Is using work–life interface benefits a career‐limiting move? An examination of women,men, lone parents,and parents with partners

Using a large national sample based on Workplace and Employee Survey data collected by Statistics Canada in 2001 and 2002, we examined the effects of employee usage of seven organizational work–life interface benefits on promotions. Analysis predicted promotions in 2002 when number of promotions received by 2001 were controlled. The main effect of using work–life interface benefits on promotions was positive, indicating that using these benefits is not a career‐limiting move. Gender, presence of young children, and marital status interacted with the use of work–life interface benefits. Single parents benefitted less than other employees from using work–life interface options. Altogether, these findings suggest that the ongoing positive effects of conservation of time and energy resources for employees outweigh the initial short‐term negative effects of signaling and stigmatization. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparative morphology and secretion chemistry of the scoli in caterpillars of<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Hyalophora cecropia</Emphasis>

The morphology of the variously coloured scoli (bristle-bearing structures on the integument, producing an exocrine secretion) on caterpillars of Hyalophora cecropia and the secondary chemistry of the discharged secretions have been investigated for the first time and compared. According to our scanning electron microscopic study, the red/orange, yellow and blue coloured groups of these glands differ morphologically. Gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric analyses showed that the patterns of secondary compounds in the respective glandular secretions are also different. Furthermore, the secretion of the penultimate larval instar is chemically distinct from that of the last instar, as are both secretions from the respective haemolymph. The results favour the idea that the differences in scoli colour, morphology and chemistry could affect various predator species differently.Electronic Supplementary Material  Supplementary material is available for this article if you access the article at . A link in the frame on the left on that page takes you directly to the supplementary material.     

On the kinetics of acetylcholine at the synapse

Electrophysiologic, morphologic, and biochemical definitions of the synapse will be correlated spatially and temporally. Postsynaptic fatigue and facilitation follow oscillations of the free pool of acetylcholine, predicted by the kinetic theory and observed at the electric organ of Torpedo marmorata. The underlying thermodynamic instability exhibits properties of the Na⁺—K⁺-dependent hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate and represents a necessary condition for synaptic memory.     

Calculation of bioconcentration factors from kinetic data by non-linear iterative least-squares regression analysis using a programmable minicalculator

A program to fit theoretically modelled uptake and clearance periods of the bioconcentration of chemicals to experimental data using a programmable pocket calculator with thermal printer is reported. The bioconcentration factor (BCF) is calculated from the ratio of uptake and clearance rate constants. Because of the impossibility to linearize the kinetic equations an iterative nonlinear GAUSS-NEWTON least-squares fit has been applied for the pocket calculator programm ACCUTI-59, which calculates from a set of start parameters the best values for uptake and clearance rate constants, BCF, and the standard errors as well as the sum of squared deviations. A listing of the program is given.     

The effect of export to the deep sea on the long-range transport potential of persistent organic pollutants

BACKGROUND: Export to the deep sea has been found to be a relevant pathway for highly hydrophobic chemicals. The objective of this study is to investigate the influence of this process on the potential for long-range transport (LRT) of such chemicals. METHODS: The spatial range as a measure of potential for LRT is calculated for seven PCB congeners with the multimedia fate and transport model ChemRange. Spatial ranges for cases with and without deep sea export are compared. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Export to the deep sea leads to increased transfer from the air to the surface ocean and, thereby, to lower spatial ranges for PCB congeners whose net deposition rate constant is similar to or greater than the atmospheric degradation rate constant. This is fulfilled for the PCB congeners 101, 153, 180, and 194. The spatial ranges of the congeners 8, 28, and 52, in contrast, are not affected by deep sea export. With export to the deep sea included in the model, the spatial ranges of the heavier congener are similar to those of the lighter ones, while the intermediate congeners 101 and 153 have the highest potential for long-range transport. CONCLUSIONS: Transfer to the deep ocean affects the mass balance and the potential for LRT of highly hydrophobic chemicals and should be included in multimedia fate models containing a compartment for ocean water.     

