The Europeanisation of occupational health services: A study of the impact of EU policies

This study concerns Framework Directive 89/391/EEC on health and safety at work, which encouraged improvements in occupational health services (OHS) for workers in EU member states. Framework Directive 89/391/EEC originally aimed at bringing the same level of occupational health and safety to employees in both the public and private sectors in EU member states. However, the implementation of the framework directive and OHS varies widely among EU member states. Occupational health services have generally been considered an important work-related welfare benefit in EU member states. The purpose of this study was to analyse OHS within the EU context and then analyse the impact of EU policies on OHS implementation as part of the welfare state benefit. The focus is on social, health, and industrial policies within welfare state regimes as well as EU policy-making processes affecting these policies in EU member states. The research tasks were divided into four groups related to the policy, functions, targets,and actors of OHS. The questions related to policy tried to discover the role of OHS in other policies, such as health, social, and labour market policies within the EU. The questions about functions sought to describe the changes, as well as the path dependence, of OHS in EU member states after the framework directive. The questions about targets were based on the general aims of WHO and the ILO in relation to equity, solidarity, universality, and access to OHS. The questions on actors were designed to understand the variety of stakeholders interested in OHS. The actors were supranational (EU, ILO, and WHO), national (ministries, institutes, and professional organisations), and social partners (trade unions and employers organisations). The study data were collected by interviewing 92 people in 15 EU member states, including representatives of ministries, institutions, research,trade unions, employers organisations, and occupational health organisations. Other documents were collected from the Internet,databases, libraries, and conference materials for a systematic review of the policies, strategies, organisation, financing, and monitoring of OHS in EU member states. Different analytical methods were used in the data analysis. The main findings of the study can be summarised as follows. First, occupational health services is a context-dependent phenomenon, which therefore varies according to the development of the welfare state in general, and depends on each country s culture, history, economy, and politics. The views of different stakeholders in EU member states concerning the impact and possibilities of OHS to improve health vary from evidence-based opinions to the sporadic impact of OHS on occupational health. OHS as a concept is vaguely defined by the EU, whereas the ILO defines OHS content. The tasks of OHS began as preventive and protective services for workers. However, they have moved towards multidisciplinary and organisational development as well as the workplace health promotion sphere.Since 1989 OHS has developed differently in different EU member states depending on the starting position of those states, but planning and implementation are crucial phases in the process toward better OHS coverage, equity, and access. Nevertheless, the data used for the planning and legitimisation of OHS activities are mainly based on occupational health data rather than on OHS data. This makes decisions on political or policy grounds inaccurate. OHS is still an evolving concept and benefit for workers, but the Europeanisation of OHS reflects contextual changes, such as the impact of the internal market, competition, and commercialisation on OHS. Stronger cooperation and integration with health, social, and employment services would be an asset for workers, because of new epidemics, an epidemiological shift towards new risks, an ageing labour market, and changes in the labour market. Different methods and approaches are needed in order to study the results of integrated services. In the future, more detailed information will be needed about the actual impact of EU policies on OHS and decision-making processes in order to get OHS into different policies in the EU and its member states. Further results and effects of OHS processes on occupational health need to be analysed more carefully. The adoption of a variety of research strategies and a multidisciplinary approach to understand the influence of different policies on OHS in the EU and its member states would highlight the options and opportunities to improve workers occupational health. Key subject headings: Occupational health services, EU policy, policymaking,framework directive 89/391/EEC

Efficient Energy Management Policies for Networks with Energy Harvesting Sensor Nodes

We study sensor networks with energy harvesting nodes. The generated energy at a node can be stored in a buffer. A sensor node periodically senses a random field and generates a packet. These packets are stored in a queue and transmitted using the energy available at that time at the node. For such networks we develop efficient energy management policies. First, for a single node, we obtain policies that are throughput optimal, i.e., the data queue stays stable for the largest possible data rate. Next we obtain energy management policies which minimize the mean delay in the queue. We also compare performance of several easily implementable suboptimal policies. A greedy policy is identified which, in low SNR regime, is throughput optimal and also minimizes mean delay. Next using the results for a single node, we develop efficient MAC policies.

