Οι ολοένα αυξανόμενες ενεργειακές απαιτήσεις των σημερινών κοινωνιών και το γεγονός ότι οι ηλεκτρικές συσκευές και εξοπλισμός έχουν γίνει αναπόσπαστο κομμάτι της καθημερινότητάς μας, έχει οδηγήσει στην αναγωγή του ηλεκτρισμού σε κοινωνικό αγαθό. Παρόλα αυτά, η υπερβολική του χρήση έχει προκαλέσει έντονες ανησυχίες στο κοινό, όσον αφορά τα ηλεκτρομαγνητικά πεδία που εκπέμπονται λόγω του εναλλασσόμενου ρεύματος. Η παρούσα εργασία αποσκοπεί να ξεδιαλύνει το «θολό τοπίο» γύρω από τις επιδράσεις των χαμηλόσυχνων ηλεκτρομαγνητικών πεδίων (δηλαδή τα εκπεμπόμενα πεδία από τις εγκαταστάσεις ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας και τις ηλεκτρικές συσκευές) στην ανθρώπινη υγεία κι έτσι να συνεισφέρει ως ένα βαθμό στην άρση των ανησυχιών του κοινού και των επιπτώσεων που αυτές συνεπάγονται. Ειδικότερα, η εργασία μπορεί να συνοψιστεί ως εξής: Στο Κεφάλαιο 1 γίνεται μια θεωρητική αναφορά στις βασικές έννοιες της ηλεκτρομαγνητικής ακτινοβολίας. Προσδιορίζονται οι επιβλαβείς ακτινοβολίες για την υγεία καθώς επίσης και οι ιδιότητες των χαμηλόσυχνων ηλεκτρομαγνητικών πεδίων. Ακόμη, παρουσιάζονται οι κανονισμοί προστασίας και τα όρια έκθεσης σε ηλεκτρομαγνητικά πεδία, τόσο στην Ευρώπη, όσο και στην Ελλάδα. Στο Κεφάλαιο 2 παρουσιάζονται αναλυτικά οι διαφορετικές πηγές χαμηλόσυχνων ηλεκτρομαγνητικών πεδίων και γίνεται σύγκριση των πεδιακών εντάσεων στο περιβάλλον τους. Στο Κεφάλαιο 3 γίνεται λόγος για τη βιολογική επίδραση των ηλεκτρομαγνητικών πεδίων. Παρουσιάζονται οι επιδράσεις τους στην ανθρώπινη υγεία και οι δράσεις που λαμβάνουν χώρα τόσο για τη μελέτη αυτών των επιδράσεων, όσο και για την προστασία του κοινού. Στο Κεφάλαιο 4 γίνεται ανασκόπηση του προτύπου λήψης μετρήσεων που ακολουθήθηκε. Εξετάζεται το πρότυπο ΙΕC 61786 για μέτρηση χαμηλόσυχνων ηλεκτρομαγνητικών πεδίων και αναφέρονται κάποια χαρακτηριστικά του προτύπου EN 50413 για μέτρηση ηλεκτρομαγνητικών πεδίων όλων των συχνοτήτων. Στο Κεφάλαιο 5 περιγράφεται ο σκοπός και ο εξοπλισμός των μετρήσεων. Παρατίθενται τα αποτελέσματα των μετρήσεων συνοδευόμενα με διαγράμματα και σχόλια επί της μεταβολής της μαγνητικής επαγωγής στο περιβάλλον υποσταθμών μέσης τάσης.Τέλος συνοψίζονται τα συμπεράσματα που εξάγονται με βάση όσα εξετάστηκαν στην παρούσα εργασία. Σύμφωνα με αυτά δεν πρέπει να υπάρχει κανένας λόγος ανησυχίας για την επίδραση των χαμηλόσυχνων ηλεκτρομαγνητικών πεδίων στην ανθρώπινη υγεία, καθώς τηρούνται όλοι οι κανονισμοί, οι οποίοι εμπεριέχουν μεγάλους συντελεστές ασφαλείας. / The ever-increasing energy demands of today's society and the fact that electrical appliances and equipment have become an integral part of our daily lives has led to the deduction of electricity into social good. However, its excessive use has caused great concern to the public, regarding to electromagnetic fields’ emissions because of the AC current. This essay aims to unravel the "misty area" around the effects of low frequency electromagnetic fields (i.e. fields emitted from power systems and electrical appliances) to human health and thus contribute to some extent to the disentanglement of public preoccupations and the consequences arising therefrom. In particular, this essay can be summarized as follows: In Chapter 1 there is a theoretical report in the basic concepts of electromagnetic radiation. Harmful radiation as well as the properties of low frequency electromagnetic fields is identified. Moreover, protection regulations and limits on exposure to electromagnetic fields are presented, both in Europe and in Greece. In Chapter 2 different sources of low frequency electromagnetic fields are presented and the fields’ intensities in their environment are compared. Chapter 3 talks about the biological effects of electromagnetic fields. It also presents the effects on human health and the actions that take place for the study of these effects, and for the public’s protection. Chapter 4 gives an overview of the pattern of taking measurements that was followed. The IEC 61786 standard for measuring low frequency electromagnetic fields is examined and some features of the standard EN 50413 for measuring electromagnetic fields of all frequencies are presented. Chapter 5 describes the measurements’ purpose and equipment. The measurements’ results are given, which are accompanied by charts and comments about the change of the magnetic induction around medium voltage substations. Finally, the conclusions based on this essay’s data are summed up, according to which, there should be no reason for public concern about the effect of low frequency electromagnetic fields on human health, since compliance with all special regulations, which contain large safety factors, is being performed.

