Training needs of extension agents’ regarding organic agriculture in Saudi Arabia

The purpose of this study was to investigate the needs of extension agents for training on organic agriculture (OA) in the Riyadh Region. Fifty-five percent (n = 69) of extension agents were selected to collect data through an electronic survey. Results indicated that extension agents in the Riyadh Region cited on job training as a main source for acquiring knowledge in OA. Agents expressed interest in receiving training in OA in general, OA marketing, and transitioning to OA. The most useful resources were field days at organic farms, OA training sessions at colleges, and attending OA trial plots. There were no differences in the level of interest in training; however, there were significant differences between individuals in terms of their experience in OA, job responsibility for providing information related to OA, and area of specialization in their job. This study recommends developing professional training programs based on the current knowledge of extension agents.     

Association between sexually explicit messages and sleep health among French sexual minority men

It has been demonstrated that sexual minority men (SMM) participate in sexting. While research has shown that engagement in the exchange of sexually explicit media is associated with poor health outcomes, no previous research has investigated its association with sleep health outcomes. This study sought to examine the association between sexually explicit media and sleep health among SMM, a population that suffers from poor sleep health. A popular geosocial networking application was used to recruit SMM individuals (N?=?580) in the Paris, France, metropolitan area. Multivariate analyses, adjusting for sociodemographics, were used to test the association between the frequency of sexually explicit messaging and three dimensions of sleep health: (1) sleep quality, (2) sleep duration, and (3) two aspects of sleep problems. In multivariate analyses, those who reported engaging in sexually explicit messaging more were more likely to report getting less than seven?hours of sleep (aRR = 1.24; 95% CI = 1.08, 1.43) compared with those who reported engaging in sexually explicit messaging less. No significant associations were found between sexting and sleep quality or reporting sleep problems. Sexually explicit messaging was associated with shorter sleep duration. Intervention targeted at individuals who sext could potentially improve sleep health outcomes.     

A systematic literature review of the etiology of borderline personality disorder from an ecological systems PERSPECTIVE

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is one of the most common, complex, costly, and severely impairing personality disorders, affecting an estimated 2% to 9% of the general population and 40% to 44% of the inpatient psychiatric population. A review of the literature was conducted using a systematic methodology. By incorporating an ecological systems perspective, a holistic and comprehensive critique of the literature surrounding the etiology of BPD is presented. The findings reveal that the etiology of BPD is a complex integration of psychological, biological, and social factors. More specifically, however, this review found that: (1) the etiology of BPD is complex and has many factors, (2) the dominant discourse about the etiology of BPD is based primarily in the psychological and biological literature, and (3) the examination of BPD etiology has focused solely on the individual and microsystems levels, neglecting to consider systemic factors such as the impact of discriminatory health and mental healthcare practices. Findings and future directions are explored through the ecological systems theory lens.     

Developing critical and empathic capabilities in intercultural education through the VaKE approach

One of the core goals of intercultural education is to develop critical and empathic reflection on social justice, particularly as related to humanistic choices and how individuals can counteract exclusion. The present article analyses the Values and Knowledge Education (VaKE) approach, which is aimed at raising awareness about implicit value-oriented priorities in decision-making. Through the Human Development and Capability Approach, the applicability of VaKE’s didactic principles is analysed in relation to young people’s perspectives on resettlement in Europe. The VaKE method was used at a 2013 summer camp in Austria with a culturally diverse group of young Europeans who were presented with a dilemma story that highlighted the complex issue of providing assistance to asylum seekers. The participants engaged in various knowledge and moral viability checks that enabled them to engage with opposing arguments. The participants evidenced critical reflection and self-scrutiny, as well as affiliation and empathic imagination, regarding problems that are encountered by asylum seekers.     

Getting low educated and older people into work: The role of fiscal policy

Raising employment, in particular employment among older individuals and low educated individuals, stands high on the agenda of policy makers in many OECD countries. Increased sensitivity in recent years to rising inequality has made the challenge only larger. In this paper we evaluate alternative fiscal policy scenarios to face this challenge. We construct and use an overlapping generations model for an open economy where individuals differ not only by age, but also by innate ability and human capital. The model allows us to study effects on aggregate employment, per capita income and welfare, as well as effects for specific age and ability groups. We show that well-considered fiscal policy changes can significantly improve macroeconomic productive efficiency, without increasing intergenerational or intragenerational welfare inequality. Our results strongly prefer a reduction in the labor tax rate on older workers and on all low-wage earners, financed by an overall reduction in non-employment benefits. An alternative financing option is to raise the consumption tax rate. These results are to be seen as long-run effects for economies at potential output.     

