Pulling up roots in the 1990s: Who's willing to relocate?

The purpose of this study was to develop a profile of employees in Fortune 500 companies who are willing to relocate. The profile was developed on a demographically diverse random sample of 827 employees from 20 Fortune 500 corporations, all of whom had moved at least once for their current employer. Employees who were most willing to relocate were younger, their incomes were lower, their career ambitions higher, and their spouses more willing than those who were less willing to relocate. These employees could be found in sales/marketing and production functions. Their attitudes toward moving were also favorable. The single most important predictor of willingness to relocate was spouse willingness to relocate. This result suggests strongly that in the 1990s, corporations are going to have to address the concerns of spouses, if married employees are going to remain mobile. The study also cautions corporations about the shortsightedness of thinking of spouse and dual career issues as ’women's issues‘ and assuming that females and minorities are unwilling to relocate.     

Dual earner couples: Attitudes and actions in restructuring work for family

In a matched data set consisting of survey responses from both members of 39 dual earner couples, work and family involvement was used to predict job satisfaction, marital satisfaction, stress and work restructuring of both members of the couple. In general, the wives were found to be restructuring their work activities more than their husbands. Couples whose members had high levels of family involvement were experiencing high levels of marital satisfaction and low levels of stress. In addition, the coded responses to seven open ended questions provided qualitative data reflecting what specific types of work restructuring arrangements were most popular and the reasons for work restructuring.     

NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF PUMPING FROM CONFINED-UNCONFINED AQUIFERS1

ABSTRACT: A numerical method is presented for the analysis of a pumped well in a homogeneous aquifer with allowance made for the decrease in saturated depth, vertical components of flow, the possibility of regions of the aquifer changing between the confined and unconfined states and the effect of different outer boundaries. The method is based on a discrete space, backward difference time, approximation. A particular example considered in detail concerns heavy pumping from one of a regular array of wells in an unconfined aquifer until the drawdown in the well reaches a critical value. Non-dimensional curves are presented relating the time and volume dewatered to the quantity discharged from the well. A further example investigates the effect of an initial confining pressure on the aquifer behaviour.     

Prenatal identification of small mosaic markers of different chromosomal origins

In situ hybridization using a series of alphoid DNA probes has demonstrated the origin of two small accessory mosaic marker chromosomes ascertained from 1079 amniocenteses. These markers appeared to be de novo, derived from acrocentric chromosomes, and identical by traditional cytogenetic staining (G, Q, C, AgNOR, Hoechst-distamycin). Molecular characterization showed that one marker had originated from chromosome 14, the other from chromosome 22. Clinical outcome in both cases was normal.     

Inclusion of sex chromosomes in noninvasive prenatal testing in Asia,Australia, Europe and the USA: A survey study

Objective

To examine the extent to which sex chromosomes are included in current noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) and the reporting practices with respect to fetal chromosomal sex and sex chromosome aberrations (SCAs), in addition to an update on the general implementation of NIPT.

Method

A questionnaire addressing the research objectives was distributed by email to fetal medicine and clinical genetics experts in Asia, Australia, Europe and the USA.

Results

Guidelines on NIPT are available in the majority of the included countries. Not all existing guidelines address reporting of fetal chromosomal sex and SCAs. In most settings, NIPT frequently includes sex chromosomes (five Australian states, China, Hong Kong, Israel, Singapore, Thailand, USA and 23 of 31 European countries). This occurs most often by default or when parents wish to know fetal sex. In most settings, a potential SCA is reported by stating the risk hereof as “low” or “high” and/or by naming the SCA. Less than 50% of all pregnant women receive NIPT according to respondents from three Australian states, China, Israel, Singapore, Thailand and 24 of 31 European countries. However, this percentage, the genomic coverage of NIPT and its application as primary or secondary screening vary by setting.

Conclusion

In most of the studied countries/states, NIPT commonly includes sex chromosomes. The reporting practices concerning fetal chromosomal sex and SCAs are diverse and most commonly not addressed by guidelines. In general, NIPT is variably implemented across countries/states.     