Studio portrait of members of the Provisional Government of Baden (Die badische vorläufig Regierung).

Die badische vorläufig Regierung Stehend von links: Fritz Stockinger, Min d Unterrichts; Leop Rueckert, Min d Verkehrs; Ludw. Marum, Min d Justiz; Herm Rob Dietrich, Min d Auswaertigen; Ad Schwarz, Min f soziale Fuersorge; Bruemmer, Min fur milit Ang; sitzend: Karl Jos Wirth, Min d Finanzen; Gust Jos Ludw Trunk, Min f Ernaeh; sitzend Center: Anton Geiss, Minister President; Ludwig Haas, Interior; Marzloff, Transition & Housing

Is prosopis a curse or a blessing? : An ecological economic analysis of an invasive alien tree species in Sudan.

The issue of the usefulness of different prosopis species versus their status as weeds is a matter of hot debate around the world. The tree Prosopis juliflora had until 2000 been proclaimed weedy in its native range in South America and elsewhere in the dry tropics. P. juliflora or mesquite has a 90-year history in Sudan. During the early 1990s a popular opinion in central Sudan and the Sudanese Government had begun to consider prosopis a noxious weed and a problematic tree species due to its aggressive ability to invade farmlands and pastures, especially in and around irrigated agricultural lands. As a consequence prosopis was officially declared an invasive alien species also in Sudan, and in 1995 a presidential decree for its eradication was issued. Using a total economic valuation (TEV) approach, this study analysed the impacts of prosopis on the local livelihoods in two contrasting irrigated agricultural schemes. Primarily a problem-based approach was used in which the derivation of non-market values was captured using ecological economic tools. In the New Halfa Irrigation Scheme in Kassala State, four separate household surveys were conducted due to diversity between the respective population groups. The main aim was here to study the magnitude of environmental economic benefits and costs derived from the invasion of prosopis in a large agricultural irrigation scheme on clay soil. Another study site, the Gandato Irrigation Scheme in River Nile State represented impacts from prosopis that an irrigation scheme was confronted with on sandy soil in the arid and semi-arid ecozones along the main River Nile. The two cases showed distinctly different effects of prosopis but both indicated the benefits to exceed the costs. The valuation on clay soil in New Halfa identified a benefit/cost ratio of 2.1, while this indicator equalled 46 on the sandy soils of Gandato. The valuation results were site-specific and based on local market prices. The most important beneficial impacts of prosopis on local livelihoods were derived from free-grazing forage for livestock, environmental conservation of the native vegetation, wood and non-wood forest products, as well as shelterbelt effects. The main social costs from prosopis were derived from weeding and clearing it from farm lands and from canalsides, from thorn injuries to humans and livestock, as well as from repair expenses vehicle tyre punctures. Of the population groups, the tenants faced most of the detrimental impacts, while the landless population groups (originating from western and eastern Sudan) as well as the nomads were highly dependent on this tree resource. For the Gandato site the monetized benefit-cost ratio of 46 still excluded several additional beneficial impacts of prosopis in the area that were difficult to quantify and monetize credibly. In River Nile State the beneficial impact could thus be seen as completely outweighing the costs of prosopis. The results can contributed to the formulation of national and local forest and agricultural policies related to prosopis in Sudan and also be used in other countries faced with similar impacts caused by this tree.

Government entity contribution to an effective partnership privatisation

The partnership form of privatisation is increasingly being used, in particular to carry out complex and evolving bundles of services. These have not previously been privatised because of incomplete contracts and contract management difficulties. Improved performance of the government entity as contract administrator and member of the partnership is crucial to modern service delivery expectations yet the privatisation literature has focused on other aspects of partnerships leaving the understanding of factors impacting the effectiveness of the government entity underdeveloped. This paper proposes the development of knowledge as to the range of factors which impact the effectiveness of the government entity. There is limited data available as to the operation of trust in the partnership relationship, and as to the capability of a range of privatisation forms to achieve stewardship of infrastructure. This research will utilise the findings from that research to build a tentative framework which will be utilised in staged research interrogating first the privatization literature and then the literature of other disciplines and sectors. The combined data will be analysed to provide government and practitioners such as government entity CEO’s with a complete listing of the operation of the factors which impact the effectiveness of the government entity in contributing to improved service delivery.

