Browsing by Author "Simion, Violeta"
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- Barriers and incentives for uptake of diagnostics for sustainable worm control by European dairy cattle farmersPublication . Vande Velde, Fiona; Hektoen, Lisbeth; Phytian, Clare; Rinaldi, Laura; Bosco, Antonio; Hinney, Barbara; Strube, Christina; May, Katharina; Knubben-Schweizer, Gabriela; Martins, Oliva M.D.; Matheus, Teresa; Simion, Violeta; Charlier, Johannes; Bartley, Dave; Claerebout, EdwinTo mitigate emerging anthelmintic resistance in cattle, sustainable worm control strategies should be adopted, such as the use of diagnostic methods to take informed treatment decisions. To understand the factors affecting European farmers’ intention to adopt diagnostic methods and to gauge for differences between European regions, a theoretical framework, based on theories in the field of behavioural psychology and health psychology, was validated through a questionnaire survey, carried out in dairy farms in 6 European countries. Despite insufficient data from 2 countries and several confounders prohibiting statistical comparisons between countries, three models were developed, which allowed to describe general trends and differences between regions. Data from Northern-(Norway) and Central-Europe (Austria and Germany) resulted in two similar models, which differed in 3 questions. Southern Europe’s (Italy) data were more difficult to align with the conceptual model and several factors were deleted to fit the model. In all models, subjective norms, affected by a bandwagon bias, had the largest influence on farmers’ adoption intention. Perception of anthelmintic resistance had no effect on adoption intention for Northern and Central, but to some extent for Southern Europe. In Northern and Central Europe, attitude towards anthelmintics had a negative effect on adoption intention, while attitude towards diagnostics had a positive effect. Both types of attitudes were affected by the default bias. Finally, by combining self-reported practices for Northern and Central Europe, a larger effect of descriptive norms on farmers’ actual adoption of diagnostics was observed, compared to adoption intention and the default bias.
- Barriers and incentives for uptake of diagnostics for sustainable worm control by European dairy cattle farmersPublication . Vande Velde, Fiona; Hektoen, Lisbeth; Phytian, Clare; Rinaldi, Laura; Bosco, Antonio; Hinney, Barbara; Strube, Christina; May, Katharina; Knubben-Schweizer, Gabriela; Martins, Oliva M.D.; Matheus, Teresa; Simion, Violeta; Charlier, Johannes; Bartley, Dave; Claerebout, EdwinThe sustainable control of gastro-intestinal nematodes remains one of the main perennial endemic disease pressures that farmers face with infections impacting on health, welfare and production efficiency of livestock. For over 50 years parasite control strategies in many countries relied heavily on suppressing nematode populations with frequent use of broad-spectrum anthelmintics. The effectiveness and availability of products across Europe is markedly different, but the need to maintain sustainable productivity is universal. As part of an EU COST action (COMBAR; https://www.combarca.eu) a questionnaire was disseminated to sheep farmers from European countries to gather information on: 1) farmer demographics and enterprise characteristics 2) general roundworm control/anthelmintic resistance attitude statements 3) knowledge and understanding questions 4) attitudinal statements regarding parasite control recommendation and 5) parasite control behaviours. Completed questionnaires were returned by over 2300 respondents from nine countries across Europe: Austria, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Wales. Descriptive analysis indicated the perception of roundworms as a major problem on farms is lower in southern Europe compared to central and northern Europe, a similar pattern occurs when examining how roundworms rank in comparison to other endemic diseases.
- Blockchain technology enhances sustainable higher educationPublication . Bucea-Manea-Țoniş, Rocsana; Martins, Oliva M.D.; Bucea-Manea-Țoniş, Radu; Gheorghiță, Cătălin; Kuleto, Valentin; Ilić, Milena P.; Simion, VioletaThis research investigates blockchain technology, focusing on the influence of motivation on collaborative work, which positively influences learning performance in Higher Education Institutions (HEI). In addition, blockchain technology is correlated with decentralisation, security and integrity, and anonymity and encryption. It can also be perceived as a consensus mechanism, rewarding students, professors, and universities as a smart contract. Therefore, this technology has been used to improve higher education. It also allows less informed people to interact with better-informed peers and mentors. Finally, this study aims to enhance the current state of blockchain applications comprehension. The methodology used for this research includes document analysis, literature review, content analysis (blockchain platforms), the case study method, and the survey method. In statistical considerations, aiming to evaluate indicators, this research presents the Composite Reliability Analysis, Cronbach Alpha Coefficients, and the Bootstrapping method (Variance Inflation Factor). All these analyses aimed to present a designed research model. This exploratory research gathered data from 150 students at 3 universities in Serbia, Romania, and Portugal. As demonstrated, using student motivation has a significant and positive impact on the quality of student collaborative work. Student collaborative work also correlates with students’ higher level of engagement in the educational process, and the more engaged students are, the better their learning outcomes will be. As a result, in higher education, student involvement boosted learning outcomes. Researchers found that motivation, teamwork, and student involvement were important factors in improving student learning outcomes, as were blockchain-based tools. The results from the quantitative analysis indicate that Collaborative work, Motivation, Engagement, MOOCs, AR, VR, Gamification, and Online class were associated with learning performance.
