The impact of absolute importance and processing overlaps on prospective memory performance

Prospective memory is the ability to remember an intention at an appropriate moment in the future. Prospective memory tasks can be more or less important. Previously, importance was manipulated by emphasizing the importance of the prospective memory task relative to the ongoing task it was embedded in. This resulted in better prospective memory performance but also ongoing task costs. In the present study, we simply instructed one group of participants that the prospective memory task was important (i.e., absolute importance instruction) and compared them to a group with relative importance instructions and a control group. The results showed that absolute importance lead to an increase in prospective memory performance without enhancing ongoing task costs, whereas relative importance resulted in both increased prospective memory performance and ongoing task costs. Thus, prospective memory can be enhanced without ongoing task costs, which is particularly crucial for safety-work contexts.

Poda de verano en manzanos Red Delicious : efecto sobre la calidad de la fruta y las hojas de los dardos

En el Alto Valle del Río Negro y Neuquén, Argentina (latitud 38° 55´ Sur) se realizó un estudio en árboles cv. Red Delicious, conducidos en espaldera, de 4 m de altura, distanciamiento de 4 x 3 m y una orientación de la plantación Este - Oeste. Durante diciembre los árboles se podaron, eliminando 2/3 de cada crecimiento del año o fueron dejados sin podar (testigo). En la cosecha, en cada árbol y a ambos lados de la fila se determinaron tres alturas sobre el nivel del suelo (1.0 m, 2.5 m y 3.8 m) para la medición de la Radiación Fotosintéticamente Activa (PAR) y muestreo de frutos y hojas de dardos. En el fruto se evaluó: peso, contenido de sólidos solubles, firmeza de pulpa y porcentaje de color rojo de la piel. También se midió el Peso Específico de Hoja (PEH). La utilización de la poda de verano actúa en forma directa sobre el aumento del color rojo de la piel de los frutos y sobre la pérdida de la firmeza de la pulpa. El PAR afecta en un 50 % los parámetros de calidad y madurez de la fruta y en un 63 % el PEH; a su vez el PAR es afectado significativamente por la poda sólo en la parte superior del lado sur y en la parte media e inferior del lado norte. De esta manera se logrará ahorrar aproximadamente un 50 % del costo de la mano de obra de la poda estival total.

Diseño y acondicionamiento acústico y electroacústico de una sala de proyecciones en 3D

Este proyecto está orientado al diseño y el acondicionamiento de una sala de cine siguiendo las normas establecidas por el SMPTE. El primer paso a realizar será el diseño de la sala en el cual habrá que tener en cuenta la distribución de los asientos dentro de la misma, el dimensionado de la pantalla que servirá para establecer la forma y dimensiones del recinto, así como la correcta ubicación del proyector. Posteriormente se realizará el acondicionamiento acústico del cine, con la elección de los diferentes materiales que permitan la obtención de un tiempo de reverberación óptimo. A continuación se procederá a la selección de los equipos electroacústicos más adecuados y a su colocación a lo largo de la sala para posteriormente realizar un estudio de todos los parámetros de esta para garantizar la perfecta escucha dentro de la misma. Se elegirán, al igual que se ha hecho con los elementos electroacústicos, los equipos de video específicos, teniendo en cuenta el sistema de proyección 3D utilizado y se procederá a su instalación dentro de la sala. Se indicará de forma independiente cual será el esquema de conexionado correspondiente a cada una de las partes, tanto de audio como de video. Todos los equipos y parámetros ajustables de la sala, tanto de audio como de video, se realizaran siguiendo las recomendaciones establecidas por el SMPTE para una correcta visión y escucha, así como también el diseño de la sala. Para llevar a cabo todo lo anteriormente descrito se utilizara el programa de simulación EASE 4.3 con él que se ajustaran los parámetros más significativos para verificar que la sala cumple con las condiciones de escucha que determina la norma. Todo esto irá acompañado de un presupuesto detallado de cada uno de los equipos y materiales utilizados, así como de los costes derivados de la mano de obra. Se adjuntarán también los planos de la sala donde se indicarán todas las medidas establecidas a lo largo del proyecto. Para la realización de estos se utilizara el programa de diseño Google SkechUp. Por último se facilitarán las hojas de características de cada uno de los equipos instalados en la sala para conocer sus especificaciones y modo de funcionamiento. Abstract This project is orientated at designing and conditioning a cinema according to standards set by the SMPTE. First of all, the cinema hall needs to be designed, taking into consideration seat distribution and screen dimension, in order to establish the shape and dimensions of the room and the correct location for the projector. Later the acoustic conditioning of the cinema is covered, with the choice of appropriate materials in order to permit an optimum reverberation time. The next step is the selection of the most appropriate electro-acoustic equipment and its positioning throughout the room. A study is then carried out of all the parameters to ensure perfect hearing in the cinema. Then the specific video equipment is chosen, bearing in mind the 3D projection system used and is installed in the theatre. A wiring diagram is indicated for each element used, for both audio and video. All equipment and adjustable parameters of the room, both audio and video, are made according to the recommendations established by the SMPTE for correct viewing and listening, as is the design of the cinema. To carry out the steps described above the EASE 4.3 simulation program is used. This program adjusts all significant parameters to verify that the room complies with the listening conditions determined by the standard. A detailed budget is included for all equipment and materials used, as well as the labour costs. Plans of the room, showing all measurements taken during the project are indicated. This is done using the Google SkechUp program. Finally data sheets are provided for each piece of equipment installed in the room detailing specifications and operating mode.

