Social Opportunities and Private Convenience of Choices at Farm Level: An Approach to the Links Between Farm Income and Sustainable GDP

This work proposes a method to identify and evaluate the links between the economic and environmental management of a farm, its income, and sustainable GDP. The approach is designed to link micro and macro economic aspects and is based on certain indicators, chosen from among those obtained from analysis of the farm accounts, suitable for representing socially desirable objectives. Three different types of farm accounts are employed. An MADM method of quantitative MCDM analysis was used to make a joint evaluation of various objective indicators in different types of farm management. The work only presents the most interesting result of the research, which was the method itself and does not include the results of a specific case study which was made. This method can be generally applied to connect macro and micro economic aspects and thus might be applicable to different contexts.Method, Farm, Society, Income, Environment, Well-being, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Q1,

Critical factors in information system implementation success : A case study of how to increase the usage of a SaaS based HR system

While the importance of technology has increased in our daily lives, it has also increased with the number of different industries and their external and internal processes. There is a lot of positive evidence of modern technology solutions, for example, to help human resources management, and more companies end up digitizing and updating their HR tools. When procuring information system solutions, companies are increasingly choosing a system from companies that offer their products with agile and cost-effective solutions based on cloud services instead of systems using traditional local installation. The purpose of the study is to find out what are the critical success factors in the implementation of an information system or in the successful introduction of a system to a new employee in the case of a personnel system based on the SaaS model. A successful implementation project is viewed from the perspective of a system service provider and with continuous or increasing usage as the measure of success. Another motivation for the study is to find out what factors influence the end user’s desire to increase or begin to avoid using the system. The study consists of an integrative literature review, in which theory and previous research are used to find out what factors are involved in a successful information system implementation process, and an empirical interview section. The theory focuses on the system implementation process, usability, and user experience in SaaS-based information systems, as well as their challenges from an end-user perspective. Based on the literature review, the critical success factors in successful implementation are the information system as a ready-to-use procurement, the information system implementation process, the implementation from the organisation's point of view, and the implementation from the end-user’s perspective. Based on these factors specified in the literature review analysis, the idea of potential critical factors for successful information system implementation was translated into practice in focused end-user interviews in the study, and thus clarified how these were realised in the success of the case-client company implementation process. The study shows that although no direct previous research on the successful implementation of SaaS systems can be found, the theory of critical success factors in traditional system implementations can be applied from the actual implementation phase and its planning onwards. Companies that make acquisitions of ready-to-use systems easily forget that, despite their apparent ease of implementation, they are essentially ordinary systems, where the most critical step to success in implementation, is where end-users are informed and oriented about it. The results of the study also suggest that increasing communication with end-users is associated with successful deployment, as is receiving feedback from end-users on continuing to actively use it, as end-users want to both understand and influence the tools they use in their work.Samalla kun teknologian merkitys on lisääntynyt päivittäisessä elämässämme, se on lisääntynyt myös kasvavalla skaalalla eri toimialoja ja niiden ulkoisia ja sisäisiä prosesseja. Nykyteknologian ratkaisuista esimerkiksi henkilöstöhallinnon apuna löytyy runsaasti positiivista näyttöä, ja moni yritys päätyykin digitalisoimaan ja päivittämään juuri HR-työkalujaan. Tietojärjestelmäratkaisuja hankkiessaan yritykset valitsevat yhä useammin perinteisen lokaalin asennuksen sijaan järjestelmän yrityksiltä, jotka tarjoavat tuotteitaan pilvipalveluihin perustuvin ketterin ja kustannustehokkain ratkaisuin. Tutkielman tarkoituksena on selvittää, mitä ovat kriittiset menestystekijät tietojärjestelmän käyttöönotossa tai uudelle työntekijälle esittelyssä silloin, kun kyseessä on SaaS-malliin perustuva henkilöstöjärjestelmä. Onnistunutta käyttöönottoprojektia tarkastellaan järjestelmäpalvelun tarjoajan näkökulmasta ja siten, että onnistumisen mittarina pidetään tasaisena jatkuvaa tai lisääntyvää käyttöä. Tutkimuksen toisena motivaationa on selvittää, mitkä tekijät vaikuttavat loppukäyttäjän haluun lisätä tai alkaa välttää järjestelmän käyttöään. Tutkimus koostuu integroivasta kirjallisuuskatsauksesta, jossa teorian ja aiemman tutkimuksen avulla selvitetään millaisia vaikuttimia onnistuneeseen tietojärjestelmän käyttöönottoprosessiin sisältyy, sekä empiirisestä haastatteluosiosta. Teoria painottuu käyttöönottoprosessiin, käytettävyyteen ja käyttökokemukseen SaaS-pohjaisissa tietojärjestelmissä, sekä niiden haasteisiin loppukäyttäjän näkökulmasta. Kirjallisuustutkimuksen perusteella on määritelty kriittisiksi menestystekijöiksi käyttöönotossa näkökulmat, joiksi nousivat tietojärjestelmä käyttövalmiina hankintana, tietojärjestelmän käyttöönottoprosessi, käyttöönotto organisaation näkökulmasta, sekä käyttöönotto loppukäyttäjien näkökulmasta. Kirjallisuuskatsauksessa eriteltyjen tekijöiden pohjalta syntynyt malli potentiaalisista kriittisistä tekijöistä käyttöönoton onnistumiselle siirrettiin tutkimuksessa käytäntöön loppukäyttäjien haastatteluissa, ja näin selvittämällä miten nämä case-asiakasyrityksen käyttöönottoprosessin onnistumisessa toteutuivat. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että vaikka suoraa aiempaa tutkimusta SaaS-järjestelmien käyttöönotosta ei löydykään, voidaan perinteisten järjestelmäkäyttöönottojen onnistumisen kriittisille menestystekijöille tehtyä teoriaa soveltaa varsinaisesta käyttöönottovaiheesta ja sen suunnittelusta eteenpäin. Heti valmiita järjestelmähankintoja tekevät yritykset helposti unohtavat, että näennäisestä helppoudesta huolimatta kyseessä on kuitenkin pohjimmiltaan tavallinen järjestelmähankinta, jossa onnistumisen kannalta kriittisin vaihe on se, missä järjestelmän käyttöönotosta tiedotetaan ja orientoidaan loppukäyttäjiä. Tutkimuksen tuloksista voidaan päätellä myös, että kommunikaation lisääminen loppukäyttäjien suuntaan on sidoksissa onnistuneen käyttöönoton kanssa, ja loppukäyttäjiltä kerättävän palautteen vastaanottaminen sen aktiivisen käytön jatkamisen kanssa, koska loppukäyttäjät haluavat sekä ymmärtää käyttämiään työkaluja, että voida vaikuttaa niiden käyttöön työssään