Muscle activation patterns in the Nordic hamstring exercise: Impact of prior strain injury

This study aimed to determine: 1) the spatial patterns of hamstring activation during the Nordic hamstring exercise (NHE); 2) whether previously injured hamstrings display activation deficits during the NHE, and; 3) whether previously injured hamstrings exhibit altered cross-sectional area. Ten healthy, recreationally active males with a history of unilateral hamstring strain injury underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of their thighs before and after 6 sets of 10 repetitions of the NHE. Transverse (T2) relaxation times of all hamstring muscles (biceps femoris long head, (BFlh); biceps femoris short head (BFsh); semitendinosus (ST); semimembranosus (SM)), were measured at rest and immediately after the NHE and cross-sectional area (CSA) was measured at rest. For the uninjured limb, the ST’s percentage increase in T2 with exercise was 16.8, 15.8 and 20.2% greater than the increases exhibited by the BFlh, BFsh and SM, respectively (p<0.002 for all). Previously injured hamstring muscles (n=10) displayed significantly smaller increases in T2 post-exercise than the homonymous muscles in the uninjured contralateral limb (mean difference -7.2%, p=0.001). No muscles displayed significant between limb differences in CSA. During the NHE, the ST is preferentially activated and previously injured hamstring muscles display chronic activation deficits compared to uninjured contralateral muscles.

Organisational sustainability policies and employee green behaviour: The mediating role of work climate perceptions

Organisations are increasingly introducing sustainability policies to encourage environmentally friendly behaviours. Employees' green work climate perceptions (i.e., how they perceive their organisations' and co-workers' orientations towards environmental sustainability) may constitute psychological mechanisms that link such policies with behaviour. We present findings of a study on relationships among the perceived presence of organisational sustainability policies, green work climate perceptions and employee reports of their green behaviour (EGB). We hypothesised that green work climate perceptions mediate the positive relationship between employees' perceptions of the presence of a sustainability policy and EGB. Results based on data from 168 employees supported our hypotheses. Green work climate perceptions of the organisation and of co-workers differentially mediated the effects of the perceived presence of a sustainability policy on task-related and proactive EGB. These findings extend research on the efficacy of sustainability policies by shedding new light on the psychological mechanisms that link them with EGB.

Land leasing, land degradation and agricultural productivity in Finland

This study analysed whether the land tenure insecurity problem has led to a decline in long-term land improvements (liming and phosphorus fertilization) under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and Nordic production conditions in European Union (EU) countries such as Finland. The results suggests that under traditional cash lease contracts, which are encouraged by the existing land leasing regulations and agricultural subsidy programs, the land tenure insecurity problem on leased land reduces land improvements that have a long pay-back period. In particular, soil pH was found to be significantly lower on land cultivated under a lease contract compared to land owned by the farmers themselves. The results also indicate that land improvements could not be reversed by land markets, because land owners would otherwise have carried out land improvements even if not farming by themselves. To reveal the causality between land tenure and land improvements, the dynamic optimisation problem was solved by a stochastic dynamic programming routine with known parameters for one-period returns and transition equations. The model parameters represented Finnish soil quality and production conditions. The decision rules were solved for alternative likelihood scenarios over the continuation of the fixed-term lease contract. The results suggest that as the probability of non-renewal of the lease contract increases, farmers quickly reduce investments in irreversible land improvements and, thereafter, yields gradually decline. The simulations highlighted the observed trends of a decline in land improvements on land parcels that are cultivated under lease contracts. Land tenure has resulted in the neglect of land improvement in Finland. This study aimed to analyze whether these challenges could be resolved by a tax policy that encourages land sales. Using Finnish data, real estate tax and a temporal relaxation on the taxation of capital gains showed some potential for the restructuring of land ownership. Potential sellers who could not be revealed by traditional logit models were identified with the latent class approach. Those landowners with an intention to sell even without a policy change were sensitive to temporal relaxation in the taxation of capital gains. In the long term, productivity and especially productivity growth are necessary conditions for the survival of farms and the food industry in Finland. Technical progress was found to drive the increase in productivity. The scale had only a moderate effect and for the whole study period (1976–2006) the effect was close to zero. Total factor productivity (TFP) increased, depending on the model, by 0.6–1.7% per year. The results demonstrated that the increase in productivity was hindered by the policy changes introduced in 1995. It is also evidenced that the increase in land leasing is connected to these policy changes. Land institutions and land tenure questions are essential in agricultural and rural policies on all levels, from local to international. Land ownership and land titles are commonly tied to fundamental political, economic and social questions. A fair resolution calls for innovative and new solutions both on national and international levels. However, this seems to be a problem when considering the application of EU regulations to member states inheriting divergent landownership structures and farming cultures. The contribution of this study is in describing the consequences of fitting EU agricultural policy to Finnish agricultural land tenure conditions and heritage.

