Changing attitudes about change: longitudinal effects of transformational leader behavior on employee cynicism about organizational change

Using longitudinal data collected in two waves, nine months apart, from 372 employees, this research is an empirical assessment of individual‐level change within an organizational setting. Specifically, strategies used by change implementers were operationalized as six transformational leader behaviors, and then hypothesized to influence employees' cynicism about organizational change (CAOC). A combination of social learning theory, and communication research served as the theoretical rationale to explain transformational leadership's hypothesized effects. As posited, transformational leader behaviors (TLB) generally were associated with lower employee CAOC. Further, the direction of causality was consistent in suggesting that the TLB reduced employee CAOC. A discussion concerning the ethical use of TLBs and recommendations for future research are provided. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

State wetlands and riparian area protection programs

The protection of wetlands and riparian areas has emerged as an important environmental planning issue. In the United States, several federal and state laws have been enacted to protect wetlands and riparian areas. Specifically, the federal Clean Water Act includes protection requirements in Sections 301 and 303 for state water quality standards, Section 401 for state certification of federal actions (projects, permits, and licenses), and Section 404 for dredge and fill permits. The Section 401 water quality state certification element has been called the “sleeping giant” of wetlands protection because it empowers state officials to veto or condition federally permitted or licensed activities that do not comply with state water quality standards. State officials have used this power infrequently. The purpose of this research was to analyze the effectiveness of state wetland and riparian programs. Contacts were established with officials in each state and in the national and regional offices of key federal agencies. Based on interviews and on a review of federal and state laws, state program effectiveness was analyzed. From this analysis, several problems and opportunities facing state wetland protection efforts are presented.     

Estimating the volatility of mining projects considering price and operating cost uncertainties

In the real option pricing model of valuation and decision making, the estimation of future volatility is a key input parameter. For traded commodities or financial assets, past volatility is used as a proxy for predictions. But, for projects, this approach is not feasible because, in most cases, historical data of traded projects are not available. As an alternate solution, it is usually assumed that project volatility is equal to that of commodity price. In order to investigate this assumption, we estimate the project volatility considering that both commodity price and operating cost evolve as a geometric Brownian motion (GBM). Results of a hypothetical gold mining project indicate that project volatility is higher than that of commodity price and it only drops to price volatility under very unrealistic industry conditions, such as very high prices or very low production costs. In addition, we find that project volatility is independent of production capacity and taxation, but depends on increments in price and cost, as well as strongly on their degree of correlation.     

Advances in pollination ecology from tropical plantation crops

Although ecologists traditionally focus on natural ecosystems, there is growing awareness that mixed landscapes of managed and unmanaged systems provide a research environment for understanding basic ecological relationships on a large scale. Here, we show how tropical agroforestry systems can be used to develop ideas about the mechanisms that influence species diversity and subsequent biotic interactions at different spatial scales. Our focus is on tropical plantation crops, mainly coffee and cacao, and their pollinators, which are of basic ecological interest as partners in an important mutualistic interaction. We review how insect-mediated pollination services depend on local agroforest and natural habitats in surrounding landscapes. Further, we evaluate the functional significance of pollinator diversity and the explanatory value of species traits, and we provide an intercontinental comparison of pollinator assemblages. We found that optimal pollination success might be best understood as a consequence of niche complementarities among pollinators in landscapes harboring various species. We further show that small cavity-nesting bees and small generalist beetles were especially affected by isolation from forest and that larger-bodied insects in the same landscapes were not similarly affected. We suggest that mixed tropical landscapes with agroforestry systems have great potential for future research on the interactions between plants and pollinators.     

Comprehensive study on dioxin contents in binder and anti-caking agent feed additives

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) were determined in some additives widely employed as binder and anti-caking agents in feedstuffs, such as kaolin, bentonite, zeolite, etc. with an special attention on sepiolite samples. Owing to their physico-chemical properties, the little information of these materials reported in the literature, the variability of PCDDs/PCDFs found in a preliminary evaluation and the absence of reference materials highlighted further research needed. Therefore, an extensive study on the analytical procedures based on the classical methods was performed with sepiolite samples. The study includes evaluation of reproducibility and repeatibility. To this end, a series of intra-day and nine inter-day analysis were made. The methodolgy was also assessed against the sample size and series of 12.5, 25, 37.5 and 50 g were analyzed. In all cases, the results confirmed good correlation with the parameters evaluated.     

泥炭对甲苯的吸附-解吸行为研究

用热处理方法对泥炭进行活化改性,探讨了对甲苯的吸附性能及影响因素,并研究了甲苯在泥炭上的吸附/解吸行为。结果表明,粒径在0.6～1 mm之间的泥炭在160℃热处理5 h,在pH为7的条件下对甲苯有良好的吸附效果,对甲苯的吸附量为0.32 mg/g。泥炭对甲苯的吸附在20 min内基本达到平衡,可用二级吸附速率方程进行拟合。甲苯在泥炭上的吸附和解吸均呈现明显的非线性,用Langmuir模型能较好地描述,泥炭对甲苯的饱和吸附量为0.939 mg/g。甲苯在泥炭上的平均解吸率为6.393%,并且出现了滞后现象,表明苯系物与泥炭有较强的结合能力。研究结果为应用泥炭作为PRB装填介质进行原位修复甲苯污染的地下水提供了理论依据。     

Leaf litter leachates have the potential to increase lifespan, body size, and offspring numbers in a clone of Moina macrocopa

Leaf litter processing is one major pathway of the global organic carbon cycle. During this process, a variety of small reactive organic compounds are released and transported to the aquatic environment, and may directly impact aquatic organisms as natural xenobiotics. We hypothesize that different forest stockings produce different leachate qualities, which in turn, stress the aquatic communities and, eventually, separate sensitive from tolerant species. Particularly, leachates from coniferous trees are suspected to have strongly adverse impacts on sensitive species. We exposed individuals of a clone of the model organism, Moina macrocopa, to comparable concentrations (approximately 2 mM) of litter leachates of Norway spruce, Picea abies, Colorado blue spruce, Picea pungens, black poplar, Populus nigra, and sessile oak, Quercus petraea. The animals were fed ad libitum. The following life trait variables were recorded: growth, lifespan, and lifetime offspring. To identify, whether or not exposure to litter leachates provokes an internal oxidative stress in the exposed animals we measured the superoxide anion radical scavenging capacity via photoluminescence. Except of P. abies, exposure to the leachates reduced this antioxidant capacity by approximately 50%. Leachate exposures, except that of Quercus, increased body size and extended lifespan; furthermore, particularly the leachates of both Picea species significantly increased the offspring numbers. This unexpected behavior of exposed Moina may be based on food supplements (e.g., high carbohydrate contents) in the leachates or on yet to be identified regulatory pathways of energy allocation. Overall, our results suggest that the potentially adverse effects of litter leachates can be overruled by either bacterial-growth supporting fractions in the leachates or an internal compensation mechanism in the Moina individuals.     

Techno-economic-environmental characteristics of polyurethane composite to thermal insulation for building with flame resistance: corroborative effect recycled of PVC and aluminum oxide

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - In this article, we present the results of the composite development obtained from polyurethane (PU), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and aluminum...