Global Sensitivity Analysis Applied to a Contamination Assessment Model of Listeria monocytogenes in Cold Smoked Salmon at Consumption

In this study, a variance‐based global sensitivity analysis method was first applied to a contamination assessment model of Listeria monocytogenes in cold smoked vacuum packed salmon at consumption. The impact of the choice of the modeling approach (populational or cellular) of the primary and secondary models as well as the effect of their associated input factors on the final contamination level was investigated. Results provided a subset of important factors, including the food water activity, its storage temperature, and duration in the domestic refrigerator. A refined sensitivity analysis was then performed to rank the important factors, tested over narrower ranges of variation corresponding to their current distributions, using three techniques: ANOVA, Spearman correlation coefficient, and partial least squares regression. Finally, the refined sensitivity analysis was used to rank the important factors.     

Social cognitive neuroscience and leadership

We provide an overview of how the emerging field of social cognitive neuroscience can be linked to leadership theory and practice. A number of challenges are addressed, including theory development, as well as technical, measurement and methodological issues. In addition, we review recent leadership research that involves neuroscience applications, as well as areas that are closely related to leadership, such as emotional regulation and ethical reasoning and decision-making. Consideration is also given to how neuroscience might inform leadership development processes. We conclude with a discussion of the institutional challenges in conducting leadership research that incorporates neuroscience, and we consider potential limitations of such applications.     

CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE STATE: THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN COOPERATION AND MINIMUM WAGE REGULATION

In a cross‐section of countries, state regulation of labor markets is negatively correlated with the quality of labor relations. In this paper, we argue that these facts reflect different ways of regulating labor markets, either through the state or through the civil society, depending on the degree of cooperation in the economy. We rationalize these facts with a model of learning of the quality of labor relations. Distrustful labor relations lead to low unionization and high demand for direct state regulation of wages. In turn, state regulation crowds out the possibility for workers to experiment negotiation and learn about the potential cooperative nature of labor relations. This crowding out effect can give rise to multiple equilibria: a “good” equilibrium characterized by cooperative labor relations and high union density, leading to low state regulation; and a “bad” equilibrium, characterized by distrustful labor relations, low union density, and strong state regulation of the minimum wage.     

Coping with climatic shocks: local perspectives from Haiti’s rural mountain regions

Population and Environment - Haiti’s agrarian society is highly sensitive to changes in weather and climate conditions. Little is known about Haitian farmers’ perceptions of...     

The dynamic stochastic topic block model for dynamic networks with textual edges

Statistics and Computing - The present paper develops a probabilistic model to cluster the nodes of a dynamic graph, accounting for the content of textual edges as well as their frequency. Vertices...     

The recent history of the IEA: an analysis of IEA Congress presentations since 1961

In this paper we review historical material relating to the growth and coverage of past IEA meetings and congresses. In particular, we report on presentations at IEA Congresses dating back to the first one in Stockholm in 1961. A content analysis of Congress proceedings was carried out and we present findings on changes since 1961 covering: numbers and nationalities of conference participants and the types of topics presented at Congresses. Our findings point to evidence of widening participation at the conferences, in particular delegates drawn from Asia, South East Asia and the Far East. In addition, some topics (e.g., physiology, methodological papers and studies of workload) appear to have waned in popularity over the period, whereas some topics (e.g., ODAM, Cognitive Ergonomics) have grown in popularity. We discuss these findings in the light of other evidence covering historical trends and developments within human factors and ergonomics.     

Performance-based management and quality of work: an empirical assessment

In France, in the private sector as in the public sector, performance-based management tends to become a norm. Performance-based management is supposed to improve service quality, productivity and efficiency, transparency of allotted means and achieved results, and to better focus the activity of employees and of the whole organization. This text reports a study conducted for the French Ministry of Budget by a team of researchers in ergonomics, sociology and management science, in order to assess the impact of performance-based management on employees, on teams and on work organization. About 100 interviews were conducted with employees of all categories and 6 working groups were set up in order to discuss and validate or amend our first analyses. Results concern several aspects: workload and work intensification, indicators and performance management and the transformation of jobs induced by performance management.