Kostnaderna för fuktskador i Sverige uppskattas årligen uppgå till mångmiljard belopp. Fuktskador i byggnader medför också en ökad risk för ohälsa hos brukarna. Kunskapen för att producera fuktsäkra byggnader finns men utnyttjas inte i den omfattning den borde. Den 1 juli 2007 träder en ny upplaga av Boverkets byggregler i kraft. Förtydliganden har gjorts i avsnittet gällande fukt, vilka underlättar verifieringen av entreprenadens fuktsäkerhet. Reglerna innefattar också krav på kritiska fukttillstånd i material. Denna studie syftar till att kartlägga brister i produktionsskedet och hur produktionen kan utvecklas för att motsvara de i Boverkets byggregler ställda krav på fuktsäkerhet. Intervjuer har förts med olika representanter i byggbranschen för att ge en helhetssyn av fuktproblematiken. Göran Hedenblad vid Boverket menar att tillsynen och kontrollen av fukt kan och måste bli bättre på byggarbetsplatsen. Fuktkonsulten Tord Nilsson hävdar att de nya kraven innebär ett paradigmskifte som medför stora förändringar på dagens sätt att producera byggnader. De intervjuer som gjordes med beställare och entreprenör visar dock på både bristande fuktkunskap och bristande strategi för att nå ett fuktsäkert byggande. Vid fältstudien påvisades brister i produktionen med avseende på skydd av material och konstruktion, uttorkning och utförandet av fuktkvotsmätningar. Många av dessa brister härrör från att fuktproblematiken inte har en central roll vare sig i program-, projekteringseller produktionsskedet. Vidare konstateras att kunskapsnivån för att hantera fukt kan utvecklas hos all personal och i alla delar av byggprocessen. Av de observationer som gjorts under fältstudien har åtgärdsförslag till en ökad fuktsäkerhet sammanställts i rapporten. Vidare har ett informationsblad utarbetats för att informera om fukt och dess skadeverkningar samt att ge några förslag till åtgärder som kan förbättra fukthanteringen ute på byggarbetsplatsen. Informationsbladet bör placeras på byggarbetsplatsen för att stödja entreprenören i sitt fuktsäkringsarbete. Eftersom ramverket för projektet är fastslaget då produktionsfasen tar vid innebär detta begränsningar för fuktsäkerhetsarbetet. För att skapa bättre förutsättningar för en fuktsäkrare produktion anser vi att en fuktsakkunnig skall anlitas så tidigt som möjligt i projektet. / The costs regarding moisture damages in buildings in Sweden are expected to reach several billions SEK each year. These moisture damages also result in an increased risk regarding health issues among the users. The knowledge of how to produce moisture secure buildings exists, but it is not beeing used to the extent it could be. The first of July 2007 a new edition of Boverket´s regulations regarding buildings takes effect. Boverket is the Swedish board of housing, building and planning. Clarifications have been made concerning moisture issues which facilitate the verifications of moisture security in the chain of building production. The regulations also contain demands according to critical levels of moisture in building materials. This study is meant to survey errors in the production phase and how the production can develop to correspond to the regulations stated by Boverket regarding moisture safety. We interviewed different representatives in the building sector to give a general impression of the moisture issues. Göran Hedenblad at Boverket states that the supervision and control regarding moisture on the construction site can and must be improved. The moisture consultant Tord Nilsson believes that the new demands will result in huge changes concerning the way buildings are produced. The interviews carried out with the future proprietor and the contractor displayed a lack of knowledge and strategy concerning how to produce moisture secure structures. The field study pointed out incongruities concerning how building materials and the constructions were protected from moisture influence, evaporation and the control of the moisture levels in the structure. Many of these flaws originate from the fact that moisture issues are not a central matter, neither in the phase of planning nor production. Further it can be established that the level of knowledge regarding how to deal with moisture problems can be developed among all personnel and sectors in the building process. The observations implemented during the field study have resulted in several preventive measures which are compiled in this thesis. Further has an information sheet been put together with the purpose to inform about these preventive measures and the damages moisture inflicts upon structures and human beings. The information sheet should be placed on the construction site to support the contractors in their work for a more moisture safe production.

