Voluntary Program Research Articles

Studying the Effect of Employees’ Environment Awareness as an Intermediate Variable for the Relationship between Institutional Pressures and Intentions of Human Resources for Adoption of Green Information Techniques: An Exploratory Study of Micro-Companie

Purpose: The aim of the present research paper is to study the impact of institutional pressures derived from institutional theory on the intentions of human resources in micro companies to adopt green information technology. Besides, it aims at explaining the reasons why human resources in companies and research sample, are heterogeneous in their adoption of green information technology, even though they are under institutional pressures. Theoretical Framework: The carbon footprint for micro-companies enlarges continuously for due to its an increasing use of information techniques in its all activities. Institutional pressures have increased on micro-companies pushing it toward letting human resources adopt green information techniques for mitigating negative impacts hit environment. Design/Methodology/Approach: The quantitative design was adopted to collect data from employees working in micro-companies’ in southern Iraq for a sample of 181 employees through the questionnaire. The study sample was requested to give an answer to its items in accordance with 7 point Likert scale. As per data statistical analysis, through the use of Partial Least Squares. Findings: that institutional pressures (forced, imitated & standard) collectively impact positively on intents of the study’s sample for adoption of a green information technique. Also, it was found that institutional pressures (forced, imitated & standard) impact positively employees’ environmental awareness. Then diagnosing the role of employees’ environmental awareness as a variable intermediating the relation between institutional pressures and intents for letting human resources adopt a green information technique. Research, Practical & Social implications: Future studies can understandable that green information technology is an open arena for all researchers interested in the environment. Researchers can enter this field by raising study questions and employing and applying its variables to micro companies, or public sector organizations. They can expand the organizational theory by adding other intermediate or interactive variables and their effects on human resources’ intentions to adopt green information technology. Originality/value: Human resources in micro companies play a significant role in shaping the company’s legitimacy in its institutional field. Because micro companies appreciate the commencement time to adopt green information technology, and the place of practice. This requires enriching their knowledge of the challenges facing the environment by developing mandatory and voluntary programs to increase human environmental awareness and to get them engaged and directing their behavior towards this objective.

ISO 14001 certification and industrial decarbonization: An empirical study

Voluntary environmental programs have proven to be a viable tool of pollution abatement, supplementing the command-and-control approach and market-based policies such as emissions trading and taxes. These voluntary initiatives aim to achieve pollution reduction through several channels, including procedural changes, raw material changes, product and packaging redesign, and innovation in pollution control technologies. The ISO 14001 standard is such a voluntary program; first introduced in 1996 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), it has steadily grown since and has been widely adopted by organizations around the world. In this paper, we empirically study the effects of the ISO 14001 standard on carbon emissions using a panel dataset of Korean manufacturing firms. As the largest contributor to the warming of the earth's atmosphere, carbon emissions are the focus of national and international efforts to curb climate change. The Korean manufacturing industry is responsible for about 40% of greenhouse gases in the country and has experienced rapid growth in ISO 14001 certified facilities. Our econometric results indicate that ISO 14001 certification spurs a significant reduction in carbon emissions among certified firms, after accounting for its potential endogeneity with an instrumental variable strategy. The empirical results suggest that wider ISO 14001 certification among carbon-intensive industries can be a credible pathway to help achieve the Korean government's goal of cutting domestic carbon emissions by 37% by 2030.

Advertising law enforcement: comparative analysis of procedures and compliance program

The procedure concerning misleading advertising is started directly by the application of a consumer who is actually misled by particular advertising. Apart from the consumer application, the proceeding can be initiated as the result of the administrative monitoring of the advertising law enforcement. However, the most frequent and effective way to find a deceptive fact in advertising is through consumer application because consumers are able to recognize deception in its infancy. Eventually, the practice of Advertising law in Uzbekistan still suffers from a lack of voluntary compliance programs, which makes co-regulation very weak and enforcement inefficient

MACRO-LEVEL CHANGES: A VOLUNTARY SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAM TO INFLUENCE THE DANISH BUILDING INDUSTRY

