Business strategy,work processes and human resource training: are they congruent?

This study examines the extent to which human resource (HR) training (content and context) is contingent on business strategy (i.e. classified according to Miles and Snow (1984) typology—‘Designing strategic human resource systems’, Organizational Dynamics, 13 , 36–52) as well as the characteristics of the work process. Sixty‐five Spanish organizations (i.e. 65 senior executives and 65 senior HR officers) participated in the study. Using primarily factorial and cluster analyses, support was found to the assertion that companies adopting a particular type of training strategy/policy have a high degree of internal consistency amongst the training objectives sought. In terms of work processes and training, results indicate that under work processes where the content of work provides for enrichment and for long‐term results, companies tend to adopt training strategies where emphasis is on enhancement of individual specialized skills aimed at improving direct productivity. By contrast, firms who use work processes that are characterized by repetitive and routine tasks, de‐emphasize this type of training content. Results also indicae that limited level of contingencies exist between training policies and business strategy, especially when time dimension is also accounted for. While the theory suggests that organizations that have their HR training fit (contingent) on their business strategy are more effective, the empirical results portrayed in this study shows a more complex picture. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of the effectiveness of red mud-supported catalysts in combination with ozone and TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> in the treatment of solution containing benzene,toluene, and xylene

Ozone and a Fe²⁺/TiO₂-based catalyst were examined in the degradation of a synthetic solution of benzene toluene and xylene (BTX) in an advanced oxidation process (AOP). The catalyst beads were made from the slurry waste of aluminum production process, by inserting the TiO₂ content and subsequent calcination. The reduction of the BTX concentration load was monitored by the reduction of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and BTX concentration. Different levels were used on factors: pH, time of treatment, initial concentration of BTX, and percentage of TiO₂. The process was conducted in a bubble column reactor with the insertion of catalyst beads. A response surface methodology technique (CCD) was used to build a model based on COD reduction results. The model was optimized using the normal-boundary intersection (NBI) algorithm to maximize COD reduction and minimize the variance attributed to the process. Optimization led to COD reductions of 80% in 2 h of experiment. Correlation analysis of coefficient models from experimental data R²_adj was 0.9966, showing a good fit of model data. In the optimized conditions, the possible increase of the biodegradability ratio of the BTX solution, through the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and COD, was also analyzed. Under pre-treatment conditions, the BOD/COD ratio was 0.13. After the treatment, it increased to 0.56.

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Kinetics of imidazolium-based ionic liquids degradation in aqueous solution by Fenton oxidation

In the last few years, several works dealing with Fenton oxidation of ionic liquids (ILs) have proved the capability of this technology for their degradation, achieving complete ILs removal and non-toxic effluents. Nevertheless, very little is known about the kinetics of this process, crucial for its potential application. In this work, the effect of several operating conditions, including reaction temperature (50–90 °C), catalyst load (10–50 mg L^?1 Fe³⁺), initial IL concentration (100–2000 mg L^?1), and hydrogen peroxide dose (10–200% of the stoichiometric amount for the complete IL mineralization) on 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([C₄mim]Cl) oxidation has been investigated. Under the optimum operating conditions (T = 90 °C; [Fe³⁺]₀ = 50 mg L^?1; [H₂O₂]₀ = 100% of the stoichiometric amount), the complete removal of [C₄mim]Cl (1000 mg L^?1) was achieved at 1.5-min reaction time. From the experimental results, a potential kinetic model capable to describe the removal of imidazolium-based ILs by Fenton oxidation has been developed. By fitting the proposed model to the experimental data, the orders of the reaction with respect to IL initial concentration, Fe³⁺ amount and H₂O₂ dose were found to be close to 1, with an apparent activation energy of 43.3 kJ mol^?1. The model resulted in a reasonable fit within the wide range of operating conditions tested in this work.     

