Is Preference for Monetary/Nonmonetary Rewards Related with the Level of Income?

Employees’ motivation is a very important issue that every organization should consider, as it increases the chances to attract and retain valuable individuals and achieve performance. Although aware of the advantages, managers sometimes do not put great effort into it. Sometimes, it is just difficult to address it properly because of the diversity within the organizations. Researchers have been discussing a lot about how to motivate, about monetary and nonmonetary rewards, etc., and how the method should consider factors related to the individual to be motivated among other things. This paper show the results of a study conducted with employees of the private banking sector in Albania, and shows that employees of this sector are more motivated by monetary than non-monetary rewards. There is no enough evidence to support the relation of monthly level of income and motivation from either monetary or non-monetary rewards

Characterizing water holding capacity and total solids of manure-bedding mixtures

Beef producers in the Midwestern United States, driven by environmental regulations, have shown an increased interest in solid manure bedded-pack systems (BPS). BPSs can be an economically and environmentally sound alternative for animal housing, and an efficient manure management alternative for beef production systems, as manure is stored and handled as a solid and eliminates the need for runoff control. Bedding materials are used to absorb excess moisture, improve animal comfort and reduce negative environmental impacts from these livestock facilities. Various biomass types can be used as potential bedding material, such as corn stover, wheat straw and soybean stover. When choosing a bedding material, a number of factors must be considered. Initial moisture content and particle size distribution play an important role in selecting a media for bedding. However, the most important design criteria to consider is the water holding capacity (WHC) of the material and the total solids (TS) of the manure-bedding mixture at saturation. WHC is the moisture a material can retain at the point of saturation. The main objective of this experimental study was to characterize properties of manure-bedding mixtures that might be found in BPS. These property characterizations included evaluating the impact of several bedding materials and manure TS mixtures on WHC. Seven organic bedding materials were evaluated (corn cobs, corn stover, pine shavings, switchgrass, miscanthus, wheat straw, and soybean stover) and they were characterized for their particle size distribution, bulk density and initial total solids. The first goal of this project was to develop a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for measuring WHC with manure addition and the minimum time needed to reach that value. Furthermore, the effect on bedding WHC when beef manure is used in place of water for substrate was determined. To meet this objective, the WHC was evaluated using beef manure at 5 TS levels total solids contents (0%, 4%, 8%, 12% and 16% TS). An SOP for measuring WHC with manure addition was developed, based on a standard method for non-manure systems in literature. The results of this study, WHC increased significantly with manure addition. Furthermore, the outcomes of this work indicated that, for the majority of the bedding materials tested, high TS manure slurry (12% or 16%) resulted in lower WHC than did 4% and 8% TS slurry, but all are substantially greater than the baseline WHC without manure slurry addition. All bedding materials WHCn ranged from 2.4 to 8.8 g H2O (g of dry mixture)-1. These values were for soybean stover at 16% manure TS and corn stover at 4% manure TS, respectively. If using corn stover and wheat straw the total bedding required per animal per day ranged from 0.6 to 6.6 kg. Compared to current bedding mass recommendations in Illinois the amount of bedding suggested for use in BPS was up to 90% lower, while the total manure-bedding mixture storage volume were greater or lower, depending on the bedding materials bulk density

