A choice experiment method to assess vegetables producers’ preferences for crop insurance

Agricultural producers face many risks in their economic activity due to weather conditions, plant or animal diseases, price volatility, policy changes and so on. One of the management tools to deal with some of these risks is the crop insurance system. In Catalonia (North-East of Spain) farmers’ participation in crop insurance for vegetables is low. Only 5 percent of the vegetables area is insured, when in Spain, as a whole, this percentage is around 20 percent. Different reasons have been suggested to explain this low participation ratio such as low risk perception, risk diversification, insurance cost or crop damage assessment rules, among others. However, no systematic research has been undertaken to assess farmers’ preferences for crop insurance in Catalonia. Through a survey of 93 vegetables farmers in the main productive areas in Catalonia, we conducted choice experiments to assess main farmers’ preferences for crop insurance. Each insurance policy was defined by 4 attributes: insurance cost; risks covered; minimum production damage level; and crop damage assessment rule. Results identify that insurance cost and crop damage assessment rules are among the most important factors to explain farmers’ behaviour toward crop insurance. These results allow us to suggest some recommendations specifically addressed to re-orientate the existing crop insurance policy in the vegetables sector in Catalonia.crop insurance, vegetables, choice experiments, Catalonia., Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Stability and performance of two GSBR operated in alternating anoxic/aerobic or anaerobic/aerobic conditions for nutrient removal

Two granular sludge sequencing batch reactors (GSBR) with alternating anoxic/aerobic (R1) and anaerobic/aerobic (R2) conditions were operated with a 4-carbon-source synthetic influent. The physical properties of the granular sludge were very good (SVI≈20 mL g−1) and high solid concentrations (up to 35 g L−1) were obtained in the bioreactor operated with a pre-anoxic phase with additional nitrate (R1). In contrast, performance and granule settleability were lower in R2 due to the development of filamentous heterotrophic bacteria on the surface of granules. These disturbances were linked to the fact that a fraction of COD remained during the aerobic phase, which was not stored during the anaerobic period. To stabilize a GSBR with a mixture of organic carbon sources, it is thus necessary to maximize the amount of substrate used during the non-aerated, anaerobic or anoxic, phase. Comparable phosphate removal efficiency was observed in both systems; enhanced biological P removal being greater in anaerobic/aerobic conditions, while the contribution of precipitation (Ca–P) was more significant in anoxic/aerobic conditions

Antecedentes y consecuencias de la Responsabilidad Social Corporativa desde la perspectiva del consumidor: Propuesta de un modelo de variables latentes

La presente tesis doctoral tiene como objetivo general contribuir a mejorar el conocimiento sobre la respuesta del consumidor ante las acciones sociales de marketing con causa. Para su consecución distinguimos tres objetivos específicos: 1.- Entender las relaciones causales de la formación de la responsabilidad social corporativa (RSC) teniendo en cuenta la congruencia de la acción, la atribución de altruismo a la empresa y su credibilidad. 2.- Comprender la influencia de la RSC en la intención de lealtad, en la evaluación de la empresa y en la recomendación, considerando la identificación del consumidor con la empresa y su satisfacción como variables mediadoras. 3.- Analizar el efecto moderador del medio de comunicación y de la coherencia entre la actividad de la empresa y la acción social. El diseño de la investigación atiende a los parámetros propios del método hipotético-deductivo. Para la evaluación del modelo de investigación propuesto se ha recurrido a la investigación empírica mediante el diseño experimental en dos fases: en la primera se diseñan los escenarios y en la segunda se evalúa su impacto en el comportamiento del consumidor. Para el diseño de los escenarios se ha desarrollado un estudio cualitativo mediante una dinámica de grupo y un posterior estudio exploratorio cuantitativo para definir los cuatro escenarios en forma de anuncios más adecuados para dar respuesta a los objetivos. En esta fase se ha seleccionado el sector de la distribución alimentaria minorista para la recogida de datos que permitan la validación del modelo, dada su adecuación a los objetivos de la investigación. En la segunda fase se ha llevado a cabo un estudio cuantitativo que ha dado lugar a la recogida de datos mediante encuestas personales a una muestra representativa de consumidores del total nacional. La muestra está formada por consumidores entre 18 y 65 años, residentes en España, que habitualmente realizan compras en supermercados o hipermercados. La selección de los elementos de la muestra se realizó conforme a un método polietápico en tres provincias: Barcelona, Málaga y Zaragoza. En la primera etapa se establecieron cuotas con estratificación proporcional al tamaño de cada una de las tres provincias. Posteriormente se realizó una nueva distribución por edad entre hombres y mujeres; y por último se realizó la selección de los individuos mediante un muestreo probabilístico por ruta aleatoria. En total se obtuvieron 623 encuestas válidas distribuidas de modo similar entre los cuatro escenarios. Los datos fueron analizados mediante modelos de ecuaciones estructurales y análisis multigrupo. Entre las conclusiones del análisis de los resultados cabe destacar la identificación de un efecto positivo de las acciones sociales realizadas por una empresa tanto en la percepción de su RSC como en su habilidad corporativa; es decir, los consumidores atribuyen una mayor calidad a los productos de las empresas socialmente responsables, al tiempo que tienen un comportamiento más positivo hacia ellas. El efecto total de la RSC en el comportamiento del consumidor, como suma de todos los efectos directos e indirectos, es más alto cuando la comunicación de las acciones se realiza a través de un medio de comunicación social online y la coherencia es alta