Economic analysis of the renewable energy policies in the European Union

The European energy sector is undergoing a major transformation and is facing a series of difficult challenges. These include a high and increasing dependence on external energy resources; dramatically reduce the need for the emissions of greenhouse gases to meet environmental objectives and the difficulties related to the promotion of energy market effectively integrated and competitive. Some of the policies associated with the various objectives are sometimes in conflict with each other, while in other cases are mutually reinforcing.The aim of this paper is to do a scienti?c analysis of the developments so far and the expectations for the coming period focusing on the pillars of energy policy in the EU in terms of security of supply, environment, climate change and promoting a competitive and integrated market. The use of renewable energy sources is seen as a key element of European energy policy and should help to: reduce dependence on fuel from non-member countries; reduce emissions from carbon-based energy sources, and; decouple energy costs from oil prices.

Antecedents and consequences of service quality in consumer evaluation of self-service internet technologies

Advances in technology coupled with increasing labour costs have caused service firms to explore self-service delivery options. Although some studies have focused on self-service and use of technology in service delivery, few have explored the role of service quality in consumer evaluation of technology-based self-service options. By integrating and extending the self-service quality framework the service evaluation model and the Technology Acceptance Model the authors address this emerging issue by empirically testing a comprehensive model that captures the antecedents and consequences of perceived service quality to predict continued customer interaction in the technology-based self-service context of Internet banking. Important service evaluation constructs like perceived risk, perceived value and perceived satisfaction are modelled in this framework. The results show that perceived control has the strongest influence on service quality evaluations. Perceived speed of delivery, reliability and enjoyment also have a significant impact on service quality perceptions. The study also found that even though perceived service quality, perceived risk and satisfaction are important predictors of continued interaction, perceived customer value plays a pivotal role in influencing continued interaction.

