Firm Heterogeneity, Industry Dynamics and Climate Policy

We develop a dynamic general equilibrium model to quantify the interaction between climate policy, industry dynamics, and the elasticity of substitution between clean and dirty energy in the economy. The model incorporates empirical observations that firms differ substantially in their potential for energy substitution and that the economy is growing more capable of substituting clean for dirty energy over time as environmental regulation becomes more stringent. Our model highlights the effect of dynamic industry response on increasing the average elasticity of substitution in the economy due to the exit of least flexible firms in response to climate policy. The higher average elasticity of substitution increases the effectiveness of the policy at reducing emissions, resulting in a 35 percent decrease in the size of the carbon tax required to achieve carbon neutrality

A New Spatiotemporal Risk Index for Heavy Metals: Application in Cyprus

The main aim of this research was to improve risk mapping of heavy metals by accounting for erosion effects. A new spatiotemporal index, namely G2met, is introduced, incorporating the Hakanson index, the G2 model and the Gavrilovic model. The G2met index is expressed in terms of monthly time series of risk maps for each heavy metal and totally. The rich in heavy metals and vulnerable to erosion, island of Cyprus, was selected as a study area, which though was limited to the southern part of the island, where all required data were available. Concentration of major heavy metals was extracted by sampling soil from a grid of 5350 sites. Rainfall, vegetation, soil, land use, topographic, and hydrologic data were collected or calculated from existing European or global databases (WorldClim, BioBar, ESDAC, CORINE, ASTER GDEM, and USGS). A large number of regional-scale risk maps were produced (500-m ell size), i.e. one for each heavy metal and totally per month and annually. Also, choropleth maps per heavy metal are potentially available, in terms of statistics per river basin. The G2met maps provide different patterns in comparison to those depicted by the Hakanson index alone.JRC.H.5-Land Resources Managemen

Η ενσυναίσθηση των ειδικών ψυχικής υγείας κατά την ψυχοθεραπευτική εκπαίδευση

Εισαγωγή: Η ενσυναίσθηση αποτελεί αναμφίβολα μια σημαντική ικανότητα. Πλήθος ερευνών έχουν αναγνωρίσει την ενσυναίσθηση είτε ως ένα πρωταρχικά συναισθηματικό φαινόμενο, είτε ως ένα πρωταρχικά γνωστικό φαινόμενο είτε ως ένα πολυδιάστατο φαινόμενο, το οποίο ενσωματώνει γνωστικά και θυμικά στοιχεία ή μπορεί να διαφοροποιείται ανάλογα με την κατάσταση. Ο ρόλος της ενσυναίσθησης στην κλινική πράξη και στην ψυχοθεραπεία είναι καθοριστικός τόσο στην δόμηση της θεραπευτικής σχέσης όσο και στην θετική θεραπευτική έκβαση. Επομένως, η εκπαίδευση της ενσυναίσθησης κρίνεται απαραίτητη. Ωστόσο, υπάρχει περιορισμένο εύρος μελετών διερεύνησης των ειδικών ψυχικής υγείας κατά την διάρκεια της ψυχοθεραπευτικής εκπαίδευσης τους. Σκοπός: Ο σκοπός της παρούσας έρευνας είναι διττός: α) να διερευνήσει την ενσυναίσθηση των ειδικών ψυχικής υγείας κατά την ψυχοθεραπευτική τους εκπαίδευση και β) να μελετήσει αν η γενική κατάσταση της υγείας τους επηρεάζει την ικανότητά τους να δείχνουν ενσυναίσθηση. Μεθοδολογία: Στην παρούσα προοπτική έρευνα συμμετέχουν 24 ειδικοί ψυχικής υγείας που εκπαιδεύονται στην Γνωσιακή ψυχοθεραπεία. Για την μέτρηση της ενσυναίσθησης χρησιμοποιούνται η Κλίμακα Ενσυναίσθησης και η Κλίμακα Διαπροσωπικής Ανταπόκρισης, και για την μέτρηση της γενικής υγείας το Γενικό Ερωτηματολόγιο Υγείας – 28. Αποτελέσματα: Τα κύρια ευρήματα της παρούσας έρευνας αποτελούν η μείωση της φαντασιακής ενσυναίσθησης των ειδικών ψυχικής υγείας μετά το τέλος του πρώτου έτους της εκπαίδευσής τους στην Γνωσιακή ψυχοθεραπεία (t=3,72, p=0,001), και η θετική συσχέτιση μεταξύ της ενσυναίσθητης ανησυχίας και της γενικής υγείας τόσο στην αρχή, r(24)=0,54, p<0,001, όσο και στο τέλος της εκπαίδευσής τους, r(24)=0,50, p<0,005. Συζήτηση: Από όσο είναι γνωστό, δεν υπάρχουν αναφορές στην βιβλιογραφία που να αξιολογούν άμεσα τις ενσυναισθητικές ικανότητες των ειδικών ψυχικής υγείας κατά την διάρκεια της εκπαίδευσής τους σε μια ψυχοθεραπευτική προσέγγιση. Συνεπώς, η παρούσα έρευνα ανοίγει το δρόμο για την διεξαγωγή ανάλογων ερευνών που θα αναπαράγουν ή και θα επεκτείνουν τα ευρήματά της.Introduction: Empathy is undoubtedly an important ability. Numerous studies have identified empathy either as a primarily emotional phenomenon, or as a primarily cognitive phenomenon, or as a multidimensional phenomenon, which contains cognitive and emotional components or may vary depending on the situation. The role of empathy in clinical practice and in psychotherapy is crucial both in building the therapeutic relationship and in positive therapeutic outcome. Therefore, empathy training is considered necessary. However, there is a limited range of research studies about mental health professionals during their psychotherapeutic training. Aim: The purpose of this study is twofold: a) to investigate empathy of mental health professionals during their psychotherapy training and b) to study whether their health state affects their ability to show empathy. Method: In this prospective study, 24 mental health professionals trained in Cognitive psychotherapy participate. The Empathy Scale and the Interpersonal Response Scale are used to measure empathy, as well as the General Health Questionnaire - 28 is used to measure general health. Results: The main findings of this study are the reduction of the fantasy of the mental health professionals after the end of the first year of their training in Cognitive psychotherapy (t = 3.72, p = 0.001), and the positive correlation between the personal distress and general health both at the beginning, r (24) = 0.54, p <0.001, and at the end of their training, r (24) = 0.50, p <0.005. Discussion: To our knowledge, there are no references in the literature that assess directly empathic abilities of mental health professionals during their training in a psychotherapeutic approach. Therefore, this study paves the way for conducting similar research that will reproduce or even extend its findings