Socioeconomic status and the dynamics of preferences for income inequality in the United States, 1978–2016

Although considerable evidence indicates that public preferences for income inequality and redistribution vary across socioeconomic groups (i.e., occupation and income), much less is known about the temporal dynamics of these preferences. The purpose of this study is (a) to examine whether the attitudinal distance between managerial/professional workers and unskilled manual workers has changed (converged or diverged) over time and to (b) explore the reasons for and implications of the dynamics of preferences in the past several decades. Using data from the General Social Survey 1978–2016 (23 time‐points; N = 27,211), this study finds that the influence of occupational class has lost some of its significance in shaping public preferences for income inequality and that the declining effect of occupation can be explained in part by the attitudinal convergence between better‐ and less‐educated citizens. Findings suggest that proequality coalitions across educational boundaries play a remedial role in bridging the occupational divide over government redistribution in the United States.     

Understanding racial literacy through acts of (un)masking: Latinx teachers in a new Latinx diaspora community

As Latinx teachers are recruited to work in U.S. schools, a continued agenda to understand their experiences is warranted. This multiple case study considers the storytelling of six Latinx teachers in a new Latinx diaspora community. It documents both their racial literacy (the ability to resolve racially stressful issues) and their experiences with (un)masking (literal and figurative ways to cover or embrace racial markers). This study reveals the tensions that arise when Latinx teachers attempt to define their identity in social spaces where their languages, bodies, and names, among other markers, are racialized when read by others. Implications for teacher education include a call to include storytelling as a pedagogical tool to develop Latinx teachers’ racial literacy skills. By experiencing storytelling in their own schooling, Latinx teachers are more likely to model such racial literacy skills in their schooling communities; thereby, empowering a generation of students to enact more humanizing behaviors.     

Interactive profit-planning systems and market turbulence: A dynamic capabilities perspective

This article describes, theorizes and empirically investigates the concept of interactive profit-planning systems (PPS) through the lens of the dynamic capabilities logic. With this conceptualization: interactive PPS capabilities comprise budgeting, forecasting and results-reporting routines, in which top and middle managers interact to create knowledge for sensing, seizing, and business model reconfiguring (to manage strategic business change). Survey data from 331 Australian firms is analyzed employing partial least squares structural equation modeling. The data provides support for two hypotheses: (1) greater market turbulence strengthens the positive effect of interactive PPS capabilities on business unit performance; and (2) greater market turbulence strengthens the positive effect of flexibility values (of organizational culture) on interactive PPS capabilities. Our findings show that interactive PPS capabilities function according to the salient tenets of the dynamic capabilities logic, and clarify the beneficial roles of formal cybernetic control systems and the intertwined involvement of top and middle managers in using dynamic capabilities.     

额外资源按需分配方法研究

文献Wei Quanling等^[1]的最后一段提出了这样一类额外资源分配问题：假设有一些额外的投入资源将要分配给全部或者部分决策单元,如果我们希望分配结果对于整个系统（该系统由全部决策单元组成）来说是最有益的,那么应当如何分配这些额外的投入资源?他们同时还指出系统中哪些决策单元能够获得额外的投入资源,这不仅取决于决策单元的效率,还需要考虑规模报酬。针对此类问题,本文提出一种额外资源按需分配方法：首先,综合决策单元的技术效率与其投影点的规模弹性构建发展曲线,并由决策单元的发展曲线获知其投入变动与产出变动的对应关系;然后,把额外资源分成若干等份,依次分配每一个等份的额外资源,每次分配使系统的总产出增加实现最大,直至分配完全部的额外资源,或者分配某一份额外资源不再带来任何的产出增加,分配就会停止;最后,把决策单元在每一次分配过程中获得的额外资源进行累加,得到这个决策单元最终的分配结果。全文的最后分别在"一个投入一个产出"和"两个投入一个产出"情况下给出两个具体的分配算例。分配结果表明,这种按需分配方法不会缩减任意一个决策单元当前占有的投入资源数量,并且还可以有效地在辨识出某种额外资源在规模上和结构上存在的冗余,从而有效地避免不必要的分配。     

基于复杂网络的电动汽车充电桩众筹市场信用风险建模与分析

因其经济优势及环境友好特性,电动汽车（EV）保有量持续攀升。而当前中国充电设施建设明显滞后于电动汽车的扩张速度,成为制约电动车发展潜力的主要瓶颈。由于充电设施具有高正外部性,同时投资回收期较长,难以吸引到传统融资,而基于互联网的众筹作为新型融资方式则受到了广泛关注。但由于缺乏强制性的信息披露制度及相关法律法规,众筹融资过程中的信息不对称问题相较传统融资方式更为严重,由此导致的高违约率也进一步削弱了投资者信心。本文利用复杂网络对电动汽车充电桩众筹融资市场进行建模,刻画了众筹投资者决策过程中的羊群效应,基于信息不对称使用多Agent模型对信用风险的产生、影响及针对性政策效果进行了模拟分析。结果表明,众筹投资者在决策过程中易受到社交网络中负面信息的影响,使得筹资人违约行为的不利影响进一步扩散。而严格的罚款机制可以在不影响融资市场均衡的情况下,使违约行为的恶性循环得到遏制。