Relative efficiency and validity properties of a visual analogue vs a categorical scaled version of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis (WOMAC) Index: Spanish versions

AbstractObjective: To compare the performance of visual analogue (VAS) vs categorical (CT) scaled versions of the three subscales (pain, stiffness and difficulty) of the WOMAC Index in patients with knee osteoarthritis.Material and methods: Patients with knee OA (at least grade II of Kellgren & Lawrence classification) were treated for a 6-weeks period with an NSAID. The following measures were applied at baseline and after treatment: VAS and CT WOMAC scales, Lequesne Index, pain on VAS, and global assessment by patient and observer. Construct Validity was determined by correlation of each of the subscale scores with the other outcomes both at baseline and after treatment (Pearson’s test); responsiveness comparing baseline vs final status by Wilcoxon’s test; reliability by analysis of the internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha at baseline and after the treatment period; and test–retest reliability by Kendall’s Tau-c statistics. Finally, correlation and analysis of the relative efficiency (RE) between the subscales of both formats were tested.Results: Seventy-three (8 men and 65 women) patients with a mean disease duration from first diagnosis of 69 months (3 to 254) completed the study. The following were the observed values for the instruments’ psychometric properties: (1) construct validity: correlations ranged from 0.30 to 0.84 for VAS and 0.27 to 0.77 for CT subscales; (2) responsiveness: achieved P values for the pain, stiffness and difficulty scales were P<0.0001, P=0.002 and P<0.0001 in VAS and P=0.003, P<0.0001 and P=0.001 in CT format respectively; (3) internal consistency: the obtained Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranged from 0.71 to 0.97 for the VAS and 0.64 to 0.95 for the CT subscales; (4) test–retest reliability: correlation coefficients ranged from 0.36 to 0.76 for VAS and 0.34 to 0.52 for CT subscales; and (5) the relative efficiency of the subscales in VAS vs CT format were 2.20, 0.91 and 1.91 for pain, stiffness and difficulty respectively. Significant correlations between subscales in both formats ranging from 0.72 to 0.86 were observed.Conclusion: We have shown that both the VAS version of WOMAC have adequate evaluative and discriminative properties. We found the pain and physical function scales in VAS format and the stiffness scale in CT format to have a slightly better performance in this sample

The Subjective Well-Being Challenge in the Accounting Profession: The Role of Job Resources

The main activity of the accountant is the preparation and audit of the financial information of a company. The subjective well-being of the accountant is important to ensure a balanced professional judgment and to offer a positive image of the profession in the face of the incorporation and retention of talent. However, accountants are subjected to intense pressures that affect their well-being in the performance of their tasks. In this paper, the job demands–resources theoretical framework is adopted to analyze the relationships between job demands, job resources, and the subjective well-being of a large sample of 739 accounting experts at the European level. Applying a structural equations model, the results confirm, on the one hand, the direct effects provided in the theoretical framework and, on the other, a new mediating role of job demands–subjective well-being relationship resources

Servant Leadership in a Social Religious Organization: An Analysis of Work Engagement, Authenticity, and Spirituality at Work

Religious organizations represent a main part of the third sector and the social economy. Social faith-based institutions have some unique features that, in some respects, differentiate them from other entities, as they are characterized and defined not only by the services they provide, but also by how they provide them. It is part of their mission to convey the values that prevail in their institutional culture while developing their activities, being attractive to those workers who identify with their values. From this point of view, a key element of these entities’ success is that their employees feel identified with their work so that they are engaged in the institution and its values. The style of leadership exercised in such organizations is critical to fostering these attitudes and their long-term survival. This paper aims to study the link between perceived servant leadership by followers and work engagement, as well as the mediating role of authenticity and spirituality at work in this relationship. To this end, 270 workers from a Spanish Catholic organization in the social sector were surveyed. These data were processed by PLS (partial least squares). The results show that a servant leadership style by itself does not directly promote work engagement among employees of the target organization. The engagement of these workers comes through two mediating variables: authenticity and spirituality at work. This study covers a gap in the literature because although there are studies arguing that a strategy of servant leadership is critical to these organizations, to our knowledge, they do not finish demonstrating the fundamental roles that attitudes of authenticity and spirituality at work play in the perception of this type of leadership, achieving greater work engagement