ABSTRACT The challenge of quantifying sustainability is continuously debated in the building industry. There is an increased need for quantitative solutions to be developed for measuring and comparing performance. The Danish government has proposed a voluntary sustainability program to lift the bottom of the industry with regard to sustainability performance. This study evaluates the possibilities of increasing the sustainability reference level in the building industry based on expert interviews. The study was framed upon the multi-level perspective as a theory to describe the transition to sustainability. The results indicated that existing knowledge and experience within the topics of the regulatory changes is high in the industry. Therefore, the impact of the changes would not be very effective if they are not sufficiently innovative or demanding. Regarding the effect of the voluntary sustainability program, it was found that the program is not very ambitious and likely to only have an impact on companies with a lower level of ambition in terms of sustainable initiatives. The hope, however, is that it will keep raising the level of sustainability.

FutureBuilt Zero - A simplified dynamic LCA method with requirements for low carbon emissions from buildings

FutureBuilt is a voluntary program for ambitious low-carbon construction projects. To incentivize measures that lead to the lowest climate change impact from all aspects of buildings and according to national Paris agreement pledges, FutureBuilt Zero introduces an ambition level and a novel calculation methodology for net climate change impacts over the life of a building. The ambition level is tightened over time to help Norway achieve its climate goals. A comprehensive simplified calculation method is introduced, which considers how the timing of emissions during the building life affects the contribution to global warming. Both direct and indirect emissions throughout the lifetime are included; energy use in operation and at the construction site, material production and transport of materials to the construction site, and waste management (incineration). In addition, the climate-positive effects of biogenic carbon uptake, carbonation of cement, potential for future reusability, and exported energy are included. This paper presents the criteria, describes the method and the scientific basis as well as the principles and logic behind the choices made.

Analysis Voluntary Carbon Pricing Programs for their Further Adoption by Ukrainian Enterprises

The wide spreading of the voluntary carbon pricing practice will lead to the efficiency of governmental policies towards low-carbon an economy, since they will be able to adopt clearly anticipated price policies in Ukraine and other countries. But adopting the internal carbon pricing programs by domestic enterprises is challenging due to expose to political, energy, financial and other crises in Ukraine and should be carefully studies in prior. Thus we offer considering best experiences of European companies that have already effectively and efficiently incorporated carbon pricing schemes into their management processes and strategic decisions. For this purpose, the theoretical issues of implementing voluntary carbon pricing programs by domestic enterprises have been investigated. Theoretical and practical base of the article consists of general economic and environmental economic principles, works of international and national scientists in the field of carbon pricing. This study provides analysis of the effective tools of mitigating risk associated with climate change policy and regulations, which can be applied by domestic firms in Ukraine. Using internal carbon pricing programs as a risk management tools, we described potential benefits, costs and limitations of the program. We also introduced the business study case how to apply the internal carbon pricing tool, in particular, shadow price by a company. This example proposes a methodological approach to implementing a shadow price tool. Thus, can be applied by domestic company in order to identify the feasibility of low-carbon emission investment and make right investment decision towards decarbonisation. Further analysis reveals that internal carbon pricing programs can be implemented by domestic firms as an efficient strategy and enable a greenhouse gas emissions reduction in compliance with the future or current national target. Our study provides practical recomendations through which Ukrainian companies can address climate risk and provide guidance to governments and regulators for the forming and further implementation of national environmental policies.

Udder health, veterinary costs, and antibiotic usage in free stall compared with tie stall dairy housing systems: An optimized matching approach in Switzerland

