123 research outputs found

    An algebraic characterization of a class of Petri Nets

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    A satellite data driven biophysical modeling approach for estimating northern peatland and tundra CO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e and CH\u3csub\u3e4\u3c/sub\u3e fluxes

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    The northern terrestrial net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB) is contingent on inputs from vegetation gross primary productivity (GPP) to offset the ecosystem respiration (Reco) of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions, but an effective framework to monitor the regional Arctic NECB is lacking. We modified a terrestrial carbon flux (TCF) model developed for satellite remote sensing applications to evaluate wetland CO2 and CH4 fluxes over pan-Arctic eddy covariance (EC) flux tower sites. The TCF model estimates GPP, CO2 and CH4 emissions using in situ or remote sensing and reanalysis-based climate data as inputs. The TCF model simulations using in situ data explained \u3e70% of the r2 variability in the 8 day cumulative EC measured fluxes. Model simulations using coarser satellite (MODIS) and reanalysis (MERRA) records accounted for approximately 69% and 75% of the respective r2 variability in the tower CO2 and CH4 records, with corresponding RWSE uncertainties of 1.3 gCM-2 d-1 (CO2) and 18.2 mg Cm-2 d-1 (CH4). Although the estimated annual CH4 emissions were small (gCm-2 yr-1) relative to Reco (\u3e180 gCm-2 yr-1), they reduced the across-site NECB by 23%and contributed to a global warming potential of approximately 165±128 gCO2eqm−2 yr−1 when considered over a 100 year time span. This model evaluation indicates a strong potential for using the TCF model approach to document landscape-scale variability in CO2 and CH4 fluxes, and to estimate the NECB for northern peatland and tundra ecosystems

    The changing nature of labour regulation: the distinctiveness of the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry

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    The article addresses the changing nature of labour regulation through analysis of the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry, originating in 1981. It shows how multiple spatial regulatory scales, the changing coalitions of actors involved, employer and client engagement and labour agency have been critical to National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry's survival

    The employee as 'Dish of the Day’:human resource management and the ethics of consumption

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    This article examines the ethical implications of the growing integration of consumption into the heart of the employment relationship. Human resource management (HRM) practices increasingly draw upon the values and practices of consumption, constructing employees as the ‘consumers’ of ‘cafeteria-style’ benefits and development opportunities. However, at the same time employees are expected to market themselves as items to be consumed on a corporate menu. In relation to this simultaneous position of consumer/consumed, the employee is expected to actively engage in the commodification of themselves, performing an appropriate organizational identity as a necessary part of being a successful employee. This article argues that the relationship between HRM and the simultaneously consuming/consumed employee affects the conditions of possibility for ethical relations within organizational life. It is argued that the underlying ‘ethos’ for the integration of consumption values into HRM practices encourages a self-reflecting, self-absorbed subject, drawing upon a narrow view of individualised autonomy and choice. Referring to Levinas’ perspective that the primary ethical relation is that of responsibility and openness to the Other, it is concluded that these HRM practices affect the possibility for ethical being

    Participant Observation as Ethnography or Ethnography as Participant Observation in Organizational Research

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    There is a strong tradition of observational research in most areas of the social sciences, especially in Anthropology and Sociology. However, in business and management research observation is often seen as a poor relative to questionnaire surveys and qualitative interviewing. This chapter discusses the use of observational techniques especially for less experienced researchers planning their first major investigation, exploring the difference between participant and non-participant approaches, different techniques of data collection, recording and analysis. Rather than seeking to provide a full guide to conducting participant observation, an impractical task in a single chapter, this offering discusses some of the key issues facing researchers in Business and Management who choose to conduct this sort of research, exploring different approaches to participant observation and some of the ethical and practical challenges associated with the collection and analysis of observational data. The chapter draws on the author’s experience of conducting participant observation in organizations with examples of both employee (Sandiford and Seymour, 2002; Seymour and Sandiford, 2013) and customer perspectives (Sandiford and Divers, 2011). It will also draw from ‘classic’ observational studies such as Mars and Nicod (1984) and more recent examples such as Watson and Watson (2012).Peter John Sandifor

    The Human Side of Skills and Knowledge

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    YesThe goal of decent work is best expressed through the eyes of people. It is about your job and future prospects; about your working conditions; about balancing work and family life, putting your kids through school or getting them out of child labour. It is about gender equality, equal recognition, and enabling women to make choices and take control of their lives. It is about personal abilities to compete in the market place, keep up with new technological skills and remain healthy. It is about developing your entrepreneurial skills, about receiving a fair share of wealth that you have helped to create and not being discriminated against; it is about having a voice in your workplace and your community . . . . For everybody, decent work is about securing human dignity (ILO 2001:7 - 8 cited in Green 2006:19 - 20)

    Procjena utjecaja modernizacije i novih tehnoloških procesa na izloženost buci u aluminijskoj industriji

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    The aim of this study was to assess to which extent modernisation of an aluminium production complex reduced occupational noise hazard for jobs with the highest potential of exposure. Periodical measurements of noise level were taken at the same workplaces using the same method, before and after modernisation of all plants. The results were compared with the recommended standard. After modernisation, the noise was significantly reduced in all sections of all plants. The greatest reduction was measured in the foundry. After modernisation, the portion of workplaces with excessive noise level dropped significantly (chi-square=21.315; p<0.0001) from 78.4 % to 13 %. Noise remained a problem in ingot casting and dross skimming section. In the anode plant, noise remained a problem in the green mill section where noise intensities generated by mills and vibrocompactors varied from 95 dB(A) to 102 dB(A). In the electrolysis plant, the portion of workplaces with extensive noise dropped from 77.8 % to 39.3 % after modernisation (p=0.0019). Noise remains to be a problem at the anode covering section where levels rise up to 100 dB(A). The modernisation of the factory has considerably reduced the noise level in the working environment of all plants, but it can not be reduced completely.Cilj je rada procijeniti utjecaj modernizacije tehnološkog procesa proizvodnje aluminija na prisutnost i razinu buke štetne za zdravlje radnika u radnom okolišu. U tu svrhu uspoređivani su rezultati periodičkih mjerenja razine buke prije i nakon modernizacije. Mjerenja intenziteta buke provedena su na istim radnim mjestima i istom metodom tijekom radnih smjena i uspoređeni s važećim nacionalnim standardom. Nakon modernizacije tvornice u svim odjelima proizvodnih pogona značajno se smanjila razina buke, kao i broj radnih mjesta na kojima su radnici izloženi prekomjernoj buci. Najbolji rezultati postignuti su u ljevaonici, gdje se broj radnih mjesta s prekomjernom razinom buke, tj. razinom buke višom od 90 dB(A) smanjio sa 78.4 % na 13 %. Na radnim mjestima gdje se izlijevaju ingoti i skida šljaka buka je i dalje prekomjerna. U pogonu anoda prekomjerna je buka i dalje prisutna pri proizvodnji sirovih anoda, gdje razina buke zbog rada mlinova i vibrokompresora varira od 95 dB(A) do 102 dB(A). U pogonu elektrolize buka viša od 100 dB(A) izmjerena je pri zasipanju anoda. Iako je modernizacijom tvornice i unaprjeđenjem tehnološkog procesa značajno reducirana razina buke, nije ju moguće u cijelosti ukloniti
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