Human Values and Work Engagement: The Mediating Role of Authenticity Among Workers in a Spanish Religious Organization

Nowadays religious organizations play a leading role in the third sector, contributing to maintaining the welfare state in a large number of countries in sectors such as health, education or social services, among others. These organizations provide a service to their users, aiming to transmit the predominant values in their mission statement and simultaneously promote both authenticity and work engagement in their employees. Indeed, the purpose of this article is to evaluate the link between human values and work engagement, as well as the mediating role of authenticity in this relationship. To this end, 938 workers of a Catholic religious organization, which constitutes a relatively unexplored context, is employed. To test the research model and hypotheses, this investigation uses PLS (Partial Least Squares). It covers two notable research gaps. First, the results confirm the direct links between human values, authenticity and work engagement within the context of religious organizations. Second, they provide evidence of the mediating role exercised by authenticity in the relationship between human values and work engagement

La relación artesanía y diseño. Estudios desde el norte de México

The transformation of the relationship between crafts and design has generated forms of participation among professionals and artisans as diverse as the instances that promote them. The emergence of a specific field called ethnic design is an example, whose objective is to link and revalue the artisanal development of native groups through language of strategy, technology and innovation that design manages. In Chihuahua, a northern state of Mexico, studies on crafts and design are mainly of the Rarámuri culture (Tarahumara), that has a predominant presence in the region. This text presents projects of students and researchers from the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, which propose intersections between crafts and design related to this ethnic group. They describe the way in which a phenomenon such as craftsmanship materializes in very diverse products, the ideology and way of life of the indigenous peoples; delves into industrial and graphic design as strategic activities and reading models that support, resume and disseminate different forms of creation and craft production.La transformación de las relaciones entre artesanía y diseño ha generado formas de participación entre los profesionistas y artesanos tan diversas como las instancias que las promueven. De ahí que, el surgimiento de un campo específico denominado diseño artesanal, cuyo objetivo es vincular y revalorizar el desarrollo artesanal de pueblos originarios desde el lenguaje de la estrategia, la tecnología y la innovación que maneja el trabajo proyectual, sea un ejemplo de ello. En Chihuahua, estado del norte de México, los estudios sobre el trabajo artesanal y diseño muestran un interés principalmente por la cultura rarámuri (tarahumara) que tiene una presencia predominante en la región. Este texto presenta proyectos de estudiantes e investigadores de la Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, que plantean intersecciones entre artesanía y diseño relacionadas con esta etnia. Describen la manera en que un fenómeno como la creación artesanal, materializa en productos muy diversos, la ideología y la forma de vida de los pueblos originarios y profundizan sobre el diseño industrial y gráfico como actividades estratégicas y modelos de lectura que apoyan, retoman y difunden diferentes formas de creación y producción artesanal.A transformação da relação entre artesanato e design gerou formas de participação entre profissionais e artesãos tão diversos quanto as instâncias que os promovem.&nbsp;Assim- o surgimento de um campo específico chamado design artesanal- que visa interligar e melhorar o desenvolvimento artesanal dos povos indígenas a partir da linguagem da estratégia- tecnologia e inovação que impulsiona o trabalho de design- ser um exemplo. Em Chihuahua- Estado do México do norte- estudos sobre artesanato e design mostrar interesse principalmente pela cultura rarámuri (tarahumara) ter uma presença predominante na região. Este texto apresenta projetos de estudantes e pesquisadores da Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez- que representam cruzamentos entre artesanato e design relacionadas a este grupo étnico. Eles descrevem como um fenômeno como o trabalho artesanal- incorporado em muitos produtos diferentes- ideologia e modo de vida dos povos indígenas e aprofundar em design industrial e gráfico e atividades estratégicas e lendo os modelos que suportam- retomar e disseminar diferente formas de criação e produção artesanal