The development and diffusion of industrial robots

This thesis describes the history of robots and explains the reasons for the international differences in robot diffusion, and the differences in the diffusion of various robot applications with reference to the UK. As opposed to most of the literature, diffusion is examined with an integrated and interdisciplinary perspective. Robot technology evolves from the interaction of development, supply and manufacture, adoption, and promotion. activities. Emphasis is given to the analysis of adoption, at present the most important limiting factor of robot advancement in the UK. Technical development is inferred from a comparison of surveys on equipment, and from the topics of ten years of symposia papers. This classification of papers is also used to highlight the international and institutional differences in robot development. Analysis of the growth in robot supply, manufacture, and use is made from statistics compiled. A series of interviews with users and potential users serves to illustrate the factors and implications of the adoption of different robot systems in the UK. Adoption pioneering takes place when several conditions exist: when the technology is compatible with the firm, when its advantages outweigh its disadvantages, and particularly when a climate exists which encourages the managerial involvement and the labour acceptance. The degree of compatibility (technical, methodological, organisational, and economic) and the consequences (profitability, labour impacts, and managerial effects) of different robot systems (transfer, manipulative, processing, and assembly) are determined by various aspects of manufacturing operations (complexity, automation, integration, labour tasks, and working conditions). The climate for adoption pioneering is basically determined by the performance of firms. The firms' policies on capital investment have as decisive a role in determining the profitability of robots as their total labour costs. The performance of the motor car industry and its machine builders explains, more than any other factor, the present state of robot advancement in the UK.

A comparison of international HRM practices by Indian and European MNEs:evidence from Africa

By comparing the HRM practices in Indian and European MNE subsidiaries located in four of the Southern African Development Community countries, this paper tests the relevance of the country-of-origin effect and analyses the strength of institutional and firm-level influences. Examining data from 865 MNE subsidiaries obtained from the World Bank enterprise survey data, the paper finds that Indian MNEs have higher labour costs in relation to total sales than their European counterparts, that Indian MNEs make more use of temporary labour than their European counterparts, that Indian MNEs invest in less training than their European counterparts. No support is found for the hypothesis that Indian MNEs have a lower ratio of skilled workers in comparison to European-owned subsidiaries. The study shows that country-of-origin effects are weakened if they are not consistent with host country ideology and that as economies evolve so too do their expectations of HR policy and practices. © 2014 © 2014 Taylor & Francis.

The impact of general sales agents on the air cargo industry

A General Sales Agent (GSA) is an airline's outsourcing counter part that markets and manages cargo services. An empirical investigation is undertaken to ascertain whether GSAs contribute economically to the air cargo industry using three 'litmus test' indicators:1) contribution to the airline's sales and profitability by expanding o perating networks; 2) viability as a marketing option for emerging or struggling airlines to help cut operating costs to reduce prices; 3) cost-effective GSAs were found to establish an airline's market presence through wide network coverage and good local knowledge, leading to an expansion of airline's operating networks and generating greater sales revenue. Copyright © 2012 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Europe’s Growth Emergency

Highlights: • The European Union growth agenda has become even more pressing because growth is needed to support public and private sector deleveraging, reduce the fragility of the banking sector, counter the falling behind of southern European countries and prove that Europe is still a worthwhile place to invest. • The crisis has had a similar impact on most European countries and the US: a persistent drop in output level and a growth slowdown. This contrasts sharply with the experience of the emerging countries of Asia and Latin America. • Productivity improvement was immediate in the US, but Europe hoarded labour and productivity improvements were in general delayed. Southern European countries have hardly adjusted so far. • There is a negative feedback loop between the crisis and growth, and without effective solutions to deal with the crisis, growth is unlikely to resume. National and EU-level policies should aim to foster reforms and adjustment and should not risk medium-term objectives under the pressure of events. A more hands-on approach, including industrial policies, should be considered.