Observational studies are important in livestock science. As treatment is not assigned randomly in such studies, selection bias can be a problem. This is often addressed by matching methods. However, if treatment and control groups differ considerably in their characteristics, it might be necessary to additionally prune observations that lack overlap in the opposite group. “Matching Frontier” method was developed because pruning observations manually often results in suboptimal solutions. The feasibility of the approach for animal health and welfare issues was tested in an observational study evaluating the effect of free stall housing and increased lying comfort on udder health, veterinary costs, and antibiotic usage in Swiss dairy farming.Data were collected in a survey with 1835 Swiss dairy farmers (response rate 28.3%). The treatment group (n = 179) comprised farmers participating in a voluntary animal welfare program that, in addition to free stall housing, required increased lying comfort. Farmers in the control group (n = 229) kept their cows in tie stalls.Using the Matching Frontier method, treated units were matched to control units based on five confounders. Subsequently, observations were pruned to achieve sufficient balance and overlap between the two groups. The effect of the program on the eight outcome variables was finally estimated using linear regression.Farmers in the treatment group had a lower incidence of clinical mastitis (−3.66 per 100 cow-years, −25%, p < 0.05), a lower incidence of culled cows due to udder health problems (−1.61 per 100 cow-years, −30%, p < 0.05), fewer veterinary costs (−42.44 per cow-year, −22%, p < 0.05), a lower incidence of total intramammary antibiotic treatments (−15.88 per 100 cow-years, −23%, p < 0.01), a lower incidence of intramammary antibiotic treatments for mastitis therapy (−7.83 per 100 cow-years, −32%, p < 0.01), and a lower incidence of intramammary antibiotic treatments for dry-cow therapy (−8.80 per 100 cow-years, −21%, p < 0.05). No differences were found for the average somatic cell count and the number of cows with a cell count above 150.000.The results suggest that free stall housing, in combination with increased lying comfort, can have a positive effect on udder health, animal welfare, and the economic situation of the farm. Additionally, fewer antibiotic treatments can be beneficial to public health.The Matching Frontier method has proven to be a helpful tool that may also have added value for future observational studies in livestock science.

Do voluntary environmental programs matter? Evidence from the EPA SmartWay program

AbstractThere is mixed evidence on the effectiveness of voluntary environmental programs. We evaluate a voluntary program aimed at reducing transportation emissions, that is, the U.S. EPA SmartWay Program. We construct a novel database of the physical assets used by firms before and after they joined SmartWay and compare changes in the age of their assets with that of firms that did not join SmartWay. Our results show that firms that participated in SmartWay operate substantially newer (i.e., cleaner) trucks compared with non‐SmartWay participants, indicating that SmartWay participation is a credible signal of a firm's reduced emissions footprint emanating from truck operations. After the start of SmartWay, firms that joined invested in newer trucks relative to firms that did not, with about a year reduction in average truck age several years after the program began. SmartWay had a larger effect on firms that own their trucks compared with firms that outsource ownership, and sustained participation increased the program's effectiveness. We estimate that the SmartWay Program has reduced commercial transportation emissions from operations by 25.2 million metric tons of CO2 by increasing the incentive to invest in newer, cleaner trucks. Our study provides insight into factors that make voluntary environmental programs effective.

Mandatory or voluntary approaches to green roof implementation: a comparative study among some global cities

Green roofs can deliver multiple environmental and social benefits by reducing the urban heat island effect, reducing building energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, improving air quality, providing habitat for biodiversity and access to the biophilia effect. Green roofs provide these benefits to differing degrees in different climate zones globally. Despite known benefits, uptake of green roofs has been slow. Different cities, globally, adopt various policies and programmes to increase their green roofs; the question is which approach is best? This research used an in-depth review, site visits and qualitative methods, to determine whether mandatory or voluntary approaches produced greater uptake. Green roof policies and practices from selected global cities, London, Toronto, Singapore, Rotterdam and Stockholm, Sydney and Melbourne were examined. Singapore’s voluntary approach led to the greater uptake of green roofs. The mandatory approach taken by Toronto, with financial grants provided meaningful outcomes. London and Rotterdam implemented useful voluntary programmes, and Stockholm required more time to evaluate the effectiveness of its voluntary approaches in increasing green roofs. A voluntary approach for retrofit and a mandatory approach for new build developments are suggested as recommendations for Australian cities. Given the increases in green roofs internationally, similar increases can occur in Melbourne and Sydney in Australia, and these findings may be transferable to other global cities investigating different approaches to the increased adoption of retrofitted green roofs.

