How Unjust! An Experimental Investigation of Supervisors' Evaluation Errors and Agents' Incentives

In our simple model the supervisor: i) cannot observe the agent's effort; ii) aims at inducing the agent to exert high effort; but iii) can only offer rewards based on performance. Since performance is only stochastically related to effort, evaluation errors may occur. In particular, deserving agents that have exerted high effort may not be rewarded (Type I errors) and undeserving agents that have exerted low effort may be rewarded (Type II errors). We show that, although the model predicts both errors to be equally detrimental to performance, this prediction fails with a lab experiment. In fact, failing to reward deserving agents is significantly more detrimental than rewarding undeserving agents. We discuss our result in the light of some economic and managerial theories of behavior. Our result may have interesting implications for strategic human resource management and personnel economics and may also contribute to the debate about incentives and organizational performance.agency theory, organizational justice, compensation, type I and type II errors, real effort

Lenient performance evaluations cause less damage than severe ones

Both hurt employee performance, but severity errors impact the perception of organisational justice, write Lucia Marchegiani, Tommaso Reggiani and Matteo Rizzoll

How unjust! An experimental investigation of supervisors' evaluation errors and agents' incentives

In our simple model the supervisor: i) cannot observe the agent's effort; ii) aims at inducing the agent to exert high effort; but iii) can only offer rewards based on performance. Since performance is only stochastically related to effort, evaluation errors may occur. In particular, deserving agents that have exerted high effort may not be rewarded (Type I errors) and undeserving agents that have exerted low effort may be rewarded (Type II errors). We show that, although the model predicts both errors to be equally detrimental to performance, this prediction fails with a lab experiment. In fact, failing to reward deserving agents is significantly more detrimental than rewarding undeserving agents. We discuss our result in the light of some economic and managerial theories of behavior. Our result may have interesting implications for strategic human resource management and personnel economics and may also contribute to the debate about incentives and organizational performance

The 5th edition of the Roma-BZCAT. A short presentation

The 5th edition of the Roma-BZCAT Multifrequency Catalogue of Blazars is available in a printed version and online at the ASDC website (http://www.asdc.asi.it/bzcat); it is also in the NED database. It presents several relevant changes with respect to the past editions which are briefly described in this paper.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Scienc

Cibo e Nutraceutici: direzione salute

Atti congressuali del Convegno “Cibo e nutraceutici: direzione salute”, organizzato a Camerino il 10-07-2018, a cura della Piattaforme Tematiche di Ateneo su “Alimenti e Nutrizione” e “Salute Umana e Animale”

Klox Fluorescence Biomodulation System (KFBS), an alternative approach for the treatment of superficial pyoderma in dogs: preliminary results

The aim of this study was to assess the potential of klox fluorescence biomodulation system (KFBS) as sole treat-ment in dogs suffering from superficial pyoderma in comparison with systemic antimicrobial treatment

Cibo e nutraceutici: direzione salute

Atti congressuali del Convegno “Cibo e nutraceutici: direzione salute”, organizzato a Camerino il 10-07-2018, a cura della Piattaforme Tematiche di Ateneo su “Alimenti e Nutrizione” e “Salute Umana e Animale”

Relationship between hospital volume and short-term outcomes: A nationwide population-based study including 75,280 rectal cancer surgical procedures

