scholarly journals Moral hazard in producer organizations - some experiences of an empirical survey

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 77-83
Author(s):  
Zoltán Kovács

A wide range of empirical experiences shows that the performance of Hungarian producer organizations (aka TÉSZ) significantly falls behind the activity observed in the developed Western European countries. Regarding this issue, the present study examines how moral hazard - as one of the possible reasons - influences the producers’ activities in cooperative organizations. Information for the research was collected with the help of a questionnaire survey among the members of PaprikaKert TÉSZ Ltd. A statistical path model has been developed for the research, which assumed that - in addition to a direct effect - moral hazard also affects collaborative activity by eroding trust. The statistical model has been tested both in member-member and members-management relations. The experiences from the survey clearly show that moral hazard exists in the producer organization. According to my results, though its measure cannot be regarded numerically considerable, its negative effect on cooperative activity can be proved with statistical examinations. Its effect can be divided into two aspects: besides a direct effect, an indirect one can also be detected, which means that moral hazard is able to reduce producers’ willingness to cooperate by eroding trust. Moreover, our results have clearly pointed out that moral hazard has a negative impact on member-member and members-management relations to varying degrees and through different mechanisms. In addition to the above tests, the empirical testing of another model called Sholtes trust model has been carried out, too. The validating was successful, so the model - which attributes trust to the faith in the partner’s loyalty and capability - is basically acceptable. The argument says that high-level trust can be observed among partners only when faith both in loyalty and capability is strong enough. The research, however, revealed that the above-mentioned two factors determine it in a different way: regarding trust between members, the faith in capability is more important; while trust towards the management is more determined by faith in loyalty. JEL code: Q12, Q13

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Verónica Gamón ◽  
Isabel Hurtado ◽  
José Salazar-Fraile ◽  
Gabriel Sanfélix-Gimeno

AbstractSchizophrenia is a chronic mental condition presenting a wide range of symptoms. Although it has a low prevalence compared to other mental conditions, it has a negative impact on social and occupational functions. This study aimed to assess the appropriateness of antipsychotic medications administered to schizophrenic patients and describe current treatment patterns for schizophrenia. A retrospective cohort study was conducted in all patients over the age of 15 with an active diagnosis of schizophrenia and treated with antipsychotics between 2008 and 2013 in the Valencia region. A total of 19,718 patients were eligible for inclusion. The main outcome assessed was inappropriateness of the pharmacotherapeutic management, including polypharmacy use. Altogether, 30.4% of patients received antipsychotic polypharmacy, and 6.8% were prescribed three or more antipsychotics. Overdosage affected 318 individuals (1.6%), and 21.5% used concomitant psychotropics without an associated psychiatric diagnosis. Women and people with a comorbid condition like anxiety or depression were less likely to receive antipsychotic polypharmacy. In contrast, increased polypharmacy was associated with concomitant treatment with other psychoactive drugs, and only in user on maintenance therapy, with more visits to the mental health hospital. Overall, we observed a high level of inappropriateness in antipsychotic prescriptions. Greater adherence to guidelines could maximize the benefits of antipsychotic medications while minimizing risk of adverse effects.


Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 518
Author(s):  
Bronwyn Egan ◽  
Zwannda Nethavhani ◽  
Barbara van Asch

Macrotermes termites play important ecological roles and are consumed by many communities as a delicacy and dietary complement throughout Africa. However, lack of reliable morphological characters has hampered studies of Macrotermes diversity in a wide range of scientific fields including ecology, phylogenetics and food science. In order to place our preliminary assessment of the diversity of Macrotermes in South Africa in context, we analysed a comprehensive dataset of COI sequences for African species including new and publicly available data. Phylogenetic reconstruction and estimates of genetic divergence showed a high level of incongruity between species names and genetic groups, as well as several instances of cryptic diversity. We identified three main clades and 17 genetic groups in the dataset. We propose that this structure be used as a background for future surveys of Macrotermes diversity in Africa, thus mitigating the negative impact of the present taxonomic uncertainties in the genus. The new specimens collected in Limpopo fell into four distinct genetic groups, suggesting that the region harbours remarkable Macrotermes diversity relative to other African regions surveyed in previous studies. This work shows that African Macrotermes have been understudied across the continent, and that the genus contains cryptic diversity undetectable by classic taxonomy. Furthermore, these results may inform future taxonomic revisions in Macrotermes, thus contributing to advances in termitology.


