Modelling the Human Values Scale from Consumers Transactional Data Bases

The main objective of this paper aims at developing a methodology that takes into account the human factor extracted from the data base used by the recommender systems, and which allow to resolve the specific problems of prediction and recommendation. In this work, we propose to extract the user's human values scale from the data base of the users, to improve their suitability in open environments, such as the recommender systems. For this purpose, the methodology is applied with the data of the user after interacting with the system. The methodology is exemplified with a case study

Capitalism in the classroom : the impact of self-enhancement values and normative assessment on student motivation, goals and attitudes towards cheating

Abstract The neo-liberal capitalist ideology has come under heavy fire with anecdotal evidence indicating a link between these same values and unethical behavior. Academic institutions reflect social values and act as socializing agents for the young. Can this explain the high and increasing rates of cheating that currently prevail in education? Our first chapter examines the question of whether self-enhancement values of power and açhievement, the individual level equivalent of neo-liberal capitalist values, predict positive attitudes towards cheating. Furthermore, we explore the mediating role of motivational factors. Results of four studies reveal that self-enhancement value endorsement predicts the adoption of performance-approach goals, a relationship mediated by introjected regulation, namely desire for social approval and that self-enhancement value endorsement also predicts the condoning of cheating, a relationship mediated by performance-approach goal adoption. However, self-transcendence values prescribed by a normatively salient source have the potential to reduce the link between self-enhancement value endorsément and attitudes towards cheating. Normative assessment constitutes a key tool used by academic institutions to socialize young people to accept the competitive, meritocratic nature of a sociéty driven by a neo-liberal capitalist ideology. As such, the manifest function of grades is to motivate students to work hard and to buy into the competing ethos. Does normative assessment fulfill these functions? Our second chapter explores the reward-intrinsic motivation question in the context of grading, arguably a high-stakes reward. In two experiments, the relative capacity of graded high performance as compared to the task autonomy experienced in an ungraded task to predict post-task intrinsic motivation is assessed. Results show that whilst the graded task performance predicts post-task appreciation, it fails to predict ongoing motivation. However, perceived autonomy experienced in non-graded condition, predicts both post-task appreciation and ongoing motivation. Our third chapter asks whether normative assessment inspires the spirit of competition in students. Results of three experimental studies reveal that expectation of a grade for a task, compared to no grade, induces greater adoption of performance-avoidance, but not performance-approach, goals. Experiment 3 provides an explanatory mechanism for this, showing that reduced autonomous motivation experienced in previous graded tasks mediates the relationship between grading and adoption of performance avoidance goals in a subsequent task. The above results, when combined, provide evidence as to the deleterious effects of self enhancement values and the associated practice of normative assessment in school on student motivation, goals and ethics. We conclude by using value and motivation theory to explore solutions to this problem.

Stress among nurses: an examination of salivary cortisol levels on work and day off

The present study evaluates the use of salivary cortisol concentration as a physiological index of the stress level among nurses on their work day and day off and correlates it with the questionnaire used to measure occupational stress in nurses (Inventário de Estresse em Enfermeiros - IEE). This is a comparative, cross-sectional descriptive study in which sociodemographic data, IEE results and salivary cortisol levels were used. Fifty-seven nurses participated in the study (80.7% females and a mean age of 37.1 years old). The IEE average score was 124.5. The average cortisol level was 564.1 ng/m on work day and 354.1 ng/mL on day off. Nurses who had double workdays presented high values of salivary cortisol during the work day (638.1 ng/mL). In conclusion, salivary cortisol identified the nurses’ stress level, and differences were found between a work day and day off. On the nurses’ day off, their salivary cortisol levels and stress scores were lower.

Protestants and Catholics: Similar work ethic, different social ethic

This article develops two hypotheses about economically-relevant values of Christianbelievers, according to which Protestants should work more and more effectively, as in the work ethic argument of Max Weber, or display a stronger social ethic that would lead themto monitor each other s conduct, support political and legal institutions and hold morehomogeneous values. Tests using current survey data confirm substantial partial correlations andpossible different effects in mutual social control, institutional performance and homogeneityof values but no difference in work ethics. Protestantism therefore seems conducive to capitalisteconomic development, not by the direct psychological route of the Weberian work ethic butrather by promoting an alternative social ethic that facilitates impersonal trade.

