ITALIAN ADAPTATION OF WARR’S JOB-RELATED AFFECTIVE WELL-BEING SCALE: FACTORIAL STRUCTURE AND RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE HSE MANAGEMENT STANDARDS INDICATOR TOOL

Standardized methodological frameworks including the UK Health and Safety Executive Manage-ment Standards (HSE-MS) have been proposed to aid comparison across organizations in quantifying job stressors. In contrast, the measurement of job strain (and job-related well-being) has been character-ized by lower standardization, resulting in multiple conceptualizations and indicators. Here, we evaluated the psychometrics of the Italian adaptation of Warr’s (1990a) Job-related Affective Well-being Scale (W-JAWS), and its suitability as a job strain indicator to be integrated with the HSE-MS approach. In line with previous studies, data from 541 civil servants supported a 4-factor measurement model (i.e., Anxi-ety, Comfort, Depression, and Enthusiasm), and highlighted linear relationships with multiple HSE-MS risk indicators (i.e., Demand, Control, Peer Support, Change, and Role). Overall, our findings qualify the W-JAWS as a suitable standardized job strain indicator tool, which could be used synergically within the HSE-MS approach to provide comparable results across organizations and countries

Stakeholder Analysis for Sharing Agro-environment Issues Towards Concerted Action: A Case Study on Diffuse Nitrate Pollution

There is increasing need for participatory approaches to support the development of sustainable farming systems, based on the active involvement of stakeholders in the definition of research objectives and priorities. This paper reports the experience of a team of agronomy researchers involved in the SLIM project (http://slim.open.ac.uk), around a case study of nitrate pollution. The agro-ecosystem analysis included biophysical processes at microcatchment scale and the stakeholders' perceptions, interests and practices related to the nitrate issue (stakeholders analysis). The conceptual SLIM framework model supported new interactions among stakeholders, that were facilitated by researchers, using dialogical tools to enable them to use scientific data and to integrate their own knowledge on the farming system. The agro-environment policies, based on compulsory prescriptions, revealed weak assumptions and insufficient integration of scientific knowledge. The stakeholder analysis contributed to the identification of priorities both for scientific research and agro-environment policies. Researchers provided the site-specific scientific knowledge, in a way that enabled stakeholders to identify the relationships between agricultural practices, landscape values and the nitrate pollution issue and to elaborate shared strategies to develop concerted actions. New spaces for interaction between researchers and stakeholders should be created to face complex agro-environment issues at catchment scale, such as the nitrate pollution of groundwater. The implication for agronomy research is that the experiments should be designed to produce suitable results to facilitate participatory sessions and that it is worthwhile to invest in specific skills of communication science and group dynamics management within the agronomy researchers' community, in order to integrate agronomy knowledge into high quality participatory processes

Developing Parameter-Reduction Methods on a Biophysical Model of Auditory Hair Cells

Biophysical models describing complex, cellular phenomena typically include systems of nonlinear differential equations with many free parameters. While experimental measurements can fix some parameters, those describing internal cellular processes frequently remain inaccessible. Hence, a proliferation of free parameters risks overfitting the data, limiting the model's predictive power. In this study, we develop robust methods, applying statistical analysis and dynamical-systems theory, to reduce a biophysical model's complexity. We demonstrate our techniques on an elaborate computational model designed to describe active, mechanical motility of auditory hair cells. Specifically, we use two statistical measures, the total-effect and PAWN indices, to rank each free parameter by its influence on selected, core properties of the model. With the resulting ranking, we fix most of the less influential parameters, yielding a low-parameter model with optimal predictive power. We validate the theoretical model with experimental recordings of active hair-bundle motility, specifically by using Akaike and Bayesian information criteria after obtaining maximum-likelihood fits. As a result, we determine the system's most influential parameters, which illuminate its key biophysical elements of the cell's overall features. While we demonstrated our techniques on a concrete example, they provide a general framework, applicable to other biophysical systems

Architettura e risorse locali: il caso di una spice processing unit a Buttala, Sri Lanka