Author(s):  
A. M. Morozov ◽  
A. N. Pichugova ◽  
E. M. Askerov ◽  
S. V. Zhukov ◽  
Yu. E. Minakova ◽  
...  

Topicality. Currently, intrapartum fetal health care is aimed at an adequate choice of anesthetic aid used during delivery to minimize the negative impact. Despite the wide range of currently existing anesthetics, the choice of anesthetic drug is limited by its negative effect not only on the fetus, but also on the contractile activity of the uterus, which significantly reduces the number of anesthetics used in obstetric practice.The purpose of this study is to analyze domestic and foreign literature in order to study the effect of anesthesia on the condition of the fetus. Material and methods. In the course of this study, an analysis of modern Russian and foreign literary sources, as well as the latest scientific works in the field of methods of general and regional anesthesia in the field of obstetrics and gynecology, was carried out.Results. Almost all drugs used for general anesthesia in obstetric practice can have a negative effect on the fetus. Neuroaxial pain relief methods are leading in obstetric practice, but their use is associated with complications that can lead to an adverse outcome not only from the mother, but also from the fetus. One such complication is the risk of arterial hypotension. It is interesting that comparative studies of general and regional anesthesia methods during operative delivery differ in the results obtained. Regarding the issue of anesthesia of natural births, the information of the Congress of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (lecture C.A. Wong (Chicago) “Neuroaxial Labor Analgesia and Prognancy Outcome: Factand Fiction”) remains relevant, according to which neuroaxial anesthesia methods do not affect the condition of the fetus, provided that the mother has stable hemodynamics.Conclusion. Due to the appearance and release of neuroaxial pain relief methods, completely unreasonably little attention is paid to the issues of general anesthesia of pregnant women, while according to the results of a study of scientific literary sources, it was revealed that this method of pain relief in obstetric practice is accompanied by the most direct and mediated effects on the fetus. Neuroaxial pain relief methods have practically no effect on the condition of the fetus, provided that the mother has stable hemodynamics.


Author(s):  
Assoc. Prof. Valentina Mihaela Ghinea

Routines are an integral part of all modern jobs, either as a result of organizational policies which require the employees to follow certain steps or as a result of people’s innate tendency towards the creation of habits. The research on the impact of routines on employee’s creativity is scant and widely divided. Certain authors argue that work routines are beneficial to creativity and innovation since they free up time for more complex tasks and creative thinking while also raising the employees’ perception of self-efficacy and self-confidence. In contrast, other authors view work routines as detrimental to creativity and innovation since they lower the employees’ overall work motivation and create barriers to change. Based on the analysis of the results of a web survey completed by 233 Romanian employees, the present study proves that there is a direct negative effect of work routines on employees’ ability to generate creative solutions to newly identified problems, either when they are directly asked to do so or when they volunteer. The analysis also shows that holding a managerial position reduces the negative impact that a high level of work routine has on the employees’ creativity and innovation, but that the type of job does not mediate or moderate the negative effect of work routines. The results are significant for improvement of job design by showcasing the need of reducing the level of work routines in order to improve the overall organizational creativity. Keywords: routine, creativity, employee driven-innovation, employee's perception.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verónica Gamón ◽  
Isabel Hurtado ◽  
José Salazar-Fraile ◽  
Gabriel Sanfélix-Gimeno