Synergy

La trama urbana actual de Ciudad Meridiana se caracteriza por bloques aislados rectangulares, con fachadas de pequeñas oberturas y monofuncionales como edificios residenciales, con viviendas en planta baja y sin relación visual entre el interior y la calle. Es esta propuesta se pretende remodelar esta tipología. Manteniendo el concepto de bloque, de manera que se adapta a la trama urbana actual, pero densificando su espacio entre bloques y dándole uso. Así, se propone la creación de una nueva centralidad potenciando las conexiones latentes del espacio y aportando densidad. Para la generación de la propuesta se escoge el lugar donde confluyen los dos nuevos itinerarios urbanos, donde se encuentra latente un punto de nueva centralidad en el centro de la zona alta del barrio de Ciudad Meridiana. Aquí se pretende integrar un programa que reactive la zona y que atraiga nuevos perfiles de residente y visitante, para generar diversidad demográfica

A design for rapid transit networks considering rolling stock's reliability and redistribution of services during disruptions

This paper presents a model for designing a public transit network system combining the traditional approach of transport demand coverage in bimodal scenarios of operation with the recovery of possible disruptions due to limited reliability of the rolling stock. The model balances construction and operational costs with the benefits to the users for the optimization of their travel times. Two transportation modes have been considered, public and private transport and the proportion of the users choosing one mode or the other is assumed to obey to a bimodal logit choice model. While construction costs are a first stage decision, user travel costs and recovery action costs are scenario dependent. Two types of scenarios are taken into account: a) the scenarios of normal operation and b) disruption scenarios which are associated to a link's breakdown of the network. The disruptions in the links are assumed to follow a probability disruption model accordingly to the number of services that operate on them. The model can be used to analyze the influence of the rate of failures of the units on the reliability of the designed RTN. The proposed model can be considered as a two recourse stochastic programming model with a bi-level structure where the probabilities of failure are an implicit function of the number of services and the routing of the transit lines of the transport system. A heuristic solution method is examined for small to medium networks demonstrating the computational viability of the approach

Tourists' perceived destination image and behavioral intentions towards a sanctioned destination: comparing visitors and non-visitors

Drawing on a qualitative study, this study aims to provide an improved understanding of how tourists perceive a sanctioned destination's image and how sanction-induced crises influence tourists' behavioral intentions. To do so, this study employed semi-structured interviews with 30 individuals each with and without prior experience visiting Iran. The findings revealed that sanctions influence affective and cognitive images and enhance tourist risk perceptions, including financial, satisfaction, terrorism and war, political, crime, security, and functional/performance risks. Furthermore, a positive post-trip evaluation was found to play a significant role in further behavioral intention, thereby enhancing destination image. Overall, this study enriches the literature on tourism and crises by focusing on visitors' and non-visitors' perceptions of a sanctioned destination and their subsequent behavioral intents. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are provided in the conclusion.The research in this paper was funded by the projects; a) ‘New strategies for new tourist conflicts in Andalusian historic centers’ (UMA20-FEDERJA-005), FEDER Andalusian Operational Program 2014-2020, Spain, and b) ‘Residents versus tourists in Andalusian historic centres? Conflicts, strategies and new post-Covid scenarios’(P20_01198), Andalusian Plan for Research, Development and Innovation (PAIDI 2020), Spain. /// Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga / CBU

Motivating vaccination with financial incentives.

Governments and organizations often offer cash payments for vaccination. How effective are such payments? A literature review shows that incentives usually increase vaccination, especially for nonhesitant populations and when using guaranteed payments. Concerns about negative unintended consequences are unsupported. We also discuss open questions and avenues for future research

Is Spain an alternative destination for South Korean tourists? Motivations and Destination Image

Tourists may have greater motivation or predisposition for visiting tourist destination when they consider, a priori, that the atributes of the places can meet their needs and make them achieve the desired benefits. This way, the images Will be more favourable when the attributes linked to the destinations coincide with the benefits sought by the tourists.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Double acid etching treatment of dental implants for enhanced biological properties

Background: The topographical features on the surface of dental implants have been considered as a critical parameter for enhancing the osseointegration of implants. In this work, we proposed a surface obtained by a combination of shot blasting and double acid etching. The double acid etching was hypothesized to increase the submicron topography and hence further stimulate the biological properties of the titanium implant. Methods: The topographical features (surface roughness and real surface area), wettability and surface chemical composition were analyzed. Results: The results showed that the proposed method produced a dual roughness, mainly composed of randomly distributed peaks and valleys with a superimposed nanoroughness, and hence with an increased specific surface area. Despite the fact that the proposed method does not introduce significant chemical changes, this treatment combination slightly increased the amount of titanium available on the surface, reducing potential surface contaminants. Furthermore, the surface showed increased contact angle values demonstrating an enhanced hydrophobicity on the surface. The biological behavior of the implants was then assessed by culturing osteoblast-like cells on the surface, showing enhanced osteoblast adhesion, proliferation and differentiation on the novel surface. Conclusions: Based on these results, the described surface with dual roughness obtained by double acid etching may be a novel route to obtain key features on the surface to enhance the osseointegration of the implant. Our approach is a simple method to obtain a dual roughness that mimics the bone structure modified by osteoclasts and increases surface area, which enhances osseointegration of dental implants.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft