Intensity Dimensions Research Articles

A classification of European agricultural land using an energy-based intensity indicator and detailed crop description

With agricultural areas covering almost half of European land, proper management of agro-ecosystems is key to achieve the European Union’s environmental and climate objectives. This requires spatially explicit methods and indicators. We developed an approach for the classification of agricultural land by combining two main dimensions i) land cover, using detailed geo-spatialized census data covering 63 individual crops; ii) management intensity, measured as the anthropogenic energy required in the primary crop production. As a result we identified 10 main crop systems further classified into 30 ‘crop-management systems’ at a spatial resolution of 5 arcminutes. The resulting maps show the spatial patterns of agricultural management intensity across Europe, both in absolute terms (total energy input per hectare) and relative to the dominant crop system in the spatial unit of analysis. The use of multiple intensity dimensions provides new, more detailed insights on agricultural intensity by which areas that were previously classified as low-medium intensive - some permanent crops systems or irrigated arable land - appear now as highly intensive. An expert-based evaluation was carried out on the intensity maps and corroborated the obtained results. The generated maps can be used to support decision-making in designing more targeted, context-specific agricultural and territorial policies. In particular, findings can be relevant in the context of the Common Agricultural Policy post 2020 and the Biodiversity Strategy towards 2030, both of which will benefit from more detailed spatially explicit information to achieve their stated objectives.

Cross-cultural adaptation, validity, and reliability of the Chinese version of revised American Pain Society patient outcome questionnaire for patients with cancer pain

Objective To introduce Revised American Pain Society Patient Outcome Questionnaire for patients with cancer pain in China, and to test its reliability and validity. Methods Cross-cultural adjustment was conducted on the basis of the Revised American Pain Society Patient Outcome Questionnaire of the American Pain Association published on the official website through expert review and pre-experiment. A convenience sample of 153 hospital patients with cancer pain was recruited. And the data were analyzed for reliability and validity. Results The adjusted Revised American Pain Society Patient Outcome Questionnaire contains 18 core items, which are easy to understand and can be completed within 10 minutes. Reliability test: the Cronbach α coefficient of internal consistency for the total scale was 0.735. The Cronbach α coefficient of pain intensity dimension was 0.233, the Cronbach α coefficient of sleep interference dimension was 0.891, the Cronbach α coefficient of activity interference dimension was 0.830, the Cronbach α coefficient of emotion dimension was 0.846, the Cronbach α coefficient of pain management related side effects dimension was 0.591, and the Cronbach α coefficient of perception dimension of pain care was 0.633. Validity test: The total content validity of the scale was 0.98, and the content validity of each item ranged from 0.82 to 1.00. Conclusion The adjusted Revised American Pain Society Patient Outcome Questionnaire has good reliability and validity, providing an effective assessment tool for medical institutions to evaluate the quality of cancer pain management. Key words: Pain; Cancer; Transcultural adaptation

Environmental regulation and innovation in renewable energy technologies: Does the policy instrument matter?

We examine how different renewable energy support policies affect innovation in solar and wind power technologies. The analysis uses policy and patent data for a large sample of 194 countries and territories. The policy data enables distinguishing between two dimensions of regulation, i.e. design and intensity, and their effects on innovation. The patent data is based on the new Y02E system and covers the period 1990 to 2016, with the more recent years revealing both strong increases and declines in patenting activity. The results show that, firstly, more comprehensive portfolios of renewable energy support policies increase patenting in solar- and wind-power-related technologies. Secondly, this inducement effect is strongest for public RD&D programs, targets, and fiscal incentives. In contrast to previous studies, this paper finds a consistently positive impact of feed-in tariffs and does not detect technology-specific differences in the effectiveness of this policy instrument. Thirdly, the positive effect on patenting activity increases significantly over time, with an increase in duration of the implemented RD&D programs and targets.

Does Robotization Affect Job Quality? Evidence from European Regional Labour Markets

Whereas there are recent papers on the effect of robot adoption on employ- ment and wages, there is no evidence on how robots affect non-monetary working conditions. We explore the impact of robot adoption on several domains of non-monetary working conditions in Europe over the period 1995-2005 combining information from the World Robotics Survey and the European Working Conditions Survey. Aiming to deal with the possible en- dogeneity of robot deployment, we employ an instrumental variables strategy, using the robot exposure by sector in other developed countries as an instru- ment. Our results indicate that robotization has a negative impact on the quality of work in the dimension of work intensity and no relevant impact on the domains of physical environment or skills and discretion.

The Nonlinear Causal Relationship Between Environmental Regulation and Technological Innovation—Evidence Based on the Generalized Propensity Score Matching Method

The existing research on testing Porter’s hypothesis has not considered the selective bias in the sample when establishing a model. However, the selective bias is likely to cause instability of estimation results and reduce the reference value of conclusions. This article, based on individual enterprises in the China Industrial Enterprise Database, aims to verify the selective bias existing in previous research. Then, using the generalized propensity score matching method, a frontier method in the field of causal inference, we re-examined the causal relationship between environmental regulation and two types of technological innovation, weakened endogenous and reverse causal effects, and obtained a more complete and accurate dynamic impact of environmental regulation on the level of technological innovation for enterprises. The main conclusions of this paper are as follows: (1) The influence of environmental regulation on the level of process innovation has two dimensions: time and intensity, and the causal relationship between these dimensions changes from an N shape to an inversed-U shape over time. (2) The influence of environmental regulation on product innovation levels only includes the intensity dimension, and the two produce a U shape. (3) Process innovation and product innovation, to a certain extent, are reflected in the intriguing situation that they cannot gain and lose at the same time. (4) Light industries have a lower tolerance of environmental regulation than heavy industries, and they are more likely to be stimulated by environmental regulation. The conclusions of this paper can provide valuable advice to governments in relation to the formulation of environmental policies and laws.

Tourism Entrepreneurs Awareness Level of Knowledge Management: A Literature Review

Background: Contemporary organizations, more importantly, tourism and hospitality sectors, are heavily based on knowledge intensive dimensions. As they are emerging industries, and these sectors face fierce competition and strive for modernization of their business activities. However, the aging workforce in these industries poses huge challenges for the process of modernization. Organizations in these sectors do not follow knowledge management mechanism. As the importance of knowledge management is not well materialized, a comprehensive study is required to understand the grounded reality based on current need for practicing knowledge management in these sectors. 
 Objectives: This study is conducted to identify various dimensions of knowledge management in tourism and hospitality sectors based on literature survey and to suggest managerial implications for managing knowledge in tourism and hospitality enterprises.
 Methods: within the framework of qualitative research, this study uses guided literature reviews, seminar discourses and general observation for collecting the data and analysis.
 Findings: This study has identified several dimensions that show shift of paradigm in knowledge management highlighting the importance of knowledge management in tourism enterprises. The study explores tourism entrepreneur's awareness level of knowledge management. Informed with the related theories of knowledge management, the study explores measures for achieving sustainable tourism development through effective knowledge management.
 Conclusions: The study indicates that in order to advanced performance of these sectors, the owners and tourism entrepreneurs strategically require implementing the principles of knowledge management effectively. 
 Implications: This paper may serve as instrumental as it attempts to analyze awareness level of tourism entrepreneurs on knowledge management providing evidences for its enhancement and development in Nepal.

IP backbone traffic behavior characteristic spectrum composing and role mining

The discovery and description of the IP traffic behavior is of great significance for both network operation management and network security monitoring. Researches demonstrate that there are some similarities of the traffic behavior among different IPs, hence, they can be clustered based on the behavior similarity. These similar traffic behaviors can be depicted by a specific behavior pattern called IP address role in our work. Towards this end, a unidirectional IP flow record is used to represent an independent IP activity. The traffic behavior metrics are defined in four dimensions including the duration time, the peer address, the application types and the number of packets and bytes contained in the flow, which corresponds to temporal dimension, spatial dimension, category dimension and intensity dimension, respectively. Nine single-attribute and thirty-nine dual-attribute metrics are extracted from four dimensions to compose the IP address traffic characteristic spectrum, which is used to profile the behavior of all IPs in the observed network and provide the data for the behavior description of each class of IP. These classes are established by a characteristic spectrum matched IP address role mining algorithm designed in this paper. NetFlow data collected from some border routers of China Education Research Network backbone (CERNET) is used to verify the method. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach can be applied to anomaly behavior detection and mainstream behavioral habits analysis.

What the hack? A growth hacking taxonomy and practical applications for firms

As companies become increasingly digital, growth hacking emerged as a new way of scaling businesses. While the term is fashionable in business, many executives remain confused about the concept. Even if firms have an idea of what growth hacking is, they may still be puzzled as to how to do it, creating a strategy-execution gap. Our article assists firms by bridging the growth hacking strategy-execution gap. First, we provide a growth hacking framework and deconstruct its building blocks: marketing, data analysis, coding, and the lean startup philosophy. We then present a taxonomy of 34 growth hacking patterns along the customer lifecycle of acquisition, activation, revenue, retention, and referral; categorize them on the two dimensions of resource intensity and time lag; and provide an example of how to apply the taxonomy in the case of a fitness application. Finally, we discuss seven opportunities and challenges of growth hacking that firms should keep in mind.

Relationships between dispositional and experimentally elicited emotional reactivity, intensity, and perseveration

BackgroundThe Emotional Reactivity Intensity and Perseveration Scale (ERIPS) assesses dimensions of trait emotional reactivity, intensity, and perseveration. We aimed to further validate the ERIPS and determine whether these dimensions of trait emotion predict real-time responses to negatively and positively-valenced stimuli. MethodUndergraduate students (n = 214) completed the ERIPS and viewed a sad and amusing movie clip. Participants provided sadness/amusement ratings at seven time-points pre and post viewing the clips. ResultsHigher perseveration of trait negative and positive affect was associated with slower reductions in sadness and amusement ratings after viewing the clips. Higher trait positive reactivity was associated with a larger increase in amusement after viewing the amusing clip, and a faster return to baseline amusement levels. Trait negative reactivity and negative intensity were not associated with responses to the sad clip. Trait positive intensity was not associated with responses to the amusing clip. ConclusionAlthough mixed, findings provide some validation of the ERIPS and indicate that, for reactivity and perseveration at least, trait affect may be associated with variability in state affect. Future research should consider mechanisms accounting for individual differences in emotional reactivity, intensity, and perseveration, as well as their potential utility in furthering understanding of emotional disorders.

Psychometric properties of 13-item versions of the maternal and paternal antenatal attachment scales in German

ABSTRACT Objective To assess scale reliability and factorial validity of the Maternal and Paternal Antenatal Attachment Scale in a German sample. Background Prenatal bonding to the child is an important aspect for parents and has been associated with the early parent-child relationship. The maternal and paternal versions of the Antenatal Attachment Scale (MAAS/PAAS) with the dimensions bonding quality and intensity are among the best-established questionnaires for parental-fetal bonding. However, a German translation of the PAAS and investigations of the factor structure of both MAAS and PAAS are still lacking. Method 263 women and 128 men from Hamburg, Germany, were assessed during pregnancy (total sample N = 391). Results Factor analyses did not support the original factor structures of both scales. Still, two factors equivalent to the original quality and intensity dimensions were identified. Scale reliability for the extracted factors was satisfying to good for both instruments. Conclusion The revised 13-item versions for MAAS and PAAS are proposed as reliable and valuable measurements of parental-foetal bonding. The scales contribute to the cross-cultural comparison of research on maternal and paternal-foetal bonding. Identifying parents with bonding difficulties already prenatally can enable specific forms of support addressing the parent-child-relationship in the peripartum period. Abbreviations Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (MAAS). Paternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (PAAS). confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Root Mean Squared Error of Approximation (RMSEA). Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR). Comparative Fit Index (CFI). Tucker Lewis Index (TLI). principal axis factoring (PAF). mean (M). standard deviation (SD). standard error (SE). item difficulty (Pi). Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value (KMO)

Clinical Work Intensity Among Medical Oncologists Practicing in National Community Oncology Research Program Community Sites.

This study (1) assesses the level of clinical work intensity medical oncologists and oncologic nurse practitioners experience providing care and (2) identifies patient, provider, and practice factors mediating intensity. Seventeen medical oncologists (12 physicians and five nurse practitioners) from five national sites national reported on the level of work intensity associated with 339 patient visits. Data collection at each site occurred over a 2- to 6 week period; for each provider, five visits were randomly selected from each of 4 randomly selected clinic days, yielding 20 visits per provider. Intensity was measured by the NASA-Task Load Index. Patient and visit characteristics were abstracted from the medical record; provider characteristics were self-reported by questionnaire. Clinical work intensity increased monotonically with level of service and was greatest when the visit involved discussion of either chemotherapy or terminal prognosis. Provider characteristics (including age, sex, and years of experience) were unrelated to intensity. Dimensions of work intensity that correlated directly with level of service included mental, physical, and temporal demand; effort; frustration; and stress. Perceptions of performance and of satisfaction with the visit were unrelated to level of service. Visits related to chemotherapy had greater mental, physical, and temporal demand, and effort, but worse perception of performance. When the visit involved a discussion of a terminal prognosis, greater intensity was reflected in all dimensions; stress was also greater, whereas visit satisfaction was significantly lower. Clinical work intensity increases with level of service provided and is greater for visits involving discussion of either terminal prognosis or chemotherapy.

Muddles in Pentatonic Likert-type scale: Accuracy Cost in Psychometric Measurements for Small Enterprise Development

Likert-type scale is ordinal, hence not compatible with parametric techniques. Disregard of this fact causes flawed research outputs. Enterprises get themselves in precarious situations as ultimate consumers flawed outputs. This paper is motivated by the dearth desire by entrepreneurs to make accurate and valid decisions harvested from a dependable measurement scale. Identifying the pitfalls of Likert-type scale and remedies to address the weaknesses, form the objectives of the study. The study is anchored on the Classical Test and Generation theories. Reviewing literature and from own personal experiences in assessing students’ thesis at university level in Kenya found traditional pentatonic Likert-type scale highly favored by most young researchers in enterprise development. The researchers treated the Likert scale outputs as interval data. Consequently most of them got wrong inferential techniques and findings. This study suggests transformation of ordinal data into binary data, interval or ratio before going into parametric analysis. Secondly, increase the number of points on the Likert scale, preferably to seven (7) to enhance reliability, validity, discriminating power and respondent preferences. Thirdly, adopt newest models of Likert type scale, that is; novel fuzzy Likert scale, phrase completion scale and two-stages Likert scale for measuring direction and intensity dimensions seperately. Finally, Likert type scale could be improved by Rasch analysis, too. The findings and suggestions of the study are relevant for researchers in both academic, clinical and enterprise development for attainment of the Kenya Vision 2030 .

SENSITIVITAS ETIS DAN PERTIMBANGAN MORAL MAHASISWA AKUNTANSI TERHADAP DILEMA BISNIS

and perceived societal pressure) to the ethical sensitivity and moral judgments of accounting students andto prove the influence of the dimension of moral intensity to the moral judgments through ethical sensitivity. Thisstudy used four case scenarios to explain the impact of the dimension of moral intensity, such as passing ofcompany policies, approving of a questionable expense report, manipulating of company books, and extending ofquestionable credit, by using 85 samples of accounting students in University of Bengkulu. Primary data wereobtained from the result of the dissemination of the questionnaires. The testing of hypotesis in this study was usingmultiple regression analysis and hierarchical regression analysis. The result showed that perceived overall harmhas negative influence to the ethical sensitivity and moral judgements of accounting students, meanwhile perceivedsocietal pressure has positive influence to the ethical sensitivity and moral judgments of accounting students. Theresult also showed that the perceived overall harm and perceived societal pressure influence moral judgements ofaccounting students through ethical sensitivity.Key words: Ethical Sensitivity, Moral Judgments, Moral Intensity, Perceived Overall Harm, and PerceivedSocietal Pressure.

