Psychosocial and ergonomic survey of office and field jobs in a utility company

Introduction. The effect of different kinds of work on the psychosocial assessment of workers under the same management and organizational environment is investigated. Methods. A voluntary assessment in a utility company was carried out using the short version of the Copenhagen psychosocial questionnaire (CoPsoQ) on two occasions, 1.5 years apart. Initially, 25 office workers (11 men and 14 women) participated, while 14 of those workers (8 women and 6 men) participated in the second assessment together with 32 field workers. The sewage, water treatment and maintenance workers, totaling 32 men, also participated in a field ergonomics assessment using the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries field work ergonomic checklist. Results. The longitudinal outlook was fairly stable, with sustained severe scores in many CoPsoQ subscales and intensification of severity of workers’ control over work and esteem for men. A significantly higher esteem score resulted for field rather than office workers. Workers subjected to foul odors showed similar severity of psychosocial factors. Discussion. For most psychosocial dimensions, the organizational design and management system in place, as well as the overall cultural environment in which it operates, create a much stronger and more decisive impact than job-specific factors.     

Volatile aldehydes in libraries and archives

Volatile aldehydes are produced during degradation of paper-based materials. This may result in their accumulation in archival and library repositories. However, no systematic study has been performed so far. In the frame of this study, passive sampling was carried out at ten locations in four libraries and archives. Despite the very variable sampling locations, no major differences were found, although air-filtered repositories were found to have lower concentrations while a non-ventilated newspaper repository exhibited the highest concentrations of volatile aldehydes (formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, furfural and hexanal). Five employees in one institution were also provided with personal passive samplers to investigate employees’ exposure to volatile aldehydes. All values were lower than the presently valid exposure limits.The concentration of volatile aldehydes, acetic acid, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in general was also compared with that of outdoor-generated pollutants. It was evident that inside the repository and particularly inside archival boxes, the concentration of VOCs and acetic acid was much higher than the concentration of outdoor-generated pollutants, which are otherwise more routinely studied in connection with heritage materials. This indicates that further work on the pro-degradative effect of VOCs on heritage materials is necessary and that monitoring of VOCs in heritage institutions should become more widespread.     

Humic substances formation during poultry litter composting and its influence on the structural characteristics of the compost

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - This study aimed to elucidate the formation process of humic substances (HS) during poultry litter (PL) composting and its influence on the...     

The relationship between country and individual household wealth and climate change concern: the mediating role of control

The relationship between wealth and climate change concern has been a focus of several studies. In this article, we hypothesize that richer households (and countries) are less concerned about climate change because wealth provides a buffer against some of the related risks. This leads people in wealthier countries and households to perceive a greater sense of control over climate change impacts, which in turn results in lower levels of concern. We tested this hypothesis using a unique household survey encompassing 11 OECD countries and over 10,000 households and applying mixed multi-level regression models. Our results confirmed a statistically significant negative relationship between country and household wealth and individuals’ perceptions of the seriousness of climate change. This study contributes to current literature by showing that this relationship is mediated through sense of control, measured at the country level by the country’s readiness index and at the individual household level by the extent of adoption of energy efficiency improvements. These findings raise the question of how best to incentivize action on climate change amongst those with the ability—but not necessarily the motivation—to respond.

     

Biological activities of the essential oil from the leaves of Lantana montevidensis (Spreng) Briq. in mice

Environment, Development and Sustainability - This work aimed to analyze the chemical composition and evaluate the anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive properties of the essential oil obtained...     

A meta-analytic test of the differential pathways linking ethical leadership to normative conduct

We test how ethical leadership influences normatively (in)appropriate work behavior through distinct mediating pathways, including one's exchange relationship with the leader, ethical culture, and identification with the organization. Our study also controls for transformational leadership as a predictor and trust in leader as a nonhypothesized alternative mechanism. We test our hypotheses using meta-analytic structural equation modeling based on our meta-analysis of 301 independent samples (N = 103,354) and relevant meta-analytic correlations reported in previous research. Supporting our prediction, we found that leader–member exchange, which represents social exchange theory, was the most potent mechanism that accounts for the positive relationship between ethical leadership and task performance. In contrast, ethical culture, which assesses a social learning mechanism, is the strongest predictor of counterproductive behavior. In addition, all three hypothesized mediators each contribute to understanding the positive relationship between ethical leadership and organizational citizenship behavior, although the indirect effect via organizational identification was the weakest. The findings hold after controlling for job satisfaction as another mediator parallel to the theoretical ones. Our results contribute to a precise theory about ethical leadership by differentiating the processes through which it affects employee behavior.     