Essays on international macroeconomics and conflict analysis

This dissertation addressed two broad problems in international macroeconomics and conflict analysis. The first problem in the first chapter looked at the behavior of exchange rate and its interaction with industry-level tradable goods prices for three countries, USA, UK and Japan. This question has important monetary policy implications. Here, I computed to what extent changes in exchange rate affected prices of consumer, producer, and export goods. I also studied the timing of these changes in these prices. My results, based on thirty-four industrial prices for USA, UK and Japan, supported the view that changes in exchange rates significantly affect prices of industrial and consumer goods. It also provided an insight to the underlying economic process that led to changes in relative prices. ^ In the second chapter, I explored the predictability of future inflation by incorporating shocks to exchange rates and clearly specified the transmission mechanisms that link exchange rates to industry-level consumer and producer prices. Employing a variety of linear and state-of-the-art nonlinear models, I also predicted growth rates of future prices. Comparing levels of inflation obtained from the above approaches showed superiority of the structural model incorporating the exchange rate pass-through effect. ^ The second broad issue addressed in the third chapter of the dissertation investigated the economic motives for conflict, manifested by rebellion and civil war for seventeen Latin American countries. Based on the analytical framework of Garfinkel, Skaperdas and Syropoulos (2004), I employed ordinal regressions and Markov switching for a panel of seventeen countries to identify trade and openness factors responsible for conflict occurrence and intensity. The results suggested that increased trade openness reduced high intensity domestic conflicts but overdependence on agricultural exports, along with a lack of income earning opportunities lead to more conflicts. Thereafter, using the Cox Proportional Hazard model I studied “conflict duration” and found that over-reliance on agricultural exports explained a major part of the length of conflicts in addition to various socio-political factors. ^

Assédio moral na administração pública e a responsabilidade civil do estado

The social and economic changes of the last decades have enhanced the dehumanization of labor relations and the deterioration of the work environment, by the adoption of management models that foster competitiveness and maximum productivity, making it susceptible to the practice of workplace bullying. Also called mobbing, bullying can occur through actions, omissions, gestures, words, writings, always with the intention of attacking the self-esteem of the victim and destroy it psychologically. In the public sector, where relations based on hierarchy prevail, and where the functional stability makes it difficult to punish the aggressor, bullying reaches more serious connotations, with severe consequences to the victim. The Federal Constitution of 1988, by inserting the Human Dignity as a fundamental principle of the Republic, the ruler of the entire legal system, sought the enforcement of fundamental rights, through the protection of honor and image of the individual, and ensuring reparation for moral and material damage resulting from its violation. Therefore, easy to conclude that the practice of moral violence violates fundamental rights of individuals, notably the employee's personality rights. This paper therefore seeked to analyze the phenomenon of bullying in the workplace, with emphasis on the harassment practiced in the public sector as well as the possibility of state liability for harassment committed by its agents. From a theoretical and descriptive methodology, this work intended to study the constitutional, infra and international rules that protect workers against this practice, emphasizing on the fundamental rights violated. With this research, it was found that doctrine and jurisprudence converge to the possibility of state objective liability for damage caused by its agents harassers, not forgetting the possibility of regressive action against the responsible agent, as well as its criminal and administrative accountability.

The main criteria of biomass selection for energy generation in Brazil

The principal aim of this paper is to examine the criteria assisting in the selection of biomass for energy generation in Brazil. To reach the aim, this paper adopts case study and survey research methods to collect information from four biomass energy case companies and solicits opinions from experts. The data gathered are analysed in line with a wide range of related data, including selection criteria for biomass and its importance, energy policies in Brazil, availability of biomass feedstock in Brazil and its characteristics, as well as status quo of biomass-based energy in Brazil. The findings of the paper demonstrate that there are ten main criteria in biomass selection for energy generation in Brazil. They comprise geographical conditions, availability of biomass feedstock, demand satisfaction, feedstock costs and oil prices, energy content of biomass feedstock, business and economic growth, CO2 emissions of biomass end-products, effects on soil, water and biodiversity, job creation and local community support, as well as conversion technologies. Furthermore, the research also found that these main criteria cannot be grouped on the basis of sustainability criteria, nor ranked by their importance as there is correlation between each criterion such as a cause and effect relationship, as well as some overlapping areas. Consequently, this means that when selecting biomass more comprehensive consideration is advisable.

Discourse on equality in organizations. A case study of the chemical industry in Tarragona

This paper presents a proposal for analyzing discourses on gender equality in organizations. The research is carried out as a case study, focusing on the chemical industry in Tarragona. To the question: why there are still so many differences between women and men in labour market, despite having multiple tools to avoid inequalities? we propose to focus on discourses of equality to find an answer. The viewpoint that companies have on gender is crucial in enabling policies for equality. To ensure that policies are truly aimed at promoting equality, it is needed a gender approach that nowadays is not widespread in organizations. From these considerations, we present a fourfold typology of discourses on equality in organizations.