Exposure to variable spatial information in the early rearing environment generates asymmetries in social interactions in cod (Gadus morhua)

Many re-introduction programs used for conservation of populations and species threatened with extinction advocate the use of enriched rearing environments to train animals how to behave appropriately in the wild. Curiously, most of the current fish re-stocking programs have paid little attention to lessons previously learned in bird and mammal re-introductions. Many rehabilitation programs that use releases of hatchery fish observe higher mortality in released fish compared to wild, with most mortality arising shortly after release. One explanation for this mortality is based purely on selection processes; many hatchery fish normally selected out of the population thrive in the predator free, food-rich hatcheries. Alternatively, mortalities may be high because hatchery nursery environments fail to shape fish behaviour appropriately. Here, we empirically address the effect of enrichment in the early rearing environment in coastal cod (Gadus morhua). We find asymmetries in aggressive behaviour when fish reared in plain or enriched environments are allowed to interact. Furthermore, cod reared in standard, impoverished, hatchery environments spend less time in shelter, are more active, and show weaker anti-predator responses than fish reared with access to heterogeneous spatial cues. These results suggest that the constant, plain environments of fish farms may generate behavioural deficits that could reasonably be expected to be associated with lower survival in fish released into the wild.     

Analysis of some organochlorine pesticides in an urban atmosphere (Strasbourg, east of France)

High volume samples of urban air have been collected in Strasbourg, a big city situated in the east of France, for the evaluation of the contamination by organochlorine pesticides. Pesticides (p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDD, p,p'-DDE, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, gamma-HCH, cis-chlordane, trans-chlordane, alpha-endosulfan, beta-endosulfan, hexachlorobenzene, heptachlor and some of their metabolites: alpha-HCH, 2,4'-DDT, 2,4'-DDD and 2,4'-DDE) were analysed by GC-ECD. Prior to analysis, samples were Soxhlet extracted with a mixture of n-hexane/methylene chloride. The analysis of samples collected in 2001 (n = 6), 2002 (n = 7) and 2003 (n = 5) shows that alpha-HCH and gamma-HCH were detected in all samples (between 0.05 and 4 ng m(-3) and between 0.01 and 1 ng m(-3), respectively) along with aldrin and dieldrin at lower concentrations (between 0.01 and 0.08 ng m(-3) and between 0.02 and 0.09 ng m(-3), respectively). Other pesticides were detected very randomly at very low concentrations. The calculation of the alpha/gamma-HCH ratio shows that hexachlorocyclohexane measured in the atmosphere have a local origin and come probably from contaminated soil by volatilisation. alpha and beta-endosulfan were practically not detected in samples collected in 2001 and 2002 while they were always measured in the gas phase in samples from 2003. This observation can be explained by an increase of volatilisation with the increase of the air temperature. In July, temperature were higher (between 17 and 30 degrees C in climatic station) than in March-May 2001 and 2002 (between 2 and 19 and between 2 and 10, respectively).     

Sources of variability in plant toxicity testing

Published literature is investigated regarding the response of plants to various substances to determine the sensitivity of agricultural plants versus other species, the similarity of effects seen at different taxonomic levels, sensitivity of plants growing outdoors versus in a greenhouse, and the sensitivity of different measurement endpoints. We find that agricultural species are not consistently more or less sensitive to the herbicides tested than non-crop species. Genus and family taxonomic groupings may show similar responses among species, but this similarity quickly decreases as the comparison progress between orders and classes. Results from field and greenhouse studies are less in agreement between studies than data from the other topics. Shoot length will be affected at concentrations lower than for other vegetative endpoints for most species tested for inorganic substances, but for organic substances root and shoot mass were more sensitive. Overall, there is no one species or endpoint that is consistently the most sensitive for all species or all chemicals in all soils, and differences in bioavailability among compounds may confound comparison of test results. Therefore, species sensitivity distributions, adjusted for bioavailability when possible, should be considered in order to better evaluate effects to non-target terrestrial plants.