On hypermodern culture: an interview to Gilles Lipovetsky

Esta entrevista a Gilles Lipovetsky (París, 1944) aborda varias cuestiones acerca del consumo cultural en la sociedad actual. La obra de Lipovetsky es difícil de categorizar en un solo ámbito de conocimiento. Podría decirse de él que es un intelectual «híbrido» puesto que sus intereses oscilan entre el análisis social y la filosofía, atendiendo al lado paradójico de los acontecimientos mediante la atención prestada a asuntos poco frecuentes en el pensamiento político y ético. Algunos de los temas tratados en la entrevista se refieren a la función de la cultura en la sociedad hipermoderna, al actual vínculo entre cultura y consumo de masas, a la educación democrática y la cultura elitista, o a importantes industrias culturales como la moda y el cine. El sociólogo e intelectual francés concluye que el cine ha exportado el «modelo del star system» a toda la industria cultural. La entrevista a Lipovetsky se realizó con ocasión de esta sección monográfica de Ámbitos.This interview to Gilles Lipovetsky (Paris 1944) deals with several issues regarding culture consumption in present society. Lipovtsky’s work is difficult to categorize in just one branch of knowledge. He might be said a hybrid intellectual because his interests oscillate between social analysis and philosophy, looking for the paradoxical side of events by paying attention to infrequent topics in ethical and political thought. Some of the matters discussed in this interview are the role of culture in the hypermodern society, the present link between culture and mass consumption, democratic education and elitist culture, and some important cultural industries like fashion and cinema. The French sociologist and intellectual concludes that cinema has exported the «star system model» to the whole cultural industry. Lipovetsky was interviewed on the specific occasion of this monographic section of Ámbitos

Development and validation of a spanish short servant leadership survey (SSLS6-3F) among spanish workers in religious non-profit organizations

Religious non-profit organizations are becoming increasingly important in the third sector in a wide range of countries, where they are currently leading players in different areas, such as education, healthcare, and social work. These organizations have the peculiarity of providing a service to their users while transmitting them the values of their mission statement. An usually employed and effective management strategy for these institutions is a servant leadership style. This article seeks to introduce a theoretical discussion of this leadership approach by providing a Spanish version of an instrument for measuring servant leadership in Spanish religious non-profit institutions. To this end, workers of different Spanish faith-based non-profit organizations of the third sector, a relatively unexplored context, were analyzed after obtaining 463 valid questionnaires. This study used the Spanish translation of a seven-item and three-factor servant leadership scale. An exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was performed. The results confirm that the six-item and three-factor servant leadership scale was the most effective scale to measure this construct. In conclusion, this research covers a notable research gap by providing a reliable and valid Spanish short version of the servant leadership scale for workers of Spanish religious non-profit organizations

Analysis of vegetation indices to determine nitrogen application and yield prediction in maize (Zea mays L.) from a standard UAV service

The growing use of commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and the need to adjust N fertilization rates in maize (Zea mays L.) currently constitute a key research issue. In this study, different multispectral vegetation indices (green-band and red-band based indices), SPAD and crop height (derived from a multispectral compact camera mounted on a UAV) were analysed to predict grain yield and determine whether an additional sidedress application of N fertilizer was required just before flowering. Seven different inorganic N rates (0, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 400 kg·N·ha−1), two different pig slurry manure rates (Ps) (150 or 250 kg·N·ha−1) and four different inorganic-organic N combinations (N100Ps150, N100Ps250, N200Ps150, N200Ps250) were applied to maize experimental plots. The spectral index that best explained final grain yield for the N treatments was the Wide Dynamic Range Vegetation Index (WDRVI). It identified a key threshold above/below 250–300 kg·N·ha−1. WDRVI, NDVI and crop height showed no significant response to extra N application at the economic optimum rate of fertilization (239.8 kg·N·ha−1), for which a grain yield of 16.12 Mg·ha−1 was obtained. This demonstrates their potential as yield predictors at V12 stage. Finally, a ranking of different vegetation indices and crop height is proposed to overcome the uncertainty associated with basing decisions on a single index.This work was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Project AGL2012-35122). The authors also would like to thank the IRTA Research Station (Gimenells, Lleida) for allowing the research to take place, the GIS & Remote Sensing Laboratory of the University of Lleida for the facilities to carry out the image processing and analysis, and the University of Lleida for the PhD scholarship of Ángel Maresma

Erratum: Maresma, A., et al. Analysis of Vegetation Indices to Determine Nitrogen Application and Yield Prediction in Maize (Zea mays L.) from a Standard UAV Service. Remote Sens. 2017, 9, 648

After publication of the research paper [1], the authors noticed an error and wish to make the following correction.[...