The impact and compensation of offshore wind farm development: Analysing the institutional discourse from a french case study

In France, the public acceptability of marine renewable energies and their impacts on ecosystem services (ES) involves questions about compensation for stakeholders, who may perceive some of their activities and interests to be modified. This paper seeks to understand how impacts on ES are perceived by institutional stakeholders and what is expected in terms of compensation. It also seeks to identify the communities of practice affected. We focus our study on the planned offshore wind farm in the bay of Saint-Brieuc. Our results show that institutional discourse is heterogeneous, depending on sensitivities, interests, and who or what the stakeholders surveyed represent or defend. Stakeholders' discourse can be interpreted on various gradients of perception. Six distinct communities of practice have been identified, based on the impacts perceived by institutional stakeholders. Lastly, we show that the community of practice seems to be a proper level at which to study perceptions and assess the no-net-loss goal.

Student’s Perceptions of the Community Impact of Social Education Degree Internship

Evaluating the impact of an intervention is a very important stage in social educators’ practice, since it allows them to improve the quality of socio-educational projects. The aim of this study is to rethink the internship of the social education degree through students’ perceptions about the impact of their projects in the community. This is a qualitative and exploratory study using documental analysis of 50 internship final reports of a social education degree from a Portuguese polytechnic higher education institution and whose emerging categorical content analysis was performed with NVivo software. The analysis revealed four distinct indicators linked to the project (accomplished objectives, evaluation of activities, sustainability and innovation), the target group (participation, motivation and benefits), the institution (satisfaction of collaborators, improved dynamic, routines and space enhancements), and the students (relational, reflexive and planning skills; satisfaction). It also revealed instruments, feedback, observation, document analysis and case reports as means of verification. The use of indicators related to the project’s objectives, the changes perceived from the benefits in the target-group and in the institution, and the interveners’ level of satisfaction should be noted as positive. Given the inconsistency in the use of formal assessment instruments, the results show the need to strengthen students’ mobilisation of project assessment skills in order to improve the quality of undergraduate education.

The Environment Of Professional Practice And Burnout In Nurses In Primary Healthcare.

to assess how nurses perceive autonomy, control over the environment, the professional relationship between nurses and physicians and the organizational support and correlate them with burnout, satisfaction at work, quality of work and the intention to quit work in primary healthcare. cross-sectional and correlation study, using a sample of 198 nurses. The tools used were the Nursing Work Index Revised, Maslach Burnout Inventory and a form to characterize the nurses. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics were applied and Spearman's correlation coefficient was used. the nurses assessed that the environment is partially favorable for: autonomy, professional relationship and organizational support and that the control over this environment is limited. Significant correlations were evidenced between the Nursing Work Index Revised, Maslach Burnout Inventory and the variables: satisfaction at work, quality of care and the intent to quit the job. the nurses' perceptions regarding the environment of practice are correlated with burnout, satisfaction at work, quality of care and the intent to quit the job. This study provides support for the restructuring of work processes in the primary health care environment and for communication among the health service management, human resources and occupational health areas.

O esporte paralímpico na formação do profissional em educação física : percepção de professores e acadêmicos = The paralympic sport in physical education professional forming: perceptions of teachers and students

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Occupational therapists' use and perceptions of written client education materials

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to examine occupational therapists' use and perceptions of written education materials for clients and the factors that therapists consider before distributing written materials to clients This study also aimed to determine whether use and perceptions of these materials differed for older clients METHOD. A random sample of 50 occupational therapists from Queensland, Australia, working in adult physical disabilities settings was surveyed with a structured questionnaire Data were analyzed descriptively and with nonparametric statistics RESULTS. Of 49 participants who used written materials, 54% had given them to more than halt of their last 10 clients, regardless of the clients' age Written materials, most often information sheets developed by the participants themselves; handwritten notes; and pamphlets were principally used to reinforce verbal information. Clients' cognitive abilities, primary language, communication skills, vision, and level of education most often were considered before distributing written materials Although participants generally were positive about the content and effectiveness of materials, ratings were significantly less positive related to older clients CONCLUSION. Client education was a core treatment modality for participants in this study, with written media most commonly being used to supplement verbal education Because participants were least positive about the effectiveness of written materials for older clients, further development of materials for this audience may be indicated.