Representing and Constructing. Psychometrics from the perspectives of measurement theory and concept formation.

Social scientific measurement is much desired and much criticized. In this dissertation I evaluate one of the main approaches to social scientific measurement that has nevertheless been virtually ignored by philosophers – the psychometric approach. Psychometric measures are typically used to measure unobservable attributes such as intelligence and personality. They typically take the form of questionnaires or tests and are validated by statistical tests of properties such as reliability and model-fit. My thesis is two-fold. In the first, more critical part, I argue that psychometric instruments normally fail to fulfil plausible criteria for adequate measurement. To make this argument, I define and defend a conception of quantitative representation necessary for measurement. My definition is grounded in the Representational Theory of Measurement but avoids the main critiques this theory has faced. I then show that the typical psychometric process of measure validation fails to produce evidence of such quantitative representation. The upshot is that although a quantitative interpretation of psychometric data is common, it is largely unwarranted. In the second part, I argue that psychometric instruments are nonetheless apt for various other purposes. This argument hinges on a new outlook on how concepts should be formed for psychometric purposes. Philosophers have traditionally thought that concepts should cohere with intuitions and/or pick out so-called natural kinds, while many psychometricians argue that concepts should pick out real as opposed to constructed attributes. I argue that, when it comes to social scientific measurement, it is much more important to focus on the usefulness of the concept, where usefulness can take on different meanings in different contexts. Building on the defended outlook on concept formation, I show what useful functions psychometric instruments can serve even when they fail at quantitative representation.I thank the following institutions for funding my PhD research: Arts and Humanities Research Council, the British Society for the Philosophy of Science, Cambridge Trust and Newnham College