Greek National Prevention Program for Thalassemia and Other Hemoglobinopathies and Contemporary Bioethical Reflections. The Experience of Northern Greece

Hemoglobinopathies constitute the most frequent monogenic disorders worldwide and are caused by gene mutations that affect the synthesis of the normal hemoglobin chains or contribute to structural changes of the Hb molecule. In Greece hemoglobinopathies are the most frequent genetic diseases and the Greek National Prevention Program for Thalassemia and other Hemoglobinopathies is the most typical international example of a voluntary prevention screening program. During a 20-year study period, gene interactions in 437 pregnancies were related with risk of β-thal major, sickle cell disease and Hb Bart’s hydrops fetalis. 437 prenatal diagnoses were performed and (22.2%, N=97) fetuses were homozygotes or compound heterozygotes for clinically significant mutations. The couples were informed of all the currently available therapeutic approaches for β-TM or sickle cell disease. The decision for the termination or continuation of the pregnancy was left to parental choice and the termination of the pregnancy was generally accepted and 91 from 97 affected pregnancies were terminated. The “success” of a prevention program depends on the commitment and the will of the governments, the consolidation of strong educational campaigns, the continuing public education and health professional awareness, the existence of reliable laboratories. Greek National Bioethics &amp; Techno ethics Committee gives a framework about the bioethical questions arising as well as the “Bio laws” in the Greek constitution. In our constitution the availability of prenatal diagnosis, the social bioethical framework as expressed by the National Bioethics committee, the contemporary role of religion in public life (Greek Orthodox Church less influential) and the existing legal frame of the termination of pregnancy in cases of severe hemoglobinopathies contributed to the success of the Prevention programme.

The impact of heterogeneous environmental regulations on regional spatial differences in net carbon emissions.

Effected by spatial difference and types of environmental regulation, enhanced environmental regulation does not necessarily lead to reduce net carbon emissions (NCE). Based on panel data of 30 province-level administrative regions in China from 2003 to 2018, this paper analyzed the impact of heterogeneous environmental regulations on NCE using geographically weighted regression (GWR). The results showed that (1) the total NCE of each province in China presented an increasing trend followed by fluctuation, with obvious spatial aggregation characteristics. (2) The intensity of four environmental regulations, command-and-control (CAC), market-incentive (MI), public-participation (PP), and voluntary environmental program of firm (VEPF) tended to increase slightly over the study period with decreasing spatial heterogeneity. (3) CAC environmental regulations had a "green paradox" effect on NCE, meaning an improving CAC environmental regulation would surprisingly increase its negative effects and contribute to NCE growth. The effect of MI environmental regulation on NCE shifted from overall promotion to partly promotion and even suppression. PP and VEPF environmental regulation would reduce NCE. The suppressive effect of PP environmental regulation grew over time, while VEPF did not. Finally, based on the research conclusion, some policy suggestion are proposed for differentiated management, diverse system of governance, and collaborative governance.

How manipulating incentives and participation in green programs affect satisfaction: The mediating role of warm glow

Sustainable consumption and green marketing are receiving considerable attention. Nevertheless, the focus of past studies has always been on customer participation, with less attention given to how to satisfy those customers. Also, the focus has been on participants in green programs and not those who choose not to participate. The use of incentives to encourage voluntary green program participation is quite uncommon. The purpose of this research is to examine how manipulating the different types and levels of incentives affect the relationship between voluntary green program participation and satisfaction through the mediating role of warm glow. Three experimental studies were carried out, and data were tested and analyzed using SPSS and PROCESS macro. Results show that the best option to be used by managers to satisfy participants and non-participants of green programs when incentivizing participation is the high self-benefiting incentive. Yet, if this is not feasible, then the second-best option is not to incentivize participation.

Importance of Condition Assessment Programme by Ultrasonic Measurement

Paper gathers information on Condition Assessment Programme (CAP), which is implemented by classification societies to thoroughly assess condition of tankers and bulk carriers by inspection of engine and hull. It is voluntary programme, mostly participated by tankers and bulk carriers which are fifteen and more years old and today less present on the market. Special focus will be on ultrasonic measurement of thickness of ship´s plates which is most significant indicator on condition of older vessels. After all measuring is done, data is compared with classification society rules and condition of hull and machinery will be assessed. This kind of inspection provides owners of older ships proof that despite age their ships are equally capable of conducting sea voyage. The authors analyse the number of ship arrivals in the port of Rijeka to gain a better insight into their age. Furthermore, the authors advocate ultrasonic thickness measurement for the purpose of reducing hazards.