Influence of support material on the immobilization of biomass for the degradation of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate in anaerobic reactors

Two horizontal-flow anaerobic immobilized biomass reactors (HAIB) were used to study the degradation of the LAS surfactant: one filled with charcoal (HAIB1) and the other with a mixed bed of expanded clay and polyurethane foam (HAIB2). The reactors were fed with synthetic substrate supplemented with 14 mg l(-1)of LAS, kept at 30+/-2 degrees C and operated with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 12h. The surfactant was quantified by HPLC. Spatial variation analyses were done to quantify organic matter and LAS consumption along the reactor length. The presence of the surfactant in the load did not affect the removal of organic matter (COD), which was close to 90% in both reactors for an influent COD of 550 mg l(-1). The results of a mass balance indicated that 28% of all LAS added to HAIB1 was removed by degradation. HAIB2 presented 27% degradation. Molecular biology techniques revealed microorganisms belonging the uncultured Holophaga sp., uncultured delta Proteobacterium, uncultured Verrucomicrobium sp., Bacteroides sp. and uncultured gamma Proteobacterium sp. The reactor with biomass immobilized on charcoal presented lower adsorption and a higher kinetic degradation coefficient. So, it was the most suitable support for LAS anaerobic treatment.     

Testing the capacity of clothing to act as a vector for non-native seed in protected areas

Although humans are a major mechanism for short and long distance seed dispersal, there is limited research testing clothing as a vector. The effect of different types of material (sports vs hiking socks), or different items of clothing (boots, socks, laces vs legs) or the same item (socks) worn in different places on seed composition were assessed in Kosciuszko National Park, Australia. Data was analyzed using Repeated Measures ANOVA, independent and paired t-tests, Multi-dimensional Scaling Ordinations and Analysis of Similarity. A total of 24,776 seeds from 70 taxa were collected from the 207 pieces of clothing sampled, with seed identified from 31 native and 19 non-native species. Socks worn off-track collected more native seeds while those worn on roadsides collected more non-native seeds. Sports socks collected a greater diversity of seeds and more native seeds than hiking socks. Boots, uncovered socks and laces collect more seeds than covered socks and laces, resulting in 17% fewer seeds collected when wearing trousers. With seeds from over 179 species (134 recognized weeds) collected on clothing in this, and nine other studies, it is clear that clothing contributes to unintended human mediated seed dispersal, including for many invasive species.     

“Impressive?” Credentials,family photographs,and the perception of therapist qualities

The impact of the number of displayed credentials (0, 2, 4, or 9) and the presence or absence of family photographs on participants' judgments of a therapist's qualities was assessed. In a between-participants design, 227 participants made these judgments after viewing a projected digital image of a therapist's office. The judgments of the characteristics yielded three factors, Qualifications, Friendliness, and Energy. Analyses indicated that in general, the greater the number of credentials, the more positive the judgment of the therapist's Qualifications and Energy. The presence of family pictures had no significant impact on judgments. Results are discussed in terms of recommendations for the counseling environment.     

Gaseous ammonia uptake in compost biofilters as related to compost water content

Sewage sludge and yard waste compost were used as biofilter materials and tested with respect to their capacity for removing ammonia from air at different water contents. Ammonia removal was measured in biofilters containing compost wetted to different moisture contents ranging from air dry to field capacity (maximum water holding capacity). Filters were operated for 15 days and subsequently analyzed for NH3/NH4+, NO2-, and NO3-. The measured nitrogen species concentration profiles inside the filters were used to calculate ammonia removal rates. The results showed that ammonia removal is strongly dependent on the water content in the filter material. At gravimetric water contents below 0.25 g H2O g solids(-1) for the yard waste compost and 0.5 g H2O g solids(-1) ammonia removal rates were very low but increased rapidly above these values. The sewage sludge compost filters yielded more than twice the ammonia removal rate observed for yard waste compost likely because of a high initial concentration of nitrifying bacteria originating from the wastewater treatment process and a high airwater interphase surface area that facilitates effective ammonia dissolution and transport to the biofilm.