La enseñanza por competencias

La enseñanza por competencias, de manera semejante con el conjunto de actividades académicas que realizan los centros de educación superior, poseen una compleja estructura de atributos, tales como: conocimientos, actitudes, valores y habilidades. Bajo estas consideraciones, entendemos que los docentes de las universidades deberían de orientar entre otras, sus preocupaciones académicas, para impulsar el cambio de enfoque educativo que viabilice la construcción de puentes, para modificar favorablemente el desfase existente entre lo que demanda el sector productivo y la práctica cotidiana en los salones de clase de las universidades. Las universidades como entes responsables de la formación profesional de los(as) ciudadanos(as) de la sociedad, deben velar por coadyuvar a insertar al mercado laboral a sus graduados con una mentalidad flexible, dinámica, creativos, y con visión de futuros conocedores de las realidades de mercado, con una formación integral, plurifuncionales y versados en las herramientas tecnológicas de punta, con el propósito que sean competentes en sus labores específicas. Abstract Teaching through competencies as well as the academic activities carried out in universities, has complex structures as attributes such as: knowledge, values, and abilities. Based on this consideration, we understand that university professors should guide their academic interest towards a change on the teaching approach, allowing the building of bridges that can positively modify the existing gap between the demands of the productive sector on the current practice in the university classroom. The Universities are responsible for the professional education of the members of society and should watch over to help introduce graduates in the labor market. These graduates should characterized by a flexible, dynamic, and creative mind, capable of future projections, as acquainted with the characteristics of the real market, with a well rounded formation, multifunctional and versed in the leading technological tools; so they can be competent on their specific tasks.

Comparing fixed and flexible stocking as adaptations to inter-annual rainfall variability in the extensive beef industry of northern Australia

Many beef producers within the extensive cattle industry of northern Australia attempt to maintain a constant herd size from year-to-year (fixed stocking), whereas others adjust stock numbers to varying degrees annually in response to changes in forage supply. The effects of these strategies on pasture condition and cattle productivity cannot easily be assessed by grazing trials. Simulation studies, which include feedbacks of changes to pasture condition on cattle liveweight gain, can extend the results of grazing trials both spatially and temporally. They can compare a large number of strategies, over long periods of time, for a range of climate periods, at locations which differ markedly in climate. This simulation study compared the pasture condition and cattle productivity achieved by fixed stocking at the long-term carrying capacity with that of 55 flexible stocking strategies at 28 locations across Queensland and the Northern Territory. Flexible stocking strategies differed markedly in the degree they increased or decreased cattle stocking rates after good and poor pasture growing seasons, respectively. The 28 locations covered the full range in average annual rainfall and inter-annual rainfall variability experienced across northern Australia. Constrained flexibility, which limited increases in stocking rates after good growing seasons to 10% but decreased them by up to 20% after poor growing seasons, provides sustainable productivity gains for cattle producers in northern Australia. This strategy can improve pasture condition and increase cattle productivity relative to fixed stocking at the long-term carrying capacity, and its capacity to do this was greatest in the semiarid rangeland regions that contain the majority of beef cattle in northern Australia. More flexible stocking strategies, which also increased stocking rates after good growing seasons by only half as much as they decreased them after poor growing seasons, were equally sustainable and more productive than constrained flexibility, but are often impractical at property and industry scales. Strategies with the highest limits (e.g. 70%) for both annual increases and decreases in stocking rates could achieve higher cattle productivity, but this was at the expense of pasture condition and was not sustainable. Constrained flexible stocking, with a 10% limit for increases and a 20% limit for decreases in stocking rates annually, is a risk-averse adaptation to high and unpredictable rainfall variability for the extensive beef industry of northern Australia. © Australian Rangeland Society 2016.