Watershed factors affecting stream acidification in the White Mountains of New Hampshire,USA

The streams tributary to acidic Cone Pond, pH 4.5–4.8, and circumneutral Black Pond, pH 5.3–6.4, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, USA, were monitored for a year. The watersheds of these two ponds were characterized in terms of geology and stream hydrology. Chemical gradients and patterns in rock weathering and groundwater discharge explain many of the differences in mineral content and acidity of the streams. The rocks of Black watershed produced an average of ten times the equivalent of basic cations as rocks from Cone watershed. This is on the same order as the difference in acidity of the two streams. Down-stream changes in stream chemistry follow differing patterns, but reflect the same principle of residence time and water path length controlling chemical evolution of streamwater. Watershed and aquatic managers may use these parameters in an inexpensive and simple assessment of the susceptibility of individual streams and ponds to acidification. A method is recommended to determine quickly the potential influence of bedrock type to aquatic chemistry.     

Metals recycling in the United States

Twenty-two metals for which secondary recovery is important, in terms of quantity and/or value, were compared and ranked for rate and efficiency of recycling, and availability of recycled metal. In general, their recycling rates trended upward over the period 1970–1993. Iron, aluminum, copper, gold, platinum, and lead accounted for most of the value of all secondary metal produced, while iron and steel dominated in terms of quantity produced and exported. The factors most influential on recycling rates are profitability, public support, organization of infrastructure, sortability, legislative support, and scrap purity. The share of supply accounted for by secondary metals is expected to surpass that of primary metals sometime in the next decade.     

Not seeing eye to eye: differences in supervisor and subordinate perceptions of and attributions for psychological contract breach

This study examines supervisor and subordinate perceptions of and attributions for psychological contract breach. The data suggest that supervisor and subordinate perceptions are most likely to differ on the extent to which the organization violated its obligations to provide fair pay, advancement opportunities, and a good employment relationship. In addition, the results indicate that the greater the degree of psychological contract breach reported by subordinates, the less committed they are to the organization and the lower their job performance (as rated by their supervisor). Moreover, when psychological contract breach is perceived, supervisors' and subordinates' attributions regarding the reasons for the breach are likely to differ. Specifically, the findings suggest that subordinates are more likely to attribute breach to the organization's intentional disregard for the commitments that it had made to the employee, while supervisors are more inclined to attribute breach to situations beyond the organization's direct control. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Environmental planning,ecosystem science,and ecosystem approaches for integrating environment and development

Currently popular concepts such as sustainable development and sustainability seek the integration of environment and development planning. However, there is little evidence that this integration is occurring in either mainstream development planning or environmental planning. This is a function of the history, philosophies, and evolved roles of both. A brief review of the experience and results of mainstream planning, environmental planning, and ecosystem science suggests there is much in past scientific and professional practice that is relevant to the goal of integrated planning for environment and development, but still such commonly recommended reforms as systems and multidisciplinary approaches, institutional integration, and participatory, goal-oriented processes are rarely achieved. “Ecosystem approaches,” as developed and applied in ecology, human ecology, environmental planning, anthropology, psychology, and other disciplines, may provide a more transdisciplinary route to successful integration of environment and development. Experience with ecosystem approaches is reviewed, their advantages and disadvantages are discussed, and they are compared to traditional urban and regional planning, environmental planning, and ecosystem science approaches. Ultimately a synthesis of desirable characteristics for a framework to integrate environment and development planning is presented as a guide for future work and a criterion for evaluating existing programs.     

An investigation into pay valence and performance in a pay-for-performance field setting

Inconsistent findings have been reported in the few studies investigating the relationship between the perceived value of pay and incentive performance. One hundred and seventy-eight female incentive employees with a nine-week, non-judgmental performance measure responded to a developed valence of pay scale. This measure used items assessing the perceived ability of pay to address employee needs. Three factor-scales were found within these items. Support for the hypothesized positive relationship between pay valence and incentive performance was found, dependent on which of the three scales was used. These findings provide initial insight into the means by which pay, with its ability to address different needs, might provide differential employee motivation and performance levels. This study and future research issues are discussed.     

Science and the Consequences of Mistruct: Lessons from Recent GM Controversies

In 2001, it was announced thattransgenic DNA had introgressed intotraditional strains of maize in Mexico. Acontroversy erupted and raged throughout 2001and 2002. This episode represents an acutebreakdown in scientific discourse. Given thestakes in the genetically modified organismdebate, a breakdown in scientific discourse isalarming. The following inquiry looks into thecauses of this breakdown. Ultimately, it willbe argued that the underlying problem is thecurrent institutional structure of science,particularly in the United States. If thediagnosis is correct, then the proper course oftreatment is to pursue a program ofinstitutional reconstruction.     

Evaluation of California's graduated driver licensing program

Problem: California's graduated driver licensing (GDL) program was implemented to reduce the high crash risk of teenage drivers. The program enhancements made in 1998 were evaluated in this study using methods that rule out the noticeable downward trend in California teen's fatal/injury crash rates as a possible explanation for any observed crash reductions that could otherwise be mistaken for program effects. Method: Monthly per capita fatal/injury crash rates for 15-to-17-year-olds and proportional representations of 16–17-year-olds' nighttime and passenger crashes were analyzed using intervention time series analysis. Results: After removing trend, seasonality, and transition effects in the data, no overall reductions in fatal/injury crashes for 15–17-year-olds or 16-year-olds (separately) were found to be associated with the 1998 program enhancements, suggesting no overall exposure reduction effect of the longer instruction permit period nor increased competency associated with the higher number of required practice hours. However, the 12-month nighttime and 6-month passenger restrictions were found to be associated with annual savings of 55 and 816 fatal/injury crashes, respectively. Discussion: Finding no overall impact of the 1998 GDL enhancements was not surprising given findings of an earlier survey suggesting that California teens and parents were largely already practicing program requirements prior to implementation and were not fully complying with the program requirements afterwards. Though the observed crash savings associated with the restrictions were of modest size, this is the first study to evidence a direct positive impact of the passenger restriction component of GDL programs. Larger reductions could be realized if the nighttime restriction started earlier and parents/law enforcement could be motivated to better enforce these restrictions. Impact on Industry: The findings provide support for passenger and nighttime restriction components of GDL programs.     

A safety self-management intervention for mining operations

PROBLEM: This quasi-experimental field study examined the efficacy of a safety self-management process to increase safety-related work practices in mining operations. METHODS: After a 7-week baseline, 15 miners participated in a safety self-management training and education presentation. The participants in a prebehavior condition (n=8) recorded their intentions to engage in specific percentages of safety-related work behaviors before starting their shift for the day. In contrast, participants in a postbehavior condition (n=7) recorded their percentages of safety-related work behaviors after their shift for the day. RESULTS: During withdrawal (4 weeks), the miners did not complete any self-monitoring forms. Based on 10,905 behavioral observations, safety self-management was effective at increasing the frequency of safety-related behavior (p<.05). For the prebehavior condition, the mean percent safe score across three target behaviors increased 34.8% during intervention. Similarly, in the postbehavior condition, the mean percent safe score across three target behaviors increased 40.1% during intervention. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: The results suggest that employees who work in relative isolation or have little oversight, compared to traditional industrial workers, may benefit from a process by which they can systematically observe themselves.