scholarly journals Climate Changes Challenges to the Management of Mediterranean Montado Ecosystem: Perspectives for Use of Precision Agriculture Technologies

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 218 ◽  
Author(s):  
João Serrano ◽  
Shakib Shahidian ◽  
José Marques da Silva ◽  
Luís Paixão ◽  
Emanuel Carreira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Precision Agriculture ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Floristic Composition ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽  
Pastoral System ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Vegetative Cycle ◽  
Montado Ecosystem

Montado is an agro-silvo-pastoral system characterized by a high complexity as a result of the interactions between climate, soil, pasture, trees, and animals. It is in this context that management decisions must be made, for example with respect to soil fertilization, grazing, or animal supplementation. In this work, the effect of the tree canopy on the spatial and temporal variability of the soil and productivity, quality, and floristic composition of the pasture was evaluated. Precision agriculture (PA) technologies for monitoring soil and pasture were also evaluated. The study was carried out between October 2015 and June 2018 in an experimental field of 2.3 ha. The results showed: (i) The positive impact of trees and animal grazing on soil fertility; (ii) the influence of inter-annual variability of precipitation on the pattern of pasture vegetative cycle; (iii) the positive effect of trees in pasture quality; (iv) the negative effect of trees in pasture productivity; (v) the role of pasture floristic composition as an indicator of soil limitations or climatic changes; (vi) the potential of technologies associated with the concept of PA as express tools to decision making support and for the optimization of the herbaceous stratum and the dynamic management of grazing in this ecosystem in a holistic and sustainable form.

The relationship between training satisfaction, organisational citizenship behaviour, and turnover intention

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mumtaz Ali Memon ◽  
Rohani Sallaeh ◽  
Mohamed Noor Rosli Baharom ◽  
Shahrina Md Nordin ◽  
Hiram Ting
Keyword(s):  
Turnover Intention ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Training Satisfaction ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Unexpected Findings

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of training satisfaction as a predictor of organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) and turnover intention. The study further examines the mediating role of OCB between training satisfaction and turnover intention. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 409 Malaysian oil and gas (O&G) sector employees. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the hypotheses in the research model using SmartPLS 3.0. Findings This study highlights the significant positive impact of training satisfaction on OCB and the negative effect on turnover intention. Contrary to expectations, OCB proved to be neither a predictor of turnover intention nor a mediator in the model. Practical implications Although the main aim of this study was to test the theoretically driven hypotheses, the findings have a number of valuable implications for organisations. This study suggests that O&G organisations should focus on increasing employee satisfaction with training to maximise desired workplace attitudes and behaviours. Originality/value This is the first study to explore the causal links between training satisfaction, OCB and turnover intention. Although it has been observed in the past that training does not directly influence turnover intention, the present study indicates that training satisfaction significantly influences turnover intention. Further, this study unexpectedly found no direct relationship between OCB and turnover intention. Also, OCB was not a significant mediator in the present study. These unexpected findings open new avenues for future research, thus representing an important contribution of the present study.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the Effect of Dolomitic Lime Application on Pastures—Case Study in the Montado Mediterranean Ecosystem

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 3758
Author(s):  
João Serrano ◽  
Shakib Shahidian ◽  
José Marques da Silva ◽  
Francisco Moral ◽  
Fernando Carvajal-Ramirez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Acidity ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Acid Soil ◽  
Phosphate Fertilizer ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Mediterranean Ecosystem ◽  
Dolomitic Lime ◽  
Gradual Process ◽  
Montado Ecosystem

The Montado ecosystem, predominant in the Mediterranean region, consists of poor soils, a sparse cover of cork and holm with an understory of natural biodiverse pastures, grazed by animals in extensive regime. The recommended procedure for increasing productivity of these pastures is based on the application of phosphate fertilizer. One of the main productivity-limiting factors is, however, associated with soil acidity. The objective of this work was to evaluate the simultaneous effect of the holm oak canopy and the application of dolomitic lime on the productivity and quality of a permanent biodiverse pasture, grazed by sheep, in an acid soil (pH = 5.4 ± 0.3). Pasture was monitored at the end of autumn 2018 and winter and spring 2019. The results show that amendment of soil acidity is a slow and gradual process that improves soil Mg/Mn ratio and has a positive impact on pasture productivity and quality. Pasture crude protein availability (CP, kg·ha−1), which is based on both pasture dry matter yield (kg·ha−1) and quality (CP, %), proved to be a very practical indicator of the contributions of tree canopy and soil acidity correction to the holistic management of the Montado ecosystem.

