a b s t r a c tOn a European level there is intense research activity to broaden the applications of solar thermal systems beyond their established domains (hot water, space heating support) and to foster their participation in the energy maps of the EU-Member States. Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) systems are expected to play a key role in this effort, especially for achieving the medium and high temperatures needed, for electricity generation, for industrial applications but also for hybridized solar heating/cooling and desalination applications.This paper presents a proposal for implementation of a CST system in the building sector, based on a research carried out in the Laboratory of Environmental and Energy Efficient Design of Buildings and Settlements at the University of Thrace. Specifically, an integrated solar cooling system using parabolic trough solar collectors and double-effect chiller is discussed, used to cover the cooling needs of typical office building in Greece.As it was shown, the use of concentrating solar collectors leads to significantly higher output temperatures that can enable the use of two stage absorption chillers with a higher COP. Alternatively, when low or medium temperature heat is required, the use of CST systems takes less space to cope with it than traditional flat plate collectors. The combination of these parameters can contribute to removing key barriers associated with the broader diffusion of solar cooling technology, enhancing the potential to become more competitive to the conventional air conditioning technologies.
Since its introduction in 1983, the Greek NHS is under an almost constant reform, aiming improvement on the efficiency and the quality of provided services. The national program of psychiatric reform "Psychargos" introduced new models of therapeutic approach to the care of the mentally ill, that required expansion of the existing roles and development of new roles of the healthcare staff. Consequently, the efficient management of the healthcare workforce in Greek mental facilities was identified as a primary determinant of the successful implementation of the program. Primary objective of this study was the development of a research framework for the assessment of job satisfaction in Greek Mental Health Hospitals. Among the objectives was the evaluation of the capacity of the underlying motivators and hygiene factors and the identification of potential correlations of the global job satisfaction and the motivation and retention factors with the demographic, social and occupational characteristics of the employees. A custom questionnaire was developed, based on Herzberg two-factor theory, after a systematic review of the relevant literature. The instrument was constructed by two parts and 37 items. Ten items addressed the sociodemographic characteristics of the subjects, while the remaining 27 items were distributed in 11 subscales which addressed the global satisfaction index and the "retention" and the "motivation" variables. The instrument was validated by means of the Cronbach alpha for each subscale and by confirmatory factor analysis. The study was conducted at the Public Mental Hospital of Chania (PMHC). From the 300 employees of the PMHC, 133 subjects successfully responded to the questionnaire (response rate, 44.3%). In accordance to former surveys, subjects presented average scores in the global satisfaction index (GSI). The professional category of the employee was identified as the primary determinant of the GSI. Nurses presented statistically significant lower scores in comparison to the rest of the employees. Strong Pearson correlations were detected between GSI and "working conditions", "interpersonal relations", "organization", "salary" and "supervision" factors. The retention factors presented stronger impact on GSI in comparison to the motivation ones. The results of the study indicate that the proposed instrument presents satisfactory validity and reliability for the assessment of job satisfaction in Greek mental NHS hospitals.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.