigor of what is learned, but this is prone to human bias and misunderstandings. We present a decentralized approach that tracks student records throughout the academic progress at a school and helps to match employers' requirements to students' knowledge. We do this by applying micro-accredited topics and Knowledge Units (KU) defined by NSA's Center of Academic Excellence to courses and assignments. We demonstrate that the system was successful in increasing accuracy of hires through simulated datasets, and that it is efficient, as well as scalable. Another problem is how can we trust that the peer reviews are honest and reflect an accurate rigor score? Assigning reputation to peers is a natural method to ensure correctness of these assessments. The reputation of the peers providing rigor scores needs to be taken into account for an overall rigor of a course, its topics, and its tasks. Specifically, those with a higher reputation should have more influence on the total score. Hence, we focused on how a peer's reputation is managed. We explored decentralized reputation management for the peers, choosing a decentralized marketplace as a sample application. We presented an approach to ensuring review credibility, which is a particular aspect of trust in reviews and reputation of the parties who provide them. We use a Proof-of-Stake based Algorand system as a base of our implementation, since this system is open-source, and it has a rich community support. Specifically, we directly map reputation to stake, which allows us to deploy Algorand at the blockchain layer. Reviews are analyzed by the proposed evaluation component using Natural Language Processing (NLP). In our system, NLP gauges the positivity of the written review, compares that value to a scaled numerical rating given, and determines adjustments to a peer's reputation from that result. We demonstrate that this architecture ensures credible and trustworthy assessments. It also efficiently manages the reputation of the peers, while keeping reasonable consensus times. We then turned our focus on ensuring that a peer's reputation is credible. This led us to introducing a new type of consensus called "Proof-of-Review". Our proposed implementation is again based on Algorand, since its modular architecture allows for easy modifications, such as adding extra components, but this time, we modified the engine. The proposed model then provides a trust in evaluations (review and assessment credibility) and in those who provide them (reputation credibility) using a blockchain. We introduce a blacklisting component, which prevents malicious nodes from participating in the protocol, and a minimum-reputation component, which limits the influence of under-performing users. Our results showed that the proposed blockchain system maintains liveliness and completeness. Specifically, blacklisting and the minimum-reputation requirement (when properly tuned) do not affect these properties. We note that the Proof-of-Review concept can be deployed in other types of applications with similar needs of trust in assessments and the players providing them, such as sensor arrays, autonomous car groups (caravans), marketplaces, and more.