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Background: Seafarers constitute a global workforce exposed to unique psychosocial, organisational, and environmental stressors. Despite growing attention to maritime wellbeing, empirical evidence on how these multi level determinants interact to shape mental and physical health remains limited. This thesis aims to identify key determinants of mental health, wellbeing, happiness, and self rated he
Countries have pledged commitment to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement to combat climate change. To maximize synergies between SDGs and climate actions (CAs), we evaluate the alignment of national commitment to SDGs and emissions reduction targets by comparing action plans embodied in Voluntary National Review (VNR) reports and the Nationally Determined Contribut
Hybrid ventilation systems have become increasingly attractive, because they are considered to provide good indoor air quality (IAQ) with low energy consumption. In this study, we evaluate the performance of a hybrid ventilation system (operating on both mechanical and natural ventilation mode) by monitoring the IAQ (e.g. temperature, humidity, CO2 levels) and the energy consumption of a multifami
In a microbial fuel cell (MFC), exoelectrogens, which transfer electrons to the electrode, have been regarded as a key factor for electricity generation. In this study, U-tube MFC and plating methods were used to isolate exoelectrogens from the anode of an MFC. Disparate microorganisms were identified depending on isolation methods, despite the use of an identical source. Denaturing gel gradient e
Hydraulic balancing is key to ensure proper operation of the heating system. When the heating system is not hydraulically balanced, heat is unevenly distributed across dwellings resulting in a wide temperature spread, overheating, and consequently, wastage of energy. In this paper, we study to which extent hydraulic imbalance affects the thermal energy demand of buildings. Furthermore, key variabl
Energy efficiency programmes (EEPs) are schemes operated by utilities or other bodies in order to incentivize energy efficiency improvement, in particular by adoption of energy-efficient products and typically by means of an economic reward. Ample experience has been gained, especially in the U.S., where EEPs have been in use for decades, with the rationale of avoiding additional energy supply by
Hydraulic balancing of heat distribution systems in buildings plays an important role in improving indoor thermal conditions as well as reducing energy consumption for space heating. Building energy models typically do not incorporate thermal comfort while it is essential for hydraulic balancing to do so. This paper proposes a methodology that assesses the impact of hydraulic balancing on the ener
In the Swiss canton of Geneva, an energy efficiency portfolio has been operated since 2009. In contrast, such programs have been in place for more than 40 years in the US. There are numerous lessons to be learnt from their experience. We have therefore conducted a comparative analysis including Geneva and 11 leading states in the US, with the objective to identify explanatory factors for the succe
Heating systems must be subjected to hydraulic balancing in order to ensure proper operation. When the heating system is hydraulically imbalanced, heat is unevenly distributed across dwellings resulting in a large temperature spread, overheating, and consequently, waste of energy. In this study, we investigate the extent to which hydraulic imbalance affects the thermal energy consumption in buildi
A search for R-parity-conserving supersymmetry in events with large missing transverse momentum, jets and at least one hadronically decaying τ-lepton is presented. Both gluino and squark pair production are considered, with the cascade decay of each gluino or squark producing either a τ-slepton or a τ-sneutrino. Three channels are examined, requiring either exactly one hadronically decaying τ-lept
Modern battery chargers require AC-DC converters with high input power quality, nearly unity power factor, and low current harmonics to meet grid standards such as IEC 61000-3-2. This paper proposes a two-stage charger topology: a front-end bridgeless interleaved boost PFC converter followed by a synchronous buck DC-DC stage. The interleaved boost stage reduces input current ripple and losses whil