Water quality supply in a Portuguese teaching hospital: monitoring and studies on detection of critical points

Surveillance of drinking water quality is extremely important to human health, assuming greater relevance in hospital environments, especially to those individuals who are immunocompromised. This study is aimed to determine the effect of increasing free chlorine (Cl) concentration in a hospital water network in regard to water quality monitoring and microbial growth control, between 2010 and 2013 in Porto. The average of free Cl concentration in the period under analysis showed some heterogeneity per floor, varying between 0.84 and 1.25 mg/L. In addition, there was a rise in proportion of samples that exceeded WHO guidelines (free Cl ≥ 0.5 mg/L), particularly in the last two years of the same period. With respect to microbial analysis, 22.4% of the samples were positive for Legionella spp., 6.4% for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 15% and 30.4% for aerobic plate counts at 36 and 22 ºC, respectively. The proportion of positive samples decreased throughout the period under analysis, in particular for Legionella spp. (41.7% in 2010 vs. non-detectable in 2013) and P. aeruginosa (10.8% in 2010 vs. 3.3% in 2013). These results are in accordance with the gradual rise in free Cl concentration (0.78 ± 0.94 mg/L in 2010 vs. 1.16 ± 0.51 mg/L in 2013). In conclusion, a suitable plan for drinking water quality was instituted which resulted in reducing microbiological growth in the waterwork network, improving public health protection. However, the detection of critical points associated with lower levels of free Cl were found on certain floors/points-of-use, requiring the need to improve the monitoring water treatment system and/or implementation of additional technologies.     

Identification of protein biomarkers of mercury toxicity in fish

Bioaccumulative metals such as mercury are found in increasing amounts in fish and their consumers. In the region of the Madeira River, in the Brazilian Amazon, mercury (Hg) is a predominant contaminant in the aquatic ecosystem. There is therefore a need to find specific biomarkers of mercury toxicity in fish to monitor contaminations. Here, mercury-bound proteins were identified in the liver tissues of fishes Mylossoma duriventre and Brachyplatystoma rousseauxii. Mercury was quantified in liver tissue, pellets and protein spots by graphite furnace atomic absorption. Proteins were fractionated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and identified by mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization. We identified nine proteins linked to mercury and that presented biomarker characteristics of mercury. Among the proteins identified, isoforms of parvalbumin, ubiquitin-40S ribosomal protein S27a, brain-specific angiogenesis inhibitor 1-associated protein 2-like protein 2 and betaine–homocysteine S-methyltransferase 1 are notable for having the molecular function of binding to metallic ions.     

Portlandite wet-synthesis process from phosphogypsum waste using hydroxide medium: application in both CO2 capture and brine water salinity reduction

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Portlandite (Ca(OH)2) preparation from phosphogypsum waste (PGW) was evaluated in numerous works; however, the use of this compound is not applied...     

Concentration of Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, Al, and Fe in soils of Manresa, NE Spain

The aims of this study were to determine the contents of cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), aluminium (Al), and iron (Fe) (aqua regia-extractable) in 27 soil plots (54 samples) from Manresa, NE Spain, and to establish relationships between heavy metals and some soil properties. The main soil types were surveyed and the median concentrations (mg kg(-1)) obtained were Cd 0.28, Cu 20.3, Pb 18.6, Zn 67.4, Al 22,572, and Fe 21,551. Element concentrations for these soils were lower than the published values for the Valencia region (Spain) and Torrelles and Sant Climent municipal districts (Catalonia, Spain). In terms of soil properties, the results of this study suggest that, in Manresa soils, both trace element adsorption and retention are influenced by several properties such as clay minerals, carbonates, organic matter, and pH. All element contents were positively correlated with clay content. Pb and Zn were negatively correlated with pH and CaCO(3).     