This study deals with sustainability reporting in three governmental and three non-governmental Swedish companies in different industries. With increasing demands from the society regarding company’s CSR - Corporate social responsibility, the perspective of accounting gets broader and covers even non-financial information to meet not only the owners’ demands but also others stakeholders' requirements. Sustainability has become an important tool for creating company’s business value and a positive sustainable external image. Different requirements in the field of such accounting for state and non-state enterprises make the phenomenon interesting to study. The purpose of this study was to find out how the sustainability reporting differs between governmental and non-governmental Swedish companies and how it is influenced by the legitimacy and stakeholders’ perspective. The six companies included in the case study were state-owned SAS, Vattenfall and TeliaSonera and non-governmental Peab, Alfa-Laval and RNB Retail and Brands. To understand the phenomenon and explain the empirical data the using of legitimacy and stakeholder theories were helpful. Furthermore, mandatory and optional regulations in the area were presented, as well as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines, which are becoming more recognized as a standard for sustainability reporting. The Empirical data was taken from interviewing the qualified people from the respective companies, corporate sustainability reports and other sustainability-related information. After the completed research it revealed that sustainability reporting is different depending on the type of company, its business and its stakeholders. The non-mandatory regulation in the area creates flexibility for the company, which gives companies greater capacity and opportunity for self-regulation within the CSR field.

Diet is mentioned by many seamen as a subject of joy and aims to give nutritional value and sufficient energy to manage a long working day at sea. The purpose with this investigation is to examine if there is a need among seamen to receive more information about diet regulations onboard and if they wish that it was shaped differently to meet their demands. The study is based on a literature part where diet regulations are examined and an interview part with semi structured qualitative interviews with five seamen. The conclusion of the study indicates that seamen have limited knowledge about the enunciation of the regulation, where it is to be found and consider it to be imprecise. Interviews showed that seamen believe that variety is the most important factor in diet intake and it was this expression that they primarily wanted stated in the regulations. There are legitimate reasons to assume that Livsmedelsverket´s (compare NFA) recommendations also are applicable regarding diet at sea. A good diet is not only good for the individual’s health but also gains including safety and quality of work performed. / Kosten anges av många sjömän som ett glädjeämne ombord och ska ge den näring och energi som krävs för att orka med en lång arbetsdag på sjön. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka om det finns ett behov hos sjömän att få mera information om kostregleringen ombord och om de önskar att den vore utformad annorlunda för att möta deras krav. Arbetet baseras på en litteraturdel där kostregleringen undersöks och en intervjudel med semistrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer med fem sjömän.  Sammanfattningsvis tyder vår undersökning på att sjömän har bristande kännedom om regleringens utformning, var den återfinns samt anser att den är oprecis. Intervjuerna visade att sjömän anser att variation är den viktigaste faktorn i kostintaget och det var också detta uttryck som främst önskades framgå av regleringen. Det finns välmotiverade skäl att utgå från Livsmedelsverkets rekommendationer även på sjön. Ett bra kostintag är inte bara bra för individens hälsa utan ger också vinster i bland annat säkerheten och kvaliteten på utfört arbete.