ESG Certifications Gain Momentum in the Industry

Responsibly sourced gas (RSG), differentiated natural gas (DNG), independently certified gas (ICG)—these are some of the terms energy professionals might be hearing or reading about lately. As the international community sets itself upon a path to net-zero emissions as part of the fight against climate change, natural gas is seen as a great enabler of the energy transition to nonemitting sources. Experts believe natural gas could help drastically reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by replacing coal—when burned, it emits about half the carbon dioxide (CO2) compared to coal. However, that comes with a caveat: The assumption of lower emissions from natural gas holds true only when the issues of methane leaks and flaring are addressed. Methane is a very potent GHG. Its global warming potential (GWP), defined as a GHG’s ability to trap heat in the atmosphere compared to CO2, is more than 80 on a 20-year timespan, as shown in the figure. In other words, a single molecule of methane can trap 80 times more heat than an equivalent molecule of CO2. Luckily, methane dissipates from the atmosphere much more quickly than CO2. Its GWP goes down to 28 in a 100-year timespan and so on. This phenomenon presents a great opportunity for the oil and gas industry to drastically reduce overall emissions that are typically reported on a CO2-equivalent basis, while improving operations. After all, methane emissions represent leaks of a valuable commodity that could otherwise be sold. So, while regulators across the globe are coming up with ever more stringent methane policies, some industry participants opt to showcase their good performance in more proactive ways. One such way is by getting their production certified via voluntary certification programs. Currently, there are four main voluntary certifications tailored to the oil and gas industry that have at least some kind of methane emissions requirements. - Project Canary’s TrustWell - The MiQ Standard - Equitable Origin’s EO100 Standard for Responsible Energy Development - S&amp;P Global Platts/Xpansiv Methane Performance Certificate (MPC) Independent Energy Standards Corporation (IES) was the original developer of the TrustWell certification and its origins date back to 2016. IES subsequently merged with Colorado-based continuous emissions monitoring company Project Canary in August 2020. TrustWell certification evaluates data points within 24 operational categories covering such aspects as environmental programs, spill prevention, waste management, emergency response, and well integrity. This certification is often paired with Canary-manufactured methane-continuous-monitoring sensors, although the company claims to be technology-agnostic. The TrustWell Low-Methane Verified Attribute covers the methane emissions aspects of the certification such as the requirement for methane intensity to be below a certain level and leak detection and repair requirements, among others. TrustWell was a pioneering certification framework with first certificates issued in 2018. Since then, many companies have certified at least some of their assets with TrustWell. Among them are Southwestern Energy, Range Resources, Flywheel Energy, Antero Resources, Seneca Resources, and others. The MiQ Standard was created and is maintained by MiQ, a not-for-profit partnership between RMI (formerly the Rocky Mountain Institute) and SYSTEMIQ, a global sustainability consultancy. MiQ started working on its standard in 2019 and, after several rounds of stakeholder reviews, the first MiQ certificates covering upstream onshore production were issued in late 2021.

Nurses suffering in silence: Addressing the stigma of mental health in nursing and healthcare.

Nurses suffering in silence: Addressing the stigma of mental health in nursing and healthcare.

What Matters for Charitable Donations Under Authoritarianism? An Examination of Organizational Legitimacy and Political Connections

Voluntary certification that signals nonprofit organizations’ legitimacy has been found to be positively related to charitable donations in Europe and North America. However, whether these proxies of organizational legitimacy matter under authoritarian regimes where political connections are deemed critical for resource acquisition has not been explored. Based on a sample of 2,021 Chinese foundations, this article finds that organizational legitimacy achieved through certification is tied to an increase in charitable donations. Meanwhile, organizational legitimacy tends to negatively moderate the relationship between foundations’ political affiliation and charitable donations. That is, certification lifts the amount of charitable donations to civic foundations that are not formally affiliated with the state more than it does for politically affiliated foundations. As the first quantitative study on the effect of voluntary nonprofit certification programs on charitable donations outside Western democracies, this article contributes to our understanding of fundraising in China and other authoritarian states.

