WorldWideScience

Sample records for publicly owned utilities

  1. Financial statistics of major publicly owned electric utilities, 1991

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1993-01-01

    The Financial Statistics of Major Publicly Owned Electric Utilities publication presents summary and detailed financial accounting data on the publicly owned electric utilities. The objective of the publication is to provide Federal and State governments, industry, and the general public with data that can be used for policymaking and decisionmaking purposes relating to publicly owned electric utility issues

  2. Financial statistics of major publicly owned electric utilities, 1991

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1993-03-31

    The Financial Statistics of Major Publicly Owned Electric Utilities publication presents summary and detailed financial accounting data on the publicly owned electric utilities. The objective of the publication is to provide Federal and State governments, industry, and the general public with data that can be used for policymaking and decisionmaking purposes relating to publicly owned electric utility issues.

  3. Financial statistics of major US publicly owned electric utilities 1993

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1995-02-01

    The 1993 edition of the Financial Statistics of Major U.S. Publicly Owned Electric Utilities publication presents five years (1989 to 1993) of summary financial data and current year detailed financial data on the major publicly owned electric utilities. The objective of the publication is to provide Federal and State governments, industry, and the general public with current and historical data that can be used for policymaking and decision making purposes related to publicly owned electric utility issues. Generator and nongenerator summaries are presented in this publication. The primary source of publicly owned financial data is the Form EIA-412, the Annual Report of Public Electric Utilities, filed on a fiscal basis.

  4. Financial statistics of selected publicly owned electric utilities 1989. [Contains glossary

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1991-02-06

    The Financial Statistics of Selected Publicly Owned Electric Utilities publication presents summary and detailed financial accounting data on the publicly owned electric utilities. The objective of the publication is to provide the Federal and State governments, industry, and the general public with data that can be used for policymaking and decision making purposes relating to publicly owned electric utility issues. 21 tabs.

  5. Financial statistics major US publicly owned electric utilities 1996

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1998-03-01

    The 1996 edition of The Financial Statistics of Major US Publicly Owned Electric Utilities publication presents 5 years (1992 through 1996) of summary financial data and current year detailed financial data on the major publicly owned electric utilities. The objective of the publication is to provide Federal and State governments, industry, and the general public with current and historical data that can be used for policymaking and decision making purposes related to publicly owned electric utility issues. Generator and nongenerator summaries are presented in this publication. Five years of summary financial data are provided. Summaries of generators for fiscal years ending June 30 and December 31, nongenerators for fiscal years ending June 30 and December 31, and summaries of all respondents are provided. The composite tables present aggregates of income statement and balance sheet data, as well as financial indicators. Composite tables also display electric operation and maintenance expenses, electric utility plant, number of consumers, sales of electricity, and operating revenue, and electric energy account data. 2 figs., 32 tabs.

  6. Financial statistics of major US publicly owned electric utilities 1992

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1994-01-01

    The 1992 edition of the Financial Statistics of Major US Publicly Owned Electric Utilities publication presents 4 years (1989 through 1992) of summary financial data and current year detailed financial data on the major publicly owned electric utilities. The objective of the publication is to provide Federal and State governments, industry, and the general public with current and historical data that can be used for policymaking and decisionmaking purposes related to publicly owned electric utility issues. Generator and nongenerator summaries are presented in this publication. Four years of summary financial data are provided. Summaries of generators for fiscal years ending June 30 and December 31, nongenerators for fiscal years ending June 30 and December 31, and summaries of all respondents are provided. The composite tables present aggregates of income statement and balance sheet data, as well as financial indicators. Composite tables also display electric operation and maintenance expenses, electric utility plant, number of consumers, sales of electricity, and operating revenue, and electric energy account data. The primary source of publicly owned financial data is the Form EIA-412, {open_quotes}Annual Report of Public Electric Utilities.{close_quotes} Public electric utilities file this survey on a fiscal year, rather than a calendar year basis, in conformance with their recordkeeping practices. In previous editions of this publication, data were aggregated by the two most commonly reported fiscal years, June 30 and December 31. This omitted approximately 20 percent of the respondents who operate on fiscal years ending in other months. Accordingly, the EIA undertook a review of the Form EIA-412 submissions to determine if alternative classifications of publicly owned electric utilities would permit the inclusion of all respondents.

  7. Financial statistics of major U.S. publicly owned electric utilities 1997

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1998-12-01

    The 1997 edition of the ``Financial Statistics of Major U.S. Publicly Owned Electric Utilities`` publication presents 5 years (1993 through 1997) of summary financial data and current year detailed financial data on the major publicly owned electric utilities. The objective of the publication is to provide Federal and State governments, industry, and the general public with current and historical data that can be used for policymaking and decisionmaking purposes related to publicly owned electric utility issues. Generator (Tables 3 through 11) and nongenerator (Tables 12 through 20) summaries are presented in this publication. Five years of summary financial data are provided (Tables 5 through 11 and 14 through 20). Summaries of generators for fiscal years ending June 30 and December 31, nongenerators for fiscal years ending June 30 and December 31, and summaries of all respondents are provided in Appendix C. The composite tables present aggregates of income statement and balance sheet data, as well as financial indicators. Composite tables also display electric operation and maintenance expenses, electric utility plant, number of consumers, sales of electricity, operating revenue, and electric energy account data. The primary source of publicly owned financial data is the Form EIA-412, ``Annual Report of Public Electric Utilities.`` Public electric utilities file this survey on a fiscal year basis, in conformance with their recordkeeping practices. The EIA undertook a review of the Form EIA-412 submissions to determine if alternative classifications of publicly owned electric utilities would permit the inclusion of all respondents. The review indicated that financial indicators differ most according to whether or not a publicly owned electric utility generates electricity. Therefore, the main body of the report provides summary information in generator/nongenerator classifications. 2 figs., 101 tabs.

  8. Financial statistics of major U.S. publicly owned electric utilities 1997

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1998-12-01

    The 1997 edition of the ''Financial Statistics of Major U.S. Publicly Owned Electric Utilities'' publication presents 5 years (1993 through 1997) of summary financial data and current year detailed financial data on the major publicly owned electric utilities. The objective of the publication is to provide Federal and State governments, industry, and the general public with current and historical data that can be used for policymaking and decisionmaking purposes related to publicly owned electric utility issues. Generator (Tables 3 through 11) and nongenerator (Tables 12 through 20) summaries are presented in this publication. Five years of summary financial data are provided (Tables 5 through 11 and 14 through 20). Summaries of generators for fiscal years ending June 30 and December 31, nongenerators for fiscal years ending June 30 and December 31, and summaries of all respondents are provided in Appendix C. The composite tables present aggregates of income statement and balance sheet data, as well as financial indicators. Composite tables also display electric operation and maintenance expenses, electric utility plant, number of consumers, sales of electricity, operating revenue, and electric energy account data. The primary source of publicly owned financial data is the Form EIA-412, ''Annual Report of Public Electric Utilities.'' Public electric utilities file this survey on a fiscal year basis, in conformance with their recordkeeping practices. The EIA undertook a review of the Form EIA-412 submissions to determine if alternative classifications of publicly owned electric utilities would permit the inclusion of all respondents. The review indicated that financial indicators differ most according to whether or not a publicly owned electric utility generates electricity. Therefore, the main body of the report provides summary information in generator/nongenerator classifications. 2 figs., 101 tabs

  9. Financial statistics of major U.S. publicly owned electric utilities 1995

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1997-07-01

    The 1995 Edition of the Financial Statistics of Major U.S. Publicly Owned Electric Utilities publication presents 5 years (1991 through 1995) of summary financial data and current year detailed financial data on the major publicly owned electric utilities. The objective of the publication is to provide Federal and State governments, industry, and the general public with current and historical data that can be used for policymaking and decisionmaking purposes related to publicly owned electric utility issues. Generator (Tables 3 through 11) and nongenerator (Tables 12 through 20) summaries are presented in this publication. Five years of summary financial data are provided (Tables 5 through 11 and 14 through 20). Summaries of generators for fiscal years ending June 30 and December 31, nongenerators for fiscal years ending June 30 and December 31, and summaries of all respondents are provided in Appendix C. The composite tables present aggregates of income statement and balance sheet data, as well as financial indicators. Composite tables also display electric operation and maintenance expenses, electric utility plant, number of consumers, sales of electricity, and operating revenue, and electric energy account data. 9 figs., 87 tabs.

  10. Financial statistics of major U.S. publicly owned electric utilities 1995

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1997-07-01

    The 1995 Edition of the Financial Statistics of Major U.S. Publicly Owned Electric Utilities publication presents 5 years (1991 through 1995) of summary financial data and current year detailed financial data on the major publicly owned electric utilities. The objective of the publication is to provide Federal and State governments, industry, and the general public with current and historical data that can be used for policymaking and decisionmaking purposes related to publicly owned electric utility issues. Generator (Tables 3 through 11) and nongenerator (Tables 12 through 20) summaries are presented in this publication. Five years of summary financial data are provided (Tables 5 through 11 and 14 through 20). Summaries of generators for fiscal years ending June 30 and December 31, nongenerators for fiscal years ending June 30 and December 31, and summaries of all respondents are provided in Appendix C. The composite tables present aggregates of income statement and balance sheet data, as well as financial indicators. Composite tables also display electric operation and maintenance expenses, electric utility plant, number of consumers, sales of electricity, and operating revenue, and electric energy account data. 9 figs., 87 tabs

  11. Financial statistics of major US publicly owned electric utilities 1994

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1995-12-15

    This publication presents 5 years (1990--94) of summary financial data and current year detailed financial data on the major publicly owned electric utilities. Generator and nongenerator summaries are presented. Composite tables present: Aggregates of income statement and balance sheet data, financial indicators, electric operation and maintenance expenses, electric utility plant, number of consumers, sales of electricity, and operating revenue, and electric energy account data.

  12. Financial statistics of major US publicly owned electric utilities 1994

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1995-01-01

    This publication presents 5 years (1990--94) of summary financial data and current year detailed financial data on the major publicly owned electric utilities. Generator and nongenerator summaries are presented. Composite tables present: Aggregates of income statement and balance sheet data, financial indicators, electric operation and maintenance expenses, electric utility plant, number of consumers, sales of electricity, and operating revenue, and electric energy account data

  13. Revisiting the 'Buy versus Build' decision for publicly owned utilities in California considering wind and geothermal resources; TOPICAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bolinger, Mark; Wiser, Ryan; Golove, William

    2001-01-01

    The last two decades have seen a dramatic increase in the market share of independent, non-utility generators (NUGs) relative to traditional, utility-owned generation assets. Accordingly, the ''buy versus build'' decision facing utilities--i.e., whether a utility should sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) with a NUG, or develop and own the generation capacity itself-has gained prominence in the industry. Specific debates have revolved around the relative advantages of, the types of risk created by, and the regulatory incentives favoring each approach. Very little of this discussion has focused specifically on publicly owned electric utilities, however, perhaps due to the belief that public power's tax-free financing status leaves little space in which NUGs can compete. With few exceptions (Wiser and Kahn 1996), renewable sources of supply have received similarly scant attention in the buy versus build debate. In this report, we revive the ''buy versus build'' debate and apply it to the two sectors of the industry traditionally underrepresented in the discussion: publicly owned utilities and renewable energy. Contrary to historical treatment, this debate is quite relevant to public utilities and renewables because publicly owned utilities are able to take advantage of some renewable energy incentives only in a ''buy'' situation, while others accrue only in a ''build'' situation. In particular, possible economic advantages of public utility ownership include: (1) the tax-free status of publicly owned utilities and the availability of low-cost debt, and (2) the renewable energy production incentive (REPI) available only to publicly owned utilities. Possible economic advantages to entering into a PPA with a NUG include: (1) the availability of federal tax credits and accelerated depreciation schedules for certain forms of NUG-owned renewable energy, and (2) the California state production incentives available to NUGs but not utilities. This report looks at a publicly

  14. Outsourcing decision factors in publicly owned electric utilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonzales, James Edward

    Purpose. The outsourcing of services in publicly owned electric utilities has generated some controversy. The purpose of this study was to explore this controversy by investigating the relationships between eight key independent variables and a dependent variable, "manager perceptions of overall value of outsourced services." The intent was to provide data so that utilities could make better decisions regarding outsourcing efforts. Theoretical framework. Decision theory was used as the framework for analyzing variables and alternatives used to support the outsourcing decision-making process. By reviewing these eight variables and the projected outputs and outcomes, a more predictive and potentially successful outsourcing effort can be realized. Methodology. A survey was distributed to a sample of 323 publicly owned electric utilities randomly selected from a population of 2,020 in the United States. Analysis of the data was made using statistical techniques including the Chi-Square, Lambda, Spearman's coefficient of rank correlation, as well as the Hypothesis Test, Rank Correlation, to test for relationships among the variables. Findings. Relationships among the eight key variables and perceptions of the overall value of outsourced services were generally weak. The notable exception was with the driving force (reason) for outsourcing decisions where the relationship was strongly positive. Conclusions and recommendations. The data in support of the research questions suggest that seven of the eight key variables may be weakly predictive of perceptions of the overall value of outsourced services. However, the primary driving force for outsourcing was strongly predictive. The data also suggest that many of the sampled utilities did not formally address these variables and alternatives, and therefore may not be achieving maximal results. Further studies utilizing customer perceptions rather than those of outsourcing service managers are recommended. In addition, it is

  15. Financial statistics of major investor-owned electric utilities, 1991

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1993-01-01

    The Financial Statistics of major Investor-Owned Electric Utilities publication presents summary and detailed financial accounting data on the investor-owned electric utilities. The objective of the publication is to provide Federal and State governments, industry, and the general public with current and historical data that can be used for policymaking and decisionmaking purposes related to investor-owned electric utility issues

  16. Financial statistics of selected investor-owned electric utilities, 1989

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1991-01-01

    The Financial Statistics of Selected Investor-Owned Electric Utilities publication presents summary and detailed financial accounting data on the investor-owned electric utilities. The objective of the publication is to provide the Federal and State governments, industry, and the general public with current and historical data that can be used for policymaking and decisionmaking purposes related to investor-owned electric utility issues.

  17. Financial statistics of major U.S. investor-owned electric utilities 1996

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1997-12-01

    The Financial Statistics of Major US Investor-Owned Electric Utilities publication presents summary and detailed financial accounting data on the investor-owned electric utilities. The objective of the publication is to provide Federal and State governments, industry, and the general public with current and historical data that can be used for making policy and decisions relating to investor-owned electric utility issues. The US electric power industry is a combination of electric utilities (investor-owned, publicly owned, Federal, and cooperatives) and nonutility power producers. Investor-owned electric utilities account for over three-fourths of electric sales and revenue. Historically, the investor-owned electric utilities have served the large consolidated markets. There is substantial diversity among the investor-owned electric utilities in terms of services, size, fuel usage, and prices charged. Most investor-owned electric utilities generate, transmit, and distribute electric power. Investor-owned electric utilities operate in all States except Nebraska; Hawaii is the only State in which all electricity is supplied by investor-owned electric utilities. 5 figs., 57 tabs.

  18. Financial statistics of major US investor-owned electric utilities 1992

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1993-12-28

    The Financial Statistics of Major US Investor-Owned Electric Utilities publication presents summary and detailed financial accounting data on the investor-owned electric utilities. The objective of the publication is to provide Federal and State governments, industry, and the general public with current and historical data that can be used for policymaking and decisionmaking purposes related to investor-owned electric utility issues. The Financial Statistics of Major US Investor-Owned Electric Utilities publication provides information about the financial results of operations of investor-owned electric utilities for use by government, industry, electric utilities, financial organizations and educational institutions in energy planning. In the private sector, the readers of this publication are researchers and analysts associated with the financial markets, the policymaking and decisionmaking members of electric utility companies, and economic development organizations. Other organizations that may be interested in the data presented in this publication include manufacturers of electric power equipment and marketing organizations. In the public sector, the readers of this publication include analysts, researchers, statisticians, and other professionals engaged in regulatory, policy, and program areas. These individuals are generally associated with the Congress, other legislative bodies, State public utility commissions, universities, and national strategic planning organizations.

  19. Financial statistics of major US investor-owned electric utilities 1994

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1995-12-01

    The Financial Statistics of Major U.S. Investor-Owned Electric Utilities publication presents summary and detailed financial accounting data on the investor-owned electric utilities. The objective of the publication is to provide Federal and State Governments, industry, and the general public with current and historical data that can be used for making policy and decisions relating to investor-owned electric utility issues.

  20. Financial statistics of major U.S. investor-owned electric utilities 1993

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1995-01-01

    The Financial Statistics of Major US Investor-Owned Electric Utilities publication presents summary and detailed financial accounting data on the investor-owned electric utilities. The objective of the publication is to provide Federal and State governments, industry, and the general public with current and historical data that can be used for policymaking and decisionmaking purposes related to investor-owned electric utility issues.

  1. Financial impacts of nonutility power purchases on investor-owned electric utilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1994-06-01

    To assist in its these responsibilities in the area of electric power, EIA has prepared this report, Financial Impacts of Nonutility Power Purchases on Investor-Owned Electric Utilities. The primary purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the issues surrounding the financial impacts of nonutility generation contracts (since the passage of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978) on investor-owned utilities. The existing concern in this area is manifest in the provisions of Section 712 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, which required State regulatory commissions to evaluate various aspects of long-term power purchase contracts, including their impact on investor-owned utilities` cost of capital and rates charged to customers. The EIA does not take positions on policy questions. The EIA`s responsibility is to provide timely, high quality information and to perform objective, credible analyses in support of the deliberations by both public and private decision-makers. Accordingly, this report does not purport to represent the policy positions of the US Department of Energy or the Administration.

  2. Financial impacts of nonutility power purchases on investor-owned electric utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-01-01

    To assist in its these responsibilities in the area of electric power, EIA has prepared this report, Financial Impacts of Nonutility Power Purchases on Investor-Owned Electric Utilities. The primary purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the issues surrounding the financial impacts of nonutility generation contracts (since the passage of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978) on investor-owned utilities. The existing concern in this area is manifest in the provisions of Section 712 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, which required State regulatory commissions to evaluate various aspects of long-term power purchase contracts, including their impact on investor-owned utilities' cost of capital and rates charged to customers. The EIA does not take positions on policy questions. The EIA's responsibility is to provide timely, high quality information and to perform objective, credible analyses in support of the deliberations by both public and private decision-makers. Accordingly, this report does not purport to represent the policy positions of the US Department of Energy or the Administration

  3. Rent dissipation through electricity prices of publicly owned utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bernard, J-T.; Roland, M.

    1997-01-01

    Pricing policies of Canadian public utilities were examined. It was shown that under the existing set of rules the prices established are frequently below the marginal cost. This appears to be particularly true in the case of provinces that rely principally on hydroelectric resources. Study recommendations to bring electricity prices in line with marginal costs have had little success to date despite overwhelming evidence of large economic losses associated with the current institutional arrangements. This situation remains at the same time that governments apply high tax rates on incomes. By putting together two strands of economic literature, public choice and the theory of public utility pricing, this paper develops a simple model that explains why the median consumer prefers a low electricity price and a high tax rate. Hydro-Quebec survey data is used to confirm that these conditions are satisfied in Quebec. 17 refs., 1 tab

  4. Incentive regulation of investor-owned nuclear power plants by public utility regulators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McKinney, M.D.; Elliot, D.B.

    1993-01-01

    The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) periodically surveys the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and state regulatory commissions that regulate utility owners of nuclear power plants. The NRC is interested in identifying states that have established economic or performance incentive programs applicable to nuclear power plants, including states with new programs, how the programs are being implemented, and in determining the financial impact of the programs on the utilities. The NRC interest stems from the fact that such programs have the potential to adversely affect the safety of nuclear power plants. The information in this report was obtained from interviews conducted with each state regulatory agency that administers an incentive program and each utility that owns at least 10% of an affected nuclear power plant. The agreements, orders, and settlements that form the basis for each incentive program were reviewed as required. The interviews and supporting documentation form the basis for the individual state reports describing the structure and financial impact of each incentive program

  5. Initial state regulation of investor-owned utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Savitski, D.W.

    2001-01-01

    This paper examines state initiation of public service (or utility) commission regulation of investor-owned utilities (IOUs) using an economic theory of regulation. The decision to regulate IOUs is assumed to have depended on the strength of competing interest groups, e.g. consumers and producers, and on institutional factors, e.g. whether commissioners were appointed or elected. Regulators, which then had jurisdiction over IOU rates, are assumed to have been optimizing agents. The potential benefits of regulation, in turn, translated into pressure to initiate regulation. To test this, a hazard model is applied to state-level data. On the demand side of the regulation market, the distribution of federal power and population density were unrelated, while a set of time dummies was positively related to the probability that a state initiated regulation. On the supply side, the fraction of the population that was urban and whether the governor was Republican or not were positively and negatively related to this probability

  6. 76 FR 49841 - Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation by Transmission Owning and Operating Public Utilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-11

    ... Commission-approved RTOs and ISOs. The Commission stated that it expected all non-public utility transmission... transmission planning processes that public utility transmission providers in regions outside of RTOs and ISOs...

  7. Carbon emissions and management scenarios for consumer-owned utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fischlein, Miriam; Smith, Timothy M.; Wilson, Elizabeth J.

    2009-01-01

    An important subset of the utility sector has been scarcely explored for its ability to reduce carbon dioxide emissions: consumer-owned electric utilities significantly contribute to U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, but are often excluded from energy efficiency and renewable energy policies. They sell a quarter of the nation's electricity, yet the carbon impact of these sales is not well understood, due to their small size, unique ownership models, and high percentage of purchased power for distribution. This paper situates consumer-owned utilities in the context of emerging U.S. climate policy, quantifying for the first time the state-by-state carbon impact of electricity sales by consumer-owned utilities. We estimate that total retail sales by consumer-owned utilities account for roughly 568 million metric tons of CO 2 annually, making this sector the 7th largest CO 2 emitter globally, and examine state-level carbon intensities of the sector in light of the current policy environment and the share of COU distribution in the states. Based on efficiency and fuel mix pathways under conceivable regulations, carbon scenarios for 2030 are developed.

  8. Scoping study of integrated resource planning needs in the public utility sector

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Garrick, C J; Garrick, J M; Rue, D R [NEOS Corp., Lakewood, CO (United States)

    1993-06-01

    Integrated resource planning (IRP) is an approach to utility resource planning that integrates the evaluation of supply- and demand-site options for providing energy services at the least cost. Many utilities practice IRP; however, most studies about IRP focus on investor-owned utilities (IOUs). This scoping study investigates the IRP activities and needs of public utilities (not-for-profit utilities, including federal, state, municipal, and cooperative utilities). This study (1) profiles IRP-related characteristics of the public utility sector, (2) articulates the needs of public utilities in understanding and implementing IRP, and (3) identifies strategies to advance IRP principles in public utility planning.

  9. 23 CFR 635.106 - Use of publicly owned equipment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE Contract Procedures § 635.106 Use of publicly owned equipment. (a) Publicly owned equipment should not normally compete with privately owned equipment on a project to be let to contract... publicly owned equipment is to be made available in connection with construction work to be let to contract...

  10. Cost of energy from utility-owned solar electric systems. A required revenue method for ERDA/EPRI evaluations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1976-06-01

    This methodology calculates the electric energy busbar cost from a utility-owned solar electric system. This approach is applicable to both publicly- and privately-owned utilities. Busbar cost represents the minimum price per unit of energy consistent with producing system-resultant revenues equal to the sum of system-resultant costs. This equality is expressed in present value terms, where the discount rate used reflects the rate of return required on invested capital. Major input variables describe the output capabilities and capital cost of the energy system, the cash flows required for system operation and maintenance, and the financial structure and tax environment of the utility.

  11. California Publicly-Owned Utilities (POUs) – LBNL ‘Beyond Widgets’ Project. Task: ambient lighting and occupancy-based plug load control. System Program Manual

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Robinson, Alastair; Mathew, Paul A.; Regnier, Cynthia; Schwartz, Peter; Schakelford, Jordan; Walter, Travis

    2017-09-01

    This program manual contains detailed technical information for implementing an incentive program for task-ambient lighting and occupancy-based plug load control. This manual was developed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in collaboration with the California Publicly-Owned Utilities (CA POUs) as a partner in the ‘Beyond Widgets’ program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Office. The primary audience for this manual is the program staff of the various CA POUs. It may also be used by other utility incentive programs to help develop similar programs. It is anticipated that the content of this manual be utilized by the CA POU staff for developing related documents such as the Technical Resource Manual and other filings pertaining to the rollout of an energy systems-based rebate incentive program.

  12. Estimating potential stranded commitments for U.S. investor-owned electric utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baxter, L.; Hirst, E.

    1995-01-01

    New technologies, low natural gas prices, and federal and state utility regions are restructuring the electricity industry. Yesterday's vertically integrated utility with a retail monopoly franchise may be a very different organization in a few years. Conferences, regulatory-commission hearings, and other industry fora are dominated by debates over the extent and form of utility deintegration, wholesale competition, and retail wheeling. A key obstacle to restructuring the electricity industry is stranded commitments. Past investments, power-purchase contracts, and public-policy-driven programs that made sense in an era of cost-of-service regulation may not be cost-effective in a competitive power market. Regulators, utilities, and other parties face tough decisions concerning the mitigation and allocation of these stranded commitments. The authors developed and applied a simple method to calculate the amount of stranded commitments facing US investor-owned electric utilities. The results obtained with this method depend strongly on a few key assumptions: (1) the fraction of utility sales that is at risk with respect to competition, (2) the market price of electric generation, and (3) the number of years during which the utility would lose money because of differences between its embedded cost of production and the market price

  13. Hospital information system institutionalization processes in indonesian public, government-owned and privately owned hospitals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Handayani, P W; Hidayanto, A N; Ayuningtyas, Dumilah; Budi, Indra

    2016-11-01

    The Hospital Information System (HIS) could help hospitals as a public entity to provide optimal health services. One of the main challenges of HIS implementation is an institutional change. Using institutional theory as the analytical lens, this study aims to explain the institutionalization of HIS as an instance of e-health initiatives in Indonesia. Furthermore, this paper aims for hospital management and researchers to improve the understanding of the social forces that influence hospital personnel's HIS acceptance within an organizational context. We use case studies from four public, government-owned hospitals and four privately owned (public and specialty) hospitals to explain the HIS institutionalization process by exploring the three concepts of institutional theory: institutional isomorphism, institutional logic, and institutional entrepreneurship. This study reveals that differences exist between public, government-owned and private hospitals with regard to the institutionalization process: public, government-owned hospitals' management is more motivated to implement HIS to comply with the regulations, while private hospitals' management views HIS as an urgent requirement that must be achieved. The study findings also reveal that various institutional isomorphism mechanisms and forms of institutional logic emerge during the process. Finally, three factors-self-efficacy, social influence, and management support-have a significant influence on the individual acceptance of HIS. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Public utilities and the public interest - raising and acknowledging this claim in proceedings concerning provisional legal protection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fischerhof, H.

    1976-01-01

    The following can be said of appeal proceedings against provisionally granted legal protection as claimed according to section 5 article 80 VwGO, the public utilities attending the proceedings, but not the licensing authority, being in the position to file this appeal: 1) The licensing authority takes part in the appeal proceedings and has the right to be heard. The licensing authority can also continue to act in the public interest in order to maintain the ordinances it issued, ordinances which were ordered to take immediate effect with public interest in mind. 2) The court of appeal has to examine the factual and the legal aspects of the previous instance's decision. 3) The public utility as the complainant can, within the framework of its official duties, combine the public interest with its own interests. (orig./HP) [de

  15. IPSAS versus National Norms on Public Institutions' Own Capitals

    OpenAIRE

    Ecobici, Nicolae

    2008-01-01

    In this paper I have compared international standards on accounting for the public sector and those required by national norms on public institutions' own capitals, pointing out both convergences and divergences. Last, but not the least, I have compared IPSAS 1 (applied by public institutions) with IAS 1 (applied by commercial companies).

  16. Markets: green utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wood, Elisa

    2006-01-01

    Publicly owned utilities have consistently led the United States in the rate of customer participation in green power programmes. The US has about 2000 community and state-owned utilities, which serve 43 million customers and account for about 16.6% of kilowatt-hour sales to consumers. In all, public power is responsible for about 10% of the nation's installed electric capacity. Investor owned utilities account for 39%, with the remainder of the nation's power mostly from independent power generators. Although IOUs have almost four times as much electric capacity as public power, they edge out public power by only a small margin when it comes to renewable capacity. IOUs are responsible for 24,577.5 MW of renewable capacity, compared to the 21,338 MW installed by public power. The reasons discussed by the author range from small town advantage to clean and cheap power. (Author)

  17. Public power costs less

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moody, D.

    1993-01-01

    The reasons why residential customers of public power utilities paid less for power than private sector customers is discussed. Residential customers of investor-owned utilities (IOU's) paid average rates that were 28% above those paid by customers by possibly owned systems during 1990. The reasons for this disparity are that management costs faced by public power systems are below those of private power companies, indicating a greater efficiency of management among public power systems, and customer accounts expenses averaged $33.00 per customer for publicly owned electric utilities compared to $39.00 per customer for private utilities

  18. Nuclear fuel financing by USA investor-owned utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cave, W.F.

    1981-01-01

    Investor-owned utilities in the USA currently have almost 60 nuclear plants in commercial operation and an additional 90 plants under construction or awaiting operating licenses. To understand the specific techniques implemented to finance nuclear fuel and the advantages which they provide to individual companies, the total financing needs of the industry, the traditional pattern which utility external financing has taken, and the varied financial and regulatory bodies whose often conflicting objectives management must attempt to reconcile, must be understood. The aim of this paper is to aid such an understanding. The subject is discussed under the following headings: industry background; regulation and rating agencies; management objectives; financing structure; advantages (low financing cost; regulatory treatment; freer nature of agreement; access to commercial paper market; appropriate financing time-span; rating benefits; accounting treatment); conclusions. (U.K.)

  19. Efficiency evaluation of the state owned electric utilities in India

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thakur, Tripta; Deshmukh, S.G.; Kaushik, S.C.

    2006-01-01

    This paper presents a framework for accessing comparative efficiencies of Indian State Owned Electric Utilities (SOEU), which have been mainly responsible for the generation, distribution and transmission of electricity in India. Performance of 26 utilities was evaluated using the non-parametric technique of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), and the impact of scale on the efficiency scores was also evaluated. The results indicate that the performance of several SOEUs is sub-optimal, suggesting the potential for significant cost reductions. Separate benchmarks were derived for possible reductions in employees' number, and the results indicate that several utilities deploy a much larger number of employees than that required by a best practice utility, and significant savings are possible on this account. It was also found that the bigger utilities display greater inefficiencies and have distinct scale inefficiencies. Exploiting scale efficiencies by suitable restructuring and unbundling of SOEUs are therefore crucial measures that may foster efficiencies in the SOEUs. The paper discusses these results in the context of related policy issues

  20. Incentive regulation of nuclear power plants by state public utility commissions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Petersen, J.C.

    1987-12-01

    This report on incentive regulation of nuclear power plants by state public utility commissions (PUCs). Economic performance incentives established by state PUCs are applicable to the construction or operation of about 45 nuclear power reactors owned by 30 utilities in 17 states. The NRC staff monitors development of the incentives and periodically provides an updated report on all nuclear plant incentives to its regional offices. The staff maintains contact with the PUCs and the utilities responsible for implementing the incentives in order to obtain the updated information and to consider potential safety effects of the incentives. This report presents the NRC staff's concerns on potential safety effects of economic performance incentives. It also includes a plant-by-plant survey that describes the mechanics of each incentive and discusses the financial effects of the incentive on the utility-owner(s) of the plant

  1. Incentive regulation of nuclear power plants by state Public Utility Commissions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martin, R.L.; Olson, J.; Hendrickson, P.

    1989-12-01

    Economic performance incentives established by state Public Utility Commissions (PUCs) currently are applicable to the construction or operation of approximately 73 nuclear power reactors owned by 27 utilities with investment greater than 10% in 18 states. The NRC staff monitors development of the incentives and periodically provides an updated report on all nuclear plant incentives to its headquarters and regional offices. The staff maintains contact with the PUCs and the utilities responsible for implementing the incentives in order to obtain the updated information and to consider potential safety effects of the incentives. This report on incentive regulation of nuclear power plants by state PUCs presents the NRC staff's concerns on potential safety effects of economic performance incentives. It also includes a plant-by-plant survey that describes the mechanics of each incentive and discusses the financial effects of the incentive on the utility-owner(s) of the plant

  2. Figures on public utilities, 1976/77

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1979-09-01

    Qualified statistical data belong to the instruments of effective association work. Therefore the association, among other activities, carries out statistical investigations on business management among its member enterprises at intervals of two years. This volume contains the results of the business years 1976 and 1977. A main purpose of this statistics is to offer guidelines to the member enterprises, especially figures which allow to compare the evaluated average values of the business with data of the own enterprise, which may be, if necessary, an impetus to think about measures of rationalization. As in former statistics all the results are classified in seven categories that are determined by the size of the enterprise. Compared with the last questionnaire some items have been altered to facilitate the completion. Questions concerning the extent of the public utilities, the structure of the network system and investment planning have been introduced for the first time.

  3. COMPLEAT (Community-Oriented Model for Planning Least-Cost Energy Alternatives and Technologies): A planning tool for publicly owned electric utilities. [Community-Oriented Model for Planning Least-Cost Energy Alternatives and Technologies (Compleat)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1990-09-01

    COMPLEAT takes its name, as an acronym, from Community-Oriented Model for Planning Least-Cost Energy Alternatives and Technologies. It is an electric utility planning model designed for use principally by publicly owned electric utilities and agencies serving such utilities. As a model, COMPLEAT is significantly more full-featured and complex than called out in APPA's original plan and proposal to DOE. The additional complexity grew out of a series of discussions early in the development schedule, in which it became clear to APPA staff and advisors that the simplicity characterizing the original plan, while highly desirable in terms of utility applications, was not achievable if practical utility problems were to be addressed. The project teams settled on Energy 20/20, an existing model developed by Dr. George Backus of Policy Assessment Associates, as the best candidate for the kinds of modifications and extensions that would be required. The remainder of the project effort was devoted to designing specific input data files, output files, and user screens and to writing and testing the compute programs that would properly implement the desired features around Energy 20/20 as a core program. This report presents in outline form, the features and user interface of COMPLEAT.

  4. Evaluation of the Geothermal Public Power Utility Workshops in California

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Farhar, B. C.

    2004-10-01

    The federal government devotes significant resources to educating consumers and businesses about geothermal energy. Yet little evidence exists for defining the kinds of information needed by the various audiences with specialized needs. This paper presents the results of an evaluation of the Geothermal Municipal Utility Workshops that presented information on geothermal energy to utility resource planners at customer-owned utilities in California. The workshops were sponsored by the Western Area Power Administration and the U.S. Department of Energy's GeoPowering the West Program and were intended to qualitatively assess the information needs of municipal utilities relative to geothermal energy and get feedback for future workshops. The utility workshop participants found the geothermal workshops to be useful and effective for their purposes. An important insight from the workshops is that utilities need considerable lead-time to plan a geothermal project. They need to know whether it is better to own a project or to purchase geothermal electricity from another nonutility owner. California customer-owned utilities say they do not need to generate more electricity to meet demand, but they do need to provide more electricity from renewable resources to meet the requirements of the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard.

  5. Consumer support for a public utilities commission in Hong Kong

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Woo, C.K.; Cheng, Y.S.; Law, A.; Zarnikau, J.; Ho, S.T.; Leung, H.Y.

    2015-01-01

    Hong Kong's electricity service is superbly reliable and price-reasonable when compared to those of the major cities in the OECD countries. Based on the rate of return regulation in the U.S., the current scheme of control agreement (SCA) regulating the two local integrated investor-owned utilities (IOUs) will expire in 2018 (or in 2023 after an optional 5-year extension), thus offering an opportune time to consider proposals with long lead time to modify or replace the SCA. The proposals made to date range from modifications of the SCA to electricity market restructure. These proposals, however, overlook two important aspects of regulatory governance: transparency and public involvement. This paper estimates consumer support for the proposal to establish a Hong Kong public utilities commission (HKPUC) to improve the current regulatory process. Based on the responses collected in mid-2014 via a face-to-face survey of 1100 Hong Kong residents, we find that at the 1.5% bill surcharge, about 70% the respondents are estimated to support an HKPUC. Thus, there is sufficient consumer support for a financially viable HKPUC, implying that Hong Kong should consider the possibility of establishing an HKPUC, notwithstanding the substantial challenges to be overcome prior to its implementation. - Highlights: • Hong Kong's regulatory process lacks transparency and public involvement. • A survey data analysis indicates a majority support for a Hong Kong PUC. • A Hong Kong PUC can be financially viable without public funding. • A Hong Kong PUC proposal deserves further consideration

  6. 78 FR 47335 - 60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Public Housing Contracting With Resident-Owned...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-08-05

    ... Information Collection: Public Housing Contracting With Resident-Owned Business--Application Requirements... Contracting with Resident- Owned Businesses/Application Requirements. OMB Approval Number: 2577-0161... with State law; Certification that shows the business is owned by residents, disclosure documents that...

  7. 78 FR 65697 - 30-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Public Housing, Contracting With Resident-Owned...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-11-01

    ... Information Collection: Public Housing, Contracting With Resident-Owned Businesses--Application Requirements..., Contracting with Resident-Owned Businesses-Application Requirements. OMB Approval Number: 2577-0161. Type of... State law; Certification that shows the business is owned by residents, disclosure documents that...

  8. Trends in transmission, distribution, and administration costs for U.S. investor-owned electric utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fares, Robert L.; King, Carey W.

    2017-01-01

    This paper analyzes the cost of transmission, distribution, and administration for U.S. investor-owned electric utilities. We analyze data reported to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) from 1994 to 2014 using linear regression to understand how the number of customers in a utility's territory, annual peak demand, and annual energy sales affect annual TD&A spending. Then, we use Edison Electric Institute data for 1960 to 1992 to show trends in TD&A spending between 1960 and 2014. We find that the number of customers in a utility's territory is the single best predictor for annual TD&A costs. Between 1994 and 2014, the average cost per customer was $119/Customer-Year for transmission, $291/Customer-Year for distribution, and $333/Customer-Year for utility administration. Total TD&A costs per customer have been approximately $700–$800/Customer-Year since 1960, but the cost per kWh of energy sold was significantly higher in the 1960s because the average customer used less than half as much energy annually versus 2014. Thus, TD&A costs per kWh are likely to increase if kWh energy sales decline in the future unless cost recovery is transitioned to a mechanism not based solely on kWh sales. - Highlights: • U.S. investor-owned electric utility delivery costs from 1960? 2014 are investigated. • Transmission, distribution, and utility administrative costs are analyzed separately. • The number of utility customers is the best predictor for annual delivery costs. • Delivery costs per kWh are likely to increase if kWh sales decrease in the future.

  9. The private initiative in public infrastructure and public utilities concessions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan Carlos Expósito Vélez

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Given the renewed and growing importance of the initiative of the private sector in developing public infrastructure and public utilities, especially as a consequence of the incentives created by the law, this study intends to address the various aspects of the new legal framework for the formation of concession contracts as a result of a particular initiative or idea and not as a product of the needs defined by the Administration, with a particular emphasis on the requirements for the formation of public works concessions, but without forgetting how the mechanism of private initiative applies to public utilities when they require a concession contract to be provided.

  10. Evaluation of alternative institutional arrangements in public utilities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ermishina Anna, V.

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Since early 2000s a policy of attracting private operators to public utilities, which should help to increase productivity, reduce costs, and as a result, reduce utility prices takes place in Russia. The aim of the study is to identify the relationship between institutional arrangements and pricing for water and wastewater services. Applying statistical and cluster analysis to empirical data on water utilities in 13 largest cities has revealed the differences in the level and dynamics of prices for water and wastewater services in the group of public utilities and public private water utilities. In 2011-2014 the level and growth price rates in the group of public private partnerships were higher than in group of municipal water utilities. Thus, the involvement of private operators has not yet lead to the expected reduction in prices.

  11. Are US utility standby rates inhibiting diffusion of customer-owned generating systems?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jackson, Jerry

    2007-01-01

    New, small-scale electric generation technologies permit utility customers to generate some of their own electric power and to utilize waste heat for space heating and other applications at the building site. This combined heat and power (CHP) characteristic can provide significant energy-cost savings. However, most current US utility regulations leave CHP standby rate specification largely to utility discretion resulting in claims by CHP advocates that excessive standby rates are significantly reducing CHP-related savings and inhibiting CHP diffusion. The impacts of standby rates on the adoption of CHP are difficult to determine; however, because of the characteristically slow nature of new technology diffusion. This study develops an agent-based microsimulation model of CHP technology choice using cellular automata to represent new technology information dispersion and knowledge acquisition. Applying the model as an n-factorial experiment quantifies the impacts of standby rates on CHP technologies under alternative diffusion paths. Analysis of a sample utility indicates that, regardless of the likely diffusion process, reducing standby rates to reflect the cost of serving a large number of small, spatially clustered CHP systems significantly increases the adoption of these technologies

  12. Crisis of confidence: utilities, public relations, and credibility

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sullivan, F.C.

    1977-01-01

    This book deals principally with the role of the public utility in the business sector and specifically with its patterns of communications in this turbulent era of changing public opinion. Offering the premise that time has almost run out to achieve public understanding in today's mounting energy crisis, Frank C. Sullivan diagnoses the problems, examines available communication techniques, and offers a pragmatic approach to action which will stimulate and challenge neophyte and professional alike. The book touches on the history of public relations, discusses its functions and role in utility management, and provides practical suggestions and sound advice on corporate credibility and accounting. Following a ''Rationale for Action'' the book's twenty-two chapters are grouped in four major sections: Public Relations and the Utility; Planning for Rate Increases; The Utility and its Publics, and Private vs. Public Ownership. In his epilogue, ''The Dimensions of Disbelief,'' the author sets forth his candid and provocative thesis for action and change.

  13. 17 CFR 250.41 - Exemption of public utility subsidiaries with respect to limited acquisition of utility assets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... Exemption of public utility subsidiaries with respect to limited acquisition of utility assets. Any public... derived from its operations as a public-utility company during the preceding calendar year. (d... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Exemption of public utility...

  14. Regulatory environment and its impact on the market value of investor-owned electric utilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vishwanathan, Raman

    While other regulated industries have one by one been exposed to competitive reform, electric power, for over eighty years, has remained a great monopoly. For all those years, the vertically integrated suppliers of electricity in the United States have been assigned exclusive territorial (consumer) franchises and have been closely regulated. This environment is in the process change because the electric power industry is currently undergoing some dramatic adjustments. Since 1992, a number of states have initiated regulatory reform and are moving to allow retail customers to choose their energy supplier. There has also been a considerable federal government role in encouraging competition in the generation and transmission of electricity. The objective of this research is to investigate the reaction of investors to the prevailing regulatory environment in the electric utility industry by analyzing the market-to-book value for investor-owned electric utilities in the United States as a gauge of investor concern or support for change. In this study, the variable of interest is the market valuation of utilities, as it captures investor confidence to changes in the regulatory environment. Initially a classic regression model is analyzed on the full sample (of the 96 investor-owned utilities for the years 1992 through 1996), providing a total number of 480 (96 firms over 5 years) observations. Later fixed- and random-effects models are analyzed for the same full-sample model specified in the previous analysis. Also, the analysis is carried forward to examine the impact of the size of the utility and its degree of reliability on nuclear power generation on market values. In the period of this study, 1992--1996, the financial security markets downgraded utilities that were still operating in a regulated environment or had a substantial percentage of their power generation from nuclear power plants. It was also found that the financial market was sensitive to the size of

  15. Costs and benefits with public and investor-owned electric systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bronner, K.M.

    1990-01-01

    This article discusses the analysis of the costs and benefits associated with public ownership of major utility projects and systems as opposed to private ownership. The topics discussed include the alleged benefits of public power systems, principles of cost benefit analysis, tax-exempt debt, state and local taxes and federal income taxes, benefit of 100 percent debt financing

  16. Taxation of Public Owned Land for Real Estate Reconstruction in Kiev, Ukraine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    М.А. Malashevskyy

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Researched of plots and fences used during the reconstruction of real estate in the city Kiev and proposed taxation on public owned land for a period of reconstruction of the real estate. On the base of these calculations, demonstrate the feasibility of such a land taxation.

  17. Public utility service in energy field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abenante, R.

    2000-01-01

    Under the current legislation, the idea of public utility service is thoroughly expressed and settled within that of public service. Lacking a new definition, not all businesses in the electricity and gas industries are subjected to the authoritative and regulatory opinions of the Authority established by act 481/95 which can only be expressed in matters strictly concerning public services [it

  18. 26 CFR 9.1 - Investment credit-public utility property elections.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 14 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Investment credit-public utility property... Investment credit—public utility property elections. (a) Applicability of prior election under section 46(f... respect to public utility property described in section 46(f)(5) by reason of sections 301 and 302 of the...

  19. Antitrust concerns in the modern public utility environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meeks, J.E.

    1996-04-01

    Direct regulation of public utility activity and behavior has been the predominant approach to protect the public interest in this country. Changes in technology, as well as new thinking about the optimum role of regulation, have created a changing atmosphere in all of the traditional public utility industries. Competitive markets for many of the products and services in these industries have been developing. While monopoly power will continue to exist in certain parts of these industries and require direct regulation, in many areas a growing reliance upon competition as the best method of serving the public interest is developing. With this shift in emphasis from regulation to free markets, the antitrust laws take on new importance for these industries. In the absence of direct regulator control, those laws are society's primary method of insuring the markets necessary to make competition an effective device for protecting the public interest. This study provides an overview of the antitrust laws, briefly describes the applicable theoretical underpinnings, and then turns to areas where public utility activity may pose special problems or conflicts with prevailing antitrust policy

  20. Antitrust concerns in the modern public utility environment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Meeks, J.E. [Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States). Coll. of Law

    1996-04-01

    Direct regulation of public utility activity and behavior has been the predominant approach to protect the public interest in this country. Changes in technology, as well as new thinking about the optimum role of regulation, have created a changing atmosphere in all of the traditional public utility industries. Competitive markets for many of the products and services in these industries have been developing. While monopoly power will continue to exist in certain parts of these industries and require direct regulation, in many areas a growing reliance upon competition as the best method of serving the public interest is developing. With this shift in emphasis from regulation to free markets, the antitrust laws take on new importance for these industries. In the absence of direct regulator control, those laws are society`s primary method of insuring the markets necessary to make competition an effective device for protecting the public interest. This study provides an overview of the antitrust laws, briefly describes the applicable theoretical underpinnings, and then turns to areas where public utility activity may pose special problems or conflicts with prevailing antitrust policy.

  1. The public utility contract between the French government and EDF

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2005-01-01

    The public utility contract as foreseen by article 1 of the law from August 9, 2004 was signed on October 24, 2005. It represents the reference of EDF's (Electricite de France) commitments for its different activities of power producer-supplier and network manager. It precises also the commitments of the manager of the public energy transportation system (RTE EDF-Transport). It describes the level of commitment of EDF group over the 2005-2006-2007 era and precises the financial compensation modalities of its public utility missions and of its commitments as described in the contract. The public utility plan indicates the level of investments planned by EDF in the domain of power generation and networks. This document gathers: the talk given by D. de Villepin, Prime Minister, during the signature of the contract, the talk and presentation (slides) given by P. Gadonneix, head of EDF, the public utility contract between the government and EDF, and the public utility plan. (J.S.)

  2. Domains of State-Owned, Privately Held, and Publicly Traded Firms in International Competition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mascarenhas, Briance

    1989-01-01

    Hypotheses relating ownership to domain differences among state-owned, publicly traded, and privately held firms in international competition were examined in a controlled field study of the offshore drilling industry. Ownership explained selected differences in domestic market dominance, international presence, and customer orientation, even…

  3. Experience-based utility and own health state valuation for a health state classification system: why and how to do it.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brazier, John; Rowen, Donna; Karimi, Milad; Peasgood, Tessa; Tsuchiya, Aki; Ratcliffe, Julie

    2017-10-11

    In the estimation of population value sets for health state classification systems such as the EuroQOL five dimensions questionnaire (EQ-5D), there is increasing interest in asking respondents to value their own health state, sometimes referred to as "experience-based utility values" or, more correctly, own rather than hypothetical health states. Own health state values differ to hypothetical health state values, and this may be attributable to many reasons. This paper critically examines whose values matter; why there is a difference between own and hypothetical values; how to measure own health state values; and why to use own health state values. Finally, the paper examines other ways that own health state values can be taken into account, such as including the use of informed general population preferences that may better take into account experience-based values.

  4. Utility franchises reconsidered

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Weidner, B.

