64 research outputs found

    smart sustainable islands vs smart sustainable cities

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    This paper has several aims: a) the presentation of a critical analysis of the terms "smart sustainable cities" and "smart sustainable islands" b) the presentation of a number of principles towards to the development methodological framework of concepts and actions, in a form of a manual and actions guide, for the smartification and sustainability of islands. This kind of master plan is divided in thematic sectors (key factors) which concern the insular municipalities c) the creation of an island's smartification and sustainability index d) the first steps towards the creation of a portal for the presentation of our smartification actions manual, together with relative resources, smart applications examples, and, in the near future the first results of our index application in a number of Greek islands and e) the presentation of some proposals of possible actions towards their sustainable development and smartification for the municipalities - islands of Paros and Antiparos in Greece, as case studies

    The Brustkrebs-Studien.de website for breast cancer patients: User acceptance of a German internet portal offering information on the disease and treatment options, and a clinical trials matching service

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The internet portal <url>http://www.brustkrebs-studien.de</url> (BKS) was launched in 2000 by the German Society of Senology (DGS) and the Baden-Württemberg Institute for Women's Health (IFG) to provide expert-written information on breast cancer online and to encourage and facilitate the participation of breast cancer patients in clinical trials. We describe the development of BKS and its applications, and report on website statistics and user acceptance.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Existing registries, including ClinicalTrials.gov, were analysed before we designed BKS, which combines a trial registry, a knowledge portal, and an online second opinion service. An advisory board guided the process. Log files and patient enquiries for trial participation and second opinions were analysed. A two-week user satisfaction survey was conducted online.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>During 10/2005-06/2010, the portal attracted 702,655 visitors, generating 15,507,454 page views. By 06/2010, the website's active scientific community consisted of 189 investigators and physicians, and the registry covered 163 clinical trial protocols. In 2009, 143 patients requested trial enrolment and 119 sought second opinions or individual treatment advice from the expert panel. During the two-week survey in 2008, 5,702 BKS visitors submitted 507 evaluable questionnaires. Portal acceptance was high. Respondents trusted information correctness (80%), welcomed self-matching to clinical trials (79%) and planned to use the portal in the future (76%) and recommend it to others (81%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>BKS is an established and trusted breast cancer information platform offering up-to-date resources and protocols to the growing physician and patient community to encourage participation in clinical trials. Further studies are needed to assess potential increases in trial enrolment by eligibility matching services.</p

    Contemporary methods for evaluating complex project proposals

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    The ability to evaluate project proposals, assessing future success, and organizational value is critical to overall business performance for most enterprises. Yet, predicting project success is difficult and often unreliable. A four-year field study shows that the effectiveness of available methods for evaluating and selecting large, complex project depends on the specific project type, organizational culture, and managerial skills. This paper examines the strength and limitations of various evaluation methods. It also shows that, especially in complex project situations, the decision-making process has to go beyond the application of just analytical methods, but has to incorporate both quantitative and qualitative measures into a combined rational judgmental evaluation process. Equally important, the evaluation process must be effectively linked among functional support groups and with senior management in order to strategically align the project proposal and to unify the evaluation team and stakeholder community behind the mission objectives. All of this requires leadership and managerial skills in planning, organizing, and communicating. The paper suggests specific leadership actions, organizational conditions, and managerial processes for evaluating complex project proposals toward future value and success

    Optimal wind-hydro solution for Aegean Sea islands' electricity-demand fulfilment

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    Energy shortage and clean-water deficit, especially during the summer, are among the main factors delaying the economic development of Aegean Sea islands. All these islands possess an outstanding wind potential. However, the stochastic behaviour of wind speed leads to significant disharmony between wind energy production and electricity demand. Hence, the prospect of creating a combined wind-hydro energy production station is found to be a vital solution for all these islands, under the preconditions of maximum energy autonomy and limited first installation cost. Accordingly, a methodology of optimal wind-hydro solution estimation is developed and subsequently applied to several typical Aegean Sea island cases, in order to define the most beneficial configuration of the proposed renewable station. All numerical calculations are based on real data, like long-term wind speed measurements, demanded electrical-load and operational characteristics of the system components. In all cases analyzed, the renewable energy sources penetration exceeds 85%, while a significant part of the system's wind energy surplus is forwarded to a desalination plant for clean-water production.Wind-hydro power plant Optimal energy solution Remote islands Energy autonomy

    The anterior inferior angle fracture of a lower cervical vertebra

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    Thirty-eight cases of a &quot;tear drop&quot; fracture of the lower cervical spine treated in our department during the last 20 years are reported. They represent 8.3% of all cervical injuries. We classified our cases into four types with regard to the extent of the bony lesion and the resulting posterior displacement of the vertebral body. Posterior displacement is of paramount importance. Neurological lesions were present in 52.6% of the patients, and they were related to the type of injury. Five patients died, and 33 were followed up for a mean period of 10 years. Five patients were operated on. All patients with a complete neurological lesion remained unchanged irrespective of the type of treatment. Incomplete neurological lesions showed a better tendency to recover after surgical treatment. Types III and IV are the more serious lesions, and they represent an absolute indication for surgical treatment. Type I is more benign and, if treated properly, has a good prognosis similar to type II. © 1994 Springer-Verlag

    Income loss due to wind energy rejected by the Crete island electrical network - the present situation

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    During the last 4 years, a substantial wind energy penetration was encountered mainly in the Greek mainland. At the same time, limited size new wind-parks were built in the numerous Greek islands, although their wind potential is clearly higher than the one for the mainland and their wind energy generation could be used to replace electricity produced by diesel engines and gas turbines at moderate and high cost, respectively. This negative conclusion for the Greek island communities underlines the inability of the local weak autonomous electrical networks to entirely absorb the gradually increased wind-energy production. Thus, in the present work, special attention is paid to correctly estimate the annual income loss of existing wind-parks, due to the wind energy rejection by the autonomous island electrical grids. For this purpose a complete and reliable method is developed, able to realistically calculate the instantaneous wind-power production rejected by the local electricity-generation system, according to the information provided by the system operator and the wind-park owners. The present analysis is based on extensive time series of real data and measurements. Applying the proposed method to the Crete-island network situation, a remarkable amount of wind produced electric-energy rejection is predicted for the last 3 years, which is definitely rising in the course of time. Calculation results are well in agreement with the official monthly data provided by the local power-utility, in view of the existing power-purchase agreement between the private wind-power investors and the local network management.Wind power Autonomous electrical-generation systems Energy rejection Financial loss Wind park Power-purchase agreement
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