Training needs in renewable energies for local development

The general goal of the research is to advance in the study of the training needs in the field of RES for rural development, in order to reduce the existing scarcities and to contribute to the development of relevant training actions that improve the effectiveness of the teaching-learning processes. All of these in the framework of the European project IN2RURAL, which aims to promote innovative practices in the RES sector improving the employability of university students in the rural areas of Bacău (Romania), Castellón (Spain) and Heves (Hungary)

EMC Chair Symposium - Sea Control and Foreign Policy - Working Papers

This fifth maritime-centric EMC Chair symposium builds on the 2016 release of Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority, which noted the “U.S. Navy has been a cornerstone of American security and prosperity.” The symposium will consider future directions of U.S. foreign policy and reflect on demands the country places on the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard to advance and defend national interests. Participants from DOD, academia, and the policy community will convene in Newport to discuss the implications for sea power as the Design challenges the Navy to “Deepen operational relationships with other services, agencies, industry, allies and partners – who operate with the Navy to support our shared interests.” Participants will consider the impact of technology, contested seas, and maritime partnerships on sea control.https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/emcchair-symposia/1002/thumbnail.jp

The European Green Deal. An Analysis of how the European Commission promises to Manage Climate Change

Màster de Ciutadania i Drets Humans: Ètica i Política, Facultat Filosofia, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2019-2020, Tutor: José Antonio Estévez AraujoClimate Change is the defining challenge of the 21st century. Measures taken today by politicians, companies, consumers, and society in general will directly influence earth's habitability in the decades to come. Through the complex interaction between GHG emissions, global warming, loss of biodiversity, human health and well-being are at risk. While countries of the global north will proportionally suffer less consequences than those of the global South, the projected damages will still be grave. In recent decades, as a result, environmental protection gained an increasing relevance in international treaties, as well as national policies and legislature

The Influence of Manual and Hydraulic Stretchers on Recruitment, Retention, and Turnover in the Emergency Medical Services Workforce

The Department of Labor predicts an increase in demand for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) as the United States’ population grows older. The leaders of EMS must confront the difficulties surrounding recruitment, retention, and employment turnover of the EMS workforce to ensure a solvent employment pipeline to meet the predicted service demands. Previous researchers found that hydraulic stretchers reduced the number of occupationally acquired injuries among the EMS workforce. Grounded in human capital development and corporate social responsibility theories, this study extended from the work of Brice et al. (2012), Fredericks, Butt, and Hovenkamp (2009), and Studnek, Crawford, & Fernandez, (2011) who found that hydraulic stretchers have a positive influence on job satisfaction, lost workdays, and absenteeism. This study examined the relationship between EMS employment turnover, retention, and recruitment and stretcher systems. This study used a causal comparative design, survey solicitation of data, and a multivariate analysis of covariance as the statistical methodology. The researcher concluded that stretcher type does not influence recruitment, retention, and turnover in this study group. This study improves the understanding of workforce outcomes as influenced by the type of stretcher systems used in EMS. Future EMS workforce research should focus on employment attractors and detractors to women in EMS and investigate the relationship among ambulance call volume, service type, EMS employment conditions, recruitment, retention, and turnover

Strategies to Reduce Technostress on Corporations’ Employees

Technostress is a phenomenon that hurts the performance of corporations and employees. Technology managers must identify strategies to reduce technostress, as technostress causes employee burnout and absenteeism, reducing employee performance and the corporation’s productivity and ability to remain financially stable. Grounded in transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore leadership strategies technology managers use to minimize technostress. The participants were nine business leaders in the United States who implemented strategies to minimize technostress. Data were analyzed using Yin’s five components of case study data analysis. Five main themes were identified: (a) tech-break; focus on employees taking time away from the computer for a break and giving employees time to recharge to minimize employee burnout, (b) training and employee development, (c) focus on working as a team and team members, (d) managers are mindful of employees\u27 stress levels and (e) utilizing transformational leadership attributes. One primary recommendation is that business leaders and managers continuously train employees on new technology and provide ongoing employee development. The implications for positive social change include the potential for financially stable organizations to help people in their local communities by increasing the number of jobs and programs, which catalyzes beneficial social change

Cubaneo In Latin Piano: A Parametric Approach To Gesture, Texture, And Motivic Variation