    1981-11-01

    It is easier to obtain a public utility franchise than one for a fast food store because companies like Burger King value the profit share and control available with a franchise arrangement. The investor-owned utilities (IOUs) in Chicago and elsewhere gets little financial or regulatory benefit, although they do have an alternative because the franchise can be taken over by the city with a one-year notice. As IOUs evolved, the annual franchise fee has been incorporated into the rate in a move that taxes ratepayers and maximizes profits. Cities that found franchising unsatisfactory are looking for ways to terminate the franchise and finance a takeover, but limited-term and indeterminate franchises may offer a better mechanism when public needs and utility aims diverge. A directory lists franchised utilities by state and comments on their legal status. (DCK)

  5. 40 CFR Appendix J to Part 122 - NPDES Permit Testing Requirements for Publicly Owned Treatment Works (§ 122.21(j))

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... Publicly Owned Treatment Works (§ 122.21(j)) J Appendix J to Part 122 Protection of Environment... POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM Pt. 122, App. J Appendix J to Part 122—NPDES Permit Testing Requirements for Publicly Owned Treatment Works (§ 122.21(j)) Table 1A—Effluent Parameters for All POTWS...

  6. 29 CFR 4.120 - Contracts for public utility services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act Specific Exclusions § 4.120 Contracts for public utility services. The Act, in paragraph (5) of section 7, exempts from its provisions “any contract for public utility... regulation, are not exempt from the Act. Among the contracts included in the exemption would be those between...

  7. Besides substance much space in the statement of assets of the public utilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Merkert, H; Koths, D

    1983-10-01

    According to a legislative intent, specific tax reliefs in favour of the economy shall give an effective incentive for a recovery of the stagnating economic situation and a reduction of the high unemployment. Special attention is paid to the reduction in taxes being independent of profits. These commendable efforts of the legislative are, however, energetically undermined by a petty and tightened application of law on the part of the executive: what the one hand of the state generously spreads out, busily collects the other once again. The following remarks show that the public utilities partly force in the field of administration, partly have, however, an artificially inflated property because of their own softness, and pay much too high property taxes compared with other sectors of the economy.

  8. How the largest electric and gas utility companies administer public relations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bogart, J.D.

    1979-04-12

    This article describes the findings of a survey conducted by the author in the second half of 1978 to determine the sizes of the public relations staffs of the nation's largest operating electric and gas utilities, their budgets, organizational differences, and specific functions. Common public relations issues and major public relations problems of the utilities are identified, as well as recent trends or changes in budgeting and organization. Some functional variations of public relations departments among utility companies were detected and described.

  9. Managing globalisation in public utilities : public service transnational corporations and the case of the global water industry

    OpenAIRE

    Finger, Matthias; Lobina, Emanuele

    1999-01-01

    Liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation of water and other public utilities have not produced the alleged efficiency gains of open international competition in public utilities, as the result has been restricted access to utilities rather than unleashed competition. Where water utilities have been privatised, TNCs have reproduced the typically monopolistic behaviour, enhancing concentration through vertical and horizontal integration, collusive conduct and other restrictive practices o...

  10. Study of the impacts of regulations affecting the acceptance of Integrated Community Energy Systems: public utility, energy facility siting and municipal franchising regulatory programs in Illinois. Preliminary background report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L; Gallagher, K C; Hejna, D; Rielley, K J

    1980-01-01

    The authority to regulate public utilities is vested generally in the Illinois Commerce Commission, comprised of five members appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate and appointed for five year terms. They must be free from any employment or pecuniary interests in any business subject to regulation by the Commission. Local governments may exercise a large degree of regulatory authority over public utilities providing services within a municipality. The question of whether a municipality will exercise regulatory control over local public utilities must be put to the voters of the city. If the proposition is approved by a majority of the voters, the municipality may regulate services and rates and exercise most of the regulatory functions otherwise assigned to the Commission. If any public utility is dissatisfied with any action of a municipality, the utility is entitled to apply to the Commission for review of the action. On review, the Commission may take any determination which it deems just and reasonable. In addition, municipally-owned utilities are excluded specifically from the definition of public utility. These utilities are not within the jurisdiction of the Commission and are regulated locally. Public utility regulatory statutes, energy facility siting programs, and municipal franchising authority are examined to identify how they may impact on the ability of an organization, whether or not it be a regulated utility, to construct and operate an ICES.

  11. Public utilities in networks: competition perspectives and new regulations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bergougnoux, J.

    2000-01-01

    This report makes first a status about the historical specificities, the present day situation and the perspectives of evolution of public utilities in networks with respect to the European directive of 1996 and to the 4 sectors of electricity, gas, railway transport and postal service. Then, it wonders about the new institutions and regulation procedures to implement to conciliate the public utility mission with the honest competition. (J.S.)

  12. 26 CFR 12.3 - Investment credit, public utility property elections.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 14 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Investment credit, public utility property... Investment credit, public utility property elections. (a) Elections—(1) In general. Under section 46(e), three elections may be made on or before March 9, 1972, with respect to section 46(e) property (as...

  13. Network governance in electricity distribution: Public utility or commodity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuenneke, Rolf; Fens, Theo

    2005-01-01

    This paper addresses the question whether the operation and management of electricity distribution networks in a liberalized market environment evolves into a market driven commodity business or might be perceived as a genuine public utility task. A framework is developed to classify and compare different institutional arrangements according to the public utility model and the commodity model. These models are exemplified for the case of the Dutch electricity sector. It appears that the institutional organization of electricity distribution networks is at the crossroads of two very different institutional development paths. They develop towards commercial business if the system characteristics of the electricity sector remain basically unchanged to the traditional situation. If however innovative technological developments allow for a decentralization and decomposition of the electricity system, distribution networks might be operated as public utilities while other energy services are exploited commercially. (Author)

  14. Community energy systems and the law of public utilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of Nebraska governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitiled ''Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities--Volume One: An Overview.'' This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  15. Public utilities with renewable energy sources. Proceedings; Stadtwerke mit Erneuerbaren Energien. Konferenzbeitraege

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2008-07-01

    Within the Second EUROSOLAR Conference of EUROSOLAR, the European Association for Renewable Energy (Bonn, Federal Republic of Germany) between 15th and 16th May, 2008, at the Waterworks Braunschweig (Federal Republic of Germany), the following lectures were held: (1) The municipal public utility: The paradigm shift from power distribution companies to municipal infrastructure provider (C. Jaenig); (2) Public utilities and their concepts (Z. Meszaros); (3) The BS Energy Group (U.Lehmann-Grube); (4) New ways with energy (T. Westerheide); (5) Public utilities and their concepts (R. Edzards); (6) Public utilities with renewable energy (P. Asmuth); (7) Total concept of the public utility Wolfhagen (M. Ruehl); (8) Municipal energy concepts for the expansion of the combined heat and power generation and renewable energies (J. van Bergen); (9) Storage of renewable energy (T. Blank); (10) Public utility as a confident partner of a renewable regional economy (R. Hemmers); (11) The regenerative combined cycle power plant (M. Meyr); (12) The solar power system of systaic (O. Achilles); (13) The concession contract as an instrument for restructuring (J. Schwarz); (14) EEG 2009, GasNZV and EEWaermeG: The changed legal framework as a chance for a restructured power generation (M. Altrock).

  16. Leaders' strategies for dealing with own and their subordinates' stress in public human service organisations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skagert, Katrin; Dellve, Lotta; Eklöf, Mats; Pousette, Anders; Ahlborg, Gunnar

    2008-11-01

    Despite the acknowledged key role of leaders for psychosocial work environment, few studies focus on how leaders can decrease work-related stress. To gain deeper knowledge of leaders' perceptions and strategies for dealing with their own and their subordinates' stress in public human service organisations (HSO), qualitative interviews were made with leaders from hospitals and regional social insurance offices (n=21), and analysed in line with grounded theory method. The leaders handled subordinates' stress and perceived leadership demands by acting as shock absorber (core category) and used strategies characterised as leading in continuous change whilst maintaining trustworthiness. To cope with their own stress from perceived leadership demands, they tried to sustain their own integrity (core category) by either identifying with or distancing themselves from the leader role. The strategies for dealing with leaders' own and subordinates' exposures to stressors was pervaded by perceived leadership demands and are probably influencing each other. Supportive structures and improved communication about everyday dilemmas seem to be needed in order, not just to prevent stress reactions, but to improve the basic conditions for practicing leadership in HSO.

  17. Perestroika for public utilities? (Second thoughts on a conservation incentive)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Whitehouse, S.

    1990-01-01

    This article examines the various sides of the debate over whether financial incentives should be offered those utilities with aggressive conservation programs as part of their load management scheme. The author feels that the desire of some of the utilities to operate as pure businesses instead of as public service companies that have obligations to their community and society beyond the obligations of ordinary business will lead to the surrender of an ideal where electric utilities are public service corporations obligated to do the right thing

  18. Emergency public information procedures for nuclear plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1979-01-01

    As a result of the accident at Three Mile Island on March 28, 1979, increased emphasis has been placed on the public information capabilities of utility companies, and particularly their crisis public information procedures. A special industry task force was assigned to develop a generic model for a utility crisis public information plan. This report has been prepared not as a literal emergency plan for a utility, but as a generic check-off list of items and procedures that a utility should consider as a part of its own plan. Because of considerable variations in service areas, utility organization, and other factors, specific approaches may vary from utility to utility. The approaches cited here are generic suggestions that would help lead to an industrywide ability to inform the public, quickly and accurately, about non-routine events that it would consider of importance

  19. Public and Public Utility Enterprises Restructuring: Statistical and Quantitative Aid for Ensuring Human Resource Sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mladen Čudanov

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available This article presents a quantitative approach to restructuring public and public utility enterprises, particularly during downsizing requests. The large number of employees in the public sector can be one of the causes for economic instability at country level. That is particularly visible in the context of the euro zone crisis and economic/political instability in countries like Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Italy. Our approach is based on the statistical analysis of productivity oscillation and setting of performance standards in public and public utility enterprises based on the aforementioned productivity. Data background is given through job descriptions, organizational charts, salary reports and monthly performance reports, in most cases part of organizational information systems. It is recommended for quantitative data to be analyzed on a monthly basis, during a period of 30 or more months. Our method increases procedural fairness and accuracy, because quantitative, statistical, impartial and objective approach is applied for estimating parameters which could be related to downsizing. However, the application of this method is not limited to downsizing, as during its application in more than 20 public and public utility enterprises it was sometimes applied to increase output or reduce costs not necessarily connected to labour. Although it finally refers to downsizing, this method can provide fairer and more impartial approach than the subjective estimate of employee surplus, and its arbitral distribution within the enterprise.

  20. Market oriented approach by public utilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mantel, J J; Verkuil, J M

    1989-08-01

    Public utilities, especially the larger ones, have an image of being inefficient, technocratic and bureaucratic institutions, unresponsive to modern lifestyles, growing consumerism, differentiated customer needs and changing social values. Improving this image and increasing customer satisfaction requires the adoption of a systematic market oriented approach, based on an appropriate segmentation of the client and general public. This article gives the broad outline of such an approach followed by some generally applicable practical recommendations. Finally it stresses the importance of human aspects of organizational behaviour and, consequently, the crucial part of corporate culture. 2 figs., 1 tab.

  1. Public utility regulation and national energy policy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Navarro, P.

    1980-09-01

    The linkage between Public Utility Commission (PUC) regulation, the deteriorating financial health of the electric utility industry, and implementation of national energy policy, particularly the reduction of foreign petroleum consumption in the utility sector is examined. The role of the Nation's utilities in the pursuit of national energy policy goals and postulates a linkage between PUC regulation, the poor financial health of the utility industry, and the current and prospective failure to displace foreign petroleum in the utility sector is discussed. A brief history of PUC regulation is provided. The concept of regulatory climate and how the financial community has developed a system of ranking regulatory climate in the various State jurisdictions are explained. The existing evidence on the hypothesis that the cost of capital to a utility increases and its availability is reduced as regulatory climate grows more unfavorable from an investor's point of view is analyzed. The implications of this cost of capital effect on the electric utilities and collaterally on national energy policy and electric ratepayers are explained. Finally various State, regional and Federal regulatory responses to problems associated with PUC regulation are examined.

  2. Utility and justice in public health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacKay, Kathryn

    2017-12-11

    Many public health practitioners and organizations view themselves as engaged in the promotion or achievement of equity. However, discussions around public health frequently assume that practitioners and policy-makers take a utilitarian approach to this work. I argue that public health is better understood as a social justice endeavor. I begin by presenting the utility view of public health and then discuss the equity view. This is a theoretical argument, which should help public health to justify interventions for communicable and non-communicable diseases equally, and which contributes to breaking down the 'old/new' public health divide. This argument captures practitioners' views of the work they are engaged in and allows for the moral and policy justification of important interventions in communicable and non-communicable diseases. Systemic interventions are necessary to remedy high rates of disease among certain groups and, generally, to improve the health of entire populations. By viewing diseases as partly the result of failures of health protective systems in society, public health may justify interventions in communicable and non-communicable diseases equally. Public health holds a duty to improve the health of the worst-off in society; by prioritizing this group, the health of the whole community may improve. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

  3. Study of the impacts of regulations affecting the acceptance of Integrated Community Energy Systems: public utility, energy facility siting and municipal franchising regulatory programs in California. Preliminary background report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.; Gallagher, K.C.; Hejna, D.; Rielley, K.J.

    1980-01-01

    The Constitution of the State of California grants to the Legislature control over persons and private corporations that own or operate a line, plant, or system for the production, generation, or transmission of heat, light, water, or power to be furnished either directly or indirectly to or for the public. The Constitution establishes the Public Utilities Commission and grants certain specific powers to the PUC, including the power to fix rates, establish rules and prescribe a uniform system of accounts. The Constitution also recognizes that the Legislature has plenary power to confer additional authority and jurisdiction upon the PUC. The Constitution prohibits regulation by a city, county, or other municipal body of matters over which the Legislature has granted regulatory power to the PUC. This provision does not, however, impair the right of any city to grant franchises for public utilities. The California legislature has enacted the California Public Utilities Code and has designated the PUC as the agency to implement the regulatory provisions of the Code. The Public Utilities Commission consists of five members appointed by the governor and approved by the senate, a majority of the membership concurring, for staggered 6-year terms. Certain limited powers over the conduct of public utilities may still be exercised by municipalities. Public utility regulatory statutes, energy facility siting programs, and municipal franchising authority are examined to identify how they may impact on the ability of an organization, whether or not it be a regulated utility, to construct and operate an ICES.

  4. Agency transformation and state public utility commissions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jones, Douglas N.

    2006-01-01

    The demise of public utility commissions has been periodically predicted (sometimes hoped for). In their long history they have been attacked by critics as ineffective, inefficient, expensive, or unnecessary. Further, the demonstrated survivability of the commission concept has often been uncharitably attributed to powerful political constituencies, self-preservation manoeuvrings by commissioners themselves, and inertia. The implications of this article point another way. Commission regulation of public utilities has survived mainly because of continued need for social oversight of these critical industry sectors and the capacity of PUCs strategically to adapt to fundamental changes in their surroundings. Two transformational upheavals are treated here - a challenge of flexibility and responsiveness by the dramatic run-up in costs and prices in the 1970s and challenge to relevance by the policy shift to greater reliance on market competition in the 1990s - and regulation's successful accommodation to them. Viewed this way commission regulation is more in a position of 'second wind' than 'last breath'. (author)

  5. The public utility contract between the French government and EDF; Le contrat de service public entre l'Etat et EDF

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2005-07-01

    The public utility contract as foreseen by article 1 of the law from August 9, 2004 was signed on October 24, 2005. It represents the reference of EDF's (Electricite de France) commitments for its different activities of power producer-supplier and network manager. It precises also the commitments of the manager of the public energy transportation system (RTE EDF-Transport). It describes the level of commitment of EDF group over the 2005-2006-2007 era and precises the financial compensation modalities of its public utility missions and of its commitments as described in the contract. The public utility plan indicates the level of investments planned by EDF in the domain of power generation and networks. This document gathers: the talk given by D. de Villepin, Prime Minister, during the signature of the contract, the talk and presentation (slides) given by P. Gadonneix, head of EDF, the public utility contract between the government and EDF, and the public utility plan. (J.S.)

  6. Master of Public Governance (MPG) Students Doing Leadership Experiments in Their Own Praxis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Meier, Frank; Kjærgaard, Annemette; Tangkjær, Christian

    The paper is a self-critical conceptual analysis of the framing of our pedagogical practice regarding the use of experiments in leadership development in public management programmes. We suggest that we may need to understand more properly the socio-spatial dynamics making experiments possible (or...... be facilitated to explore our two research questions: A. what are the preconditions for the experiment to exist and become a strong pedagogical vehicle in a leadership programme and B. what kind of experiment is afforded by each arrangement? Facilitating the professional practitioner’s learning through...... the design of experiments taking place in the practitioner’s own organization builds on a critical pedagogy that points to the need of including the professional practitioner’s professional experience and identity in the learning process. In our understanding, the context of public leadership in contemporary...

  7. Optimal provision of public goods with rank dependent expected utility

    OpenAIRE

    Eide, Erling

    2003-01-01

    In this paper the theory of rank-dependent expected utility (RDEU) is substituted for the theory of expected utility (EU) in a model of optimal provision of public goods. The substitution generalizes the Samuelson rule, previously modified to include deadweight loss and tax evasion loss.

  8. Working paper on public steering of privately owned sports facilities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Iversen, Evald Bundgård

    This short paper discusses how municipalities can steer privately owned sports facilities. Firstly I analyse why steering of privately owned facilities is an interesting subject. Secondly I discuss what the advantages and drawbacks of using different approaches for steering sports facilities are........ Finally I discuss the methodological challenges of measuring activities in sports facilities – and take a closer look at the advantages and drawbacks of using manual and thermal techniques for registering activity.......This short paper discusses how municipalities can steer privately owned sports facilities. Firstly I analyse why steering of privately owned facilities is an interesting subject. Secondly I discuss what the advantages and drawbacks of using different approaches for steering sports facilities are...

  9. 75 FR 62023 - Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation by Transmission Owning and Operating Public Utilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-07

    ... transmission needs driven by public policy requirements established by state or federal laws or regulations... facilities; and remove from Commission-approved tariffs or agreements a right of first refusal created by..., as a result of a Commission- approved tariff or agreement, receive different treatment in a regional...

  10. Review: Public perspectives on the utilization of human placentas in scientific research and medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoshizawa, R S

    2013-01-01

    Placental tissues are frequently utilized by scientists studying pregnancy and reproduction and in diverse fields including immunology, stem cell research, genetics, cancer research, and tissue engineering, as well as by clinicians in many therapies. Though the utilization of the human placenta in science and medicine has benefitted many people, little is known about public perspectives of this phenomenon. This review addresses placental donation, collection, and utilization in science and medicine, focusing on public perspectives. Cultural values and traditions, ethical paradigms and concerns, public understandings of science and medicine, and political considerations may impact perceptions of the utilization of the placenta in science and medicine, but systematic study is lacking. It is argued that knowledge of public views gained from empirical investigation may underpin the development of collection protocols and research projects that are more responsive to public will, spur more extensive utilization in science and medicine of this unique organ, and/or aid in the realization of the mobilization of knowledge about the placenta for clinical and educational ends. New avenues for research on public perspectives of the placenta are proposed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Nine. Connecticut

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description of the laws and programs of the State of Connecticut governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  12. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Twelve. Georgia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description of the laws and programs of the State of Georgia governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  13. Cluster approach to the development of housing services and public utilities in the region

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergey Ivanovich Bazhenov

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available The ongoing crisis in the housing services and public utilities sphere determines the need to accelerate its integration into the market space. The author proposes to apply the cluster initiatives, which, in his opinion, provide the solution of housing services and public utilities problems in terms of their broader vision. This paper attempts to highlight the benefits of the cluster approach to the development of housing services and public utilities, and identifies the main provisions in the process of its implementation. The essence of the concept of «housing services and social cluster of the region» in terms of housing services and public utilities development is revealed, members of cluster unification are designated, its components are identified, the purpose of introducing the cluster model of housing services and public utilities reform management is determined, which essence is to change the mentality of the producers and consumers of housing services and public utilities in the direction of increasing responsibilities and respect for mutual interests in the market of housing services and public utilities. The main provisions and principles of formation of housing services and social cluster of the region are reviewed, as well as the characteristics and trends of its development. An authorial approach to the development of a strategy of forming a housing services and social cluster in the region in accordance with modern trends is presented. The leading role of several factors in establishing the basic prerequisites for sustainable operation of housing services and social cluster of the region is justified. These factors include governmental regulation of pricing and forms of support to small entrepreneurship development, creation of financial security system, development of public-private partnerships and implementation of innovative technologies. The role of non-governmental organizations and public associations in the formation of

  14. CSR in Publicly Owned Enterprises

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lauesen, Linne Marie

    2011-01-01

    /value – The originality of the paper and its contribution to the CSR literature lies in its pointing out the issues in opportunities and barriers in CSR in public, hybrid organisations that need to be solved before CSR can be fully implemented in public service companies at the same level as in private businesses....... of the political decision-makers of the city. The barriers to CSR in POEs stem from the legal regulatory framework, which dictates efficiencies, price and cost reductions and limits the ethical investments of the POEs. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology of the paper is a comparative study and analysis...

  15. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Eighteen. Kansas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of Kansas governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  16. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Eleven. Florida

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of Florida governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  17. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Eight. Colorado

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of Colorado governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  18. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Seventeen. Iowa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of Iowa governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  19. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Nineteen. Kentucky

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of Kentucky governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  20. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Six. Arkansas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of Arkansas governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  1. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Five. Arizona

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of Arizona governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  2. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Three. Alabama

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of Alabama governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  3. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Sixteen. Indiana

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of Indiana governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  4. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Thirty. Nevada

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of Nevada governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  5. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Thirteen. Hawaii

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of Hawaii governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  6. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Seven. California

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of California governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  7. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Ten. Delaware

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of Delaware governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  8. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Fifteen. Illinois

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of Illinois governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  9. Flow forecasting scenarios to support multiple-objective management of publicly-owned dams in Quebec

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Turcotte, R [Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Ste-Foy, PQ (Canada). Centre de l' Energie

    2004-07-01

    This presentation described the application of flow forecasting at the Centre d'Expertise Hydrique du Quebec (CEHQ), an agency that provides expertise in hydrology and hydraulics. CEHQ ensures land management of public water and enforces the Dam Safety Act. It also provides support to municipalities in defining flood-risk areas and effective control of floods. Other responsibilities include the operation of hydrometric stations and 36 publicly-owned dams used for flood control, water supply, recreational activities and hydroelectricity. The role of stream flow forecasting within the decision making process was discussed and operational examples were presented to demonstrate the possibilities of forecast scenarios such as the one in place at the Kenogami River Basin in Quebec. Future challenges lie in improving the way information is communicated and evaluating the probability of occurrences associated with short-term precipitation scenarios to current weather conditions. tabs., figs.

  10. Public utilities in networks: competition perspectives and new regulations; Services publics en reseau: perspectives de concurrence et nouvelles regulations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bergougnoux, J

    2000-07-01

    This report makes first a status about the historical specificities, the present day situation and the perspectives of evolution of public utilities in networks with respect to the European directive of 1996 and to the 4 sectors of electricity, gas, railway transport and postal service. Then, it wonders about the new institutions and regulation procedures to implement to conciliate the public utility mission with the honest competition. (J.S.)

  11. Analyses of Public Utility Building - Students Designs, Aimed at their Energy Efficiency Improvement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wołoszyn, Marek Adam

    2017-10-01

    Public utility buildings are formally, structurally and functionally complex entities. Frequently, the process of their design involves the retroactive reconsideration of energy engineering issues, once a building concept has already been completed. At that stage, minor formal corrections are made along with the design of the external layer of the building in order to satisfy applicable standards. Architecture students do the same when designing assigned public utility buildings. In order to demonstrate energy-related defects of building designs developed by students, the conduct of analyses was proposed. The completed designs of public utility buildings were examined with regard to energy efficiency of the solutions they feature through the application of the following programs: Ecotect, Vasari, and in case of simpler analyses ArchiCad program extensions were sufficient.

  12. Spinning Your Own Story - Marketing the Geosciences to the Public

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sturm, D.; Jones, T. S.

    2006-12-01

    Studies of high achieving African-American and Hispanic students have shown the students do not go into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) disciplines due to the poor teaching by some STEM teachers, lack of encouragement from teachers or parents and a self perception the students will not be successful. One underlying component to this problem is the issue of perception of the STEM disciplines by the general public. This study focuses on changing the often negative or neutral perception into one more positive and diverse. This study utilizes clear, and hopefully effective, media communication through the use of traditional marketing strategies to promote the geosciences and the geology program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to the general public in the Chattanooga metropolitan area. Average citizens are generally unaware of the various geoscience divisions and career opportunities available. Pioneer marketing, used in this study, introduces new ideas and concepts to the general public, but does not ask for direct action to be taken. The primary goal is to increase awareness of the geosciences. The use of printed and online media delivers the message to the public. In the media, personal interviews with geoscientists from all races and backgrounds were included to demonstrate diversity. An invitation was made to all high school students to participate in an associated after-school program. Elements developed for this program include: 1) clearly defining goals for the marketing effort; 2) delineating the target market by age, education, race and gender; 3) developing a story to tell in the marketing effort; and 4) producing products to achieve the marketing goals. For this effort, the product results included: an annual newspaper tabloid, an associated website and a departmental brochure. The marketing results show increased public awareness, increased awareness of the geology program within the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

  13. Indoor air quality in public utility environments-a review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Śmiełowska, Monika; Marć, Mariusz; Zabiegała, Bożena

    2017-04-01

    Indoor air quality has been the object of interest for scientists and specialists from the fields of science such as chemistry, medicine and ventilation system design. This results from a considerable number of potential factors, which may influence the quality of the broadly understood indoor air in a negative way. Poor quality of indoor air in various types of public utility buildings may significantly affect an increase in the incidence of various types of civilisation diseases. This paper presents information about a broad spectrum of chemical compounds that were identified and determined in the indoor environment of various types of public utility rooms such as churches, museums, libraries, temples and hospitals. An analysis of literature data allowed for identification of the most important transport paths of chemical compounds that significantly influence the quality of the indoor environment and thus the comfort of living and the health of persons staying in it.

  14. 17 CFR 210.3A-05 - Special requirements as to public utility holding companies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... Consolidated and Combined Financial Statements § 210.3A-05 Special requirements as to public utility holding companies. There shall be shown in the consolidated balance sheet of a public utility holding company the... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION FORM AND CONTENT OF AND REQUIREMENTS FOR FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, SECURITIES...

  15. 40 CFR Appendix B to Subpart E of... - Federal Guidelines-User Charges for Operation and Maintenance of Publicly Owned Treatment Works

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... charges is to distribute the cost of operation and maintenance of publicly owned treatment works to the... not be acceptable. Savings resulting from economies of scale should be apportioned to all users or...

  16. The phenomenon of the Spanish local public utilities: an analysis of their evolution and governance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emilio Martín Vallespín

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available During the last decade, the number of local public utilities has experienced a significant increase in Europe. The provision of public services by means of this type of companies requires municipalities to establish different forms of control and regulation in order to align economic and social interests. This paper analyses the Spanish system of local public utilities from the point of view of the characteristics of the governance style applied by municipalities to steer and monitor the activities. The results evidence that, among other things, the percentage of equity participation influences on the mechanisms adopted by local authorities to apply external control on public utilities.

  17. Community energy systems and the law of public utilities. Volume 20. Louisiana

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of Louisiana governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities--Volume One: An overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One--An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enchance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  18. Building Capacity in the Public Utility Sectors of Basra, Iraq

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Trainor, Tim; Henderson, Dale

    2007-01-01

    ... in provincial reconstruction efforts. Specifically, the mission was to assist in building the capacity of the public sector utility leadership in project prioritization, project planning and project management in order to enhance...

  19. NEUTRALIZING WASTEWATER FROM PUBLIC UTILITIES ON RURAL AREAS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Piotr Bugajski

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available The research aimed at determining a potential use of domestic sewage treatment plants based on activated sludge for the disposal of wastes drained from schools in rural areas. Selected pollutant indicators, such as: BOD5, COD, total suspended solids, total nitrogen and phosphates were the basis for determining the composition of raw sewage discharged by public utility objects and the quality of treated sewage considering the days when lessons were taking place at school and days free from classes. The analysis of the results revealed that household sewage treatment plants based on activated sludge may be used for waste disposal from public facilities, such as schools.

  20. Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935: 1935--1992

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1993-01-15

    This report provides an economic and legislative history and analysis of the Public Utilities Holding Company Act (PUHCA) of 1935. This Act was substantially amended for the first time in 1992 by passage of the Energy Policy Act (EPACT). The report also includes a discussion of the issues which led to the amendment of PUHCA and projections of the impact of these changes on the electric industry. The report should be of use to Federal and State regulators, trade associations, electric utilities, independent power producers, as well as decision-makers in Congress and the Administration.

  1. EDF, the market and Europe. The future of a public utility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fitoussi, J.P.

    2003-01-01

    European governments have decided, in the framework of the unique market, to open their national market to competition. Electricite de France (EdF), like the overall French public utilities, has to adapt to this new situation. The question is: how to perform this mutation and avoid ultra-liberalism? This is the main guideline of this book which aim is to define the modalities of the necessary implication of the government and the ones of a new kind of company governance in a sector where regulation errors can have dramatic consequences (like the power outage in the US). The objective of the author is not to propose a simple compromise between market and public utility logics, but to consider the double opening of markets and companies capital as new opportunities to improve both the public utility and the companies efficiency. Such a company 'of the third kind' (somewhere between governmental and private) can be built only if the new rules and reforms are made in a clever and profitable way, i.e. in compliance with sustainable development principles, in the respect of management transparency, and for the benefit of general people and in particular the end-users. (J.S.)

  2. Hamilton Utilities Corporation annual report 2002 : people, performance, productivity : the business of public service

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2002-01-01

    A brief overview of the municipally-owned Hamilton Utilities Corporation was provided. When Ontario's electricity market opened to competition, it allowed wholesale and retail electricity marketers to operate on a competitive basis. This report describes how Hamilton Hydro, the largest subsidiary, successfully faced the challenges brought about by the open market. The strategy of growth as a multi-utility corporation progressed significantly. Major financial restructuring was completed, income level was maintained, as well as a strong balance sheet. The construction of Hamilton's first district energy system was effected by Hamilton Community Energy, another subsidiary. This project is expected to provide heat to 10 buildings in the downtown area, producing 3.5 megawatts of electricity for the City. The third subsidiary, FibreWired, applied its vast communications expertise to the health care sector. It offered Virtual Private Network (VPN) services to area hospitals and other health care providers in pharmaceutical and biotechnology. A major study was undertaken jointly with the City of Hamilton. It examined the feasibility of restructuring water and wastewater services into a municipally owned corporation under the umbrella of Hamilton Utilities Corporation. Various examples were provided throughout the report to better illustrate how corporate vision was translated into reality. tabs

  3. Survey and analysis of selected jointly owned large-scale electric utility storage projects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1982-05-01

    The objective of this study was to examine and document the issues surrounding the curtailment in commercialization of large-scale electric storage projects. It was sensed that if these issues could be uncovered, then efforts might be directed toward clearing away these barriers and allowing these technologies to penetrate the market to their maximum potential. Joint-ownership of these projects was seen as a possible solution to overcoming the major barriers, particularly economic barriers, of commercializaton. Therefore, discussions with partners involved in four pumped storage projects took place to identify the difficulties and advantages of joint-ownership agreements. The four plants surveyed included Yards Creek (Public Service Electric and Gas and Jersey Central Power and Light); Seneca (Pennsylvania Electric and Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company); Ludington (Consumers Power and Detroit Edison, and Bath County (Virginia Electric Power Company and Allegheny Power System, Inc.). Also investigated were several pumped storage projects which were never completed. These included Blue Ridge (American Electric Power); Cornwall (Consolidated Edison); Davis (Allegheny Power System, Inc.) and Kttatiny Mountain (General Public Utilities). Institutional, regulatory, technical, environmental, economic, and special issues at each project were investgated, and the conclusions relative to each issue are presented. The major barriers preventing the growth of energy storage are the high cost of these systems in times of extremely high cost of capital, diminishing load growth and regulatory influences which will not allow the building of large-scale storage systems due to environmental objections or other reasons. However, the future for energy storage looks viable despite difficult economic times for the utility industry. Joint-ownership can ease some of the economic hardships for utilites which demonstrate a need for energy storage.

  4. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Twenty-one. Maine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of Maine governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  5. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Forty-eight. Virginia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is presented of the laws and programs of the State of Virginia governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  6. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Twenty-three. Massachusetts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of Massachusetts governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  7. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Fifty. West Virginia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is presented of the laws and programs of the State of West Virginia governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  8. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Forty-four. Tennessee

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is presented of the laws and programs of the State of Tennessee governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  9. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Thirty-seven. Ohio

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is presented of the laws and programs of the State of Ohio governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  10. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Thirty-nine. Oregon

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is presented of the laws and programs of the State of Oregon governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  11. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Twenty-eight. Montana

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is presented of the laws and programs of the State of Montana governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  12. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Twenty-five. Minnesota

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of Minnesota governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  13. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Forty-five. Texas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is presented of the laws and programs of the State of Texas governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  14. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Fifty-two. Wyoming

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is presented of the laws and programs of the State of Wyoming governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  15. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Forty-nine. Washington

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is presented of the laws and programs of the State of Washington governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  16. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Fifty-one. Wisconsin

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is presented of the laws and programs of the State of Wisconsin governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  17. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Twenty-two. Maryland

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of Maryland governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  18. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Twenty-seven. Missouri

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of Missouri governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  19. Debt financing structure within the state-owned corporations in Kenya

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Micah Odhiambo Nyamita

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The current public sector financial management reforms agenda within the state-owned corporations in Kenya aimed at integrating and aligning their performance to vision 2030, has not yet achieved the traction required. This study, therefore, examined the different types of debt financing strategies applied by the various state-owned corporations in Kenya, in comparison to those applied by state-owned corporations from developed and developing economies. The study specifically revealed that private debt financing, through bank loans and payables is commonly used amongst Kenyan state-owned corporations. While, most state-owned corporations from developed and developing economies, such as in America, Europe, Asia and South Africa, use public debt financing, through financial securities, traded in both domestic and international capital markets.

  20. The unique role of a public power agency in nuclear communications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Scheele, L.A.; Dobken, J.C., E-mail: lascheele@energy-northwest.com, E-mail: jcdobken@energy-northwest.com [Energy Northwest, Richland, WA (United States)

    2014-07-01

    Public power utilities hold a special responsibility to communicate effectively with the public and to serve as both capacity-building and information resources for public utility district members. Energy Northwest was formed in 1957 as joint state operating agency, and today agency membership includes 27 public power utility districts comprising nearly every public power utility district in Washington state and several municipalities. Energy Northwest owns and operates a diverse portfolio of resources, including a wind project, a hydro project, a solar demonstration project, and the U.S. Pacific Northwest's only nuclear energy facility, the Columbia Generating Station in southeast Washington. Member utilities look to Energy Northwest to provide them with thorough and accurate information on all things nuclear, including the contributions of nuclear energy to the region's energy mix, radiation effects and nuclear accidents. The agency plays a diverse role in relationship building among nuclear entities within the region; providing decision makers with accurate and timely information; developing forums in which member public power utilities become well-versed in talking to their constituents about nuclear issues; and using diverse outlets, including social media, to communicate directly with ratepayers throughout the region. (author)

  1. The unique role of a public power agency in nuclear communications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Scheele, L.A.; Dobken, J.C.

    2014-01-01

    Public power utilities hold a special responsibility to communicate effectively with the public and to serve as both capacity-building and information resources for public utility district members. Energy Northwest was formed in 1957 as joint state operating agency, and today agency membership includes 27 public power utility districts comprising nearly every public power utility district in Washington state and several municipalities. Energy Northwest owns and operates a diverse portfolio of resources, including a wind project, a hydro project, a solar demonstration project, and the U.S. Pacific Northwest's only nuclear energy facility, the Columbia Generating Station in southeast Washington. Member utilities look to Energy Northwest to provide them with thorough and accurate information on all things nuclear, including the contributions of nuclear energy to the region's energy mix, radiation effects and nuclear accidents. The agency plays a diverse role in relationship building among nuclear entities within the region; providing decision makers with accurate and timely information; developing forums in which member public power utilities become well-versed in talking to their constituents about nuclear issues; and using diverse outlets, including social media, to communicate directly with ratepayers throughout the region. (author)

  2. 17 CFR 250.12 - Exemption of certain public utility companies from the definition of subsidiary companies of...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... utility companies from the definition of subsidiary companies of holding companies. 250.12 Section 250.12... REGULATIONS, PUBLIC UTILITY HOLDING COMPANY ACT OF 1935 Registration and General Exemptions § 250.12 Exemption of certain public utility companies from the definition of subsidiary companies of holding companies...

  3. Utilization of medical services in the public health system in the Southern Brazil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bastos, Gisele Alsina Nader; Duca, Giovâni Firpo Del; Hallal, Pedro Curi; Santos, Iná S

    2011-06-01

    To estimate the prevalence and analyze factors associated with the utilization of medical services in the public health system. Cross-sectional population-based study with 2,706 individuals aged 20-69 years carried out in Pelotas, Southern Brazil, in 2008. A systematic sampling with probability proportional to the number of households in each sector was adopted. The outcome was defined by the combination of the questions related to medical consultation in the previous three months and place. The exposure variables were: sex, age, marital status, level of schooling, family income, self-reported hospital admission in the previous year, having a regular physician, self-perception of health, and the main reason for the last consultation. Descriptive analysis was stratified by sex and the analytical statistics included the use of the Wald test for tendency and heterogeneity in the crude analysis and Poisson regression with robust variance in the adjusted analysis, taking into consideration cluster sampling. The prevalence of utilization of medical services in the three previous months was 60.6%, almost half of these (42.0%, 95%CI: 36.6;47.5) in public services. The most utilized public services were the primary care units (49.5%). In the adjusted analysis stratified by sex, men with advanced age and young women had higher probability of using the medical services in the public system. In both sexes, low level of schooling, low per capita family income, not having a regular physician and hospital admission in the previous year were associated with the outcome. Despite the expressive reduction in the utilization of medical health services in the public system in the last 15 years, the public services are now reaching a previously unassisted portion of the population (individuals with low income and schooling).

  4. Utilization and expenditure at public and private facilities in 39 low-income countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saksena, Priyanka; Xu, Ke; Elovainio, Riku; Perrot, Jean

    2012-01-01

    To document the patterns of health service utilization and health payments at public and private facilities across countries. We used data from the World Health Surveys from 39 low- and low-middle income countries to examine differences between public and private sectors. Utilization of outpatient and inpatient services, out-of-pocket payments (OOP) at public and private facilities, and transportation costs were compared. Utilization and payments to public and private sectors differ widely. Public facilities dominated in most countries for both outpatient and inpatient services. But, whereas use of private facilities is more common among the rich, poor people also use them, to a considerable extent and in almost all the countries in the study. The majority of OOP were incurred at public providers for inpatient services. On average, this was not the case for outpatient services. Medicines accounted for the largest share of OOP for all services except inpatient services at private facilities, where consultation fees did. Transportation costs were considerable. Price competition is certainly not the only factor that guides choice of provider. The results support continued efforts by the governments to engage strategically with the private sector. However, they also highlight the importance of not generalizing conditions across countries. Governments may need to reconsider simplistic user-fee abolition strategies at public providers if they simply focus on consultation fees. Policies to make health services more accessible need to consider a comprehensive benefit package that includes a wider scope of costs related to care such as expenditures on medicines and transportation. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  5. Power Sales to Electric Utilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None

    1989-02-01

    The Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) of 1979 requires that electrical utilities interconnect with qualifying facilities and purchase electricity at a rate based upon their full avoided costs (i.e., costs of providing both capacity and energy). Qualifying facilities (QF) include solar or geothermal electric units, hydropower, municipal solid waste or biomass-fired power plants, and cogeneration projects that satisfy maximum size, fuel use, ownership, location, and/or efficiency criteria. In Washington State, neither standard power purchase prices based upon a proxy ''avoided plant'', standard contracts, or a standard offer process have been used. Instead, a variety of power purchase contracts have been negotiated by developers of qualifying facilities with investor-owned utilities, public utility districts, and municipally-owned and operated utilities. With a hydro-based system, benefits associated with resource acquisition are determined in large part by how compatible the resource is with a utility's existing generation mix. Power purchase rates are negotiated and vary according to firm energy production, guarantees, ability to schedule maintenance or downtime, rights of refusal, power plant purchase options, project start date and length of contract; front-loading or levelization provisions; and the ability of the project to provide ''demonstrated'' capacity. Legislation was also enacted which allows PURPA to work effectively. Initial laws established ownership rights and provided irrigation districts, PUDs, and municipalities with expanded enabling powers. Financial processes were streamlined and, in some cases, simplified. Finally, laws were passed which are designed to ensure that development proceeds in an environmentally acceptable manner. In retrospect, PURPA has worked well within Washington. In the state of Washington, 20 small-scale hydroelectric projects with a combined generating capacity of

  6. Practice of value-based distribution reliability assessment (VBDRA) at Scarborough Public Utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, R-L.

    1995-01-01

    The development of value-based distribution reliability assessment (VBDRA) at Scarborough Public Utilities was described. Load point reliability indices, customer interruption costs (CIC), continuity and service reliability, accuracy of CIC, and the aspects of application of VBDRA were addressed. The application of VBDRA to a long-term rebuild plan for 4.16 kV distribution system was described. The importance of a cost-benefit analysis for implementation of VBDRA was emphasized. In the case of the Scarborough Public Utilities Commission the enhanced feeder reliability assessment was found to influence the allocation of funding to where it provided the most value to customers. 14 refs., 3 tabs., 3 figs

  7. Public-Private Partnership Enhances Water Utility's Performance in Armenia

    OpenAIRE

    Tokhmakhian, Zaruhi; Eiweida, Ahmed

    2011-01-01

    Public-Private Participation (PPP) schemes were successfully implemented in several water utilities in Armenia, yielding excellent results for the development of the water and wastewater sectors. Armenia is one of the few countries in the region to have had such a successful PPP experience. For many years after the collapse of the Soviet economy, most of the water supply and sanitation sys...

  8. Organizational attributes that assure optimal utilization of public health nurses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meagher-Stewart, Donna; Underwood, Jane; MacDonald, Mary; Schoenfeld, Bonnie; Blythe, Jennifer; Knibbs, Kristin; Munroe, Val; Lavoie-Tremblay, Mélanie; Ehrlich, Anne; Ganann, Rebecca; Crea, Mary

    2010-01-01

    Optimal utilization of public health nurses (PHNs) is important for strengthening public health capacity and sustaining interest in public health nursing in the face of a global nursing shortage. To gain an insight into the organizational attributes that support PHNs to work effectively, 23 focus groups were held with PHNs, managers, and policymakers in diverse regions and urban and rural/remote settings across Canada. Participants identified attributes at all levels of the public health system: government and system-level action, local organizational culture of their employers, and supportive management practices. Effective leadership emerged as a strong message throughout all levels. Other organizational attributes included valuing and promoting public health nursing; having a shared vision, goals, and planning; building partnerships and collaboration; demonstrating flexibility and creativity; and supporting ongoing learning and knowledge sharing. The results of this study highlight opportunities for fostering organizational development and leadership in public health, influencing policies and programs to optimize public health nursing services and resources, and supporting PHNs to realize the full scope of their competencies.

  9. Min-max optimization and the radial approach to the public service system design with generalized utility

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaroslav Janáček

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available The paper deals with the min-max public service system design, where the generalized utility is considered. In contrast to the formulations presented in the literature, the generalized utility defined for a public service system assumes that the user’s utility comes generally from more than one located service center and the individual contributions from relevant centers are weighted by reduction coefficients depending on a center order. Given that commercial IP-solvers often fail due to enormous computational times or extreme memory demands when resolving this issue, we suggested and compared several approaches based on a bisection process with the purpose of developing an effective max-min approach to the public service system design with a generalized utility.

  10. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Thirty-two. New Jersey

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is presented of the laws and programs of the State of New Jersey governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  11. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Forty-two. South Carolina

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of South Carolina governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  12. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Forty-three. South Dakota

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is presented of the laws and programs of the State of South Dakota governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  13. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Forty-one. Rhode Island

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is presented of the laws and programs of the State of Rhode Island governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  14. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Thirty-one. New Hampshire

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is presented of the laws and programs of the State of New Hampshire governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One. An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  15. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Thirty-six. North Dakota

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is presented of the laws and programs of the State of North Dakota governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  16. Community energy systems and the law of public utilities. Volume thirty-four. New York

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is presented of the laws and programs of the State of New York governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  17. Benchmark Two-Good Utility Functions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Jaegher, K.

    Benchmark two-good utility functions involving a good with zero income elasticity and unit income elasticity are well known. This paper derives utility functions for the additional benchmark cases where one good has zero cross-price elasticity, unit own-price elasticity, and zero own price

  18. Academic Utilization of Government Publications in Three Nigerian University Libraries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okwor, Roseline Ngozi; Mole, Austin J. C.; Ihekwoaba, Emmanuel Chukwudi

    2015-01-01

    This paper seeks to examine the current state of academic utilization of government publications in Nigerian university libraries. Using a descriptive survey, the study focused on three academic libraries in Southeastern Nigeria serving a population of 11,996 undergraduate and postgraduate student library users, 592 of whom answered a…

  19. Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities. Volume Forty-six. Utah

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is presented of the laws and programs of the State of Utah governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilites, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities - Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One - An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  20. Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978. Annual report to Congress

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None,

    1980-05-01

    Titles I and III of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) establish retail regulatory policies for electric and natural gas utilities, respectively, aimed at achieving three purposes: conservation of energy supplied by electric and gas utilities; efficiency in the use of facilities and resources by these utilities; equitable rates to electricity and natural gas consumers. PURPA also continues the pilot utility implementation program, authorized under Title II of the Energy Conservation and Production ACT (ECPA), to encourage adoption of cost-based rates and efficient energy-management practices. The purpose of this report is twofold: (1) to summarize and analyze the progress that state regulatory authorities and certain nonregulated utilities have made in their consideration of the PURPA standards; and (2) to summarize the Department of Energy (DOE) activities relating to PURPA and ECPA. The report provides a broad overview and assessment of the status of electric and gas regulation nationwide, and thus helps provide the basis for congressional and DOE actions targeted on the utility industry to address pressing national energy problems.

  1. Trends in Utility Green Pricing Programs (2004)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bird, L.; Brown, E.

    2005-10-01

    In the early 1990s, only a handful of utilities offered their customers a choice of purchasing electricity generated from renewable energy sources. Today, nearly 600 utilities in regulated electricity markets--or almost 20% of all utilities nationally--provide their customers a "green power" option. Because some utilities offer programs in conjunction with cooperative associations or other publicly owned power entities, the number of distinct programs totals about 125. Through these programs, more than 40 million customers spanning 34 states have the ability to purchase renewable energy to meet some portion or all of their electricity needs--or make contributions to support the development of renewable energy resources. Typically, customers pay a premium above standard electricity rates for this service. This report presents year-end 2004 data on utility green pricing programs, and examines trends in consumer response and program implementation over time. The data in this report, which were obtained via a questionnaire distributed to utility green pricing program managers, can be used by utilities as benchmarks by which to gauge the success of their green power programs.

  2. 24 CFR 965.401 - Individually metered utilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... URBAN DEVELOPMENT PHA-OWNED OR LEASED PROJECTS-GENERAL PROVISIONS Individual Metering of Utilities for Existing PHA-Owned Projects § 965.401 Individually metered utilities. (a) All utility service shall be... supplier or through the use of checkmeters, unless: (1) Individual metering is impractical, such as in the...