Κλινικές μελέτες σπάνιων παθήσεων: Μεθοδολογικές προκλήσεις

H επιστημονική μεθοδολογία, οι οικονομικοί πόροι και η υλικοτεχνική υποστήριξη της κλινικής έρευνας για σπάνιες παθήσεις έχουν βελτιωθεί σημαντικά τα τελευταία χρόνια, με αποτέλεσμα την αύξηση της πρόσβασης σε νέες θεραπείες. Ωστόσο, η διενέργεια κλινικών μελετών στη συγκεκριμένη κατηγορία ασθενών εξακολουθεί να παρουσιάζει αρκετές προκλήσεις. Σκοπός της συγκεκριμένης εργασίας είναι η παρουσίαση των μεθοδολογικών ιδιαιτεροτήτων των μελετών αυτών, προκειμένου να επιτευχθεί ο σχεδιασμός και η διεξαγωγή τους βάσει επιστημονικών και ηθικών κριτηρίων. Ο μικρός και συχνά ευάλωτος (παιδιά, ηλικιωμένοι) πληθυσμός αναφοράς, η γεωγραφική διασπορά των ασθενών, ο άγνωστος μηχανισμός των παθήσεων, η αυξημένη τους ετερογένεια, η ανάγκη για ανακάλυψη και επικύρωση νέων μοριακών στόχων, η έλλειψη καθιερωμένων θεραπευτικών επιλογών, η ανάγκη ενεργοποίησης πολλαπλών κέντρων σε διαφορετικές χώρες και το διαφορετικό ρυθμιστικό πλαίσιο δυσχεραίνουν τη δημιουργία αξιόπιστων αποδεικτικών στοιχείων. Υπό τις συνθήκες αυτές, επιβάλλεται η διατήρηση μιας λεπτής ισορροπίας ανάμεσα σε αυτά που πρέπει να γίνουν και σε αυτά που είναι εφικτά, προκειμένου να διασφαλιστεί ένα ικανοποιητικό επίπεδο τεκμηρίωσης. Όταν η παραδοσιακή μεθοδολογική προσέγγιση δεν είναι δυνατή, κρίνεται αναγκαία η αναζήτηση «ευέλικτων» εναλλακτικών σχεδιασμών, που αναπληρώνουν τα μεθοδολογικά κενά και αξιολογούν τη διαδικασία της τυχαιοποίησης, την ποσοτικοποίηση των σφαλμάτων, τη χρήση των ενδιάμεσων καταληκτικών σημείων και τις αναλυτικές - στατιστικές τεχνικές. Απώτερος στόχος είναι η συνεκτίμηση των δεδομένων και των περιορισμών και η αύξηση της ποιότητας και του όγκου της διαθέσιμης πληροφόρησης. Στο πλαίσιο αυτό, η συγκεκριμένη εργασία διερευνά τις νεότερες σχεδιαστικές και αναλυτικές μεθοδολογικές δυνατότητες και παρουσιάζει στο δεύτερο μέρος της παραδείγματα κλινικών μελετών σπάνιων παθήσεων, που οδήγησαν σε εγκρίσεις ορφανών φαρμάκων το 2019, από τον Ευρωπαϊκό Οργανισμό Φαρμάκων.The scientific methodology, the financial resources and the logistical support of clinical research for rare diseases have improved significantly in recent years, resulting in increased access to new therapies. However, conducting clinical trials in this patient category, still presents several challenges. The purpose of this work is to present the methodological specific features of these studies, in order to achieve their design and conduct on the basis of scientific and ethical criteria. The small and often vulnerable (children, elderly) reference population, the geographic distribution of the patients, the unknown mechanism of the diseases, their increased heterogeneity, the need to discover and validate new molecular targets, the lack of standard of care, the need to set up multiple sites in different countries and the divergent landscape of clinical trial regulations are examples of the challenges mentioned above. Under these circumstances, it is essential to maintain a fine balance between what is to be done and what is feasible, in order to ensure a satisfactory level of evidence. When the traditional methodological approach is not possible, it is necessary to look for "flexible" alternative designs that fill in the methodological gaps and evaluate the process of randomization, the quantification of errors, the use of surrogate endpoints and the analytical - statistical techniques. The ultimate goal is to increase the quality and the volume of the information gathered, taking into consideration the available data and constraints. In this context, this work explores the latest design-analytical methodologies and presents in its second part examples of clinical trials of rare diseases that led to orphan drug approvals in 2019, by the European Medicines Agency

The Wireless Readiness Innovation Index: Enhancing the Effectiveness of the Public Sector in New Service Introduction

National and regional public authorities need to align their planned introduction of mobile/wireless innovation with the maturity levels of both their workforce (who will manage and maintain the new applications) and their citizens (who will use them). We draw on the experience of working with local authorities in three Mediterranean countries (Greece, Italy and Spain) to develop a method towards the effective introduction and adoption of innovative mobile services by public organizations. Specifically, we discuss the development and pilot implementation of a) the Wireless Readiness Innovation Index , a tool that aims at measuring the local authority’s and end users’ readiness towards providing and using innovative wireless services and b) the Wireless Innovation Operational Toolkit , a tool that aims at matching users’ and local authority’s readiness levels with candidate services so as to maximize the likelihood of successful introduction and sustained use