Incremental Validity and Indirect effect of Ethical Development on Work Performance

We modeled work performance as outcomes of individual-differences mediated by technical performance. Beyond the "usual suspects" (e.g., general mental ability, and personality), we also measured the ethical development of participants (n = 460). We surmised that ethical development - which has not been extensively studied as a predictor of work performance while controlling for established predictors - captures unique variance in both technical and work performance. Results demonstrated incremental validity for ethical development in predicting technical performance, which in turn predicted work performance. The indirect effect of ethical development was significant too. Our results highlight the importance of process models of performance, which include proximal as well as distal individual differences.

Freeway Work Zone Lane Capacity, TPF-5(081), 2009

The focus of this report is a capacity analysis of two long-term urban freeway Work Zones. Work Zone #1 tapered four mainline lanes to two, using two separate tapers; Work Zone #2 tapered two mainline lanes to one. Work Zone throughput was analyzed throughout the day over multiple days and traffic operations conditions were analyzed up to a distance of five miles upstream of the Work Zone entrance. Historical data from pavement-embedded detectors were used to analyze traffic conditions. The database consisted of five-minute volume, speed and occupancy data collected from 78 detectors for a total of 50 days. Congestion during each analyzed Work Zone existed for more than fourteen hours each day; Work Zone impacts adversely affected freeway operations over distances of 3.7 to 4.2 miles. Speed and occupancy conditions further upstream were, however, not affected, or even improved due to significant trip diversion. Work Zone capacity was defined based on the maximum traffic flows observed over a one-hour period; throughput values were also compiled over longer periods of time when traffic was within 90% of the maximum observed one-hour flows, as well as over the multi-hour mid-day period. The Highway Capacity Manual freeway capacity definition based on the maximum observed 15-min period was not used, since it would have no practical application in estimating Work Zone throughput when congested conditions prevail for the majority of the hours of the day. Certain noteworthy changes took place for the duration of the analyzed Work Zones: per-lane throughput dropped; morning peak periods started earlier, evening peak periods ended later and lasted longer; mid-day volumes dropped accompanied by the highest occupancies of the day. Trip diversion was evident in lower volumes entering the analyzed freeway corridor, higher volumes using off-ramps and lower volumes using onramps upstream of the Work Zones. The majority of diverted traffic comprised smaller vehicles (vehicles up to 21 feet in length); combination truck volumes increased and their use of the median lane increased, contrary to smaller vehicles that shifted toward a heavier use of the shoulder lane.

Missouri Work Zone Capacity: Results of Field Data Analysis, TPF-5(081), 2011

This report presents the results of work zone field data analyzed on interstate highways in Missouri to determine the mean breakdown and queue-discharge flow rates as measures of capacity. Several days of traffic data collected at a work zone near Pacific, Missouri with a speed limit of 50 mph were analyzed in both the eastbound and westbound directions. As a result, a total of eleven breakdown events were identified using average speed profiles. The traffic flows prior to and after the onset of congestion were studied. Breakdown flow rates ranged between 1194 to 1404 vphpl, with an average of 1295 vphpl, and a mean queue discharge rate of 1072 vphpl was determined. Mean queue discharge, as used by the Highway Capacity Manual 2000 (HCM), in terms of pcphpl was found to be 1199, well below the HCM’s average capacity of 1600 pcphpl. This reduced capacity found at the site is attributable mainly to narrower lane width and higher percentage of heavy vehicles, around 25%, in the traffic stream. The difference found between mean breakdown flow (1295 vphpl) and queue-discharge flow (1072 vphpl) has been observed widely, and is due to reduced traffic flow once traffic breaks down and queues start to form. The Missouri DOT currently uses a spreadsheet for work zone planning applications that assumes the same values of breakdown and mean queue discharge flow rates. This study proposes that breakdown flow rates should be used to forecast the onset of congestion, whereas mean queue discharge flow rates should be used to estimate delays under congested conditions. Hence, it is recommended that the spreadsheet be refined accordingly.

MEPDG Work Plan Task No. 5: Characterization of Unbound Materials (Soils/Aggregates) for Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide, 2009

