The psychological contracts of violation victims: A post‐violation model

Organizations may fail to keep their commitments to their employees, at times leading to psychological contract violation. Although many victims of violation remain with their employer despite such adverse experiences, little research exists on their responses in the aftermath of violation. This paper develops a post‐violation model to explain systematically how violation victims respond to and cope with violation and the effects this process has on their subsequent psychological contract. Central to post‐violation are the victims' beliefs regarding the likelihood of violation resolution and the factors affecting it. The model specifies how the victim engages in a self‐regulation process that results in an array of potential psychological contract outcomes. Possible outcomes include reactivation of the original pre‐violation contract, the formation of a new contract that may be more or less attractive than the original, or a state of dissolution wherein the victim fails to form a functional psychological contract with the employer. The research and practical implications of this model are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fumaric acid production using renewable resources from biodiesel and cane sugar production processes

The microbial production of fumaric acid by Rhizopus arrhizus NRRL 2582 has been evaluated using soybean cake from biodiesel production processes and very high polarity (VHP) sugar from sugarcane mills. Soybean cake was converted into a nutrient-rich hydrolysate via a two-stage bioprocess involving crude enzyme production via solid state fermentations (SSF) of either Aspergillus oryzae or R. arrhizus cultivated on soybean cake followed by enzymatic hydrolysis of soybean cake. The soybean cake hydrolysate produced using crude enzymes derived via SSF of R. arrhizus was supplemented with VHP sugar and evaluated using different initial free amino nitrogen (FAN) concentrations (100, 200, and 400 mg/L) in fed-batch cultures for fumaric acid production. The highest fumaric acid concentration (27.3 g/L) and yield (0.7 g/g of total consumed sugars) were achieved when the initial FAN concentration was 200 mg/L. The combination of VHP sugar with soybean cake hydrolysate derived from crude enzymes produced by SSF of A. oryzae at 200 mg/L initial FAN concentration led to the production of 40 g/L fumaric acid with a yield of 0.86 g/g of total consumed sugars. The utilization of sugarcane molasses led to low fumaric acid production by R. arrhizus, probably due to the presence of various minerals and phenolic compounds. The promising results achieved through the valorization of VHP sugar and soybean cake suggest that a focused study on molasses pretreatment could lead to enhanced fumaric acid production.     

Ecological changes and local knowledge in a giant honey bee (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Apis dorsata</Emphasis> F.) hunting community in Palawan,Philippines

One of the traditional livelihood practices of indigenous Tagbanuas in Palawan, Philippines is wild honey hunting and gathering from the giant honey bee (Apis dorsata F.). In order to analyze the linkages of the social and ecological systems involved in this indigenous practice, we conducted spatial, quantitative, and qualitative analyses on field data gathered through mapping of global positioning system coordinates, community surveys, and key informant interviews. We found that only 24% of the 251 local community members surveyed could correctly identify the giant honey bee. Inferential statistics showed that a lower level of formal education strongly correlates with correct identification of the giant honey bee. Spatial analysis revealed that mean NDVI of sampled nesting tree areas has dropped from 0.61 in the year 1988 to 0.41 in 2015. However, those who correctly identified the giant honey bee lived in areas with high vegetation cover. Decreasing vegetation cover limits the presence of wild honey bees and this may also be limiting direct experience of the community with wild honey bees. However, with causality yet to be established, we recommend conducting further studies to concretely model feedbacks between ecological changes and local knowledge.     

Evaluation of disinfectants in order to eliminate fungal contamination in computer keyboards of an integrated health center in Piauí, Brazil

This quantitative and qualitative study aimed to evaluate the level of fungal contamination in computer keyboards from an Integrated Health Center (IHC) at Piauí, Brazil, and to evaluate the efficacy of 50% sodium bicarbonate and 50% alcoholic vinegar solutions to eliminate these microorganisms. Ten keyboards from six sectors of the IHC were chosen randomly, and the collection was performed in three situations: (i) before of disinfection, (ii) after disinfection with solution of sodium bicarbonate, and (iii) after disinfection with solution of alcoholic vinegar. Samples were inoculated in Petri dishes with dextrose agar potato plus chloramphenicol and incubated at room temperature for 72 h. All keyboards were contaminated with opportunistic fungi, with Cladosporium cladosporioides (29.4%) being the most frequent species, followed by Curvularia lunata (17.6%) and Aspergillus niger, Alternaria alternata, and Curvularia clavata with 11.8% each. The two solutions were proven to be efficient in eliminating fungal contamination; however, the sodium bicarbonate solution caused esthetic damages in keyboards. In addition, this study is the first report of the antifungal activity of alcoholic vinegar in filamentous fungi. Based on our findings, we suggest a daily disinfection of keyboards with a 50% vinegar solution plus adequate hygiene from the hands of professionals before and after the use of the computer and its annexes, as key actions to reduce nosocomial infections, particularly in economically disadvantaged countries.     

The Circulation of Climate Change Denial Online: Rhetorical and Networking Strategies on Facebook

This study uses a topical, rhetorical approach to analyze how climate change denial circulates online through the 25 most popular posts on the Watts Up With That and the Global Warming Policy Forum Facebook pages. These groups adopt the appearance of credibility through reposting and hyperlinking, thus establishing a supportive, networked space among other skeptical sites, while distancing readers from original sources of scientific information. Visitors use a variety of rhetorical strategies to echo posts’ main themes and to discredit alternative viewpoints. Differences between the topoi and rhetorical strategies of WUWT and the GWPF show that the climate change denial community is multifaceted and makes use of social media affordances to craft the appearance of legitimacy. This project contributes to our knowledge of how scientific information is co-opted, manipulated, and circulated in online spaces and how online features shape environmental discourse practices.     

LES validation of urban flow,part I: flow statistics and frequency distributions

Essential prerequisites for a thorough model evaluation are the availability of problem-specific, quality-controlled reference data and the use of model-specific comparison methods. The work presented here is motivated by the striking lack of proportion between the increasing use of large-eddy simulation (LES) as a standard technique in micro-meteorology and wind engineering and the level of scrutiny that is commonly applied to assess the quality of results obtained. We propose and apply an in-depth, multi-level validation concept that is specifically targeted at the time-dependency of mechanically induced shear-layer turbulence. Near-surface isothermal turbulent flow in a densely built-up city serves as the test scenario for the approach. High-resolution LES data are evaluated based on a comprehensive database of boundary-layer wind-tunnel measurements. From an exploratory data analysis of mean flow and turbulence statistics, a high level of agreement between simulation and experiment is apparent. Inspecting frequency distributions of the underlying instantaneous data proves to be necessary for a more rigorous assessment of the overall prediction quality. From velocity histograms local accuracy limitations due to a comparatively coarse building representation as well as particular strengths of the model to capture complex urban flow features with sufficient accuracy are readily determined. However, the analysis shows that further crucial information about the physical validity of the LES needs to be obtained through the comparison of eddy statistics, which is focused on in part II. Compared with methods that rely on single figures of merit, the multi-level validation strategy presented here supports conclusions about the simulation quality and the model’s fitness for its intended range of application through a deeper understanding of the unsteady structure of the flow.