What really matters? A qualitative analysis on the adoption of innovations in agriculture

The agricultural industry is confronted with the need of increasing the production to feed a growing population, and contemporarily to manage the decreased availability of natural resources. This major challenge boosts agriculture sector to adopt new approaches and technical innovations; anyway, the adoption of innovations in agriculture is not immediate, due to the interaction of many drivers that impact on individuals and enterprises’ decisions. This paper aims at providing a list of drivers for the adoption of technological innovations in agriculture, on the basis of the outcomes of in-depth interviews and focus groups performed in three European countries (Italy, Greece, Turkey). With specific reference to innovations, ease of use, effectiveness, usefulness, resource savings, and compatibility were mentioned as relevant features for an innovation to be adopted. Trials, demonstrations, experience and knowledge sharing, and support from qualified third parties were included among the facilitating factors for conveying and promoting innovations. Finally, public funding, agricultural policies and market conditions were identified as factors that may tip the balance in the process of innovations’ adoption

Emissione di sincrotrone e applicazioni astrofisiche

La radiazione di sincrotrone domina gran parte dell’astrofisica delle alte energie. Questo tipo di radiazione fu osservata la prima volta nel 1948 nei primi esperimenti con il betatrone1 ed è responsabile dell’emissione radio della nostra galassia, dei resti di supernova e delle sorgenti radio extragalattiche. L’emissione di sincrotrone è un processo non-termico nel continuo generato da particelle cariche, generalmente elettroni o protoni, con velocità ultra-relativistiche, accelerate da un campo magnetico. Il termine "non-termico" è diffusamente utilizzato in astrofisica delle alte energie e convenzionalmente fa riferimento ad una radiazione continua di una distribuzione di particelle con uno spettro di energia non-Maxwelliano. La radiazione generata in questo modo ha una polarizzazione caratteristica e le frequenze raggiunte possono esprimersi in tutto lo spettro elettromagnetico. In questo elaborato ci si soffermerà sulla descrizione delle dinamiche fisiche che generano questo tipo di radiazione a partire dalla descrizione dell’evento singolo e collettivo, dei meccanismi che regolano l’autoassorbimento, della sua evoluzione temporale e delle caratteristiche della polarizzazione della radiazione di sincrotrone; inoltre si analizzeranno, seppur sinteticamente ma nel modo più completo possibile, le numerose applicazioni astrofisiche correlate alla radiazione di sincrotrone

Can we be all in one?

The pursuit of a high research performance is nowadays shared by academics internationally since it is considered to sustain national development. Generating outstanding research is an effort that can jeopardize the enactment of other academic activities and the attainment of related satisfying goals, though. While the interplay between research and other knowledge transfer activities such as patenting, spin-off creation and consulting, has been widely debated, the influence of research on academic citizenship, i.e., on the service provided by faculty to their institution and to the wider collective, has remained surprisingly in the backward of the reflection on higher education systems. This study analyzes the effect of research performance on academic citizenship in a sample of 216 Italian academics in the field of management. With the exception of research awards and international scientific collaborations, research does not emerge to significantly impact upon academic citizenship, which may account for the scarce attention devoted to this latter. Since service is necessary for all organizations, universities included, to thrive, citizenship needs to be fostered and awarded through appropriate institutional and managerial policies that are here highlighted

Excellent Researcher or Good Public Servant? The Interplay between Research and Academic Citizenship

Academics have always been endowed with the privilege of autonomy, but the diffusion of evaluation systems based on publication outcomes potentially jeopardizes the benefits deriving from behaviors that address other pillars of higher education. Besides research and teaching, academic citizenship, i.e., the service behaviors carried out within and outside organizational boundaries, are in fact cornerstones of university functioning. We investigate the relationship between academic citizenship and research after the introduction of an evaluation system that moves research performance to center stage on a dataset collecting publication records and service activities of 353 Italian scholars in the accounting discipline in the 2004-2013 period. A cluster analysis reveals different academics' orientations towards research and academic citizenship. We contribute to the debate on academic choices by showing that a large number of university members tend to focus on a single type of academic citizenship or to adopt a research orientation, while a significant part remains stuck in the middle without achieving satisfying performance in any domains according to international standards, and discuss implications for the design of behavioral incentives

Distributed averaging on digital erasure networks

International audience; Iterative distributed algorithms are studied for computing arithmetic averages over networks of agents connected through memoryless broadcast erasure channels. These algorithms do not require the agents to have any knowledge about the global network structure or size. Almost sure convergence to state agreement is proved, and the communication and computational complexities of the algorithms are analyzed. Both the number of transmissions and the number of computations performed by each agent of the network are shown to grow not faster than poly-logarithmically in the desired precision. The impact of the graph topology on the algorithms' performance is analyzed as well. Moreover, it is shown how, in the presence of noiseless communication feedback, one can modify the algorithms, significantly improving their performance versus complexity trade-off

The role of brokers and social identities in the development of capabilities in Global Virtual Teams

