Online recruitment: The role of trust in technology

In recent years, online recruitment has become a prevalent human resource management practice worldwide. Although studies emphasized the importance of candidates' perceptions related to the recruiting web site attributes, there is no research focused on the effects of trust toward the IT technology during the online application process. Given the importance of trust dynamics in personnel recruitment, the aim of this study is to investigate the role of trust towards the web platforms supporting online recruitment. Results, from a sample of university students including 330 participants, showed that trust toward the web site affects both directly and indirectly - via company attractiveness - the intention to apply for a job

Cooperative Management of Ecosystem Services: Coalition Formation, Landscape Structure and Policies

A growing body of literature shows that full-cooperation among farmers to manage productive ecosystem services would yield gains with respect to uncoordinated approaches. The public good feature of these ecosystem services may, however, hinder the emergence of a cooperative solution at the landscape scale. In this paper, we introduce in a coalition formation game a spatially-explicit bioeconomic model of fruit pollination, where pollinaton depends on the distance to the choosen location of natural habitats. We analyse: (i) which coalitions are stable; (ii) what benefits they provide; (iii) how cooperation depends on the initial landscape structure; and (iv) how policy instruments affect cooperation. The theoretical model presents the rationality of cooperation but, due to the detailed heterogeneity and complex spatial interactions among farms, we use a numerical example to determine the stable coalitions. We find that only small coalitions are stable and that the benefits of cooperation decrease when the spatial autocorrelation of fruit tree covers increase. Policy instruments can increase the interest for cooperation but per-hectare payments and minimum participation rules may reduce the habitat area at the margin (by decreasing the stability of coalitions). Price premium for the coalition members increase the habitat area but its budget-effectiveness decreases as the spatial autocorrelation of fruit tree covers increase

Randomized comparison of operator radiation exposure comparing transradial and transfemoral approach for percutaneous coronary procedures: Rationale and design of the minimizing adverse haemorrhagic events by TRansradial access site and systemic implementation of angioX - RAdiation Dose study (RAD-MATRIX)

Background: Radiation absorbed by interventional cardiologists is a frequently under-evaluated important issue. Aim is to compare radiation dose absorbed by interventional cardiologists during percutaneous coronary procedures for acute coronary syndromes comparing transradial and transfemoral access. Methods: The randomized multicentre MATRIX (Minimizing Adverse Haemorrhagic Events by TRansradial Access Site and Systemic Implementation of angioX) trial has been designed to compare the clinical outcome of patients with acute coronary syndromes treated invasively according to the access site (transfemoral vs. transradial) and to the anticoagulant therapy (bivalirudin vs. heparin). Selected experienced interventional cardiologists involved in this study have been equipped with dedicated thermoluminescent dosimeters to evaluate the radiation dose absorbed during transfemoral or right transradial or left transradial access. For each access we evaluate the radiation dose absorbed at wrist, at thorax and at eye level. Consequently the operator is equipped with three sets (transfemoral, right transradial or left transradial access) of three different dosimeters (wrist, thorax and eye dosimet

Biochars in soils : towards the required level of scientific understanding

Key priorities in biochar research for future guidance of sustainable policy development have been identified by expert assessment within the COST Action TD1107. The current level of scientific understanding (LOSU) regarding the consequences of biochar application to soil were explored. Five broad thematic areas of biochar research were addressed: soil biodiversity and ecotoxicology, soil organic matter and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, soil physical properties, nutrient cycles and crop production, and soil remediation. The highest future research priorities regarding biochar's effects in soils were: functional redundancy within soil microbial communities, bioavailability of biochar's contaminants to soil biota, soil organic matter stability, GHG emissions, soil formation, soil hydrology, nutrient cycling due to microbial priming as well as altered rhizosphere ecology, and soil pH buffering capacity. Methodological and other constraints to achieve the required LOSU are discussed and options for efficient progress of biochar research and sustainable application to soil are presented.Peer reviewe

THE ROLE OF MINERAL NUTRITION ON YIELDS AND FRUIT QUALITY IN GRAPEVINE, PEAR AND APPLE

ABSTRACT Fertilization of temperate fruit trees, such as grapevine ( Vitis spp.), apple ( Malus domestica), and pear ( Pyrus communis) is an important tool to achive maximum yield and fruit quality. Fertilizers are provided when soil fertility does not allow trees to express their genetic potential, and time and rate of application should be scheduled to promote fruit quality. Grapevine berries, must and wine quality are affected principally by N, that regulate the synthesis of some important compounds, such as anthocyanins, which are responsible for coloring of the must and the wine. Fermenation of the must may stop in grapes with low concentration of N because N is requested in high amount by yeasts. An N excess may increase the pulp to peel ratio, diluting the concentration of anthocyanins and promoting the migration of anthocyanins from berries to the growing plant organs; a decrease of grape juice soluble solid concentration is also expected because of an increase in vegetative growth. Potassium is also important for wine quality contributing to adequate berry maturation, concentration of sugars, synthesis of phenols and the regulation of pH and acidity. In apple and pear, Ca and K are important for fruit quality and storage. Potassium is the most important component of fruit, however, any excess should be avoided and an adequate K:Ca balance should be achieved. Adequate concentration of Ca in the fruit prevents pre- and post-harvest fruit disorders and, at the same time, increases tolerance to pathogens. Although N promotes adequate growth soil N availability should be monitored to avoid excessive N uptake that may decrease fruit skin color and storability