Essays on socially optimal phosphorus policies in crop production

Phosphorus is a nutrient needed in crop production. While boosting crop yields it may also accelerate eutrophication in the surface waters receiving the phosphorus runoff. The privately optimal level of phosphorus use is determined by the input and output prices, and the crop response to phosphorus. Socially optimal use also takes into account the impact of phosphorus runoff on water quality. Increased eutrophication decreases the economic value of surface waters by Deteriorating fish stocks, curtailing the potential for recreational activities and by increasing the probabilities of mass algae blooms. In this dissertation, the optimal use of phosphorus is modelled as a dynamic optimization problem. The potentially plant available phosphorus accumulated in soil is treated as a dynamic state variable, the control variable being the annual phosphorus fertilization. For crop response to phosphorus, the state variable is more important than the annual fertilization. The level of this state variable is also a key determinant of the runoff of dissolved, reactive phosphorus. Also the loss of particulate phosphorus due to erosion is considered in the thesis, as well as its mitigation by constructing vegetative buffers. The dynamic model is applied for crop production on clay soils. At the steady state, the analysis focuses on the effects of prices, damage parameterization, discount rate and soil phosphorus carryover capacity on optimal steady state phosphorus use. The economic instruments needed to sustain the social optimum are also analyzed. According to the results the economic incentives should be conditioned on soil phosphorus values directly, rather than on annual phosphorus applications. The results also emphasize the substantial effects the differences in varying discount rates of the farmer and the social planner have on optimal instruments. The thesis analyzes the optimal soil phosphorus paths from its alternative initial levels. It also examines how erosion susceptibility of a parcel affects these optimal paths. The results underline the significance of the prevailing soil phosphorus status on optimal fertilization levels. With very high initial soil phosphorus levels, both the privately and socially optimal phosphorus application levels are close to zero as the state variable is driven towards its steady state. The soil phosphorus processes are slow. Therefore, depleting high phosphorus soils may take decades. The thesis also presents a methodologically interesting phenomenon in problems of maximizing the flow of discounted payoffs. When both the benefits and damages are related to the same state variable, the steady state solution may have an interesting property, under very general conditions: The tail of the payoffs of the privately optimal path as well as the steady state may provide a higher social welfare than the respective tail of the socially optimal path. The result is formalized and an applied to the created framework of optimal phosphorus use.

Jer. (Jerusalem) - Government House

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The Impact of Emissions Trading on the Price of Electricity in Nord Pool : Market Power and Price Determination in the Nordic Electricity Market

The objective of this thesis is to find out how dominant firms in a liberalised electricity market will react when they face an increase in the level of costs due to emissions trading, and how this will effect the price of electricity. The Nordic electricity market is chosen as the setting in which to examine the question, since recent studies on the subject suggest that interaction between electricity markets and emissions trading is very much dependent on conditions specific to each market area. There is reason to believe that imperfect competition prevails in the Nordic market, thus the issue is approached through the theory of oligopolistic competition. The generation capacity available at the market, marginal cost of electricity production and seasonal levels of demand form the data based on which the dominant firms are modelled using the Cournot model of competition. The calculations are made for two levels of demand, high and low, and with several values of demand elasticity. The producers are first modelled under no carbon costs and then by adding the cost of carbon dioxide at 20€/t to those technologies subject to carbon regulation. In all cases the situation under perfect competition is determined as a comparison point for the results of the Cournot game. The results imply that the potential for market power does exist on the Nordic market, but the possibility for exercising market power depends on the demand level. In season of high demand the dominant firms may raise the price significantly above competitive levels, and the situation is aggravated when the cost of carbon dioixide is accounted for. Under low demand leves there is no difference between perfect and imperfect competition. The results are highly dependent on the price elasticity of demand.