Το ρυθμιστικό πλαίσιο σε σχέση με τον τραπεζικό τομέα για την καταστολή της νομιμοποίησης εσόδων από παράνομες δραστηριότητες στην Ευρωπαϊκή ένωση και τις ΗΠΑ: Κοινή επίδραση από το διεθνές δίκαιο, συγκριτική ανάλυση κι αλληλεπιδράσεις

Η νομιμοποίηση εσόδων από παράνομες δραστηριότητες αναφέρεται στη διεθνή βιβλιογραφία ως μια από τις σπάνιες περιπτώσεις, όπου μια πράξη θεωρήθηκε έγκλημα αρχικά στο διεθνές δίκαιο, και στη συνέχεια ποινικοποιήθηκε από τους εσωτερικούς νομοθέτες των διαφόρων κρατών, που κλήθηκαν να εισάγουν και να προσαρμόσουν στα δίκαιά τους τις ρυθμίσεις των διεθνών κειμένων. Κατά κανόνα, πρώτα μια πράξη εκτιμάται ότι προσβάλλει τις εσωτερικές έννομες τάξεις των κρατών, και στη συνέχεια διεθνοποιείται, δηλαδή προβλέπεται ως έγκλημα και στο διεθνές δίκαιο, με βασικό σκοπό να εξασφαλιστεί η αποτελεσματική κατασταλτική και δικαστική συνεργασία, όσο το δυνατόν περισσοτέρων κρατών στην καταπολέμησή του. Στην περίπτωση όμως του money laundering (ML), θεωρήθηκε ως έγκλημα πρώτα στα διεθνή κείμενα (μέσω της καθιέρωσης υποχρέωσης των κρατών να το θεωρήσουν ως αξιόποινη πράξη), κι έπειτα ποινικοποιήθηκε από τις εσωτερικές έννομες τάξεις των κρατών της διεθνούς κοινότητας, ακολουθώντας αντίστροφη πορεία από την συνηθισμένη. Μεταξύ άλλων, θα πρέπει να δοθεί ιδιαίτερη έμφαση στο γεγονός, ότι το γραπτό διεθνές δίκαιο που αφορά τοML,επηρεάστηκε από τη σχετική αμερικανική νομοθεσία - και όχι τυχαία - αφού στην Αμερική εμφανίστηκε για πρώτη φορά το συγκεκριμένο φαινόμενο. Τόσο το αμερικανικό, όπως και το ελβετικό νομοθετικό πλαίσιο αναφορικά με την πρόληψη του οικονομικού συστήματος, ιδίως του χρηματοπιστωτικού από την νομιμοποίηση εσόδων από παράνομες δραστηριότητες, επηρέασαν βαθύτατα τη διαμόρφωση των διεθνών κανόνων στο προληπτικό πεδίο δράσης, συντελώντας στην δημιουργία των γνωστών σαράντα (40) συστάσεων της FATF, οι οποίες με τη σειρά τους επηρέασαν τις εσωτερικές νομοθεσίες των κρατών ανά τον κόσμο. Μάλιστα, οι εν λόγω συστάσεις φαίνεται να διαδραμάτισαν καθοριστικό ρόλο, ιδίως στη διαμόρφωση της ευρωπαϊκής νομοθεσίας, αποτελώντας χαρακτηριστική περίπτωση της εμφάνισης του αποκαλούμενου παγκόσμιου διοικητικού δικαίου.Money laundering is referred to in the international literature as one of the rare cases where an act was initially considered a crime under international law, and was subsequently criminalized by the domestic legislators of various states, who were called upon to introduce and adapt their laws to the arrangements of international texts. As a rule, an act is first deemed to infringe the internal legal orders of States, and then internationalized, that is, provided for as a crime in international law, with the primary aim of ensuring effective repressive and judicial cooperation with as many States as possible in combating it. In the case of money laundering (ML) though, it was considered a crime first in international texts (through the introduction of the obligation of states to consider it a criminal act), and then criminalized by the domestic legal orders of the states of the international community, following a reverse course of the usual. Among other things, special emphasis should be placed on the fact that the written international law concerning ML was influenced by the relevant American legislation - and not accidentally - since this phenomenon first appeared in America. Both the US and Swiss legal frameworks regarding the prevention of the financial system, in particular the financial one from money laundering, have profoundly influenced the formation of international rules in the precautionary field, contributing to the creation of the well-known forty (40) FATF recommendations, which in turn have influenced the domestic laws of states around the world. In fact, these recommendations seem to have played a key role, especially in the formulation of European legislation, being a typical case of the emergence of so-called global administrative law