Efficacy of European Policies on Rural Landscape: the Case Study of Sardinia (ITALY)

Over the last decades, a large number of developed countries have explicitly recognized the importance of benefits generated from agricultural and rural landscape into their legislation. Since the early '90, preservation and enhancing of rural landscape has played an increasing role also into the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) promoted by the European Union (EU). More generally, the whole European rural development policy seems to recognize an important role to the keeping of agricultural and rural landscape. The present work is a part of a wider research aimed to identify rational instruments for guidance policies on rural landscape. The specific purpose of this paper is to evaluate efficacy of Sardinian (Italy) regional policies on rural landscape. In particular, the analysis aims to assess "functionality" of policies on rural landscape in programming policy. Results arisen from analysis of Rural Development of this first evaluation are controversial.rural landscape, rural and environmental policies, structural policies, efficacy policies evaluation, Sardinia, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q18, Q28, R59,

PENGARUH PENGGUNAAN E-LEARNING TERHADAP HASIL BELAJAR PESERTA DIDIK PADA MATA PELAJARAN IPA KELAS VI SEKOLAH DASAR

Penggunaan media pembelajaran mempunyai manfaat yang cukup besar dalam pembelajaran terkhusus pada siswa sekolah dasar. Berdasarkan hasil pengamatan awal pada peserta didik kelas VI SD Inpres Nogodue, masalah yang ditemukan adalah ketika guru mengajar, guru tidak menggunakan media pembelajaran tetapi hanya fokus pada bahan ajar berupa buku tanpa menggunakan media pembelajaran. Guru hanya menggunakan media gambar yang terdapat dalam buku untuk dijelaskan kepada peserta didik. Guru lebih banyak menjelaskan materi dan kurang memberikan contoh sehingga menyebabkan peserta didik menjadi bosan dan kurang paham dengan materi yang diajarkan. Hal ini juga berdampak terhadap menurunnya hasil belajar peserta didik. Adapun solusi yang diambil untuk mengatasi masalah ini adalah dengan menggunakan e-learning dalam pembelajaran. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menjelaskan pengaruh penggunaan e-learning terhadap hasil belajar peserta didik pada mata pelajaran IPA kelas VI sekolah dasar. Jenis penelitian yang digunakan yakni kuantitatif dengan model eksperimen. Desain penelitian ini menggunakan one group pretest posttest design dengan sampel berjumlah 13 peserta didik. Teknik penelitian yang digunakan adalah tes dan observasi dengan Instrumen berupa soal tes dan lembar observasi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa nilai rata-rata peserta didik pada pretest 72,92, sementara itu nilai rata-rata posttest ialah 86,19 dengan hasil pengujian hipotesis diperoleh nilai signifikasi (2-tailled) sebesar 0,000 ≤ 0,005 maka Ha diterima dan Ho ditolak. Dengan demikian, hasil ini menunjukkan terdapat pengaruh penggunaan e-learning terhadap hasil belajar peserta didik pada mata pelajaran IPA kelas VI SD Inpres Nogodue

