Antecedents Of Employee Engagement

Employee engagement becomes an important issue as employee turnover rise due to demand and shortage of skillful employees. Perikatan Pekerja menjadi suatu isu yang penting pada masa kini akibat permintaan tinggi dan kekurangan pekerja mahir

Hybridation pneumatique d'un moteur diesel en vue de son utilisation dans un système hybride éolien-diesel avec stockage d'énergie sous forme d'air comprimé

II y a plus de 200,000 canadiens qui vivent dans environ 300 communautés isolées, qui ne sont pas connectées aux réseaux électriques provinciaux ou territoriaux. La plupart de ces communautés sont alimentées en électricité via des groupes électrogènes Diesel et subissent ainsi les coûts de carburant qui ne cessent d'augmenter ainsi que les autres frais d'exploitation comme le transport du carburant, la maintenance de Diesel et la dégradation de la qualité de l'air. La perte annuelle d'Hydro-Québec dans les réseaux isolés, résultant de l'écart entre le coût de production de l'électricité et sa tarification, s'élève à 133 millions de dollars. Les énergies renouvelables dont principalement l'énergie éolienne, constituent un potentiel important pour réduire la dépendance à l'égard des combustibles fossiles dans les réseaux électriques. Au cours des deux dernières décennies, il y a eu un taux accéléré des installations d'éoliennes de grande taille, sous forme de grands parcs connectés aux systèmes électriques provinciaux ou nationaux. Les coûts pour ces grandes éoliennes ont diminué jusqu'au point où ils commencent à être comparables aux technologies traditionnelles de génération d'électricité. Cependant, l'intermittence de l'énergie éolienne empêche les parcs éoliens de fonctionner d'une façon autonome dans les sites isolés qui sont paradoxalement très riches en cette ressource naturelle. Les Systèmes Hybrides Éoliens-Diesel (SHED) s'imposent donc comme alternative presqu'unique aux génératrices Diesels. Le Taux de Pénétration en Puissance (TPP) éolienne est un facteur important pour la réduction de la consommation de carburant. Pour des questions de rentabilité, les SHED à haut TPP ne sont pas encore rentables, et ceci principalement à cause de la dissipation de l'énergie éolienne durant les périodes où la puissance éolienne disponible est supérieure à la demande. Le stockage d'énergie excédentaire est une des solutions pour augmenter la rentabilité des ces installations. Des recherches récentes ont conclu que la technique de stockage d'énergie sous forme d'air comprimé dans des cavernes souterraines est la plus adéquate pour les applications SHED compte tenu de ses différents points forts comme le coût, la densité énergétique, la densité de puissance, la durabilité et l'efficacité. Cette technique est très mature et présente déjà à Huntorf en Allemagne et Macintosh en Alabama aux États-Unis, mais combinée avec des turboréacteurs à gaz naturel connectés au réseau central de l'électricité. Afin de permettre la transformation de l'excès de l'énergie éolienne en air comprimé et transformer l'air comprimé en électricité, il est nécessaire d'avoir un ou plusieurs convertisseurs. Proposer une série de compresseurs et de moteurs à air comprimé est une solution coûteuse qui ne peut probablement pas voir le jour à cause de son manque de rentabilité. Une solution économiquement viable serait une hybridation pneumatique du groupe électrogène Diesel, déjà existant sur place, le transformant en un Moteur Hybride Pneumatique-Diesel (MHPD) capable de jouer, en plus de son rôle initial, le rôle d'un moteur à air comprimé et celui d'un compresseur d'air, d'où l'idée d'un Système Hybride Eolien - Diesel - Air Comprimé (SHEDAC) proposée et étudiée dans le détail dans cette thèse. Cette thèse présente une analyse détaillée des modifications à apporter au moteur Diesel afin de le transformer en un MHPD. Elle expose également une optimisation du concept ainsi qu'une évaluation de son apport en termes d'économie de carburant dans un site cible et ceci pour différentes hypothèses de volume de stockage d'air et de TPP éolienne installée. Dans le village isolé nord-Canadien Tuktoyaktuk, actuellement équipé d'une génératrice Diesel de 1 MW, la production d'électricité nécessite 1080 tonnes de carburant par an. Si un SHED à haute pénétration (TPP = 2) était mis en place dans ce village, la consommation de carburant serait seulement 561 tonnes par an, soit une baisse de 48%. En ajoutant un système de stockage d'air comprimé de 100,000 m3 et en transformant le moteur Diesel en un MHPD, la consommation annuelle de carburant baisserait encore de 13%, pour atteindre 415 tonnes. Afin d'obtenir ce gain significatif, il est nécessaire d'apporter plusieurs modification au moteur Diesel d'origine. Parmi ces modifications, on note principalement : 1. l'ajout de deux vannes trois voies, une installée dans le conduit d'admission, reliant celui-ci soit à la sortie du compresseur soit à la sortie du réservoir d'air comprimé ; et une installée dans le conduit d'échappement, connectant