Reducing dust exposure in indoor climbing gyms

As users of indoor climbing gyms are exposed to high concentrations (PM(10) up to 4000 μg m(-3); PM(2.5) up to 500 μg m(-3)) of hydrated magnesium carbonate hydroxide (magnesia alba), reduction strategies have to be developed. In the present paper, the influence of the use of different kinds of magnesia alba on dust concentrations is investigated. Mass concentrations, number concentrations and size distributions of particles in indoor climbing gyms were determined with an optical particle counter, a synchronized, hybrid ambient real-time particulate monitor and an electrical aerosol spectrometer. PM(10) obtained with these three different techniques generally agreed within 25%. Seven different situations of magnesia alba usage were studied under controlled climbing activities. The use of a suspension of magnesia alba in ethanol (liquid chalk) leads to similar low mass concentrations as the prohibition of magnesia alba. Thus, liquid chalk appears to be a low-budget option to reduce dust concentrations. Magnesia alba pressed into blocks, used as powder or sieved to 2-4 mm diameter, does not lead to significant reduction of the dust concentrations. The same is true for chalk balls (powder enclosed in a sack of porous mesh material). The promotion of this kind of magnesia alba as a means of exposure reduction (as seen in many climbing gyms) is not supported by our results. Particle number concentrations are not influenced by the different kinds of magnesia alba used. The particle size distributions show that the use of magnesia alba predominantly leads to emission of particles with diameters above 1 μm.     

How do different process options and evaluation settings affect economic and environmental assessments? A case study on methyl methacrylate (MMA) production processes

We present an investigation on how economic and environmental assessment results change when different process options or evaluation settings are considered. As the main case study the production technology of methyl methacrylate (MMA) is investigated. Six commercial processes using different reaction routes are modelled and evaluated with respect to their economic and environmental performance. On these six base case models different process options and evaluation settings are considered and the resulting impacts on the assessment results are quantified. Major findings of the study are that the more decision-variables become fixed, the smaller becomes the impact of the decisions still to be taken—but not only with respect to the economic performance but also with regard to the environmental assessment result. Along the process development steps the potential impacts on the economic and environmental performance decrease to the same degree. The results obtained for the evaluation settings do not show such a systematic pattern as those for the process options. This finding indicates that decision makers face many options in the economic and especially the environmental assessment of chemical processes which might lead to quite different magnitudes in variability due to either the choice of method or the choice of method parameters. This paper demonstrates that the resulting variability might be crucial with respect to the decision making outcome.     

New concepts in product use for sustainable consumption

The paper presents the main results of a recent study on sustainable use of products. It reveals that strategies of use intensification and useful life extension are environmentally beneficial. Moreover, analysis of household washing and winter sports illustrated that successful implementation of sustainable use patterns occurs as a shift of use regimes. Such regimes are the result of a complex interplay of supply and demand side factors, relationship among actors, technical trajectories, organisational structures etc. One decisive factor is the presence of strategic players, so called “change agents”. In addition, four user types have been identified in a representative survey (“ownership-oriented”, “open-minded”, “consumption-oriented”, “low interest”) to which use intensification and useful life extension can be targeted.     

Effect of host and larval frass volatiles on behavioural response of the old house borer,Hylotrupes bajulus (L.) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), in a wind tunnel bioassay

Summary. In a wind tunnel bioassay the effect of three concentrations of natural extracts of (1) Scots pine wood, Pinus sylvestris, and (2) larval frass on the behavioural response of unmated females and males of the old house borer, Hylotrupes bajulus, was tested and compared to the behavioural effects of the male-produced sex pheromone (3R)-3-hydroxy-2-hexanone. The influence on the behaviour of both sexes was found to be equally significant for the two higher concentrated hexane extracts of wood and larval frass. Therefore several synthetic monoterpenes present in the extracts and ethanol were tested at the two higher concentrations (1:100, 1:1000 vol/vol). Among the higher concentrated monoterpenoid hydrocarbons [(+)-α-pinene, (+)-β-pinene, (+)-limonene], only α-pinene increased the activity, orientation towards scent source and interest towards conspecifics. The tests with higher concentrated ethanol and the oxygenated monoterpenes [(-)-verbenone, (-)-trans-pinocarveol, (+)-terpinen-4-ol, (+)-α-terpineol, (-)-myrtenol] revealed that verbenone is the most effective stimulant for the females, followed by trans-pinocarveol, terpinen-4-ol and α-terpineol. For males, terpinen-4-ol was the only mediator significantly inducing attraction and orientation towards the scent source combined with an interest in conspecifics apparent by fighting or courtship behaviour. Males did not respond to verbenone which is a main compound of larval frass. Myrtenol and ethanol were ineffective in both sexes. In fact behavioural observations suggest that the beetles were repelled by the high dose of myrtenol. Using the ten-fold lower dose of the synthetic monoterpenes (1:1000 vol/vol), all semiochemicals except myrtenol lost activity. Myrtenol, however, induced behavioural responses, like increased activity and orientation towards scent source, only at the low concentration. Based on the results, primary attraction of unmated old house borer is probably mediated by monoterpenes of coniferous wood, while secondary attraction to infested wood would occur in response to volatiles of larval frass. Received 5 May 1999; accepted 30 September 1999