  3. Affairs of power: Restructuring California's electric utility industry, 1968-1998

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myers, William Allan

    This dissertation studies the process of change in the political economy of electric utilities. Following two decades of continual growth during the nation's post-World War Two economic and population boom, the electric power industry confronted increasing challenges to its traditional operating practices and cultural values, nowhere with greater intensity than in California. Pressure for change came from outside forces who opposed utilities' business practices, assailed their traditional vertically-integrated structure, questioned the political assumptions that sustained their monopoly status, and ultimately wrested away access to the once tightly controlled technology of electric generation and transmission. Because managers of both investor-owned and publicly-owned utilities continued to rely upon long-standing economic and technical assumptions derived from deeply held cultural values sustained by decades of business success, they were rendered unable to comprehend and unwilling to accommodate change. Persistent mistrust between the publicly-owned and privately-owned sectors further weakened the industry's ability to work cooperatively in the face of crucial challenges. Thus encumbered by endemic structural jealousy, technological path dependency, and organizational stasis, the industry did not respond with sufficient innovation to new social values and altering economic conditions, ultimately resulting in the discarding of the old political economy of regulated monopolism. Five precepts of economic history are identified as crucial elements of the process of change. First, the tension between protection and entry, and the related issue of access to technology, contributes to creation and modification of the political economy in which economic institutions function. Second, submission to governmental regulatory powers allows certain industries to control entry, restrict access, and protect themselves from the dynamics of competitive change. Third, an

  4. The diversity of regulation and public financing of IVF in Europe and its impact on utilization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berg Brigham, K; Cadier, B; Chevreul, K

    2013-03-01

    How do the different forms of regulation and public financing of IVF affect utilization in otherwise similar European welfare state systems? Countries with more liberal social eligibility regulations had higher levels of IVF utilization, which diminished as the countries' policies became more restrictive. Europe is a world leader in the development and utilization of IVF, yet surveillance reveals significant differences in uptake among countries which have adopted different approaches to the regulation and and public financing of IVF. A descriptive and comparative analysis of legal restrictions on access to IVF in 13 of the EU15 countries that affirmatively regulate and publicly finance IVF. Using 2009 data from the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology study of regulatory frameworks in Europe and additional legislative research, we examined and described restrictions on access to IVF in terms of general eligibility, public financing and the scope of available services. Multiple correspondence analysis was used to identify patterns of regulation and groups of countries with similar regulatory patterns and to explore the effects on utilization of IVF, using data from the most recent European and international IVF monitoring reports. Regulations based on social characteristics of treatment seekers who are not applicable to other medical treatments, including relationship status and sexual orientation, appear to have the greatest impact on utilization. Countries with the most generous public financing schemes tend to restrict access to covered IVF to a greater degree. However, no link could be established between IVF utilization and the manner in which coverage was regulated or the level of public financing. Owing to the lack of data regarding the actual level of public versus private financing of IVF it is impossible to draw conclusions regarding equity of access. Moreover, the regulatory and utilization data were not completely temporally matched in

  5. Regulation for the accomplishment of public purposes: the case of public utilities in Colombia

    OpenAIRE

    Moreno, Luis Ferney

    2016-01-01

    Since the 1990s, several countries in Latin America liberalized and privatized the public utilities business. As a consequence, there was a transit from the Entrepreneur State to the Regulatory State, the latter being traditionally understood as a model of regulation for competition, with a mayor concern only on economic objectives. Notwithstanding, the socioeconomic reality of Latin American countries, in particular Colombia, presented the fact that competition cannot be the only priority, a...

  6. Rethinking water corporatisation: A 'negotiation space' for public and private interests, Colombia (1910-2000

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kathryn Furlong

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available As part of neoliberal reforms to public service delivery, the corporatisation of water supply has been of increasing concern since the late 1990s. Typically, both promoters and detractors frame it within neoliberal theory: it is the next best (or worst thing to privatisation, enabling the ostensibly independent, commercial and technical management of utilities. In Colombia, however, city-owned water supply corporations are far from new. They were adopted across the country’s main cities at the beginning of the 20th century. Colombia’s century-long experience with corporatised water supply is instructive. The case reveals a model that emerged in the context of challenges common to Southern cities, rather than as a 'solution' imposed from the North, the deep inter-linkages between public and private sectors in the evolution of publicly owned corporations and thus the limited nature of utility autonomy under corporatisation. In sum, corporatisation – imagined as a technology for the 'government of government' – cannot escape the shifting social realities in which it is immersed. It therefore emerges as a technology not for the excising of government authority but for the negotiation of public and private interests in (and influence over utility services in contexts of relatively limited government autonomy from the private sector.

  7. Trends in Utility Green Pricing Programs (2005)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bird, Lori [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Brown, Elizabeth [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2006-10-01

    In the early 1990s, only a handful of utilities offered their customers a choice of purchasing electricity generated from renewable energy sources. Today, more than 600 utilities—or about 20% of all utilities nationally—provide their customers a “green power” option. Because some utilities offer programs in conjunction with cooperative associations or other publicly owned power entities, the number of distinct programs totals more than 130. Through these programs, more than 50 million customers have the ability to purchase renewable energy to meet some portion or all of their electricity needs—or make contributions to support the development of renewable energy resources. Typically, customers pay a premium above standard electricity rates for this service. This report presents year-end 2005 data on utility green pricing programs, and examines trends in consumer response and program implementation over time. The data in this report, which were obtained via a questionnaire distributed to utility green pricing program managers, can be used by utilities to benchmark the success of their green power programs.

  8. Linguatula serrata (Porocephalida: Linguatulidae) Infection among Client-Owned Dogs in Jalingo, North Eastern Nigeria: Prevalence and Public Health Implications

    OpenAIRE

    Oluwasina, Oseni Saheed; ThankGod, Onyiche Emmanuel; Augustine, Omonuwa Omojefe; Gimba, Fufa Ido

    2014-01-01

    Pentastomiasis is a parasitic zoonosis endemic to western and central Africa. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence and public health implications of Linguatulosis in client-owned dogs in Jalingo, North Eastern Nigeria. Seven hundred and seventy seven (777) dogs brought for treatment at the hospital were subjected to buccal (sublingual) examination for pentastomiasis. Parameters such as age, sex, and breeds were determined. Also, the months of the year were taken into consider...

  9. Hydro and After: The Canadian Experience with the Organization, Nationalization and Deregulation of Electrical Utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nelles, Henry Vivian

    2003-01-01

    This paper surveys the process of nationalization and some recent steps towards denationalization in a distinctive Canadian institutional setting, the provincial hydro-electric power utilities. The richest, most industrialized central province, Ontario, established a dynamic publicly owned electric generation and distribution system before World War I. Most other provinces developed variations of the regulatory model to govern private monopolies until the post World War II period when widespread nationalization at the provincial level created a near universal pattern of state owned electric companies. Recently, the process of dismantling state monopolies in this sector has begun in two provinces, one where public ownership was weakest, and the other where the concept of 'provincial hydro' was born

  10. Multiattribute utility analysis as a framework for public participation siting a hazardous waste facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Merkhofer, M.W.; Conway, R.; Anderson, R.G.

    1996-01-01

    How can the public play a role in decisions involving complicated scientific arguments? This paper describes a public participation exercise in which stakeholders used multiattribute utility analysis to select a site for a hazardous waste facility. Key to success was the ability to separate and address the two types of judgements inherent in environmental decisions: technical judgements on the likely consequences of alternative choices and value judgements on the importance or seriousness of those consequences. This enabled technical specialists to communicate the essential technical considerations and allowed stakeholders to establish the value judgements for the decision. Although rarely used in public participation, the multiattribute utility approach appears to provide a useful framework for the collaborative resolution of many complex environmental decision problems

  11. Regulation for the accomplishment of public purposes: the case of public utilities in Colombia

    OpenAIRE

    Moreno, Luis Ferney

    2016-01-01

    Since the 1990s, several countries in Latin America liberalized and privatized the public utilities business. As a consequence, there was a transit from the Entrepreneur State to the Regulatory State, the latter being traditionally understood as a model of regulation for competition, with a mayor concern only on economic objectives. Notwithstanding, the socioeconomic reality of Latin American countries, in particular Colombia, presented the fact that competition cannot be the only priority, a...

  12. Capture and corruption in public utilities. The cases of water and electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Auriol, Emmanuelle [Toulouse School of Economics, 21 Allees de Brienne, 31000 Toulouse (France); Blanc, Aymeric [Agence Francaise de Developpement, 5 rue Roland Barthes, 75598 Paris Cedex 12 (France)

    2009-06-15

    The paper focuses on public utilities services located in poor countries with a special attention to capture and corruption issues. It confronts the optimal policy of Auriol and Picard [Privatization in Developing Countries and the Government Budget Constraint, Nota di Lavoro 75.2002. Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Milan, Italy] regarding private sector involvement in public utilities with empirical evidence on water and electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). As predicted by the theory, the participation of private unregulated firms in the supply of services for the middle class and poor people is fairly common in SSA. By contrast, services for rich people are provided by public utilities. Theory suggests that their prices should be high so that the public firms make a profit. Yet piped water and electricity are subsidized. This suggests that there is a problem of capture by the ruling elite. Since ruling elites design privatization programs, there is concern about their optimality. The paper shows that the social cost of corrupted privatization is non-monotone in the opportunity cost of public funds. Because of the fiscal loss it represents, privatizing profit centers of public firms entails huge social costs in very poor countries. (author)

  13. Capture and corruption in public utilities. The cases of water and electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Auriol, Emmanuelle; Blanc, Aymeric

    2009-01-01

    The paper focuses on public utilities services located in poor countries with a special attention to capture and corruption issues. It confronts the optimal policy of Auriol and Picard [Privatization in Developing Countries and the Government Budget Constraint, Nota di Lavoro 75.2002. Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Milan, Italy] regarding private sector involvement in public utilities with empirical evidence on water and electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). As predicted by the theory, the participation of private unregulated firms in the supply of services for the middle class and poor people is fairly common in SSA. By contrast, services for rich people are provided by public utilities. Theory suggests that their prices should be high so that the public firms make a profit. Yet piped water and electricity are subsidized. This suggests that there is a problem of capture by the ruling elite. Since ruling elites design privatization programs, there is concern about their optimality. The paper shows that the social cost of corrupted privatization is non-monotone in the opportunity cost of public funds. Because of the fiscal loss it represents, privatizing profit centers of public firms entails huge social costs in very poor countries. (author)

  14. Contracts on electric power supply set up between communities (communal associations, countries) and public electricity utilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hedrich, B

    1976-01-01

    There is not any original communal right to energy supply for the population. The affiliation of local power supply to the local administration cannot be justified either by the public purpose of service or by the term provision of existence. The utilities do not get a communal license when getting the so-called licensing contract. According to its legal nature, the licensing contract is a mixture of legal positions composed of elements of the civil law and the public law. (Administrative lawsuit). The so-called power supply contract is a mutual legal relationship under civil law on the utilization of electric power, made to last. (Permanent obligation for utilization). When concluding both contracts, it is a matter of economic activities undertaken by the communities. Fiscal considerations are in the foreground. Legal regulations concerning roads and distances and serving as starting points for concluding a licensing contract are alien to the system and are to be abolished. Communities should only be responsible for local energy supply on a basis under public law. In lieu of it a stronger obligation to be met by large utilities ought to be ensured by ties under public law.

  15. Modernization of the gas utility; La modernisation du service public du gaz

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2001-04-01

    After a large discussion, the project of law for the modernization of the French gas utility and for the development of gas companies was finally adopted by the government on May 17, 2000. This legislative project aims at modernizing and strengthening the gas public utility and adapting the gas sector to the progressive opening of this market to international competition with keeping up the quality and security of supplies and the position of French gas operators. (J.S.)

  16. A case study for energy issues of public buildings and utilities in a small municipality: Investigation of possible improvements and integration with renewables

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fiaschi, Daniele; Bandinelli, Romeo; Conti, Silvia

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Energy issues of buildings and utilities owned by a small municipality are assessed. ► An overview of heat and electricity consumption of public buildings and utilities is carried out. ► The potential of PV on roofs of public buildings and improvement of streets lighting are evaluated. ► Some possible retrofitting of school buildings and sport facilities are evaluated. ► The results have several general aspects, replicable to other small towns in that size range. -- Abstract: This manuscript summarises the results of a project concerning the energy consumption of public buildings and utilities and the evaluation of the most effective and feasible ways to save energy in Certaldo, a small township in Tuscany with approximately 16,000 inhabitants. The energy analysis highlighted a specific partitioning of electric and thermal energy for final use. For example, more than 60% of the electricity consumption of the town is for street lighting, which is still uses obsolete and environmentally problematic lighting technologies, and more than 13% for lighting public schools. With respect to heat utilities, more than 60% of natural gas consumption is for heating public schools and 18% is for heating sport/athletic facilities. The partitioning of energy consumption introduced a list of requalification measures focused on specific areas: each area has an energy saving potential and specific feasible energy requalification technologies in addition to the possible introduction of suitable renewables. The selection of the proposed interventions was based on the results of model simulations, municipal urban regulations and prevailing trends resulting from a survey of municipalities that are the same size as Tuscany. The type and impact of these interventions were also in agreement with the trends found in different international contexts. In the final part of this paper, some instruments and considerations regarding the evaluation of the return on investment

  17. The comparative advantages of public ownership : evidence from U.S. electric utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kwoka, J.E.Jr.

    2005-01-01

    This paper challenged the conventional economic theory that private enterprises result in higher cost and price performance by indicating that several empirical studies have shown equal or better performance by public enterprises. These divergent findings have prompted renewed theoretical attention to the public-private debate. Recent theory has identified possible benefits of public enterprise in certain circumstances. It has been argued that public owners can better secure the information needed to monitor business behaviour for consistency with social objectives. This study tested the relative benefits of public versus private companies in producing outputs with more specifiable and less specifiable quality. The empirical tests were conducted on the electric power industry in the United States because it has structural characteristics that make it ideal for the study. Also, both ownership types perform the similar tasks of electricity generation, transmission and distribution. In addition, all segments of the electric power industry have at some point been regulated and have been non competitive. The study showed that while privately owned systems achieve lower costs in generation, public systems typically have the advantage in the end-user-oriented distribution function with more non-contractible disposition. The study emphasized the importance of identifying product, market and provider characteristics best suited to each ownership type. It cautioned that the search for better performance is not simply a matter of prescribing privatization. Rather, there are identifiable circumstances in which public enterprise is appropriate. 26 refs., 5 tabs

  18. Public-policy responsibilities in a restructured electricity industry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tonn, B.; Hirst, E.; Bauer, D.

    1995-06-01

    In this report, we identify and define the key public-policy values, objectives, and actions that the US electricity industry currently meets. We also discuss the opportunities for meeting these objectives in a restructured industry that relies primarily on market forces rather than on government mandates. And we discuss those functions that governments might undertake, presumably because they will not be fully met by a restructured industry on its own. These discussions are based on a variety of inputs. The most important inputs came from participants in an April 1995 workshop on Public-Policy Responsibilities and Electric Industry Restructuring: Shaping the Research Agenda. Other sources of information and insights include the reviews of a draft of this report by workshop participants and others and the rapidly growing literature on electric-industry restructuring and its implications. One of the major concerns about the future of the electricity industry is the fate of numerous social and environmental programs supported by today`s electric utilities. Many people worry that a market-driven industry may not meet the public-policy objectives that electric utilities have met in the past. Examples of potentially at-risk programs include demand-side management (DSM), renewable energy, low-income weatherization, and fuel diversity. Workshop participants represented electric utilities, public utility commissions (PUCs), state energy offices, public-interest groups, other energy providers, and the research community.

  19. Videographic Education: Owning the Polar Crisis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vachon, R. W.; Buhr, S. M.

    2007-12-01

    Television and internet-served video is an increasingly important media tool for reaching into society. This talk will present clips from a film designed to educate the public about warming in the polar regions, the socioeconomic and environmental implications of this warming; and the actions we can take to slow down human contributions to climate change. This talk will present a short film Owning the Polar Crisis, which is drawn from footage for Polar Visions, a four segment film available for educational audiences and the public.. The films are unique in that they draw from the perspectives of well-known climate scientists, citizens from all over the planet and natives of the Arctic. The compelling images were taken from numerous locations around the Arctic, including Alaska and Greenland. Owning the Polar Crisis was filmed, directed and produced by Dr. Ryan Vachon, a climate scientist and videographer with an intimate knowledge of the subject matter.

  20. Regulatory Incentives and Disincentives for Utility Investments in Grid Modernization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kihm, Steve [Seventhware, Madison, WI (United States); Beecher, Janice [Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States). Inst. of Public Utilities; Lehr, Ronald L.

    2017-05-31

    Electric power is America's most capital-intensive industry, with more than $100 billion invested each year in energy infrastructure. Investment needs are likely to grow as electric utilities make power systems more reliable and resilient, deploy advanced digital technologies, and facilitate new services to meet some consumers' expectations for greater choice and control. But do current regulatory approaches provide the appropriate incentives for grid modernization investments? This report presents three perspectives: -Financial analyst Steve Kihm begins by explaining that any major investor-owned electric utility that wants to raise capital today can do so at a reasonable cost. The question is whether utility managers want to raise capital for grid modernization. Specifically, they look for investments that create the most value for their existing shareholders. In cases where grid modernization investments are not the best choice in terms of shareholder value, Kihm describes shareholder incentive mechanisms that regulators could consider to encourage such investments when they are in the public interest. -From an institutional perspective, Dr. Janice Beecher finds that the traditional rate-base/rate of return regulatory model provides powerful incentives for utilities to pursue investments, cost control, efficiency and even innovation, and it is well suited to the policy objectives of grid modernization. Prudence of grid modernization investments (fair returns) depends on careful evaluation of the specific asset, and any special incentives (bonus returns) should be used only if they promote economic efficiency consistent with the core goals of economic regulation. According to Beecher, realizing the promises of grid modernization depends on effective implementation of the traditional regulatory model and ratemaking tools to serve the public interest. -Conversely, former commissioner and clean energy consultant Ron Lehr says that rapid electric industry

  1. 75 FR 81264 - Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-12-27

    ... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Project No. 2149-152] Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement December 16, 2010. On May 27, 2010, Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County filed an application for the...

  2. Successful process management for public utilities; Erfolgreiches Prozessmanagement fuer Stadtwerke

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Knipprath, Daniel [projekt:unternehmensberatungsgesellschaft mbH, Muenchen (Germany); Schaefer, Anke [Dr. Schaefer PR- und Strategieberatung, Rostock (Germany)

    2011-06-15

    As a result of regulatory cuts in their revenue structure, public utilities are increasingly compelled to improve their cost efficiency. Furthermore, they have to deal with altered framework conditions of energy procurement as well as the necessity of sustainable customer loyalty management. The example of a regional supplier is used here to show how goal-oriented process management can contribute to securing a sustainable, promising position in the market.

  3. Challenges of Utilizing E-Learning Systems in Public Universities in Jordan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhannad Anwar Al-Shboul

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available This research paper lists and discusses major challenges and barriers that may face faculty members at the public universities in Jordan in employing e-Learning systems authoring tools in their instructions. It also proposes several suggestions for the administrators in public universities in Jordan for what they could do to improve the utilization of e-Learning authoring tools at their campuses. E-Learning systems authoring tools allow instructors to easily create and deliver their e-contents and e-lectures. Furthermore, online course materials which uploaded by using such authoring tools could be viewed by any popular web browser system.

  4. Status of Utilizing Social Media Networks in the Teaching-Learning Process at Public Jordanian Universities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muneera Abdalkareem Alshdefait

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available This study aimed at finding out the status of utilizing social media networks in the teaching-learning process at public Jordanian Universities. To achieve the goal of the study, the descriptive developmental method was used and a questionnaire was developed, consisting of (35 statements. The questionnaire was checked for its validity and reliability. Then it was distributed to a sample of (382 male and female students from the undergraduate and graduate levels. The study results showed that the participants gave a low score to the status of utilizing social media networks in the teaching-learning process at public Jordanian universities. The results also showed that there were statistically significant differences between the participants of the study according to the academic rank attributed to the graduate students, and according to gender attributed to male students at the instrument macro level and on all dimensions of the two variables. In light of these results, the study recommended that public universities should utilize modern technology in the educational process, urge and encourage the teaching staff members to use the social media networks in the teaching-learning process and raise the students' awareness about the benefits of using social media networks. Keywords: Social media networks, Teaching-learning process, Public Jordanian Universities

  5. Promoting International Cooperation and Public Acceptance in Utilizing Proton Accelerator Technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Choi, Byung Ho; Hahn, Bong Oh; Lee, Jae Hyung; Kim, Kyu Ryung; Joo, Po Kook; Kim, In Kyu; Kim, Hyun Joon; Noh, Seung Jeong

    2002-11-01

    Proton engineering's main tool will be a high power proton accelerator which is to be established within next 10 years in the frame of Proton engineering Frontier Project. It is necessary for public to understand the meaning and importance of the project so that Project activities such as site preparation can be efficiently completed. And, it is required to establish a sound plan of international cooperation, and to develop user program to establish domestic foundation in utilizing the accelerator. Along with public relations activities through newspapers and broadcasting, there were more than 20 times of project presentations requested by various local governments, universities, and scientific societies. which resulted in strong support of the project from various societies. Based on collected information through actual visits to and internet surveys on foreign accelerators, a recommendation of international cooperation scheme has been made to complement domestic technological weak points, and there were discussions with some foreign organizations for that purpose. Especially, KEK of Japan, IHEP of China and KAERI have been deliberating on planning detail cooperation programs in developing and utilizing accelerator among 3 countries Some research items related with NT/BT/IT and utilizing proton beam were planned to be implemented in the Project. And a user program implemented in the Project In order to be prepared for future use of the accelerator. In order to upbring junior researchers for future days, an accelerator summer school has been planned to be held annually inviting prominent foreign and domestic lecturers

  6. Local organizations and energy: economics and policy of a new public utility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2001-01-01

    The deregulation of the electric power and natural gas markets in France has changed the situation of monopoly of power and gas suppliers. This book is a speech for the defence of competition development between energy suppliers together with a respect of public utilities using concessions. (J.S.)

  7. 77 FR 16494 - Revised Public Utility Filing Requirements for Electric Quarterly Reports

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-03-21

    ... at http:// www/ ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp , or via phone from FERC Online Support at 202-502... simultaneous exchange transaction involves the marketing function of a public utility transmission provider... net buyers reporting a negative price spread. \\18\\ There may be transactions in which credits or...

  8. SMUD: a utility helping create the solar century

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Osborn, D.

    2000-01-01

    An overview of the work of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) in supplying electricity and energy to customers in California is presented, and details are given of the Sustained, Orderly Development and Commercialisation (SODC) strategy of SMUD which is one of the largest public utilities in the USA. The partnership of SMUD with its customers hosting SMUD owned PV roof systems launched in the PV Pioneer 1 Programme in 1993, and the PV Pioneer 2 Programme which offered customers the ability to own their rooftop solar power plants are discussed along with the Neighbourhood PV Pioneers involving the combination of household rooftop PV systems with systems on the roofs of commercial buildings, and the PV systems over parking lots offering shade to cars while producing energy. Building integrated PV (BIPV) systems, the Powerlight PV roofing system installed on the Western Area power Administration office building, Atlantis SunSlate energy roofs, SMUD's commercial BIPV programme, and substation-sited PV systems using solar trackers and supplying Sacramento with power are among the projects described. The economic benefits of the Sacramento PV factory and niche market applications are considered

  9. Improving Public Health Through Access to and Utilization of Medication Assisted Treatment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas F. Kresina

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Providing access to and utilization of medication assisted treatment (MAT for the treatment of opioid abuse and dependence provides an important opportunity to improve public health. Access to health services comprising MAT in the community is fundamental to achieve broad service coverage. The type and placement of the health services comprising MAT and integration with primary medical care including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV prevention, care and treatment services are optimal for addressing both substance abuse and co-occurring infectious diseases. As an HIV prevention intervention, integrated (same medical record for HIV services and MAT services MAT with HIV prevention, care and treatment programs provides the best “one stop shopping” approach for health service utilization. Alternatively, MAT, medical and HIV services can be separately managed but co-located to allow convenient utilization of primary care, MAT and HIV services. A third approach is coordinated care and treatment, where primary care, MAT and HIV services are provided at distinct locations and case managers, peer facilitators, or others promote direct service utilization at the various locations. Developing a continuum of care for patients with opioid dependence throughout the stages MAT enhances the public health and Recovery from opioid dependence. As a stigmatized and medical disenfranchised population with multiple medical, psychological and social needs, people who inject drugs and are opioid dependent have difficulty accessing services and navigating medical systems of coordinated care. MAT programs that offer comprehensive services and medical care options can best contribute to improving the health of these individuals thereby enhancing the health of the community.

  10. [Public hospital utilization by the foreign population in Aragon, Spain (2004-2007)].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ben Cheikh, Wafa; Abad, José María; Arribas, Federico; Andrés, Eva; Rabanaque, María José

    2011-01-01

    To describe hospitalization rates and hospital morbidity among the foreign population residing in Aragon (Spain) by country of birth, between 2004 and 2007, and to compare these rates with those in the autochthonous population. A retrospective longitudinal study was carried out of hospital discharges of the foreign population in public hospitals in Aragon. Utilization rates were estimated by sex, age, country of birth and main diagnosis. Poisson regression was used to estimate the utilization rate ratios and their 95% confidence intervals. Hospitalization rates were lower in the foreign population (adjusted RR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.51-0.56), except in women aged between 15 and 24 years (RR: 2.9; 95% CI: 2.8-3.0) and among those born in the Maghreb (RR: 1.8; 95% CI: 1.7; 1.9), sub-Saharan Africa (RR: 2.0; 95% CI: 1.9-2.1) and Asia (RR=1.4; 95% CI: 1.3-1.6). When hospital discharges related to obstetrics and gynecology were excluded, only women born in sub-Saharan Africa continued to have adjusted RR greater than 1. These women had higher hospitalization rates in groups of infectious and parasitic diseases (RR: 2.5) and blood and blood-forming organs (RR: 2.8). In Aragon (Spain), public hospital utilization is lower in foreigners than in the autochthonous population. The diseases treated varied by country of birth. The diseases prevalent in these countries, together with hereditary diseases, can increase hospital utilization rates. Copyright © 2010 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

  11. Costs and utilization of public sector family planning services in Pakistan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abbas, Khadija; Khan, Adnan Ahmad; Khan, Ayesha

    2013-04-01

    The public sector provides a third of family planning (FP) services in Pakistan. However, these services are viewed as being underutilized and expensive. We explored the utilization patterns and costs of FP services in the public sector. We used overall budgets and time allocation by health and population departments to estimate the total costs of FP by these departments, costs per woman served, and costs per couple-year of protection (CYP). The public sector is the predominant provider of FP to the poorest and is the main provider of female sterilization services. The overall costs of FP in the public sector are USD 55 per woman served, annually (USD 17 per CYP). Within the public sector, the population welfare departments provide services at USD 72 per woman served, annually (USD 17 per CYP) and the health departments at USD 39 per woman per year (USD 29 per CYP). While the public sector has a critical niche in serving the poor and providing female sterilization, its services are considerably more expensive compared to international and even some Pakistani non-government organization (NGO) costs. This reflects inefficiencies in services provided, client mistrust in the quality of services provided, and inadequate referrals, and will require specific actions for improving referrals and the quality of services.

  12. Mental health service utilization in sub-Saharan Africa: is public mental health literacy the problem? Setting the perspectives right.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atilola, Olayinka

    2016-06-01

    The severely constrained resources for mental health service in less-developed regions like sub-Saharan Africa underscore the need for good public mental health literacy as a potential additional mental health resource. Several studies examining the level of public knowledge about the nature and dynamics of mental illness in sub-Saharan Africa in the last decade had concluded that such knowledge was poor and had called for further public enlightenment. What was thought to be mental health 'ignorance' has also been blamed for poor mainstream service utilization. These views however assume that non-alignment of the views of community dwellers in sub-Saharan Africa with the biomedical understanding of mental illness connotes 'ignorance', and that correcting such 'ignorance' will translate to improvements in service utilization. Within the framework of contemporary thinking in mental health literacy, this paper argues that such assumptions are not culturally nuanced and may have overrated the usefulness of de-contextualized public engagement in enhancing mental health service utilization in the region. The paper concludes with a discourse on how to contextualize public mental health enlightenment in the region and the wider policy initiatives that can improve mental health service utilization. © The Author(s) 2015.

  13. Gas and electrical utilities owned by local governments. A development reviewed from the viewpoint of price control in the framework of the antitrust laws and the German Energy Act

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wolf, A.

    1994-01-01

    There is no legal obligation of local governments to run electric utilities or gas works as public utilities, but logal governments have the right to do so. If they so wish, a vital requirement is to produce evidence of the long-term economic efficiency, to be presented among others to the supervisory Land authority for public utilities, which has to grant a licence under section 5 EnWG. The licence should not be issued unless proof is given of the long-term economic efficiency on the basis of near-to-competition prices and taking into account cost advantages due to local infrastructural conditions. The costs of deprivatisation - take-over costs, deconcentration and integration costs - must not be used to justify higher rates charged by public, local government utilities in comparison to regional utilies. (orig./HSCH) [de

  14. Sudbury District Energy - a public/private partnership model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prudhomme, H.

    1999-01-01

    The issue of public/private partnership as it relates to the Sudbury District Energy Project was discussed. When completed, it will be the first cogeneration-based district heating and cooling project involving private sector/public sector partnership in Canada. The equal partners include Toromont Energy and Sudbury Hydro. Sudbury Hydro is a community owned energy and communications utility. It was the first electric utility in Ontario to retail natural gas in the new competitive market place. The Sudbury District Energy Project began in 1996, when the utility began the development of a community district energy system in partnership with the City of Sudbury. At the time, the downtown district heating/cooling system supplied cold and hot water to Sudbury's Wellness Centre. In 1998, Toromont Energy accepted a 50/50 partnership arrangement between themselves and the public sector partners to form the Sudbury District Energy Corporation. Sudbury Hydro will benefit from the project because it will reduce their peak loads and it will also be an alternate source of revenue. It is expected that the project will displace 39,600 tons of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas which contributes to global warming

  15. Social self-discrepancies from own and other standpoints and collective self-esteem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bizman, Aharon; Yinon, Yoel

    2004-04-01

    On the basis of an extension of Self-Discrepancy Theory (SDT) to the social aspect of the self (A. Bizman, Y. Yinon, & S. Krotman, 2001), the authors examined the relationships between social self-discrepancies from own and other standpoints and collective self-esteem. The authors assessed perceptions of actual, ideal, and ought attributes of Israelis from own and other standpoints; perceived importance of others' evaluation of Israel; and the Collective Self-Esteem Scale (CSES) among 114 Israelis. The results revealed that the association of the discrepancy between actual Israelis and ideal Israelis from the other standpoint with the public Collective Self-Esteem (CSE) subscale was negative among participants with high perceived importance and positive among those with low perceived importance. In addition, the discrepancy between actual and ideal Israelis from the own standpoint was related to the private, public, and membership CSE subscales. Overall, the findings suggest that the SDT distinction between the own and other standpoints on the self is applicable to the social self.

  16. PoliNet and Information Utilities: Using Telecommunications in Political Science and Public Administration Education and Research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vasu, Michael L.; Garson, G. David

    General information utilities and specialized networks, such as PoliNet, provide educators and researchers in public administration and allied fields with a diversity of new tools which include: (1) bibliographic searching; (2) international teleconferencing; (3) electronic news clipping services; (4) electronic mail; and (5) free public domain…

  17. Longer operating times of nuclear power plants. Options for compensating public utility advantages

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bode, Sven; Kondziella, Hendrik; Bruckner, Thomas

    2010-01-01

    The current German government of CDU/CSU and FDP intends to prolong the operating time of existing nuclear power plants in Germany. The advantages resulting for public utilities are to be compensated. The authors discuss how compensation may be achieved and outline the available instruments. (orig.)

  18. 22 CFR 228.33 - Foreign government-owned organizations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Foreign government-owned organizations. 228.33 Section 228.33 Foreign Relations AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT RULES ON SOURCE, ORIGIN AND... commercial companies or other organizations (including nonprofit organizations other than public educational...

  19. The Integration of Renewable Energy Sources into Electric Power Distribution Systems, Vol. II Utility Case Assessments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zaininger, H.W.

    1994-01-01

    following utility- and site-specific conditions that may affect the economic viability of distributed renewable energy sources were considered: distribution system characteristics, and design standards, and voltage levels; load density, reliability, and power quality; solar insolation and wind resource levels; utility generation characteristics and load profiles; and investor-owned and publicly owned utilities, size, and financial assumptions.

  20. From Natural Monopoly to Public Utility: Technological Determinism and the Political Economy of Infrastructure in Progressive-Era America.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plaiss, Adam

    In present-day debates regarding telecommunication policy, one frequently hears the terms natural monopoly and public utility. This article investigates the origins of these ideas, finding that Richard T. Ely-a celebrated American economist of the late nineteenth century-embedded in the term "natural monopoly" a narrative of technological determinism. By arguing that certain services had monopolizing tendencies hardwired into them, Ely argued for their regulation. Ely's theory of natural monopoly formed the basis of Wisconsin's 1907 public utilities law, which served as a model for many other states' regulatory policies. The modern notion of public utility thus carries with it the technological determinism of Ely's natural monopoly idea. By tracing the lineage of these two terms, this article recaptures the influence that activists and progressive politicians exercised over the formation of large technological systems during the Second Industrial Revolution.

  1. Evaluation of the electric utility missions; Evaluation des missions de service public de l'electricite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Syrota, J

    2000-07-01

    The French law from February 10, 2000, about the modernization and development of the electric utility, has created new missions of public utility and foresees some compensation mechanisms for not handicapping the power operators in charge of these missions and for not creating competition distortions to their detriment on the European market. The author explains, first, the financial and economical stakes linked with these new missions. Then, he evokes the evolution of the energy context that has taken place between the 2. World war and the enforcement of the February 10, 2000 law, and he analyzes the systems foreseen for the power generation and distribution. For each public utility charge, the existing dispositions and those introduced by the law are analyzed and compared to the equivalent systems existing in other countries. Then, charge evaluation criteria and sharing rules and proposed. (J.S.)

  2. The Public Finances, the Utility of the Taxpayer and the Public Services – towards a New Connecting Model?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcel Ioan Bolos

    2007-11-01

    Full Text Available Public finances from everywhere have followed along the centuries, as it was natural, some periods when they had to accommodate to the needs resulted from the economic and social life. Their mission was not at all a simple one. To conceive the taxes and rates (dues system, to ensure a performing and an efficient budgetary process, to finance some categories of public expenses, to ensure a fiscal decentralization which would not lead to severe interferences within the public field are only a few of the problems of major importance that they had to deal with. And also the challenges that have come upon public finances are not to be neglected. We may bring to mind here the opposed interests of the taxpayer, interested in obtaining a higher level of goods and public services and of the public authorities who, trying to satisfy the needs of taxpayers, have obtained almost all the time a quite high level of taxes and rates (dues. The purpose of this paper is, though, the setting up of these apparently opposed interests in an equation. We have also tried to” measure” the dependence degree of the utility felt by the taxpayer, as a consequence of the growth with one unit of the quantity of public services performed by the authorities.

  3. Beyond Widgets -- Systems Incentive Programs for Utilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Regnier, Cindy [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Mathew, Paul [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Robinson, Alastair [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Schwartz, Peter [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Walter, Travis [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2017-08-15

    Utility incentive programs remain one of the most significant means of deploying commercialized, but underutilized building technologies to scale. However, these programs have been largely limited to component-based products (e.g., lamps, RTUs). While some utilities do provide ‘custom’ incentive programs with whole building and system level technical assistance, these programs require deeper levels of analysis, resulting in higher program costs. This results in custom programs being restricted to utilities with greater resources, and are typically applied mainly to large or energy-intensive facilities, leaving much of the market without cost effective access and incentives for these solutions. In addition, with increasingly stringent energy codes, cost effective component-based solutions that achieve significant savings are dwindling. Building systems (e.g., integrated façade, HVAC and/or lighting solutions) can deliver higher savings that translate into large sector-wide savings if deployed at the scale of these programs. However, systems application poses a number of challenges – baseline energy use must be defined and measured; the metrics for energy and performance must be defined and tested against; in addition, system savings must be validated under well understood conditions. This paper presents a sample of findings of a project to develop validated utility incentive program packages for three specific integrated building systems, in collaboration with Xcel Energy (CO, MN), ComEd, and a consortium of California Public Owned Utilities (CA POUs) (Northern California Power Agency(NCPA) and the Southern California Public Power Authority(SCPPA)). Furthermore, these program packages consist of system specifications, system performance, M&V protocols, streamlined assessment methods, market assessment and implementation guidance.

  4. 75 FR 20901 - Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-22

    ... verify demand response products in wholesale markets administered by the ISOs and RTOs.\\13\\ \\13\\ Phase I... contends that the ISOs and RTOs are in a better position to develop these standards, due to regional... providers, ISOs, RTOs, public utilities and trade groups. 27. The continued cooperation and efforts of all...

  5. Public Health Services Utilization and Its Determinants among Internal Migrants in China: Evidence from a Nationally Representative Survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jingya; Lin, Senlin; Liang, Di; Qian, Yi; Zhang, Donglan; Hou, Zhiyuan

    2017-09-01

    There have been obstacles for internal migrants in China in accessing local public health services for some time. This study aimed to estimate the utilization of local public health services and its determinants among internal migrants. Data were from the 2014 and 2015 nationally representative cross-sectional survey of internal migrants in China. Multivariate logistic regressions were used to estimate the relationship between socioeconomic, migration, and demographic characteristics and public health services utilization. Our results showed that internal migrants in more developed eastern regions used less public health services. Those with higher socioeconomic status were more likely to use public health services. The years of living in the city of residence were positively associated with the utilization of public health services. Compared to migration within the city, migration across provinces significantly reduced the probability of using health records (OR = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.86-0.90), health education (OR = 0.97, 95% CI: 0.94-1.00), and health education on non-communicable diseases (OR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.89-0.95) or through the Internet (OR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.94-0.99). This study concludes that public health services coverage for internal migrants has seen great improvement due to government subsidies. Internal migrants with lower socioeconomic status and across provinces need to be targeted. More attention should be given to the local government in the developed eastern regions in order to narrow the regional gaps.

  6. Dealing with the difficult utility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keats, D.E.; Sundquist, M.J.; Cross, J.P.

    1991-01-01

    STS HydroPower, Ltd. (STS) is an independent hydroelectric power developer involved in the full scope of hydroelectric activities. This includes the permitting, design, financing, turbine design and manufacturing, site construction and operation of small to mid-sized hydroelectric sites across the United States. At the present time, STS owns and operates nine sites in four states with a combined capacity of 20 megawatts. In dealing with the implementation of these sites, STS has dealt with five different utilities. In addition, in pursuing additional development opportunities throughout the United States, STS has had contact with numerous other utilities. During this time it would be fair to conclude that each of these utilities has exhibited its own personality with respect to dealing with independent developers. To the credit of the utility industry, the majority of these utilities have been helpful and supportive of independent projects, but a small number of utilities have approached projects from an initial and continuing adversarial position. The purpose of this paper is to examine those options and procedures available to the developer when a utility is encountered with a negative predisposition

  7. Energy Utilization Evaluation of Carbon Performance in Public Projects by FAHP and Cloud Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lin Li

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available With the low-carbon economy advocated all over the world, how to use energy reasonably and efficiently in public projects has become a major issue. It has brought many open questions, including which method is more reasonable in evaluating the energy utilization of carbon performance in public projects when the evaluation information is fuzzy; whether an indicator system can be constructed; and which indicators have more impact on carbon performance. This article aims to solve these problems. We propose a new carbon performance evaluation system for energy utilization based on project processes (design, construction, and operation. Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP is used to accumulate the indicator weights and cloud model is incorporated when the indicator value is fuzzy. Finally, we apply our indicator system to a case study of the Xiangjiang River project in China, which demonstrates the applicability and efficiency of our method.

  8. Decision 13-2009 in the matter of a review by the NWT Public Utilities Board regarding customer complaints of high consumption on power bills from Northland Utilities Limited

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Acorn, J.

    2009-01-01

    In February 2009, in response to customer complaints, the Northwest Territories Public Utilities Board requested that Northland Utilities conduct a review of at least the last 3 billing cycles to detect and explain unusually high power bills. Northland responded that the complaints were based primarily on price, not usage, and that the findings can be attributed to rate adjustments as well as colder weather. However, the Board decided to examine certain aspects of Northland's response in detail and initiated an inquiry under section 52 of the Public Utilities Act. The Board determined that Northland Utilities' process for investigating customer complaints was too informal and without any clear structure, resulting in confusion for some customers. The Board directed the utility to develop a document for dealing with customer concerns that clearly outlines the rights and responsibilities of both the utility and the customers. The Board also directed Northland Utilities to reduce the $500 threshold for a company-initiated review of an account to $400. This document addressed issues regarding estimated versus actual meter readings; the number of days in a billing cycle; the prominence of consumption and overall cost on a bill; bill calculators; customer consumption monitoring; pre-paid meters; and meter accuracy. Specific customer complaints were included along with a summary of Board directives.

  9. Utility portfolio diversification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Griffes, P.H.

    1990-01-01

    This paper discusses portfolio analysis as a method to evaluate utility supply decisions. Specifically a utility is assumed to increase the value of its portfolio of assets whenever it invests in a new supply technology. This increase in value occurs because the new asset either enhances the return or diversifies the risks of the firm's portfolio of assets. This evaluation method is applied to two supply innovations in the electric utility industry: jointly-owned generating plants and supply contracts with independent power producers (IPPs)

  10. Utilization of Total Joint Arthroplasty in Physician-Owned Specialty Hospitals vs Acute Care Facilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Antonia F; Pflug, Emily; O'Brien, Daniel; Maltenfort, Mitchell G; Parvizi, Javad

    2017-07-01

    The recent emergence of physician-owned specialty hospitals has sparked controversy about overutilization. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare utilization patterns of total joint arthroplasty (TJA) between physician-specialty hospitals (PSHs) and acute care hospitals (ACHs). A retrospective study was conducted from January 2010 to August 2014 comparing primary TJA patients between a PSH and an ACH; 103 PSH patients were matched to 103 ACH patients by age, gender, BMI, and ASA classification with similar case distribution between facilities. All surgeons in the study operated at both hospitals and were shareholders of the PSH. Information on nonoperative treatments, and timing to the initial appointment, consent, and surgery were analyzed using univariate analysis. Nonoperative treatments before surgery were similar between hospitals (P = 1.00). The time from the initial appointment to consent was longer for PSH (P = .0001). However, the time from consent to the date of surgery (P = .04) and the timing from symptoms to initial appointment (P = .006) was shorter for PSH. The time from initial appointment to the day of surgery was similar between groups (P = .20). Patients were more likely to be consented for surgery on their first clinic visit when undergoing surgery at ACH (87 of 103, 84.4%) compared to PSH (61 of 103; 59.2%; P total knee arthroplasty (P = .001) and total hip arthroplasty patients (P = .001) at PSH. Facility ownership in PSH resulted in similar conservative treatment before TJA. The time to surgical consent after the initial appointment was longer PSH, whereas the time from consent to the date of surgery was shorter at the PSH. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Impact of HMO ownership on management processes and utilization outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahern, M; Molinari, C

    2001-05-01

    To examine the effects of health maintenance organization (HMO) ownership characteristics on selected utilization outcomes and management processes affecting utilization. We used 1995 HMO data from the American Association of Health Plans. Using regression analysis, we examined the relation between HMO utilization (hospital discharges, days, and average length of stay; cardiac catheterization procedures; and average cost of outpatient prescriptions) and the structural characteristics of HMOs: ownership type (insurance company, hospital, physician, independent, and national managed care company), HMO size, for-profit status, model type, geographic region, and payer mix. HMO ownership type is significantly associated with medical management processes, including risk sharing by providers, risk sharing by consumers, and other management strategies. Relative to hospital-owned HMOs, insurance company-owned HMOs have fewer hospital discharges, fewer hospital days, and longer lengths of stay. National managed care organization-owned HMOs have fewer cardiac catheterizations and lower average outpatient prescription costs. Independently owned HMOs have more cardiac catheterizations. For-profit HMOs have lower prescription costs. Relative to hospital-owned HMOs, insurance company-owned HMOs are more likely to use hospital risk sharing and provider capitation and less likely to use out-of-pocket payments for hospital use and a closed formulary. National managed care organization-owned HMOs are less likely to use provider capitation, out-of-pocket payments for hospital use, catastrophic case management, and hospital risk sharing. Physician-hospital-owned HMOs are less likely to use catastrophic case management. For-profit HMOs are more likely to use hospital risk sharing and catastrophic case management. HMO ownership type affects utilization outcomes and management strategies.

  12. Public Health Insurance and Health Care Utilization for Children in Immigrant Families.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Percheski, Christine; Bzostek, Sharon

    2017-12-01

    Objectives To estimate the impacts of public health insurance coverage on health care utilization and unmet health care needs for children in immigrant families. Methods We use survey data from National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) (2001-2005) linked to data from Medical Expenditures Panel Survey (MEPS) (2003-2007) for children with siblings in families headed by at least one immigrant parent. We use logit models with family fixed effects. Results Compared to their siblings with public insurance, uninsured children in immigrant families have higher odds of having no usual source of care, having no health care visits in a 2 year period, having high Emergency Department reliance, and having unmet health care needs. We find no statistically significant difference in the odds of having annual well-child visits. Conclusions for practice Previous research may have underestimated the impact of public health insurance for children in immigrant families. Children in immigrant families would likely benefit considerably from expansions of public health insurance eligibility to cover all children, including children without citizenship. Immigrant families that include both insured and uninsured children may benefit from additional referral and outreach efforts from health care providers to ensure that uninsured children have the same access to health care as their publicly-insured siblings.

  13. State Performance-Based Regulation Using Multiyear Rate Plans for U.S. Electric Utilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lowry, Mark Newton [Pacific Economics Group Research LLC (United States); Makos, Matt [Pacific Economics Group Research LLC (United States); Deason, Jeff [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Schwartz, Lisa [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2017-07-31

    Electric utilities today must contain costs at a time when many need to modernize aging systems and all face major changes in technologies, customer preferences and competitive pressures.Most U.S. electric utility facilities are investor-owned, subject to rate and service regulation by state public utility commissions. Regulatory systems under which these utilities operate affect their performance and ability to meet these challenges. In this business environment, multiyear rate plans have some advantages over traditional rate regulation.The report focuses on key design issues and provides case studies of the multiyear rate plan approach, applicable to both vertically integrated and restructured states. Mark Newton Lowry and Matt Makos of Pacific Energy Group Research and Jeff Deason of Berkeley Lab authored the report; Lisa Schwartz, Berkeley Lab, was project manager and technical editor.The report is aimed primarily at state utility regulators and stakeholders in the state regulatory process. The multiyear rate approach also provides ideas on how to streamline oversight of public power utilities and rural electric cooperatives for their governing boards.Two key provisions of multiyear rate plans strengthen cost containment incentives and streamline regulation: 1. Reducing frequency of rate cases, typically to every four or five years 2. Using an attrition relief mechanism to escalate rates or revenue between rate cases to address cost pressures such as inflation and growth in number of customers, independently of the utility’s own cost Better utility performance can be achieved under well-designed multiyear rate plans while achieving lower regulatory costs. Benefits can be shared between utilities and their customers. But plans can be complex and involve significant changes in the regulatory system. Designing plans that stimulate utility performance without undue risk and share benefits fairly can be challenging.This report discusses the rationale for multiyear

  14. Do government owned banks trade market power for slack?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hackethal, A.; Koetter, M.; Vins, O.

    2012-01-01

    The 'Quiet Life Hypothesis (QLH)' posits that banks with market power have less incentives to maximize revenues and minimize cost. Especially government owned banks with a public mandate precluding profit maximization might succumb to a quiet life. We use a unified approach that simultaneously

  15. Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978: Natural Gas Rate Design Study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None

    1980-05-01

    First, the comments on May 3, 1979 Notice of Inquiry of DOE relating to the Gas Utility Rate Design Study Required by Section 306 of PURPA are presented. Then, comments on the following are included: (1) ICF Gas Utility Model, Gas Utility Model Data Outputs, Scenario Design; (2) Interim Model Development Report with Example Case Illustrations; (3) Interim Report on Simulation of Seven Rate Forms; (4) Methodology for Assessing the Impacts of Alternative Rate Designs on Industrial Energy Use; (5) Simulation of Marginal-Cost-Based Natural Gas Rates; and (6) Preliminary Discussion Draft of the Gas Rate Design Study. Among the most frequent comments expressed were the following: (a) the public should be given the opportunity to review the final report prior to its submission to Congress; (b) results based on a single computer model of only four hypothetical utility situations cannot be used for policy-making purposes for individual companies or the entire gas industry; (c) there has been an unobjective treatment of traditional and economic cost rate structures; the practical difficulties and potential detrimental consequences of economic cost rates are not fully disclosed; and (d) it is erroneous to assume that end users, particularly residential customers, are influenced by price signals in the rate structure, as opposed to the total bill.

  16. How integrated resource planning for US electric utilities affects shareholder interests

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hadley, S.; Hirst, E.