There is growing interest on the potential relationship between hospital volume (HV) and outcomes as it might justify the centralization of care for rectal cancer surgery. From the National Italian Hospital Discharge Dataset, data on 75,280 rectal cancer patients who underwent elective major surgery between 2002 and 2014 were retrieved and analyzed. HV was grouped into tertiles: low-volume performed 1-12, while high-volume hospitals performed 33+ procedures/year. The impact of HV on in-hospital mortality, abdominoperineal resection (APR), 30-day readmission, and length of stay (LOS) was assessed. Risk factors were calculated using multivariate logistic regression. The proportion of procedures performed in low-volume hospitals decreased by 6.7 percent (p<0.001). The rate of in-hospital mortality, APR and 30-day readmission was 1.3%, 16.3%, and 7.2%, respectively, and the median LOS was 13 days. The adjusted risk of in-hospital mortality (OR = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.25-1.78), APR (OR 1.10, 95%CI 1.02-1.19), 30-day readmission (OR 1.49, 95%CI 1.38-1.61), and prolonged LOS (OR 2.29, 95%CI 2.05-2.55) were greater for low-volume hospitals than for high-volume hospitals. This study shows an independent impact of HV procedures on all short-term outcome measures, justifying a policy of centralization for rectal cancer surgery, a process which is underwa

Isolation of Macrococcus brunensis and Kokuria varians in dogs suffering from chronic conjunctivitis

The Human Microbiome Project launched in 2008 by the National Institutes of Health, revealed a remarkably abundant and diverse community of microbial species inhabiting the human body, and the eye represents an emerging area of research [1] trying to understand possible relations between microbiota alterations and pathogenesis of ophthalmic diseases [2]. In veterinary medicine, there are only few paper focused on this topic [3,4,5]. The aim of the present study was to isolate and identify, by molecular techniques, several bacterial species from the conjunctival microflora in dogs with chronic conjunctivitis. Four owned dogs conducted at the UNICAM Veterinary Teaching Hospital for eye examination due to chronic and/or relapsing conjunctivitis, were included in the study. All subjects were submitted to complete ophthalmologic evaluation, including Schirmer Tear test and fluorescein test, slit lamp examination, direct ophthalmoscopy and tonometry, to rule out other causes of conjunctival disease. The administration of systemic antibiotic in the six months prior the visit was considered as an exclusion criteria. To obtain isolated bacterial colonies, conjunctival swabs from seven infected dog eyes were spread onto agar plates with selective and non-selective media. From each isolated colony, the bacterial DNA was extracted using Bacterial Genomic DNA Isolation kit (Norgen Biotek, Ontario, Canada); the 16S bacterial rRNA gene was amplified by PCR and purified by Nucleo Spin Extract kit (Macherey-Nagel, Dürham, Germany). Each purified DNA sample was prepared and sent to be sequenced by Eurofins MWG Operon (Martinsried, Germany). The sequences obtained from each bacterial strain were analyzed using BLAST® (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BLAST). Enterococcus faecium, Kocuria varians, Macrococcus brunensis, Staphylococcus aureus and two strains of S. equorum were the six different bacterial strains isolated from 3 out of 7 samples (43%). Sensitivity of the isolated bacterial strains to the most frequently used antibiotics in veterinary ophthalmology: chloramphenicol, gentamycin, neomycin, and tobramycin was assessed using Kirby-Bauer method. All strains were resistant to chloramphenicol (all patients had previously been treated with it) and sensitive to tobramycin, neomycin, and gentamycin except E. faecium that was sensitive only to tobramycin. To the Authors’ knowledge, this is the first isolation of Macrococcus brunensis and of Kokuria varians from the eyes of dogs suffering from chronic conjunctivitis. They had been previously isolated from animals (e.g. M. brunensis from the skin of llamas [6] and K. varians from the eyes of healthy donkeys [7]), but this is the first isolation from dog. Even if the low number of patients and the single isolates did not allow us to draw conclusion about the involvement of these bacteria in the disease, the isolation of K. varians is particularly relevant because Kokuria spp. is a well-known pathogen in humans, especially in compromised hosts [8]

Current Applications and Future Perspectives of Fluorescence Light Energy Biomodulation in Veterinary Medicine

The purpose of this review is to determine the state of the art of the mode of action and potential applications of fluorescence photobiomodulation in veterinary medicine. After a summary of the assets that have led the translation of such light-based therapies from bench side into clinical use, recent advances in canine dermatology using this brand-new approach are presented, and future scenarios where this type of care may provide benefits over the current standard care are highlighte