- Green and sustainable public procurement—an instrument for nudging consumer behavior. A case study on romanian green public agriculture across different sectors of activityPublication . Bucea-Manea-Țoniş, Rocsana; Martins, Oliva M. D.; Ilic, Dragan; Belous, Mădălina; Bucea-Manea-Țoniş, Radu; Braicu, Cezar; Simion, VioletaGreen Public Procurement (GPP) became an efficient instrument to achieve the objectives of environmental policy expressed by the European Commission in its Communications. At the same time, it must be addressed by the public authorities as a complex process, in which all purchased goods and services must integrate perfectly into an entire puzzle-like system of legislation, the construction field, innovation, healthcare, food, and education. Scientific references published in the Web of Science (WoS) mainly between 2017 and 2020 were investigated, and they analyze the implications of green public procurement in various fields, as presented by scientific communities. This article brings as a novelty in this context the identification of some barriers in the adoption of these processes, so that they can be overcome. Based on good practices and international standards and trends, the article shows how aspects related to the implementation of green procurement in society can be taken into account. In the second stage, we added a case study on Romanian green agriculture and discussions regarding inter-correlation between different fields and GPP.
- Insect-based food: a (free) choicePublication . Martins, Oliva M.D.; Bucea-Manea-Țoniş, Rocsana; Bašić, Jasmina; Coelho, Ana Sofia; Simion, VioletaThe literature highlights the importance of insect consumption for nutritional health habits. The increasingly clear legislation, the developed studies demonstrating their nutritional value, and the prospect of overcoming some barriers that have prevented consumers from consuming insects are among the reasons supporting the advantages of consuming insects. The leading determinants of consumption are culture and individual and social beliefs, accessibility to a particular nutritional resource, and individual behavior. The barriers to neophobia were analyzed by evaluating factors of influence and their respective relationship and meaning through quantitative research to measure the significance of the results. To develop a conceptual model that aims to change eating behavior and recognize structural aspects that can be barriers in the process of changing eating behavior, a methodological framework was developed. The methodological framework aimed to identify the characteristics that can be associated with the profile of opinion leaders, and it included a questionnaire which was applied to 213 young people. Moreover, the structural equation model was the statistical technique used. Given the projected population growth and increasing life expectancy, nutrition is a challenge in terms of health, but also in economic, social, and environmental respects. Aiming for sustainability, it is crucial to identify nutritional alternatives within the circular economy.
- Sensory perception nudge: insect-based food consumer behaviorPublication . Martins, Oliva M.D.; Bucea-Manea-Țoniş, Rocsana; Coelho, Ana Sofia; Simion, VioletaThe negative impact that animal protein sources have on the environment is a critical world problem. Finding new acceptable alternatives is crucial. Nevertheless, numerous factors influence the decision to try an unknown food. By adopting a consumer behavior perspective as well as approaching the possibility of overcoming neophobia, this research examined the influence of sensory perception on consumer behavior with regard to the experimentation with new foods, focusing on entomophagy. A theoretical model was developed, and path analysis and factor influence were based on the structural equation model (PLS-SEM), designed in SmartPLS, to test the model relationships. Despite the low level of awareness concerning the benefits of entomophagy, this study considered that many aspects influence experimentation with new food, specifically our sensorial system. Sensory perception is founded on the senses, such as the tactile, olfactory, visual, and gustatory senses, which can influence perception. In line with these assumptions, this research identified the three most important and decisive factors that can influence individuals’ sensory perceptions: preparation, visual and related aspects, and the presentation of the shape of food have an influence on sensory perception regarding entomophagy consumer behavior. People like to know the method of preparation as well as the ingredients and the color of the food. These findings are crucial to food business practitioners, policymakers, and marketers, who can adopt some food process strategies following sensory perception, that will contribute to changing the habits of consumers.
- Understanding the uptake of diagnostics for sustainable gastrointestinal nematode control by European dairy cattle farmers: a multi-country cross-sectional studyPublication . Vande Velde, Fiona; Hektoen, Lisbeth; Phythian, Claire J.; Rinaldi, Laura; Bosco, Antonio; Hinney, Barbara; Gehringer, Martin; Strube, Christina; May, Katharina; Knubben-Schweizer, Gabriela; Martins, Oliva M. D.; Mateus, Teresa L.; Simion, Violeta; Charlier, Johannes; Bartley, David J.; Claerebout, EdwinTo mitigate emerging anthelmintic resistance (AR) in cattle, sustainable gastrointestinal nematode control strategies should be adopted. A multi-centre study was set up to understand the factors affecting European dairy cattle farmers’ adoption of diagnostics and to gauge for differences between regions. The data were collected through a multilingual survey by participating countries of the European Co-operation in Science and Technology (COST) action COMbatting Anthelmintic Resistance in ruminants (COMBAR). Four countries provided sufficient data to be included in the data analysis: Norway, Italy, Germany and Austria. Three models were estimated and validated through structural equation modelling. Norway, along with Germany and Austria (pooled dataset) showed similar trends that align with previous studies. AR risk perception had no influence on the adoption intention of diagnostics, a positive influence was found for attitude towards diagnostics and subjective norms (i.e., perceived opinion of others), and a negative influence of attitudes towards anthelminthics. Additionally, routine (i.e., perception of the current treatment) had an indirect effect on adoption intention through attitudes. Italy’s data deviated from these findings, presenting a positive effect of the perceived severity of AR, and perceived behavioural control (i.e., perceived ability to perform a specific behaviour) on adoption intention of diagnostics. Finally, Norway’s data set allowed for inclusion of a measurement of current behaviour in the model, identifying a direct positive effect of the perceived actual behaviour of other farmers on their own behaviour.