Linking the human appropriation of net primary productivity-based indicators, input cost and high nature value to the dimensions of land-use intensity across French agricultural landscapes

The intensification of European land use accelerated substantially in a few decades, particularly in agro-ecosystems that are facing an increasing demand for agricultural products and whose area is also constrained by other uses (e.g. urbanization). Increases in land use intensity (LUI) are characterized by increases of the agricultural outputs per land unit through management practices and/or by increasing amounts of inputs. LUI is a complex and multi-dimensional issue in which each dimension needs to be considered to have a better understanding of the impact of LUI on ecosystem functioning and biodiversity. Here, we focused on five existing LUI indicators: the Input Cost per hectare (IC/ha), assessing the expenses in inputs (fertilizers, pesticides, etc.), the High Nature Value (HNV), a scoring system of agricultural areas accounting for the presence of landscape elements and practices favorable to biodiversity, and three indices of the Human Appropriation of Net Primary Productivity (HANPP) framework, i.e. the harvested biomass (HANPPharv), the living biomass flow remaining available after harvests (NPPeco) and HANPP which combines harvested biomass and effects of land use conversion. First, we discussed how these indicators can relate to the dimensions of LUI. Then, we tested whether HANPP, HANPPharv and NPPeco were redundant with IC/ha and HNV throughout 25,758 French metropolitan municipalities, using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and Linear Mixed-effects Models, while accounting for climatic and landscape parameters. As expected, HANPP, NPPeco and HANPPharv were highly correlated with each other, but weakly to HNV and IC/ha. HNV showed a positive relationship with NPPeco but negative with HANPP and HANPPharv. The opposite findings were observed with IC/ha. These three indicators seem complementary to HNV and IC/ha indicators, linking farmland structural properties and inputs intensity. Finally, we showed how these indicators can be linked, i.e. particular combinations of the indicator values could reveal contrasting agro-ecosystems types (e.g. intensive vs extensive crop farming).

Self-esteem modulates the ERP processing of emotional intensity in happy and angry faces.

Previous studies have shown that self-esteem modulates attentional responses to emotional stimuli. However, it is well known that emotional stimuli can vary in intensity. The main objective of the present study was to further investigate self-esteem related emotional intensity processing in happy and anger faces. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while 27 high-esteem versus 27 low self-esteem participants carried out a visual oddball task, with neutral faces as the standard stimuli and deviant stimuli varying on valence (happy and anger) and intensity (40%, 70%, and 100% emotive) dimensions. The results showed only high self-esteem people, instead of those with low self-esteem, displayed significant emotion intensity effects for 100% than for 70% happy faces in P3 component. On the other hand, only people with low self-esteem exhibited pronounced intensity effects for anger faces in P3 amplitudes. Moreover, only people with low self-esteem displayed significant intensity effects for 100% compared to both 70% and 40% anger stimuli in N2 amplitudes at central sites. These findings indicate that high self-esteem individuals were typically more susceptible to highly as well as mildly positive stimuli yet less reactive to negative stimuli compared with people with low self-esteem.

Information protection behaviors: morality and organizational criticality

PurposeOrganizational insiders play a critical role in protecting sensitive information. Prior research finds that moral beliefs influence compliance decisions. Yet, it is less clear what factors influence moral beliefs and the conditions under which those factors have stronger/weaker effects. Using an ethical decision-making model and value congruence theory, this study aims to investigate how moral intensity and organizational criticality influence moral beliefs and intentions to perform information protection behaviors.Design/methodology/approachThe hypotheses were tested using a scenario-based survey of 216 organizational insiders. Two of the scenarios depict low criticality information security protection behaviors and two depict high criticality behaviors.FindingsA major finding is that users rely more on perceived social consensus and magnitude of consequences when organizational criticality is low and on temporal immediacy and proximity when criticality is high. In addition, the moral intensity dimensions explain more variance in moral beliefs when organizational criticality is low.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited by its sample, which is organizational insiders at a mid-size university. It is also limited in that it only examined four of the six moral intensity dimensions.Practical implicationsThe findings can guide management about which moral intensity dimensions are more important to focus on when remediating tone at the top and other leadership weaknesses relating to information security.Originality/valueThis study adds value by investigating the separate dimensions of moral intensity on information protection behaviors. It also is the first to examine moral intensity under conditions of low and high organizational criticality.