A Microcosm of Colour and Shine. The Polychromy of Chryselephantine Couches from Ancient Macedonia

The present work examines the polychromy applied to a number of fragmentary ivory small-scale sculptures that served as components of the luxurious decoration of chryselephantine couches from ancient Macedonia. The ivory fragments come from funerary contexts (the tomb of Philip II at Aigai, the Macedonian tomb II of Korinos at Pydna and the Macedonian tomb III of Aghios Athanassios near Thessaloniki), all of which are dated to the last quarter of the fourth century BC. The use of bright pigments on the laboriously executed faces of the figures and their garments, together with the gold leaf applied onto the hair and the background, conveys a powerful effect of polychromy that would have immediately caught the spectator’s eye, enhancing the overall aesthetic and material value of such lavishly decorated furniture. The identification of the pigments and the techniques of their application have been studied with the use of analytical methods (XRF, micro-XRF, XRD and SEM-EDS) and multi spectral imaging (Visible Induced Luminescence).Le présent article est consacré aux traces de polychromie retrouvées sur un certain nombre de sculptures fragmentaires en ivoire de petit format composant la somptueuse décoration des lits de banquets chryséléphantins de la Macédoine antique. Ces fragments en ivoire ont été découverts dans des sépultures (la tombe de Philippe II à Aigai, la tombe macédonienne II de Korinos à Pydna et la tombe III d’Aghios Athanassios près de Thessalonique, toutes datées du dernier quart du ive siècle avant Jésus-Christ.L’utilisation de pigments éclatants sur les visages soigneusement travaillés des figurines ainsi que sur leurs vêtements, tout comme la feuille d’or, appliquée sur la chevelure et sur le fond, leur confèrent une puissance de chatoiement qui devait immédiatement frapper le spectateur, renforçant l’impression esthétique comme la valeur matérielle de ce mobilier si fastueusement décoré.L’identification des pigments et les techniques de mise en œuvre employées ont été étudiées à l’aide d’analyses en XRF, micro-XRF, DRX, MEB-EDS et de l’imagerie multi-spectrale (photoluminescence

Measuring, modelling and managing gully erosion at large scales: A state of the art

Soil erosion is generally recognized as the dominant process of land degradation. The formation and expansion of gullies is often a highly significant process of soil erosion. However, our ability to assess and simulate gully erosion and its impacts remains very limited. This is especially so at regional to continental scales. As a result, gullying is often overlooked in policies and land and catchment management strategies. Nevertheless, significant progress has been made over the past decades. Based on a review of >590 scientific articles and policy documents, we provide a state-of-the-art on our ability to monitor, model and manage gully erosion at regional to continental scales. In this review we discuss the relevance and need of assessing gully erosion at regional to continental scales (Section 1); current methods to monitor gully erosion as well as pitfalls and opportunities to apply them at larger scales (section 2); field-based gully erosion research conducted in Europe and European Russia (section 3); model approaches to simulate gully erosion and its contribution to catchment sediment yields at large scales (section 4); data products that can be used for such simulations (section 5); and currently existing policy tools and needs to address the problem of gully erosion (section 6). Section 7 formulates a series of recommendations for further research and policy development, based on this review. While several of these sections have a strong focus on Europe, most of our findings and recommendations are of global significance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Management Zone Delineation for Site-Specific Fertilization in Rice Crop Using Multi-Temporal RapidEye Imagery

The objective of this research is to assess the potential of satellite imagery in detecting soil heterogeneity, with a focus on site-specific fertilization in rice. The basic hypothesis is that spectral variation would express soil fertility variations analogously. A 100-ha rice crop, located in the Plain of Thessaloniki, Greece, was selected as the study area for the 2016 cropping season. Three RapidEye images were acquired during critical growth stages of rice cultivation from the previous year (2015). Management zones were delineated with image segmentation of a 15-band multi-temporal composite of the RapidEye images (three dates × five bands), using the Fractal Net Evolution Approach (FNEA) algorithm. Then, an equal number of soil samples were collected from the centroid of each management zone before seedbed preparation. The between-zone variation of the soil properties was found to be 33.7% on average, whereas the within-zone variation 18.2%. The basic hypothesis was confirmed, and moreover, it was proved that zonal applications reduced within-zone soil variation by 18.6% compared to conventional uniform applications. Finally, between-zone soil variation was significant enough to dictate differentiated fertilization recommendations per management zone by 24.5% for the usual inputs