The role of affective experience in work motivation: Test of a conceptual model

The purpose of this paper was to contribute to understanding of the crucial role of emotion in work motivation by testing a conceptual model developed by Seo, Barrett, and Bartunek (2004) that predicted the impacts of core affect on three behavioral outcomes of work motivation, generative-defensive orientation, effort, and persistence. We tested the model using an Internet-based investment simulation combined with an experience sampling procedure. Consistent with the predictions of the model, pleasantness was positively related to all three of the predicted indices. For the most part, these effects occurred indirectly via its relationships with expectancy, valence, and progress judgment components. Also as predicted by the model, activation was directly and positively related to effort.     

Novel perspective for urban water resource management: 5R generation

• 5R (Recover, Reduce, Recycle, Resource and Reuse) approaches to manage urban water. • 5R harvests storm water, gray water and black water in several forms. • 5R offers promise for moving solutions for urban water scarcity in practice. Demand for water is expanding with increases in population, particularly in urban areas in developing countries. Additionally, urban water system needs a novel perspective for upgradation with urbanization. This perspective presents a novel 5R approach for managing urban water resources: Recover (storm water), Reduce (toilet flushing water), Recycle (gray water), Resource (black water), and Reuse (advanced-treated wastewater). The 5R generation incorporates the latest ideas for harvesting storm water, gray water, and black water in its several forms. This paper has briefly demonstrated each R of 5R generation for water treatment and reuse. China has the chance to upgrade its urban water systems according to 5R principles. Already, a demonstration project of 5R generation has been installed in Qingdao International Horticultural Exposition, and Dalian International Convention Center (China) has applied 5R, achieving over 70% water saving. The 5R offers promise for moving solutions for urban water scarcity from “hoped for in the future” to “realistic today”.     

Methyl jasmonate improves radical generation in macrophyte phytoremediation

Phytoremediation is the use of plants to decontaminate and improve waters and soils. Pleustonic macrophytes are plant models for research in waters. In a phytoremediation study, the elicitation of Pistia stratiotes with methyl jasmonate or salicylic acid suggests that oxytetracycline modification rate coefficients could be increased more than threefold. Here we present the elicitation of Pistia stratiotes apical primary root tips. We detected reactive oxygen species generation by X-band electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, using the spin trap α-(4-pyridyl-1-oxide)-N-tert-butylnitrone (POBN). Elicitation using 0.8 mM methyl jasmonate during 1 h increased the relative spin-trapped radical concentration by +12 %. Further, results indicate acute plant toxicity above 0.24 mM salicylic acid.     

Testosterone concentrations and male genital organ morphology in Greenland sledge dogs (Canis familiaris) dietary exposed to organohalogen contaminants

This study investigated whether low-level, long-term in utero and post-natal exposure to organohalogen pollutants disrupts male reproductive organ morphology and testosterone production in Greenland sledge dogs (Canis familiaris), as a model of Arctic top predators feeding on marine mammals. Six male dogs were followed for 1 year and testosterone concentrations, testes/baculum morphology and baculum bone mineral density (BMD) was determined. Three males were exposed to organohalogenated contaminants (OHCs) in utero through maternal dietary intake of minke whale blubber (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), with a post-weaning ∑OHC intake of 10.4–11.7 µg kg^?1 day^?1 resulting in an adipose tissue range of ∑OHC 4518–5729 ng (g lw)^?1 after 1 year. Three control males were exposed to very low concentrations of OHCs through pork fat. No significant differences were seen in plasma testosterone concentrations, baculum weight, BMD, and testicular length in the six male dogs (control, n = 3 and exposed, n = 3) measured at 3, 5, 7, 9, and 12 months of age. Testicular weights were significantly lower in the exposed group (p = 0.015, n = 2). Although this study had a limited number of animals, it was observed that in utero and the following 12 months of chronic exposure to a complex mixture of contaminants in the form of naturally accumulated OHCs does not affects testosterone levels, but possibly affects testicular weights in sledge dogs.     

Spatial distribution of copper in relation to recreational boating in a California shallow-water basin

The overall effect of the number of boats on the copper (Cu) levels in the water column and sediment, along with their spatial variability within Shelter Island Yacht Basin (SIYB), San Diego Bay, California was examined. We identified a horizontal gradient of increasing dissolved Cu and Cu in sediment from outside to the head of SIYB which was coincident with the increasing number of boats. Spatial models of Cu distribution in water and sediment indicated the presence of ‘hotspots’ of Cu concentration. From outside to the head of SIYB, dissolved Cu ranged from 1.3 μ g L^?1 to 14.6 μ g L^?1 in surface water, and 2.0 μ g L^?1 to 10.2 μ g L^?1 in bottom water. Cu in sediment exceeded the Effect Range Low of 34 mg kg^?1 (i.e. where adverse effects to fauna may occur), with a peak concentration of 442 mg kg^?1 at the head of the basin. Free Cu⁺⁺ in surface water was several orders of magnitude higher than in sediment porewater. High-resolution data of Cu species together with probability maps presented in this paper will allow managers to easily visualise and localise areas of impaired quality and to prioritise which areas should be targeted to improve Cu-related conditions.     

