Search results for "Esotericism"
showing 10 items of 91 documents
Editorial: Sustainable development of energy, Water and Environment Systems
2020
In 2018 the Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES) was held in three different locations and periods, so as to offer to the scientific community working in the field several opportunities to share and discuss new ideas and disseminate results of research activities. The 1st Latin American SDEWES Conference was held in Rio de Janeiro (Brasil) in January 28–31 and attracted 180 scientists from 35 countries, with a high number of contributions mainly from Southern American and European academics and professionals, who reciprocally enriched about emerging issues in the field of sustainable development in these continents. Also, the participants a…
Who are maximizers? Future oriented and highly numerate individuals
2015
Two studies investigated cognitive mechanisms that may be associated with people's tendency to maximize. Maximizers are individuals who are spending a great amount of effort in order to find the very best option in a decision situation, rather than stopping the decision process when they encounter a satisfying option. These studies show that maximizers are more future oriented than other people, which may motivate them to invest the extra energy into optimal choices. Maximizers also have higher numerical skills, possibly facilitating the cognitive processes involved with decision trade-offs.
Understanding the scaling-up of community energy niches through Strategic Niche Management Theory: insights from Finland
2018
The growing phenomenon of civil society involvement in renewable energy generation has attracted researchers’ interest. However, rather little is known of how a diverse and relatively small sector such as community energy could scale up and promote a change in energy production. We examine this issue through the lens of Strategic Niche Management (SNM) and conceptualize community energy as a socio-technical niche that holds the potential to promote a transition to renewable energy. Drawing on interview data with members of community energy projects and experts in Finland, we identify different types of community energy projects and the factors that may prevent them from scaling up. The stud…
Transition to distributed energy generation in Finland: Prospects and barriers
2015
Abstract Small-scale distributed energy generation is expected to play an important role in helping Finland increase its energy self-sufficiency. However, the overall strategy to date for promoting distributed energy remains unclear. It is not yet well understood which factors promote the growth of the distributed energy sector and what barriers need to be removed. In this article we present the results of a questionnaire directed at a panel of 26 experts from the distributed energy value chain and 15 semi-structured interviews with industry and non-industry representatives. We investigated, from a sociotechnical transition perspective, the possibilities and challenges of the transition to …
Video Visualization of Predictors of Emotions Dynamically Expressed by Music
2013
Music is particularly appreciated for its capacity of evoking a large range of emotions. A growing area of research in music psychology and computer music endeavors to understand and model the role of the different constituents of music in its overall emotional impact. Whereas research so far has mainly focused on global musical and emotional descriptions, our project investigates more in detail the relationship between the dynamic evolution of musical content and the dynamic development of the resulting emotional reaction. We introduce a new method for predicting the dynamic appreciation of emotion based on audio and musical descriptions. We focus on one particular emotion: power. We propo…
Perceived impact of anger on performance of skilled karate athletes
2011
Abstract Objective Although previous research has provided evidence of the facilitating effects of anxiety upon athletic performance, research attention on the impact of other discrete emotions has been scarce. Therefore, this study, based on the Individual Zones of Optimal Functioning (IZOF) model ( Hanin, 2000 , Hanin, 2003 , Hanin, 2007 ) investigated anger and anger-related symptoms and the functional impact upon karate performance. Method High-level karate athletes (N = 20; M age = 24.95, 17–38 yrs. old) were asked to recall their best and worst performances and to identify from two to three significant situations prior to, during, and after both performances. They completed the state …
Comparison of Body Composition and Energy Intake of Young Female Ballet Dancers and Ordinary School Girls
2017
Abstract The aim of this study is to assess body fat level, energy and nutrient intake of adolescent ballet dancers and to compare these results with those of adolescents from ordinary school. Participants included 39 ballet dancers and 70 adolescents from ordinary school. Body composition was measured using a multi-frequency 8-polar bioelectrical impedance leg-to-hand analyser (X-Scan Plus II, Korea). Dietary intakes were assessed using a three-day estimated food record. Nutritional intake was calculated using the Nutri Survey software. Ballet dancers were slightly shorter, lighter, with less fat and fat-free mass compared to girls from ordinary school. 51.3% (95% CI 35.59 to 66.97) of bal…
Does Organizational Work-Family Support Benefit Temporary and Permanent Employees Equally in a Work-Family Conflict Situation in Relation to Job Sati…
2016
This study examined whether work–family support (WF support) buffers permanent and temporary workers similarly against the negative effects of work–family conflict as regard job satisfaction and emotional energy level at work and at home. A total of 1,719 Finnish nurses participated in this study in 2009. The results revealed that high coworker WF support protected temporary workers against the negative effects of high work–family conflict on emotional energy at work. Furthermore, temporary workers with low coworker WF support were at greater risk of job dissatisfaction and diminished emotional energy at home than were their permanent colleagues in the presence of high work–family conflict…
Transparency in transactive energy at distribution level
2017
A recent report from the German Energy Agency analyzes the possible introduction of the blockchain technology in energy transactions in power distribution. The issue deserves attention since the extensive digitalization of business models puts new challenges to utilities in the power sector. The German decision makers in the energy field claim that blockchain appears as a close perspective and, at the same time, the Gartner hypecycle puts this technology at the peak of inflated expectations in 2016. Diffuse perception however provides hints for further investigation on the topic. This paper provides insight into the problem of peer-to-peer energy exchange from a technical perspective, provi…
Which firms benefit from investments in green energy technologies? : The effect of energy costs
2019
Abstract Firms will invest in green energy technologies only if these investments have an economic pay-off. Based on unique firm-level data from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, we find that the marginal effect of investments in green energy technologies on productivity is positive only for the 19% of firms with the highest energy costs. These results have major implications for companies and policy makers regarding the design of green energy policies and incentives.