celui-ci soit à l'entrée de la turbine, soit à l'air libre ; 2. le remplacement du système de distribution par arbre à came par un système de distribution électromagnétique ou piézo-électrique permettant de prendre le contrôle, via un dispositif externe, sur les instants d'ouverture et de fermetures des soupapes d'admission et d'échappement du moteur ; 3. la prise sous contrôle du système d'injection via un dispositif extérieur, permettant d'actionner ou de couper l'injection du carburant, et d'en contrôler la quantité et la durée. Le contenu de la thèse est présenté sous forme de cinq articles originaux publiés ou soumis à des journaux scientifiques avec comité de lecture, ainsi que trois articles publiés dans des congrès scientifiques avec comité de lecture. Chacun de ces articles fait, au moment de sa soumission, l'objet de l'état de l'avancement de l'étude, selon la méthodologie détaillée dans le chapitre I. - Canada has over 200,000 citizens living in remote communities, many of whom rely on diesel generators for their electricity supply. The economical cost of energy is therefore very high due to not only inherent cost of fuel but also to transportation and maintenance costs. The environmental cost of energy is also high as the use of fossil fuels for electricity generation is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. Renewable energy for remote areas is being investigated to reduce the oil dependency. Among all renewable energies, the wind energy experiences the fastest growing rate, at more than 30% annually for the last 5 years in Canada, which led to significant reduction in installation cost. However, the intermittency of this free energy makes impossible replacing the Diesel generators by wind farms in remote areas. The use of hybrid Wind-Diesel Systems (WDS) is therefore the only reasonable alternative to Diesels. For a WDS, the fuel saving is higher for greater Wind Power Penetration Rate (WPPR), which is the ratio of the maximal wind generated power to the maximal load. Unfortunately, WDS with high WPPR are not cost - effective due to the high amount of wasted energy that occurs when the wind power is higher than the load. For this reason, adding an energy-storage element to the WDS is the only way to increase the WPPR and therefore the fuel savings. Previous studies proved that Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) is very adequate for WDS due to its low cost, high power density, good efficiency and reliability. In order to store and restore energy, one or several pneumatic converters are needed. Knowing that the maximal power of the air motors existing in the market does not exceed 5 kW, suggesting the addition of several air motors and compressors would not be cost effective. To solve this problem, this research suggests a pneumatic hybridization of the existing Diesel engine in order to transform it into a Hybrid Pneumatic-Diesel Engine (HPDE) able to operate as a conventional Diesel engine, an air compressor and air motor. The innovative idea of doing a multi-hybrid wind-Dieselcompressed air system is therefore born. This thesis investigates in details all the modifications of the Diesel engine required to transform it into a HPDE. It presents an optimization of the concept and an evaluation of its potential of fuel-savings generated by a WDS-HPDE power generation compared to a Diesel-only power generation and a WDS power generation, depending on the WPPR and the storage capacity, in a certain area. The North-Canadian remote village Tuktoyaktuk is presently equipped with a Diesel power supply system of 1MW capacity. The power production consumes 1080 tons of fuel every year. If a high penetration WDS (WPPR=2) were installed, the power production would consume only 561 tons of fuel, i.e. 48% less. By adding a CAES of 100,000 m3 and turning the Diesel engine into an HPDE, the fuel consumption of the multi-hybrid system for generating the power in Tuktoyaktuk would be only 415 tons, i.e. 13% less. To obtain this significant fuel economy, the following modifications of the Diesel engine's architecture are necessarily: 1. The addition of two 3-way valves: the first one, installed in the admission duct, connects the engine's intake either to the charger's outlet or to the CAES tank ; the second one, installed in the exhaust duct, connects the engine's exhaust either to the turbine's inlet or to the atmosphere; 2. The replacement of the cam-driven valve system by an electromagnetic or a piezoelectric valve system. The timing and duration of opening and closing of intake and exhaust valves could therefore be controlled via an external device. 3. The control of the fuel injection system (duration and timing) via an external device. This thesis is produced in the form of five original papers published or submitted to international journals and three papers published in international conferences with reviewing committee. Each of these journal-articles summarizes the results of one part of the methodology explained in the first chapter