Interventions, policies, and future research directions in partner violence

There have been sweeping changes in policy and practice on violence against intimate partners over the past several decades. New laws, policies, programs, and research funding have shaped the literature on this topic as well as the contours of violence itself. A substantial portion of the contemporary research literature is devoted to the policies and interventions that affect intimate partner violence. This chapter will first review key policy changes that have shaped interventions in violence against intimate partners. Second, it will map major areas of research on policy and intervention in violence and abuse. Finally, it will propose directions for future research.

The Interplays of Histories, Economies and Cultures in Human Adaptation and Settlement Patterns : The Cases of the Faroe Islands and Greenland

The Arctic peoples are currently faced with the challenge of adapting to climate change. Adaptive strategies have been central for the survival of the Northern communities also in the past. This doctoral dissertation is a comparative study of how two Northern societies, the Faroe Islands and Greenland, have responded to challenges caused by the interplay of environmental, political and socio-economic changes. Its main objective is to describe the characteristics of respective adaptive strategies developed in the two societies and to show which connections exist between adaptation and the development of the settlement patterns. This study is based on document analysis, supported by an analysis of demographic and economic statistics. For the field work, the empirical method of landscape-reading was applied. A narrative approach was used to explain interrelations between adaptive strategies and societal developments in the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Maps illustrating development and changes in settlement patterns in different time periods are central for this study because they illustrate the impacts of adaptation on settlement development. The results of this dissertation show that people in the Faroe Islands and Greenland have consciously developed their settlements and used this as an adaptive strategy: different types of settlements were established depending on which kind of resource base was available. Strong dependency on a single resource is likely to increase the probability that settlement development was impacted by it. The interrelation of natural resource use and settlement pattern development has weakened in the Faroe Islands and Greenland from the mid-1900s. Since then, the importance of the government settlement policies has become pronounced and the existing settlement pattern, including settlements without prospects for genuine economic viability, has been preserved. Currently, the Northern communities are increasingly dependent on worldwide developments. In the light of this study, the communities can respond to challenges of globalization and climate change and develop new kind of adaptive strategies, such as diversification of their economic activities. This dissertation shows that it is important to extend studies about community adaptation in the High North to consider the overall development of the Northern settlement patterns.

Naomi Block Manners Stern collection of Eleanor Roosevelt correspondence undated, 1941-1962, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1984, 2003

This collection is mainly composed of correspondence between Ms. Stern and Mrs. Roosevelt, spanning the years from their first acquaintance in 1941 to Mrs. Roosevelt's decease in 1962. Letters that hold particular interest concern Ms. Stern's experience at the Summer Student Leadership Institute, and the White House. Additional material in the collection encompasses articles, newsclippings, programs, press releases, and photographs. The articles and newsclippings folder contains information pertaining to Ms. Stern's college career, the first Summer Student Leadership Institute, Mrs. Roosevelt's talk at Community Day, National Youth Association, and a donation of an ambulance to the war effort by Hunter college students. Naomi Block Manners Stern personal folder contains an article Naomi Block wrote in her college magazine, "Echo," describing her perceptions of President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill during her first visit at the White House. Also included is her graduation program, listing Mrs. Roosevelt as the main speaker, a commemoration of President Roosevelt in 1972 in which Ms. Stern took part, an article and press release describing Ms. Stern's career at Revlon, and a 2003 written summary of Ms. Stern's relationship with Mrs. Roosevelt. Photographs were taken by Naomi Block and others at the Summer Leadership Institute in 1941 portray identified fellow students, Mrs. Roosevelt, James Roosevelt, the Roosevelt home in Campobello, and Felix Frankfurter.