Abstract Schizophrenia is a chronic mental condition presenting a wide range of symptoms. Although this mental disorder has a low prevalence in comparison to other mental conditions, it has a negative impact on social and occupational functioning. This study is aimed to assess the inappropriateness of antipsychotic medication among schizophrenic patients and describe current patterns in the treatment of schizophrenia. A retrospective cohort study was conducted including all patients over the age of 15 with an active diagnosis of schizophrenia and treated with antipsychotics between 2008 and 2013 in the Valencia region. 19,718 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and treated with antipsychotic medication were identified. The main outcome was inappropriateness of the pharmacotherapeutic management, including polypharmacy use: 30.4% of patients received antipsychotic polypharmacy (6.8% were prescribed 3 or more antipsychotics); overdosage: a total of 318 individuals (1.6%) exceeded the maximum daily doses; and use of concomitant psychotropics without an associated diagnosis: 21.5% of patients received psychotropic drugs concomitantly without associated psychiatric diagnoses. Overall, females and those who had a comorbid condition, such as anxiety or depression, were less likely to receive antipsychotic polypharmacy. In contrast, concomitant treatment with other psychoactive drugs, such as antiparkinson drugs, anxiolytics and hypnotics and more visits to mental health hospital increased the risk of polypharmacy use. In conclusion, a high level of inappropriateness has been detected among antipsychotic prescriptions. Practitioners should follow guidelines recommendations whenever possible in order to obtain the maximum benefit of antipsychotic medications without an increased risk of adverse effects in patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6665
Author(s):  
Mohammed Albattah ◽  
Daniel Efurosibina Attoye

Sustainability in architecture engages a wide range of considerations in the light of the significant negative impact of buildings on the environment. One aspect of research in this parlance engages the technological and the social dimensions of building innovation, which promote the use of renewable technology as a mitigation strategy. The challenge, however, is that the end-users or building clients do not always have sufficient awareness and information regarding these technologies to guide their decision to accept it. Consequently, the diffusion of said innovations is slow, and the environmental or building problems they were invented to solve persist at the expense of both humanity and the environment. This study, therefore, focuses on a quantitative investigation to ascertain the level of awareness and interest of residents in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) as an example of renewable energy-based building technology. In this study, 289 residents participated, following the distribution of a questionnaire to demographically distinct individuals. This distinction was used in the analysis to highlight different groups such as, gender, generations, and occupational background of the respondents. The findings of the study show, firstly, that there is a high level of awareness of BIPV in the sample. The study also shows that comparing awareness with each of these demographic variables produced a second layer of findings. For example, the statistical analysis showed that there is no significant difference between the level of awareness and any of the demographic characteristics of the study participants. However, there is a significant statistical difference (p = 0.000) between awareness and interest in BIPV. In concluding this study, recommendations for further research that elaborates other statistical variables and tests, as well as a follow-up qualitative investigation are planned and outlined for future studies. The findings of this investigation may be of benefit to researchers, policy makers, as well as energy companies and marketing agencies within and outside the region.


Author(s):  
V. Dodokhov ◽  
N. Pavlova ◽  
T. Rumyantseva ◽  
L. Kalashnikova

The article presents the genetic characteristic of the Chukchi reindeer breed. The object of the study was of the Chukchi reindeer. In recent years, the number of reindeer of the Chukchi breed has declined sharply. Reduced reindeer numbers could lead to biodiversity loss. The Chukchi breed of deer has good meat qualities, has high germination viability and is adapted in adverse tundra conditions of Yakutia. Herding of the Chukchi breed of deer in Yakutia are engaged only in the Nizhnekolymsky district. There are four generic communities and the largest of which is the agricultural production cooperative of nomadic tribal community «Turvaurgin», which was chosen to assess the genetic processes of breed using microsatellite markers: Rt6, BMS1788, Rt 30, Rt1, Rt9, FCB193, Rt7, BMS745, C 143, Rt24, OheQ, C217, C32, NVHRT16, T40, C276. It was found that microsatellite markers have a wide range of alleles and generally have a high informative value for identifying of genetic differences between animals and groups of animal. The number of identified alleles is one of the indicators of the genetic diversity of the population. The total number of detected alleles was 127. The Chukchi breed of deer is characterized by a high level of heterozygosity, and the random crossing system prevails over inbreeding in the population. On average, there were 7.9 alleles (Na) per locus, and the mean number of effective alleles (Ne) was 4.1. The index of fixation averaged 0.001. The polymorphism index (PIC) ranged from 0.217 to 0.946, with an average of 0.695.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 287-294
Author(s):  
S. I. Kutukova ◽  
N. P. Beliak ◽  
G. A. Raskin ◽  
M. S. Mukhina ◽  
Yu. V. Ivaskova ◽  
...  