PENGARUH PENGGUNAAN E-LEARNING TERHADAP HASIL BELAJAR PESERTA DIDIK PADA MATA PELAJARAN IPA KELAS VI SEKOLAH DASAR

Penggunaan media pembelajaran mempunyai manfaat yang cukup besar dalam pembelajaran terkhusus pada siswa sekolah dasar. Berdasarkan hasil pengamatan awal pada peserta didik kelas VI SD Inpres Nogodue, masalah yang ditemukan adalah ketika guru mengajar, guru tidak menggunakan media pembelajaran tetapi hanya fokus pada bahan ajar berupa buku tanpa menggunakan media pembelajaran. Guru hanya menggunakan media gambar yang terdapat dalam buku untuk dijelaskan kepada peserta didik. Guru lebih banyak menjelaskan materi dan kurang memberikan contoh sehingga menyebabkan peserta didik menjadi bosan dan kurang paham dengan materi yang diajarkan. Hal ini juga berdampak terhadap menurunnya hasil belajar peserta didik. Adapun solusi yang diambil untuk mengatasi masalah ini adalah dengan menggunakan e-learning dalam pembelajaran. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menjelaskan pengaruh penggunaan e-learning terhadap hasil belajar peserta didik pada mata pelajaran IPA kelas VI sekolah dasar. Jenis penelitian yang digunakan yakni kuantitatif dengan model eksperimen. Desain penelitian ini menggunakan one group pretest posttest design dengan sampel berjumlah 13 peserta didik. Teknik penelitian yang digunakan adalah tes dan observasi dengan Instrumen berupa soal tes dan lembar observasi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa nilai rata-rata peserta didik pada pretest 72,92, sementara itu nilai rata-rata posttest ialah 86,19 dengan hasil pengujian hipotesis diperoleh nilai signifikasi (2-tailled) sebesar 0,000 ≤ 0,005 maka Ha diterima dan Ho ditolak. Dengan demikian, hasil ini menunjukkan terdapat pengaruh penggunaan e-learning terhadap hasil belajar peserta didik pada mata pelajaran IPA kelas VI SD Inpres Nogodue

Polimorfismi genetici dell'interleuchina 1 e dell'interleuchina 6 nella popolazione sarda con particolare riferimento alle fasce di età avanzata

Introduction. A unique approach to the science of longevity is the natural model of centenarians. Studies of this kind are particularly interesting because they offer people the opportunity to know the critical factors that lead to aging successfully. It is indeed a population that is homogeneous for longevity, this term a long life regardless of its quality. The design and subsequent implementation of a genetic study is not without obstacles and barriers, both from an organizational perspective (research of centenarians and their validation by official records) and because we live in a multiethnic society. The data reported in the literature indicate that human longevity could be related to the optimal functioning of the immune system. So one of the genetic determinants of longevity might reside in those polymorphisms that regulate immune response. Centenarians are exceptional individuals, who through a mechanism not yet clarified, have developed a level of biological homeostasis that is compatible with the maintenance of life for an exceptional period of time. The project AKeA studied for over ten years, the phenomenon of longevity in Sardinia, a region in which there are constantly 22 centenarians per 100,000 inhabitants. The AKeA project is based on the methodology of certification: one study only individuals in possession of official documents and people in life who sign the informed consent and accept the researchers 'home visit' s University of Sassari. The work done in recent years has focused on the study of some cluster polymorphisms of interleukin 1 and interleukin 6. The study of interleukin 1 genes in the cluster, which expresses three different proteins, two agonists, interleukin-1 alpha and interleukin 1 beta and an antagonist, interleukin-1 Ra Materials and methods 1038 were examined DNA samples from Sardinian residents aged 60 years, and centenarians centenaries AKeA part of the project. The DNA was extracted, after drawing blood from white blood cells with the standard method of phenol-chloroform We studied three polymorphisms in the promoter of the gene for interleukin-6, -174 G / C, -597 G / A and -574 G / C. We studied two olymorphisms in the promoter of the gene for interleukin-1, -511 C / C and -889 C / T Furthermore, we studied interleukin-1 RA polymorphism that is linked to the presence of different alleles that differ in sequence repea t (VNTR) of 86 bp present in intron 2. 1038 samples were tested for DNA testing of which 849 were valid. The genotype distribution and allele frequency was estimated by dividing the individuals in the following age groups: centenarians, nova ntacinquenni, nonagenarians, octogenarians and sixties. In addition, a comparison was made between the sexes. Results. The distribution of genotypes of polymorphisms -174 G / C and -597 G / A for interleukin 6 follows the distribution expected under the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and there were no significant differences between the boomers and centenarians. The results for interleukin 1 did not show a meaningful if not for the distribution of genotypes among women nonagenarians, who do not follow the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. This figure is still the subject of extensive studies for his confirmation through the analysis of a larger sample

Il teatro può contribuire a una presa di coscienza identitaria?

