Narcissistic Traits of Police Officers in America

The narcissistic traits of police officers aged 17 to 78 in the United States affect American citizens in various degrees. Improvements made to pre-employment psychological evaluations, such as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2), the L (Lie) Scale, and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), may detect and screen out police officer candidates with underlying Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). It is important that candidates with NPD be screened out as, if they become officers, they may commit acts of police misconduct, which greatly affect the safety and trust of the American people

The influence of organic amendments on soil aggregate stability from semiarid sites

Restoring the native vegetation is the most effective way to regenerate soil health. Under these conditions, vegetation cover in areas having degraded soils may be better sustained if the soil is amended with an external source of organic matter. The addition of organic materials to soils also increases infiltration rates and reduces erosion rates; these factors contribute to an available water increment and a successful and sustainable land management. The goal of this study was to analyze the effect of various organic amendments on the aggregate stability of soils in afforested plots. An experimental paired-plot layout was established in southern of Spain (homogeneous slope gradient: 7.5%; aspect: N170). Five amendments were applied in an experimental set of plots: straw mulching; mulch with chipped branches of Aleppo Pine (Pinus halepensis L.); TerraCotten hydroabsobent polymers; sewage sludge; sheep manure and control. Plots were afforested following the same spatial pattern, and amendments were mixed with the soil at the rate 10 Mg ha-1. The vegetation was planted in a grid pattern with 0.5 m between plants in each plot. During the afforestation process the soil was tilled to 25 cm depth from the surface. Soil from the afforested plots was sampled in: i) 6 months post-afforestation; ii) 12 months post-afforestation; iii) 18 months post-afforestation; and iv) 24 months post-afforestation. The sampling strategy for each plot involved collection of 4 disturbed soil samples taken from the surface (0–10 cm depth). The stability of aggregates was measured by wet-sieving. Regarding to soil aggregate stability, the percentage of stable aggregates has increased slightly in all the treatments in relation to control. Specifically, the differences were recorded in the fraction of macroaggregates (≥ 0.250 mm). The largest increases have been associated with straw mulch, pinus mulch and sludge. Similar results have been registered for the soil organic carbon content. Independent of the soil management, after six months, no significant differences in microaggregates were found regarding to the control plots. These results showed an increase in the stability of the macroaggregates when soil is amended with sludge, pinus mulch and straw much. This fact has been due to an increase in the number cementing agents due to: (i) the application of pinus, straw and sludge had resulted in the release of carbohydrates to the soil; and thus (ii) it has favored the development of a protective vegetation cover, which has increased the number of roots in the soil and the organic contribution to it.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Theoretical approach of branding from a semiotic perspective

This paper outlines the importance of the world of signs and symbols relating to brand management. We will explore the traditional semiotics authors and how those have been influenced other academics who have researched branding from a semiotic perception. This research provides a literature revision theoretical of the brand from a semiotic insight considering its theoretical framework and the implementations of some of the analysis models for a deep revision of the implications of semiotics in branding.Este artículo describe la importancia del mundo de los signos y símbolos relacionados con la gestión de marca. Exploraremos los autores semióticos tradicionales y cómo estos han influenciado a otros académicos que han investigado la marca desde una percepción semiótica. Esta investigación proporciona una revisión de la literatura teórica de la marca desde una perspectiva semiótica considerando su marco teórico y la implementación de algunos de los modelos de análisis para una revisión profunda de sus implicaciones en relación a la marca

The Consistency of Fairness Rules: An Experimental Study

In the last two decades, experimental papers on distributive justice have abounded. Two main results have been replicated Firstly, there is a multiplicity of fairness rules. Secondly, fairness decisions differ depending on the context. This paper studies individual consistency in the use of fairness rules, as well as the structural factors that lead people to be inconsistent. We use a within-subject design, which allows us to compare individual behavior when the context changes. In line with the literature, we find a multiplicity of fairness rules. However, when we control for consistency, the set of fairness rules is considerably smaller. Only selfishness and strict egalitarianism seem to survive the stricter requirement of consistency. We observe that this result is mainly explained by a self-serving bias. Participants select the rule that is individually optimal in each situation.Justice, Fairness, Laboratory Experiments, Self-serving bias, Consistency

Networks of People in Specialty Production: Family Firms in the Iron and Steel Wire Industries in Spain (1870-2000)

Capital intensive industries in specialized niches of production have constituted solid ground for family firms in Spain, as evidenced by the experience of the iron and steel wire industries between 1870 and 2000. The embeddedness of these firms in their local and regional environments have allowed the creation of networks that, together with favourable institutional conditions, significantly explain the dominance of family entrepreneurship in iron and steel wire manufacturing in Spain, until the end of the 20th century. Dominance of family firms at the regional level has not been an obstacle for innovation in wire manufacturing in Spain, which has taken place even when institutional conditions blocked innovation and traditional networking. Therefore, economic theories about the difficulties dynastic family firms may have to perform appropriately in science-based industries must be questioned.family firms, spanish economic history, steel wire industries

Labour Market Performance and Start-Up Costs: OECD Evidence

This paper is intended to make a contribution to the empirical literature explaining the rise ofunemployment since the 1970s in western economies by means of interactions betweenshocks and institutions. The contribution is twofold. First, the impact of a general feature ofdeveloped economies that has been surprisingly neglected in the literature is analyzed,namely, the employment shift from industry and agriculture to services. The secondcontribution of the paper is the focus on the interaction of that shock with the administrativeburdens on firm creation. The working hypothesis is that countries that impose high costs onthe creation of new companies are not able to create enough jobs in the service sector tosuccessfully absorb the workers released from the agriculture and industry sector. The resultis higher unemployment.Macroeconomics of unemployment, Panel data, Startup costs.

Impacto del desempeño de los estudiantes en una metodología de evaluación continua en Moodle en el examen final

Este trabajo examina la diferente evolución del rendimiento de los estudiantes en cuestionarios online y su impacto en la calificación final. Esta innovadora técnica se ha utilizado en un grupo de un curso introductorio de contabilidad financiera con 8 cuestionarios online (uno por unidad temática) a través de la plataforma Moodle. Empleando el análisis cluster, identificamos diferentes grupos de evolución del rendimiento. La evidencia obtenida sugiere que en uno de estos grupos una evolución favorable del rendimiento en los test online puede conducir a un exceso de confianza, con el posterior efecto negativo en la nota del examen final. La investigación futura con más variables y muestras de mayor tamaño ayudará a identificar este perfil de estudiante con el fin de evitar un posible efecto negativo no deseado de esta técnica de enseñanza.This paper looks into the different evolution of students’ online questionnaire performance and its impact on the final examination mark. This innovative technique has been used in a group of an introductory financial accounting course with 8 online questionnaires (one per unit) in the Moodle platform. Using cluster analysis, we identify different groups of performance evolution. The evidence obtained suggests that in one of this groups a favourable test performance evolution may lead to overconfidence with the subsequent negative effect on the final examination mark. Future research with more variables and bigger samples will help to identify this student profile with a view to prevent this undesired negative effect of this teaching technique