    1995-01-01

    Integrated resource planning (IRP) seeks to identify the mix of resources that can best meet the future energy-service needs of customers. These resources include new sources, types, and owners of power plants plus demand-side management (DSM) programs. However, little explicit attention is given to utility shareholders in the typical resource-planning proceeding. Because of the complexity of state regulatory practices and tax policies, it seems unlikely that different resources that provide comparable services to customers will yield comparable returns to shareholders. This study examines a typical US investor-owned utility's financial operations and performance using a spreadsheet model we developed for this project. The model simulates an electric utility's financial operations, and produces an annual income statement, balance sheet, and cash-flow statement. We calculated the net present value of realized (cash) return on equity as the primary factor used to represent shareholder interests. We examined shareholder returns for these resources as functions of public utility commission regulation, taxes, and the utility's operating environment. Given the increasingly competitive nature of electricity markets, we examined shareholder returns for these resources in an environment where the utility competes with other suppliers solely on the basis of electricity price. (author)

  17. Assessment of management approaches in a public water utility: A case study of the Namibia water corporation (NAMWATER)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ndokosho, Johnson; Hoko, Zvikomborero; Makurira, Hodson

    More than 90% of urban water supply and sanitation services in developing countries are provided by public organizations. However, public provision of services has been inherently inefficient. As a result a number of initiatives have emerged in recent years with a common goal to improve service delivery. In Namibia, the water sector reform resulted in the creation of a public utility called the Namibia Water Corporation (NAMWATER) which is responsible for bulk water supply countrywide. Since its inception in 1998, NAMWATER has been experiencing poor financial performance. This paper presents the findings of a case study that compared the management approaches of NAMWATER to the New Public Management (NPM) paradigm. The focus of the NPM approach is for the public water sector to mirror private sector methods of management so that public utilities can accrue the benefits of effectiveness, efficiency and flexibility often associated with private sector. The study tools used were a combination of literature review, interviews and questionnaires. It was found out that NAMWATER has a high degree of autonomy in its operations, albeit government approved tariffs and sourcing of external financing. The utility reports to government annually to account for results. The utility embraces a notion of good corporate culture and adheres to sound management practices. NAMWATER demonstrated a strong market-orientation indicated by the outsourcing of non-core functions but benchmarking was poorly done. NAMWATER’s customer-orientation is poor as evidenced by the lack of customer care facilities. NAMWATER’s senior management delegated operational authority to lower management to facilitate flexibility and eliminate bottlenecks. The lower management is in turn held accountable for performance by the senior management. There are no robust methods of ensuring sufficient accountability indicated by absence of performance contracts or service level agreements. It was concluded that

  18. Energy, postal services and telecommunications: which future for the public utilities in france and in Europe?; Energie, poste et telecommunications: quel avenir pour le service public en France et en Europe?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Strauss-Kahn, D. [Ministere de l`Economie, des Finances et de l`Industrie, 75 - Paris (France). Direction Generale de L`Energie et des Matieres Premieres; Cresson, E. [Commission Europeenne, DG III, Bruxelles (Belgium); Fournier, J.

    1998-12-31

    This colloquium was initiated by the French State secretary of industry and profited by the participation of the ministry of economy, finance and industry and of the prime minister. The colloquium comprises two plenary sessions: `competition, public utilities and Europe` and `regulation and public policies`, and three sectorial round-tables: `telecommunications`, `energy` and `postal services`. The round-table on energy permitted to precise the behaviour of the main French energy producing and consuming companies with respect to the competition and to the public utilities in the European market. (J.S.)

  19. Utilization of Dental Services in Public Health Center: Dental Attendance, Awareness and Felt Needs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pewa, Preksha; Garla, Bharath K; Dagli, Rushabh; Bhateja, Geetika Arora; Solanki, Jitendra

    2015-10-01

    In rural India, dental diseases occur due to many factors, which includes inadequate or improper use of fluoride and a lack of knowledge regarding oral health and oral hygiene, which prevent proper screening and dental care of oral diseases. The objective of the study was to evaluate the dental attendance, awareness and utilization of dental services in public health center. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 251 study subjects who were visiting dental outpatient department (OPD) of public health centre (PHC), Guda Bishnoi, and Jodhpur using a pretested proforma from month of July 2014 to October 2014. A pretested questionnaire was used to collect the data regarding socioeconomic status and demographic factors affecting the utilization of dental services. Pearson's Chi-square test and step-wise logistic regression were applied for the analysis. Statistically significant results were found in relation to age, educational status, socioeconomic status and gender with dental attendance, dental awareness and felt needs. p-value dental services, thereby increasing the oral health status of the population.

  20. Research on customer satisfaction with the quality of services provided by public utilities of the city of Belgrade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Živković Radmila

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Monopoly market conditions, in which public companies used to operate ten to twenty years ago, substantially dictated the way of considering and creating business of public companies in Serbia. However, introduction of changes to the environment, such as more intensive competition and changes of needs and demands of the customers requires abandoning old orientations to business. Public companies are in position to create and offer a higher level of service quality, based on better and more intensified communication with their customers. Public enterprises are monitored by public authorities, especially in the areas of restrictions on the choice of business strategies, pricing and price restrictions, selection of suppliers and the like. On the other hand, there is a branch competition occurring, on which public companies must count. In such an environment, creating effective services should be the key strategic objective for the development of public utility companies of the city of Belgrade. Service companies should be modern service companies, able to actively participate in the market, looking upon customers - citizens as users of their services. The aim of the research is to determine the perception of value and customer satisfaction with the services provided by the public utilities of Belgrade. The results of the study indicate that respondents are not satisfied with provided services and do not have clearly defined attitudes towards key aspects of public enterprises, which are supposed to be important for positioning and improving the quality of services in the market.

  1. Mental healthcare need and service utilization in older adults living in public housing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simning, Adam; van Wijngaarden, Edwin; Fisher, Susan G; Richardson, Thomas M; Conwell, Yeates

    2012-05-01

    Anxiety and depression in socioeconomically disadvantaged older adults frequently go unrecognized and untreated. This study aims to characterize mental illness and its treatment in older adult public housing residents who have many risk factors for anxiety and depression. Cross-sectional study. Public housing high-rises in Rochester, New York. One hundred ninety residents aged 60 years and older. Anxiety and depression were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, GAD-7, and Patient Health Questionnaire. We obtained information on mental healthcare from medication review and self-report. Participants had a median age of 66 years, 58% were women, 80% were black, and 92% lived alone. Many participants (31%) were in need of mental healthcare: 21% had syndromal and 11% had subsyndromal anxiety or depression. Mental healthcare need was associated with younger age; intact cognitive functioning; impairments in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL); more medical illness; decreased mobility; smaller social network size; more severe life events; and increased utilization of medical, human, and informal services. Of those with mental healthcare need, most were not receiving it. Compared with residents receiving mental healthcare, residents with untreated need were more likely to be men and have less IADL impairment, medical illness, severe life events, onsite social worker use, and human services utilization. Mental illness was common and largely untreated in public housing residents. Increasing collaboration between medical, mental, and human services is needed to improve identification, treatment, and ultimately prevention of late-life mental illness in this community setting.

  2. Understanding and defining bullying ? adolescents? own views

    OpenAIRE

    Hellstr?m, Lisa; Persson, Louise; Hagquist, Curt

    2015-01-01

    Background The negative consequences of peer-victimization on children and adolescents are major public health concerns which have been subjected to extensive research. Given all efforts made to analyze and estimate the social and health consequences of peer-victimization, the adolescents? own experiences and understandings have had surprisingly little impact on the definition of bullying. Therefore, the aim of the current study is to explore adolescents? definitions of bullying. Methods A qu...

  3. Expanding Geothermal Resource Utilization through Directed Research, Education, and Public Outreach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Calvin, Wendy [Univ. of Nevada, Reno, NV (United States)

    2015-06-29

    The Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy (GBCGE or the Center) was established at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) in May 2000 to promote research and utilization of geothermal resources. The Center received funding through this grant to promote increased geothermal development in the Great Basin, with most of the funding used for peerreviewed research. Funding to the Center and work under the contract were initiated in March 2002, with supplemental funding in subsequent years. The Center monitored the research projects that were competitively awarded in a series of proposal calls between 2002 and 2007. Peer-reviewed research promoted identification and utilization of geothermal resources in Nevada. Projects used geology, geochemistry, geophysics, remote sensing, and the synthesis of multi-disciplinary information to produce new models of geothermal systems in the Western U.S. and worldwide. Funds were also used to support graduate student research and training. Part of the grant was used to support public outreach activities, including webpages, online maps and data resources, and informational workshops for stakeholders.

  4. Opening of energy markets: consequences on the missions of public utility and of security of supplies in the domain of electric power and gas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2001-01-01

    This conference was jointly organized by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the French ministry of economy, finances, and industry (general direction of energy and raw materials, DGEMP). It was organized in 6 sessions dealing with: 1 - the public utility in the domain of energy: definition of the public utility missions, experience feedback about liberalized markets, public utility obligation and pricing regulation; 2 - the new US energy policy and the lessons learnt from the California crisis; 3 - the security of electric power supplies: concepts of security of supplies, opinion of operators, security of power supplies versus liberalization and investments; 4 - security of gas supplies: markets liberalization and investments, long-term contracts and security of supplies; 5 - debate: how to integrate the objectives of public utility and of security of supplies in a competing market; 6 - conclusions. This document brings together the available talks and transparencies presented at the conference. (J.S.)

  5. Commercial gas utilization in the Netherlands. Six years of the Marketing Plan Public Gas Supply (MOG)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoelen, Q.E.J.J.M.; Bartholomeus, P.H.J.; Mallon, W.Ch.

    1998-01-01

    In 1992, Gasunie (Dutch natural gas trading company) started its marketing plan for the public natural gas supply (MOG, abbreviated in Dutch). The aim is to promote the use of natural gas in cooperation with gas utilities. For the commercial sector many different gas appliances are available: high-efficiency deep-frying pans for the catering sector, gas-fired air humidifiers for office and public buildings, gas-fired tumble dryers for small and medium-sized businesses, etc

  6. The Implementation of Justice Principle Within the Land Procurement for Public Utilities Construction

    OpenAIRE

    SH, Sahnan,

    2015-01-01

    The Indonesia€™s population growth and development increasing makes all parties, in the reality, need more land, especially for government. Land procurement for public utilities construction usually have a problem, because on the process we rarely meet easy process or easy getting deal between landowner and government, or other parties who needs the land. This occurs because is difficult getting deal between government and landowner about compensation. Justice principle implementation someti...

  7. Study of the impacts of regulations affecting the acceptance of Integrated Community Energy Systems: public utility, energy facility siting and municipal franchising regulatory programs in Missouri. Preliminary background report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L; Gallagher, K C; Hejna, D; Rielley, K J

    1980-01-01

    The authority to regulate public utilities in Missouri is vested in the Public Service Commission. The Commission is composed of five members who are appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate. Commissioners are appointed for a term of six years. Commissioners must be free from any employment or pecuniary interests incompatible with the duties of the Commission. The Commission is charged with the general supervision of public utilities. The Public Service Commission Law passed in 1913, makes no provision for the regulation of public utilities by municipalities. Public utility regulatory statutes, energy facility siting programs, and municipal franchising authority are examined to identify how they may impact on the ability of an organization, whether or not it be a regulated utility, to construct and operate an ICES.

  8. Impact of power purchases from non-utilities on the utility cost of capital

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kahn, E.; Stoft, S.; Belden, T.

    1995-01-01

    The bond rating agencies in the USA have asserted that long-term power purchase contracts between non-utility generators and utilities are the equivalent of debt to the utilities, and therefore raise the cost of capital to the purchaser. Non-Utility generators claim that these contracts reduce risk to the utilities. This debate is reflected in the 1992 Energy Policy Act. This paper investigates this controversy from the perspective of the equity markets. Using a CAPM framework, various specifications of the cost of equity capital are estimated, to shed light on this question. No evidence is found for the hypothesis that non-utility generation contracts raise the cost of capital. There does appear to be a slight increase in this cost for those utilities seeking to build their own generation capacity as opposed to purchasing it from non-utility suppliers. (author)

  9. Organizational Characteristics and Employee Overall Satisfaction: A Comparison of State-Owned and Non State- Owned Enterprises in Vietnam

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lam D. Nguyen

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Differences in employee overall job satisfaction between public and private sector organizations have long been a topic of organizational academic debate. This study looks at the differences and the relationships between organizational characteristics and employee overall satisfaction between the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs and the Non-State-OwnedEnterprises (Non-SOEs in Vietnam. The purpose of this study is threefold: 1 to examine the differences in organizational characteristics in 7 components including purposes, structure,leadership, relationships, rewards, helpful mechanisms, and attitude toward change; 2 to examine the differences in employee overall satisfaction; and 3 to explore the relationshipbetween organizational characteristics and employee overall satisfaction between the two sectors. The sample includes 20 SOEs and 20 Non-SOEs with a total of 860 employees. The findings empirically reinforce existing organization behavior literature: employee satisfaction is to some extent shaped by the settings of their organizations. Limitations and future research opportunities are also identified.

  10. 2001-2003 ''public utility'' contract between the French government and Gaz de France; Contrat de ''service public'' 2001-2003 entre l'etat et Gaz de France

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2002-07-01

    The ''public utility'' contract aims at specifying the actions of Gaz de France (GdF), the French gas utility, in terms of national development and public utility presence at the local scale. It extends and completes the 'contract of group' established between the government and GdF in the domain of quality of the services offered to clients, development of gas infrastructures and extension of gas supplies, and sustainable development. (J.S.)

  11. West Valley Demonstration Project facilities utilization plan for the existing facilities at the Western New York Nuclear Service Center

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Skillern, C.G.

    1986-05-01

    In 1980, Congress passed Public Law 96-368, the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Act. As a primary objective, the Act authorized the US Department of Energy (DOE) to solidify the high-level waste (HLW) stored at the Western New York Nuclear Service Center (WNYNSC) into a form suitable for transportation and disposal in a federal repository. This report will describe how WVDP proposes to use the existing WNYNSC Facilities in an efficient and technically effective manner to comply with Public Law 96-368. In support of the above cited law, the DOE has entered into a ''Cooperative agreement between the United States Department of Energy and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority on the Western New York Nuclear Service Center at West Valley, New York.'' The state-owned areas turned over to the DOE for use are as follows: Process Plant, Waste Storage, Low-Level Waste Treatment Facility, Service Facilities, Plant Security, and Additional Facilities. The Facilities Utilization Plan (FUP) describes how the state-owned facilities will be utilized to complete the Project; it is divided into five sections as follows: Executive Summary - an overview; Introduction - the WVDP approach to utilizing the WNYNSC Facilities; WVDP Systems - a brief functional description of the system, list of equipment and components to be used and decontamination and decommissioning (D and D) support; WVDP Support Facilities; and Caveats that could effect or change the potential usage of a particular area

  12. Cost-Utility Analysis of Extending Public Health Insurance Coverage to Include Diabetic Retinopathy Screening by Optometrists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Katwyk, Sasha; Jin, Ya-Ping; Trope, Graham E; Buys, Yvonne; Masucci, Lisa; Wedge, Richard; Flanagan, John; Brent, Michael H; El-Defrawy, Sherif; Tu, Hong Anh; Thavorn, Kednapa

    2017-09-01

    Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the leading causes of vision loss and blindness in Canada. Eye examinations play an important role in early detection. However, DR screening by optometrists is not always universally covered by public or private health insurance plans. This study assessed whether expanding public health coverage to include diabetic eye examinations for retinopathy by optometrists is cost-effective from the perspective of the health care system. We conducted a cost-utility analysis of extended coverage for diabetic eye examinations in Prince Edward Island to include examinations by optometrists, not currently publicly covered. We used a Markov chain to simulate disease burden based on eye examination rates and DR progression over a 30-year time horizon. Results were presented as an incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained. A series of one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed. Extending public health coverage to eye examinations by optometrists was associated with higher costs ($9,908,543.32) and improved QALYs (156,862.44), over 30 years, resulting in an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $1668.43/QALY gained. Sensitivity analysis showed that the most influential determinants of the results were the cost of optometric screening and selected utility scores. At the commonly used threshold of $50,000/QALY, the probability that the new policy was cost-effective was 99.99%. Extending public health coverage to eye examinations by optometrists is cost-effective based on a commonly used threshold of $50,000/QALY. Findings from this study can inform the decision to expand public-insured optometric services for patients with diabetes. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Build Your Own Particle Detector

    CERN Document Server

    Mehlhase, Sascha; The ATLAS collaboration

    2016-01-01

    To support the outreach activities of Atlas institutes and to grab people's attention in science exhibitions and during public events, we have created both a very detailed model of the experiment built entirely out of about Lego bricks as well as an outreach programme using Lego bricks to get people to think about particle detectors and involve them into a conversation about particle physics in general. A large Lego model, consisting of about 9500 pieces, has been 'exported' to more than 55 Atlas institutes and has been used in numerous exhibitions to explain the proportion and composition of the experiment to the public. As part of 'Build Your Own Particle Detector' programme (byopd.org) we conducted more than 15 events,either involving a competition to design and build the 'best' particle detector from a random pile of pieces or to take part in the construction of one of the large models, as part of a full day outreach event. Recently we've added miniature models of all four LHC experiments, that will be us...

  14. Privately Owned Public Spaces: the Internet and the Shaping of a New Breed of Consumers. From Participants to Users

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Salvatore Poier

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Computers in the 1980s were seen as a way to liberate people from the constraints of physicality, to expand the horizons of knowledge, and to enhance access to information. But after a few somersaults, we are back to a market that closes rather than opens our horizons, one that monopolizes, and even de facto owns, our very information. With the adoption of the term “user” - as opposed to “participant” for example – an asymmetry of power is underlined. This linguistic choice enables Internet platforms (such as Twitter, Facebook, iCloud, GoogleDrive to maintain shady property rights on what users might perceive as public spaces (precisely because they are built to project a public space dynamic but are in fact spaces in which the control over users' own data (e.g. pictures, texts is often impossible, transforming such data into a commodity and reducing users to (used consumers. En la década de 1980, los ordenadores se contemplaban como una forma de liberar a la gente de las limitaciones del mundo físico, ampliar los horizontes del conocimiento, y mejorar el acceso a la información. Pero después de diversos giros, volvemos a estar en un mercado que cierra nuestros horizontes en lugar de ampliarlos, que monopoliza, e incluso posee de facto, nuestra propia información. Con la adopción del término "usuario" - en lugar de "participante", por ejemplo - se pone de manifiesto la asimetría de poder existente. Esta opción lingüística permite a las plataformas de Internet (como Twitter, Facebook, iCloud, GoogleDrive mantener derechos de propiedad poco claros sobre plataformas que los usuarios pueden percibir como espacios públicos (precisamente porque están construidas para parecer un espacio público dinámico pero son en realidad espacios en los que es a menudo imposible controlar los propios datos de los usuarios (por ejemplo, imágenes, textos, transformando estos datos en una mercancía y convirtiendo a los usuarios en

  15. Utilization of dental health services by Danish adolescents attending private or public dental health care systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Lisa Bøge; Petersen, Poul Erik; Bastholm, Annelise

    2002-01-01

    The objectives of the study were: 1) to describe the choice of dental care system among 16-year-olds, 2) to describe the utilization of dental services among 16-17-year-olds enrolled in either public or private dental care systems, and to compare the dental services provided by the alternative...

  16. 26 CFR 1.167(l)-4 - Public utility property; election to use asset depreciation range system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... depreciation range system. 1.167(l)-4 Section 1.167(l)-4 Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT... Individuals and Corporations § 1.167(l)-4 Public utility property; election to use asset depreciation range system. (a) Application of section 167(l) to certain property subject to asset depreciation range system...

  17. Transforming public utility commissions in the new regulatory environment: Some issues and ideas for managing change

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wirick, D.W.; Davis, V.W.; Burns, R.E.; Jones, D.N.

    1996-07-01

    In the face of sweeping changes in utility markets and regulatory practices, public utility commissions are being forced to change in fundamental ways--to substantially transform themselves rather than to make only incremental changes in their operations. Managing this process of radical change is complicated by the fact that for the foreseeable future some portions of utility markets (e.g., water utilities) will function much as they have before. Some envision commissions in the future that are more externally focussed, that rely more on dispute resolution than adjudicatory proceedings, that concentrate on identifying and understanding competitive markets, that are more automated, and that are more likely to question old assumptions and definitions. This report identifies the considerations commissions might apply for identifying what mix of skills or fields of experise should compromise the technical staff. Factors are also identified which point towards a sectoral arrangement of staff and those factors which point toward a functional approach.

  18. A Review of Bring Your Own Device on Security Issues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Morufu Olalere

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Mobile computing has supplanted internet computing because of the proliferation of cloud-based applications and mobile devices (such as smartphones, palmtops, and tablets. As a result of this, workers bring their mobile devices to the workplace and use them for enterprise work. The policy of allowing the employees to work with their own personal mobile devices is called Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD. In this article, we discuss BYOD’s background, prevalence, benefits, challenges, and possible security attacks. We then review contributions of academic researchers on BYOD. The Universiti Putra Malaysia online databases (such as IEEE Xplore digital library, Elsevier, Springer, ACM digital library were used to search for peer-reviewed academic publications and other relevant publications on BYOD. The Google Scholar search engine was also used. Our thorough review shows that security issues comprise the most significant challenge confronting BYOD policy and that very little has been done to tackle this security challenge. It is our hope that this review will provide a theoretical background for future research and enable researchers to identify researchable areas of BYOD.

  19. Decree no. 2004-251 from March 19, 2004 relative to public utility obligations in the gas sector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2004-03-01

    This decree defines the public utility obligations that gas suppliers and gas facility operators (transportation and distribution networks, underground storage facilities, LNG facilities) have to fulfill in order to ensure without interruption the continuity of gas supplies to their clients. (J.S.)

  20. Study of the impacts of regulations affecting the acceptance of Integrated Community Energy Systems: public utility, energy facility siting and municipal franchising regulatory programs in New York. Preliminary background report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L; Gallagher, K C; Hejna, D; Rielley, K J

    1980-01-01

    The authority to regulate public utilities is vested generally in the New York Public Service Commission. The Commission is composed of five members appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate. Commissioners are appointed for six-year terms. Commissioners may not have any pecuniary or financial interest in any public utility. Local governing bodies are authorized to exercise such power, jurisdiction and authority in enforcing the laws of the state and the orders, rules, and regulations of the commission as may be prescribed by statute or by the commission with respect to public utilities. A Commission spokesman confirmed that no statutes have been passed pursuant to this provision and the Commission has not ceded any of its regulatory powers to local governments. With the exception of the granting of franchises and permits to use public ways, local governments exercise no regulatory powers over public utilities. Public utility regulatory statutes, energy facility siting programs, and municipal franchising authority are examined to identify how they may impact on the ability of an organization, whether or not it be a regulated utility, to construct and operate an ICES.

  1. Bilateral transaction bargaining between independent utilities under incomplete information

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    David, A. K.; Wen, F. S.

    2001-01-01

    A new approach to designing bilateral power transaction bargaining models between two independent utilities in a deregulated electricity market is proposed. In the paper it is assumed that each utility (a seller or a buyer) knows its own operating costs but does not know those of its opponent. The bilateral power transaction problem is then considered as non-cooperative bargaining under incomplete information. Each participant develops its own bargaining strategy based on estimates of the opponent's operating costs and bargaining strategy. Two bargaining models are developed and examples are employed for demonstration. (Author)

  2. Utilization of Radiation for Industrial Purposes, Environmental Protection and Public Health

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hilmy, N.

    1996-01-01

    This paper describes utilization of gamma-rays, electron beam and X-rays in industry, environment and public health in developed countries and in Indonesia. At Present (1995), 160 of Gamma Irradiations in 45 countries around the world and 280 of Electron Beam Machines mostly in Japan, United States of America and French have been operated to support industrial development. Two Gamma Irradiators and two Electron Beam Machines have been operated by BATAN for research and development and one of Gamma Irradiator is operated for industrial purposes by a private company in Jakarta. To support environmentally sustainable development, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as well as BATAN increase their activities in recycling of liquid and solid waste as well as flue gas by using radiation technology. (author)

  3. Utilization of European Funds in the Public Administration. Study case - Galati County Council

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manuela Panaitescu

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The main objectives of this paper are to reveal some aspects regarding European funds‟ utilization, starting with the comprehension of EU philosophy regarding cohesion policy and emphasizing the important role played by Structural and Cohesion Funds for public administration, especially in times of economic downturn when the financial resources are difficult to access. Prior Work: this work continues prior research carried out for the “European Programs and Projects Management” MA thesis. Approach: The main methods employed for capturing the research evidence consists in management strategies analysis in the public administration, especially in studying the capacity of absorption of European funds in the case Galati County Council. The main results of this paper show that the risks of absorption capacity decrease of EU funds are linked to a number of factors, such as financial problems, poor information, lack of managerial experience, etc.

  4. Utility of four public-policy models as applied to the case study of nuclear materials transportation through the Lehigh Valley

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zurat, G.J.

    1982-01-01

    This dissertation assesses four public-policy models by utilizing the case-study approach and personal interviews with the major participants in the public-policy process of Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Northampton County is part of the metropolitan region encompassing Lehigh and Northampton Counties, PA. It is known as the Lehigh Valley which is situated in eastern Pennsylvania. The hypotheses tested in this dissertation are: (1) individual participants have articulated policy models as their frame of reference which guides them in understanding the public policy process, and (2) there is no one best policy model to explain the public-policy process, but the combination of various policy models may improve the policy analysts' understanding of public policy. Results indicate that the major participants have articulated policy models as their frame of reference, but a polarized view of policy models exists for the participants. The second hypothesis was only partially confirmed since the combination of one or more models did not resolve the group/elite policy dilemma of the practitioners. By utilizing stratification theory in the analysis, the group versus elite conflict is clarified and the policy formation phase of the public policy process is understood with respect to the Northamton County Council

  5. Market potential and growth areas of public utilities. Electromobility; Marktpotenzial und Wachstumsfeld fuer Energieversorger. Elektromobilitaet

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lueers, Thomas [Homburg und Partner, Mannheim (Germany). Kompetenzzentrum Energy/Utilities; Hanitsch, Kai [Homburg und Partner, Mannheim (Germany)

    2010-11-15

    The automobile industry is in full transition. All manufacturers are working on new drive concepts that meet the increasingly rigid emission specifications. Electric power is favoured as an energy source for the future, which gets public utilities interested in teh attractivity of this growing market. Accurate knowledge of the market potential generated by electromobility provides a basis for a targeted and successful marketing strategy. (orig.)

  6. Phase-out of nuclear energy until 2022. New opportunities for public utilities?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Herrmann, Nicolai; Praetorius, Barbara; Schilling, Jan

    2011-01-01

    In July 2011 the political leadership resolved to phase out the use of nuclear energy by the year 2022. Now the challenge is on market participants to review their corporate strategy in the light of the ramifications of this decision. This should involve not only an assessment of the development of the electricity market in general but also a company's specific ongoing and planned power plant investments. The question what opportunities and challenges the nuclear phase-out will bring in its wake is of particular significance for those public utilities which vehemently spoke against the decision taken in autumn 2010 to extend the lifetime of nuclear power plants.

  7. 77 FR 34033 - Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County; Notice of Authorization for Continued Project...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-06-08

    ... District No. 1 of Douglas County; Notice of Authorization for Continued Project Operation On May 27, 2010, the Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County, licensee for the Wells Hydroelectric Project... regulations thereunder. The Wells Hydroelectric Project is located on the Columbia River in Douglas, Okanogan...

  8. Assessment of health care needs and utilization in a mixed public-private system: the case of the Athens area

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Niakas Dimitris

    2006-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Given the public-private mix of the Greek health system, the purpose of this study was to assess whether variations in the utilisation of health services, both primary and inpatient care, were associated with underlying health care needs and/or various socio-economic factors. Methods Data was obtained from a representative sample (N = 1426 residing in the broader Athens area (response rate 70.6%. Perceived health-related quality of life (HRQOL, as measured by the physical and mental summary component scores of the SF-36 Health Survey, was used as a proxy of health care need. Health care utilization was measured by a last-month visits to public sector physicians, b last-month visits to private sector physicians, c last-year visits to hospital emergency departments and d last-year hospital admissions. Statistical analysis involved the implementation of logistic regression models. Results Health care need was the factor most strongly associated with all measures of health care utilization, except for visits to public physicians. Women, elderly, less wealthy and individuals of lower physical health status visited physicians contracted to their insurance fund (public sector. Women, well educated and those once again of lower physical health status were more likely to visit private providers. Visits to hospital emergency departments and hospital admissions were related to need and no socio-economic factor was related to the use of those types of care. Conclusion This study has demonstrated a positive relationship between health care need and utilisation of health services within a mixed public-private health care system. Concurrently, interesting differences are evident in the utilization of various types of services. The results have potential implications in health policy-making and particularly in the proper allocation of scarce health resources.

  9. Assessment of health care needs and utilization in a mixed public-private system: the case of the Athens area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pappa, Evelina; Niakas, Dimitris

    2006-11-02

    Given the public-private mix of the Greek health system, the purpose of this study was to assess whether variations in the utilisation of health services, both primary and inpatient care, were associated with underlying health care needs and/or various socio-economic factors. Data was obtained from a representative sample (N = 1426) residing in the broader Athens area (response rate 70.6%). Perceived health-related quality of life (HRQOL), as measured by the physical and mental summary component scores of the SF-36 Health Survey, was used as a proxy of health care need. Health care utilization was measured by a) last-month visits to public sector physicians, b) last-month visits to private sector physicians, c) last-year visits to hospital emergency departments and d) last-year hospital admissions. Statistical analysis involved the implementation of logistic regression models. Health care need was the factor most strongly associated with all measures of health care utilization, except for visits to public physicians. Women, elderly, less wealthy and individuals of lower physical health status visited physicians contracted to their insurance fund (public sector). Women, well educated and those once again of lower physical health status were more likely to visit private providers. Visits to hospital emergency departments and hospital admissions were related to need and no socio-economic factor was related to the use of those types of care. This study has demonstrated a positive relationship between health care need and utilisation of health services within a mixed public-private health care system. Concurrently, interesting differences are evident in the utilization of various types of services. The results have potential implications in health policy-making and particularly in the proper allocation of scarce health resources.

  10. Sewerage Pumping Stations, City_ssLiftstations, Public and Privately owned sanitary lift stations located in Glynn County and the City of Brunswick., Published in Not Provided, 1:2400 (1in=200ft) scale, Glynn County Government.

    Data.gov (United States)

    NSGIC Local Govt | GIS Inventory — Sewerage Pumping Stations dataset current as of unknown. City_ssLiftstations, Public and Privately owned sanitary lift stations located in Glynn County and the City...

  11. A comparative analysis of business structures suitable for farmer-owned wind power projects in the United States

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bolinger, Mark; Wiser, Ryan

    2006-01-01

    For years, farmers in the United States have looked with envy on their European counterparts' ability to profitably farm the wind through ownership of distributed, utility-scale wind projects. Only within the past few years, however, has farmer- or community-owned wind power development become a reality in the United States. The primary hurdle to this type of development in the United States has been devising and implementing suitable business and legal structures that enable such projects to take advantage of tax-based federal incentives for wind power. This article discusses the limitations of such incentives in supporting farmer- or community-owned wind projects, describes four ownership structures that potentially overcome such limitations, and finally conducts comparative financial analysis on those four structures, using as an example a hypothetical 1.5 MW farmer-owned project located in the state of Oregon. We find that material differences in the competitiveness of each structure do exist, but that choosing the best structure for a given project will largely depend on the conditions at hand; e.g., the ability of the farmer(s) to utilize tax credits, preference for individual versus 'cooperative' ownership, and the state and utility service territory in which the project will be located

  12. Study of the impacts of regulations affecting the acceptance of Integrated Community Energy Systems: public utility, energy facility siting and municipal franchising regulatory programs in New Jersey. Preliminary background report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L; Gallagher, K C; Hejna, D; Rielley, K J

    1980-01-01

    The authority to regulate the operations of public utilities in New Jersey is generally vested in the Board of Public Utilities. The Board is subsumed within the Department of Energy for administrative purposes, but functions largely independently of supervision or control by that agency. The Board is composed of three members who serve for six-year terms. They are appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate. Within the purview of its powers, the authority of the Board supersedes that of local governments. The Board, for example, may grant exemptions from local zoning provisions, and has approving authority over privileges or franchises granted by municipalities to public utilities. The Board, however, cannot override the refusal of a municipality to grant consent to the initiation of operations by a public utility. Public utility regulatory statutes, energy facility siting programs, and municipal franchising authority are examined to identify how they may impact on the ability of an organization, whether or not it be a regulated utility, to construct and operate an ICES.

  13. Study of the impacts of regulations affecting the acceptance of Integrated Community Energy Systems: public utility, energy facility siting and municipal franchising regulatory programs in North Dakota. Preliminary background report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L; Gallagher, K C; Hejna, D; Rielley, K J

    1980-01-01

    The North Dakota Public Service Commission (PSC) is a constitutional body responsible for the regulation of all public utilities. The PSC is composed of three elected commissioners who serve for six year terms. Section 83 of the state's Constitution gives the legislature the power to prescribe the powers and duties of the PCS. Pursuant to this authorization, the legislature adopted Title 49 of the North Dakota Century Code prescribing the jurisdiction as well as the powers and duties of the PSC. It also prescribes various rules and regulations pertaining to electric, gas, and other public utilities. All authority over public utilities is vested in the PSC. Local governments, except for the powers inherent in their franchising and zoning authority, are not given any control over utility regulation. Public utility regulatory statutes, energy facility siting programs, and municipal franchising authority are examined to identify how they may impact on the ability of an organization, whether or not it be a regulated utility, to construct and operate an ICES.

  14. Own brand label restorative materials-A false bargain?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnsen, Gaute Floer; Thieu, Minh Khai Le; Hussain, Badra; Pamuła, Elzbieta; Reseland, Janne Elin; Lyngstadaas, Ståle Petter; Haugen, Håvard

    2017-01-01

    This study aims at evaluating and comparing mechanical, chemical, and cytotoxicological parameters of a commercial brand name composite material against two 'own brand label' (OBL) composites. Parameters included depth of cure, flexural strength, degree of conversion, polymerization shrinkage, filler particle morphology and elemental analyzes, Vickers hardness, surface roughness parameters after abrasion, monomer elution, and cytotoxicity. The conventional composite outperformed the OBLS in terms of depth of cure (pbrand-name composites, but at a lower price. Dentists are highly recommended to reconsider utilization of OBLs lacking sound scientific scrutiny, and our findings underscore this recommendation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Electric utility power plant construction costs, 1st Edition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1993-01-01

    New UDI report combines historical construction costs for more than 1,000 coal, oil, gas, nuclear and geothermal units that have entered commercial operation since 1966 and projected power plant construction costs for about 400 utility-owned generating units scheduled to enter commercial operation during the next 20 years. Key design characteristics and equipment suppliers, A/E, constructor and original installed cost data. Direct construction costs without AFUDC are provided where known. Historical construction cost data are also provided for about 130 utility-owned hydroelectric, gas turbine, combined-cycle and diesel units (these data are generally for units entering service after 1980)

  16. Third-quarter 1989 electric utility financial results

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Studness, C.M.

    1990-01-01

    Utility earnings per share before write-offs fell 6.9% in the third quarter of 1989 from the year-earlier level. Write-offs reduced third-quarter earnings of a sample of 83 utilities that account for 95% of investor-owned utility revenue by $792 million, compared with $183 million in the year-earlier quarter. With larger write-offs in 1989 than in 1988, third-quarter earnings per share after write-offs plunged 16.9% from the year-earlier level

  17. 75 FR 40821 - Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County; Notice of Settlement Agreement and Soliciting...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-14

    ... District No. 1 of Douglas County; Notice of Settlement Agreement and Soliciting Comments July 7, 2010. Take...: Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County, Washington. e. Location: The existing project is located at river mile 515.6 on the Columbia River in Chelan, Douglas, and Okanogan Counties in central...

  18. State environmental law and carbon emissions: Do public utility commissions use environmental statutes to fight global warming?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sautter, John A.

    2010-10-15

    In many states environmental statutes provide the authority for public utility commissioners to make decisions to reduce greenhouse gases from electricity generation. This article looks at six such laws and how the presence of these laws affected CO{sub 2} emissions during a nine-year period from 1997 to 2005. (author)

  19. Decree no. 2004-90 from January 28, 2004 relative to the compensation of electric public utility charges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2004-03-01

    This decree defines the charges imputable to the missions of electric public utility, the procedure of determination of their amount, the contribution to these charges by end-users and the operations of recovery and transfer, the processing of declaration defects and payment failures and some other various dispositions. (J.S.)

  20. Household utilization and expenditure on private and public health services in Vietnam.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ha, Nguyen Thi Hong; Berman, Peter; Larsen, Ulla

    2002-03-01

    The private provision of health services in Vietnam was legalized in 1989 as one of the country's means to mobilize resources and improve efficiency in the health system. Ten years after its legalization, the private sector has widely expanded its activities and become an important provider of health services for the Vietnamese people. However, little is known about its contribution to the overall objectives of the health system in Vietnam. This paper assesses the role of the private health care provider by examining utilization patterns and financial burden for households of private, as compared with public, services. We found that the private sector provided 60% of all outpatient contacts in Vietnam. There was no difference by education, sex or place of residence in the use of private ambulatory health care. Although there was evidence suggesting that rich people use private care more than the poor, this finding was not consistent across all income groups. The private sector served young children in particular. Also, people in households with several sick members at the same time relied more on private than public care, while those with severe illnesses tended to use less private care than public. The financial burden for households from private health care services was roughly a half of that imposed by the public providers. Expenditure on drugs accounted for a substantial percentage of household expenditure in general and health care expenditure in particular. These findings call for a prompt recognition of the private sector as a key player in Vietnam's health system. Health system policies should mobilize positive private sector contributions to health system goals where possible and reduce the negative effects of private provision development.

  1. Where U.S. utilities seek fuel to power reactors after 1985

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1977-01-01

    How utilities try to assure uranium supplies emerged Feb. 25 at a press conference in Canberra with four representatives of utilities that supply 20% of the operating nuclear capacity in the United States. Earlier, the speakers indicated that American import requirements would far exceed Australian estimates of the potential export market for Australian uranium. Australia, with the world's largest uncommitted uranium reserves, is wary of exporting because the opposition Labor Party adamantly opposes uranium development. If Labor returns to power, it could decide not to honor contracts by the present government. Participants included: Bernard Cherry, fuel manager at General Public Utilities; Colin Campbell of the Yankee Atomic Service Co., which provides engineering and fuel-supply service for seven New England nuclear plants; Jack Gilleland, assistant manager of power at the Tennessee Valley Authority; and Ralph Bostian, manager for systems results and fuel management at the Duke Power Co. When asked about available uranium supplies from Africa, the participants were dubious about those supplies; this led to a discussion on why the utilities are seeking their own sources. The answers are obvious. ERDA has indicated that about one-half of the operating reactors have fuel coverage beyond six reloads and about one-half of the reactors under construction have fuel coverage beyond two reloads

  2. [Philanthropic hospitals and the operation of provider-owned health plans in Brazil].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lima, Sheyla Maria Lemos; Portela, Margareth C; Ugá, Maria Alicia Dominguez; Barbosa, Pedro Ribeiro; Gerschman, Silvia; Vasconcellos, Miguel Murat

    2007-02-01

    To describe the management performance of philanthropic hospitals that operate their own health plans, in comparison with philanthropic hospitals as a whole in Brazil. The managerial structures of philanthropic hospitals that operated their own health plans were compared with those seen in a representative group from the philanthropic hospital sector, in six dimensions: management and planning, economics and finance, human resources, technical services, logistics services and information technology. Data from a random sample of 69 hospitals within the philanthropic hospital sector and 94 philanthropic hospitals that operate their own health plans were evaluated. In both cases, only the hospitals with less than 599 beds were included. The results identified for the hospitals that operate their own health plans were more positive in all the managerial dimensions compared. In particular, the economics and finance and information technology dimensions were highlighted, for which more than 50% of the hospitals that operated their own health plans presented almost all the conditions considered. The philanthropic hospital sector is important in providing services to the Brazilian Health System (SUS). The challenges in maintaining and developing these hospitals impose the need to find alternatives. Stimulation of a public-private partnership in this segment, by means of operating provider-owned health plans or providing services to other health plans that work together with SUS, is a field that deserves more in-depth analysis.

  3. THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION COMPARED TO PUBLIC MANAGEMENT AND OTHER SCIENCES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    LAZAR IOAN

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we try to analyze the meaning of the public administration term. In our opinion it is necessary to be able to define exactly what public administration means but at the same time to clearly distinguish it from the other sciences. This is due to the fact that very often confusion is made between public administration and public management, public administration and bureaucracy or public administration and policy. Throughout this paper we hope to clarify some of the aspects related to what exactly distinguishes public administration from the above mentioned sciences and what are its own particularities.

  4. Study of the impacts of regulations affecting the acceptance of Integrated Community Energy Systems: public utility, energy facility siting and municipal franchising regulatory programs in Massachusetts. Preliminary background report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L; Gallagher, K C; Hejna, D; Rielley, K J

    1980-01-01

    The authority to regulate public utilities is vested generally in the Department of Public Utilities. The Department is under the supervision and control of a commission consisting of three members appointed by the governor for terms of four years. No more than two of the commissioners may be members of the same political party. Commissioners must be freee from any employment or financial interests which are incompatible with the duties of the Department. The Department is responsible for regulating public utilities. The Department is specifically granted general supervisory authority over all gas and electric companies. Specific provisions for the appeal of local decisions exist only in the case of a municipality's approval or disapproval of new operaions by an electric or gas company in a municipality already being served by another such utility. Public utility regulatory statutes, energy facility siting programs, and municipal franchising authority are examined to identify how they may impact on the ability of an organization, whether or not it be a regulated utility, to construct and operate an ICES.

  5. Public perceptions of energy issues in Ontario

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2004-11-01

    In October 2004, the Environics Research Group conducted a telephone survey of 608 adult Ontarians to collect information on matters regarding energy; consumer confidence and protection; responsibilities of the Ontario Energy Board; and consumer information preferences. This report summarizes the key findings of the survey. According to the survey, the most important electricity and natural gas issue was identified as being price and cost issues, followed by reliability of supply, conservation, keeping utilities publicly owned, finding renewable sources of energy, and over-consumption. The survey revealed that Ontarians show much interest in conserving energy to save money, to protect the environment and ensure future energy supply, but they are generally sceptical that their interests are being protected on electricity and natural gas price issues. At least 9 in 10 Ontarians consider the tasks of the Ontario Energy Board to be important. The majority of Ontarians prefer to receive energy conservation information through the mail and from public regulators over a government department or a company. 10 tabs

  6. PUBLIC MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL VALUES IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION OF EASTERN SLAVONIA

    OpenAIRE

    Ruza Brcic; Ivan Malbasic

    2013-01-01

    For decades public administration has been considered a public issue in its own right, or even a causal factor of public issues. It is perceived as an inert and inflexible system that operates in a way that neither its practices nor its effects are transparent. With the aim of enhancing the eff ectiveness of public administration attempts have been made to redefi ne the role of the state and reform public administration and public management in accordance with that new role of the state, whic...

  7. 37 CFR 1.130 - Affidavit or declaration to disqualify commonly owned patent or published application as prior art.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... disqualify commonly owned patent or published application as prior art. 1.130 Section 1.130 Patents... or declaration to disqualify commonly owned patent or published application as prior art. (a) When.... patent or U.S. patent application publication which is not prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(b), and the...

  8. Appropriate Utilization and Stocking of Antidotes in Qatar Public Hospitals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rawan Salameh

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Background: There are a few studies that evaluate preparedness and availability of antidotes in the emergency setting and none have been conducted in Qatar. Published studies show that timely availability of antidotes in the emergency department setting is a common issue. To address this, we conducted a study to evaluate antidote stocking and utilization in Qatar hospital pharmacies and emergency departments. Methods: In order to evaluate the appropriate use and timely administration of antidotes, research assistants prospectively collected data on ED patients. All ED patients who received any key antidote over the 6-month study period were identified through both ED and pharmacy records. In order to evaluate the stocking of the 31 most important antidotes in our main public hospitals, a survey assessing the stocking of these key antidotes was sent to the four general hospitals in Qatar, to determine their availability and whether they are stocked in the ED or only in the main pharmacy. Results: Poison exposure was evaluated in 471 cases. Antidotes were given within 30 minutes in 73% of cases, which included atropine, calcium, dextrose, flumazenil, naloxone, pralidoxime, sodium bicarbonate, thiamine, vitamin K and scorpion and snake antivenoms. Administration occurred later than 60 minutes in 2% of cases, exclusively with N-acetylcysteine and activated charcoal. Atropine, calcium, dextrose, naloxone, pralidoxime (2-PAM, sodium bicarbonate, and anti-venoms were clinically indicated 92% of the times they were ordered. N-acetylcysteine was indicated in only 51.5% of administrations. Significant variation in antidote stocking existed between hospitals, and there was no stocked hydroxocobalamin as antidotes for cyanide poisoning or fomepizole for toxic alcohol poisoning. Conclusion: Antidote stocking varied significantly between hospitals, and antidotes necessary for cyanide and toxic alcohol poisoning were deficient in all public hospitals. The

  9. Impact of Publicly Financed Health Insurance Schemes on Healthcare Utilization and Financial Risk Protection in India: A Systematic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prinja, Shankar; Chauhan, Akashdeep Singh; Karan, Anup; Kaur, Gunjeet; Kumar, Rajesh

    2017-01-01

    Several publicly financed health insurance schemes have been launched in India with the aim of providing universalizing health coverage (UHC). In this paper, we report the impact of publicly financed health insurance schemes on health service utilization, out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure, financial risk protection and health status. Empirical research studies focussing on the impact or evaluation of publicly financed health insurance schemes in India were searched on PubMed, Google scholar, Ovid, Scopus, Embase and relevant websites. The studies were selected based on two stage screening PRISMA guidelines in which two researchers independently assessed the suitability and quality of the studies. The studies included in the review were divided into two groups i.e., with and without a comparison group. To assess the impact on utilization, OOP expenditure and health indicators, only the studies with a comparison group were reviewed. Out of 1265 articles screened after initial search, 43 studies were found eligible and reviewed in full text, finally yielding 14 studies which had a comparator group in their evaluation design. All the studies (n-7) focussing on utilization showed a positive effect in terms of increase in the consumption of health services with introduction of health insurance. About 70% studies (n-5) studies with a strong design and assessing financial risk protection showed no impact in reduction of OOP expenditures, while remaining 30% of evaluations (n-2), which particularly evaluated state sponsored health insurance schemes, reported a decline in OOP expenditure among the enrolled households. One study which evaluated impact on health outcome showed reduction in mortality among enrolled as compared to non-enrolled households, from conditions covered by the insurance scheme. While utilization of healthcare did improve among those enrolled in the scheme, there is no clear evidence yet to suggest that these have resulted in reduced OOP expenditures or

  10. Utility Values for Advanced Soft Tissue Sarcoma Health States from the General Public in the United Kingdom

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julian F. Guest

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Soft tissue sarcomas are a rare type of cancer generally treated with palliative chemotherapy when in the advanced stage. There is a lack of published health utility data for locally advanced “inoperable”/metastatic disease (ASTS, essential for calculating the cost-effectiveness of current and future treatments. This study estimated time trade-off (TTO and standard gamble (SG preference values associated with four ASTS health states (progressive disease, stable disease, partial response, complete response among members of the general public in the UK (n=207. The four health states were associated with decreases in preference values from full health. Complete response was the most preferred health state (mean utility of 0.60 using TTO. The second most preferred health state was partial response followed by stable disease (mean utilities were 0.51 and 0.43, respectively, using TTO. The least preferred health state was progressive disease (mean utility of 0.30 using TTO. The utility value for each state was significantly different from one another (P<0.001. This study demonstrated and quantified the impact that different treatment responses may have on the health-related quality of life of patients with ASTS.

  11. 7 CFR 2.88 - Director, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... deposits, and grants and loan activities affecting small and minority businesses including women-owned business, and the small business, small minority business, and small women-owned business subcontracting... disadvantaged, and women-owned businesses with the Small Business Administration and others in public and...

  12. Status of Utilizing Social Media Networks in the Teaching-Learning Process at Public Jordanian Universities

    OpenAIRE

    Muneera Abdalkareem Alshdefait; Mohammad . S. Alzboon

    2018-01-01

    This study aimed at finding out the status of utilizing social media networks in the teaching-learning process at public Jordanian Universities. To achieve the goal of the study, the descriptive developmental method was used and a questionnaire was developed, consisting of (35) statements. The questionnaire was checked for its validity and reliability. Then it was distributed to a sample of (382) male and female students from the undergraduate and graduate levels. The study results showed tha...

  13. Public involvement in multi-objective water level regulation development projects-evaluating the applicability of public involvement methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vaentaenen, Ari; Marttunen, Mika

    2005-01-01

    Public involvement is a process that involves the public in the decision making of an organization, for example a municipality or a corporation. It has developed into a widely accepted and recommended policy in environment altering projects. The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) took force in 2000 and stresses the importance of public involvement in composing river basin management plans. Therefore, the need to develop public involvement methods for different situations and circumstances is evident. This paper describes how various public involvement methods have been applied in a development project involving the most heavily regulated lake in Finland. The objective of the project was to assess the positive and negative impacts of regulation and to find possibilities for alleviating the adverse impacts on recreational use and the aquatic ecosystem. An exceptional effort was made towards public involvement, which was closely connected to planning and decision making. The applied methods were (1) steering group work, (2) survey, (3) dialogue, (4) theme interviews, (5) public meeting and (6) workshops. The information gathered using these methods was utilized in different stages of the project, e.g., in identifying the regulation impacts, comparing alternatives and compiling the recommendations for regulation development. After describing our case and the results from the applied public involvement methods, we will discuss our experiences and the feedback from the public. We will also critically evaluate our own success in coping with public involvement challenges. In addition to that, we present general recommendations for dealing with these problematic issues based on our experiences, which provide new insights for applying various public involvement methods in multi-objective decision making projects

  14. Build Your Own Payment Model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berlin, Joey

    2017-07-01

    Physicians participating in MACRA have a unique opportunity to create and submit their own alternative payment models to the government and take command of their own future payments. At least one Texas physician is taking a crack at developing his own model.

  15. A review of research activities at the Research Reactor Institute of Kyoto University in view of research publication information

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takeuchi, Takayuki; Mizuma, Mitsuo; Kimura, Itsuro.

    1995-01-01

    A database of research publication was constructed for the purpose of grasping all of the research activities at the Research Reactor Institute, Kyoto University. The database named KURRIP collects all of the research publications of the Institute by not only its own staff but also visiting scientists. The publications are in the form of original papers, review papers, papers in proceedings, short notes and letters, synopses over 3 pages presented orally at scientific meeting, books and doctoral theses. At present, the KURRIP database contains the information on 6,210 items which have been published for 30 years since the Institute was established as an interuniversity research institute for joint use of a research reactor and other related large facilities in 1963. By utilizing the KURRIP database, the analyses have been done: (1) affiliation of the authors, (2) kind of publications, (3) classification of publishers, (4) research fields, and (5) experimental facilities. The KURRIP database is now stored in the Data Processing Center of Kyoto University and can be utilized through a computer center at one of the main national universities in Japan. (author)

  16. Factors Affecting the Business Performance of Female Owned Enterprises in TRNC

    OpenAIRE

    Hatice Jenkins; Salih Katircioglu

    2007-01-01

    This study is the first empirical research on the performance of the Turkish Cypriot female entrepreneurs in North Cyprus. The research helps to identify the major factors affecting the performance of Turkish Cypriot female entrepreneurs both positively and negatively. Furthermore, it identifies the main causes of performance variations among the businesses owned by female entrepreneurs. A face to face survey method was utilized to collect primary data from two hundred female entrepreneurs an...

  17. Total expenditures per patient in hospital-owned and physician-owned physician organizations in California.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, James C; Miller, Kelly

    Hospitals are rapidly acquiring medical groups and physician practices. This consolidation may foster cooperation and thereby reduce expenditures, but also may lead to higher expenditures through greater use of hospital-based ambulatory services and through greater hospital pricing leverage against health insurers. To determine whether total expenditures per patient were higher in physician organizations (integrated medical groups and independent practice associations) owned by local hospitals or multihospital systems compared with groups owned by participating physicians. Data were obtained on total expenditures for the care provided to 4.5 million patients treated by integrated medical groups and independent practice associations in California between 2009 and 2012. The patients were covered by commercial health maintenance organization (HMO) insurance and the data did not include patients covered by commercial preferred provider organization (PPO) insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid. Total expenditures per patient annually, measured in terms of what insurers paid to the physician organizations for professional services, to hospitals for inpatient and outpatient procedures, to clinical laboratories for diagnostic tests, and to pharmaceutical manufacturers for drugs and biologics. Annual expenditures per patient were compared after adjusting for patient illness burden, geographic input costs, and organizational characteristics. Of the 158 organizations, 118 physician organizations (75%) were physician-owned and provided care for 3,065,551 patients, 19 organizations (12%) were owned by local hospitals and provided care for 728,608 patients, and 21 organizations (13%) were owned by multihospital systems and provided care for 693,254 patients. In 2012, physician-owned physician organizations had mean expenditures of $3066 per patient (95% CI, $2892 to $3240), hospital-owned physician organizations had mean expenditures of $4312 per patient (95% CI, $3768 to $4857), and

  18. Enhancing Scientific Collaboration, Transparency, and Public Access: Utilizing the Second Life Platform to Convene a Scientific Conference in 3-D Virtual Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGee, B. W.

    2006-12-01

    Recent studies reveal a general mistrust of science as well as a distorted perception of the scientific method by the public at-large. Concurrently, the number of science undergraduate and graduate students is in decline. By taking advantage of emergent technologies not only for direct public outreach but also to enhance public accessibility to the science process, it may be possible to both begin a reversal of popular scientific misconceptions and to engage a new generation of scientists. The Second Life platform is a 3-D virtual world produced and operated by Linden Research, Inc., a privately owned company instituted to develop new forms of immersive entertainment. Free and downloadable to the public, Second Life offers an imbedded physics engine, streaming audio and video capability, and unlike other "multiplayer" software, the objects and inhabitants of Second Life are entirely designed and created by its users, providing an open-ended experience without the structure of a traditional video game. Already, educational institutions, virtual museums, and real-world businesses are utilizing Second Life for teleconferencing, pre-visualization, and distance education, as well as to conduct traditional business. However, the untapped potential of Second Life lies in its versatility, where the limitations of traditional scientific meeting venues do not exist, and attendees need not be restricted by prohibitive travel costs. It will be shown that the Second Life system enables scientific authors and presenters at a "virtual conference" to display figures and images at full resolution, employ audio-visual content typically not available to conference organizers, and to perform demonstrations or premier three-dimensional renderings of objects, processes, or information. An enhanced presentation like those possible with Second Life would be more engaging to non- scientists, and such an event would be accessible to the general users of Second Life, who could have an

  19. Deregulation and regulation by the national and European antitrust laws. The development and amendment of antitrust laws and their effects on the public utilities. Papers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baur, J.F.

    1994-01-01

    The papers presented at the meeting discuss the following subjects: The public utilities and their scope of exemptions from provisions of the antitrust laws as established by court rulings; reimbursement for electricity supplied to the grid and the phasing out of franchise agreements; the competition policy of the Federal Cartel Office towards the public utilities; legal and economic implications of the competition policy adopted by the Federal Cartel Office for the structures of the public sector of the power supply industry; ensuring safe and priceworthy power supply in Europe. The five papers can be separately retrieved from the database. (HSCH) [de

  20. 75 FR 51257 - Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County (Douglas PUD); Notice of Application Ready for...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-08-19

    ... District No. 1 of Douglas County (Douglas PUD); Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis and...: May 27, 2010. d. Applicant: Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County (Douglas PUD). e. Name of... in Douglas, Okanogan, and Chelan Counties, Washington. The project currently occupies 15.15 acres of...

  1. 'The Gentle Art of Letting the Other Fellow Have Your Own Way ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    'The Gentle Art of Letting the Other Fellow Have Your Own Way': Viewpoints on a Media Narrative used to Promote the Proposed N2 Toll Road. ... We highlight the importance of developing 'media literacy' – reading skills which enable the critical deconstruction of media texts. We explore, more specifically, the public ...

  2. Public safety around dams

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bourassa, H. [Centre d' expertise hydrique du Quebec, Quebec, PQ (Canada)

    2009-07-01

    Fourty public dams are managed on a real-time basis by the Centre d'expertise hydrique du Quebec (CEHQ). This presentation described the public dams owned by the CEHQ and discussed the public safety measures at the dams. The dams serve various purposes, including protection against floods; industrial or drinking water supply; resort or recreational activities; hydroelectric development; and wildlife conservation. Trigger events were also discussed, such as the complaint at Rapides-des-Cedres dam and deaths that occurred in 2004 when water from a dam was released without warning. Several photographs were presented to illustrate that people were unaware of the danger. Initiatives aimed at raising awareness and studying public safety issues were discussed. A pilot project was launched and a permanent committee was created to evaluate all aspects of public safety at the dams owned by CEHQ. The first tasks of the committee were to establish requirements for waterway safety barriers, both upstream and downstream, for all public dams; to establish requirements for safety signage for all public dams; and to develop criteria to decide on safety signage at each dam. figs.

  3. Public safety around dams

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bourassa, H [Centre d' expertise hydrique du Quebec, Quebec, PQ (Canada)

    2009-07-01

    Fourty public dams are managed on a real-time basis by the Centre d'expertise hydrique du Quebec (CEHQ). This presentation described the public dams owned by the CEHQ and discussed the public safety measures at the dams. The dams serve various purposes, including protection against floods; industrial or drinking water supply; resort or recreational activities; hydroelectric development; and wildlife conservation. Trigger events were also discussed, such as the complaint at Rapides-des-Cedres dam and deaths that occurred in 2004 when water from a dam was released without warning. Several photographs were presented to illustrate that people were unaware of the danger. Initiatives aimed at raising awareness and studying public safety issues were discussed. A pilot project was launched and a permanent committee was created to evaluate all aspects of public safety at the dams owned by CEHQ. The first tasks of the committee were to establish requirements for waterway safety barriers, both upstream and downstream, for all public dams; to establish requirements for safety signage for all public dams; and to develop criteria to decide on safety signage at each dam. figs.

  4. Study of the impacts of regulations affecting the acceptance of Integrated Community Energy Systems: public utility, energy facility siting and municipal franchising regulatory programs in Maryland. Preliminary background report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D A; Weaver, C L; Gallagher, K C; Hejna, D; Rielley, K J

    1980-01-01

    The authority to regulate public utilities in Maryland is vested in the Public Service Commission under the authority of the Public Service Commission Law. The Commission consists of five commissioners who are appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. Commissioners must be or become citizens of Maryland, at least three are to serve full time, and one of the commissioners is to be nominated as chairman. The tenure of each commissioner is six years and their terms are on a staggered schedule. Commissioners are eligible for reappointment. The Public Service Commission Law provides that the Commission's powers an jurisdiction shall extend to the full extent permitted by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Local governments in Maryland are not given regulatory power over public service companies. The only power that local governments have over the operations of utilities is the power to grant franchises. Public utility regulatory statutes, energy facility siting programs, and municipal franchising authority are examined to identify how they may impact on the ability of an organization, whether or not it be a regulated utility, to construct and operate an ICES.

  5. Sustainable business models for the state-owned African airlines

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Ssamula, B

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available , state-owned airlines, African airlines 1. INTRODUCTION In recent years the civil aviation industry has witnessed rapid corporate, structural and operational changes enabling it to be described as one of the fastest changing sectors within...%), publicly held (19.97%), Port Louis Fund (6.32%), the State Investment Corporation (4.72%), government of Mauritius (4.53%), Rogers and Company (4.28%), British Airways (3.84%), Air France (2.78%) and Air India (2.56%) Morrocco Royal Air Maroc 95...

  6. Public relations in the State Office for Nuclear Safety

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prochazkova, Radka

    2000-01-01

    The State Office for Nuclear Safety (SONS) is a government agency. The Office is headed by a chairperson who is appointed by the Czech Government. The Office has got its own budget and reports directly to the Czech Government. SONS was established in 1993 and continued activities of the former Czechoslovak Commission for Atomic Energy. SONS main activity is the central administration and supervision of the peaceful utilization of nuclear power and ionizing radiation and in the field of radiation protection. SONS is regulated mainly by the Atomic Act. A separate department of Public Relations was established last year in SONS especially due to the enactment of the statutory obligation of government agencies to render information. Basic P.R. communication means in the field of external communication include: Information Center; Internet; Press Releases; Publications - publishing regularly or for topical events; Seminars; Meetings; Press conferences; Editorial articles; Answering questions

  7. 76 FR 52913 - Standards for Pipe Tobacco and Roll-Your-Own Tobacco; Request for Public Comment

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-24

    ... products'' as ``cigars, cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, pipe tobacco, and roll-your-own tobacco.'' Each of..., and all electronic or mailed comments TTB has received or will receive in response to [[Page 52915...

  8. Public Management and Evaluation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    F.B.L. van der Meer (Frans-Bauke)

    2007-01-01

    textabstractIn public management we can observe a continuous search for its own improvement. New arrangements and procedures, often derived from NPM ideas, but also from other PA insights, are put in place with the expectations that public administration as well as its related agencies and networks

  9. Agreeements between entities within the public sector and public procurement rules

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alejandro Huergo Lora

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines how European and Spanish public procurement rules tackle agreements between entities within the public sector. In Spain these agreemets were initially above those rules, but now they cannot have the same object as a contract. Spanish law is not in line with European law, since under European law agreements are valid even if their object could be attained with a contract, provided that they meet some requirements. On the other hand, attention is paid to these requisites, laid down by Eurepean law, in order to ascertain if agreements are asked to comply with harder rules than «in house providing», and if it has to be so. Public entities are not obliged to «buy» if they can fulfill their needs with their own resources. And «their own resources» include the resources of entities or bodies closely related, or even any entity within the public sector. Otherwise decentralized States, in which there are many autonomous entities whose cooperation involves agreements between independent bodies, would be impaired.

  10. Scaling up proven public health interventions through a locally owned and sustained leadership development programme in rural Upper Egypt

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mansour Joan

    2010-01-01

    management practices, they can transform the way they work together and develop their own solutions to complex public health challenges. Committed health teams can use local resources to scale up effective public health interventions.

  11. Scaling up proven public health interventions through a locally owned and sustained leadership development programme in rural Upper Egypt.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mansour, Morsi; Mansour, Joan Bragar; El Swesy, Abdo Hasan

    2010-01-19

    In 2002, the Egypt Ministry of Health and Population faced the challenge of improving access to and quality of services in rural Upper Egypt in the face of low morale among health workers and managers.From 1992 to 2000, the Ministry, with donor support, had succeeded in reducing the nationwide maternal mortality rate by 52%. Nevertheless, a gap remained between urban and rural areas. In 2002, the Ministry, with funding from the United States Agency for International Development and assistance from Management Sciences for Health, introduced a Leadership Development Programme (LDP) in Aswan Governorate. The programme aimed to improve health services in three districts by increasing managers' ability to create high performing teams and lead them to achieve results.The programme introduced leadership and management practices and a methodology for identifying and addressing service delivery challenges. Ten teams of health workers participated. In 2003, after participation in the LDP, the districts of Aswan, Daraw and Kom Ombo increased the number of new family planning visits by 36%, 68% and 20%, respectively. The number of prenatal and postpartum visits also rose.After the United States funding ended, local doctors and nurses scaled up the programme to 184 health care facilities (training more than 1000 health workers). From 2005 to 2007, the Leadership Development Programme participants in Aswan Governorate focused on reducing the maternal mortality rate as their annual goal. They reduced it from 85.0 per 100,000 live births to 35.5 per 100,000. The reduction in maternal mortality rate was much greater than in similar governorates in Egypt. Managers and teams across Aswan demonstrated their ability to scale up effective public health interventions though their increased commitment and ownership of service challenges. When teams learn and apply empowering leadership and management practices, they can transform the way they work together and develop their own solutions

  12. Fungal aerosol in public utility buildings in the city of Kraków

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna Lenart-Boroń

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. The quality of indoor air is one of the most important factors affecting health and well-being of people, who inhale 10 m3 of air every day and spend 80–95% of life indoors. The aim of this research was to evaluate the occurrence of airborne fungi, along with assessment of air pollution and microbiological hazard for humans, in 45 public utility buildings in Cracow. Material and methods. The study was carried out in four groups of buildings, including teaching facilities of the University of Agriculture and Jagiellonian University, churches, shopping malls and hospitals with outpatient clinics. Four sites located in the open air were chosen as control. The air sampling was carried out with MAS-100 impactor. Fungi were enumerated on Malt Extract Agar and the results were expressed as colony forming units (CFU per m3 of air. The isolated fungi were identified by comparing macroscopic and microscopic observations with taxonomic monographs. Results. Mean concentration of airborne fungi was highest in the teaching facilities (1970 CFU/m3. These were also the sites where the largest range of fungal concentration was observed, i.e. from 0 to 23,300 CFU/m3. The lowest mean concentration (99 CFU/m3 including range was observed in hospitals (from 0 to 327 CFU/m3. Species identification of the fungal isolates revealed the presence of allergenic fungi (Alternaria and Cladosporium in the examined spaces. Moreover, some strains were also identified as potentially toxigenic species, such as Penicillium expansum or Aspergillus niger. Conclusions. The concentration range of airborne fungi varied significantly between the tested spaces. Although the observed concentration of airborne fungi in the majority of buildings was quite low, detection of potentially toxigenic fungi indicates the need for monitoring of both concentration and composition of fungal aerosol in public utility buildings.

  13. An analysis of electric utility embedded power supply costs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kahal, M.; Brown, D.

    1998-01-01

    There is little doubt that for the vast majority of electric utilities the embedded costs of power supply exceed market prices, giving rise to the stranded cost problem. Beyond that simple generalization, there are a number of crucial questions, which this study attempts to answer. What are the regional patterns of embedded cost differences? To what extent is the cost problem attributable to nuclear power? How does the cost of purchased power compare to the cost of utility self-generation? What is the breakdown of utility embedded generation costs between operating costs - which are potentially avoidable--and ownership costs, which by definition are ''sunk'' and therefore not avoidable? How will embedded generation costs and market prices compare over time? These are the crucial questions for states as they address retail-restructuring proposal. This study presents an analysis of generation costs, which addresses these key questions. A computerized costing model was developed and applied using FERC Form 1 data for 1995. The model analyzed embedded power supply costs (i.e.; self-generation plus purchased power) for two groups of investor-owned utilities, 49 non-nuclear vs. 63 nuclear. These two subsamples represent substantially the entire US investor-owned electric utility industry. For each utility, embedded cost is estimated both at busbar and at meter

  14. Best practices in the utilization and dissemination of operating experience at nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2008-03-01

    IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SF-1 entitled Fundamental Safety Principles: Safety Fundamentals states the need for operating organizations to establish a programme for the collection and analysis of operating experience in nuclear power plants. Such a programme ensures that operating experience is analysed, events important to safety are reviewed in depth, lessons learned are disseminated to the staff of the organization and to relevant national and international organizations, operating experience is utilized and corrective actions are effectively implemented. This publication has been developed to provide advice and assistance to nuclear installations and related institutions, including contractors and support organizations, to strengthen and enhance their own feedback process through the implementation of best practices in the utilization and dissemination of operating experience and to assess their effectiveness. Dissemination and utilization of internal and external operating experience is essential in supporting a proactive safety management approach of preventing events from occurring. Few new events reveal a completely new cause or failure mechanism. Although not recognized prior to the event, most subsequent investigations identify internal or external industry operating experience that, if applied effectively, would have prevented the event. Therefore, the establishment of an effective utilization and dissemination process is very beneficial in raising awareness of the organization and individuals of available operating experience, and focussing effort in the implementation of the lessons learnt. This leads to improved safety and reliability. The present publication is the outcome of a coordinated effort involving the participation of experts of nuclear organizations in several Member States. It was written to complement the publication IAEA Services Series No. 10 entitled PROSPER Guidelines - Guidelines for Peer Review and for Plant Self-assessment of

  15. [Patterns of utilization of external employee assistance program--analysis of employees who have their psychiatrists].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ito, H; Fujii, K; Sasaki, Y

    1998-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to clarify some patterns of utilization of an external employee assistance program (EAP) we have conducted for other public and private facilities in the Tokyo Kenbikyoin Foundation between April, 1986 and December, 1996. The subjects were 26 men and 12 women in 7 facilities under the following conditions: (1) Employees who have already had their own psychiatrists at the first interview of the external EAP; (2) Facilities utilize the EAP for two or more employees who met the first criterion. As a result, utilization patterns differed depending on medical staff's attitude toward the external EAP. There was a significant difference according to sex. The rate for men was 54% in worksites where medical staff understood this external program (worksite A1) and 93% in worksites where they did not (worksite A2-3, B). As to expectations for the program, there were more consultations for organizational measurements (63%) in worksite A1, while less organizational matters (27%) and more personal complains about their psychiatrists in the worksite A2-3, and B. These results suggest that the involvement of medical staff is the key to utilizing the external EAP effectively.

  16. Evaluating Proposed Investments in Power System Reliability and Resilience: Preliminary Results from Interviews with Public Utility Commission Staff

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    LaCommare, Kristina [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Larsen, Peter [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Eto, Joseph [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2017-01-01

    Policymakers and regulatory agencies are expressing renewed interest in the reliability and resilience of the U.S. electric power system in large part due to growing recognition of the challenges posed by climate change, extreme weather events, and other emerging threats. Unfortunately, there has been little or no consolidated information in the public domain describing how public utility/service commission (PUC) staff evaluate the economics of proposed investments in the resilience of the power system. Having more consolidated information would give policymakers a better understanding of how different state regulatory entities across the U.S. make economic decisions pertaining to reliability/resiliency. To help address this, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) was tasked by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis (EPSA) to conduct an initial set of interviews with PUC staff to learn more about how proposed utility investments in reliability/resilience are being evaluated from an economics perspective. LBNL conducted structured interviews in late May-early June 2016 with staff from the following PUCs: Washington D.C. (DCPSC), Florida (FPSC), and California (CPUC).

  17. Challenges of local public services management through public-private partnership

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Violeta TINCU

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Under the legislation currently in force in the Republic of Moldova, public administration shall not bear the exclusive “burden” of organizing and managing public services on its own. Such a responsibility could be delegated to subjects outside the system of public administration. Scholars in the field call it an “indirect or delegated management” of public services. Public-private partnership is a new manner of delegating public services management. International experience has proven that such a partnership can be beneficial for public administration, contributing to improvements in public services quality. The reason is obvious: the private sector is competitive and client/user-oriented. However, the public-private partnership, which are not sufficiently operated in the legislation in force, also involves serious risks for the public partners.

  18. [Analysis of utilization of information in the journal Medicina Clinica].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aleixandre, R; Giménez Sánchez, J V; Terrada, M L; López Piñero, J M

    1994-09-10

    Scientific communication knowledge is specifically based in the analysis of the bibliographic references inside the publications. Pattern and laws determining the information consumption in the items of the journal Medicina Clinica are investigated in the present study as its own aim. An analysis was performed on the 13,286 references downloaded from 618 papers published by the journal in 1990. With dBASE IV was generated a database for the management of the information; data was distributed in several tables through criteria of age, documentary types, countries, journals and Bradford zones. The analysed references belong to 1,241 different journals, 110 from Spain. Being two thirds of the total sum, the publications from United States and United Kingdom have received more citations than those from Spain. The publications from european countries, like France, Germany and Italy, are scarcely present. Bradford core is constituted by the journals Medicina Clinica and The Lancet. The analysis of the bibliographic references available from the articles in this journal is able to produce knowledge on the information consumption by the practitioners; its usefulness as a complementary utility to the Indice de Citas e Indicadores Bibliométricos de Revistas Españolas de Medicina Interna y sus especialidades 1990 must be considered.

  19. Improving the quality of urban public space through the identification of space utilization index at Imam Bonjol Park, Padang city

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eriawan, Tomi; Setiawati, Lestari

    2017-06-01

    Padang City as a big city with a population approaching one million people has to address the issue of increased activities of the population and increased need for land and space for those activities. One of the effects of population growth and the development of activities in Padang is the decreasing number of open spaces for the outdoor public activities, both the natural and artificial public. However, Padang City has several open spaces that are built and managed by the government including 40 units of open spaces in the form of plansum parks, playgrounds, and sports parks, with a total area of 10.88 hectares. Despite their status as public open spaces, not all of them can be used and enjoyed by the public since most of them are passive parks, in which they are made only as a garden without any indulgences. This study was performed to assess the quality of public spaces in the central business of Padang City, namely Imam Bonjol Park (Taman Imam Bonjol). The methods of this study were done through several stages, which were to identify the typology of function space based on [1] Carmona (2008) and to assess the space utilization index based on the approach of Public Space Index according to Mehta [2] (2007). The purpose of this study was to assess the quality of space which is a public space in Padang City. The space quality was measured based on the variables in Good Public Space Index, the intensity of use, the intensity of social activity, the duration of activity, the variations in usage, and the diversity of use. The rate of the index of public space quality at Taman Imam Bonjol was determined by assessing 5 (five) variables of space quality. Based on the results of the analysis, public space utilization index was equal to 0.696. This result could be used to determine the quality of public space, in this case was Imam Bonjol Park was in Medium category. The parameters indicated several results including the lack of diversity in users' activity time, less

  20. Mean Field Games for Stochastic Growth with Relative Utility

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Huang, Minyi, E-mail: mhuang@math.carleton.ca [Carleton University, School of Mathematics and Statistics (Canada); Nguyen, Son Luu, E-mail: sonluu.nguyen@upr.edu [University of Puerto Rico, Department of Mathematics (United States)

    2016-12-15

    This paper considers continuous time stochastic growth-consumption optimization in a mean field game setting. The individual capital stock evolution is determined by a Cobb–Douglas production function, consumption and stochastic depreciation. The individual utility functional combines an own utility and a relative utility with respect to the population. The use of the relative utility reflects human psychology, leading to a natural pattern of mean field interaction. The fixed point equation of the mean field game is derived with the aid of some ordinary differential equations. Due to the relative utility interaction, our performance analysis depends on some ratio based approximation error estimate.

  1. Mean Field Games for Stochastic Growth with Relative Utility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang, Minyi; Nguyen, Son Luu

    2016-01-01

    This paper considers continuous time stochastic growth-consumption optimization in a mean field game setting. The individual capital stock evolution is determined by a Cobb–Douglas production function, consumption and stochastic depreciation. The individual utility functional combines an own utility and a relative utility with respect to the population. The use of the relative utility reflects human psychology, leading to a natural pattern of mean field interaction. The fixed point equation of the mean field game is derived with the aid of some ordinary differential equations. Due to the relative utility interaction, our performance analysis depends on some ratio based approximation error estimate.

  2. EPCOR : a study of ownership, accountability and the public interest

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gibson, D.S.

    2005-09-01

    EPCOR is a group of enterprises originally created from the City of Edmonton's electrical and water utilities. This study examined EPCOR's accountability in light of its apparent interest in taking over sewage and drainage services from the City of Edmonton. The sewage and drainage infrastructure represents an enormous proportion of Edmonton's asset base, and sewage and drainage construction is a vital municipal instrument for controlling development in Edmonton. The possible corporatization of these services holds significant financial and policy implications for the city. An outline of EPCOR's formation and a description of its current operations was presented, as well as details of its motives and accountability structures. It was noted that although EPCOR is owned by the public and its sole common shareholder is the City of Edmonton, EPCOR is not answerable to the public for its business decisions and takes no direction from Council other than in relation to dividends. In 2002, EPCOR began to raise capital by issuing preference shares through its subsidiary EPCOR Preferred Equities that trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange. It was noted that EPCOR is now operating essentially as a business corporation, and is at a serious risk of privatization, particularly as portions of its operations have already been privatized. It was suggested that privatization would result in the loss of ability to replace the board of directors when required in the public interest. The ability to change EPCOR's constitutional and ownership structure would also be lost, which would result in Edmonton losing future revenues. Rates for power, water and drainage would no longer be regulated by City Council. It was suggested that a privatized utility profiting from sales would have no financial incentive to encourage conservation. It was concluded that the City of Edmonton should maintain sewage and drainage as a publicly-operated enterprise. Other recommendations included the appointment of

  3. El Centro Geothermal Utility Core Field Experiment environmental-impact report and environmental assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1979-08-01

    The City of El Centro is proposing the development of a geothermal energy utility core field experiment to demonstrate the engineering and economic feasibility of utilizing moderate temperature geothermal heat, on a pilot scale, for space cooling, space heating, and domestic hot water. The proposed facility is located on part of a 2.48 acre (1 hectare) parcel owned in fee by the City in the southeastern sector of El Centro in Imperial County, California. Geothermal fluid at an anticipated temperature of about 250/sup 0/F (121/sup 0/C) will heat a secondary fluid (water) which will be utilized directly or processed through an absorption chiller, to provide space conditioning and water heating for the El Centro Community Center, a public recreational facility located approximately one-half mile north of the proposed well site. The geothermal production well will be drilled to 8500 feet (2590m) and an injection well to 4000 feet (1220m) at the industrially designated City property. Once all relevant permits are obtained it is estimated that site preparation, facility construction, the completion and testing of both wells would be finished in approximately 26 weeks. The environmental impacts are described.

  4. Utility Computing: Reality and Beyond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ivanov, Ivan I.

    Utility Computing is not a new concept. It involves organizing and providing a wide range of computing-related services as public utilities. Much like water, gas, electricity and telecommunications, the concept of computing as public utility was announced in 1955. Utility Computing remained a concept for near 50 years. Now some models and forms of Utility Computing are emerging such as storage and server virtualization, grid computing, and automated provisioning. Recent trends in Utility Computing as a complex technology involve business procedures that could profoundly transform the nature of companies' IT services, organizational IT strategies and technology infrastructure, and business models. In the ultimate Utility Computing models, organizations will be able to acquire as much IT services as they need, whenever and wherever they need them. Based on networked businesses and new secure online applications, Utility Computing would facilitate "agility-integration" of IT resources and services within and between virtual companies. With the application of Utility Computing there could be concealment of the complexity of IT, reduction of operational expenses, and converting of IT costs to variable `on-demand' services. How far should technology, business and society go to adopt Utility Computing forms, modes and models?

  5. Down the slippery slop: Utility incorporation of environmental externalities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vandenberg, A.J.; Tempchin, R.S.; Mitnick, S.A.; Harron, A.L.

    1993-01-01

    Advocates of incorporating environmental externalities in electric utility decision-making have concentrated on new electric generating resources, with some success. Such public utility commission actions compel utilities to consider, explicitly, the cost of sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other emission of power-plants when comparing the economics of new generating resources with those of other resource options (e.g., demand-side management and gas-fired non-utility generator projects). This paper summarizes a study which estimated costs of incorporating externalities in utility system operations. We also present an analysis of the Tellus work in this area, and contrast Tellus' methodology, assumptions and results with our own. Estimates of the cost of incorporating externalities in system operations is rather large, in terms of the increased fuel and purchased power cost that ratepayers would have to bear. For the eight cases we examined, the incorporation of externalities caused fuel and purchased power cost to be 9.3 to 69.5 percent higher, relative to what it would have been under traditional generating unit commitment and dispatch. Furthermore, we believe that these estimates of fuel and purchased power cost increases are conservative. In particular, because our analyses focused on utility system operations in 1995, the key assumption about the fuel cost differential (i.e., coal versus natural gas) probably underestimates the differential in later years, significantly, when virtually all forecasters foresee faster cost escalation rates for gas. In general, the higher the fuel cost differential, the faster cost escalation rates for gas. In general, the higher the fuel cost differential, the greater the cost of an externality policy. Unless the record is set straight soon, the idea that incorporating externalities is virtually costless will further spread in the regulatory community and among government policy-makers

  6. 41 CFR 102-74.75 - May Federal agencies sell tobacco products in vending machines in Government-owned and leased space?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... sell tobacco products in vending machines in Government-owned and leased space? 102-74.75 Section 102... Services § 102-74.75 May Federal agencies sell tobacco products in vending machines in Government-owned and leased space? No. Section 636 of Public Law 104-52 prohibits the sale of tobacco products in vending...

  7. A case study of utility PV economics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wenger, H.; Hoff, T.; Osborn, D.E.

    1997-01-01

    This paper presents selected results from a detailed study of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) applications within the service area of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. The intent is to better understand the economics and markets for grid-connected PV systems in a utility setting. Research results include: Benefits calculations for utility-owned PV systems at transmission and distribution voltages; How the QuickScreen software package can help utilities investigate the viability of distributed PV; Energy production and capacity credit estimates for fixed and tracking PV systems; Economics and rate impacts of net metering residential PV systems; Market potential estimates for residential rooftop PV systems; and Viability and timing of grid-connected PV commercialization paths

  8. 48 CFR 52.219-8 - Utilization of small business concerns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... management and daily business operations of which are controlled by one or more veterans. Women-owned small... Clauses 52.219-8 Utilization of small business concerns. As prescribed in 19.708(a), insert the following clause: Utilization of Small Business Concerns (MAY 2004) (a) It is the policy of the United States that...

  9. Review of US utility demand-side bidding programs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goldman, C.A.; Kito, M.S.

    1995-01-01

    In this study, we review utility experiences with demand-side management (DSM) bidding programs. Since 1987, about 35 US utilities have signed long-term contracts with developers of DSM resources (ie energy service companies and customers) to provide a quantity of demand and energy savings at specified prices. Total resource costs range between 5.4 and 8 cents/kWh for DSM bidding programs where complete information on program costs is available. Almost all DSM bidding programs have been cost-effective compared with the utility's own supply-side alternatives, although there is substantial disagreement regarding the value of these programs compared with the utility's own DSM programs. In most bidding programs, payments to bidders account for between 70 and 90% of total program costs. Variation in winning bid prices is influenced primarily by DSM bid ceiling prices, differences in the mix of measures and markets targeted by developers, and the degree of performance risk borne by the DSM developer. Bids targeting residential customers averaged 6.2 cents/kWh compared with about 5.0 cents/kWh for commercial/industrial bids. We also compared the costs of acquiring lighting savings in DSM bidding contracts with a sample of 20 utility sponsored commercial/industrial lighting programs. We found that, on average total resource costs were slightly higher in bidding programs (6.1 vs 5.6 cents/kWh), although ratepayers bear significantly less performance risk in bidding programs compared with traditional utility-sponsored DSM programs. (author)

  10. Feedback control of one's own action: Self-other sensory attribution in motor control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asai, Tomohisa

    2015-12-15

    The sense of agency, the subjective experience of controlling one's own action, has an important function in motor control. When we move our own body or even external tools, we attribute that movement to ourselves and utilize that sensory information in order to correct "our own" movement in theory. The dynamic relationship between conscious self-other attribution and feedback control, however, is still unclear. Participants were required to make a sinusoidal reaching movement and received its visual feedback (i.e., cursor). When participants received a fake movement that was spatio-temporally close to their actual movement, illusory self-attribution of the fake movement was observed. In this situation, since participants tried to control the cursor but it was impossible to do so, the movement error was increased (Experiment 1). However, when the visual feedback was reduced to make self-other attribution difficult, there was no further increase in the movement error (Experiment 2). These results indicate that conscious self-other sensory attribution might coordinate sensory input and motor output. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Who Owns Renewable Energy Certificates? An Exploration of PolicyOptions and Practice

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Holt, Edward A.; Wiser, Ryan; Bolinger, Mark

    2006-04-05

    ownership must often be answered by legislative or regulatory authorities. Some renewable energy contracts pre-date the existence of RECs, however, and in these cases the disposition of RECs is often unclear. Similarly, because of the recent appearance of RECs, legislation and regulation mandating the purchase of renewable energy has sometimes been silent on the disposition of the RECs associated with that generation. The resulting uncertainty in REC ownership has hindered the development of robust REC markets and has, in some cases, led to contention between buyers and sellers of renewable generation. The purpose of this report is to provide information and insight to state policy-makers, utility regulators, and others about different approaches to clarifying the ownership of RECs. We focus exclusively on three distinct areas in which REC ownership issues have arisen: (1) Qualifying Facilities (QFs) that sell their generation under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) of 1978; (2) Customer-owned generation that benefits from state net metering rules; and (3) Generation facilities that receive financial incentives from state or utility funds. This is a survey report. It reviews how both the federal government and states have addressed these issues to date, and highlights the arguments that have been raised for different REC ownership dispositions. Our aim is to describe the arguments on each side, and the context for the debates that are occurring. We do not, in this report, provide a list of policy recommendations for how policymakers should be addressing these issues.

  12. Insights in Public Health: For the Love of Data! The Hawai'i Health Data Warehouse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chosy, Julia; Benson, Katherine; Belen, Dulce; Starr, Ranjani; Lowery St John, Tonya; Starr, Ranjani R; Ching, Lance K

    2015-11-01

    Data form the framework around which important public health decisions are made. Public health data are essential for surveillance and evaluating change. In Hawai'i, public health data come from a multitude of sources and agencies. The Hawai'i Health Data Warehouse (HHDW) was created to pull those data into a single location and to present results in a form that is easy for the public to access and utilize. In the years since its creation, HHDW has built a second consumer-focused web site, Hawai'i Health Matters, and is now introducing new functionality on the original site that allows users to define their own enquiry. The newly adopted Indicator-Based Information System (IBIS) uses a web interface to perform real-time data analysis and display results. This gives users the power to examine health data by a wide range of demographic and socioeconomic dimensions, permitting them to pinpoint the data they need.

  13. Rural households at risk of malaria did not own sufficient insecticide treated nets at Dabat HDSS site: evidence from a cross sectional re-census

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kindie Fentahun Muchie

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Malaria is the leading cause of disease burden across the world, especially in African countries. Ethiopia has designed a five year (2011–2015 plan to cover 100% of the households in malarious areas with one insecticide treated net (ITN for every two persons, and to raise consistent ITN utilization to at least 80%. However, evidence on ownership of ITN among malarious rural households in northwest Ethiopia is quite limited. Hence, the present study aimed at assessing ownership of ITN and associated factors among rural households at risk of malaria at Dabat Health and Demographic Surveillance System site, northwest Ethiopia. Methods A cross sectional re-census was carried out in Dabat Health and Demographic Surveillance System site during peak malaria seasons from October to December, 2014. Data for 15,088 households at Dabat Health and Demographic Surveillance System site were used for the analysis. Descriptive measures and binary logistic regression were carried out. Results Among those who owned at least one ITN, 53.4% were living at an altitude >2500 m above sea level. However, out of households living at an altitude <2000 m above sea level, 15.8% (95% CI 14.4%, 17.3% owned ITN at an average of 4.3 ± 2.1 persons per ITN. Of these, 69.5% (95% CI 64.7%, 74.1% used the ITN. Among utilizing households at malarious areas, 23.7% prioritized pregnant women and 31.4% children to use ITN. The availability of radio receiver/mobile (AOR 1.60, 95%CI 1.08, 2.35 and secondary/above educational status of household member (AOR 1.54, 95%CI 1.19, 2.04 were predictors of ownership of ITN. Conclusion Rural households at risk of malaria did not own a sufficient number of ITN though the utilization is promising. Moreover, prioritizing children and pregnant women to sleep under ITN remains public health problems. Programmers, partners and implementers should consider tailored intervention strategy stratified by altitude in distributing

  14. Reshaping the Hegemony: State-Owned Media in Egypt after the Revolution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zvi Bar’el

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available The popular revolution in Egypt has proven that the state-owned media was far from being the public opinion's shaper. Yet, it was the sole arena where intellectuals – or rather ‘confirmed’ intellectuals – could exchange views, shape the hegemonic discourse and dictate the consensus, according to the regime's parameters. That media, and especially the printed press, had crystallized the Egyptian intellectual elite, which by its mere association with the regime has alienated itself from any counter-elite or counter public. Its legitimacy and status stemmed mostly from its political affiliation. My argument is that the survival of the state-owned media after the revolution is not just about functionality, but rather about the survivability of an elite that cannot be replaced. This elite has certainly 'to pay a price' for its betrayal, blindness, lack of courage and neglect. It has to be born again in the same arena where it had committed its 'intellectual crimes' and to create a new hegemonic discourse in the same sphere were the previous regime had corrupted the discourse. However, it is not just about punishing and redeeming the old elites. It is about legitimizing the new discourse that is being created by the revolutionary public. As if the adoption of the new discourse by the state's media will be the ultimate symbol of its acceptance. In my paper, I intend to show the extent of adoption of the new discourse, and the changes in roles of the state's media in legitimizing the new discourse.

  15. Public opinion research in Canada: Incorporating the messages

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    David Lisle

    2001-01-01

    The development and use of nuclear technology in Canada, similar to other countries, has been influenced by public perceptions that are often based on limited information. Most individuals find it challenging to decide among the apparent conflicting claims and allegations related to nuclear power. To meet the challenges of public acceptance, AECL develops and implements strategies designed to increase awareness and understanding of the issues associated with nuclear technology. AECL's public communication programs have evolved over several decades. This reflects the changing nature of public concerns related to nuclear energy. With ever increasing requirements for public involvement in the decision-making process, AECL has designed and successfully implemented effective communication and consultation processes to build and maintain public support for nuclear projects. Public communication programs have also been developed and implemented by the provincial utilities that own and operate CANDU reactors, by the Canadian Nuclear Association and by the Canadian Nuclear Society. Often public education and information programs have been a collaborative effort involving a number of the key stakeholders in Canada's nuclear industry. AECL's public communication initiatives are designed to address the fears and myths surrounding the nuclear industry. The company is committed to providing information on its programs and it responds in a timely fashion to requests from the public. Due to the highly competitive nature of the nuclear industry, there is some proprietary information that is restricted and cannot be released. Consultations with the shareholder and with other key stakeholders on communication plans are an integral component of the design and implementation process. AECL public affairs staff provides advice and assistance to various government and industry communication committees. (author)

  16. I publish in I edit?--Do editorial board members of urologic journals preferentially publish their own scientific work?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mani, Jens; Makarević, Jasmina; Juengel, Eva; Ackermann, Hanns; Nelson, Karen; Bartsch, Georg; Haferkamp, Axel; Blaheta, Roman A

    2013-01-01

    Scientists who are members of an editorial board have been accused of preferentially publishing their scientific work in the journal where they serve as editor. Reputation and academic standing do depend on an uninterrupted flow of published scientific work and the question does arise as to whether publication mainly occurs in the self-edited journal. This investigation was designed to determine whether editorial board members of five urological journals were more likely to publish their research reports in their own rather than in other journals. A retrospective analysis was conducted for all original reports published from 2001-2010 by 65 editorial board members nominated to the boards of five impact leading urologic journals in 2006. Publications before editorial board membership, 2001-2005, and publications within the period of time as an editorial board member, 2006-2010, were identified. The impact factors of the journals were also recorded over the time period 2001-2010 to see whether a change in impact factor correlated with publication locality. In the five journals as a whole, scientific work was not preferentially published in the journal in which the scientists served as editor. However, significant heterogeneity among the journals was evident. One journal showed a significant increase in the amount of published papers in the 'own' journal after assumption of editorship, three journals showed no change and one journal showed a highly significant decrease in publishing in the 'own' journal after assumption of editorship.

  17. Education for university students, high school teachers and the general public using the Kinki University Reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsuruta, T.

    2007-01-01

    Atomic Energy Research Institute of Kinki University is equipped with a nuclear reactor which is called UTR-KINKI. UTR is the abbreviation for University Teaching and Research Reactor. The reactor is the first one installed in Japanese universities. Though the reactor is owned and operated by Kinki University, its use is widely open to scientists and students from other universities and research institutions. The reactor is made the best of teaching instrument for the training of high school teachers. In addition, the reactor is utilized for general public education concerning atomic energy. (author)

  18. Local government and utility firms’ debts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marko Primorac

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available The global financial crisis has affected the Croatian local public sector. In such circumstances, local government units’ debts and borrowing should be approached with caution. The highly interwoven financial operations of local government units and their utilities indicate the need for analysis of consolidated financial statements of local governments and utility companies in order to gain an insight into the real financial “health” of local units. Accordingly, the main aim of this paper is to analyze the size and the structure of the consolidated (local government and utility companies local public debt in Croatia. Accordingly, the paper presents the financial position of local government units supplemented with information on the financial operations of utility companies, with particular emphasis on the size and structure of their liabilities and gross and net debt. Although the current Budget Law does not require formal preparation of consolidated financial statements by local governments and their utility firms, consolidation is stipulated by International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS. The application of IPSAS regulations would be helpful in determining overall direct and indirect exposure of local government units arising from the financial operations of their utilities.

  19. Government, utilities, industry and universities: partners for nuclear development in Canada and abroad

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hurst, D.G.; Woolston, J.E.

    1971-09-01

    In Canada, eleven power reactors installed or committed at four sites will provide 5 520 MW(e) for an investment of $1 800 million. Uranium production during the decade 1958-1967 totalled 79 700 tonnes U 3 O 8 worth $1 621 million. For nuclear research, development and control, the federal government employs about 6 000 people and spends about $80 million/year which includes the cost of operating three major research reactors (> 30 MW each). Aggregate commercial isotope production has reached 14 megacuries, and Canada has about 3 000 licensed users. Three power and two research reactors of Canadian design are or will be installed in developing countries overseas. Legislation in 1946 made atomic energy a federal responsibility and established an Atomic Energy Control Board. The Board's regulations, which deal primarily with health, safety and security, are administered with the co-operation of appropriate departments of the federal and provincial governments. Large-scale nuclear research began in 1941 and continued under the National Research Council until 1952 when the federal government created a public corporation, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, to take over both research and the exploitation of atomic energy. Another public corporation, Eldorado Nuclear Limited, conducts research and development on the processing of uranium and operates Canada's only uranium refinery, but prospecting and mining is undertaken largely by private companies. The publicly owned electrical utilities of Ontario and Quebec operate nuclear power stations and participate, with governments, in their financing. Private industry undertakes extensive development and manufacturing, mainly under contract to Atomic Energy of Canada Limited and the utilities, and industry has formed its own Canadian Nuclear Association. Canadian universities undertake nuclear research, and receive significant government support; one has operated a research reactor since 1959. Canada's nuclear program is

  20. Educating the public: Where do we begin?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sevel, F.

    1997-01-01

    Despite the extensive regulatory concurrence regarding the need to educate the public in changing utility markets, the task of doing so remains one of the most salient and challenging tasks facing regulators. As they transition from an environment earmarked by ratebase rate-of-return regulation to the new more-competitive environment, regulators ponder the degree to which the public understands the new competitive environment, the impacts of this environment on their utility service and fees, and the roles, responsibilities, and the mission of the public utilities commission in context of the new regulatory environment. In an effort to mitigate potential fears, confusions, and withdrawal of public support, public utility commissions have begun the monumental task of educating the public and, in the process, repositioning the public utility commission in the eyes of the myriad of consumer, media, governmental, industry, and special interest groups often referred to as the public

  1. The Role of Public Shareholders in Government Owned Port Development Companies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    de Langen, Peter W.; van der Lugt, Larissa M.

    2017-01-01

    This paper discusses how public interests in seaports can be secured in the corporatized model. This corporatized model, in which port authorities engage in port development on a commercial basis, is increasingly used. We discuss in detail an important question that so far has not received attent...

  2. 48 CFR 1845.7210-1 - Utilization surveys.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... report Government-owned plant equipment in accordance with FAR 45.502(g) and 45.509-2(b)(4). Items that... ADMINISTRATION CONTRACT MANAGEMENT GOVERNMENT PROPERTY Contract Property Management 1845.7210-1 Utilization surveys. (a) The property administrator is responsible for ensuring that the contractor has effective...

  3. Organizational behavior of regulatory agencies: a case study of the Bureau of Consumer Services in the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Silver, J.H.

    1981-01-01

    Regulatory agencies operate in a complex field of organizations and interest groups. The variety of behaviors that occur in the regulatory field are not satisfactorily explained by current interpretative frameworks. Regulatory agencies are at once criticized and praised. They flourish as organizational entities, yet they exhibit behavior that is often inexplicable. Notions like clientele capture, the politics of regulation, exchange theory, and institutionalized organizations do not singly explain the vagaries of regulatory behavior. A merger of these viewpoints, however, provides a foundation for a comprehensive interpretative framework. A bureau of consumer services within a state public utility commission is viewed as an institutionalized organization. From this perspective, a variety of ritual behaviors, based upon symbolic and tangible interorganizational exchanges are observed and characterized. The outcome of these exchanges is the establishment of the Bureau of Consumer Services as a legitimate regulatory agent with significant impact upon the formulation of regulatory policy in the formal proceedings of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.

  4. 76 FR 70660 - Prohibition on Federal Protective Service Guard Services Contracts With Business Concerns Owned...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-11-15

    ...-AA55 Prohibition on Federal Protective Service Guard Services Contracts With Business Concerns Owned... redesignation of sections related to contracting with corporate expatriates and the recodification of certain public contracting laws in title 41, United States Code. DATES: Effective Date: November 15, 2011. FOR...

  5. How Social-Media Enhanced Learning Platforms Support Students in Taking Responsibility for Their Own Learning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pals Svendsen, Lisbet; Mondahl, Margrethe

    2013-01-01

    Purpose – The paper is based on the chapter “How Social Media Enhanced Learning Platforms Challenge and Motivate Students to Take Charge of Their Own Learning Processes – A Few Examples” from the publication Increasing Student Engagement and Retention using Social Technologies: Facebook, e...

  6. 75 FR 72965 - Federal Travel Regulation; Removal of Privately Owned Vehicle Rates; Privately Owned Automobile...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-11-29

    ... rate based on the type of POV you actually use (privately owned airplane, privately owned automobile... HOUSEHOLD GOODS AND PROFESSIONAL BOOKS, PAPERS, AND EQUIPMENT (PBP&E) 0 29. The authority citation for 41...

  7. PV as a core element of utility business plans

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Osborn, Don

    2000-01-01

    The author expounds the advantages and rationale for utility PV (photovoltaics) business strategies and discusses various initiatives being taken by some companies in the US. It is claimed that in perhaps 5-12 years the photovoltaics price will be competing with retail electricity and customer-owned utilities should be in a position to offer photovoltaics as an option rather than concede that business to someone else. Five specific reasons for investing in PVs are given and the message is that if you are not involved then get involved. The author describes his own company's commitments to PV and suggests that regulators and legislators should appreciate the long term interests of the ratepayer in that investment now in higher cost PV technology will lead to greater cost reductions in the future

  8. The UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol : The Chalenges of Trying to Clean One’s Own Nest

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Merkouris, Panagiotis; Fitzmaurice, Malgosia; Tanzi, Attila; Papantoniou, Angeliki

    In the Tragedy of the Commons Hardin suggested that with respect to global commons we are trapped in a vicious circle where calculations of utility pushes us to keep polluting our own nest. This taken on a global scale has led to concerns about climate change and a realization that measures need to

  9. Critical Infrastructure Protection and Federal Statutory Authority for the Departments of Homeland Security and Defense to Perform Two Key Tasks

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-04-13

    enforcement information, intelligence information, and other information …. to – (A) identify and assess the nature and scope of terrorist threats...This report was prepared for the US and the Canadian governments. It demonstrates that the majority of utilities are investor owned and that it is...utilities are federally owned; 189 are investor owned; 2,013 are publicly owned by non- federal entities; and 887 are consumer owned. 22 US GAO

  10. 46 CFR 4.03-40 - Public vessels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... INVESTIGATIONS Definitions § 4.03-40 Public vessels. Public vessel means a vessel that— (a) Is owned, or demise... Department (except a vessel operated by the Coast Guard or Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation...

  11. The Potential to Forgo Social Welfare Gains through Over reliance on Cost Effectiveness/Cost Utility Analyses in the Evidence Base for Public Health

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cohen, D.R.; Patel, N.

    2010-01-01

    Economic evaluations of clinical treatments most commonly take the form of cost effectiveness or cost utility analyses. This is appropriate since the main sometimes the only benefit of such interventions is increased health. The majority of economic evaluations in public health, however, have also been assessed using these techniques when arguably cost benefit analyses would in many cases have been more appropriate, given its ability to take account of non health benefits as well. An examination of the non health benefits from a sample of studies featured in a recent review of economic evaluations in public health illustrates how over focusing on cost effectiveness/cost utility analyses may lead to forgoing potential social welfare gains from programmes in public health. Prior to evaluation, programmes should be considered in terms of the potential importance of non health benefits and where these are considerable would be better evaluated by more inclusive economic evaluation techniques.

  12. Brands, bundles and customer retention: The new utility juggling act

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Katz, M.G.

    1997-01-01

    As customer choice comes to more and more states, enabling consumers to buy natural gas from marketers other than their gas utility, utilities are wrestling with customer retention: How do they persuade customers to choose to stay utility customers rather than selecting someone else to be their gas supplier? This grappling promises only to become more intense, as soon-to-be-deregulated electric utilities begin dealing with customer choice and customer retention issues of their own. American Gas explores some of the most recent initiatives in the industry

  13. Decentralized method for utility regulation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Loeb, M. (North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh); Magat, W.A.

    1979-10-01

    A new institutional arrangement for regulating utilities is suggested that minimizes the costs of natural monopolies. A mixture of regulation and franchising, the plan draws on the advantages of each and eliminates many of the problems. The proposal allows utilities to set their own price on the basis of demand and marginal-cost projections. Subsidies are provided by the regulatory agency if there is a consumer surplus. The system encourages the utility to select a competitive price and to produce only the amount of service needed. Operating efficiency is encouraged by rewarding cost reductions and discouraging cost overstatement at the rate review. The regulatory agency would not need to take action to bring price and marginal costs into equality. The franchise sale can be made by competitive bidding, in which the bidders would capitalize part or all of the subsidy or the regulatory agency could recover the subsidy in a lump-sum tax on the utility.

  14. Knowledge and utilization of partograph among obstetric care givers in public health institutions of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yisma Engida

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Globally, there was an estimated number of 287,000 maternal deaths in 2010. Eighty five percent (245,000 of these deaths occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia. Among the causes of these deaths were obstructed and prolonged labour which could be prevented by cost effective and affordable health interventions like the use of the partograph. The Use of the partograph is a well-known best practice for quality monitoring of labour and subsequent prevention of obstructed and prolonged labour. However, a number of cases of obstructed labour do happen in health facilities due to poor quality of intrapartum care. Methods A cross-sectional quantitative study assessed knowledge and utilization of partograph among obstetric care givers in public health institutions of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia using a structured interviewer administered questionnaire. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 16.0. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with knowledge and use of partograph among obstetric care givers. Results Knowledge about the partograph was fair: 189 (96.6% of all the respondents correctly mentioned at least one component of the partograph, 104 (53.3% correctly explained the function of alert line and 161 (82.6% correctly explained the function of action line. The study showed that 112 (57.3% of the obstetric care givers at public health institutions reportedly utilized partograph to monitor mothers in labour. The utilization of the partograph was significantly higher among obstetric care givers working in health centres (67.9% compared to those working in hospitals (34.4% [Adjusted OR = 3.63(95%CI: 1.81, 7.28]. Conclusions A significant percentage of obstetric care givers had fair knowledge of the partograph and why it is necessary to use it in the management of labour and over half of obstetric care givers reported use of the partograph to monitor mothers in labour. Pre-service and

  15. Public Housing: A Tailored Approach to Energy Retrofits

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dentz, Jordan [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions (ARIES) Collaborative, New York, NY (United States); Conlin, Francis [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions (ARIES) Collaborative, New York, NY (United States); Podorson, David [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions (ARIES) Collaborative, New York, NY (United States); Alaigh, Kunal [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions (ARIES) Collaborative, New York, NY (United States)

    2014-06-01

    More than 1 million HUD-supported public housing units provide rental housing for eligible low-income families across the country. A survey of over 100 public housing authorities (PHAs) across the country indicated that there is a high level of interest in developing low-cost solutions that improve energy efficiency and can be seamlessly included in the refurbishment process. Further, PHAs, have incentives (both internal and external) to reduce utility bills. ARIES worked with two PHAs to develop packages of energy efficiency retrofit measures the PHAs can cost effectively implement with their own staffs in the normal course of housing operations when units are refurbished between occupancies. The energy efficiency turnover protocols emphasized air infiltration reduction, duct sealing and measures that improve equipment efficiency. ARIES documented implementation 10 ten housing units. Total source energy consumption savings was estimated at 6%-10% based on BEopt modeling with a simple payback of 1.7 to 2.2 years. At typical housing unit turnover rates, these measures could impact hundreds of thousands of units per year nationally.

  16. The economy of privately owned windmills

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-01-01

    The Danish government ordered that an investigation of the economy of privately owned windmills be undertaken from 1991. Updating is a part of the follow-up of Danish energy policy designated ''Energi 2000'' (Energy 2000). The report contains descriptions of the calculation methods used and related conditions, data on individual privately owned windmills, a summary of the most important tax and duty regulations, details of conditions for private windmill owners, a sensitivity analysis and an analysis of the development of the economy of privately owned windmills since 1991. It is concluded that, based on the current values named in the 1991 report, there is a drop in the case of cooperatively owned windmills of ca. 235,000 DKr and a rise in current value in the case of one-man owned windmills of 270,000 DKr. It is concluded that the changed conditions of the economy since 1991 has resulted in a poorer economy in relation to cooperatively owned windmills and an improvement in single-ownership windmills so that the current value in the latter is now positive. (AB)

  17. Linguatula serrata (Porocephalida: Linguatulidae Infection among Client-Owned Dogs in Jalingo, North Eastern Nigeria: Prevalence and Public Health Implications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oseni Saheed Oluwasina

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Pentastomiasis is a parasitic zoonosis endemic to western and central Africa. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence and public health implications of Linguatulosis in client-owned dogs in Jalingo, North Eastern Nigeria. Seven hundred and seventy seven (777 dogs brought for treatment at the hospital were subjected to buccal (sublingual examination for pentastomiasis. Parameters such as age, sex, and breeds were determined. Also, the months of the year were taken into consideration. An overall prevalence of 37.45% was recorded. Of the 477 dogs examined in 2010, 184 were positive representing prevalence of 38.57% and in 2011 107 were positive representing prevalence of 35.67%. The infection was higher in the male than in the female which does not differ significantly (P>0.05. There was no significant difference between sexes (P>0.05. However, significant difference (P<0.05 was observed between breeds and age of dogs examined. Season did not have much influence on the prevalence of Linguatulosis. The high prevalence of Linguatulosis in dogs and other animals found in this study highlights the need of improving preventative measures to reduce the rate of infection, which may pose a hazard to human health.

  18. Renewable Electricity Benefits Quantification Methodology: A Request for Technical Assistance from the California Public Utilities Commission

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mosey, G.; Vimmerstedt, L.

    2009-07-01

    The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) requested assistance in identifying methodological alternatives for quantifying the benefits of renewable electricity. The context is the CPUC's analysis of a 33% renewable portfolio standard (RPS) in California--one element of California's Climate Change Scoping Plan. The information would be used to support development of an analytic plan to augment the cost analysis of this RPS (which recently was completed). NREL has responded to this request by developing a high-level survey of renewable electricity effects, quantification alternatives, and considerations for selection of analytic methods. This report addresses economic effects and health and environmental effects, and provides an overview of related analytic tools. Economic effects include jobs, earnings, gross state product, and electricity rate and fuel price hedging. Health and environmental effects include air quality and related public-health effects, solid and hazardous wastes, and effects on water resources.

  19. Gaining public acceptance for Temelin NPP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Novak, Miroslav

    1995-01-01

    , this gave the CEZ utility the opportunity to communicate efficiently with the public about nuclear energy and Temelin in the way Western European and American utilities do. CEZ became a recognized partner and was in a position to begin gaining (or losing) credit. How to gain public credit ( experience of 1993-1994): by always telling the truth, of course. We resumed discussions with representatives of towns and villages around Temelin, who initially were against the completion of the plant. We began to meet regularly every two months. They asked questions and we answered them. Their attitude changed: they were no more resolutely against but demanded supervision of the construction and securing absolute safety. We have adopted rules that prevent appreciable financial help to be given to the communes before the power plant is put in operation. There was another aspect that had to be confirmed, namely, that the Czech Republic really needs electricity from Temelin and that Temelin is the cheapest option in the new political and economic environment. Public opinion as a whole continued to support nuclear power but the voices of opponents, among whom were important persons such as the prime minister in the first Czech post-revolution government, were gaining in strength. Communities in the surroundings of Temelin formed an association against completion of the plant and began to exert pressure on the government to put a stop to the construction. The public was kept informed about nuclear power, the Information center at the plant was active, but it was vital that the government should support the construction and say its clear and unambiguous 'yes'. The utility on its own could not affect the state of affairs. In March 1993, the Czech government discussed the completion of Temelin and gave its nearly unanimous consent. So, for the first time since 1989, the CEZ utility got into a position which the majority of utilities operating nuclear power plants worldwide enjoys. In

  20. Beyond Choice to New Public Schools: Withdrawing the Exclusive Franchise in Public Education. Policy Report No. 8.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kolderie, Ted

    A strategy for revitalizing public education by stimulating the creation of new public schools is proposed in this report. The proposed system goes beyond school choice and is based on the withdrawal of local districts' exclusive franchise to own and operate public schools. The proposal is based on the premise that the state must provide both…

  1. Opening of energy markets: consequences on the missions of public utility and of security of supplies in the domain of electric power and gas; Ouverture des marches energetiques: consequences sur les missions de service public et de securite d'approvisionnement pour l'electricite et le gaz

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2001-07-01

    This conference was jointly organized by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the French ministry of economy, finances, and industry (general direction of energy and raw materials, DGEMP). It was organized in 6 sessions dealing with: 1 - the public utility in the domain of energy: definition of the public utility missions, experience feedback about liberalized markets, public utility obligation and pricing regulation; 2 - the new US energy policy and the lessons learnt from the California crisis; 3 - the security of electric power supplies: concepts of security of supplies, opinion of operators, security of power supplies versus liberalization and investments; 4 - security of gas supplies: markets liberalization and investments, long-term contracts and security of supplies; 5 - debate: how to integrate the objectives of public utility and of security of supplies in a competing market; 6 - conclusions. This document brings together the available talks and transparencies presented at the conference. (J.S.)

  2. Own-race and own-age biases facilitate visual awareness of faces under interocular suppression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Timo eStein

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available The detection of a face in a visual scene is the first stage in the face processing hierarchy. Although all subsequent, more elaborate face processing depends on the initial detection of a face, surprisingly little is known about the perceptual mechanisms underlying face detection. Recent evidence suggests that relatively hard-wired face detection mechanisms are broadly tuned to all face-like visual patterns as long as they respect the typical spatial configuration of the eyes above the mouth. Here, we qualify this notion by showing that face detection mechanisms are also sensitive to face shape and facial surface reflectance properties. We used continuous flash suppression (CFS to render faces invisible at the beginning of a trial and measured the time upright and inverted faces needed to break into awareness. Young Caucasian adult observers were presented with faces from their own race or from another race (race experiment and with faces from their own age group or from another age group (age experiment. Faces matching the observers’ own race and age group were detected more quickly. Moreover, the advantage of upright over inverted faces in overcoming CFS, i.e. the face inversion effect, was larger for own-race and own-age faces. These results demonstrate that differences in face shape and surface reflectance influence access to awareness and configural face processing at the initial detection stage. Although we did not collect data from observers of another race or age group, these findings are a first indication that face detection mechanisms are shaped by visual experience with faces from one’s own social group. Such experience-based fine-tuning of face detection mechanisms may equip in-group faces with a competitive advantage for access to conscious awareness.

  3. How Regulatory Risk Has Moved Front and Center in the Tug-of-War between State Commissions and Public Utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keglevic, Paul; McConomy, John; Koppin, John

    2006-01-01

    Deregulation of generation, volatile commodity markets and an increase in proposed utility mergers have heightened the stakes in the historic struggle of public service commissions to balance the interests of ratepayers and shareholders. The authors review this struggle and its impact on recent requests for rate increases and the pending approval of several mergers announced in the past few years. (author)

  4. How Regulatory Risk Has Moved Front and Center in the Tug-of-War between State Commissions and Public Utilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Keglevic, Paul; McConomy, John; Koppin, John

    2006-11-15

    Deregulation of generation, volatile commodity markets and an increase in proposed utility mergers have heightened the stakes in the historic struggle of public service commissions to balance the interests of ratepayers and shareholders. The authors review this struggle and its impact on recent requests for rate increases and the pending approval of several mergers announced in the past few years. (author)

  5. 41 CFR 109-39.301 - Utilization guidelines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Utilization guidelines... Management System Vehicles § 109-39.301 Utilization guidelines. DOE activities utilizing GSA IFMS motor... meeting DOE utilization guidelines or established local use objectives, as appropriate. Those vehicles not...

  6. National plan of eviction? The figure of public utility and infrastructure Sector as a means to dispossession

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alberto Castillo

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The figure of public utility, which has constitutional status, it is extremely important for the realization of projects of national and strategic interest, because it is what allows the expropriation of property rights over land that are necessary to develop such projects. The current government and the previous ones are aware of this, so have long been promoting the use of this figure of light and unlimited to favor big business interests that are behind these businesses and not citizenship.

  7. New Orleans may go municipal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Woehrle, L.A.

    1985-01-01

    Recent moves by the New Orleans City Council to consolidate two investor-owned utilities operating under franchise agreements into a publicly owned utility could make the 179,000-user utility the nation's 12th ranking public power system. Voters have changed their minds on the advantages of local control because of costly blackouts. At the root of the effort are economic concerns and some unpaid IOUs owed by the franchise companies because of nuclear plant construction. A task force recommended a municipal buyout

  8. Creating your own leadership brand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerfoot, Karlene

    2002-01-01

    Building equity in a brand happens through many encounters. The initial attraction must be followed by the meeting of expectations. This creates a loyalty that is part of an emotional connection to that brand. This is the same process people go through when they first meet a leader and decide if this is a person they want to buy into. People will examine your style, your competence, and your standards. If you fail on any of these fronts, your ability to lead will be severely compromised. People expect more of leaders now, because they know and recognize good leaders. And, predictably, people are now more cynical of leaders because of the well-publicized excess of a few leaders who advanced their own causes at the expense of their people and their financial future. This will turn out to be a good thing, because it will create a higher standard of leadership that all must aspire to achieve. When the bar is raised for us, our standards of performance are also raised.

  9. The Definition, Dimensions, and Domain of Public Relations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hutton, James G.

    1999-01-01

    Discusses how the field of public relations has left itself vulnerable to other fields that are making inroads into public relations' traditional domain, and to critics who are filling in their own definitions of public relations. Proposes a definition and a three-dimensional framework to compare competing philosophies of public relations and to…

  10. 36 CFR 212.8 - Permission to cross lands and easements owned by the United States and administered by the Forest...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Permission to cross lands and easements owned by the United States and administered by the Forest Service. 212.8 Section 212.8 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE TRAVEL MANAGEMENT Administration of...

  11. Studies for the layout and technical conception of a two-circuit HTR power plant of 600 MWsub(el) under public utilizer aspects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schuetten, R.

    1981-01-01

    In this study concerning conceptions for a nuclear power plant of 600 MWsub(el) with high-temperature reactor a conception for a HTR-nuclear power plant of 600 MWsub(el) to be built in the Federal Republic of Germany in future is developed on the basis of operating experience with the 15-MW-AVR-experimental nuclear power plant, the construction of the THTR-300 nuclear power plant and the gas-cooled reactors of English, French and American origin. This report gives a survey of the most important findings and the requirements on behalf of the public utilities for a nuclear power plant with high-temperature reactor with the dimensions of 600 MWsub(el). The examination of the utilities basic requirements for a power plant and the experience made during the licensing procedure led to this technical and safety conception for a HTR nuclear power plant with spherical fuel elements. In addition, the questions of the possibility of recurrent tests and of repairing safety components and also the future shut-down of the power plant, which are important for the public utilities, are examined. (orig./GL) [de

  12. Getting started with ownCloud

    CERN Document Server

    Patawari, Aditya

    2013-01-01

    This is a standard, precise, and short tutorial for setting up ownCloud and includes advanced topics like encryption, user management, and server security. This ownCloud book would be an ideal starting point for anyone who wants to store their data and also share it.This book is for first time users as well as administrators who are interested or responsible for managing an ownCloud instance. You do not need any prior experience with any of the technology, including Linux/Windows, Apache/IIS, SQLite/MySQL, or even PHP. It is a beginner-friendly book, written with a first time user in mind.

  13. Beliefs of people taking antidepressants about the causes of their own depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Read, John; Cartwright, Claire; Gibson, Kerry; Shiels, Christopher; Magliano, Lorenza

    2015-03-15

    The beliefs of people receiving treatment about the causes of their own mental health problems are researched less often than the causal beliefs of the public, but have important implications for relationships with prescribers, treatment choices and recovery. An online survey on a range of beliefs about depression, and experiences with antidepressants, was completed by 1829 New Zealand adults prescribed anti-depressants in the preceding five years, 97.4% of whom proceeded to take antidepressants. Six of 17 beliefs about the causes of their own depression were endorsed by more than half the sample: chemical imbalance, family stress, work stress, heredity, relationship problems and distressing events in childhood. There were some marked differences in content, structure and level of conviction of beliefs about one׳s own depression and the sample׳s previously published beliefs about depression in general. There were also significant differences between the beliefs of demographic groupings. Regression analyses revealed that self-reported effectiveness of the antidepressants was positively associated with bio-genetic causal beliefs. The quality of the relationship with the prescribing doctor was positively related to a belief in chemical imbalance as a cause and negatively related to a belief in unemployment as a cause. The convenience sample may have been biased towards a favourable view of bio-genetic explanations, since 83% reported that the medication reduced their depression. People experiencing depression hold complex, multifactorial and idiosyncratic sets of beliefs about the causes of their own depression, apparently based at least in part on their own life experiences and circumstances. Exploring those beliefs may enhance the doctor-patient relationship and selection of appropriate treatment modality. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Outpatient care utilization in urban Kerala, India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levesque, Jean-Frédéric; Haddad, Slim; Narayana, Delampady; Fournier, Pierre

    2006-07-01

    Kerala is characterized by a high density of public and private health infrastructure. While less inequality in access has been reported in this Indian state, few studies have looked at problems found within cities. Escalation of costs of private services and reduced public investments could generate some inequalities in access for the poor. To assess factors associated with utilization and source of outpatient care in urban Kerala, and to discuss policy implications with regards to access to care. A multilevel analysis of individual and urban characteristics associated with utilization and source of outpatient care was conducted using data from a 1995-96 survey by the National Sample Survey Organisation on health care in urban Kerala. There is a high level of utilization (83.6%) of allopathic medical services. Controlling for illness severity and age, utilization thereof was lower for the very poor (OR 0.13 [0.03; 0.49]), inhabitants of medium towns (OR 0.20 [0.05; 0.70]), and inhabitants of cities with a lower proportion of permanent material (pucca) houses (0.21 [0.06; 0.72]). Among all users, 77% resorted to a private source of care. Utilization of a private provider was less likely for the very poor (OR 0.13 [0.03; 0.51]) and individuals from casual worker households (OR 0.54 [0.30; 0.97]), while it was more likely for inhabitants of cities from both low public bed density districts (OR 4.08 [1.05; 15.95]) and high private bed density districts (OR 5.83 [2.34; 14.53]). Problems of quality and accessibility of the public sector were invoked to justify utilization of private clinics. A marked heterogeneity in utilization of outpatient care was found between cities of various sizes and characteristics. This study confirms high utilization of private outpatient care in Kerala and suggests problems of access for the poorest. Even in a context of high public availability and considering the health transition factor, relying on the development of the private sector

  15. UTILITY OF SIMPLIFIED LABANOTATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria del Pilar Naranjo

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available After using simplified Labanotation as a didactic tool for some years, the author can conclude that it accomplishes at least three main functions: efficiency of rehearsing time, social recognition and broadening of the choreographic consciousness of the dancer. The doubts of the dancing community about the issue of ‘to write or not to write’ are highly determined by the contexts and their own choreographic evolution, but the utility of Labanotation, as a tool for knowledge, is undeniable.

  16. THE INVESTMENT MODEL OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF PUBLIC OBJECTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Reperger Šandor

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available One of the possible models of the construction and use of sports objects, especi- ally indoor facilities (sports centres, halls, swimming pools, shooting alleys and others is the cooperation of the public and private sector, by the investment model of PPP (Pu- blic-Private Partnership. PPP (Public-Private Partnership construction is the new form of securing civil works, already known in the developed countries, in which the job of planning, construc- tion, functioning and financing is done by the private sector – in the scope of a precisely elaborated cooperation with the state. The state engages the private sector for the administering of the civil works. By public adverstisements and contests they will find the investors who accept the administe- ring of certain public works by themselves or with the help of project partners with their own resources (with 60-85% of bank loans, secure the conditions for conducting certain services (by using the objects, halls, etc until the expiration of the agreed deadline. The essence of PPP construction is the fact that an investor from the private sec- tor, chosen through a contest, realizes the project using its own means. The object beco- mes the property of the investor and it secures the regular functioning of the object with exclusive rights. The income from the functioning belongs to the investor, in return the costs of the functioning of the object, the upkeep, as well as the costs of the personnel and public utilities are the responsibility of the investor. The public use of the object is realised by the means that the authorised ministry and the partner from the contest in an agreement of the realization and functioning of the object accurately define the time of maintenance and the duration of the services on the behalf of social interest. From the time specified in the agreement the investor doesn’t charge precisely defined users for general and specific services. As Sebia, with all its

  17. Algorithms for enhancing public health utility of national causes-of-death data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pourmalek Farshad

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Coverage and quality of cause-of-death (CoD data varies across countries and time. Valid, reliable, and comparable assessments of trends in causes of death from even the best systems are limited by three problems: a changes in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD over time; b the use of tabulation lists where substantial detail on causes of death is lost; and c many deaths assigned to causes that cannot or should not be considered underlying causes of death, often called garbage codes (GCs. The Global Burden of Disease Study and the World Health Organization have developed various methods to enhance comparability of CoD data. In this study, we attempt to build on these approaches to enhance the utility of national cause-of-death data for public health analysis. Methods Based on careful consideration of 4,434 country-years of CoD data from 145 countries from 1901 to 2008, encompassing 743 million deaths in ICD versions 1 to 10 as well as country-specific cause lists, we have developed a public health-oriented cause-of-death list. These 56 causes are organized hierarchically and encompass all deaths. Each cause has been mapped from ICD-6 to ICD-10 and, where possible, they have also been mapped to the International List of Causes of Death 1-5. We developed a typology of different classes of GCs. In each ICD revision, GCs have been identified. Target causes to which these GCs should be redistributed have been identified based on certification practice and/or pathophysiology. Proportionate redistribution, statistical models, and expert algorithms have been developed to redistribute GCs to target codes for each age-sex group. Results The fraction of all deaths assigned to GCs varies tremendously across countries and revisions of the ICD. In general, across all country-years of data available, GCs have declined from more than 43% in ICD-7 to 24% in ICD-10. In some regions, such

  18. Development of a Real-Time Smoke Belching Monitoring System for Public Utility Vehicles (PUV via GSM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nelson C. Rodelas

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The Development of a Real-Time-Based Smoke Belching Monitoring System for Public Utility Vehicle is designed in order to monitor smoke belchers or violators among public utility vehicles (PUV that uses diesel such as jeepneys or buses. The concept of the project is to measure the opacity of the smoke being emitted by the PUV with the use of a predesigned sensor unit incorporated by Light Dependent Resistor Sensor and Light Source facing each other, 4 inches apart. By allowing the smoke to pass through the LDR and Light Source, the desired resistance is acquired and processed by the microcontroller to obtain the Light Absorption Coefficient. This value is the basis for being a smoke belcher (If it exceeds 2.5 k. The system then sends the data (Plate Number and K -value for every one (1 hour to the Database System and to the operator with the aid of GSM Microcontroller that leads to a real time monitoring. The system is possible to implement and has a potential to be used for emission testing centers since it has the features of the commercial opacity meter which is common in emission centers to measure the smoke emitted by the diesel-fueled vehicles. This project serves as an innovation in emission testing because it monitors the smoke belchers in real-time and operators or owners of the vehicle are not required anymore to go to the emission testing center every year to renew their car registration.

  19. High utility-itemset mining and privacy-preserving utility mining

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jerry Chun-Wei Lin

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available In recent decades, high-utility itemset mining (HUIM has emerging a critical research topic since the quantity and profit factors are both concerned to mine the high-utility itemsets (HUIs. Generally, data mining is commonly used to discover interesting and useful knowledge from massive data. It may, however, lead to privacy threats if private or secure information (e.g., HUIs are published in the public place or misused. In this paper, we focus on the issues of HUIM and privacy-preserving utility mining (PPUM, and present two evolutionary algorithms to respectively mine HUIs and hide the sensitive high-utility itemsets in PPUM. Extensive experiments showed that the two proposed models for the applications of HUIM and PPUM can not only generate the high quality profitable itemsets according to the user-specified minimum utility threshold, but also enable the capability of privacy preserving for private or secure information (e.g., HUIs in real-word applications.

  20. Private vs. Public Higher Education Budgeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beamer, Sarah A.

    2011-01-01

    Private higher education institutions are those entities owned and operated by the private sector, while public institutions are those established, supported, and controlled by a governmental agency, most often a state. Key differences exist between private and public institutions that affect budgeting in critical ways. Such differences include…

  1. Discriminatory public procurement policies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ssennoga, Francis

    2010-01-01

    To achieve social economic objectives, governments usually institute discriminatory practices in their country’s public procurement framework. Discriminatory procurement is the practice by governments to favour their own domestic suppliers over foreign firms for advertised contracts. Favouring

  2. Public Housing Physical Inspection Scores

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Housing and Urban Development — HUD's Real Estate Assessment Center conducts physical property inspections of properties that are owned, insured or subsidized by HUD, including public housing and...

  3. Identification and ranking of the risk factors of cloud computing in State-Owned organizations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Noor Mohammad Yaghoubi

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Rapid development of processing and storage technologies and the success of the Internet have made computing resources cheaper, more powerful and more available than before. This technological trend has enabled the realization of a new computing model called cloud computing. Recently, the State-Owned organizations have begun to utilize cloud computing architectures, platforms, and applications to deliver services and meet constituents’ needs. Despite all of the advantages and opportunities of cloud computing technology, there are so many risks that State-Owned organizations need to know about before their migration to cloud environment. The purpose of this study is to identify and rank the risks factors of cloud computing in State-Owned organizations by making use of IT experts’ opinion. Firstly, by reviewing key articles, a comprehensive list of risks factors were extracted and classified into two categories: tangible and intangible. Then, six experts were interviewed about these risks and their classifications, and 10 risks were identified. After that, process of ranking the risks was done by seeking help from 52 experts and by fuzzy analytic hierarchy process. The results show that experts have identified intangible risks as the most important risks in cloud computing usage by State-Owned organizations. As the results indicate, "data confidentiality" risk has the highest place among the other risks.

  4. Effect of adaptive abilities on utilities, direct or mediated by mental health?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Peeters, Yvette; Ranchor, Adelita V.; Vlieland, Thea P. M. Vliet; Stiggelbout, Anne M.

    2010-01-01

    Background: In cost-utility analyses gain in health can be measured using health state utilities. Health state utilities can be elicited from members of the public or from patients. Utilities given by patients tend to be higher than utilities given by members of the public. This difference is often

  5. The multiple market-exposure of waste management companies: A case study of two Swedish municipally owned companies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Corvellec, Hervé; Bramryd, Torleif

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Swedish municipally owned waste management companies are active on political, material, technical, and commercial markets. ► These markets differ in kind and their demands follow different logics. ► These markets affect the public service, processing, and marketing of Swedish waste management. ► Articulating these markets is a strategic challenge for Swedish municipally owned waste management. - Abstract: This paper describes how the business model of two leading Swedish municipally owned solid waste management companies exposes them to four different but related markets: a political market in which their legitimacy as an organization is determined; a waste-as-material market that determines their access to waste as a process input; a technical market in which these companies choose what waste processing technique to use; and a commercial market in which they market their products. Each of these markets has a logic of its own. Managing these logics and articulating the interrelationships between these markets is a key strategic challenge for these companies.

  6. Impact of China's Public Hospital Reform on Healthcare Expenditures and Utilization: A Case Study in ZJ Province.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hao Zhang

    Full Text Available High drug costs due to supplier-induced demand (SID obstruct healthcare accessibility in China. Drug prescriptions can generate markup-related profits, and the low prices of other medical services can lead to labor-force underestimations; therefore, physicians are keen to prescribe drugs rather than services. Thus, in China, a public hospital reform has been instituted to cancel markups and increase service prices.A retrospective pre/post-reform study was conducted in ZJ province to assess the impact of the reform on healthcare expenditures and utilization, ultimately to inform policy development and decision-making. The main indicators are healthcare expenditures and utilization.Post-reform, drug expenditures per visit decreased by 8.2% and 15.36% in outpatient and inpatient care, respectively; service expenditures per visit increased by 23.03% and 27.69% in outpatient and inpatient care, respectively. Drug utilization per visit increased by 5.58% in outpatient care and underwent no significant change in inpatient care. Both were lower than the theoretical drug-utilization level, which may move along the demand curve because of patient-initiated demand (PID; this indicates that SID-promoted drug utilization may decrease. Finally, service utilization per visit increased by 6% in outpatient care and by 13.10% in inpatient care; both were higher than the theoretical level moving along the demand curve, and this indicates that SID-promoted service utilization may increase.The reform reduces drug-prescription profits by eliminating drug markups; additionally, it compensates for service costs by increasing service prices. Post-reform, the SID of drug prescriptions decreased, which may reduce drug-resource waste. The SID of services increased, with potentially positive and negative effects: accessibility to services may be promoted when physicians provide more services, but the risk of resource waste may also increase. This warrants further research

  7. Utilization of prostate brachytherapy for low risk prostate cancer: Is the decline overstated?

    OpenAIRE

    Joseph Safdieh; Andrew Wong; Joseph P. Weiner; David Schwartz; David Schreiber

    2016-01-01

    Purpose : Several prior studies have suggested that brachytherapy utilization has markedly decreased, coinciding with the recent increased utilization of intensity modulated radiation therapy, as well as an increase in urologist-owned centers. We sought to investigate the brachytherapy utilization in a large, hospital-based registry. Material and methods: Men with prostate cancer diagnosed between 2004-2012 and treated with either external beam radiation and/or prostate brachytherapy ...

  8. Bring Your Own Device or Bring Your Own Distraction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laxman, Kumar; Holt, Craig

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this exploratory case study was to investigate the utilisation of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) technologies in the classroom to determine if students and teachers perceive that the use of a digital device increased a learner's access to learning opportunities within the classroom, and, if the use of digital devices increased their…

  9. Compliance problems of small utility systems with the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978: volume II - appendices

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None

    1981-01-01

    A study of the problems of compliance with the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 experienced by electric utility systems which have a total generating capacity of less than 2000 MW is presented. This volume presents the following appendices: (A) case studies (Farmington, New Mexico; Lamar, Colorado; Dover, Delaware; Wolverine Electric Cooperative, Michigan; Central Telephone and Utilities, Kansas; Sierra Pacific Power Company, Nevada; Vero Beach, Florida; Lubbock, Texas; Western Farmers Cooperative, Oklahoma; and West Texas Utilities Company, Texas); (B) contacts and responses to study; (C) joint action legislation chart; (D) Texas Municipal Power Agency case study; (E) existing generating units jointly owned with small utilities; (F) future generating units jointly owned with small utilities; (G) Federal Register Notice of April 17, 1980, and letter of inquiry to utilities; (H) small utility responses; and (I) Section 744, PIFUA. (WHK)

  10. Operation and utilization of Indonesia Research Reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuntoro, Iman; Sujalmo, Saiful; Tarigan, Alim

    2004-01-01

    For supporting the R and D in nuclear science and technology and its application, BATAN own and operate three research reactors namely, TRIGA-2000, KARTINI and RSG-GAS having thermal power of 2 MW, 100 kW and 30 MW respectively. The main features, operation and utilization progress of the reactors are described in this report. (author)

  11. Physician-Owned Hospitals

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — Section 6001 of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 amended section 1877 of the Social Security Act to impose additional requirements for physician-owned hospitals to...

  12. Rural households at risk of malaria did not own sufficient insecticide treated nets at Dabat HDSS site: evidence from a cross sectional re-census.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muchie, Kindie Fentahun; Alemu, Kassahun; Tariku, Amare; Tsegaye, Adino Tesfahun; Abebe, Solomon Mekonnen; Yitayal, Mezgebu; Awoke, Tadesse; Biks, Gashaw Andargie

    2017-11-21

    Malaria is the leading cause of disease burden across the world, especially in African countries. Ethiopia has designed a five year (2011-2015) plan to cover 100% of the households in malarious areas with one insecticide treated net (ITN) for every two persons, and to raise consistent ITN utilization to at least 80%. However, evidence on ownership of ITN among malarious rural households in northwest Ethiopia is quite limited. Hence, the present study aimed at assessing ownership of ITN and associated factors among rural households at risk of malaria at Dabat Health and Demographic Surveillance System site, northwest Ethiopia. A cross sectional re-census was carried out in Dabat Health and Demographic Surveillance System site during peak malaria seasons from October to December, 2014. Data for 15,088 households at Dabat Health and Demographic Surveillance System site were used for the analysis. Descriptive measures and binary logistic regression were carried out. Among those who owned at least one ITN, 53.4% were living at an altitude >2500 m above sea level. However, out of households living at an altitude ownership of ITN. Rural households at risk of malaria did not own a sufficient number of ITN though the utilization is promising. Moreover, prioritizing children and pregnant women to sleep under ITN remains public health problems. Programmers, partners and implementers should consider tailored intervention strategy stratified by altitude in distributing ITN. ITN distribution should also be accompanied by using exhaustive promotion strategies that consider people without access to any source of information, and educating households to prioritize pregnant and under five children to sleep under ITN.

  13. Hospital utilization and out of pocket expenditure in public and private sectors under the universal government health insurance scheme in Chhattisgarh State, India: Lessons for universal health coverage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nandi, Sulakshana; Schneider, Helen; Dixit, Priyanka

    2017-01-01

    Research on impact of publicly financed health insurance has paid relatively little attention to the nature of healthcare provision the schemes engage. India's National Health Insurance Scheme or RSBY was made universal by Chhattisgarh State in 2012. In the State, public and private sectors provide hospital services in a context of extensive gender, social, economic and geographical inequities. This study examined enrolment, utilization (public and private) and out of pocket (OOP) expenditure for the insured and uninsured, in Chhattisgarh. The Chhattisgarh State Central sample (n = 6026 members) of the 2014 National Sample Survey (71st Round) on Health was extracted and analyzed. Variables of enrolment, hospitalization, out of pocket (OOP) expenditure and catastrophic expenditure were descriptively analyzed. Multivariate analyses of factors associated with enrolment, hospitalization (by sector) and OOP expenditure were conducted, taking into account gender, socio-economic status, residence, type of facility and ailment. Insurance coverage was 38.8%. Rates of hospitalization were 33/1000 population among the insured and 29/1000 among the uninsured. Of those insured and hospitalized, 67.2% utilized the public sector. Women, rural residents, Scheduled Tribes and poorer groups were more likely to utilize the public sector for hospitalizations. Although the insured were less likely to incur out of pocket (OOP) expenditure, 95.1% of insured private sector users and 66.0% of insured public sector users, still incurred costs. Median OOP payments in the private sector were eight times those in the public sector. Of households with at least one member hospitalized, 35.5% experienced catastrophic health expenditures (>10% monthly household consumption expenditure). The study finds that despite insurance coverage, the majority still incurred OOP expenditure. The public sector was nevertheless less expensive, and catered to the more vulnerable groups. It suggests the need to

  14. Leadership skills for the California electric utility industry: A qualitative study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hubbell, Michael

    The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine the skills and knowledge necessary for leaders in the California electric utility industry in 2020. With rapid industry changes, skills to effectively lead and stay competitive are undetermined. Leaders must manage an increasingly hostile social and political environment, incorporate new technology, and deal with an aging workforce and infrastructure. Methodology. This study utilized a qualitative case study design to determine the factors that influence the skills leaders will require in 2020. It incorporated the perspectives of current electric utility leaders while looking with a future lens. Findings. Interviews were conducted with transmission and distribution (T&D) directors at 3 investor-owned public electric utilities headquartered in California. The questions followed an open-ended format to gather responses as perceived by electric utility leaders for each research question category: overall skills, aging workforce, regulation, technology, and leading younger generations. The research resulted in 18 major themes: 5 for overall skills, 3 for aging workforce, 4 for regulation, 3 for technology, and 3 for leading younger generations. Conclusions. The study identified leadership skills including the ability to embrace, leverage, and stay current with technology; understand and provide a clear vision for the future; increase creativity; manage the next set of workers; motivate during a time of great change; prepare for knowledge transfer and change in workforce culture; manage regulatory expectations; expand potential utility opportunities; leverage "big data"; allow worker collaboration; and understand what drives younger generations. Recommendations. California-based electric utility leaders can remain effective by implementing key strategies identified herein. Further research could examine perspectives of additional utility leaders who lead in organizational units outside of T&D, expand the research to

  15. 77 FR 64890 - Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation by Transmission Owning and Operating Public Utilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-10-24

    ... regional transmission organizations (RTOs) are required to follow regarding the availability of long-term.... P 649. \\51\\ Id. P 746. \\52\\ As Transmission Access Policy Study Group also recognizes, not all RTOs...

  16. 75 FR 37883 - Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation by Transmission Owning and Operating Public Utilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-06-30

    ... transmission providers, including Commission-approved regional transmission organizations (RTOs) and... granted extensions. 12. As a result of these compliance filings, RTOs and ISOs have enhanced their... outside of RTOs and ISOs have relied on to comply with certain requirements of Order No. 890 are the North...

  17. 77 FR 32183 - Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation by Transmission Owning and Operating Public Utilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-05-31

    ... record evidence, and was non-committal on whether a decision might be supported by theory alone.\\33\\ They...-effective investment decisions.\\6\\ It noted that this increase appears to be only the beginning of a longer... allocation processes may not affect each region of the country equally, it nonetheless remained concerned...

  18. Public enterprises in natural resource industries: an economic analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fulton, M.E.

    1985-01-01

    Public enterprises are playing an ever increasing role in natural resource industries. This research analyzes the reason for this involvement, i.e., what have been the objectives of public firms, the objectives of other firms; and the reasons behind exploration in natural resource industries. An answer to the first question was obtained by estimating the objective function of a publicly owned uranium company operating in Saskatchewan, Canada. It was assumed the company solved a linear quadratic optimal control problem. The conclusion was that over the period 1974-1984 the company preferred to trade off profits for higher employment, larger reserve holdings, and greater output. The objectives of the other firms in the Saskatchewan uranium industry were also investigated. It was found that producers integrated with utilities can expect to make a much greater rate of return on exploration that nonintegrated producers, since the former group stands to gain both from the reduction in costs and the reduction in price resulting from exploration. The suggests that overinvestment in the Saskatchewan uranium industry may be a problem. The final item investigated is the normative question of what the objective of a public firm operating alongside a private firm in an oligopolistic industry should be in order that resources in the industry are used efficiently; the answer to this question depends upon the structure of the industry

  19. The state-owned company: “State failure” or “market failure”?1

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander Radygin

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available This article will analyze the activity of state-owned companies and their place in the structure of market relations from the standpoint of contemporary approaches to the study of “state failure” and “market failure”. It will also consider the implications of the systematic embedding of private property rights. In addition to considering the costs of the functions of state-owned companies, the authors address the actual experience of the Russian economy in the present day, the experience of forming state corporations and the risks associated with their operation. Particular attention will be paid to the inhibition of incentives to improve the general institutional environment and, conversely, to the increasing incidence of direct state intervention in matters that affect economic development. We will examine the various ways in which the growth of the public sector, de jure and de facto, reduces opportunities for implementing private property rights.

  20. Carbon Stocks and Projections on Public Forestlands in the United States, 1952-2040

    Science.gov (United States)

    James E. Smith; Linda S. Heath

    2004-01-01

    Approximately 37% of forestlands in the conterminous United States are publicly owned; they represent a substantial area of potential carbon sequestration in US forests and in forest products. However, large areas of public forestlands traditionally have been less intensively inventoried than privately owned forests. Thus, less information is available about their role...

  1. ANALYSES OF FAMILY OWNED ENTERPRISE’S CONTINUITY (CASE STUDY OF FOUR FAMILY OWNED ENTERPRISE IN JAKARTA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anita Maharani

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to examine the roles that have an influence on the Family-Owned Enterprise (FOE succession. This issue is raised because of the transition phenomena that occur between generations of the FOE, is interesting to study. Transition within the meaning of the Family Owned Enterprise is business continuity between generations. Gender aspects, was appointed as one of the problems in this study because gender is related to the sustainability of the Family-Owned Enterprise, among others because of aspects of the approach. Aspects of leadership became one of the problems in this research because it has relevance to the sustainability of the Family-Owned Enterprise, among others because of aspects of decision making. The aspects of entrepreneurship was appointed as one of the problems (because they have a relationship with the Family-Owned Enterprise continuity, partly because aspects of entrepreneurial orientation. This research will focus on all three roles at the level of Small and Medium Enterprises and Medium Enterprises. Literatures used in this study includes: Unified System, Sustainable Family, Dynamics Triangular. This research method is qualitative, and the approach is inductive-deductive. Information in this research will be conducted in four companies, namely small and medium enterprises and medium enterprises engaged in rice distribution.

  2. The European Utility Requirement Document

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roche, I.I.

    1999-01-01

    The major European electricity producers work on a common requirement document for future LWR plants since 1992. They aim at requirements acceptable together by the owners, the public and the authorities. Thus the designers can develop standard LWR designs acceptable everywhere in Europe and the utilities can open their consultations to vendors on common bases. Such a standardisation promotes an improvement of generation costs and of safety : public and authorities acceptance should be improved as well ; significant savings are expected in development and construction costs. Since the early stages of the project, the EUR group has grown significantly. It now includes utilities from nine European countries. Utilities from two other European countries are joining the group. Specific cooperation agreements are also in progress with a few extra-European partners

  3. Assessing public and private sector contributions in reproductive health financing and utilization for six sub-Saharan African countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Ha; Snider, Jeremy; Ravishankar, Nirmala; Magvanjav, Oyunbileg

    2011-05-01

    The present study provides evidence to support enhanced attention to reproductive health and comprehensive measures to increase access to quality reproductive health services. We compare and contrast the financing and utilization of reproductive health services in six sub-Saharan African countries using data from National Health Accounts and Demographic and Health Surveys. Spending on reproductive health in 2006 ranged from US$4 per woman of reproductive age in Ethiopia to US$17 in Uganda. These are below the necessary level for assuring adequate services given that an internationally recommended spending level for family planning alone was US$16 for 2006. Moreover, reproductive health spending shows signs of decline in tandem with insufficient improvement in service utilization. Public providers played a predominant role in antenatal and delivery care for institutional births, but home deliveries with unqualified attendants dominated. The private sector was a major supplier of condoms, oral pills and IUDs. Private clinics, pharmacies and drug vendors were important sources of STI treatment. The findings highlight the need to commit greatly increased funding for reproductive health services as well as more policy attention to the contribution of public, private and informal providers and the role of collaboration among them to expand access to services for under-served populations. Copyright © 2011 Reproductive Health Matters. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Basic study for promoting joint implementation and others. Feasibility study on the recovery and utilization of coal mine methane of an Upper Silesian Coal Field

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2001-03-01

    Having the Mining Industry Restructuring Public Corporation located in the city of Katowice, Poland as the counterpart, a feasibility study has been executed on a project to utilize coal bed gas for power generation. Selected for the study are the 'Budryk coal mine' owned by KWK 'Budryk' Coal Company and the 'Pniowek coal mine' owned by Jastrzebie Coal Company. Since the Pniowek coal mine can utilize the whole quantity of recovered methane by 2001, the Budryk coal mine was selected as the object of the project. As a result of the trial calculation on the economy when the new gas power plant is installed in the Budryk coal mine, the energy substitution effect was found to equal to a power amount at transmission terminal of 6 MWh/year. Furthermore, when proliferation effect is taken into consideration, an enormous effect can be expected if new coal mines are developed and the existing cola mines will go further deeper, because the Silesian coal mine presently has the coal resource quantity of 57 billion tons and the annual gas discharge quantity of 750 million m{sup 3}. Therefore, if the technologies to recover, manage and utilize the gas are established at the Budryk coal mine, a large effect leading to an aspiration would be expected under the current situation of the structural reorganization under which the Polish coal companies are placed. (NEDO)

  5. Private and public incomes in dehesas and coniferous forests in Andalusia, Spain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paola Ovando; Pablo Campos; Jose L. Oviedo; Alejandro Caparrós

    2015-01-01

    We apply an ecosystem accounting system to estimate the total social income accrued from private and public products in a group of agroforestry farms in Andalusia (Spain). We provide bio-physical and economic indicators for two contrasting farm types, a sub-group of 15 publicly owned coniferous forests and a sub-group of 24 privately owned dehesa farms. Total social...

  6. Transparency and public value : Analyzing the transparency practices and value creation of public utilities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Douglas, S.C.; Meijer, A.J.