This study investigates the impact of nutrient management regulations on pig farms in Ontario, Canada. Using mathematical programming, small, medium and large farrow to finish and finishing pig farms are examined using uniform and crop requirement based manure application. The model scenarios characterize the cost of compliance when nutrient application standards are applied from the Nutrient Management Act and a previously proposed standard from the Clean Water Act. Compliance costs for scenarios with uniform manure application are ≤6.47%; while compliance costs for scenarios with crop requirement based manure application are ≤0.25%. The Nutrient Management Act has two calculations for nutrient application standards, producers must comply with the less binding calculation. Compliance costs for producers under the less binding standard following a uniform manure application strategy are ≤1.53%; while producers following a crop requirement based manure application strategy have no compliance costs. The proposed Clean Water Act standard is more restrictive than the Nutrient Management Act standards. / Ontario Pork, OMAFRA

This study examines the compliance cost of current and proposed environmental and species regulations on Ontario beef cattle farms. A mathematical programming model was used to simulate regulatory scenarios under the Ontario Nutrient Management Act (2002), the Ontario Clean Water Act (2007) and the Ontario Endangered Species Act (2007). Both the feedlot and cow-calf models are examined using a uniform manure application and optimal nutrient management strategy in each scenario. Under the Nutrient Management Act, feedlot operations using a uniform application strategy face compliance costs of up to 3.09%, but can eliminate compliance costs altogether by switching to an optimal nutrient application strategy. Compliance costs for cow-calf farmers are up to 9.57% under a land reduction scenario and 8.68% with a previously proposed land restriction. The Endangered Species Act scenario causes cow-calf farmers to face compliance costs of up to 6.60% due to restricted use of alfalfa and pasture land. / OMAFRA

Galimybe įsidarbinti Europos Sąjungos institucijose domisi daugelis valstybių narių piliečių. Toks darbas suteikia ypatingą patirtį unikalioje organizacinėje struktūroje, garantuoja ypač įvairias veiklos galimybes, suteikia visas įmanomas socialines garantijas ir motyvuojantį atlyginimą. Pagrindinis būdas tapti Europos Sąjungos pareigūnu yra laimėti atvirą konkursą, kurį paskelbia visų institucijų konkursus organizuojantis Europos Personalo atrankos biuras – EPSO. Nuo 2004 m. gegužės 1 d. tokiuose konkursuose gali dalyvauti ir Lietuvos piliečiai. Magistro baigiamajame darbe "Konkursai įsidarbinti Europos Sąjungos institucijose ir Lietuvos piliečių galimybės juose" siekta išnagrinėti, kodėl ES institucijose dirba palyginti mažas lietuvių skaičius ir išsiaiškinti, kiek tai yra susiję su atsakingų Lietuvos institucijų veikla. Taip pat norėta išanalizuoti konkursų organizavimo ir reglamentavimo raidą Europos Sąjungoje, išnagrinėti darbo skelbimo struktūrą, reikalavimus kandidatams ir konkurso etapus bei apibūdinti darbą Europos Sąjungos institucijose, atkreipiant dėmesį į ES pareigūno tarnybos ypatumus. Apibendrinant išnagrinėjus konkursų įsidarbinti Europos Sąjungos institucijose organizavimą ir atlikus anketinę ES institucijose jau dirbančių Lietuvos piliečių apklausą siekta parodyti jų galimybes sėkmingai dalyvauti konkursuose bei pateikti rekomendacijas, kokių papildomų priemonių šioje srityje turėtų imtis Lietuvos institucijos. Šiame darbe vartojamos tokios pagrindinės... [to full text] / Possibility to work in EU institutions is an interest of many citizens of the Member states. Such a job gives a special experience in an unique organizational structure, guarantees extremely wide area of activities, provides with all possible social benefits and motivating salary. The main way how to become a EU official is to win an open competition which is organized by EPSO – European Personnel Selection Office – which is responsible for the competitions of all institutions. The citizens of Lithuania has also got this opportunity since 1st of May in 2004. The aim with the master work „Competitions in order to get a job in the institutions of the European Union assessing Lithuanians‘ potential“ was to scrutinize why a considerably small number of Lithuanians is working in EU institutions and to find out how it is combined with the activities of the responsible Lithuanian institutions. The aim was also to provide an overview of the development of competitions’ organization and reglamentation in the EU, to evaluate the structure of the Notice of competition, requirements for the candidates, the stages of competitions and to characterize the work in the EU paying attention to the work specifics of the EU official. Having the knowledge how the competitions are organized and having the results of the questionnaire of the Lithuanians who already work for EU institutions it was possible to evaluate their opportunities to participate successfully in the competitions and to propose... [to full text]

Background and Research Problem: It is well-known that nurses around the world are exposed to various forms of violence at their workplaces. In psychiatric facilities, many of these incidents are perpetrated by patients against nurses. There is a perception that the current legislation and regulations in the country do not adequately protect psychiatric nurses (health care workers in general) against workplace violence. The preliminary literature suggested that most quantitative studies on workplace violence in psychiatric facilities have concentrated on secondary and tertiary psychiatric hospitals looking at the prevalence, the association between demographic factors and violence behaviour, nurses‟ therapeutic responses, and the impacts on the quality of care. Studies on workplace violence in a psychiatric facility for adults with intellectual disability in the country are limited. Secondly, it appeared from the preliminary literature review