Participation and older people: Meaning, theory and practice

Increasing older people's participation in society is important in ageing policies worldwide. There is a need to understand the challenges for health professionals of transforming policy on participation into liberating social change practices on the ground. This paper explores the meaning, theory and practice of participation. It uses the example of a work in progress project that has attempted to address structural barriers to older people's participation within an Australian aged care facility, to illustrate theoretical and practice principles surrounding participation.

Transport safety for older people: A study of their experiences, perceptions and management needs

With evidence of increasing accident risk due to age-related declines in health and cognition affecting driver performance, there is a need for research promoting safe mobility of older people. The present study aimed to identify transport options and licensing issues for a group of older people in an Australian community. Ninety-five participants aged 75 and over were interviewed about their driving status and accident record and tested for cognitive ability. After stratification on cognitive level and driver status (current, ex-driver or non-driver), 30 were selected for further in-depth interviews concerning demographics, licence status and impact of change, travel options available and used, and travel characteristics. Considerable reliance on the motor vehicle as the mode of transport and the decision to cease driving were major quality-of-life issues. There was little evidence of planning and support in making the decision to stop driving. Some differences in transport decisions on the basis of cognitive level were evident; however, people with severely compromised cognitive ability (and, therefore, unable to give informed consent) had been excluded. The study suggested the need for resources to assist older people/carers/health professionals to plan for the transition from driver to non-driver and to manage alternative transport options more effectively

Improving the public management career: report for the ministry of planning, budgeting e management, federal government of Brazil

This report sets out the findings and recommendations of a review of the Public Management Career (EPPGG) undertaken between 5 and 9 January 2009. The purpose of the review was to clarify EPPGG???s role, functions and profile, and to develop proposals for improving its effectiveness and management, taking account of the context within which such improvements would have to be implemented. Specific objectives were to examine a number of human resources management (HRM) aspects of the career in the light of international practice, including recruitment; initial education; professional development; performance evaluation; deployment; mobility and networking.

Virtual power players dealing with excessive wind power situations using real time pricing

The increasing importance given by environmental policies to the dissemination and use of wind power has led to its fast and large integration in power systems. In most cases, this integration has been done in an intensive way, causing several impacts and challenges in current and future power systems operation and planning. One of these challenges is dealing with the system conditions in which the available wind power is higher than the system demand. This is one of the possible applications of demand response, which is a very promising resource in the context of competitive environments that integrates even more amounts of distributed energy resources, as well as new players. The methodology proposed aims the maximization of the social welfare in a smart grid operated by a virtual power player that manages the available energy resources. When facing excessive wind power generation availability, real time pricing is applied in order to induce the increase of consumption so that wind curtailment is minimized. The proposed method is especially useful when actual and day-ahead wind forecast differ significantly. The proposed method has been computationally implemented in GAMS optimization tool and its application is illustrated in this paper using a real 937-bus distribution network with 20310 consumers and 548 distributed generators, some of them with must take contracts.

A new MILP based approach for unit commitment in power production planning

This paper presents a complete, quadratic programming formulation of the standard thermal unit commitment problem in power generation planning, together with a novel iterative optimisation algorithm for its solution. The algorithm, based on a mixed-integer formulation of the problem, considers piecewise linear approximations of the quadratic fuel cost function that are dynamically updated in an iterative way, converging to the optimum; this avoids the requirement of resorting to quadratic programming, making the solution process much quicker. From extensive computational tests on a broad set of benchmark instances of this problem, the algorithm was found to be flexible and capable of easily incorporating different problem constraints. Indeed, it is able to tackle ramp constraints, which although very important in practice were rarely considered in previous publications. Most importantly, optimal solutions were obtained for several well-known benchmark instances, including instances of practical relevance, that are not yet known to have been solved to optimality. Computational experiments and their results showed that the method proposed is both simple and extremely effective.