Evaluating the urban climate of a typically tropical city of northeastern Brazil

This study attempted to assess a bioclimate index and the occurrence of an urban heat island in the city of Campina Grande, northeastern Brazil, using data taken from mobile measurements and Automatic Weather Stations (AWS). The climate data were obtained during two representative months, one for the dry season (November 2005) and one for the rainy season (June 2006) at seven points in an urban area. Ten-minute air temperatures recorded by an AWS installed in urban areas were compared to those from a similar station located in a suburban area to assess the urban heat island (UHI). The data were collected using a 23X data logger (Campbell Scientific, Inc.) programmed for collecting data every second. The thermal discomfort level was analyzed by Thom’s discomfort index (DI), and an analysis of variance was applied for assessing if there was any statistically significant difference at the 1% and 5% significance level of thermal comfort among points. Mann–Kendall statistical test was used for identifying possibly significant trends in a time series for air temperature, relative humidity, and class A pan evaporation for the city of Campina Grande. The present study found UHI intensities of 1.48°C and ??0.7°C for the months taken as representative of the dry and rainy seasons, respectively. Summer in the city has partially comfortable conditions while the winter is fully comfortable. There are significant changes in DI hourly values between seasons. Only during the rainy season did all points of the city have a comfortable condition until 8:19 h, at which time they become partially comfortable for the rest of the day. Results indicated that there was a 1.5°C increase in air temperature and a 7.2% reduction in relative humidity throughout the analyzed time series. The DI also showed a statistically significant increasing trend (Mann–Kendall test, p?<?0.01) for the dry and rainy seasons and annual period of approximately 1°C in the last 41 years in the city of Campina Grande.     

How size relates to oxygen consumption,ammonia excretion,and ingestion rates in cold (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Enteroctopus megalocyathus</Emphasis>) and tropical (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Octopus maya</Emphasis>) octopus species

The scaling of metabolic rates with body mass is one of the best known and most studied characteristics of aquatic animals. Herein, we studied how size is related to oxygen consumption, ammonia excretion, and ingestion rates in tropical (Octopus maya) and cold-water (Enteroctopus megalocyathus) cephalopod species in an attempt to understand how size affects their metabolism. We also looked at how cephalopod metabolisms are modulated by temperature by constructing the relationship between metabolism and temperature for some benthic octopod species. Finally, we estimated the energy balance for O. maya and E. megalocyathus in order to validate the use of this information for aquaculture or fisheries management. In both species, oxygen consumption and ammonia excretion increased allometrically with increasing body weight (BW) expressed as Y = aBW ^b . For oxygen consumption, b was 0.71 and 0.69 for E. megalocyathus and O. maya, respectively, and for ammonia excretion it was 0.37 and 0.43. Both species had low O/N ratios, indicating an apparent dependence on protein energy. The mean ingestion rates for E. megalocyathus (3.1 ± 0.2% its BW day⁻¹) and O. maya (2.9 ± 0.5% its BW day⁻¹) indicate that voracity, which is characteristic of cephalopods, could be independent of species. The scope for growth (P = I − (H + U + R) estimated for E. megalocyathus was 28% higher than that observed in O. maya (320 vs. 249 kJ day⁻¹ kg⁻¹). Thus, cold-water cephalopod species could be more efficient than tropical species. The protein and respiratory metabolisms of O. maya, E. megalocyathus, and other octopod species are directly dependent on temperature. Our results offer complementary evidence that, as Clarke (2004) stated, the metabolic response (R and U) cannot be determined mechanistically by temperature, as previously proposed (Gillooly et al. 2002).     

Quantification of carbamazepine and atrazine and screening of suspect organic contaminants in surface and drinking waters

A new approach for the identification of suspect trace organic contaminants in drinking and surface waters is presented. Samples were initially analyzed using a target determination method for two contamination tracers, carbamazepine (CBZ) and atrazine (ATZ). This method used offline solid-phase extraction and online solid-phase extraction techniques coupled to liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry to accelerate the sample preparation process and improve method performance. CBZ and ATZ were found respectively in 31% and 56% of the samples, and concentrations were usually <20 ng L⁻¹. These samples were re-analyzed with a similar method on a quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer to identify suspect contaminants by means of exact mass measurements and isotope patterns. A database of 264 common organic contaminants was built and used in conjunction with a Molecular Feature algorithm to identify the presence of these substances in drinking and surface water collected from different sources at various locations across Canada. Several organic contaminants were identified in the samples, but only the presence of caffeine, desethylatrazine, simazine and venlafaxine could be verified by comparison to pure standards. The presence of desethylatrazine was also confirmed by MS/MS experiments. These results suggest that target analysis for tracers of organic contamination may be a helpful tool to prioritize samples which should be further screened for suspect contaminants. This study also shows that the combination of separation techniques (offline and online SPE, LC) contribute to advance the applicability of high-resolution mass spectrometry for the identification of trace organic contaminants by accelerating the preparation step, reducing complexity and increasing analyte concentrations for optimal detection.