O canto unificado de “Muito romântico”

Este artigo propõe um exercício analítico em torno de “Muito romântico”, canção de Caetano Veloso que integra o long play Muito: dentro da estrela azulada, de 1978. Temos por meta investigar o modo como letra e melodia se compatibilizam para criar um efeito de sentido que, em conformidade com a postura de Caetano contrária a qualquer tipo de cristalização criativa, escape daquilo que comumente se espera do discurso romântico. Nossa hipótese é de que uma escuta despretensiosa da canção pode apressadamente levar a crer que o seu enunciador se dedica tão somente ao recrudescimento da dimensão da intensidade e à minimização da extensidade; uma leitura mais atenta, porém, que tenha na semiótica discursiva seu aporte teórico, revela, na verdade, uma outra face do enunciador, o qual, buscando criar um sentido unificado de identidade para poder polemizar com a alteridade que o interpela, aposta em um sutil jogo tensivo entre tematização e passionalização, modos opostos de compatibilização entre letra e melodia. No limite, intencionamos discutir, ainda que de forma apenas introdutória, a respeito da noção de estilo na canção, buscando apontar a maneira pela qual a dicção de um enunciador-cancionista pode ser depreendida da análise dos modos de compatibilização entre melodia e letra.

Logisticians’ ethical decision-making: does the psychological safety team matter?

ABSTRACT This study mobilizes the concept of team psychological safety to study the link between ethical decision-making and the feeling of safety perceived within their team. This research examines a logistician’s ethical judgments depending on a moral intensity dimension. Based on a population of 260 European professional logisticians, the study uses 12 scenarios that have been designed to describe logistical situations. A first sample of 123 purchasers was given a low moral intensity questionnaire and a second group, composed of 137 other purchasers, answered another questionnaire with a high moral intensity. The findings reveal that the moral intensity, clear direction, team leader coaching and team learning behaviors intensity have a positive impact on judgment of 2 scenarios : social consensus and temporality.

The impact of moral philosophy and moral intensity on purchase behavior toward sustainable textile and apparel products

This study investigated the causal–effect relationships among moral philosophy, moral intensity, and purchase behavior toward environmentally sustainable textile and apparel products. A research model incorporating two dimensions of moral philosophy (i.e., idealism and relativism), five dimensions of moral intensity (i.e., magnitude, probability, temporal immediacy, proximity, and social consensus), and purchase behavior toward sustainable textile and apparel products was tested using consumer data collected from a wide age range of Korean females through online surveys. Organic and naturally dyed textile and apparel products were selected as focal interests of this study due to the significance of the two product markets in Korea. The results revealed that, of the two dimensions of moral philosophy, only idealism had a significant impact on overall moral intensity and moral intensity had a significant impact on consumer purchase behavior toward sustainable textile and apparel products, which confirmed the sequential relationship among the variables. As the first attempt, to our knowledge, to apply an ethical view to environmentally sustainable textile and apparel product consumption, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of the determinants of sustainable textile and apparel consumption among Korean consumers and the development of effective marketing communication strategies targeting Korean consumers.

MaxQuant.Live Enables Global Targeting of More Than 25,000 Peptides

Mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics is often performed in a shotgun format, in which as many peptide precursors as possible are selected from full or MS1 scans so that their fragment spectra can be recorded in MS2 scans. Although achieving great proteome depths, shotgun proteomics cannot guarantee that each precursor will be fragmented in each run. In contrast, targeted proteomics aims to reproducibly and sensitively record a restricted number of precursor/fragment combinations in each run, based on prescheduled mass-to-charge and retention time windows. Here we set out to unify these two concepts by a global targeting approach in which an arbitrary number of precursors of interest are detected in real-time, followed by standard fragmentation or advanced peptide-specific analyses. We made use of a fast application programming interface to a quadrupole Orbitrap instrument and real-time recalibration in mass, retention time and intensity dimensions to predict precursor identity. MaxQuant.Live is freely available (www.maxquant.live) and has a graphical user interface to specify many predefined data acquisition strategies. Acquisition speed is as fast as with the vendor software and the power of our approach is demonstrated with the acquisition of breakdown curves for hundreds of precursors of interest. We also uncover precursors that are not even visible in MS1 scans, using elution time prediction based on the auto-adjusted retention time alone. Finally, we successfully recognized and targeted more than 25,000 peptides in single LC-MS runs. Global targeting combines the advantages of two classical approaches in MS-based proteomics, whereas greatly expanding the analytical toolbox.