Lo Sri Lanka è considerato un paese in via di sviluppo a causa della sua condizione economica instabile ed alla bilancia commerciale negativa. I principali paesi importatori sono India e Cina e la loro presenza è evidente nel settore edile. In tutta l’isola si nota un gran utilizzo di acciaio e cemento per le costruzioni, il che dimostra che la presenza sul territorio è tanto ampia da essere disponibili a prezzi bassi ma con conseguenza per l’ambiente. India e Cina non hanno politiche ambientali e la produzione di acciaio in questi paesi è tra le più inquinanti del pianeta. Con l'aggiunta che non sono materiali naturali e lo smaltimento è un problema. Tra le risorse lo Sri Lanka ha il bambù, un materiale utilizzato in campo edile, ma oggi nel paese è limitato ad utensili. Sono presenti 14 specie sul territorio tra le quali il Dendrocalamus Giganteus, adatta all’uso strutturale. Il governo singalese si sta impegnando a stabilizzare l’economia con investimenti, sta promuovendo, attraverso programmi mirati, lo sviluppo del bambù per far crescere i piccoli villaggi e famiglie rurali e per avere quantità tali da poter garantire un certo rendimento dalle esportazioni. Il fine di questa tesi sarà quello di rivisitare il progetto di una Spice Processing Unit che ad oggi risulta costruita nel villaggio di Buttala, nella provincia di Uva. Il progetto è stato commissionato allo studio ArCò di Milano e realizzato con mattoni in cemento e travi e lamiera di acciaio. L’obiettivo sarà quello di riproporre un nuovo edificio dopo aver analizzato accuratamente: lo stato socio-economico dello Sri Lanka, le risorse in campo edile ed agire sulla base dei principi di architettura sostenibile. Non ci si focalizzerà su un sistema tecnologico ma sul modo di agire, tale che possa essere replicato con facilità. Si punterà sull’utilizzo del bambù come materiale strutturale per l’edificio, con analisi dell’impatto ambientale tra l’edificio costruito e quello rivisitato nel progetto di tesi

Age Diversity Climate Affecting Individual‐Level Work‐Related Outcomes

The present study answers the call for more studies to investigate the age diversity climate’s effect on individual‐level outcomes. Building on the social identity approach and social exchange theory, we surveyed 110 Italian employees aged between 18 and 61 years old (M = 46.10, SD = 10.02) and investigated the role of age diversity climate in predicting intentions to quit (H1), job‐related wellbeing (H2), and work engagement (H3). Our findings confirmed the hypotheses (H1 and H2), showing the added effect of age diversity climate over and above age, job tenure, role clarity, job demands, job control, perceived support, and perceived job and organizational fit. In fact, age diversity climate accounted for a significant increase in the variance explained for two of the three hypothesized models (i.e., intentions to quit and job‐related wellbeing, but not work engagement). To conclude, this study contributes to the existing literature by showing the age diversity climate’s predictive value for turnover intentions and job‐related wellbeing, and corroborating the importance of supporting age diversity through a variety of Human Resources Management strategies

Effect of wood gasification biochar on soil physicochemical properties and enzyme activities, and on crop yield in a wheat-production system with sub-alkaline soil

Biochar may have beneficial effects on soil depending on its properties and pedoclimatic conditions. Highly sloping soils are prone to erosion and organic matter depletion, and biochar can be useful to restore soil fertility and quality, and crop yields. To test the effect of wood gasification biochar (WGB), we conducted a field experiment applying 0 and 60 Mg ha 1 of WGB only (no fertilizer) to a sub-alkaline and fine-textured soil under Mediterranean climate conditions. The effect of WGB on the soil physicochemical properties and on 12 enzyme activities involved in the C, N, P, and S cycles was monitored during a wheat-growing season along with its effect on grain yield. The results show that WGB was rather recalcitrant, and the application of a high dose of it had no effect on most of the soil physicochemical properties, enzyme activities and wheat grain yield. Since enzyme activities involved in the C cycle were similar in WGB-treated and not-treated soils, WGB failed to stimulate organic matter mineralization during the monitored period, with no contribution to N and P supply. Since WGB can contribute to soil C stock with no detrimental effects on wheat yield, wood gasification can allow recycling waste woody materials of urban origin to produce energy and return biochar back to agricultural soils. We suggest that future studies on WGB focus on the effect of its aging in soil on soil physicochemical and biochemical properties, and on crop performances

Manager–Team (Dis)agreement on Stress-Preventive Behaviours: Relationship with Psychosocial Work Environment and Employees’ Well-Being