that similar studies have not looked at this phenomenon from the individual resilience perspective.Therefore, this study will seek to determine the factors associated with the psychological response of nurses‟ victims of inpatient violence in a psychiatric facility for adults with intellectual disability in Cape Town.Aim: To determine factors associated with the psychological response of nurses‟ victims of in-patient violence in a psychiatric facility for adults with intellectual disability in Cape Town. Objectives: To describe the (1) individual resilience of nurses working at a psychiatric facility for adults with intellectual disability; (2) psychological response of nurses‟ victims of in-patients‟ violence at a psychiatric facility for adults with intellectual disability; and (3) association between the individual resilience characteristics and the psychological responses of nurses victims of in-patients‟ violence in a psychiatric facility for adults with intellectual disability.Methodology: Descriptive-exploratory design using a quantitative approach was used.All categories of nurses (professional nurse, enrolled nurse and enrolled nursing assistance) working at the psychiatric facility for adults with intellectual disability were eligible for the study. Convenient sampling was conducted to select 127 participants who met the inclusion criteria. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analysed using the SAS V9.3 computer programme. Ethical clearance was obtained from University as well as approval from the management of the psychiatric facility prior to approaching the study participants. Results: The results of the study showed high level of resilience among nurses on Assessment of Resilience Scale (82.9%, n=104); nurses psychological responses to violence were equally distributed between avoidance (mean =4.65 and SD=1.36), intrusion (mean= 4.55 and SD=1.50), hyper arousal (mean=4.46 and SD=1.60) resulting in total mean of 13.67 (SD=4.14) on the revised Impact of Event Scale (IES-R). Measure of association between resilience and the impact of violence on the psychological wellbeing of nurses showed that nurses with high resilience score (82.9%, n=104) fitted the symptoms of PTSD on the IES-R. Spearman Rank correlations (r) analysis showed the total scores of IES-R (r=0.04, p=0.68), avoidance (r=0.01, p= 0.34), intrusion (r=0.08,p=0.34), and hyper-arousal (r= -0.002, p=0.97). Further research looking at the nurses‟ reliance and their responses using resilience theory is needed. / Magister Curationis - MCur

There exists no predefined framework for aviation policy making and development. While aviation policy planning in most developed countries comes as a result of institutional and industry coordination and is embedded within other national policies addressing the welfare and growth of the country, it is found that in many cases in less developed countries (LDCs), aviation policy planning is often influenced by political pressures and the interests of fund donors. The complexity of this situation in the developing countries results in aviation plans that represent stand alone studies and attempt to find solutions to specific problems rather than comprehensive aviation plans which fit well the country‘s competitiveness profile and are properly coordinated with other national policies for achieving medium and long-term objectives. This study provides a three-stage policy development framework for aviation strategic planning based on situational analysis and performance benchmarking practices in order to assemble policy elements and produce a best-fit aviation strategy. The framework builds on study results that indicate an association between air transport sector performance and aviation policy strategies, arguing that it is not sufficient to simply describe performance but also to be able to assess it and understand how policymakers can use strategic planning tools to affect the air transport industry efficiency levels. This can be achieved by recognizing the level of the country‘s stage of development and working on enhancing the policy elements that produce better output and induce more contributions by aviation to the national economic development and connectivity levels. The proposed aviation policy development framework is systematic and continuous. It helps policymakers in LDC to manage uncertainty in complex situations by allowing them to defend, correct and re-examine the policy actions based on a forward thinking approach which incorporates the contingency elements of the policy and tracks the developments that can affect the odds of its success. The framework‘s elements and its flow of process are explained by providing an illustrative example applied to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Purpose: Our purpose is to investigate if the documentation of an internalaudit department at banks reflects a shift towards more consultingactivities, and how this potential change in the internal audit doc-umentation can be explained. Background: Previous research indicates that internal audit has developed fromits traditional assurance activities to include more consulting ac-tivities such as risk management assistance and corporate govern-ance support. Some researches argue that this development canhave a negative impact on internal auditor independence. Howev-er, there is a lack of research in this area using documentation andcontent analysis of internal audit reports. Method: In this study, we have done qualitative content analysis of internaldocuments collected from the period 2004-2013. These docu-ments are analyzed using a coding scheme based on previous re-search. Conclusion: By qualitatively analysing the activities reported we find that thedocumentation reflects a shift, over time, towards more activitiesthat we classified as consulting. We argue that this can mainly beexplained by coercive and normative isomorphism; for example,regulatory pressures and influences from the Institute of InternalAuditors. We also argue that internal auditing might benefit froma more consistent view of the role.