    2016-01-01

    This article examines to what extent transparency is a condition for the creation of public value. Transparency is usually narrowly defined as a tool for external stakeholders to monitor the internal workings of an organization, but public value management positions transparency as a broader

  7. PR for Pennies: Low-Cost Library Public Relations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baeckler, Virginia Van Wynen

    This manual is designed to demystify a number of public relations techniques for those who wish to start producing their own materials with a minimum of time and money. Chapters focus on public relations; the library stereotype; words, ideas, and pictures; offset printing; creative print distribution; exhibits and posters; public speaking; and the…

  8. Reproductive efficiency and herd demography of Nguni cattle in village-owned and group-owned enterprises under low-input communal production systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tada, Obert; Muchenje, Voster; Dzama, Kennedy

    2013-08-01

    The objective of the study was to determine the herd demography and reproductive efficiency of the Nguni cattle in village-owned and group-owned enterprises under low-input communal production systems. Data on husbandry practices, reason of cattle entry/exist, herd structure, bulling rates, breeding females, age at first calving and calving interval were obtained from 22 village-owned and 19 group-owned enterprises in a cross-sectional survey of an ecologically controlled low-input cattle production system. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests of association were computed on enterprise ownership patterns, husbandry practices and herd demography. An AN(C)OVA was used to determine significant factors affecting herd structure, mortality, age at first calving and calving interval in the enterprises. Village-owned enterprises had higher (p 0.05). Significant differences were observed on the calving interval (p bulling rate was higher in village-owned enterprises, while the proportion of breeding females was higher in group-owned enterprises. Farmers with a college education had Nguni animals with the shortest calving interval. It was concluded that group-owned enterprises had significantly better calving intervals, mortality rates and overall herd structure than village-owned enterprises.

  9. Study of public understanding and evaluation of messages concerning the policy of 'Pu thermal utilization' based on results of interview survey

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsuchiya, Tomoko; Kosugi, Motoko; Senda, Yasuko; Takada, Kaori; Iwatsuki, Akihito; Tamagawa, Hiromi

    2008-01-01

    In this paper, we focus on the kind of information the nuclear industry should provide for the general public to understand and trust in the plan of plutonium utilization for mixed-oxide fuel in light water reactors, i.e., Pu thermal utilization. We conducted an interview survey for 30 people who live in the Tokyo metropolitan area to analyze what they know and how they feel about Pu thermal utilization, and to compare three information materials based on their subjective evaluation of the degree of understanding, trust and so on. The content analysis of interviewees' comments regarding Pu thermal utilization shows that they have vague but correct knowledge, that is, 'Pu thermal utilization is to recycle nuclear fuel or nuclear waste.' However, people do not have background information concerning the necessity of Pu utilization, such as the resource limitation of uranium. According to the comparative analysis of the three materials, a material that presents the necessity and usefulness of Pu thermal utilization using figures and graphs was evaluated most understandable, informative, trustful, and persuasive. The material including information of risk was evaluated more informative, but the evaluation of trust indicated a divided opinion. People who feel anxiety about nuclear power generation evaluated the material including risk messages more trustful than other materials. Others evaluated it less trustful because the risk management of Pu thermal utilization and the process to solve remaining problems, such as HLW disposal, are uncertain. (author)

  10. The choice of primary energy source including PV installation for providing electric energy to a public utility building - a case study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Radomski, Bartosz; Ćwiek, Barbara; Mróz, Tomasz M.

    2017-11-01

    The paper presents multicriteria decision aid analysis of the choice of PV installation providing electric energy to a public utility building. From the energy management point of view electricity obtained by solar radiation has become crucial renewable energy source. Application of PV installations may occur a profitable solution from energy, economic and ecologic point of view for both existing and newly erected buildings. Featured variants of PV installations have been assessed by multicriteria analysis based on ANP (Analytic Network Process) method. Technical, economical, energy and environmental criteria have been identified as main decision criteria. Defined set of decision criteria has an open character and can be modified in the dialog process between the decision-maker and the expert - in the present case, an expert in planning of development of energy supply systems. The proposed approach has been used to evaluate three variants of PV installation acceptable for existing educational building located in Poznań, Poland - the building of Faculty of Chemical Technology, Poznań University of Technology. Multi-criteria analysis based on ANP method and the calculation software Super Decisions has proven to be an effective tool for energy planning, leading to the indication of the recommended variant of PV installation in existing and newly erected public buildings. Achieved results show prospects and possibilities of rational renewable energy usage as complex solution to public utility buildings.

  11. Model franchise agreements with public utilities. Musterkonzessionsvertraege mit Energieversorgungsunternehmen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Menking, C. (Niedersaechsischer Staedte- und Gemeindebund, Hannover (Germany, F.R.))

    1989-01-01

    In 1987, the Committee of Town and Community Administrations of Lower Saxonia established the task force 'Franchise Agreements'. This is a forum where town and community officials interested in energy issues cooperate. The idea was to improve conditions and participation possibilities for local administrations in contracts with their present utilities, and to draw up, and coordinate with the utilities, a franchise agreement creating possibilities for the communities, inter alia, in the sectors power supply concept, advising on energy conservation, energy generation. A model of a franchise agreement for the electricity sector is presented in its full wording. (orig./HSCH).

  12. Changes in the Concept of Public Greenery on the Basis of an Analysis of Czech Municipal Financing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rousek Pavel

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The public sector is an inseparable part of every economy. It performs a number of functions such as providing public services, environmental protection, defense, security, education, health, justice and many others. Each institution’s duty is to care for its own property. Public spaces, parks and other public greenery are mostly owned by municipalities. Taking care of public greenery is a part of public spending because the source of money is municipal budgets.

  13. The Situation of Psychology Publications in Lithuania

    OpenAIRE

    VILMANTE PAKALNISKIENE

    2009-01-01

    There are only few journals in psychology published in Lithuania that are available for publications. There are also few other journals from other disciplines published in Lithuania that are accepting psychology studies for publications. Even though there are only few journals available for publications, these journals are very popular among scholars; psychology scholars are actively publishing their own work in these journals. Having publications in these journals are becoming more and more ...

  14. Utilization of a state run public private emergency transportation service exclusively for childbirth: the Janani (maternal) Express program in Madhya Pradesh, India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sidney, Kristi; Ryan, Kayleigh; Diwan, Vishal; De Costa, Ayesha

    2014-01-01

    In 2009 the state government of Madhya Pradesh, India launched an emergency obstetric transportation service, Janani Express Yojana (JEY), to support the cash transfer program that promotes institutional delivery. JEY, a large scale public private partnership, lowers geographical access barriers to facility based care. The state contracts and pays private agencies to provide emergency transportation at no cost to the user. The objective was to study (a) the utilization of JEY among women delivering in health facilities, (b) factors associated with usage, (c) the timeliness of the service. A cross sectional facility based study was conducted in facilities that carried out > ten deliveries a month. Researchers who spent five days in each facility administered a questionnaire to all women who gave birth there to elicit socio-demographic characteristics and transport related details. 35% of women utilised JEY to reach a facility, however utilization varied between study districts. Uptake was highest among women from rural areas (44%), scheduled tribes (55%), and poorly educated women (40%). Living in rural areas and belonging to scheduled tribes were significant predictors for JEY usage. Almost 1/3 of JEY users (n = 104) experienced a transport related delay. The JEY service model complements the cash transfer program by providing transport to a facility to give birth. A study of the distribution of utilization in population subgroups suggests the intervention was successful in reaching the most vulnerable population, promoting equity in access. While 1/3 of women utilized the service and it saved them money; 30% experienced significant transport related delays in reaching a facility, which is comparable to women using public transportation. Further research is needed to understand why utilization is low, to explore if there is a need for service expansion at the community level and to improve the overall time efficiency of JEY.

  15. Factors Affecting The Business Performance Of Female Owned Enterprises In Turkish Republic Of Northern Cyprus

    OpenAIRE

    JENKINS, Hatice; KATIRCIOĞLU, Salih

    2007-01-01

    This study is the first empirical research on the performance of the Turkish Cypriot female entrepreneurs in North Cyprus. The research helps to identify the major factors affecting the performance of Turkish Cypriot female entrepreneurs both positively and negatively. Furthermore, it identifies the main causes of performance variations among the businesses owned by female entrepreneurs. A face to face survey method was utilized to collect primary data from two hundred female entrepreneurs an...

  16. Utilization of the state led public private partnership program "Chiranjeevi Yojana" to promote facility births in Gujarat, India: a cross sectional community based study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yasobant, Sandul; Vora, Kranti Suresh; Shewade, Hemant Deepak; Annerstedt, Kristi Sidney; Isaakidis, Petros; Mavalankar, Dileep V; Dholakia, Nishith B; De Costa, Ayesha

    2016-07-15

    "Chiranjeevi Yojana (CY)", a state-led large-scale demand-side financing scheme (DSF) under public-private partnership to increase institutional delivery, has been implemented across Gujarat state, India since 2005. The scheme aims to provide free institutional childbirth services in accredited private health facilities to women from socially disadvantaged groups (eligible women). These services are paid for by the state to the private facility with the intention of service being free to the user. This community-based study estimates CY uptake among eligible women and explores factors associated with non-utilization of the CY program. This was a community-based cross sectional survey of eligible women who gave birth between January and July 2013 in 142 selected villages of three districts in Gujarat. A structured questionnaire was administered by trained research assistant to collect information on socio-demographic details, pregnancy details, details of childbirth and out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses incurred. A multivariable inferential analysis was done to explore the factors associated with non-utilization of the CY program. Out of 2,143 eligible women, 559 (26 %) gave birth under the CY program. A further 436(20 %) delivered at free public facilities, 713(33 %) at private facilities (OOP payment) and 435(20 %) at home. Eligible women who belonged to either scheduled tribe or poor [aOR = 3.1, 95 % CI:2.4 - 3.8] or having no formal education [aOR = 1.6, 95 % CI:1.1, 2.2] and who delivered by C-section [aOR = 2.1,95 % CI: 1.2, 3.8] had higher odds of not utilizing CY program. Of births at CY accredited facilities (n = 924), non-utilization was 40 % (n = 365) mostly because of lack of required official documentation that proved eligibility (72 % of eligible non-users). Women who utilized the CY program overall paid more than women who delivered in the free public facilities. Uptake of the CY among eligible women was low after almost a decade

  17. Impact of alternative energy forms on public utilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keith, F. W., Jr.

    1977-01-01

    The investigation of alternative energy sources by the electric utility industry is discussed. Research projects are reviewed in each of the following areas; solar energy, wind energy conversion, photosynthesis of biomass, ocean thermal energy conversion, geothermal energy, fusion, and the environmental impact of alternative energy sources.

  18. The multiple market-exposure of waste management companies: A case study of two Swedish municipally owned companies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Corvellec, Herve, E-mail: herve.corvellec@ism.lu.se [Department of Service Management, Lund University, Campus Helsingborg, PO Box 882, SE-251 08 Helsingborg (Sweden); Bramryd, Torleif [Department of Environmental Strategy, Lund University, Campus Helsingborg, PO Box 882, SE-251 08 Helsingborg (Sweden)

    2012-09-15

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Swedish municipally owned waste management companies are active on political, material, technical, and commercial markets. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer These markets differ in kind and their demands follow different logics. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer These markets affect the public service, processing, and marketing of Swedish waste management. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Articulating these markets is a strategic challenge for Swedish municipally owned waste management. - Abstract: This paper describes how the business model of two leading Swedish municipally owned solid waste management companies exposes them to four different but related markets: a political market in which their legitimacy as an organization is determined; a waste-as-material market that determines their access to waste as a process input; a technical market in which these companies choose what waste processing technique to use; and a commercial market in which they market their products. Each of these markets has a logic of its own. Managing these logics and articulating the interrelationships between these markets is a key strategic challenge for these companies.

  19. Community energy systems and the law of public utilities. Volume thirty-eight. Oklahoma. Final report of a study of the impacts of regulations affecting the acceptance of integrated community energy systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feurer, D.A.; Weaver, C.L.

    1981-01-01

    A detailed description is given of the laws and programs of the State of Oklahoma governing the regulation of public energy utilities, the siting of energy generating and transmission facilities, the municipal franchising of public energy utilities, and the prescription of rates to be charged by utilities including attendant problems of cost allocations, rate base and operating expense determinations, and rate of return allowances. These laws and programs are analyzed to identify impediments which they may present to the implementation of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES). This report is one of fifty-one separate volumes which describe such regulatory programs at the Federal level and in each state as background to the report entitled Community Energy Systems and the Law of Public Utilities, Volume One: An Overview. This report also contains a summary of a strategy described in Volume One: An Overview for overcoming these impediments by working within the existing regulatory framework and by making changes in the regulatory programs to enhance the likelihood of ICES implementation.

  20. Consumer's Guide to the economics of electric-utility ratemaking

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1980-05-01

    This guide deals primarily with the economics of electric utilities, although certain legal and organizational aspects of utilities are discussed. Each of the seven chapters addresses a particular facet of public-utility ratemaking. Chapter One contains a discussion of the evolution of the public-utility concept, as well as the legal and economic justification for public utilities. The second chapter sets forth an analytical economic model which provides the basis for the next four chapters. These chapters contain a detailed examination of total operating costs, the rate base, the rate of return, and the rate structure. The final chapter discusses a number of current issues regarding electric utilities, mainly factors related to fuel-adjustment costs, advertising, taxes, construction work in progress, and lifeline rates. Some of the examples used in the Guide are from particular states, such as Illinois and California. These examples are used to illustrate specific points. Consumers in other states can generalize them to their states and not change the meaning or significance of the points. 27 references, 8 tables.

  1. Tribal Utility Feasibility Study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Engel, R. A.; Zoellick, J. J.

    2007-06-30

    The Schatz Energy Research Center (SERC) assisted the Yurok Tribe in investigating the feasibility of creating a permanent energy services program for the Tribe. The original purpose of the DOE grant that funded this project was to determine the feasibility of creating a full-blown Yurok Tribal electric utility to buy and sell electric power and own and maintain all electric power infrastructure on the Reservation. The original project consultant found this opportunity to be infeasible for the Tribe. When SERC took over as project consultant, we took a different approach. We explored opportunities for the Tribe to develop its own renewable energy resources for use on the Reservation and/or off-Reservation sales as a means of generating revenue for the Tribe. We also looked at ways the Tribe can provide energy services to its members and how to fund such efforts. We identified opportunities for the development of renewable energy resources and energy services on the Yurok Reservation that fall into five basic categories: • Demand-side management – This refers to efforts to reduce energy use through energy efficiency and conservation measures. • Off-grid, facility and household scale renewable energy systems – These systems can provide electricity to individual homes and Tribal facilities in areas of the Reservation that do not currently have access to the electric utility grid. • Village scale, micro-grid renewable energy systems - These are larger scale systems that can provide electricity to interconnected groups of homes and Tribal facilities in areas of the Reservation that do not have access to the conventional electric grid. This will require the development of miniature electric grids to serve these interconnected facilities. • Medium to large scale renewable energy development for sale to the grid – In areas where viable renewable energy resources exist and there is access to the conventional electric utility grid, these resources can be

  2. Neural correlates of own name and own face detection in autism spectrum disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cygan, Hanna B; Tacikowski, Pawel; Ostaszewski, Pawel; Chojnicka, Izabela; Nowicka, Anna

    2014-01-01

    Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition clinically characterized by social interaction and communication difficulties. To date, the majority of research efforts have focused on brain mechanisms underlying the deficits in interpersonal social cognition associated with ASD. Recent empirical and theoretical work has begun to reveal evidence for a reduced or even absent self-preference effect in patients with ASD. One may hypothesize that this is related to the impaired attentional processing of self-referential stimuli. The aim of our study was to test this hypothesis. We investigated the neural correlates of face and name detection in ASD. Four categories of face/name stimuli were used: own, close-other, famous, and unknown. Event-related potentials were recorded from 62 electrodes in 23 subjects with ASD and 23 matched control subjects. P100, N170, and P300 components were analyzed. The control group clearly showed a significant self-preference effect: higher P300 amplitude to the presentation of own face and own name than to the close-other, famous, and unknown categories, indicating preferential attentional engagement in processing of self-related information. In contrast, detection of both own and close-other's face and name in the ASD group was associated with enhanced P300, suggesting similar attention allocation for self and close-other related information. These findings suggest that attention allocation in the ASD group is modulated by the personal significance factor, and that the self-preference effect is absent if self is compared to close-other. These effects are similar for physical and non-physical aspects of the autistic self. In addition, lateralization of face and name processing is attenuated in ASD, suggesting atypical brain organization.

  3. TVA and its rivals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feine, P.

    1997-01-01

    The long running opposition of a group of investor-owned electric utilities to the success of the federally-owned and subsidised Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is described. The TVA provides plentiful, affordable electric power to the many economically deprived residents of the southeastern United States, but there have been continued calls, most vocally by those electric utilities who would benefit financially from its demise, for reform of the power production giant, including withdrawal of its federal subsidies. In the manner of much US political manoevering claims and counter-claims are being pursued through the courts and via television advertising in an effort to sway public opinion against the publicly accountable TVA and towards privately owned utilities in the name of ''fair'' competition. (UK)

  4. Hospital utilization and out of pocket expenditure in public and private sectors under the universal government health insurance scheme in Chhattisgarh State, India: Lessons for universal health coverage.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sulakshana Nandi

    Full Text Available Research on impact of publicly financed health insurance has paid relatively little attention to the nature of healthcare provision the schemes engage. India's National Health Insurance Scheme or RSBY was made universal by Chhattisgarh State in 2012. In the State, public and private sectors provide hospital services in a context of extensive gender, social, economic and geographical inequities. This study examined enrolment, utilization (public and private and out of pocket (OOP expenditure for the insured and uninsured, in Chhattisgarh. The Chhattisgarh State Central sample (n = 6026 members of the 2014 National Sample Survey (71st Round on Health was extracted and analyzed. Variables of enrolment, hospitalization, out of pocket (OOP expenditure and catastrophic expenditure were descriptively analyzed. Multivariate analyses of factors associated with enrolment, hospitalization (by sector and OOP expenditure were conducted, taking into account gender, socio-economic status, residence, type of facility and ailment. Insurance coverage was 38.8%. Rates of hospitalization were 33/1000 population among the insured and 29/1000 among the uninsured. Of those insured and hospitalized, 67.2% utilized the public sector. Women, rural residents, Scheduled Tribes and poorer groups were more likely to utilize the public sector for hospitalizations. Although the insured were less likely to incur out of pocket (OOP expenditure, 95.1% of insured private sector users and 66.0% of insured public sector users, still incurred costs. Median OOP payments in the private sector were eight times those in the public sector. Of households with at least one member hospitalized, 35.5% experienced catastrophic health expenditures (>10% monthly household consumption expenditure. The study finds that despite insurance coverage, the majority still incurred OOP expenditure. The public sector was nevertheless less expensive, and catered to the more vulnerable groups. It suggests

  5. Implementing Sustainable Public Procurement : an organisational change perspective

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    J. Grandia (Jolien)

    2015-01-01

    markdownabstractFor the execution of policies, as well as for its own operations, governments procure goods and services, ranging from paper and pencils to fighter planes, cleaning services and public road works. In the European Union public procurement represents 16% of the gross domestic product.

  6. Leopold: the "bleeder prince" and public knowledge about hemophilia in Victorian Britain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rushton, Alan R

    2012-07-01

    Hemophilia is a rare bleeding disorder inherited by males born of unaffected female carriers of the trait. British physicians became knowledgeable about this hereditary disease early in the nineteenth century as they investigated families transmitting the character through several generations. Prince Leopold (b. 1853), the fourth son of Queen Victoria, experienced recurrent bleeding episodes and was diagnosed with hemophilia during childhood. His hemorrhagic attacks were first described in the medical journals during 1868, and subsequently in the London and provincial newspapers. The royal family carefully managed news about health matters, and many newspapers reported widespread public sympathy for the travails of the queen and her children. But the republican press argued that the disaffected working classes resented the hyperbole connecting the health of royal individuals with the political future of the entire nation. Public discussion of hemophilia transformed it from a rare medical phenomenon to a matter of national news. Practicing physicians, the royal family, and the general public all came to understand the clinical features and the hereditary nature of the problem. Members of the royal family subsequently utilized this information to guide the marriages of their own children to prevent the spread of this dreaded bleeding disorder.

  7. Understanding and defining bullying - adolescents' own views.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hellström, Lisa; Persson, Louise; Hagquist, Curt

    2015-01-01

    The negative consequences of peer-victimization on children and adolescents are major public health concerns which have been subjected to extensive research. Given all efforts made to analyze and estimate the social and health consequences of peer-victimization, the adolescents' own experiences and understandings have had surprisingly little impact on the definition of bullying. Therefore, the aim of the current study is to explore adolescents' definitions of bullying. A questionnaire study (n = 128) and four focus group interviews (n = 21) were conducted among students aged 13 and 15. First, gender and age differences were analyzed with respect to what behaviors are considered bullying (questionnaire data). Second, analysis of what bullying is (focus group interviews) was conducted using qualitative content analysis. The adolescents own understanding and definition of bullying didn't just include the traditional criteria of repetition and power imbalance, but also a criterion based on the health consequences of bullying. The results showed that a single but hurtful or harmful incident also could be considered bullying irrespective of whether the traditional criteria were fulfilled or not. Further, girls and older students had a more inclusive view of bullying and reported more types of behaviors as bullying compared to boys and younger students. The results of the current study adds to the existing literature by showing that adolescents consider the victim's experience of hurt and harm as a criterion for defining bullying and not only as consequences of bullying. This may be of special relevance for the identification and classification of bullying incidents on the internet where devastating consequences have been reported from single incidents and the use of the traditional criteria of intent, repetition and power imbalance may not be as relevant as for traditional bullying. It implies that the traditional criteria included in most definitions of bullying

  8. Mergers and acquisitions: Guidelines for consideration by state public utility commissions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Graniere, R.J.; Burns, R.E.

    1996-11-01

    This is the first of a series of reports on utility mergers and acquisitions published by NRRI; because it was completed Nov. 1996, it does not cover FERC Order 592 (policy statement on merger policy under Federal Power Act). Since cost-benefit analyses are expensive, state regulators need guidelines that efficiently streamline the review process for mergers and acquisitions. Purpose of this paper is to suggest such guidelines; they are applicable only to mergers and acquisitions of vertically integrated electric utilities or combination electric/gas utilities.

  9. Using Multicriteria Analysis in Issues Concerning Adaptation of Historic Facilities for the Needs of Public Utility Buildings with a Function of a Theatre

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obracaj, Piotr; Fabianowski, Dariusz

    2017-10-01

    Implementations concerning adaptation of historic facilities for public utility objects are associated with the necessity of solving many complex, often conflicting expectations of future users. This mainly concerns the function that includes construction, technology and aesthetic issues. The list of issues is completed with proper protection of historic values, different in each case. The procedure leading to obtaining the expected solution is a multicriteria procedure, usually difficult to accurately define and requiring designer’s large experience. An innovative approach has been used for the analysis, namely - the modified EA FAHP (Extent Analysis Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process) Chang’s method of a multicriteria analysis for the assessment of complex functional and spatial issues. Selection of optimal spatial form of an adapted historic building intended for the multi-functional public utility facility was analysed. The assumed functional flexibility was determined in the scope of: education, conference, and chamber spectacles, such as drama, concerts, in different stage-audience layouts.

  10. Privatization of municipal electrical utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carr, J.

    1998-01-01

    The challenges and special issues which arise through the sale of a municipal electric utility were discussed. The recent sales of two utilities, the Kentville Electric Commission in Nova Scotia and Cornwall Electric in Ontario, were used as examples to show how the sale of an electric utility differs from the sale of most business enterprises. Municipal utilities are integral parts of the communities they serve which introduces several complexities into the sale. Factors that require special attention in the sale of the utilities, including electricity rates, local accountability, treatment of employees and local economic development, and the need for a comprehensive communication program to deal with the substantial public interest that sale of a municipal utility will engender, were reviewed

  11. 10 CFR 503.35 - Inability to obtain adequate capital.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... equity; (iii) Without an unreasonably adverse affect on the utility's credit rating; or (iv) In the case of non-investor-owned public utilities, without jeopardizing the utility's ability to recover its...

  12. Chemical Search Web Utility

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Chemical Search Web Utility is an intuitive web application that allows the public to easily find the chemical that they are interested in using, and which...

  13. As empresas de serviços públicos na Argentina (1880-2000 Public utility companies in Argentina (1880-2000

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diego Bussola

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available Neste trabalho analisa-se a evolução da propriedade das empresas de serviços públicos na Argentina desde a sua criação até às privatizações de finais do século xx. Neste percurso, coloca-se a ênfase nas práticas empresariais que no início do século xx conduziram a situações não concorrenciais, nos protestos dos consumidores no período de entre guerras, nas nacionalizações durante o governo de Perón e nas privatizações no governo de Menem. O objectivo é explicar o aparente paradoxo de as mudanças no regime de propriedade (nacionalizações e privatizações terem ocorrido durante governos peronistas.In this paper we analyze the changes in the ownership of Argentinean public utilities from their creation until their privatization at the end of the 20th century. We focus our study on: entrepreneurial tactics during the beginning of the 20th century that produced a monopolized sector; consumer's complaints during the interwar period; Peron's nationalizations; and Menem's privatizations. Our main aim is to explain an apparent paradox: why both types of change in the ownership of public utilities (nationalization and privatization occurred during peronist governments.

  14. Inventory of Owned and Leased Properties (IOLP)

    Data.gov (United States)

    General Services Administration — The Inventory of Owned and Leased Properties (IOLP) allows users to search properties owned and leased by the General Services Administration (GSA) across the United...

  15. Electric trade in the United States 1992

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1994-09-01

    This publication, Electric Trade in the US 1992 (ELECTRA), is the fourth in a series of reports on wholesale power transactions prepared by the Electric Data Systems Branch, Survey Management Division, Office of Coal, Nuclear, Electric and Alternate Fuels, Energy Information Administration (EIA). The electric trade data are published biennially. The first report presented 1986 data, and this report provides information on the electric power industry during 1992. The electric trade data collected and presented in this report furnish important information on the wholesale structure found within the US electric power industry. The patterns of interutility trade in the report support analyses of wholesale power transactions and provide input for a broader understanding of bulk power market issues that define the emerging national electric energy policies. The report includes information on the quantity of power purchased, sold, exchanged, and wheeled; the geographical locations of transactions and ownership classes involved; and the revenues and costs. Information on the physical transmission system are being included for the first time in this publication. Transmission data covering investor-owned electric utilities were shifted from the Financial Statistics of Selected Investor-Owned Electric Utilities to the ELECTRA publication. Some of the prominent features of this year`s report include information and data not published before on transmission lines for publicly owned utilities and transmission lines added during 1992 by investor-owned electric utilities.

  16. Electric trade in the United States 1992

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-09-01

    This publication, Electric Trade in the US 1992 (ELECTRA), is the fourth in a series of reports on wholesale power transactions prepared by the Electric Data Systems Branch, Survey Management Division, Office of Coal, Nuclear, Electric and Alternate Fuels, Energy Information Administration (EIA). The electric trade data are published biennially. The first report presented 1986 data, and this report provides information on the electric power industry during 1992. The electric trade data collected and presented in this report furnish important information on the wholesale structure found within the US electric power industry. The patterns of interutility trade in the report support analyses of wholesale power transactions and provide input for a broader understanding of bulk power market issues that define the emerging national electric energy policies. The report includes information on the quantity of power purchased, sold, exchanged, and wheeled; the geographical locations of transactions and ownership classes involved; and the revenues and costs. Information on the physical transmission system are being included for the first time in this publication. Transmission data covering investor-owned electric utilities were shifted from the Financial Statistics of Selected Investor-Owned Electric Utilities to the ELECTRA publication. Some of the prominent features of this year's report include information and data not published before on transmission lines for publicly owned utilities and transmission lines added during 1992 by investor-owned electric utilities

  17. Neural correlates of own name and own face detection in autism spectrum disorder.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hanna B Cygan

    Full Text Available Autism spectrum disorder (ASD is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition clinically characterized by social interaction and communication difficulties. To date, the majority of research efforts have focused on brain mechanisms underlying the deficits in interpersonal social cognition associated with ASD. Recent empirical and theoretical work has begun to reveal evidence for a reduced or even absent self-preference effect in patients with ASD. One may hypothesize that this is related to the impaired attentional processing of self-referential stimuli. The aim of our study was to test this hypothesis. We investigated the neural correlates of face and name detection in ASD. Four categories of face/name stimuli were used: own, close-other, famous, and unknown. Event-related potentials were recorded from 62 electrodes in 23 subjects with ASD and 23 matched control subjects. P100, N170, and P300 components were analyzed. The control group clearly showed a significant self-preference effect: higher P300 amplitude to the presentation of own face and own name than to the close-other, famous, and unknown categories, indicating preferential attentional engagement in processing of self-related information. In contrast, detection of both own and close-other's face and name in the ASD group was associated with enhanced P300, suggesting similar attention allocation for self and close-other related information. These findings suggest that attention allocation in the ASD group is modulated by the personal significance factor, and that the self-preference effect is absent if self is compared to close-other. These effects are similar for physical and non-physical aspects of the autistic self. In addition, lateralization of face and name processing is attenuated in ASD, suggesting atypical brain organization.

  18. Steam, solarization, and tons of prevention: the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's fight to contain Phytophthoras in San Francisco Bay area restoration sites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greg Lyman; Jessica Appel; Mia Ingolia; Ellen Natesan; Joe Ortiz

    2017-01-01

    To compensate for unavoidable impacts associated with critical water infrastructure capital improvement projects, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) restored over 2,050 acres of riparian, wetland, and upland habitat on watershed lands in Alameda, Santa Clara, and San Mateo Counties. Despite strict bio-sanitation protocols, plant pathogens (...

  19. Relative Pricing of Publicly Traded U.S. Electric Utility Companies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jewczyn, Nicholas Stephen

    In the financial turmoil of 2008, U.S. firms reported debt-ratios that differed from the debt-ratios calculated from balance sheets. The problem is that investors bought common stock expecting initial investment return and lost money when companies delisted. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine sample securities pricing with the application of synthetic assets and debt accrued. Addressed in the research questions was whether those securities were (a) underpriced compared with return-on-assets (ROA), (b) overpriced compared with ROA, (c) a debt-ratio higher than 60% and also overpriced, (d) underpriced with a synthetic asset added, or (e) related by relative pricing to variant pricing and market capitalization. The study's base theory was Pan's efficient market hypothesis (EMH) of security price prediction of market prices versus model prices. The data from the financial statements of 16 publicly traded U.S. electric utility companies were analyzed via correlations and multiple regression analyses to determine securities pricing and suitability. The findings from the analyses of the sample's variables of market price, book value, market-to-book, and study constructed variables from those variable data were statistically significant. The alternate hypotheses were accepted for all 5 research questions since the analytical operationalization of the hypothetical constructs led to significant relationships. Results suggest that the use of more pricing determinants in securities evaluation may lead to investors losing less money and earning the expected returns for a more efficient capital market, leading to a stronger economy and macroeconomic stability.

  20. Crushing data silos with ownCloud

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN. Geneva

    2013-01-01

    More and more people store their personal files and documents in cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, Skydrive or iCloud. The reason is that they provide convenient features to sync your files between devices and share them with others. We are heading full speed into a future where a huge piece of the personal information of the world is stored in very few centralized services. Questions emerge what the impact on user privacy, surveillance, lawfulness of content and storage cost will be in in the long run. I don't think that a world where most of the personal data of the world is stored on servers of a hand full companies is a good one. This talk will discuss the problems of a future with centralized cloud file sync and share services and will present ownCloud as a possible solution. ownCloud is a free software project that offers a decentralized alternative to proprietary cloud services where everybody can run an own cloud service comparable with Dropbox but on own hardware and with full ...

  1. Managing the nuclear utility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Williams, J.W. Jr.

    1985-01-01

    The Florida Power and Light Company (FP and L) is the fifth largest investor-owned utility in the country. The success of nuclear power generation at the St. Lucie Units 1 and 2 and Turkey Point Units 3 and 4 has resulted from a continuing management commitment to the nuclear program. The management of the power plants rely strongly on teamwork for most large projects and activities whether they entail plant operation, construction, or maintenance. Various examples of how teamwork has been used to realize the successful completion of projects or solutions to problems are given

  2. Electricity utilities: Nuclear sector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brosche, D.

    1992-01-01

    The safe and economic operation of nuclear power plants requires an appropriate infrastructure on the part of the operator as well as a high level of technical quality of the plants and of qualification of the personnel. Added to this are a variety of services rendered by specialist firms. The Bayernwerk utility, with plants of its own, has played a major role in the development of nuclear power in the Federal Republic of Germany. The importance of nuclear power to this firm is reflected in the pattern of its electricity sources and in the composition of its power plants. (orig.) [de

  3. Confidential data in a competitive utility environment: A regulatory perspective

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vine, E.

    1996-08-01

    Historically, the electric utility industry has been regarded as one of the most open industries in the United States in sharing information but their reputation is being challenged by competitive energy providers, the general public, regulators, and other stakeholders. As the prospect of competition among electricity power providers has increased in recent years, many utilities have been requesting that the data they submit to their utility regulatory commissions remain confidential. Withholding utility information from the public is likely to have serious and significant policy implications with respect to: (1) consumer education, the pursuit of truth, mutual respect among parties, and social cooperation; (2) the creation of a fair market for competitive energy services; (3) the regulatory balance; (4) regional and national assessments of energy-savings opportunities; (5) research and development; and (6) evaluations of utility programs, plans, and policies. In a telephone survey of all public utility commissions (PUCs) that regulate electric and gas utilities in the U.S., we found that almost all PUCs have received requests from utility companies for data to be filed as confidential, and confidential data filings appear to have increased (both in scope and in frequency) in those states where utility restructuring is being actively discussed. The most common types of data submitted as confidential by utilities dealt with specific customer data, market data, avoided costs, and utility costs.

  4. EDF, a utility and its own needs in the field of transport of nuclear materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gouin, P.; Mignot, E.; Hoang, L.P.

    1989-01-01

    As one of the most important producers of nuclear electricity in the world, EDF is concerned by all the aspects of the transport of nuclear materials and more particularly by those related to the nuclear fuel cycle. EDF is not itself a specialist in this field and most of the transports along the nuclear fuel cycle is done for their own account by their usual partners such as COGEMA or TRANSNUCLEAIRE. Since the beginning of the French nuclear program, they have generally used for these transports casks that already exist on the market and which were well suited to their needs. Nevertheless, new and specific needs appeared during the progress of their nuclear program and have lead them to: study and build new casks or packages, use existing casks for new purposes, develop a device for the measurement of fuel assemblies burn up, develop a software to optimize the evacuation of irradiated fuel for reprocessing. The purpose of this paper is to describe these realization but as a preliminary, they will present briefly the importance of the transport of nuclear materials for EDF

  5. Using Critical Communication Pedagogy to Teach Public Speaking

    Science.gov (United States)

    De La Mare, Danielle M.

    2014-01-01

    Using Critical Communication Pedagogy, this semester-long service-learning approach to public speaking requires students to apply public speaking concepts to a speech they develop and deliver to a specific community audience, to examine their own biases, and to explore and evaluate various strategies for adapting to their audience.

  6. Basic study for promoting joint implementation and others. Feasibility study on the recovery and utilization of coal mine methane of an Upper Silesian Coal Field

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2001-03-01

    Having the Mining Industry Restructuring Public Corporation located in the city of Katowice, Poland as the counterpart, a feasibility study has been executed on a project to utilize coal bed gas for power generation. Selected for the study are the 'Budryk coal mine' owned by KWK 'Budryk' Coal Company and the 'Pniowek coal mine' owned by Jastrzebie Coal Company. Since the Pniowek coal mine can utilize the whole quantity of recovered methane by 2001, the Budryk coal mine was selected as the object of the project. As a result of the trial calculation on the economy when the new gas power plant is installed in the Budryk coal mine, the energy substitution effect was found to equal to a power amount at transmission terminal of 6 MWh/year. Furthermore, when proliferation effect is taken into consideration, an enormous effect can be expected if new coal mines are developed and the existing cola mines will go further deeper, because the Silesian coal mine presently has the coal resource quantity of 57 billion tons and the annual gas discharge quantity of 750 million m{sup 3}. Therefore, if the technologies to recover, manage and utilize the gas are established at the Budryk coal mine, a large effect leading to an aspiration would be expected under the current situation of the structural reorganization under which the Polish coal companies are placed. (NEDO)

  7. Impact of Federal tax policy and electric utility rate schedules upon the solar building/electric utility interface. Executive summary

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feldman, S.L.; Wirtshafter, R.M.; Abrash, M.; Anderson, B.; Sullivan, P.; Kohler, J.

    1978-10-01

    An analysis is performed to show that a utility solar-passive strategy can be used rather effectively in aiding the utility to obtain more efficient load factors and lower costs. The objectives are to determine the impact of active and passive solar energy designs for space conditioning and hot water heating for the residential sector upon the diurnal and annual load curves for several utilities, to assess the effect of present utility pricing policies, and to examine alternative pricing schemes, as well as Federal and state tax credits, as they may affect the optimal sizing and configuration of active solar and passive solar building components. The methodology, the systems model, an overall building design, building cost determination, and a description of TRNSYS are presented. The major parameters discussed that distinguish variation in the cost-effectiveness of particular building design fall into 5 categories: the weather, building configurations, building costs, utility costs and rates, and financial parameters (inclusive of tax credits for solar and energy conservation investment). Five utilities are studied: Colorado Springs Department of Public Utilities; Public Service Co. of New Mexico; New England Electric System; Pacific Gas and Electric; and Georgia Power Co.

  8. SPREADING THE IDEAL OF MASS SHAREOWNERSHIP: PUBLIC RELATIONS AND THE NYSE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Janice Traflet (ed.

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available In the 1950s, the New York Stock Exchange, led by President Keith Funston, embarked on an ambitious public relations campaign christened “Own Your Share of American Business.” This paper justaposes the “Own Your Share”campaign with earlier NYSE image-making efforts. Tracing the evolution in Exchange public relations sheds lights on how the Big Board gradually embraced mass shareownership as a worthy goal and endorsed mass merchandising as a legitimate way to achieve it.

  9. Who owns what? Private ownership and the public interest in recombinant DNA technology in the 1970s.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yi, Doogab

    2011-09-01

    This essay analyzes how academic institutions, government agencies, and the nascent biotech industry contested the legal ownership of recombinant DNA technology in the name of the public interest. It reconstructs the way a small but influential group of government officials and university research administrators introduced a new framework for the commercialization of academic research in the context of a national debate over scientific research's contributions to American economic prosperity and public health. They claimed that private ownership of inventions arising from public support would provide a powerful means to liberate biomedical discoveries for public benefit. This articulation of the causal link between private ownership and the public interest, it is argued, justified a new set of expectations about the use of research results arising from government or public support, in which commercialization became a new public obligation for academic researchers. By highlighting the broader economic and legal shifts that prompted the reconfiguration of the ownership of public knowledge in late twentieth-century American capitalism, the essay examines the threads of policy-informed legal ideas that came together to affirm private ownership of biomedical knowledge as germane to the public interest in the coming of age of biotechnology and genetic medicine.

  10. The Internet and Generalized Functions of the Public Sphere: Transformative Potentials From a Comparative Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adrian Rauchfleisch

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Almost since the advent of the Internet, there has been great interest in analyzing and understanding online communication from the perspective of public sphere theory. The question of whether the properties of the Internet and, specifically, social media actually contribute to the public sphere is the matter of ongoing and somewhat heated scientific debate. The aim of the article is twofold. First, we propose a hierarchical model of generalized functions of public sphere. On a theoretical level, we interweave different strands of thought on the public sphere, and the resulting model is more inclusive and less rigid than each of those strands on their own. We identify four generalized functions: identity building, agenda-setting, control and criticism, and deliberation. The Internet does not contribute equally to these functions and we evaluate the impact of the Internet on each of these functions as a diminishing marginal utility. Second, we empirically explore the plausibility of our model in a global comparative analysis with focus on the Internet. With the help of macro-level variables which indicate the structural preconditions for a public sphere, we identify the highest possible function of the public sphere for each country to which the Internet can potentially contribute. Based on this approach, future research can be contextualized: case-study-based research can plausibly articulate expectations regarding the impact of the Internet on the public sphere.

  11. Caucasian infants scan own- and other-race faces differently.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrea Wheeler

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Young infants are known to prefer own-race faces to other race faces and recognize own-race faces better than other-race faces. However, it is entirely unclear as to whether infants also attend to different parts of own- and other-race faces differently, which may provide an important clue as to how and why the own-race face recognition advantage emerges so early. The present study used eye tracking methodology to investigate whether 6- to 10-month-old Caucasian infants (N = 37 have differential scanning patterns for dynamically displayed own- and other-race faces. We found that even though infants spent a similar amount of time looking at own- and other-race faces, with increased age, infants increasingly looked longer at the eyes of own-race faces and less at the mouths of own-race faces. These findings suggest experience-based tuning of the infant's face processing system to optimally process own-race faces that are different in physiognomy from other-race faces. In addition, the present results, taken together with recent own- and other-race eye tracking findings with infants and adults, provide strong support for an enculturation hypothesis that East Asians and Westerners may be socialized to scan faces differently due to each culture's conventions regarding mutual gaze during interpersonal communication.

  12. Beyond information and utility: Transforming public spaces with media facades.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fischer, Patrick Tobias; Zöllner, Christian; Hoffmann, Thilo; Piatza, Sebastian; Hornecker, Eva

    2013-01-01

    Media facades (often characterized as a building's digital skin) are public displays that substitute dynamic details and information for usually static structures. SMSlingshot is a media facade system at the confluence of art, architecture, and technology design in the context of urban human-computer interaction. It represents a participative approach to public displays that enlivens public spaces and fosters civic and social dialogue as an alternative to advertising and service-oriented information displays. Observations from SMSlingshot's implementation at festival exhibitions provide insight into the roles of scale, distance, and the spatial situation of media facade contexts. The lessons learned apply to most public-display situations and will be useful for designers and developers of this new medium in urban spaces.

  13. Alternative windpower ownership structures: Financing terms and project costs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wiser, R.; Kahn, E.

    1996-05-01

    Most utility-scale renewable energy projects in the United States are developed and financed by private renewable energy companies. Electric output is then sold to investor-owned and public utilities under long-term contracts. Limited partnerships, sale/leaseback arrangements, and project-financing have historically been the dominant forms of finance in the windpower industry, with project-finance taking the lead more recently. Although private ownership using project-finance is still the most popular form of windpower development, alternative approaches to ownership and financing are becoming more prevalent. U.S. public and investor-owned electric utilities (IOUs) have begun to participate directly in windpower projects by owning and financing their own facilities rather than purchasing windpower from independent non-utility generators (NUGs) through power purchase agreements (PPAs). In these utility-ownership arrangements, the wind turbine equipment vendor/developer typically designs and constructs a project under a turnkey contract for the eventual project owner (the utility). The utility will also frequently sign an operations and maintenance (O&M) contract with the project developer/equipment vendor. There appear to be a number of reasons for utility involvement in recent and planned U.S. wind projects. One important claim is that utility ownership and self-finance provides substantial cost savings compared to contracting with private NUGs to supply wind-generated power. In this report, we examine that assertion.

  14. Public-Private Partnerships

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lehmann, Martin; Jeppesen, S.

    2006-01-01

    Public-private partnerships in the environmental field have emerged as one option in the pursuit of sustainable development. So-called ‘Green Networks’, ‘Cleaner Production Centres’, ‘Waste Minimisation Clubs’ are among others highlighted as alternatives to governmental regulation. While being...... these initiatives in an institutional framework and suggest how the experiences can be understood in their own rights....

  15. Utilization of a university reactor for public acceptance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Myung Hyun [Kyung Hee Univ., Gyeonggi-do (Korea, Republic of). Reactor Research and Education Center

    2015-06-15

    AGN-201K is a university reactor in Kyung Hee University (KHU) mainly used for student education as training short course as well as academic course for senior-level. After the Fukushima accident, public concern on radiation hazard has been increased beyond rational level at a neighboring country. It was found that AGN-201K be the perfect tool for interaction with general public. It is very safe to operate with general participants because it is adapted to the very low power. However, radiation level is reasonably high to detect and shield for practice. KHU has a Regional Radiation Monitoring Post where environmental radiation level at Suwon city is continuously measured. In this facility, radiation level at soil, rain, and local agricultural products were measured and reported to the national monitoring headquarter. A new mission of reactor research and education center of KHU has been tried from last summer. Facilities were opened for high school students and teachers for their science camps during summer and winter. A special public acceptance program named as experience camp for understanding the nuclear power and radiation was held 6 times for the last one-year period. Even though number of attendee was limited and small, feedback from participants was hot and positive enough to make professors be ready to sacrifice their personal time.

  16. Utilization of a university reactor for public acceptance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Myung Hyun

    2015-01-01

    AGN-201K is a university reactor in Kyung Hee University (KHU) mainly used for student education as training short course as well as academic course for senior-level. After the Fukushima accident, public concern on radiation hazard has been increased beyond rational level at a neighboring country. It was found that AGN-201K be the perfect tool for interaction with general public. It is very safe to operate with general participants because it is adapted to the very low power. However, radiation level is reasonably high to detect and shield for practice. KHU has a Regional Radiation Monitoring Post where environmental radiation level at Suwon city is continuously measured. In this facility, radiation level at soil, rain, and local agricultural products were measured and reported to the national monitoring headquarter. A new mission of reactor research and education center of KHU has been tried from last summer. Facilities were opened for high school students and teachers for their science camps during summer and winter. A special public acceptance program named as experience camp for understanding the nuclear power and radiation was held 6 times for the last one-year period. Even though number of attendee was limited and small, feedback from participants was hot and positive enough to make professors be ready to sacrifice their personal time.

  17. Physician-owned companies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kostuik, John P

    2007-05-15

    The author relates his experience in the development of a spinal implant development company (K2M) that is significantly advised by physicians. To provide information about the development of a spinal implant company (K2M) advised by a group of professional spinal surgeons. To relate the federal laws (STARK and anti-kickback) as they pertain to surgeon-influenced companies. To discuss the role of a scientific advisory board. A self-developed company was developed together with significant, but minority physician financial input and majority scientific advice. A privately owned spinal implant development corporation (K2M) was developed 3 years ago. Physician financial participation was less than 20% (Stark laws state no more than 40%). Users of product are greater than 60% non-investor physicians. The development of a large scientific advisory board has been very influential in product development. A privately owned spinal implant company (K2M) has been developed strictly within Federal laws. Its board of scientific advisors that receives recompense commissurate only with effort significantly impacts the company policy.

  18. 50 CFR 14.17 - Personally owned pet birds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Personally owned pet birds. 14.17 Section 14.17 Wildlife and Fisheries UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR... Ports § 14.17 Personally owned pet birds. Any person may import a personally owned pet bird at any port...

  19. 75 FR 42659 - Standards for Pipe Tobacco and Roll-Your-Own Tobacco; Request for Public Comment

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-22

    ... be rolled into cigarettes and, further, consumers can use basic kitchen or hardware appliances to... consider to be confidential or that is inappropriate for public disclosure. Public Disclosure On the...

  20. Evaluation of the electric utility missions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Syrota, J.

    2000-01-01

    The French law from February 10, 2000, about the modernization and development of the electric utility, has created new missions of public utility and foresees some compensation mechanisms for not handicapping the power operators in charge of these missions and for not creating competition distortions to their detriment on the European market. The author explains, first, the financial and economical stakes linked with these new missions. Then, he evokes the evolution of the energy context that has taken place between the 2. World war and the enforcement of the February 10, 2000 law, and he analyzes the systems foreseen for the power generation and distribution. For each public utility charge, the existing dispositions and those introduced by the law are analyzed and compared to the equivalent systems existing in other countries. Then, charge evaluation criteria and sharing rules and proposed. (J.S.)

  1. State-owned Enterprises as Institutional Market Actors in the Marketization of Public Service Provision

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tolstrup Christensen, Lene

    This doctoral thesis (PhD) explores from a public governance perspective the role of stateowned enterprises (SOEs) in an era of marketization of public service provision and thus contributes to the renewed academic interest in contemporary SOEs. It builds on an explorative comparative case study...... of DSB SOV and SJ AB in the marketization of passenger rail in Denmark and Sweden respectively from the 1990s to 2015. In the period both cases kept full state ownership and Sweden gradually exposed all services to competition whereas in Denmark with time competition was put on hold. The case study...... as an institutional market actor (IMA)....

  2. The Public Space in Nigeria: Politics of Power, Gender and Exclusion

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The public space often conveys a notion of res publica, owned by all members of the public, with equal access and participation. In reality, however, there are several publics, as indeed spaces at the local, state, national and international levels. Irrespective of levels, the public space is where decisions binding on all are ...

  3. ‘Committed, motivated and joyful?’ Job satisfaction and organisational commitment of managers at a South African public utility

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claude-Hélène Mayer

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Objective: This study focuses on an assessment of managerial job satisfaction and commitment in the context of a vibrant and rapidly changing public utility from a positive organisational behaviour (POB perspective. It aims at contributing towards an in-depth understanding of positive micro-organisational behaviour. Problem investigated: The aim of this study was to gain deeper insights into the relationship between job satisfaction (JS and organisational commitment (OC in terms of the ‘how and why’ at a selected public utility in the Eastern Cape Province. Design: This single case study uses a mixed-method approach within the pragmatism research paradigm. Findings: Findings show that managers across cultures share a positive organisational psychology approach on JS and OC. The JS of managers is mainly influenced by their satisfaction with working with colleagues and supervisors, and with strategies of motivation, as well as their dissatisfaction with the use of power, pay and promotion. OC was mainly influenced by positive collegial relationships, the organisation’s positive influence on the environment and on others, the enabling work environment and the location of the organisation. Originality/value: The article introduces new ideas in positive organisational behaviour research and reconstructs the image of South African organisational behaviour based on qualitative and quantitative data. Conclusion: This article shows that post-modern African organisations are opening new frontiers to building positive-oriented organisational cultures whilst creating constructive and future-orientated mindsets, which may spill over into society.