The “Management Competencies to Prevent and Reduce Stress at Work” (MCPARS) approach focuses on identifying the stress-preventive managers’ competencies able to optimise the employees’ well-being through the management of the psychosocial work environment. Considering leadership as contextualised in complex social dynamics, the self–other agreement (SOA) investigation of the MCPARS may enhance previous findings, as it allows for exploring the manager–team perceptions’ (dis)agreement and its potential implications. However, no studies have tested the MCPARS using the SOA and multisource data. Grounded in Yammarino and Atwater’s SOA reference theory, we conducted an in-depth investigation on the MCPARS’s theoretical framework by examining the implications of manager–team (dis)agreement, regarding managers’ competencies, on employees’ psychosocial environment (H1–H2) and affective well-being (H3). Data from 36 managers and 475 employees were analysed by performing several polynomial regressions, response surface, and mediation analyses. The results reveal a significant relationship between SOA on MCPARS and employees’ perceptions of the psychosocial environment (H1). Employees report better perceptions when supervised by in-agreement good or under-estimator managers, while lower ratings occur under over-estimator or in-agreement poor managers (H2). Moreover, the psychosocial environment significantly mediated the relationship between SOA on MCPARS and employees’ well-being (H3). The MCPARS theoretical model’s soundness is supported, and its implications are discussed

Soil refinement accelerates in-field degradation rates of soil-biodegradable mulch films

Soil-biodegradable mulch films are a promising solution to replace conventional polyethylene-based mulch films, the use of which has led to negative environmental impacts. Soil-biodegradable mulch films are specifically designed to be incorporated into the soil at the end of the cropping cycle, and are expected to be biodegraded by soil microorganisms. The biodegradability of such products must be tested under laboratory-controlled conditions following international standards, although these can fail to represent real environmental conditions where mulch films are used. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of soil refinement on the degradation rates of three different commercial soil-biodegradable mulch films after their incorporation into the soil. The hypotheses were that: (i) soil refinement (i.e., ploughing followed by grubbing) creates more favourable conditions for film biodegradation compared to ploughing alone; and (ii) different mulch films show different degradation rates. An open-field completely randomised design was applied to test the effects of soil refinement by ploughing to 0.35 m depth without and with subsequent grubbing to 0.15 m depth twice. Three commercially available soil-biodegradable mulch films were sampled in 2020 (i.e., two Mater-bi-based, one Ecovio-based) at the end of a zucchini growing season (~3 months) when films were still lying above ground, and were later buried at 0.2 m depth inside mesh bags. Biodegradation rates of the sampled films were assessed with the indirect indicators of film weight loss and surface area loss at ~2-month intervals over 314 days. The results showed that soil refinement significantly accelerated degradation of the three tested mulch films by 14% and 17% according to the loss of weight and surface area indicators, respectively. One Mater-bi-based film showed higher degradation rates compared to the other two films. Future studies are needed to quantify the time needed for these different mulch films to be completely biodegraded. Such studies should be carried out following standards for laboratory incubation and/or in-field quantification of residual polymers in the soil over time. Highlights- Degradation rates of three biodegradable mulch films were evaluated in the open-field.- Soil refinement accelerates the degradation of film weight (14%) and surface (17%).- Highest degradation rates were observed for one Mater-bi-based film.- Fastest degradation rates were observed in spring for all the tested films.- Weight and surface area loss indicators showed positive relationship

Assessing the risk of stress in organizations:Getting the measure of organizational-level stressors

Great Britain’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) developed the Management Standards Indicator Tool to help organizations to assess and monitor organizational risks of work-related stress through surveying employees about the psychosocial risks for stress in their jobs. The use of employee-level data for deriving an organizational-level measure of psychosocial risks assumes that the constructs have equivalent meanings at different levels. However, this isomorphic condition has never been tested and this study fills this gap. Using data collected by the Italian Workers’ Compensation Authority (INAIL) from 66,188 employees nested in 775 organizations, we demonstrate that the organizational-level measure representing the seven dimensions of the Management Standards Indicator Tool is equivalent, though not identical, to the individual-level measure. This implies that the organizational level is not a mirror of the aggregation of the individual level, and that the risk of work-related stress in an organization may derive not simply from bottom-up processes, but may be generated by top-down influences (e.g., organizational policies). Interventions may then be meaningfully targeted at the organizational level in the expectation that they will reduce the risk of work-related stress among the entire workforce, the valid measurement of which can be performed through the HSE’s Management Standards Indicator Tool