THE ROLE OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTION MARKETIZATION IN CHINA’S INDUSTRIAL CONTESTABILITY

2018 ◽  
Vol 63 (05) ◽  
pp. 1245-1261
Author(s):  
XIAOHUI HOU ◽  
CHENG LI ◽  
QING WANG
Keyword(s):  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Firm Size ◽  
Conditional Distribution ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Financial Institution ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Size Of Firms ◽  
Average Size ◽  
Number Of Firms

In this paper, we investigate how the marketization of financial institutions affects China’s industrial contestability. Our empirical results show that a higher degree of marketization of financial institutions is significantly associated with both the operation of more firms and the smaller average size of firms. Moreover, the lower and upper quartiles of the conditional distribution of firm size are all significantly negatively associated with the higher marketization degree of financial institutions, whereas increased financial institution competition and market-oriented allocation of credit funds have greater negative effect on the average size of larger firms, relative to smaller firms. In sum, improvements on the degree of marketization of financial institutions lead to an increase in the number of firms and a reduction in the average size of firms in China’s industry. Therefore, the marketization of financial institutions has a significant positive impact on China’s industrial contestability.

The Role of Causal Attributions in Sport Consumers' Emotions and Satisfaction Judgment

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 803-814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Woo Kim ◽  
Seung Hoon Jeong
Keyword(s):  
Internal Control ◽  
Consumer Satisfaction ◽  
Causal Attributions ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Causal Attribution ◽  
External Control ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Significant Negative Effect ◽  
Negative Effect

We examined the role of causal attributions of sport consumers in the formation of emotions and satisfaction judgment. Participants were 165 students at a large university in the southeastern United States. Through a series of hierarchical regression analyses, their attribution processes were found to be an important antecedent of their consumption emotions. Specifically, internal causes that related to the game outcome (e.g., internal control and stability) had a significant positive impact on their feelings of pride and a significant negative effect on their shame, whereas external control had a significant positive impact on their anger and a significant negative effect on their feelings of gratitude. Thus, both internal control and stability appeared to be the most influential causal attribution dimensions in predicting consumer satisfaction with the outcome of a game. From a practical perspective, marketing campaigns emphasizing a sporting team's season-long stability may enhance sport consumers' satisfaction.

scholarly journals Intercultural Mobility and European Identity: Impact of the Erasmus Exchange Programme in Terms of Cultural Differences

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-94
Author(s):  
Fatih Goksu
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
European Identity ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Exchange Programme ◽  
First Time

European mobility programmes have been seen as a promising method to promote European identity, particularly with a focus on young generations. In this article, I discussed the constructing role of the Erasmus exchange programme by employing the result of direct crosscultural interaction. Data from Eurobarometer surveys and outcomes concluded from the semistructured interviews revealed that socialising with other Europeans strengthened European identity but contact with the host country remained limited. Diff erent from other studies, this paper also reveals that the national identity of the participants precisely empower as a result of coaction. Furthermore, for the first time in the literature, semi-structured interviews unveiled that cultural differences such as stereotypes and prejudices have no negative effect in promoting European identity among students. Rather, it generates a positive impact for the awareness of national identity.

scholarly journals The Impact of Personality Traits on Perceived Investment Performance: The Moderating Role of Social Interaction

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Ninditya Nareswari ◽  
Citra Wanodya Rahmani ◽  
Nugroho Priyo Negoro
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Big Five Personality ◽  
Investment Performance ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Moderating Role

Each investor has an investment plan to reach their investment objectives. Perceived investment performance was affected by a high level of the psychological aspect.  The purpose of this study was to test the effect of the Big Five personality traits on the perception of investment performance. This study also tests the moderating role of social interaction. PLS-SEM was used to test the hypotheses. Used individual stock investors in Indonesia, the findings showed that openness personality had a negative effect on perceived investment performance. Otherwise, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism had a positive impact on perceived investment performance. The results also show that social interaction moderates the relationship between conscientiousness, agreeableness, and perceived investment performance. This result shows that information selection and investment knowledge is important when allocating asset to achieve investment objectives.

scholarly journals International Capital Flows and Bond Risk Premia

2014 ◽  
Vol 04 (01) ◽  
pp. 1450001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesus Sierra
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Excess Returns ◽  
Treasury Securities ◽  
Bond Risk Premia ◽  
Predictive Regressions ◽  
Out Of Sample ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Bond Risk

We investigate whether foreign purchases of long-term U.S. Treasury securities significantly affect their expected excess-returns. We run predictive regressions of realized excess returns on measures of net purchases of treasuries by both foreign official and private agents. We find that official flows, with a negative effect, appear similar to relative supply shocks; private flows, with a positive impact, resemble flows that absorb excess-supply and are thus compensated for this service, similar to the role of arbitrageurs. The results are robust to out-of-sample tests and the use of benchmark survey-consistent adjusted flows data.