While organizations are increasingly relying on global virtual teams (GVTs) to carry out knowledge intensive activities, the understanding of how GVTs develop capabilities is still limited. We explore how GVTs adapt routines and build capabilities, and the role played by brokers and social identities in this process. We interviewed 49 professionals working in fifteen GVTs based in Europe, India, and US, and operating in IT and engineering consulting companies. Our multi-level grounded model highlights that, while brokers help in the creation of mutual knowledge, they reduce the accuracy of perceptions about distant co-workers. Mutual knowledge, combined with limited accuracy of perceptions, diminishes the need to adapt team routines over time. The negative effect of brokers on the creation of team capabilities is reduced when individual professional identities trigger the search for more accurate perceptions of distant colleagues and clients with the objective of adapting team routines and performing more stimulating work. On top of this, organizational identity further enables the process of adaptation of team routines. We conclude with a discussion of theoretical implications on the interplay between operational and social processes in GVTs and team capabilities, as well as practical implications for designing and managing GVTs

Aesthetic bite for the management of temporomandibular disorders: A case series review

Background: Oral appliances (OA) are the most widely used treatment approach for temporomandibular disorders (TMDs): They are designed to relieve or prevent degenerative forces on the joint, the articular disk, and dentition. Classical OAs, however, are cumbersome and esthetically unpleasing: A more esthetic and functional appliance might improve treatment efficacy and shorten treatment time. Aim: The aim of this case series is to introduce an esthetical device for the management of TMD. Methodology: Three adults between 43 and 60 years old with a diagnosis of intra-articular TMD were included and were instructed to apply the device throughout the day and night. The patients were recruited at the same private dental clinic and each one signed an informed consent for both treatment and inclusion in the study. We evaluated and compared four clinical parameters (mandibular excursion, mandibular opening pattern, muscular and articular pain, and TMJ noises) between time 0 (T0) and 1, 2, 3, 6, and 12 months of using the device following the protocol of diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular joint disorders (DC/TMD). A magnetic resonance imaging exam was conducted to investigate tissue changes between T0 and 3 and 12 months of therapy. Conclusions: For all four parameters, we observed considerable improvements in all patients, who noticed the positive effects of the therapy themselves. The results suggest that this esthetic device was an effective treatment to manage TMD in the described cases, also increasing patients’ quality of life. However, studies on a larger scale are required to prove the effectiveness of this device. Clinical Significance: This case series aims to highlight the potentiality of an esthetic device used for the management of TMDs. This is because a more esthetically pleasant and comfortable device increases the time of usage, thus improving the positive effects of the device on the TMD

An educational method for evaluating the resistance to the treatment in the diagnosis of dyscalculia

In this paper a didactical method that has been proven effective for evaluating the “resistance to the treatment” of the student is presented. This parameter is essential for distinguishing the learning difficulties in mathematics from the learning disorder of dyscalculia. The method is based on GimmeFive, an application that has been designed to develop skills in mental calculation of multi-digit additions and subtractions. In this paper we present the results of two experiments conducted with groups of students respectively with learning difficulties in mathematics and dyscalculia. These experiments allowed to show the effectiveness of the didactical method in the evaluation of the resistance to the treatment and to discuss the features that make it adequate for the evaluation of the learning disorder. An educational method for evaluating the resistance to the treatment in the diagnosis of dyscalculiaIn questo lavoro viene presentato un metodo didattico che si è dimostrato efficace per valutare la resistenza al trattamento dello studente che è uno dei parametri fondamentali per distinguere la difficoltà di apprendimento in matematica dal disturbo di apprendimento noto come discalculia. Il metodo si basa sull’uso dell’applicazione GimmeFive che è stata progettata per sviluppare competenze nel calcolo mentale di addizioni e sottrazioni a più cifre. In questo lavoro vengono presentati risultati di due sperimentazioni condotte con gruppi di studenti rispettivamente con difficoltà di apprendimento e con diagnosi di discalculia. Queste sperimentazioni hanno consentito di mostrare l’efficacia del metodo didattico nella valutazione della resistenza al trattamento e di discutere le caratteristiche che lo rendono adeguato per la valutazione del disturbo di apprendimento

Un metodo didattico per sviluppare competenze nel calcolo mentale di addizioni e sottrazioni a più cifre in studenti con difficoltà o con disturbo di apprendimento

The article presents the results of a controlled experiment designed to evaluate a teaching method aimed at developing mental calculation competencies in students with learning difficulties or disorder. The method exploits touch-screen technology to give students the means to have an Immersive Learning Experience of the strategies that experts use in mental calculation. The strategies that may be involved in mental calculation of multi-digit addition and subtraction are presented along with the ways in which these strategies are incorporated into the application used in the experiment. Ten students with learning difficulties or disorder were involved in the experiment and underwent three-months training by touch-screen application following a standardized protocol. Their performance was evaluated by a standardized test performed at the beginning and at the end of the experiment, by two questionnaires and by a final test of acquired mathematical skills. Statistical analysis showed a significant increase of the mean score at the standard addition/ subtractiontest and most students, following the training, achieved a score in the normal range. The present findings indicate an effective and reproducible approach for the development of an inclusive teaching practice of mental calculation within the school context