Challenges to interdisciplinary research in ecosystem-based management

Despite its necessity, integration of natural and social sciences to inform conservation efforts has been difficult. We examined the views of 63 scientists and practitioners involved in marine management in Mexico's Gulf of California, the central California coast, and the western Pacific on the challenges associated with integrating social science into research efforts that support ecosystem-based management (EBM) in marine systems. We used a semistructured interview format. Questions focused on how EBM was developed for these sites and how contextual factors affected its development and outcomes. Many of the traditional challenges linked with interdisciplinary research were present in the EBM projects we studied. However, a number of contextual elements affected how mandates to include social science were interpreted and implemented as well as how easily challenges could be addressed. For example, a common challenge is that conservation organizations are often dominated by natural scientists, but for some projects it was easier to address this imbalance than for others. We also found that the management and institutional histories that came before EBM in specific cases were important features of local context. Because challenges differed among cases, we believe resolving challenges to interdisciplinary research should be context specific.     

Defining trade-offs among conservation, profitability, and food security in the California current bottom-trawl fishery

Although it is recognized that marine wild-capture fisheries are an important source of food for much of the world, the cost of sustainable capture fisheries to species diversity is uncertain, and it is often questioned whether industrial fisheries can be managed sustainably. We evaluated the trade-off among sustainable food production, profitability, and conservation objectives in the groundfish bottom-trawl fishery off the U.S. West Coast, where depletion (i.e., reduction in abundance) of six rockfish species (Sebastes) is of particular concern. Trade-offs are inherent in this multispecies fishery because there is limited capacity to target species individually. From population models and catch of 34 stocks of bottom fish, we calculated the relation between harvest rate, long-term yield (i.e., total weight of fish caught), profit, and depletion of each species. In our models, annual ecosystem-wide yield from all 34 stocks was maximized with an overall 5.4% harvest rate, but profit was maximized at a 2.8% harvest rate. When we reduced harvest rates to the level (2.2% harvest rate) at which no stocks collapsed (<10% of unfished levels), biomass harvested was 76% of the maximum sustainable yield and profit 89% of maximum. A harvest rate under which no stocks fell below the biomass that produced maximum sustainable yield (1% harvest rate), resulted in 45% of potential yield and 67% of potential profit. Major reductions in catch in the late 1990s led to increase in the biomass of the most depleted stocks, but this rebuilding resulted in the loss of >30% of total sustainable yield, whereas yield lost from stock depletion was 3% of total sustainable yield. There are clear conservation benefits to lower harvest rates, but avoiding overfishing of all stocks in a multispecies fishery carries a substantial cost in terms of lost yield and profit.     

Estimation of age at maturation and growth of Atlantic green turtles (Chelonia mydas) using skeletochronology

Despite the vast amount of research on threatened and endangered green turtle populations, some uncertainty regarding stage durations, growth rates, and age at maturation remains. We used skeletochronology to address this gap in knowledge for green turtle populations in the North Atlantic Ocean that use coastal waters along the southeastern U.S. as developmental habitat. Oceanic stage duration was estimated at 1–7 years ( [`(\textX)] \overline{\text{X}}  = 3 years). Several growth models, including von Bertalanffy, logistic, Gompertz, and power functions were evaluated for describing sex-specific length-at-age data. Ages at maturation estimated using mean size at nesting for females from each genetic sub-population contributing juveniles to this neritic foraging area were 44 years (Florida), 42.5 years (Costa Rica), and 42 years (Mexico), which were higher than previously reported ages. This implies that nesting populations comprising primarily individuals utilizing foraging grounds in the southeastern U.S. may take longer to recover than previously estimated.     

Leveraging foodways for health and justice

ABSTRACT

The global industrial food system is increasingly recognised as a source of poor health that deepens social and economic inequity. Health advocates, policy makers, and food activists strive to improve nutrition and food access across racial and ethnic divides; however, given established approaches, they may miss fundamental pathways for improving health and justice comprehensively. While food access and nutrition are often identified as primary concerns for marginalised communities and the reason for food insecurity and food-related illness, critical food justice scholars use a more expansive lens to suggest a democratised food system is needed, and that solutions based solely in access to healthy food can undermine more systemic approaches. Our research extends this analysis, highlighting the importance of endemic food culture (foodways) as a tool for retaining identity, building community, and maintaining health among refugee populations in one community in Salt Lake City, Utah. Further, this work suggests that community engagement and expertise is essential in leveraging foodways such that marginalised communities can effectively resist cheap, unhealthy, and placeless calories.     

“At the water's edge”: community voices on climate change

The photovoice research project, “At the water's edge”, which gives voice to communities exploring the threats and impact of climate change and rising sea levels on coastal communities, was conducted during an environmental art symposium in the Noosa Biosphere Reserve, Australia in June 2009. Photos by participants illustrated both local and global threats and reflected psychological tension between global and local action. This research partnership with the local people demonstrated an innovative visualisation technique which can be used to collaboratively build capacity and consensus about adaptation to climate change. It also contributed to the Biosphere Reserve's educational and cultural aims in relation to climate change.