THE EFFECT OF SOCIALIZATION AND SANCTIONS ON TAXPAYER'S WILL FOLLOWING VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE PROGRAM

&lt;p&gt;The Voluntary Disclosure Program is a continuation of the tax amnesty software to grant tax amnesty or write-offs. The purpose of this find out about was once to determine the impact of sanctions and socialization of Tax Amnesty on the willingness of taxpayers to participate in the Voluntary Disclosure Program. A whole of 133 individual taxpayers who participate in the voluntary disclosure program, information analysis uses WarpPLS to evaluate models starting from the outer model and inner model. The results showed that the willingness of taxpayers to take part in the voluntary disclosure application or quantity II tax amnesty was greater involved with being a concern to sanctions or fines if later there were findings from the Tax Service Office, but the socialization of the tax amnesty volume II used to be unable to make bigger taxpayers' willingness to pay taxes. participate in a voluntary disclosure program.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;JEL&lt;/strong&gt;: D31; H21; H27&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Article visualizations:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0949/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Civilian national service programs can powerfully increase youth voter turnout

Low rates of youth voting are a feature of contemporary democracies the world over, with the United States having some of the lowest youth turnout rates in the world. However, far too little is known about how to address the dismal rates of youth voter participation found in many advanced democracies. In this paper, we examine the causal effect of a potentially scalable solution that has attracted renewed interest today: voluntary national service programs targeted at the youth civilian population. Leveraging the large pool of young people who apply each year to participate in the Teach For America (TFA) program-a prominent voluntary national service organization in the United States that integrates college graduates into teaching roles in low-income communities for 2 y-we examine the effect of service participation on voter turnout. To do so, we match TFA administrative records to large-scale nationwide voter files and employ a fuzzy regression discontinuity design around the recommended admittance cutoff for the TFA program. We find that serving as a teacher in the Teach For America national service program has a large effect on civic participation-substantially increasing voter turnout rates among applicants admitted to the program. This effect is noticeably larger than that of previous efforts to increase youth turnout. Our results suggest that civilian national service programs targeted at young people have great promise in helping to narrow the stubborn and enduring political engagement gap between younger and older citizens.

Promoting academic resilience in DEIS schools

ABSTRACT This article reports on baseline data gathered as part of an intervention project which aims to enhance academic performance, encourage retention and broaden the educational and career aspirations of senior cycle students in schools which serve socio-economically disadvantaged communities. The experiences and perceptions of 405 students attending 16 DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) schools who are participating in a voluntary after-school tuition programme are reported. Specifically, the article provides a demographic profile of the students in relation to familial education levels and parental occupations; explores whether the students had previously considered leaving school and what specific factors influenced their retention; and reports on the results of two standardised questionnaires, measuring perceived self-efficacy and sense of school belonging. Findings indicate that students reported an overall low level of self-efficacy but a positive sense of belonging in schools, with no differences reported across gender. Differences were observed, however, between those who had considered early school leaving and those who had not, with the former cohort recording lower self-efficacy and sense of belonging scores. This article presents an important, and possibly the first, profile of senior cycle students from DEIS schools who have demonstrated academic resilience in terms of school retention, career ambition, and availing of additional support in their schools through this intervention project.

Frequency of Detection and Prevalence Factors Associated with Common Respiratory Pathogens in Equids with Acute Onset of Fever and/or Respiratory Signs (2008-2021).

A voluntary biosurveillance program was established in 2008 in order to determine the shedding frequency and prevalence factors for common respiratory pathogens associated with acute onset of fever and/or respiratory signs in equids from the USA. Over a period of 13 years, a total of 10,296 equids were enrolled in the program and nasal secretions were analyzed for the qPCR detection of equine influenza virus (EIV), equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1), EHV-4, equine rhinitis A and B virus (ERVs), and Streptococcus equi subspecies equi (S. equi). Single infections with respiratory pathogens were detected in 21.1% of the submissions with EIV (6.8%) and EHV-4 (6.6%) as the two most prevalent viruses, followed by S. equi (4.7%), ERVs (2.3%), and EHV-1 (0.7%). Multiple pathogens were detected in 274 horses (2.7%) and no respiratory pathogens in 7836 horses (76.2%). Specific prevalence factors were determined for each of the six respiratory pathogen groups; most differences were associated with age, breed, and use of the horses, while the clinical signs were fairly consistent between viral and bacterial respiratory infections. Monitoring the frequency of detection of common respiratory pathogens is important in order to gain a better understanding of their epidemiology and to implement management practices aimed at controlling disease spread.