Is the European Union (EU) Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) effective in shaping sustainability objectives? An analysis of investment funds' behaviour

This paper investigates how investment funds behave in line with European Union (EU)'s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). The SFDR requires investment funds to take a clear position with respect to sustainability objectives, aiming at addressing the threats of greenwashing. However, we still do not know whether investment funds are managed accordingly. We frame our study within the organizational category theory, using Morningstar Direct data to analyze the category of investment funds declaring sustainability objectives - SFDR Article 9- and a control group with no sustainability objectives - SFDR Article 6. We assess how investment managers are financially incentivized to achieve either sustainability or financial objectives. The analysis evidences unexpected results: investment funds that self-select into opposite categories have incentives to behave similarly from both the financial and sustainability perspectives. Our results show that European investment funds hardly distinguish the attributes of sustainability meanings across opposite categories, reflecting category fuzziness

Experimental Investigation of 3D Velocity by Tomographic Particle Image Velocimetry (Tomo-PIV) in a Short Riser Section

AbstractThe measurement of instantaneous velocity field with high spatial resolution makes the Tomo-PIV (tomographic particle image velocimetry) technique attractive for the study of complex flows in circulating beds. The Tomo-PIV technique is employed for obtaining the velocity field of the fluid phase in three dimensions using tracer particles which follow the fluid. They are immersed in the fluid and illuminated by a source of pulsed light (laser) within a three-dimensional region. Images of the particles are recorded in the focus of several viewing directions using CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) sensors. The distribution of light intensity is discretized into a 3D array of voxels and then analyzed by interrogation of cross-correlation in three dimensions. The information field is returned in the form of instantaneous velocities of the measurement volume. This paper aims to present an experimental setup for an initial investigation of the velocity field of the particulate phase of a riser section of a circulating bed. The calibration errors were between 0.209 and 0.066 pixels and after the self-calibration errors were below 0.097 pixels. The volume investigated was 82 x 100 x 10 mm3 with a resolution of 1571 x 897 x 113 voxels. The reconstructed volumes were processed using 3D cross-correlation with a volume interrogation size of 110 voxels decreasing to a final size of 16 voxels with a 75% overlap between adjacent interrogation volumes. The velocity field produced has 224 x 393 x 28 voxels

User-centred design to promote the effective use of rear-mountefoldable roll-over protective structures (Fropss): Prototype evaluation among novice and expert farmers.

Aim of study: We tested the perceived quality in use of a prototype of a handling supporting device, developed through a user-centred design process intended for rear-mounted foldable rollover protective-structures (FROPSs).Area of study: The study was performed in the Province of Cuneo, which has the largest number of farms and the highest share of utilized agricultural area (UAA) in Piedmont Region, NW Italy.Material and methods: Three groups of users, novice-novice (NN), novice-expert (NE) and expert-expert (EE) were asked to raise two rear-mounted FROPSs: a traditional one and a second one equipped with a supporting device which consisted of a gas spring and a rod. A questionnaire has been used to record the perceived quality in use of both FROPSs (effort, physical discomfort, temporal demand and ease of use) and perceived usefulness and attitudes toward the adoption of the supporting device.Main results: All groups reported less physical effort, more stable postures, higher ease of use in handling the FROPS equipped with the supporting device; NN users, in particular, declared to be willing to adopt the supporting device in the future on their tractors when commercially available.Research highlights: Previous studies reported discomfort in operating the FROPS as the main cause of its improper use. A solution to improve FROPS reachability was developed and tested with users. Benefits were perceived by both novice users and expert users

Conveying safety messages on agricultural machinery: The comprehension of safety pictorials in a group of migrant farmworkers in Italy

The comprehension of safety signs affixed to agricultural machinery is fundamental to warning users about the residual risks which cannot be eliminated with machinery design and the adoption of protections. This is particularly relevant for the migrant workforce, which may encounter some language barriers with written safety communication. The present study aimed to investigate the comprehension of safety signs affixed to agricultural machinery in a group of migrants from both European and non-European countries employed in Italian agriculture. Thirty-seven migrant farmworkers (12 Indians, 17 Pakistanis, and eight Romanians) were individually interviewed to test the comprehension of four safety signs referring to the main causes of fatal and non-fatal injuries caused by interactions with farm machinery. Romanians obtained the highest comprehension performance (68.8% of correct answers), followed by Indians (35.4%), with Pakistanis being last (32.4%). The nationality and the previous experience as a farmworker significantly affected the comprehension of safety signs. The results pointed out the importance of adequately training migrants on the meaning of safety signs. Beside this, the study suggests a redesign of the signs, considering some signs' features to enhance pictorials' cross-cultural comprehension

Effectiveness of occupational safety and health training for migrant farmworkers: a scoping review

Objectives: Migrant farmworkers report higher rates of work-related illnesses, injuries and fatalities compared with local workers. Language and cultural barriers represent a relevant source of risk, which can be reduced by means of targeted training interventions. However, very little evidence is available about the effectiveness of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) training programmes addressing migrant farmworkers. Study design: We carried out a scoping review. Methods: Currently available literature about the effectiveness of OSH training for migrant farmworkers--in terms of improvements in at least one of the following: safety knowledge, behaviours, attitudes and beliefs and health outcomes--was searched from four databases: PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus and Web of Science. The screening was performed independently by two authors, and any disagreement was resolved through discussion until consensus was achieved. Once the articles eligible for inclusion were selected, the objectives, design, sample and setting, interventions and findings of each study were recorded. No quality assessment tool for publications considered by this study has been used because a scoping review does not aim for critical appraisal. Results: Twenty-nine publications met the inclusion criteria. Of these, nine cross-sectional studies discussed the effectiveness of training activities in terms of whether participating in any programme had or did not have a significant effect on the dependent variables, when training was considered along with other sociodemographic factors. In the majority of these studies, training appeared to have low or no effect on the dependent variables considered. Twenty mainly within-subject experimental studies addressed the effectiveness of specific training methods, reporting significant improvements especially for interventions based on a participatory approach. Conclusions: Training could greatly contribute to an effective attainment of OSH information, but the present review shows that more evidence is needed to guide the future development of effective training activities