The purpose of this article is to understand what connection there might be, and whether it can be significant, including the specific cultural and artistic expression represented by the theater and that particular social event consisting of the historical events related to the dictatorship, the desaparecidos and the changes wich followed.The purpose of this article is to understand what connection there might be, and whether it can be significant, including the specific cultural and artistic expression represented by the theater and that particular social event consisting of the historical events related to the dictatorship, the desaparecidos and the changes wich followed

Purentavirheiden yhteys lasten ja nuorten kiusaamiseen

Kiusaaminen on ympäri maailman esiintyvä vakava ongelma, jolla on psykososiaalisia seurauksia lasten ja nuorten kehitykseen. Kiusaaminen on tahallista ja toistuvaa pahan mielen aiheuttamista, ja usein sen kohde on kiusaajaa heikommassa asemassa. Usein kiusaaminen kohdistuu johonkin kiusatun ulkoiseen ominaisuuteen, kuten pituuteen, painoon tai kasvojen ulkonäköön. Tämän kirjallisuuskatsauksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää, onko purentavirheillä yhteyttä lasten ja nuorten kiusaamiseen. Opinnäytetyö toteutettiin kirjallisuuskatsauksena. Aineistoa haettiin aikavälillä 2011–2021 tietokannoista PubMed, Web of Science ja Scopus aiheeseen liittyvillä hakusanoilla. Käytettyjen artikkelien julkaisuajankohta oli 2011–2021. Katsausta täydennettiin muulla aiheeseen liittyvällä kirjallisuudella. Katsauksen perusteella purentavirheillä on yhteys lasten ja nuorten kokemaan kiusaamiseen. Yleisimmät purentaan ja hampaisiin liittyvät piirteet, jotka liittyvät kiusaamiseen, ovat hampaiden ahtaus, ulkonevat etuhampaat ja hampaiden väliset raot (diasteemat). Oikomishoidon tarveasteikolla suuremmaksi arvioitu hoidontarve aiheutti kiusaamista todennäköisemmin kuin lievemmät purentavirheet. Oikomishoito vaikutti positiivisesti kiusaamisen vähenemiseen

Habitat change alters the expression and efficiency of a female ornament

Anthropogenic habitat changes are disrupting the mate choice process in a range of organisms, with consequences for populations and communities. Research has so far focused on male sexually selected traits and female mate choice, given their conspicuousness, whereas effects on female ornaments and male mate choice have been largely overlooked. Yet, females of many species develop ornaments that males use in mate choice. These ornaments can be costly and reduce female fecundity and viability and, hence, influence population growth rate. Thus, attention should be paid to changes in female ornaments and the consequences the changes have for populations. Here, we show that declining visibility in aquatic ecosystems reduces the investment of female three-spined stickleback in a melanin-based ornament in favor of increased mate search activity. The adjustment appears adaptive as males pay less attention to the ornament under poor visibility, and as melanin-based ornaments are generally physiologically costly. It is likely that past fluctuations in visibility have promoted the evolution of environment-dependent plasticity in female ornamentation. More attention should be paid to changes in female ornaments and their adaptive value, across taxa, given the impact that female investment in ornaments can have on fecundity and population growth rate. Environments are changing at an accelerating rate because of human activities and knowledge of the responses of both males and females is needed to evaluate and predict the ultimate impact on populations and biodiversity. Females often use costly ornaments to attract males. Yet, how these are influenced by human-induced environmental change is unknown, although information on changes in both male and female traits are needed to determine the impact of environmental change on populations. We show that declining visibility reduces the efficiency of a female ornament in the threespine stickleback, and interestingly, that females show adaptive adjustments of the ornament to its reduced efficiency.Peer reviewe