Agri-environmental policy decentralization: theoretical analysis and application to abandoned wetland in Brittany

In a context of reflections around the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform, the European Commission is considering the possibility to decentralize the provision of environmental goods towards lower level of governments. We examine the gains of such potential policy using a simple model of an economy constituted of homogeneous regions and considering that agriculture produces jointly local and global PGs (public goods). We assume that the central government faces lower deadweight losses than the local government but that the local government can better target their subsidies. Our analytical results present the differences of landscape structure (constituted of two areas) and welfare in three cases of governance: full-centralization (EU is in charge of environmental good provision), full-decentralization (local government is in charge of environmental good provision) and partial decentralization (EU allocates a share of its budget to the local government for the provision of environmental goods). We apply our theoretical model to the case of abandoned wetlands in Brittany. Based on this example and the actual CAP budget dedicated for environmental good provision, we illustrate the difference of welfare between the three cases of governance. Acknowledgement : The authors acknolewdge funding from the project: PROVIDE, PROVIding smart DElivery of public goods by EU agriculture and forestry; H2020 programme of the European Commission, grant number 633838. This work does not necessarily reflect the view of the European Union and in no way anticipates the Commission s future policy in this area

Agri-environmental Policies and Public Goods: An Assessment of Coalition Incentives and Minimum Participation Rules

An increasing number of papers analyse the inclusion of collective/spatial conditionality constraints in agricultural policies dealing with natural resource management. In this article we theoretically assess the conditions in which employing collective conditionality constraints linked to incentives better reach the social preferences on PG provision by agriculture. We deal with this issue by using a coalition formation model to endogenize the size of the group of farmers cooperating, and investigate how it is affected by different policy schemes. We analyse and compare the following policy schemes: (1) a homogenous payment that target the whole population of farmers, (2) a coalition bonus, that incentivizes only the contributions by the coalition members, and (3) a coalition bonus associated to a MPR on the size of the coalition. The results show that formulating payments that discriminate between co-operators and free-riders, and associating to such a payment a MPR, is relatively more effective than the traditional homogenous payments. However this is true only under some (local) conditions that we theoretically derived

Teoria ego-ecológica e o estudo da identidade social : aplicabilidade em pesquisas de enfermagem Teoría egoecológica y el estudio de la identidad social : aplicabilidad en la investigación en enfermería The ego-ecological theory and the study of the social identity applied to nursing research

A enfermagem vem trilhando caminhos teórico-metodológicos mais sensíveis para desenvolver um conhecimento que discuta, analise e fundamente sua prática cotidiana. O objetivo deste texto foi refletir sobre as bases metodológicas e a aplicação da Teoria Ego-ecológica nas pesquisas em enfermagem. Por este caminho, é possível conhecer a identidade do indivíduo, suas peculiaridades e sua realidade, através das representações que ele possui acerca de si mesmo, de seus grupos de pertencimento e da sociedade. A Teoria Ego-ecológica entende a identidade como um modo de construção da realidade, a partir do qual o mundo exterior funde-se ao mundo interior a partir da história de vida do indivíduo. A análise Ego-Ecológica permite compreender o cliente e suas complexidades e paradoxos e as relações que estabelece no contexto da família, do trabalho, do lazer e nas situações sociais no espaço micro ou macrossocial.<br>La enfermería pasa por caminos teóricos y metodológicos más sensibles para desarrollar los conocimientos para discutir, analizar y fundamentar su práctica cotidiana. El objetivo de este texto es reflexionar sobre las bases metodológicas y la aplicación de la Teoría Egoecológica de investigación en enfermería. A través de esta forma, es posible conocer la identidad del individuo, su propia cultura y realidad a través de las representaciones que tiene sobre sí mismo, su pertenencia a grupos y la sociedad. La teoría Ego ecológica comprende la identidad como una forma de construir la realidad, desde que el mundo exterior venga a unirse con el mundo interior de la historia de vida de la persona. El análisis Ego Ecológica permite comprender al cliente y sus complejidades y paradojos y las relaciones que se establecen dentro de la familia, del trabajo, del ocio y las situaciones sociales en el espacio micro o macro social.<br>Nursing has been through theoretical and methodological paths more sensible to the development of a kind of knowledge that is able to discuss, to analyze and provide a basis to its daily practice. This text aims to discuss the methodological basis and the application of the ego-ecological theory in nursing research. According to this theory it is possible to know the individual's identity, its peculiarities and its reality, by means of his/her self-representations and the representations (s)he has about his/her social groups. The ego-ecologic theory sees identity as a reality construct in which the outer world and the inner world merge in face of the individual history. The ego-ecological analysis allows one to understand the client and his/her complexities and paradoxes and the relations established on family, work, leisure and micro-social and macro-social levels