Cost-Benefit Analysis of a Multi-Component Breastfeeding Promotion and Support Intervention in a Developing Country: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Breastfeeding is associated with a reduction in infant and maternal morbidity and mortality. Despite the well-established recommendations to exclusively breastfeed infants for at least six months, the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in Lebanon and worldwide remains low. Lebanon also suffers from many gaps in its healthcare and nutrition systems, and recently from a severe economic crisis. Previous economic evaluations showed that increasing breastfeeding rates reduced healthcare costs by improving mother and child health and quality of life. However, none of the studies identified the economic effect throughout the first two years of the infant’s life, taking into consideration infant and maternal illnesses, nor included a detailed breakdown of the direct and indirect costs related to breastfeeding. The aim of this study is to conduct a cost-benefit assessment of a multi-component breastfeeding promotion and support intervention that was implemented in a randomized clinical trial involving healthy Lebanese pregnant women who were followed up for two years postpartum. Methods: This is a prospective study in which secondary analysis was conducted on data generated from a multi-center, two-arm, single-blinded randomized clinical trial to investigate the effect of multi-component breastfeeding promotion and support intervention on six-month exclusive breastfeeding in Lebanese women. The cost-benefit analysis compares infant nutrition costs, maternal and infant health costs, the cost for implementation and delivery of the multi-component breastfeeding intervention, as well as the incurred overall costs between the trial’s intervention and control groups. Additional analyses were conducted to compare the incurred overall costs by the type of infant nutrition: exclusive breastfeeding, mixed feeding, and exclusive formula feeding, irrespective of maternal trial group allocation. Results: The intervention did not generate monetary benefits during the first month and the first six months. However, the benefits of the intervention were shown at 1 year (benefit-cost ratio = 2.44) and 2 years (benefit-cost ratio = 2.82) post-partum. In addition, there was no difference between both groups in terms of costs of infant nutrition, doctor visits for infant illnesses, infant hospitalizations, infant medications, maternal non-routine doctor visits due to BF, and overall total cost at any time point, in unadjusted and adjusted analyses. Analyses of incurred costs by infant nutrition type revealed that exclusive breastfeeding was associated with a reduction in overall expenditure, and cost of infant hospitalizations during the first six months, and the second year of the infant’s life. Moreover, it was associated with a lower cost of infant medications during the first three months, and during the second year of life. Conclusion: This study showed that the economic benefits of the multi-component intervention started to show at one-year post-partum. In view of the economic crisis in Lebanon, this study is the first step to enabling policymakers to invest in breastfeeding promotion

The Effect Of Dam Impounded Waters On Reservoir Induced Seismicity: Case Studies From Bisri, Qaraoun, And Mseilha Dams

The objective of this thesis is to assess the risk of reservoir induced seismicity due to dam impounded water over or near faults, taking into consideration various effects such as the reservoir-fault location, and the amplitude and period of water-level changes. For this purpose, detailed modeling of different case studies was conducted using COMSOL Multiphysics to estimate the destabilization effect of each reservoir on nearby faults. The coulomb failure stresses (CFS) are plotted along the faults, and their variations are observed in relation to pore pressures, normal, and shear stresses. Positive CFS values indicate destabilization of the faults thus a higher probability for seismicity, while negative values indicate stabilization. On one hand, initial seismicity can be seen as an increase in CFS resulting from the initial impoundment of the reservoir as well as diffusion of pore pressure and can prevail for months or few years. On the other hand, protracted seismicity appears after the initial effect of the reservoir filling has diminished and can persist for decades, which presents a serious risk. As such, reservoir induced seismicity is studied for the planned Bisri reservoir and the existing Qaraoun and Mseilha reservoirs, and a comparison among them is made to understand how the location and size of the reservoir with respect to the nearby fault can lead to different results. This thesis aims at providing an understanding of the risks of building dams and impounding water in certain areas without taking into consideration the presence of faults, so that more informed and safe decisions can be made in choosing future dam locations

The Relationship Between Antecedents of Employee Engagement & Employee Engagement in Banking Sector

This study aims to find the precursors that influence employees engagement, as the organizational performance becomes progressively worse due to high turnover and related matters such as high absenteeism, low loyalty and productivity. This exploratory research was conducted among employees working in the banking sector to test the relationship between the antecedents comprising of employee communication, employee development, reward and recognition and extended employee care. Structured questionnaire was the best method to collect data. The researcher used statistical inference & Multiple Regression to test the relationship between variables. The result shows that there is a significant relationship between antecedents comprising of employee communication, employee development, reward and recognition and extended employee care. Among the antecedents, employee development forms the most significant contributor. The data was collected directly from employees working in various banking sector across Aqaba, Jordan. It provides first hand information on relationship between Antecedents and employee engagement

Analysis of the Hydrogeological Conditions Affecting Fault Response to Nearby Hydraulic Fracturing

