Workplace offense and victims' reactions: the effects of victim‐offender (dis)similarity,offense‐type,and cultural differences

This study examined the effects of workplace offenders' characteristics and offense‐type on victims' reactions. Responses from 352 employed graduate students in the U.S. and South Korea to a hypothetical offense incident revealed that employees from the U.S. and Korea differ in their expressed desirability of avoiding, seeking revenge against, and reconciling with an offending coworker depending on the offenders' similarity/dissimilarity to the victim and on the type of offense. As expected, Koreans (but not U.S. Americans) were more likely to avoid and to seek revenge on a coworker whose offensive remark was group‐ rather than personally‐directed. In addition, Koreans were most motivated to reconcile when an offensive remark came from a similar rather than dissimilar coworker and when the offense targeted them personally (not their group). However, U.S. Americans were most motivated to reconcile when an offensive remark came from a similar rather than dissimilar other and when the offense targeted their group (not them personally). Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seeking a balance: a procedure-based evaluation of localized approaches for brownfield management in the USA

Brownfield programs in the USA now use bottom–up approaches where the principle agent is no longer federal but local government. Although the approaches by federal government to manage national priority sites are well established, clear approaches for local brownfields and to engage nearby communities are difficult to find. This study sought to determine whether the current approaches adopted by local municipalities are effective and identify the challenges experienced to develop guidelines tailored to meet the needs of local projects. The results revealed that the effectiveness of local brownfield programs is often challenged by the existing normative assessment procedure utilized by the federal government. Experts’ interviews provided evidence that legislation set up to eliminate contamination is actually hurting efforts to reuse lightly polluted local sites. The challenges were associated with outreach activities, particularly those involving reluctant property owners and developers. Community residents had only a minimal opportunity to participate in decision-making.     

Managing stormwater for urban sustainability: an evaluation of local comprehensive plans in the Chesapeake Bay watershed region

This study uses a developed plan coding protocol in evaluating the quality of 76 comprehensive plans to examine whether local comprehensive plans have adequately integrated the concepts of sustainable stormwater management. The Chesapeake Bay watershed was chosen for the investigation because degraded stormwater runoff from nearby urban and suburban jurisdictions have critically polluted the watershed. The findings indicate that the majority of local governments have not sufficiently incorporated the sustainable stormwater management principles into their comprehensive plans. Five plan components (factual basis, goals and objectives, inter-organizational cooperation, policies, tools and strategies, and implementation) appear weak in realizing the concepts. The current study concludes by providing policy implications and recommendations to increase awareness and understanding of sustainable stormwater management concepts and to produce better implementation plans that integrate stormwater, ecosystem, and environmental planning comprehensively.     

Evaluating the impact of green roof evapotranspiration on annual building energy performance

The performance of the building envelope predominantly determines the ultimate energy performance throughout the lifecycle of a building. A sustainable alternative to enhance roof performance while limiting heat flux through a roof is integrating passive techniques such as green roof. Particularly, green roof performance is sensitive to local climate. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the evapotranspiration effect of an extensive green roof on annual energy consumption of an office building in relation to the humid continental climate of Republic of Korea. The dynamic behavior of green roof and building energy performance were investigated through a parametric simulation method using green roof module in EnergyPlus coupled with jEPlus. Structural data of the reference building and ASHARE 90.1-2007 operational schedules were used as inputs for baseline building model while inputs for the green roof module were based on experimental data sets. Due to the influence of the humid conditions and local wind current on the evapotranspiration process, it was generally found that high leaf area index (LAI) reduced cooling energy demand and somewhat reduced heating energy demand as well; corresponding to the highest daily evapotranspiration fluxes of 4.79 mm day^?1 in summer and 1.80 mm day^?1 in winter. Increasing LAI from 20% to 100% cover increased evapotranspiration flux by 10.4% in summer and 80.2% in winter. Thus to minimize energy losses in winter, foliage cover must be carefully considered. Within limitations specified, the overall annual building energy consumption deceased by 90.9 GJ (3.7%).     

The bacterium<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Xenorhabdus nematophila</Emphasis> inhibits phospholipases A<Subscript>2</Subscript> from insect,prokaryote, and vertebrate sources

The bacterium, Xenorhabdus nematophila, is a virulent insect pathogen. Part of its pathogenicity is due to impairing cellular immunity by blocking biosynthesis of eicosanoids, the major recognized signal transduction system in insect cellular immunity. X. nematophila inhibits the first step in eicosanoid biosynthesis, phospholipase A₂ (PLA₂). Here we report that the bacterium inhibits PLA₂ from two insect immune tissues, hemocytes and fat body, as well as PLA₂s selected to represent a wide range of organisms, including prokaryotes, insects, reptiles, and mammals. Our finding on a bacterial inhibitor of PLA₂ activity contributes new insight into the chemical ecology of microbe–host interactions, which usually involve actions rather than inhibitors of PLA₂s.     

Naval derusting wastewater containing high concentration of iron, treated in UV photo-Fenton-like oxidation

The UV photooxidation with Fe(III) and H2O2 was employed to treat a naval derusting wastewater, which contains the high COD (chemical oxygen demand) and various metal concentrations exceptionally with high concentrations of citric acid and iron. Because of its iron containment, the Fenton-like reaction automatically took place with the added amount of H2O2. The decomposition rate was found in a sequence of: UV/H2O2/Fe(III) > UV/H2O2 > Fe(II)/H2O2. Two H2O2 injection methods, single and multiple points, were evaluated. The multiple-point H2O2 injection was more e cient to decompose the citric acid. The decomposition of the synthetic citric acid and the real derusting citric acid wastewater was also compared. The 93% COD reduction of the derusting wastewater was achieved using the UV/H2O2/Fe(III) treatment.     