Public school teachers’ perceptions about mental health

OBJECTIVE To examine public school teachers’ perceptions about general health and mental health, and the way in which they obtained this information. METHODS Qualitative research was conducted with 31 primary and secondary school teachers at a state school in the municipality of Sao Paulo, SP, Southeastern Brazil, in 2010. The teachers responded to a questionnaire containing open-ended questions about mental health and general health. The following aspects were evaluated: Teachers’ understanding of the terms “health and “mental health,” the relevance of the need for information on the subject, the method preferred for obtaining information, their experience with different media regarding such matters, and perceptions about the extent to which this available information is sufficient to support their practice. The data were processed using the Qualiquantisoft software and analyzed according to the Discourse of the Collective Subject technique. RESULTS From the teachers’ perspective, general health is defined as the proper physiological functioning of the body and mental health is related to the balance between mind and body, as a requirement for happiness. Most of the teachers (80.6%) showed great interest in acquiring knowledge about mental health and receiving educational materials on the subject. For these teachers, the lack of information creates insecurity and complicates the management of everyday situations involving mental disorders. For 61.3% of the teachers, television is the medium that provides the most information on the topic. CONCLUSIONS The data indicate that there is little information available on mental health for teachers, showing that strategies need to be developed to promote mental health in schools.

Maximizing the Social Welfare of Virtual Power Players Operation in Case of Excessive Wind Power

The integration of growing amounts of distributed generation in power systems, namely at distribution networks level, has been fostered by energy policies in several countries around the world, including in Europe. This intensive integration of distributed, non-dispatchable, and natural sources based generation (including wind power) has caused several changes in the operation and planning of power systems and of electricity markets. Sometimes the available non-dispatchable generation is higher than the demand. This generation must be used; otherwise it is wasted if not stored or used to supply additional demand. New policies and market rules, as well as new players, are needed in order to competitively integrate all the resources. The methodology proposed in this paper aims at the maximization of the social welfare in a distribution network operated by a virtual power player that aggregates and manages the available energy resources. When facing a situation of excessive non-dispatchable generation, including wind power, real time pricing is applied in order to induce the increase of consumption so that wind curtailment is minimized. This method is especially useful when actual and day-ahead resources forecast differ significantly. The distribution network characteristics and concerns are addressed by including the network constraints in the optimization model. The proposed methodology has been implemented in GAMS optimization tool and its application is illustrated in this paper using a real 937-bus distribution network with 20.310 consumers and 548 distributed generators, some of them non-dispatchable and with must take contracts. The implemented scenario corresponds to a real day in Portuguese power system.

Real-Time Tariffs for Electric Vehicles in Wind Power based Power Systems

The use of Electric Vehicles (EVs) will change significantly the planning and management of power systems in a near future. This paper proposes a real-time tariff strategy for the charge process of the EVs. The main objective is to evaluate the influence of real-time tariffs in the EVs owners’ behaviour and also the impact in load diagram. The paper proposes the energy price variation according to the relation between wind generation and power consumption. The proposed strategy was tested in two different days in the Danish power system. January 31st and August 13th 2013 were selected because of the high quantities of wind generation. The main goal is to evaluate the changes in the EVs charging diagram with the energy price preventing wind curtailment.

Sound levels and risk perceptions of music students during classes

It is well recognized that professional musicians are at risk of hearing damage due to the exposure to high sound pressure levels during music playing. However, it is important to recognize that the musicians’ exposure may start early in the course of their training as students in the classroom and at home. Studies regarding sound exposure of music students and their hearing disorders are scarce and do not take into account important influencing variables. Therefore, this study aimed to describe sound level exposures of music students at different music styles, classes, and according to the instrument played. Further, this investigation attempted to analyze the perceptions of students in relation to exposure to loud music and consequent health risks, as well as to characterize preventive behaviors. The results showed that music students are exposed to high sound levels in the course of their academic activity. This exposure is potentiated by practice outside the school and other external activities. Differences were found between music style, instruments, and classes. Tinnitus, hyperacusis, diplacusis, and sound distortion were reported by the students. However, students were not entirely aware of the health risks related to exposure to high sound pressure levels. These findings reflect the importance of starting intervention in relation to noise risk reduction at an early stage, when musicians are commencing their activity as students.