Measuring productivities for the 38 OECD member countries: an input-output modelling approach

Using a multisectoral model and the latest data from the OECD Input-Output Tables (IOTs2021 ed.), this article estimates labour and capital productivities of the 38 OECD member countries. As measures of the productivity of labour, we consider the inverse of the vertically integrated labour coefficients, while Perron–Frobenius theorems are employed so as to measure capital productivity. In this respect, the productive technologies and the intersectoral relationships of each economy are taken into account. We further investigate the relationship between productivity, economic efficiency and living standards. Findings indicate that the impact of capital productivity on higher living standards depends on the evolutionary and institutional background of the economy at hand

Investigating a Selection of Methods for the Prediction of Total Soluble Solids Among Wine Grape Quality Characteristics Using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index Data From Proximal and Remote Sensing

The most common method for determining wine grape quality characteristics is to perform sample-based laboratory analysis, which can be time-consuming and expensive. In this article, we investigate an alternative approach to predict wine grape quality characteristics by combining machine learning techniques and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data collected at different growth stages with non-destructive methods, such as proximal and remote sensing, that are currently used in precision viticulture (PV). The study involved several sets of high-resolution multispectral data derived from four sources, including two vehicle-mounted crop reflectance sensors, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-acquired data, and Sentinel-2 (S2) archived imagery to estimate grapevine canopy properties at different growth stages. Several data pre-processing techniques were employed, including data quality assessment, data interpolation onto a 100-cell grid (10 × 20 m), and data normalization. By calculating Pearson’s correlation matrix between all variables, initial descriptive statistical analysis was carried out to investigate the relationships between NDVI data from all proximal and remote sensors and the grape quality characteristics in all growth stages. The transformed dataset was then ready and applied to statistical and machine learning algorithms, firstly trained on the data distribution available and then validated and tested, using linear and nonlinear regression models, including ordinary least square (OLS), Theil–Sen, and the Huber regression models and Ensemble Methods based on Decision Trees. Proximal sensors performed better in wine grapes quality parameters prediction in the early season, while remote sensors during later growth stages. The strongest correlations with the sugar content were observed for NDVI data collected with the UAV, Spectrosense+GPS (SS), and the CropCircle (CC), during Berries pea-sized and the Veraison stage, mid-late season with full canopy growth, for both years. UAV and SS data proved to be more accurate in predicting the sugars out of all wine grape quality characteristics, especially during a mid-late season with full canopy growth, in Berries pea-sized and the Veraison growth stages. The best-fitted regressions presented a maximum coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.61

Developing Visual-Assisted Decision Support Systems across Diverse Agricultural Use Cases

Decision support systems (DSSs) in agriculture are becoming increasingly popular, and have begun adopting visualisations to facilitate insights into complex data. However, DSSs for agriculture are often designed as standalone applications, which limits their flexibility and portability. They also rarely provide interactivity, visualise uncertainty and are evaluated with end-users. To address these gaps, we developed six web-based visual-assisted DSSs for various agricultural use cases, including biological efficacy correlation analysis, water stress and irrigation requirement analysis, product price prediction, etc. We then evaluated our DSSs with domain experts, focusing on usability, workload, acceptance and trust. Results showed that our systems were easy to use and understand, and participants perceived them as highly performant, even though they required a slightly high mental demand, temporal demand and effort. We also published the source code of our proposed systems so that they can be re-used or adapted by the agricultural community