Airborne bioaerosols and their impact on human health

Bioaerosols consist of aerosols originated biologically such as metabolites, toxins, or fragments of microorganisms that are present ubiquitously in the environment. International interests in bioaerosols have increased rapidly to broaden the pool of knowledge on their identification,quantification, distribution, and health impacts(e.g., infectious and respiratory diseases,allergies, and cancer). However, risk assessment of bioaerosols based on conventional culture methods has been hampered further by several factors such as:(1) the complexity of microorganisms or derivatives to be investigated;(2) the purpose, techniques, and locations of sampling; and(3) the lack of valid quantitative criteria(e.g., exposure standards and dose/effect relationships). Although exposure to some microbes is considered to be beneficial for health,more research is needed to properly assess their potential health hazards including inter-individual susceptibility, interactions with non-biological agents, and many proven/unproven health effects(e.g., atopy and atopic diseases).     

Mercury in air in an area impacted by strong industrial activities

The concentrations of total gaseous mercury (TGM) and its relevant environmental parameters were measured at a highly industrialized area in the Ban Wall industrial complex (BWIC) in An San city, Korea from March to May 2005. The mean concentrations of Hg measured during the entire study period were computed to be 6.32 ± 8.56 ng m⁻³ (range of 2.32–181 ng m⁻³; N = 1160). Due to the effects of strong man-made activities, the significantly high Hg concentration levels (e.g., at or above 10 ng m⁻³) comprised about 7.5% of all data with the mean of 21.8 ± 26.3 ng m⁻³ (N = 87). By separating the data into daytime and nighttime periods, the Hg values exhibited a notable daytime enhancement possibly due to strong man-made activities during working hours. The results of the correlation analysis indicated the possible relationship between the Hg concentration and the temperature as well as several pollutant species (e.g., NO₂ and NO_x). Evaluation of the Hg data in relation with the air mass transport pattern confirms that the Hg concentration levels in this industrial area are affected most eminently by local, rather than distant, pollution sources.     

Distribution and variability of redox zones controlling spatial variability of arsenic in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, southeastern Arkansas

Twenty one of 118 irrigation water wells in the shallow (25-30 m thick) Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer in the Bayou Bartholomew watershed, southeastern Arkansas had arsenic (As) concentrations (<0.5 to 77 microg/L) exceeding 10 microg/L. Sediment and groundwater samples were collected and analyzed from the sites of the highest, median, and lowest concentrations of As in groundwater in the alluvial aquifers located at Jefferson County, Arkansas. A traditional five-step sequential extraction was performed to differentiate the exchangeable, carbonate, amorphous Fe and Mn oxide, organic, and hot HNO(3)-leachable fraction of As and other compounds in sediments. The Chao reagent (0.25 M hydroxylamine hydrochloride in 0.25 M HCl) removes amorphous Fe and Mn oxides and oxyhydroxides (present as coatings on grains and amorphous minerals) by reductive dissolution and is a measure of reducible Fe and Mn in sediments. The hot HNO(3) extraction removes mostly crystalline metal oxides and all other labile forms of As. Significant total As (20%) is complexed with amorphous Fe and Mn oxides in sediments. Arsenic abundance is not significant in carbonates or organic matter. Significant (40-70 microg/kg) exchangeable As is only present at shallow depth (0-1 m below ground surface). Arsenic is positively correlated to Fe extracted by Chao reagent (r=0.83) and hot HNO(3) (r=0.85). Arsenic extracted by Chao reagent decreases significantly with depth as compared to As extracted by hot HNO(3). Fe (II)/Fe (the ratio of Fe concentration in the extracts of Chao reagent and hot HNO(3)) is positively correlated (r=0.76) to As extracted from Chao reagent. Although Fe (II)/Fe increases with depth, the relative abundance of reducible Fe decreases noticeably with depth. The amount of reducible Fe, as well as As complexed to amorphous Fe and Mn oxides and oxyhydroxides decreases with depth. Possible explanations for the decrease in reducible Fe and its complexed As with depth include historic flushing of As and Fe from hydrous ferric oxides (HFO) by microbially-mediated reductive dissolution and aging of HFO to crystalline phases. Hydrogeochemical data suggests that the groundwater in the area falls in the mildly reducing (suboxic) to relatively highly reducing (anoxic) zone, and points to reductive dissolution of HFO as the dominant As release mechanism. Spatial variability of gypsum solubility and simultaneous SO(4)(2-) reduction with co-precipitation of As and sulfide is an important limiting process controlling the concentration of As in groundwater in the area.     

Mathematical description, optimization and prediction of synergistic interaction of fluoride and xylitol

The potential ability of various physical or chemical agents to enhance their effect when they are applied simultaneously with each other is well-known. The purpose of this study was to adjust a simple mathematical model to describe, optimize and predict a synergistic interaction between fluoride and xylitol on acid production by mutans streptococci. The model suggests that the synergism is caused by the additional effective damage arising from an interaction of sublesions induced by each agent. These sublesions are considered to be ineffective when each agent is used individually. The predictions of the model were verified by comparison with experimental data published by other researchers. It was shown that the model describes the experimental data, predicts the greatest value of the synergistic effect and the condition under which it can be achieved. The synergistic effect appeared to decline with any deviation from the optimal value of the ratio of effective damages produced by each agent alone.