ABSTRACT CUBANEO IN LATIN PIANO: A PARAMETRIC APPROACH TO GESTURE, TEXTURE, AND MOTIVIC VARIATION COPYRIGHT Orlando Enrique Fiol 2018 Dr. Carol A. Muller Over the past century of recorded evidence, Cuban popular music has undergone great stylistic changes, especially regarding the piano tumbao. Hybridity in the Cuban/Latin context has taken place on different levels to varying extents involving instruments, genres, melody, harmony, rhythm, and musical structures. This hybridity has involved melding, fusing, borrowing, repurposing, adopting, adapting, and substituting. But quantifying and pinpointing these processes has been difficult because each variable or parameter embodies a history and a walking archive of sonic aesthetics. In an attempt to classify and quantify precise parameters involved in hybridity, this dissertation presents a paradigmatic model, organizing music into vocabularies, repertories, and abstract procedures. Cuba\u27s pianistic vocabularies are used very interactively, depending on genre, composite ensemble texture, vocal timbre, performing venue, and personal taste. These vocabularies include: melodic phrases, harmonic progressions, rhythmic cells and variation schemes to replace repetition with methodical elaboration of the piano tumbao as a main theme. These pianistic vocabularies comprise what we actually hear. Repertories, such as pre-composed songs, ensemble arrangements, and open- ended montuno and solo sections, situate and contextualize what we hear in real life musical performances. Abstract procedures are the thoughts, aesthetics, intentions, and parametric rules governing what Cuban/Latin pianists consider possible. Abstract procedures alter vocabularies by displacing, expanding, contracting, recombining, permuting, and layering them. As Cuba\u27s popular musics find homes in its musical diaspora (the United States, Latin America and Europe), Cuban pianists have sought to differentiate their craft from global salsa and Latin jazz pianists. Expanding the piano\u27s gestural/textural vocabulary beyond pre-Revolutionary traditions and performance practices, the timba piano tumbao is a powerful marker of Cuban identity and musical pride, transcending national borders and cultural boundaries

Corporate Governance and the Shareholder: Asymmetry, Confidence, and Decision-Making

In the decade following the ten-plus percent stockmarket collapse of 2000, regulators enacted a myriad of regulations in response to increasing angst experienced by U.S. capital market retail investors. Systemic asymmetric disclosures have fractured investor confidence prompting many commentators to characterize the relationship between Wall Street and the investment community on main street as dire. Though copious works exist on the phenomenon of corporate behaviors, especially matters of shareholder welfare, weak boards, pervious governance mechanisms, and managerial excess, current literature has revealed a dearth in corporate governance praxis specific to the question and effects of asymmetric disseminations and its principal impact on the retail/noninstitutional accredited investor\u27s (NIAI) confidence and decision-making propensities. This phenomenological study is purposed to bridging the gap between the effects of governance disclosure and the confidence and decision-making inclinations of NIAIs. Conceptual frameworks of Akerlof\u27s information theory and Verstegen Ryan and Buchholtz\u27s trust/risk decision making model undergirded the study. A nonrandom purposive sampling method was used to select 21 NIAI informants. Analysis of interview data revealed epistemological patterns/themes confirming the deleterious effects of asymmetrical disseminations on participants\u27 investment decision-making and trust behaviors. Findings may help academicians, investors, policy makers, and practitioners better comprehend the phenomenon and possibly contribute to operating efficiencies in the capital markets. Proaction and greater assertiveness in the investor/activist community may provide an impetus for continued regulatory reforms, improved transparency, and a revitalization of public trust as positive social change outcomes

Retelling the Polar Bear Story: Human Responses to Polar Bear-Human Interactions in Churchill, Manitoba

Polar bear-human interactions are increasing throughout the Canadian Arctic, pose a significant threat to both people and polar bears, and serve as catalysts for social conflict over how polar bears are studied and managed. Despite a relatively large body of scientific literature on polar bears there have been few studies on the human dimensions of polar bear-human interactions and conflicts. The purpose of this research was to examine the underlying assumptions and expectations that influence responses to polar bear-human interactions in Churchill, Manitoba. Data were collected using multiple social science methods including semi-structured interviews, talking circles, focus groups, and a problem solving workshop. This research investigated how understandings of polar bear-human interactions in Churchill, Manitoba are shaped by discourse. I found that study participants used discourses to create and impose boundaries that dictated where polar bears (and humans) were permitted and defined the possible ways humans and polar bears could interact. Understanding discursive boundaries and the processes by which they are produced provides insights into why stakeholders often hold divergent opinions over how people should interact with polar bears. This research also examined how local people and management agencies responded to a polar bear-inflicted human injury. My findings show that polar bear management agencies respond remarkably well to errors in procedure, but are often unable to address underlying systemic drivers of polar bear-human conflict. I also found that some community members had fatalistic attitudes towards polar bears, which may make them less likely to respond to educational efforts to reduce risk-taking behaviour around polar bears. Finally, this study documented local knowledge of polar bear behaviour during interactions, clarified perceptions and interpretations of polar bears, and examined the linkage between local experts’ knowledge, perceptions, and actions. I found that differences in perspectives on the predictability of polar bear behaviour and in interpretations of the nature of bears significantly influenced strategies for responding to bears. I also found that there is a need to develop richer models for understanding what motivates and influences human behaviours and responses towards bears. Overall, this disseration provides significant insights not only into how people understand polar bear-human interactions but also into how these understandings translate to specific on-the-ground practices