Relevance. Prognostic value of PD-L1 expression in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) and its effect on survival is still controversial. It should be to determine the prognostic role of PD-L1 expression on tumor and immune cells of OCSCC and assess their effect on overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS).Materials and methods. A prospective study included 145 patients, first diagnosed with OCSCC. PD-L1 expression on tumor and immune cells, infiltrating tumor and its microenvironment, was assessed in all tumor samples by IHC, CPS was calculated. Cut-off values were determined by ROC analysis for identification of PD-L1 expression effect on OS and PFS.Results. Most patients with oral mucosa squamous cell carcinoma showed positive expression of PD-L1 on tumor (77.2%) and immune cells (92.4%). The median PD-L1 expression on tumor cells was 13.5% [1.0-40.0], the median PD-L1 expression on immune cells was 5.0% [1.0-11.0], and the median CPS – 18.0 [3.0-7.8]. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed a significant negative effect of PD-L1 expression on immune cells ≤ 7% on OS (HR 0.66; 95% CI 0.45-0.93; p = 0.0498); PD-L1 expression in tumor cells ≤ 15% (HR 0.65; 95% CI 0.43-0.98; p = 0.0416) and CPS ≤ 21 (HR 0.62; 95% CI 0.44-0.92; p = 0.0183) for PFS. PD-L1 expression in tumor cells ≤ 6% (HR 0.71; 95% CI 0.47-1.08; p = 0.1096) and CPS ≤ 7 (RR 0.67; 95% CI 0.44-1.01; p = 0.0575) had a confident tendency to negative impact on OS.Conclusion. Positive PD-L1 expression in tumor and immune cells as well as CPS are effective additional factors in the prognosis of the disease course, OS and PFS in patients with OCSCC.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sina Faizollahzadeh Ardabili ◽  
Amir Mosavi ◽  
Pedram Ghamisi ◽  
Filip Ferdinand ◽  
Annamaria R. Varkonyi-Koczy ◽  
...  

Several outbreak prediction models for COVID-19 are being used by officials around the world to make informed-decisions and enforce relevant control measures. Among the standard models for COVID-19 global pandemic prediction, simple epidemiological and statistical models have received more attention by authorities, and they are popular in the media. Due to a high level of uncertainty and lack of essential data, standard models have shown low accuracy for long-term prediction. Although the literature includes several attempts to address this issue, the essential generalization and robustness abilities of existing models needs to be improved. This paper presents a comparative analysis of machine learning and soft computing models to predict the COVID-19 outbreak as an alternative to SIR and SEIR models. Among a wide range of machine learning models investigated, two models showed promising results (i.e., multi-layered perceptron, MLP, and adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system, ANFIS). Based on the results reported here, and due to the highly complex nature of the COVID-19 outbreak and variation in its behavior from nation-to-nation, this study suggests machine learning as an effective tool to model the outbreak. This paper provides an initial benchmarking to demonstrate the potential of machine learning for future research. Paper further suggests that real novelty in outbreak prediction can be realized through integrating machine learning and SEIR models.


2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 599-601
Author(s):  
Dan Paul Stefanescu ◽  
Oana Roxana Chivu ◽  
Claudiu Babis ◽  
Augustin Semenescu ◽  
Alina Gligor

Any economic activity carried out by an organization, can generate a wide range of environmental implications. Particularly important, must be considered the activities that have a significant negative effect on the environment, meaning those which pollute. Being known the harmful effects of pollution on the human health, the paper presents two models of utmost importance, one of the material environment-economy interactions balance and the other of the material flows between environmental factors and socio-economic activities. The study of these models enable specific conditions that must be satisfied for the economic processes friendly coexist to the environment for long term, meaning to have a minimal impact in that the residues resulting from the economic activity of the organization to be as less harmful to the environment.


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