The resilient modulus (MR) input parameters in the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) program have a significant effect on the projected pavement performance. The MEPDG program uses three different levels of inputs depending on the desired level of accuracy. The primary objective of this research was to develop a laboratory testing program utilizing the Iowa DOT servo-hydraulic machine system for evaluating typical Iowa unbound materials and to establish a database of input values for MEPDG analysis. This was achieved by carrying out a detailed laboratory testing program designed in accordance with the AASHTO T307 resilient modulus test protocol using common Iowa unbound materials. The program included laboratory tests to characterize basic physical properties of the unbound materials, specimen preparation and repeated load triaxial tests to determine the resilient modulus. The MEPDG resilient modulus input parameter library for Iowa typical unbound pavement materials was established from the repeated load triaxial MR test results. This library includes the non-linear, stress-dependent resilient modulus model coefficients values for level 1 analysis, the unbound material properties values correlated to resilient modulus for level 2 analysis, and the typical resilient modulus values for level 3 analysis. The resilient modulus input parameters library can be utilized when designing low volume roads in the absence of any basic soil testing. Based on the results of this study, the use of level 2 analysis for MEPDG resilient modulus input is recommended since the repeated load triaxial test for level 1 analysis is complicated, time consuming, expensive, and requires sophisticated equipment and skilled operators.

Effectiveness of Work Zone Intelligent Transportation Systems, TPF-5(081), 2013

In the last decade, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) have increasingly been deployed in work zones by state departments of transportation. Also known as smart work zone systems they improve traffic operations and safety by providing real-time information to travelers, monitoring traffic conditions, and managing incidents. Although there have been numerous ITS deployments in work zones, a framework for evaluating the effectiveness of these deployments does not exist. To justify the continued development and implementation of smart work zone systems, this study developed a framework to determine ITS effectiveness for specific work zone projects. The framework recommends using one or more of five performance measures: diversion rate, delay time, queue length, crash frequency, and speed. The monetary benefits and costs of ITS deployment in a work zone can then be computed using the performance measure values. Such ITS computations include additional considerations that are typically not present in standard benefit-cost computations. The proposed framework will allow for consistency in performance measures across different ITS studies thus allowing for comparisons across studies or for meta analysis. In addition, guidance on the circumstances under which ITS deployment is recommended for a work zone is provided. The framework was illustrated using two case studies: one urban work zone on I-70 and one rural work zone on I-44, in Missouri. The goals of the two ITS deployments were different – the I-70 ITS deployment was targeted at improving mobility whereas the I-44 deployment was targeted at improving safety. For the I-70 site, only permanent ITS equipment that was already in place was used for the project and no temporary ITS equipment was deployed. The permanent DMS equipment serves multiple purposes, and it is arguable whether that cost should be attributed to the work zone project. The data collection effort for the I-70 site was very significant as portable surveillance captured the actual diversion flows to alternative routes. The benefit-cost ratio for the I-70 site was 2.1 to 1 if adjusted equipment costs were included and 6.9 to 1 without equipment costs. The safety-focused I-44 ITS deployment had an estimated benefit-cost ratio of 3.2 to 1.

INTERMED predicts non-return to work in an occupational rehabilitation setting for individuals with orthopaedic trauma-part 2

Introduction.- The model presented in part I (19 predictors) had good predictive values for non-return to work 2 years after vocational rehabilitation for orthopaedic trauma. However, the number of predictors is high for the detection of patients at risk in a clinic. For example, the INTERMED for itself consists of 20 questions and needs 20 minutes to be filled in. For this reason, the aim of this study was to compare the predictive value of different models for the prediction of non-return to work.Patients and methods.- In this longitudinal prospective study, the cohort consisted of 2156 included inpatients with orthopaedic trauma attending a rehabilitation hospital after a work, traffic, sport or leisure related injury. Two years after discharge, 1502 patients returned a questionnaire regarding return to work. We compared the area under the receiver-operator-characteristics curve (ROC) between different models: INTERMED total score, the 4 partial INTERMED scores, the items of the most predictive partial score; with or without confounders.Results.- The ROC for the total score of the INTERMED plus the five confounders of the of the part one (qualified work, speaking French, lesion of upper extremity, education and age) was 0.72. The sole partial INTERMED score to predict return to work was the social sub score. The ROC for the five items of the latter sub score of the INTERMED was 0.69. The ROC for the five items of the social subscale of the INTERMED combined with five predictors was 0.73. This was significantly better than the use of only the five items from INTERMED alone (delta 0.034; 95% CI 0.017 to .050). The model presented in part I (INTERMED total score plus 18 predictors) was not significantly better than the five items INTERMED social score plus five confounders.Discussion.- The use of a model with ten variables (INTERMED social five items plus five confounders) has good predictive value to detect patients not returning to work after vocational rehabilitation after orthopaedic trauma. The parsimony of this model facilitates its use in a clinic for the detection of patients at risk.

