Carbon credit card services and the impact potential on Co2 emissions in the Eu - conceptualization of a Co2 reduction impact model

Section 3 presents a conceptual overview of the CO2 Reduction Impact Model. The model aims to investigate the reduction potential of EU carbon emissions over the next ten years by the adoption of Carbon Credit Card Services. Three scenarios have been developed to determine the impact potential based on different levels of improved sustainable behavior by users. The three scenarios are then impacted by three main factors: emission development, user development and behavior & adaption. Additionally, personas with individual behaviors are generated to represent the EU population. By improved sustainable behavior among the personas, the impact of Carbon Credit Card Services increases

Finnish Companies' Business Operations in the Baltic Sea Region: Locational Sources of Firm-Specific Competitiveness

The paper analyzes the locational sources of firm-specific competitive advantages of Finnish companies in the Baltic Sea region. Views of managers responsible for foreign operations in 100 Finnish companies form the base of the study organized in systematic way in the framework of a survey and interviews conducted in Finland in the Spring of 2002. The analysis of the survey data is implemented via statistical analysis. Evidence was found for the claim that a major part of the Finnish companies' created assets, especially technological ones, are of home country origin. Nevertheless, certain other sources of competitiveness, such as consumer demand for upgraded product quality; inter-firm competition; and links with companies operating in the same industry are originating to a significant extent in other Baltic Rim countries, especially EU member countries. It was also found that technology intensity and the degree of transnationality of the companies are company characteristics that explain to what extent companies are taking advantage of foreign sources of competitiveness

Cervical spine reposition errors after cervical flexion and extension

BACKGROUND: Upright head and neck position has been frequently applied as baseline for diagnosis of neck problems. However, the variance of the position after cervical motions has never been demonstrated. Thus, it is unclear if the baseline position varies evenly across the cervical joints. The purpose was to assess reposition errors of upright cervical spine. METHODS: Cervical reposition errors were measured in twenty healthy subjects (6 females) using video-fluoroscopy. Two flexion movements were performed with a 20 s interval, the same was repeated for extension, with an interval of 5 min between flexion and extension movements. Cervical joint positions were assessed with anatomical landmarks and external markers in a Matlab program. Reposition errors were extracted in degrees (initial position minus reposition) as constant errors (CEs) and absolute errors (AEs). RESULTS: Twelve of twenty-eight CEs (7 joints times 4 repositions) exceeded the minimal detectable change (MDC), while all AEs exceeded the MDC. Averaged AEs across the cervical joints were larger after 5 min’ intervals compared to 20 s intervals (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to demonstrate single joint reposition errors of the cervical spine. The cervical spine returns to the upright positions with a 2° average absolute difference after cervical flexion and extension movements in healthy adults. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12891-017-1454-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

High-energy electron-induced damage production at room temperature in aluminum-doped silicon

DLTS and EPR measurements are reported on aluminum-doped silicon that was irradiated at room temperature with high-energy electrons. Comparisons are made to comparable experiments on boron-doped silicon. Many of the same defects observed in boron-doped silicon are also observed in aluminum-doped silicon, but several others were not observed, including the aluminum interstitial and aluminum-associated defects. Damage production modeling, including the dependence on aluminum concentration, is presented

Implementing a new Emergency Department: A qualitative study of health professionals\u27 change responses and perceptions

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study is two-fold. It explores how managers and key employees at the Emergency Department (ED) and specialist departments in a university hospital in the Capital Region of Denmark respond to the planned change to a new ED, and how they perceive the change involved in the implementation of the new ED. The study investigates what happens when health professionals are confronted with implementation of policy that changes their organization and everyday work lives. Few studies provide in-depth investigations of health professionals\u27 reactions to the implementation of new EDs, and particularly how they influence the implementation of a nationwide organizational change framed within a political strategy. METHODS: The study used semi-structured individual interviews with 51 health professionals involved in implementation activities related to an organizational change of establishing a new ED with new patient pathways for acutely ill patients. The data was deductively analyzed using Leon Coetsee\u27s theoretical framework of change responses, but the analysis also allowed for a more inductive reading of the material. RESULTS: Fourteen types of responses to establishing a new ED were identified and mapped onto six of the seven overall change responses in Coetsee\u27s framework. The participants perceived the change as particularly three changes. Firstly, they wished to create the best possible acute patient pathway in relation to their specialty. Whether the planned new ED would redeem this was disputed. Secondly, participants perceived the change as relocation to a new building, which both posed potentials and worries. Thirdly, both hopeful and frustrated statements were given about the newly established medical specialty of emergency medicine (EM), which was connected to the success of the new ED. CONCLUSIONS: The study showcases how implementation processes within health care are not straightforward and that it is not only the content of the implementation that determines the success of the implementation and its outcomes but also how these are perceived by managers and employees responsible for the process and their context. In this way, managers must recognize that it cannot be pre-determined how implementation will proceed, which necessitates fluid implementation plans and demands implementation managements skills

Radiation Induced Point and Cluster-Related Defects with Strong Impact to Damage Properties of Silicon Detectors

This work focuses on the investigation of radiation induced defects responsible for the degradation of silicon detectors. Comparative studies of the defects induced by irradiation with 60Co- rays, 6 and 15 MeV electrons, 23 GeV protons and 1 MeV equivalent reactor neutrons revealed the existence of point defects and cluster related centers having a strong impact on damage properties of Si diodes. The detailed relation between the microscopic reasons as based on defect analysis and their macroscopic consequences for detector performance are presented. In particular, it is shown that the changes in the Si device properties after exposure to high levels of 60Co- doses can be completely understood by the formation of two point defects, both depending strongly on the Oxygen concentration in the silicon bulk. Specific for hadron irradiation are the annealing effects which decrease resp. increase the originally observed damage effects as seen by the changes of the depletion voltage. A group of three cluster related defects, revealed as deep hole traps, proved to be responsible specifically for the reverse annealing. Their formation is not affected by the Oxygen content or Si growth procedure suggesting that they are complexes of multi-vacancies located inside extended disordered regions.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figure