  4. Promotion of HANARO Utilization for Year 2004

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sohn, J. M.; Kim, Y. J.; Kim, H. R.

    2005-06-01

    To activate the HANARO utilization by expanding HANARO utilization fields, recruiting and training new users. In order to promote the HANARO utilization, the following activities have been performed. The neutron usage fee in HANARO, Achievements of HANARO utilization, Project for Activation of the Research using HANARO, Operation and Management of HANARO Homepage, HANARO Workshop 2004, Management of HANARO related committees, Training of HANARO users, Related activities of HANARO publicity. The related activities to activate HANARO utilization have been carried out successfully. This report summarized the detailed activities to activate the HANARO utilization. They will be useful for expanding HANARO utilization in the near future

  5. Promotion of HANARO utilization for year 2003

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sohn, J. M.; Park, K. B.; Kim, Y. J.

    2004-06-01

    To activate the HANARO utilization by expanding HANARO utilization fields, recruiting and training new users. In order to promote the HANARO utilization, the following activities have been performed. - The neutron usage fee in HANARO - Achievements of HANARO utilization - Project for Activation of the Research using HANARO - Management of HANARO Homepage - HANARO Workshop 2003 - Operation and Management of HANARO related committees - Training of HANARO users - Related activities of HANARO publicity. The related activities to activate HANARO utilization have been carried out successfully. This report summarized the detailed activities to activate the HANARO utilization. They will be useful for expanding HANARO utilization in the near future

  6. Promotion of HANARO utilization for year 2002

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sohn, J. M.; Park, K. B.; Kim, Y. J.

    2003-06-01

    Object and importance to activate the HANARO utilization by expanding HANARO utilization fields, recruiting and training new users. In order to promote the HANARO utilization, the following activities have been performed. The neutron usage fee in HANARO, Achievements of HANARO utilization, Project for activation of the research using HANARO, Management of HANARO homepage, Management of HANARO related committees, Training of HANARO users, Establishment of user-room, Related activities of HANARO publicity. The related activities to activate HANARO utilization have been carried out successfully. This report summarized the detailed activities to activate the HANARO utilization. They will be useful for expanding HANARO utilization in the near future

  7. Promotion of HANARO Utilization for Year 2006

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sohn, J. M.; Kim, H. R.; Jun, B. J. (and others)

    2007-05-15

    To activate the HANARO utilization by expanding HANARO utilization fields, recruiting and training new users. In order to promote the HANARO utilization, the following activities have been performed. The neutron usage fee in HANARO. Achievements of HANARO utilization. Project for Activation of the Research using HANARO. HANARO Symposium. Survey of the HANARO User Satisfaction Index. Operation and Management of HANARO Server. Management of HANARO related committees. Training of HANARO users. Related activities of HANARO publicity. The related activities to activate HANARO utilization have been carried out successfully. This report summarized the detailed activities to activate the HANARO utilization. They will be useful for expanding HANARO utilization in the near future.

  8. NASA Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization

    Science.gov (United States)

    2001-01-01

    The Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) within NASA promotes the utilization of small, disadvantaged, and women-owned small businesses in compliance with Federal laws, regulations, and policies. We assist such firms in obtaining contracts and subcontracts with NASA and its prime contractors. The OSDBU also facilitates the participation of small businesses in NASA's technology transfer and commercialization activities. Our driving philosophy is to consider small businesses as our products. Our customers are the NASA Enterprises, Field Centers, Functional Staff Offices, major prime contractors, and other large institutions. We hone the skills of our products to make them marketable to our customers in the performance of NASA missions.

  9. Public Versus Private: Does It Matter for Water Conservation? Insights from California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kallis, Giorgos; Ray, Isha; Fulton, Julian; McMahon, James E.

    2010-01-01

    This article asks three connected questions: First, does the public view private and public utilities differently, and if so, does this affect attitudes to conservation? Second, do public and private utilities differ in their approaches to conservation? Finally, do differences in the approaches of the utilities, if any, relate to differences in public attitudes? We survey public attitudes in California toward (hypothetical but plausible) voluntary and mandated water conservation, as well as to price increases, during a recent period of shortage. We do this by interviewing households in three pairs of adjacent public and private utilities. We also survey managers of public and private urban water utilities to see if they differ in their approaches to conservation and to their customers. On the user side we do not find pronounced differences, though a minority of customers in all private companies would be more willing to conserve or pay higher prices under a public operator. No respondent in public utility said the reverse. Negative attitudes toward private operators were most pronounced in the pair marked by a controversial recent privatization and a price hike. Nonetheless, we find that California’s history of recurrent droughts and the visible role of the state in water supply and drought management undermine the distinction between public and private. Private utilities themselves work to underplay the distinction by stressing the collective ownership of the water source and the collective value of conservation. Overall, California’s public utilities appear more proactive and target-oriented in asking their customers to conserve than their private counterparts and the state continues to be important in legitimating and guiding conservation behavior, whether the utility is in public hands or private.

  10. A Performance Analysis of Long-term Acute-Care Hospitals Owned by Large, Multistate Investor-Owned Companies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nayar, Preethy; Liu, Xinliang; McCue, Michael J

    2016-01-01

    This study provides a descriptive assessment of the operating performance of for-profit long-term acute-care hospitals owned by multistate, investor-owned companies (large FP LTCHs) compared with FP LTCHs owned by smaller FP companies (small FP LTCHs) and nonprofit LTCHs (NP LTCHs). The study used the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services cost report data for 290 LTCHs from 2010 through 2012 to compare the financial performance of large and small FP LTCHs and NP LTCHs. The study found that the median operating profit margin for large FP LTCHs was 8.06%, which was twice as high as that of the small FP LTCHs and NP LTCHs (4.78% and 2.80%, respectively). Larger size, serving a greater proportion of private pay and more complex patients and incurring lower operating expenses, including salary expenses, may account for the higher operating margin of the large FP LTCHs.

  11. Community-Owned wind power development: The challenge of applying the European model in the United States, and how states are addressing that challenge

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bolinger, Mark

    2004-03-28

    Local farmers, towns, schools, and individual investors are, however, beginning to invest in wind power. With the help of state policy and clean energy fund support, new federal incentives, and creative local wind developers who have devised ownership structures that maximize the value of both state and federal support, community wind power is beginning to take a foothold in parts of the US, in particular the upper Midwest. The purpose of this report is to describe that foothold, as well as the state support that helped to create it. There are a number of reasons why states are becoming increasingly interested in community wind power. In rural Midwestern states such as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois, community wind is seen as a way to help supplement and stabilize farmer income, and thereby contribute to the preservation of farming communities and the rural landscapes and values they create. In the Northeast, densely populated states such as Massachusetts are turning to community-scale wind development to increase not only the amount of wind power on the grid, but also the public's knowledge, perception, and acceptance of wind power. In still other areas--such as the Pacific Northwest, which is already home to several large wind farms--states are simply responding to strong interest from local constituents who see community wind power as a way to take responsibility for, and mitigate the environmental impact of, electricity generation. But what exactly is ''community wind power''? Definitions vary widely, ranging from behind-the-meter installations to the Danish wind ''cooperatives'' to wind projects owned by municipal utilities. Possible defining criteria include: project size (small vs. large projects); purpose (to offset end-use power consumption vs. to sell power to the grid); ownership (single local vs. multiple local vs. municipal utility vs. commercial owners); and interconnection (behind the meter vs

  12. ownCloud project at CNRS

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN. Geneva

    2014-01-01

    CNRS will launch next November an ownCloud based service with the intend to serve CNRS research units. The first step is to deploy this service as a beta solution for 2 months and 2 000 end users, and then to generalize this offer to the whole CNRS users (potentialy 100 000 users). Our platform is based on ownCloud 7 community edition, with VMWare for virtualization, a Galera/MariaDB cluster database and Scality for the distributed storage backend. We will try to present during this workshop our service implementation in detail, and discuss about our choices, our concerns, … our troubles :)

  13. The Emergence of Public Relations in the Russian Federation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guth, David W.

    2000-01-01

    Describes the emergence of public relations in the Russian Federation over the past 7 years. Concludes that Russia is developing its own vision of public relations, similar in many aspects to that found in the West but also adapted to the harsh realities of Russian life. (NH)

  14. Own-Choice Marriage and Fertility in Turkey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manglos-Weber, Nicolette D; Weinreb, Alexander A

    2017-04-01

    Goode's foundational work on the fertility transition identified own-choice marriage as a factor driving fertility decline, part of a widening repertoire of choice pertaining to marriage and childbearing. Yet research supporting this connection in today's transitional societies is scarce and somewhat contradictory, and it is unclear how other marital traditions, such as consanguineous marriage, shape this relationship. This study evaluates Goode's theorized connection using pooled Demographic and Health Survey data from Turkey, comparing children ever born, use of contraception, and parity progression across four types of marriage: own-choice and arranged marriage; and marriage to a cousin versus an unrelated spouse. Results are largely consistent with the idea that a move towards own-choice marriage reflects a widening repertoire of choice that also leads to fertility decline. However, they also show that hybrid models like own-choice marriage to a cousin tempers these effects.

  15. Own-Choice Marriage and Fertility in Turkey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weinreb, Alexander A.

    2016-01-01

    Goode’s foundational work on the fertility transition identified own-choice marriage as a factor driving fertility decline, part of a widening repertoire of choice pertaining to marriage and childbearing. Yet research supporting this connection in today’s transitional societies is scarce and somewhat contradictory, and it is unclear how other marital traditions, such as consanguineous marriage, shape this relationship. This study evaluates Goode’s theorized connection using pooled Demographic and Health Survey data from Turkey, comparing children ever born, use of contraception, and parity progression across four types of marriage: own-choice and arranged marriage; and marriage to a cousin versus an unrelated spouse. Results are largely consistent with the idea that a move towards own-choice marriage reflects a widening repertoire of choice that also leads to fertility decline. However, they also show that hybrid models like own-choice marriage to a cousin tempers these effects. PMID:28316343

  16. Responding to Public Health Emergencies on Tribal Lands: Jurisdictional Challenges and Practical Solutions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barnard, Justin B

    2015-01-01

    Response to public health emergencies on tribal lands poses a unique challenge for state and tribal public health officials. The complexity and intensely situation-specific nature of federal Indian jurisprudence leaves considerable question as to which government entity, state or tribal, has jurisdiction on tribal lands to undertake basic emergency measures such as closure of public spaces, quarantine, compulsory medical examination, and investigation. That jurisdictional uncertainty, coupled with cultural differences and an often troubled history of tribal-state relations, threatens to significantly impede response to infectious disease outbreaks or other public health emergencies on tribal lands. Given that tribal communities may be disproportionately impacted by public health emergencies, it is critical that tribal, state, and local governments engage with each other in coordinated planning for public health threats. This Article is offered as a catalyst for such planning efforts. The Article identifies some of the most pressing jurisdictional issues that may confront governments responding to a public health emergency on tribal lands, with the aim of highlighting the nature of the problem and the need for action. The Article goes on to examine the most promising means of addressing jurisdictional uncertainty: intergovernmental agreements. Already utilized in many areas of shared interest between tribe and state, intergovernmental agreements offer neighboring state, local, and tribal governments a vehicle for delineating roles and authorities in an emergency, and may lay the groundwork for sharing resources. The Article surveys various representative tribal public health intergovernmental agreements, and concludes with suggestions for tribes and state or local governments looking to craft their own agreements.

  17. Diffusion theory and knowledge dissemination, utilization, and integration in public health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, Lawrence W; Ottoson, Judith M; García, César; Hiatt, Robert A

    2009-01-01

    Legislators and their scientific beneficiaries express growing concerns that the fruits of their investment in health research are not reaching the public, policy makers, and practitioners with evidence-based practices. Practitioners and the public lament the lack of relevance and fit of evidence that reaches them and barriers to their implementation of it. Much has been written about this gap in medicine, much less in public health. We review the concepts that have guided or misguided public health in their attempts to bridge science and practice through dissemination and implementation. Beginning with diffusion theory, which inspired much of public health's work on dissemination, we compare diffusion, dissemination, and implementation with related notions that have served other fields in bridging science and practice. Finally, we suggest ways to blend diffusion with other theory and evidence in guiding a more decentralized approach to dissemination and implementation in public health, including changes in the ways we produce the science itself.

  18. To get green is glorious? An empirical analysis of how and why state-owned companies in China take measures to combat climate change and environmental issues through Corporate Social Responsibility; To get green is glorious. Kinesiske statseide bedrifters samfunnsansvarsarbeid for baerekraftige utvikling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jareid, Marie

    2012-07-01

    This report is based on an empirical analysis that examines how state-owned companies in China are utilizing Corporate Social Responsibility to combat issues related to climate change and other environmental problems. The analysis was conducted at two levels in order to study the implementation of the different CSR measures: the first part examines different causes for the Chinese government's increasing attention on environmental issues, and the implications for the state-owned companies. In the second part the focus of the empirical analysis is on how the government and other stakeholders forces companies to integrate CSR in their business strategy. The purpose of the analysis is better to understand what affects the degree of integration of CSR, and try to understand how serious the companies are in their CSR strategies: Is CSR primarily related to public relations and reputation management, or are the measures are done in an attempt to create green, sustainable solutions and combat climate change?(eb)

  19. Green Energy Options for Consumer-Owned Business

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Co-opPlus of Western Massachusetts

    2006-05-01

    The goal of this project was to define, test, and prototype a replicable business model for consumer-owned cooperatives. The result is a replicable consumer-owned cooperative business model for the generation, interconnection, and distribution of renewable energy that incorporates energy conservation and efficiency improvements.

  20. Risks associated with utilization of radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuoka, Satoshi; Kumazawa, Shigeru; Aoki, Yoshiro; Nakamura, Yuji; Takeda, Atsuhiko; Kusama, Tomoko; Inaba, Jiro; Tanaka, Yasumasa.

    1993-01-01

    When mankind decides action, the conveniences and the risks obtained by the action are weighed up. When socially important judgement is done, the logical discussion based on objective data is indispensable. The utilization of radiation spread from industrial circles to general public, accordingly the circumstances changed from the recognition of its risks by professionals to that by general public. The radiation exposure dose of public has increased rapidly by medical treatment. The global radioactivity contamination accompanying nuclear explosion experiment and the Chernobyl accident raised the psychological risk recognition of public. Now, the fear of the potential radioactivity which may be released from nuclear power plants and nuclear fuel cycle facilities expanded. The radiation exposure due to its utilization in recent years is mostly at the level below natural radiation. The acute radiation syndrome by whole body exposure is shown, and the effect is probabilistic. The evaluation of the risks due to radiation in the early effect, the hereditary effect and the delayed effect including canceration is explained. The risks in general human activities, the concept of risks in radiation protection, the effect of Chernobyl accident and the perception of general public on radiation risks are reported. (K.I.)

  1. Utilizing scale-free networks to support the search for scientific publications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hauff, C.; Nürnberger, Andreas; de Jong, Franciska M.G.; Kraaij, W.

    2006-01-01

    When searching for scienti﬿c publications, users today often rely on search engines such as Yahoo.com. Whereas searching for publications whose titles are known is considered to be an easy task, users who are looking for important publications in research ﬿elds they are unfamiliar with face greater

  2. 41 CFR 109-38.5103 - Motor vehicle utilization standards.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Motor vehicle... AVIATION, TRANSPORTATION, AND MOTOR VEHICLES 38-MOTOR EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT 38.51-Utilization of Motor Equipment § 109-38.5103 Motor vehicle utilization standards. (a) The following average utilization standards...

  3. Techniques for analyzing the impacts of certain electric-utility ratemaking and regulatory-policy concepts. Regulatory laws and policies. [State by state

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None

    1980-08-01

    This report is a legal study prepared to provide a review of the substantive and procedural laws of each regulatory jurisdiction that may affect implementation of the PURPA standards, and to summarize the current state of consideration and implementation of policies and rate designs similar or identical to the PURPA standards by state regulatory agencies and nonregulated utilities. This report is divided into three sections. The first section, the Introduction, summarizes the standards promulgated by PURPA and the results of the legal study. The second section, State Regulatory Law and Procedure, summarizes for each state or other ratemaking jurisdiction: (1) general constitutional and statutory provisions affecting utility rates and conditions of service; (2) specific laws or decisions affecting policy or rate design issues covered by PURPA standards; and (3) statutes and decisions governing administrative procedures, including judicial review. A chart showing actions taken on the policy and rate design issues addressed by PURPA is also included for each jurisdiction, and citations to relevant authorities are presented for each standard. State statutes or decisions that specifically define a state standard similar or identical to a PURPA standard, or that refer to one of the three PURPA objectives, are noted. The third section, Nonregulated Electric Utilities, summarizes information available on nonregulated utilities, i.e., publicly or cooperatively owned utilities which are specifically exempted from state regulation by state law.

  4. Electric and gas utility marketing of residential energy conservation case studies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None

    1980-05-01

    The objective of this research was to obtain information about utility conservation marketing techniques from companies actively engaged in performing residential conservation services. Many utilities currently are offering comprehensive services (audits, listing of contractors and lenders, post-installation inspection, advertising, and performing consumer research). Activities are reported for the following utilities: Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation; Tampa Electric Company; Memphis Light, Gas, and Water Division; Northern States Power-Wisconsin; Public Service Company of Colorado; Arizona Public Service Company; Pacific Gas and Electric Company; Sacramento Municipal Utility District; and Pacific Power and Light Company.

  5. 77 FR 22786 - Privately Owned Vehicle Mileage Reimbursement Rates

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-04-17

    ... Owned Vehicle Mileage Reimbursement Rates AGENCY: Office of Governmentwide Policy (OGP), General... Privately Owned Vehicle Mileage Reimbursement Rates. SUMMARY: The General Services Administration's (GSA) special review of privately owned vehicle (POV) mileage reimbursement rates has resulted in adjusting the...

  6. MELATONIN: POTENTIAL UTILITY FOR IMPROVING PUBLIC HEALTH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Russel J REITER; Fatih GULTEKIN; Luis J FLORES; Ma Pilar TERRON; Dun-Xian TAN

    2006-04-01

    Full Text Available This review summarizes the beneficial actions of melatonin in various experimental conditions/diseases and identifies where the use of melatonin may be helpful in improving public health. The nightly use of melatonin supplements by humans often improves their sleep and helps correct the circadian dyssynchronization associated with “jet lag”. Additionally, melatonin has been found effective in curtailing the growth of a variety of experimental cancers. Mechanistically, this is achieved by melatonin’s ability to limit fatty acid uptake, especially linoleic acid, by tumor cells. Fatty acids are growth factors for many tumors. Additionally, melatonin inhibits the elevated telomerase activity of tumor cells thus making them more fragile and vulnerable to chemotherapies. Melatonin also may inhibit angiogenesis in tumors by suppressing endothelin-1 production and the indole interferes with the stimulatory action of steroids on hormone-responsive tumors. As an ubiquitously-acting antioxidant, melatonin reduces cardiac damage during ischemia/reperfusion (I/R injury (heart attack and during I/R to the brain (stroke. Melatonin also limits the toxicity of amyloid  peptide and of neurofibrillary tangles, two of the cardinal signs of Alzheimer’s disease. Collectively, these data suggest supplementation with melatonin, whose endogenous levels decrease with age, may improve the quality of life in the aged and, as a consequence, be beneficial for public health generally. [TAF Prev Med Bull 2006; 5(2.000: 131-158

  7. 75 FR 82029 - Privately Owned Vehicle Mileage Reimbursement Rates

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-12-29

    ... Owned Vehicle Mileage Reimbursement Rates AGENCY: Office of Governmentwide Policy (OGP), General... Owned Vehicle Mileage Reimbursement Rates. SUMMARY: The General Services Administration's (GSA) annual privately owned vehicle (POV) mileage reimbursement rate reviews have resulted in new CY 2011 rates for the...

  8. CONTROL ENVIRONMENT IN KOSOVO PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shaqir M. REXHEPI

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The study on how is Internal Control System developed in public institutions is of a special importance for modalities, forms and the manner of the application of relevant strategies for the functioning of internal control environment in public institutions. In this paper, there is treated the existing situation of internal control system environment of public finances and its implementation in public sector. For internal control system environment in public finances to function effectively, there should exist a coherent control environment which includes responsibilities for financial management from managers of Publicly Owned Enterprises and with complete functioning of internal audit, which exists in the function of development to add value. In Kosovo public institutions, this framework is offered by legislation and by institutional mechanism for the implementation of legislation according to these parameters.

  9. Low NO{sub x}/SO{sub x} Burner retrofit for utility cyclone boilers. Public design report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1991-09-01

    This Public Design Report provides available nonproprietary design information on the Low NO{sub x}SO{sub x} Burner Retrofit of Utility Cyclone Boilers project. In addition to the design aspects, the history of the project, the organization of the project, and the role of the funding parties are discussed. An overview of the Low NO{sub x}SO{sub x} (LNS) Burner, the cyclone boiler and the Southern Illinois Power Cooperative host site is presented. A detailed nonproprietary description of the individual process steps, plant systems, and resulting performance then follows. Narrative process descriptions, simplified process flow diagrams, input/output stream data, operating conditions and requirements are given for each unit. The plant demonstration program and start up provisions, the environmental considerations and control, monitoring and safety factors that are considered are also addressed.

  10. Promotion of HANARO Utilization for Year 2005

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sohn, J. M.; Kim, Y. J.; Kim, H. R.

    2006-06-01

    Object and Importance To activate the HANARO utilization by expanding HANARO utilization fields, recruiting and training new users. Scope and Contents In order to promote the HANARO utilization, the following activities have been performed. The neutron usage fee in HANARO, Achievements of HANARO utilization, Project for Activation of the Research using HANARO, HANARO Symposium, Survey of the HANARO User Satisfaction Index, Operation and Management of HANARO Server, Management of HANARO related committees, Training of HANARO users and Related activities of HANARO publicity. The related activities to activate HANARO utilization have been carried out successfully. This report summarized the detailed activities to activate the HANARO utilization. They will be useful for expanding HANARO utilization in the near future

  11. 40 CFR 503.9 - General definitions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ..., sanitary district, utility district, drainage district, or similar entity, or an integrated waste... that can be applied to a unit area of land (e.g., gallons per acre). (v) Runoff is rainwater, leachate... owned, publicly owned, or privately owned device or system used to treat (including recycle and reclaim...

  12. Own-Race-Absent Racism | Martin | South African Journal of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    racepresent racism, the race of the racist figures as a term in her racist thinking; in own-race-absent racism it does not. While own-race-present racism might conform readily to commonsense understandings of racism, own-race-absent racism less clearly ...

  13. 41 CFR 101-39.301 - Utilization guidelines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Utilization guidelines... § 101-39.301 Utilization guidelines. An agency must be able to justify a full-time vehicle assignment. The following guidelines may be employed by an agency requesting GSA Interagency Fleet Management...

  14. [Technical efficiency of traditional hospitals and public enterprises in Andalusia (Spain)].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herrero Tabanera, Luis; Martín Martín, José Jesús; López del Amo González, Ma del Puerto

    2015-01-01

    To assess the technical efficiency of traditional public hospitals without their own legal identity and subject to administrative law, and that of public enterprise hospitals, with their own legal identities and partly governed by private law, all of them belonging to the taxypayer-funded health system of Andalusia during the period 2005 -2008. The study included the 32 publicly-owned hospitals in Andalusia during the period 2005-2008. The method consisted of two stages. In the first stage, the indices of technical efficiency of the hospitals were calculated using Data Envelopment Analysis, and the change in total factor productivity was estimated using the Malmquist index. The results were compared according to perceived quality, and a sensitivity analysis was conducted through an auxiliary model and bootstrapping. In the second stage, a bivariate analysis was performed between hospital efficiency and organization type. Public enterprises were more efficient than traditional hospitals (on average by over 10%) in each of the study years. Nevertheless, a process of convergence was observed between the two types of organizations because, while the efficiency of traditional hospitals increased slightly (by 0.50%) over the study period, the performance of public enterprises declined by over 2%. The possible reasons for the greater efficiency of public enterprises include their greater budgetary and employment flexibility. However, the convergence process observed points to a process of mutual learning that is not necessarily efficient. Copyright © 2014 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

  15. Do Foreclosures Affect Boston Public School Student Academic Performance? Public Policy Brief No. 13-5

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bradbury, Katharine; Burke, Mary A.; Triest, Robert K.

    2013-01-01

    Foreclosures have well-documented adverse consequences for families living in or owning properties undergoing foreclosure and on surrounding neighborhoods, but they may also have other costs. This policy brief summarizes our research on the impact of mortgage foreclosures on academic performance among Boston public school students. The data show…

  16. Law no. 2003-8 from January 3, 2003 relative to the gas and electricity markets and to the energy public utilities; Loi no. 2003-8 du 3 janvier 2003 relative aux marches du gaz et de l'electricite et au service public de l'energie

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2003-01-01

    This law adopted by the French house of commons and senate defines the conditions of opening of the French natural gas market to the international competition. In particular it defines: the conditions of access to the natural gas distribution networks (eligible clients, suppliers, assignees, contracts, right of access, derogations..); the transparency and the regulation of the natural gas sector (tariffing, book keeping, controls..); the gas public utility (obligations, conventions, national observatory of the gas and electric utilities); natural gas transport and distribution (network safety and maintenance, technical specifications, concessions, authorizations etc..); the underground storage (facilities, concessions, exploitation, safety, permits); the controls and sanctions; the dispositions relative to the electric public utility (funds of amortization, electrification charges, competition, contracts, renewable energy sources); the fees for electricity and gas transportation and distribution. (J.S.)

  17. Activation of HANARO utilization for year 2001

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sohn, J. M.; Kim, H. R.; Kang, Y. H.

    2002-04-01

    In order to activate the HANARO utilization, the following activities have been performed. Receipt of neutron usage fee in HANARO, Technical support to use the HANARO utilization facilities, technical support to activate research using HANARO, development and management of HANARO homepage, organization of HANARO Workshop 2001, management of HANARO related committees, training of HANARO users and related activities of HANARO publicity. The related activities to activate HANARO utilization have been carried out successfully. This report summarized the detailed activities to activate the HANARO utilization. They will be useful for expanding HANARO utilization in the near future

  18. Net Neutrality: Media Discourses and Public Perception

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christine Quail

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyzes media and public discourses surrounding net neutrality, with particular attention to public utility philosophy, from a critical perspective. The article suggests that further public education about net neutrality would be beneficial. The first portion of this paper provides a survey of the existing literature surrounding net neutrality, highlighting the contentious debate between market-based and public interest perspectives. In order to contextualize the debate, an overview of public utility philosophy is provided, shedding light on how the Internet can be conceptualized as a public good. Following this discussion, an analysis of mainstream media is presented, exploring how the media represents the issue of net neutrality and whether or not the Internet is discussed through the lens of public utility. To further examine how the net neutrality debate is being addressed, and to see the potential impacts of media discourses on the general public, the results of a focus group are reported and analyzed. Finally, a discussion assesses the implications of the net neutrality debate as presented through media discourses, highlighting the future of net neutrality as an important policy issue.

  19. Awareness of Public Library and Utilization of its HIV/AIDS ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Nekky Umera

    public library in their city; positive respondents were then implored to provide answers to .... In a study of the impact of Youth's Use of the Internet on the Public. Library by .... novels of adventure, modern music, comics, games and sports, cinema and library internet .... Have been to video shows on HIV/AIDS organized by the ...

  20. TransAlta: More than a utility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mikalson, D.A.

    1991-01-01

    TransAlta Utilities Corporation is Canada's largest privately owned utility and is also a major coal mining company. In 1989, TransAlta produced 20.9% of all coal mined in Canada. A brief history of TransAlta is presented along with TransAlta's present coal operations and plans for the next three years. An overview is presented of how TransAlta Fuel Supply is organized to utilize contracted mining operation, engineering and environmental services and in-house capabilities. Recent strategic initiatives to improve organizational efficiency and the mining operations are discussed. These range from developing a common departmental vision to modifying major mining equipment. TransAlta's proactive role in clean coal combustion such as low NOx-SOx burner, integrated combined cycle gasification, and other energy research projects is reviewed. A summary is provided of recent participation of TransAlta in environmental management initiatives. Recent successes of TransAlta's unregulated subsidiary in the development of cogeneration facilities and the future of this area of business are discussed. 8 refs., 4 figs

  1. Own power: Motives of having electricity without the energy company

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leenheer, Jorna; Nooij, Michiel de; Sheikh, Omer

    2011-01-01

    New technologies will enable households to generate an increasing amount of their own electricity. Intentions to generate own power are a preliminary step towards actual behavior. Because own generation is still very limited and the behavior of early adopters may not be representative for the complete population, our study focuses on intentions rather than actual behavior. A consumer survey among 2047 Dutch households reveals that environmental concerns are the most important driver of a household's intention to generate its own power. Affinity with technology and energy and the reputation of electricity companies are also significant drivers, but financial factors and power outages are not. About 40% of Dutch households have an intention to generate their own power, with an overrepresentation of young households. This group falls apart in two sub segments; for the 'generating savers' (21%) a high intention to generate own power coincides with a high intention to save energy, whereas generating users (18%) combine a high intention to generate own power with a low intention to save energy. - Highlights: → A consumer survey studies household intentions to generate own power. → Environmental concerns are the most important motive for generating own power. → Other drivers are affinity with technology and reputation of electricity companies. → About 40% of Dutch households feel a need to generate their own electricity.

  2. Understanding utility regulation : a participants' guide to the British Columbia Utilities Commission

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1996-10-01

    Information regarding British Columbia's regulated energy industries is presented with particular emphasis on the regulatory functions of the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC). The objective of providing the information is to make the regulatory process as transparent as possible and to make it easy for ratepayers to effectively and economically participate in the regulation of energy utilities. The issue of why electricity and natural gas utilities are regulated is addressed, but the greater part of the report is devoted to describing opportunities for public participation at the BCUC, explaining how to get involved in the Commission's proceedings and the nature of the hearings used by the Commission. An introduction to rate making is also presented, along with an overview of other institutions involved in energy regulation. Appendices contain the text of the Utilities Commission Act (App. A), the Negotiated Settlement Process Policy, Procedures and Guidelines (App. B), Participant Funding and Cost Awards (App. C), and the Integrated Resource Planning Guide (App. D). tabs., figs., 4 appendices

  3. Service delivery and ethical conduct in the public service: the missing links

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Lues

    2007-07-01

    Full Text Available There are a multitude of policies, strategies and programmes directed at the rendering of effective services to the citizens of South Africa by public service managers. However, in spite of the pursuit of effectiveness and the condemning of unethical behaviour by public service managers, scandals still occur and allegations are still made. So, where are the missing links? In this article, a brief description is given of some ethical concepts viewed as important in addressing the question posed. The concluding remarks are twofold: public service organisations need to provide continuous commitment, enforcement, and modelling of leadership in professional ethics by means of, among other things, policy structures; and public service managers need to realise the importance of changing their own mindset and accepting the ethical standards that are established by the public service organisation, even if these differ from their own beliefs and culture.

  4. Build your own time machine

    CERN Document Server

    Clegg, Brian

    2012-01-01

    There is no physical law to prevent time travel nothing in physics to say it is impossible. So who is to say it can't be done? In Build Your Own Time Machine, acclaimed science writer Brian Clegg takes inspiration from his childhood heroes, Doctor Who and H. G. Wells, to explain the nature of time. How do we understand it and why measure it the way we do? How did the theories of one man change the way time was perceived by the world? Why wouldn't H. G. Wells's time machine have worked? And what would we need to do to make a real one? Build Your Own Time Machine explores the amazing possib

  5. Public Relations as Promotional Activity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Almira CURRI-MEMETI

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Public relations give opportunity to the organization to present its image and personality to its own “public”- users, supporters, sponsors, donors, local community and other public.It is about transferring the message to the public, but that is a twoway street. You must communicate with your public, but at the same time you must give opportunity to the public to communicate easier with you. The real public relations include dialog – you should listen to the others, to see things through their perspective. This elaborate is made with the purpose to be useful for every organization, not for the sensational promotion of its achievements, but to become more critical towards its work. Seeing the organization in the way that the other see it, you can become better and sure that you are giving to your users the best service possible.

  6. Using Health Care Utilization and Publication Patterns to Characterize the Research Portfolio and to Plan Future Research Investments.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luba Katz

    Full Text Available Government funders of biomedical research are under increasing pressure to demonstrate societal benefits of their investments. A number of published studies attempted to correlate research funding levels with the societal burden for various diseases, with mixed results. We examined whether research funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA is well aligned with current and projected veterans' health needs. The organizational structure of the VA makes it a particularly suitable setting for examining these questions.We used the publication patterns and dollar expenditures of VA-funded researchers to characterize the VA research portfolio by disease. We used health care utilization data from the VA for the same diseases to define veterans' health needs. We then measured the level of correlation between the two and identified disease groups that were under- or over-represented in the research portfolio relative to disease expenditures. Finally, we used historic health care utilization trends combined with demographic projections to identify diseases and conditions that are increasing in costs and/or patient volume and consequently represent potential targets for future research investments.We found a significant correlation between research volume/expenditures and health utilization. Some disease groups were slightly under- or over-represented, but these deviations were relatively small. Diseases and conditions with the increasing utilization trend at the VA included hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, hearing loss, sleeping disorders, complications of pregnancy, and several mental disorders.Research investments at the VA are well aligned with veteran health needs. The VA can continue to meet these needs by supporting research on the diseases and conditions with a growing number of patients, costs of care, or both. Our approach can be used by other funders of disease research to characterize their portfolios and to plan research

  7. Using Health Care Utilization and Publication Patterns to Characterize the Research Portfolio and to Plan Future Research Investments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katz, Luba; Fink, Rebecca V; Bozeman, Samuel R; McNeil, Barbara J

    2014-01-01

    Government funders of biomedical research are under increasing pressure to demonstrate societal benefits of their investments. A number of published studies attempted to correlate research funding levels with the societal burden for various diseases, with mixed results. We examined whether research funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is well aligned with current and projected veterans' health needs. The organizational structure of the VA makes it a particularly suitable setting for examining these questions. We used the publication patterns and dollar expenditures of VA-funded researchers to characterize the VA research portfolio by disease. We used health care utilization data from the VA for the same diseases to define veterans' health needs. We then measured the level of correlation between the two and identified disease groups that were under- or over-represented in the research portfolio relative to disease expenditures. Finally, we used historic health care utilization trends combined with demographic projections to identify diseases and conditions that are increasing in costs and/or patient volume and consequently represent potential targets for future research investments. We found a significant correlation between research volume/expenditures and health utilization. Some disease groups were slightly under- or over-represented, but these deviations were relatively small. Diseases and conditions with the increasing utilization trend at the VA included hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, hearing loss, sleeping disorders, complications of pregnancy, and several mental disorders. Research investments at the VA are well aligned with veteran health needs. The VA can continue to meet these needs by supporting research on the diseases and conditions with a growing number of patients, costs of care, or both. Our approach can be used by other funders of disease research to characterize their portfolios and to plan research investments.

  8. My Own Private Public Library

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julia Rone

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available The present paper analyzes the emergence of Bulgarian digital libraries with pirated literature as a form of compensation for the failure of both the state and the market to provide easy access to electronic books in Bulgarian. These grass-roots digital libraries can be understood best through an analysis of the dichotomies between formal and informal economy, law and ethics, commercial and non-commercial interest, bricolage and engineering. Sharing of books online in Bulgaria has its historical precedent in the sharing of cultural objects during socialism and is part of the larger logic of informal economy as a form of independence from/resistance to the state. While many of the books in these electronic libraries are uploaded in infringement of copyright, the creators and users of the sites defend them on the basis of what is ethically right and claim that they contribute to the spread of knowledge. The paper emphasizes the rhetorical force of the word ‘library’ which is being appropriated by both commercial and non-commercial actors. Without underestimating the value provided by many of the grass-roots digital libraries discussed, the analysis leads to the question whether the bottom-up collaborative strategy for digitizing books is the optimal one in terms of the variety of titles offered and the overall coherence of digital archives. In short, should sharing replace more traditional state policies in the field of culture?

  9. Japanese utilities' plutonium utilization program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuo, Yuichiro.

    1996-01-01

    Japan's 10 utility companies are working and will continue to work towards establishing a fully closed nuclear fuel cycle. The key goals of which are: (1) reprocessing spent fuel; (2) recycling recovered uranium and plutonium; and (3) commercializing fast breeder technology by around the year 2030. This course of action by the Japanese electric power industry is in full accordance with Japan's national policy outlined in the government's report ''The Long-Term Program for Research, Development, and Nuclear Energy,'' which was published in June 1994. The Japanese civilian nuclear program is a long-term program that looks into the 21st century and beyond. It is quite true that sustaining the recycling option for energy security and the global environment demands a large investment. For it to be accepted by the public, safety must be the highest priority and will be pursued at a great cost if necessary. In its history, Japan has learned that as technology advances, costs will come down. The Japanese utility industry will continue investment in technology without compromising safety until the recycling option becomes more competitive with other options. This effort will be equally applied to the development of the commercial FBRs. The Japanese utility industry is confident that Japan's stable policy and strong objective to develop competitive and peaceful technology will contribute to the global economy and the environment without increasing the threat of plutonium proliferation

  10. A comparison between antenatal care quality in public and private sector in rural Hebei, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Li; Dai, Yaohua; Zhang, Yanfeng; Wu, Qiong; Rudan, Diana; Saftić, Vanja; van Velthoven, Michelle H M M T; Su, Jianqiang; Tan, Zangwen; Scherpbier, Robert W

    2013-04-01

    To evaluate the quality of antenatal care (ANC) in Hebei Province and compare it between the public and private sector and within the public sector. We conducted a Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Household Survey in 2010 using a two-stage sampling procedure and included 1079 mothers. The quality of ANC was assessed on the basis of the number of ANC visits, the time of the first ANC visit, 16 different ANC procedures, owning a maternal health care booklet, and the type of service provider. Almost all women (98%) received ANC services at least once, 80% at least four times, and 54% at least five times. About half of the women (46%) visited ANC facility within their first trimester. Neither public nor private sector provided all 16 standardized services, but significantly more women in public sector received ANC procedures. Most women received ANC in county or higher-level hospitals (75%) and very few in township hospitals (8%). Significantly fewer women were weighed and tested for HIV/AIDS in township than in county or higher-level hospitals. The quality of ANC in Hebei was poorer than required by China's national and World Health Organization norms. Although the public sector performed better than the private sector, the utilization and quality of care of ANC services in this sector varied and women generally visited county or higher-level health facilities.

  11. Ethics in Public Administration: Evidence from Slovenia

    OpenAIRE

    Zlatko NEDELKO; Vojko POTOCAN

    2013-01-01

    The main purpose of this paper is to examine how employees’ personal ethics, expressed through their personal values and attitudes toward social and environmental issues, are associated with the ethics of organizations in public administration. The authors introduce their own theoretical model that examines the relations between employees’ personal ethics – expressed through employees’ personal values and attitudes toward natural and social environments – and the ethics of public administrati...

  12. Public acceptance of the utilization of nuclear technology. Necessity of using the system which is similar to that of the ISO14001

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kurata, Kenji; Kanda, Keiji

    2001-01-01

    Safety itself is a key factor in enhancing public acceptance of the utilization of nuclear technology. At the same time, it is indispensable for businesses using nuclear technology to foster public trust by being regarded as 'companies which are making serious efforts to attain higher level of safety'. However, recent nuclear accidents related to the MONJU plant and JCO have seriously hampered this trust. Based on the above understanding, this paper uses the ISO14001 framework to consider a possible solution to recover public trust. An examination of the ISO14001 shows that it is seen as a framework to prove to the outside world that the party in question is reliable in terms of behaving in an environmentally sound manner. Accordingly, their must be a possibility for businesses using a nuclear technology to be able to use the ideas of the framework in terms of safety instead of the environment. (author)

  13. Applying the welfare model to at-own-risk discharges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krishna, Lalit Kumar Radha; Menon, Sumytra; Kanesvaran, Ravindran

    2017-08-01

    "At-own-risk discharges" or "self-discharges" evidences an irretrievable breakdown in the patient-clinician relationship when patients leave care facilities before completion of medical treatment and against medical advice. Dissolution of the therapeutic relationship terminates the physician's duty of care and professional liability with respect to care of the patient. Acquiescence of an at-own-risk discharge by the clinician is seen as respecting patient autonomy. The validity of such requests pivot on the assumptions that the patient is fully informed and competent to invoke an at-own-risk discharge and that care up to the point of the at-own-risk discharge meets prevailing clinical standards. Palliative care's use of a multidisciplinary team approach challenges both these assumptions. First by establishing multiple independent therapeutic relations between professionals in the multidisciplinary team and the patient who persists despite an at-own-risk discharge. These enduring therapeutic relationships negate the suggestion that no duty of care is owed the patient. Second, the continued employ of collusion, familial determinations, and the circumnavigation of direct patient involvement in family-centric societies compromises the patient's decision-making capacity and raises questions as to the patient's decision-making capacity and their ability to assume responsibility for the repercussions of invoking an at-own-risk discharge. With the validity of at-own-risk discharge request in question and the welfare and patient interest at stake, an alternative approach to assessing at-own-risk discharge requests are called for. The welfare model circumnavigates these concerns and preserves the patient's welfare through the employ of a multidisciplinary team guided holistic appraisal of the patient's specific situation that is informed by clinical and institutional standards and evidenced-based practice. The welfare model provides a robust decision-making framework for

  14. Project of law relative to the electricity and gas public utilities and to the power and gas companies; Projet de loi relatif au service public de l'electricite et du gaz et aux entreprises electriques et gazieres

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2004-07-01

    This document is the definitive text of this project of law adopted by the French house of commons. The aim of this law is to allow the administrations to avoid to use their eligibility right with the opening of the electricity and gas markets to competition. It changes the juridical status of the two public utilities Electricite de France (EdF) and Gaz de France (GdF) into two anonymous companies and creates two additional companies for the management of the power and gas networks. It ensures also the transposition of the European directives from June 26, 2003 (2003/54/CE and 2003/55/CE). It contains some proper dispositions and modifies various existing French laws, in particular the law no. 46-628 from April 8, 1946 about the electricity and gas nationalization and the law no. 2000-108 from February 10, 2000 relative to the modernization and development of the electric public utility. (J.S.)

  15. Effect of science communication with the public on inference of risk perception of science and technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kosugi, Motoko

    2006-01-01

    Our previous study showed a big difference between expert's own risk perception and experts' inference of the public risk perception about technologies. So, this study tried to clarify the effect of the perceived distance in risk perception between the public and experts themselves on forwardness in science communication to the public. The questionnaire survey results reaffirmed that experts were inclined to feel larger difference in risk perception between the public and themselves on the subject of their own specialty than of non-specialty. The result also suggested the tendency that the bigger experts recognized difference in risk perception from the public, the less they actually had experiences of science communication including communication with the public. Moreover, the result showed that experiences of science communication had positive effects on belief of the public's scientific literacy. (author)

  16. Public utilities between private industry and public administration. Regulation and restructuring of work in the fields of tension of globalization and decentralization; Oeffentliche Unternehmen zwischen Privatwirtschaft und oeffentlicher Verwaltung. Regulierung und Restrukturierung der Arbeit in den Spannungsfeldern von Globalisierung und Dezentralisierung

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Edeling, T.; Lieske, S.; Rogas, K.; Sitter, R.; Stoelting, E.; Wagner, D.

    2001-07-01

    The deregulation of the energy market brought about dramatic changes in the status of public utilities. The report investigates and discusses the effects of privatization and the emergence of 'multi-utilities'. [German] Die Entkopplung von staatlichem Eigentum, oeffentlichem Interesse und politischer Steuerung zugunsten einer Verkopplung von privatem Eigentum, Privatinteresse und marktlicher Steuerung beschraenkt sich nicht auf die Bundesebene und zentralstaatliches Eigentum. Sie erfasst, verstaerkt seit den 90er Jahren, vehement auch die Privatisierung auf der Ebene der Bundeslaender und Kommunen. Bundeslaender, wie Baden-Wuerttemberg, trennen sich von ihrem Anteil am viertgroessten deutschen Energieversorger, der EnBW, und geben den Weg fuer eine Privatisierung dieses Unternehmens frei (Guethert 2000). Die Stadtwerke Mannheim bereiten als erstes kommunales Energieunternehmen den Gang an die Boerse vor (FAZ v. 27.01.99). Wo dies (noch) nicht geschieht, setzt die Liberalisierung des europaeischen Energiemarktes und die damit verbundene beschleunigte Oeffnung des deutschen Energiemarktes (Gesetz zur Neuregelung des Energiewirtschaftsrechts 1998) die kommunalen Energieversorger unter Zugzwang und macht anscheinend im Handumdrehen aus 'verschlafenen Stadtwerken' und kleinen Gebietsmonopolisten 'Holdings', 'Umweltkonzerne' und 'Multi Utilities', die untereinander Beteiligungsverhaeltnisse eingehen, private Kapitalanteile aufnehmen und in neue Versorgungsgebiete und Geschaeftsfelder expandieren. Als 'Multi Utilities' sind sie scheinbar ihres oeffentlichen Gewandes als 'Public Utilities' entkleidet: Zwar steht im Hintergrund noch die Stadt als kommunaler Eigentuemer, das Unternehmen selbst aber tritt womoeglich nach aussen als eine privatrechtlich organisierte Holding auf, die unter ihrem Dach Unternehmen der Stromerzeugung, der Waermeversorgung und des Nahverkehrs, mitunter auch Unternehmen der

  17. Project of law, adopted by the Senate after urgency declaration, relative to the energy markets and to the energy public utilities; Projet de loi adopte par le Senat apres declaration d'urgence relatif aux marches energetiques et au service public de l'energie

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2002-10-01

    This project of law treats of: 1 - the right of access to natural gas distribution networks (transit contracts, eligible clients and market opening, acknowledged suppliers, diversification of supplies, denial of contract, derogations); 2 - the transparency and regulation of the natural gas sector (prices and commercial conditions, transport and storage informations, organisation of the regulation authority); 3 - the natural gas public utility (organisation, obligations, supplies warranty and security, national observatory); 4 - the natural gas transport and distribution (network management, expertises and controls, maintenance); 5 - the underground storage (mining law, storage concession, exploitation); 6 - the controls and sanctions; 7 - the dispositions relative to the electric public utility (costs, taxes and contributions, overruns, regulation authority). (J.S.)

  18. Impact of the legislation on electric utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Long, M.

    1982-01-01

    The possible impact of Federal nuclear waste legislation on electric utilities is discussed. The proposed legislation will set forth a well defined program enabling utilities with nuclear plants to make long term plans under a statutory mandate committed to an available technology and implementation timetable. The legislation includes the necessary specificity for the utility companies to fulfill their responsibilities in describing their waste disposal plans to their customers, the concerned public, and state and local legislators

  19. Lyme disease and post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome: the neglected disease in our own backyard.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crowder, L A; Yedlin, V A; Weinstein, E R; Kortte, K B; Aucott, J N

    2014-09-01

    A survey was developed to assess experience and opinions about Lyme disease and post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) among faculties in public health. No previous surveys of public health faculties have been found in the literature. This is a cross sectional study of public health school faculty members designed to measure knowledge and experience with Lyme disease and PTLDS using an internet survey instrument. Participants were recruited using all the publicly available e-mail addresses of faculty members in all the 50 accredited Schools of Public Health in the United States. A 15% response rate was seen for the survey. 50% of respondents were from Lyme endemic states. Less than 5% of faculty members consider themselves expert in Lyme or PTLDS. Many faculty members had known someone with Lyme disease or PTLDS, but few had been diagnosed themselves. Most believe that PTLDS can be severe and chronic, is not easy to treat, and does not resolve on its own, but were uncertain about its aetiology. Most respondents also felt that the incidence of Lyme disease will increase and that more education is needed. The need for further understanding and communication presents an opportunity for public health research and education in Lyme disease and the sequelae of PTLDS. Copyright © 2014 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. 41 CFR 109-38.5104 - Other motor equipment utilization standards.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Other motor equipment... AVIATION, TRANSPORTATION, AND MOTOR VEHICLES 38-MOTOR EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT 38.51-Utilization of Motor Equipment § 109-38.5104 Other motor equipment utilization standards. No utilization standards are...