Effects of Road Construction Intensity and Operations on Rural Freeway Work Zone Capacity, TPF-5(081), 2014

Capacity is affected by construction type and its intensity on adjacent open traffic lanes. The effect on capacity is a function of vehicles moving in and out of the closed lanes of the work zone, and the presence of heavy construction vehicles. Construction activity and its intensity, however, are not commonly considered in estimating capacity of a highway lane. The main purpose of this project was to attempt to quantify the effects of construction type and intensity (e.g. maintenance, rehabilitation, reconstruction, and milling) on work zone capacity. The objective of this project is to quantify the effects of construction type and its intensity on work zone capacity and to develop guidelines for MoDOT to estimate the specific operation type and intensity that will improve the traffic flow by reducing the traffic flow and queue length commonly associated with work zones. Despite the effort put into field data collection, the data collected did not show a full speed-flow chart therefore extracting a reliable capacity value was difficult. A statistical comparison between the capacity values found in this study using either methodologies indicates that there is an effect of construction activity on the values work zone capacity. It was found that the heavy construction activity reduces the capacity. It is very beneficial to conduct similar studies on the capacity of work zone with different lane closure barriers, which is also directly related to the type of work zone being short-term or long-term work zones. Also, the effect of different geometric and environmental characteristics of the roadway should be considered in future studies.

Calibration of Highway Safety Manual Work Zone Crash Modification Factors, TPF-5(081), 2014

The Highway Safety Manual is the national safety manual that provides quantitative methods for analyzing highway safety. The HSM presents crash modification factors related to work zone characteristics such as work zone duration and length. These crash modification factors were based on high-impact work zones in California. Therefore there was a need to use work zone and safety data from the Midwest to calibrate these crash modification factors for use in the Midwest. Almost 11,000 Missouri freeway work zones were analyzed to derive a representative and stratified sample of 162 work zones. The 162 work zones was more than four times the number of work zones used in the HSM. This dataset was used for modeling and testing crash modification factors applicable to the Midwest. The dataset contained work zones ranging from 0.76 mile to 9.24 miles and with durations from 16 days to 590 days. A combined fatal/injury/non-injury model produced a R2 fit of 0.9079 and a prediction slope of 0.963. The resulting crash modification factors of 1.01 for duration and 0.58 for length were smaller than the values in the HSM. Two practical application examples illustrate the use of the crash modification factors for comparing alternate work zone setups.

HRM Practices Sustaining PSM: When Values Congruency Matters

Abstract: This study aims at identifying the organisational antecedents of public service motivation (PSM). It focuses on human resources management (HRM) practices as one category of organisational factors that impact on PSM. Concretely, this research questions how intrinsic and extrinsic HRM practices are related to PSM and whether these relationships are direct or mediated by person-organisation (P-O) fit. The empirical findings are based on a survey of 6,885 civil servants working in Switzerland. Regression analyses highlight that intrinsic HRM practices are positively related to PSM, whereas extrinsic ones are negatively related to PSM. Furthermore, mediation tests shows that only the intrinsic HRM practices are mediated by PO fit. Thus, civil servants who value intrinsic work incentives maintain a high PSM level when they perceive congruence between their individual expectations and the values of their organisation.

Individual Perception of Organizational Values

The objective of this master’s thesis was to examine how corporate values come true among the white-collar employees in the case organization. It was also studied if values were perceived similarly in the different departments. Impact of organizational position and education on value orientation was tested through hypotheses based on earlier values research. There are only few value scales available for measuring organizational values. The empirical study results indicate that personnel’s perception of organizational values can be measured statistically. When defining the scale it is utmost important to link the questions and claims close to the employees’ daily working environment. In this study, Work ethic appeared as the strongest organizational value reflecting respondents’ commitment to their duties. Related to corporate values, Performance was perceived as the strongest value and Emphasis on people the weakest. Value consensus between the departments varied. According to the previous research organizational position and educational level has an impact on value perceptions. In this study, employees in superior position or with higher education perceived organizational values to come true better than subordinates or employees with lower education. Empirical data (N=229) was collected by a web-based survey questionnaire among white-collar employees in the case organization in April 2008. Statistical analyses were performed by SPSS programme.

El canto coral y las orquestas infantiles, una educación en valores = Choir singing and children’s orchestras, an education in values

This article looks at the musical activity carried out at Palafrugell Music School as a musical education centre over the past forty years. After giving a brief description of the work carried out there by vocal and instrumental groups, the article analyses and offers examples and tangible motives that use activities to show that forming part of a coral or instrumental group helps personal development and promotes the acquisition of habits, alongside musical training and learning. In short, an education in values