The response of critically stressed dormant faults to fluid perturbation, by oil and gas production, has been a major public concern because of its link to induced seismicity. In this paper, we study the hydrogeological factors that affect a nearby fault response, during and after hydraulic fracturing (HF) operations, evaluated by the change in Coulomb Failure Stress (CFS) and the rate of seismicity (R) through coupling solid deformation and fluid flow. Our results show that the pore pressure increases rapidly in a fault that is close (hydraulically connected) to HF operations, which might lead to its activation when the injection rate is high. When the fault is adjacent to HF but distant from it, its shallow region is subjected to a stabilizing deformation-induced normal compressive stress and its deeper region is destabilized under extension. In this case, the fault orientation and damage zone size have a significant effect on the fault's stability and response. On the other hand, decreasing the rate of injection can either increase or decrease the CFS values depending on the fault location and the dominant stresses. Therefore, serious attention should be given to the fault position, its architecture, and the injection rate to help reduce the potential for induced seismicity from HF. Our findings are verified and confirmed using the case of the Duvernay formation in Alberta, Canada, where the reported seismic data correlate with high CFS and R values. © 2022. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved

Short Term Predicting Volatility Service Jordanian Sector

Stock market volatility have added an important section in risk scholarship and it is actual  problem particularly in emerging markets. Earlier, it is measured by standard deviation of the  return. Consequently, in this research the volatility data will be predicted based on ARIMA model (Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average model) of the service sector  in Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) from January 2019 to December 2019. Consequently this article shows that the ARIMA model has important results in prediction. Therefore, These outcomes will be helpful for the investments. Keywords: ARIMA model, forecasting, Service sector. DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/11-36-14 Publication date: December 31st 201

Fitting ARIMA model for volatility insurance time series data

The volatility of stock  market data have contributed an essential section in risk study and it is very serious problem especially in emerging markets. Previously it is measured by standard deviation of the return. Therefore, in this article the volatility data will be predicted based on Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average model  (ARIMA) using insurance stock market data from Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) from January 2019 to December 2019. As a result this article shows that the ARIMA model has significant results for short-term prediction. Therefore, These results will be helpful for the investments. Keywords: ARIMA model, forecasting, Insurance Sector DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/11-36-13 Publication date: December 31st 201

Gestion par projets et risques pour la santé psychologique au travail dans la nouvelle économie

Y a-t-il des problèmes de santé mentale propres au travail dans la nouvelle économie ? Quoiqu’on puisse constater que le modèle de demande psychologique - autonomie décisionnelle de Karasek et Theorell- trouve aussi son application dans les milieux de travail qui empruntent cette forme, on observe, en fait, des formes particulières de ces facteurs dans la forme d’organisation du travail propre à la gestion par projets. Assimilables à « l’hypersollicitation par le client » comme il a été repéré par Christophe Dejours, ces formes ont été observées lors d’une enquête menée récemment sur la conciliation entre la vie privée et la vie professionnelle dans sept organisations montréalaises. La recherche qualitative a recueilli en tout le discours de 88 répondants distribués également selon le sexe et exerçant des fonctions liées au génie informatique. Ces observations permettent d’envisager une nuance au modèle théorique de la santé mentale ci-haut mentionné, visant à tenir compte des effets délétères d’une très grande latitude décisionnelle assortie de très grandes responsabilités chez des travailleurs hautement qualifiés.Are there distinct mental health problems among workers in the new economy? Although we may observe that the psychological demand - decision latitude model of Karakek and Theorell is appropriate and also finds its application in this type of workplace, we also notice some particular forms that these factors take in the management-by-project work organization model. Akin to the so-called "client’s hyper-demanding activity" as identified by Christophe Dejours, these forms were observed during a recent field study about balancing work and family in seven Montreal organizations. The qualitative study collected data from 88 individual interviews of information technology engineers, evenly distributed by gender. These observations allow a nuance of the above-mentioned theoretical mental health model to be considered, to take into account the deleterious effects of a very broad decision latitude combined with huge responsibilities among highly qualified workers.Existen problemas de salud mental relacionados específicamente con el trabajo en la nueva economía ? A pesar que constatamos que el modelo de exigencia psicológica – autonomía en la decisión de Karasek y Theorell se aplica en los medios laborales que adquieren esa forma, observamos, en realidad, formas particulares que toman éstos factores en las formas de organización del trabajo características de la gestión de proyectos. Pudiendo asimilarlos a la « hipersolicitación por parte del cliente » identificada por Christophe Dejours, estas formas fueron observadas durante una investigación llevada a cabo recientemente acerca de la conciliación entre la vida privada y la vida profesional en siete organizaciones de Montreal. La investigación cualitativa ha recabado en total el relato de 88 personas distribuídas igualmente en ambos sexos y que ejercen funciones relacionadas con la ingeniería informática. Estas observaciones permiten considerar un matiz en el modelo teórico de la salud mental mencionado más arriba, y tener en cuenta los efectos nocivos de una gran latitud decisional acompañada de grandes responsabilidades en trabajadores altamente calificados