Applying a continuous improvement methodology to lockheed's environmental programs

The number of environmental statutes has increased precipitously over the last twenty years. Regulations to implement these statutes went from four thousand pages in 1978 to over twelve thousand pages in 1992. With the many requirements of the regulatory programs comes a high risk of failure. Applying the continuous improvement principles and tools presented in this article has helped Lockheed meet this challenge by providing a focus and balance in its environmental programs.     

Trace-element speciation and partitioning in environmental geochemistry and health

Establishment of the chemical form and associations of trace elements is important in the scientific and medical fields related to environmental geochemistry and health. Fundamental understanding of trace-element behaviour, the realistic formulation of historical perspectives of trace-element contamination, an assessment of environmental transformation processes and a thorough appraisal of environment-related ill health and disease all depend on knowledge of the chemical speciation and partitioning of trace elements. These topics and the development of analytical speciation techniques and procedures are discussed with reference to trace-element studies in the Department of Forensic Medicine and Science, University of Glasgow, on lacustrine sediments and water, the atmosphere, soil and street dirt of an urban environment and human biological fluids.     

Thermal Inactivation of Human Norovirus Surrogates

We investigated the thermal inactivation profiles of murine norovirus (MNV), Hepatitis A virus (HAV), and feline calicivirus (FCV), which are surrogates for the study of human noroviruses. Thermal inactivation of MNV and FCV were evaluated at 37, 50, and 60°C and HAV at 37, 50, 60, and 70°C. All viral surrogates were relatively stable at 37°C. MNV and FCV decimal reduction times (D-values) at 50°C were statistically significantly different (P < 0.05) with MNV being more stable. Both surrogates had comparable, low D-values at 60°C. HAV had significantly higher (P < 0.05) D-values than both MNV and FCV at 50 and 60°C. Overall, the infectivity assay results indicate that HAV is resistant to thermal inactivation while MNV is moderately resistant and FCV is least resistant.     

Analysis of 4-nonylphenols, phthalates, and polychlorinated biphenyls in soils and biosolids

When sewage sludge is added to agricultural land, organic chemicals contaminants are also added. The fate of these chemicals, particularly those shown to have oestrogenic potential, has received much research and regulatory interest in recent years. A method was developed for the analysis of 4-nonylphenols, phthalates, and PCB congeners in soils, mesophilic anaerobially digested dewatered (MADD) sewage sludge, and MADD sludge-amended soil. After Soxhlet-extraction, the 4-nonylphenols and phthalates were separated from the PCBs on an isolute cyanopropyl SPE cartridge and analysed by GC-MS directly. The PCBs were acid treated on a Bakerbond PCB-A cartridge, then passed through a gel filtration column of Biobeads SX-3 resin, before GC-MS analysis. The method was successfully validated and then used for routine analysis, where average recoveries of the surrogate standards were 83+/-17% (4-n-heptylphenol), 96+/-11% (dimethyl-tere-phthalate), 101+/-12% (dibenzyl-phthalate), and 79+/-13% (PCBs 6, 54, 104, 155, and 198).     

Chemical forms and extractability of iron in sediments of three contrasting lakes of China and UK

IntroductionAsanessentialelementforalgalgrowth ,ironplaysanimportantroleintheeutrophicationoflakesandotherwaters .Theroleofironinalgalgrowthmainlyliesinitsphysiologicalfunctionssuchaselectrontransport,oxygentransportorrespirationandfermentation (APHA ,1 975;Trudinger,1 979;Zhou ,1 998a) .Usually,ironispresentinenvironmentinrelativelyhighconcentrations .Incrustalabundance,ironranksfourthinnumber,onlybehindoxygen ,siliconandaluminium(Wedepohl,1 971 ) .However,ironisrelatively“scarce”intheb…     

Thriving at work: Toward its measurement,construct validation,and theoretical refinement

Thriving is defined as the psychological state in which individuals experience both a sense of vitality and learning. We developed and validated a measure of the construct of thriving at work. Additionally, we theoretically refined the construct by linking it to key outcomes, such as job performance, and by examining its contextual embeddedness. In Study 1, we conducted second‐order confirmatory factor analyses in two samples, demonstrating initial support for the two‐dimensional structure of thriving. We provided evidence for the convergent and discriminant validity of thriving in relation to theoretically related constructs, such as positive and negative affects, learning and performance goal orientations, proactive personality, and core self‐evaluations. In Study 2, across two different samples, we further assessed construct validity by establishing a relationship between thriving and career development initiative, burnout, health, and individual job performance, explaining significant variance beyond traditional attitudinal predictors, such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Finally, in Study 3, we focused on understanding the contextual embeddedness of thriving. We found differences in reports of thriving across two points in time, when substantial changes are occurring in peoples' work lives and across contexts (i.e., work and non‐work). Implications for theory and practice, as well as directions for future research, are discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.