scholarly journals The Role of Confucius Institutes and One Belt, One Road Initiatives on the Values of Cross-Border M&A: Empirical Evidence from China

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 10277
Author(s):  
Jin-Young Jung ◽  
Wei Wang ◽  
Sung-Woo Cho
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Cultural Distance ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Long Run ◽  
One Belt One Road ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Confucius Institutes

This study examines how national cultural policies such as Confucius Institutes and One Belt, One Road initiatives (BRI) affect the post-acquisition returns of Chinese cross-border mergers and acquisitions based on data from a sample of 192 transactions covering 2011 to 2015. We find that the cultural export of Chinese Confucius Institutes and the BRI exert a significantly positive impact on long-term acquirer returns, while cultural/institutional distance exerts a negative impact. Further evidence shows that Confucius Institutes and BRI mitigate the negative effect of cultural distance between merging firms. These results offer the first evidence that national cultural translation has substantial impacts on the long-run acquirer financial performance of cross-border mergers that decrease cultural institutional heterogeneity between countries.

scholarly journals Spatiotemporal Patterns of Pasture Quality Based on NDVI Time-Series in Mediterranean Montado Ecosystem

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 3820
Author(s):  
João Serrano ◽  
Shakib Shahidian ◽  
Luis Paixão ◽  
José Marques da Silva ◽  
Tiago Morais ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optical Sensor ◽  
Precision Agriculture ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Satellite Images ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Livestock Production ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Neutral Detergent Fiber ◽  
Pasture Quality ◽  
Montado Ecosystem

The evolution of dryland pasture quality is closely related to the seasonal and inter-annual variability characteristic of the Mediterranean climate. This variability introduces great unpredictability in the dynamic management of animal grazing. The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential of two complementary tools (satellite images, Sentinel-2 and proximal optical sensor, OptRx) for the calculation of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), to monitor in a timely manner indicators of pasture quality (moisture content, crude protein, and neutral detergent fiber). In two consecutive years (2018/2019 and 2019/2020) these tools were evaluated in six fields representative of dryland pastures in the Alentejo region, in Portugal. The results show a significant correlation between pasture quality degradation index (PQDI) and NDVI measured by remote sensing (R2 = 0.82) and measured by proximal optical sensor (R2 = 0.83). These technological tools can potentially make an important contribution to decision making and to the management of livestock production. The complementarity of these two approaches makes it possible to overcome the limitations of satellite images that result (i) from the interference of clouds (which occurs frequently throughout the pasture vegetative cycle) and (ii) from the interference of tree canopy, an important layer of the Montado ecosystem. This work opens perspectives to explore new solutions in the field of Precision Agriculture technologies based on spectral reflectance to respond to the challenges of economic and environmental sustainability of extensive livestock production systems.

scholarly journals Can Soil pH Correction Reduce the Animal Supplementation Needs in the Critical Autumn Period in Mediterranean Montado Ecosystem?

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 514
Author(s):  
João Serrano ◽  
Shakib Shahidian ◽  
Francisco Costa ◽  
Emanuel Carreira ◽  
Alfredo Pereira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Soil Ph ◽  
Floristic Composition ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Dolomitic Limestone ◽  
Daily Growth Rate ◽  
Daily Growth ◽  
Autumn Period ◽  
Sampling Points ◽  
Montado Ecosystem

Extensive livestock production in Mediterranean climate conditions and acidic soils requires animal feed supplementation. This occurs during the summer and, frequently, also in the autumn and winter, depending on the prevailing rainfall patterns. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of dolomitic limestone application and of tree canopy on availability, quality, and floristic composition of a permanent pasture, grazed by sheep. At the end of autumn, winter, and spring of 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 pasture green and dry matter production (GM and DM, respectively), crude protein (CP), and fiber (neutral detergent fiber) were monitored in 24 sampling points. Half of these points were located in areas amended with dolomitic limestone (COR) and half in unamended areas (UCOR). In each of these, half of the sampling points were located under tree canopy (UTC) and half outside tree canopy (OTC). Pasture floristic composition was monitored in spring 2020. The results show, in autumn, a positive and significant effect (i) of soil pH amendment on pasture DM and CP daily growth rate (kg·ha−1·day−1) (+28.8% and +42.6%, respectively), and (ii) of tree canopy on pasture CP daily growth rate (+26.4%). Both factors affect pasture floristic composition. Pasture species were identified as potential bio-indicators, characteristic of each field area. These results show the practical interest of the soil pH correction to reduce the animal supplementation needs in the critical autumn period in the Mediterranean montado ecosystem.

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