The paradox of self‐management: individual and group autonomy in work groups

This study explores how autonomy at the individual and the group levels directly affect group cohesiveness, and how they indirectly influence group effectiveness. Hypotheses suggesting that individual and group autonomy will be oppositely related to cohesiveness are supported in data collected from a large sample of work groups in two separate organizations. Also supported are hypotheses suggesting a group cohesiveness/group performance orientation interaction as a mediator of the relationships between autonomy at both levels and group effectiveness. The findings highlight the importance of considering autonomy at both individual and group levels simultaneously when designing work groups that incorporate autonomy. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Direct degradation of methylene blue by unactivated peroxymonosulfate: reaction parameters,kinetics, and mechanism

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are efficient methods for water purification. However, there are few studies on using peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to...     

Fluxes of NO3-, NH4+, NO,NO2, and N2O in an Old Danish Beech Forest

The fluxes of the major nitrogen compounds havebeen investigated in many ecosystem studies over the world.However, only in few studies has attention been drawn to theimportance of the fluxes of minor gaseous nitrogen compoundsto complete the nitrogen cycle. In Denmark a detailed study onthe nitrogen cycle in an old beech forest has been implementedin 1997 at Gyrstinge near Sorø, Zealand. The study includesthe fluxes of the gases NO, N₂O and water mediatedtransport of NO₃ ^- and NH₄ ⁺. Measurementsof the fluxes of the gaseous compounds are performed withmicro-meteorological methods (eddy-correlation and gradient)and with chambers. Water mediated fluxes encompass rain,throughfall, stem-flow and leaching from the root zone. Thehydrological model is verified by TDR measurements. The findings show that the total water mediated N input tothe forest floor with throughfall and stemflow was 25.6 kg Nha^-1 yr ^-1, and open field wet deposition withprecipitation was 19.0 kg N ha^-1 yr ^-1. The internalcycling of N in the ecosystem measured as turnover oflitterfall and plant uptake was 100 kg N ha^-1 yr ^-1and 14 kg N ha^-1 yr ^-1, respectively. The fluxes ofthe gaseous N compounds NO and N₂O were of minorimportance for the total N turnover in the forest, NO_xemission being <1 kg N ha^-1 yr ^-1 and N₂Oemission from the soil being 0.5 kg N ha^-1 yr ^-1 withno significant difference between wet and dry soils.Concentrations of NO₃ ^- and NH₄ ⁺ in thesoil solution beneath the rooting zone are very small andconsequently the N leaching is almost negligible. It isconcluded that the nitrogen mass balance of this old beechforest ecosystem mainly is controlled by the input by dry andwet deposition and a large internal N cycle with a fast litterturnover. The nitrogen input tothe forest ecosystem which currently exceeds the critical loadby 5 kg N ha^-1 yr ^-1is mainly accumulated in the soil and no significant nitrateleaching is occurring.     

Predicting the mating system from phenotypic correlations between life-history and sperm quality traits in the Alpine whitefish <Emphasis Type="Italic">Coregonus zugensis</Emphasis>

The mating behavior and reproductive strategies of Alpine whitefish like Coregonus zugensis (Nüsslin) are poorly understood, probably because they spawn in deep water where direct observations are difficult. In this study, we interpret life-history and sperm quality traits of fish that we caught from their spawning place. We found that males invest heavily into gonadal tissue (up to 5.6% of their body weight), which is, in comparison to other fish, consistent with external fertilization, distinct pairing and moderate to high communal spawning, or no pairing and low to moderate communal spawning. Sperm competition theory and recent experimental studies on other salmonids predict that males optimize ejaculate characteristics in relation to the costs of sperm and the level of competition they have to expect: dominant males are predicted to invest less into ejaculate quality and to have slower spermatozoa than subdominant males. We found that spermatozoa of older males are slower than those of younger males. Moreover, older males have larger breeding tubercles, a secondary sexual trait that has, in some previous studies, been found to be linked to good condition and to good genetic quality. Our results suggest that C. zugensis has age-linked reproductive strategies, that multimale spawning is common, i.e., that sperm competition plays a significant role, and that older males are on average dominant over younger males at the spawning place.     

Electron-screening effects on fusion reactions

It is in the nature of astrophysics that many of the processes and most of the objects one tries to understand are physically inaccessible. Thus, it is important that those aspects that can be studied in the laboratory be rather well understood. The electron-screening effect on fusion reactions addresses one such aspect: the observed effect under laboratory conditions is presently not understood.     

Impact of chronic ozone on soybean growth and biomass partitioning

This study evaluated yield production and changes in the patterns of functional growth analysis parameters of greenhouse-grown soybeans exposed to low concentrations of ozone (O₃). Plants were exposed over a 113-day interval for 341 h to four concentrations of O₃ (2.0, 4.6, 7.0 and 9.7 pphm O₃) on an intermittent basis. Destructive harvests were periodically taken from all treatments to monitor plant response and to provide the basis for growth analysis techniques. Relative to the ambient greenhouse air control treatment (2.0 pphm O₃), 7.0 and 9.7 pphm O₃ typically reduced plant biomass accumulation, leaf area and expansion, relative growth rate, unit leaf rate, seeds per plant (35% reduction), and other yield components; however, the growth and yield parameters of the 4.6 pphm O₃ treatment were often stimulated. With this one exception, O₃ reduced soybean vegetative growth and altered the pattern of biomass partitioning. As a consequence, the soybean yields were also reduced.