A contingency model of union commitment and participation: Meta‐analysis of the antecedents of militant and nonmilitant activities

Correlation estimates from a meta‐analysis of 108 studies including 126 independent samples and nearly 70 000 participants were used to test multiple path models of the antecedents of militant and nonmilitant union participation. Variables moderating the relationship between union commitment and participation were examined. The magnitude of the relationship between commitment and militant participation was moderated by status‐based group membership (i.e., white collar versus blue collar), supporting a contingency model of union participation. Results updated and further developed an integrative model of union participation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Polychlorinated biphenyls and omega-3 fatty acid exposure from fish consumption, and thyroid cancer among New York anglers

Fish from the Great Lakes contain polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs)which have been shown to disrupt endocrine function and mimic thyroid hormones,but they also contain beneficial omega-3 fatty acids that may offer protection against endocrine cancers.The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Lake Ontario fish consumption and the estimated consumption of PCBs and omega-3 fatty acids on the risk of thyroid cancer in a group of sport fishermen.Anglers from the New York State Angler Cohort Study were followed for cancer incidence from 1991–2008.Twenty-seven cases of incident thyroid cancer and 108 controls were included in the analyses.Total estimated fish consumption,estimated omega-3 fatty acid consumption,and estimated PCB consumption from Lake Ontario fish were examined for an association with the incidence of thyroid cancer,while matching on sex,and controlling for age and smoking status.Results from logistic regression indicate no significant associations between fish consumption,short-term estimated omega-3 fatty acids,or estimated PCB consumption from Great Lakes fish and the development of thyroid cancer,but it was suggested that long-term omega-3 fatty acid from Great Lakes fish may be protective of the development of thyroid cancer.In conclusion,fish consumption,with the possible concomitant PCBs,from the Great Lakes does not appear to increase the risk of thyroid cancer in New York anglers.Further research is needed in order to separate the individual health effects of PCBs from omega-3 fatty acids contained within the fish.     

Evaluation of a Regional Monitoring Program’s Statistical Power to Detect Temporal Trends in Forest Health Indicators

Forests are socioeconomically and ecologically important ecosystems that are exposed to a variety of natural and anthropogenic stressors. As such, monitoring forest condition and detecting temporal changes therein remain critical to sound public and private forestland management. The National Parks Service’s Vital Signs monitoring program collects information on many forest health indicators, including species richness, cover by exotics, browse pressure, and forest regeneration. We applied a mixed-model approach to partition variability in data for 30 forest health indicators collected from several national parks in the eastern United States. We then used the estimated variance components in a simulation model to evaluate trend detection capabilities for each indicator. We investigated the extent to which the following factors affected ability to detect trends: (a) sample design: using simple panel versus connected panel design, (b) effect size: increasing trend magnitude, (c) sample size: varying the number of plots sampled each year, and (d) stratified sampling: post-stratifying plots into vegetation domains. Statistical power varied among indicators; however, indicators that measured the proportion of a total yielded higher power when compared to indicators that measured absolute or average values. In addition, the total variability for an indicator appeared to influence power to detect temporal trends more than how total variance was partitioned among spatial and temporal sources. Based on these analyses and the monitoring objectives of the Vital Signs program, the current sampling design is likely overly intensive for detecting a 5 % trend·year^?1 for all indicators and is appropriate for detecting a 1 % trend·year^?1 in most indicators.     

Grouping Lakes for Water Quality Assessment and Monitoring: The Roles of Regionalization and Spatial Scale

Regionalization frameworks cluster geographic data to create contiguous regions of similar climate, geology and hydrology by delineating land into discrete regions, such as ecoregions or watersheds, often at several spatial scales. Although most regionalization schemes were not originally designed for aquatic ecosystem classification or management, they are often used for such purposes, with surprisingly few explicit tests of the relative ability of different regionalization frameworks to group lakes for water quality monitoring and assessment. We examined which of 11 different lake grouping schemes at two spatial scales best captures the maximum amount of variation in water quality among regions for total nutrients, water clarity, chlorophyll, overall trophic state, and alkalinity in 479 lakes in Michigan (USA). We conducted analyses on two data sets: one that included all lakes and one that included only minimally disturbed lakes. Using hierarchical linear models that partitioned total variance into within-region and among-region components, we found that ecological drainage units and 8-digit hydrologic units most consistently captured among-region heterogeneity at their respective spatial scales using all lakes (variation among lake groups = 3% to 50% and 12% to 52%, respectively). However, regionalization schemes capture less among-region variance for minimally disturbed lakes. Diagnostics of spatial autocorrelation provided insight into the relative performance of regionalization frameworks but also demonstrated that region size is only partly responsible for capturing variation among lakes. These results suggest that regionalization schemes can provide useful frameworks for lake water quality assessment and monitoring but that we must identify the appropriate spatial scale for the questions being asked, the type of management applied, and the metrics being assessed.     

Producer responsibility for e-waste management: key issues for consideration - learning from the Swiss experience

E-waste, a relatively recent addition to the waste stream in the form of discarded electronic and electric equipment, is getting increasing attention from policy makers as the quantity being generated is rising rapidly. One of the most promising policy options to address this issue is to extend the producers responsibility for their products beyond the point of sale, until end-of-product-life. This paper briefly introduces the concept of extended producer responsibility (EPR) and its applicability in the area of the end-of-life management of electronic and electrical equipment (EEE). It then examines the decade-long experience of Switzerland in using EPR to manage its e-waste, elaborating on the experience of the Swiss system in overcoming specific issues, and finally wrapping up with a synopsis of the lessons for policy makers. We consider each issue as an enquiry of questions confronting a policy maker and the choices that may present themselves. The five issues discussed are: (i) the challenges in getting an EPR based system started; (ii) securing financing to ensure a self-sustaining and smooth functioning system; (iii) organising a logistics network for the take back and collection of the e-waste; (iv) ensuring compliance of the various actors involved; and finally (v) reducing the threat of monopolistic practices.     

Examining the concept of convenient collection: An application to extended producer responsibility and product stewardship frameworks

Increasingly, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Product Stewardship (PS) frameworks are being adopted as a preferred policy approach to promote cost-effective diversion and recovery of post-consumer solid waste. Because the application of EPR/PS generally requires the creation of a separate and often parallel collection and/or management system, key to increasing the amount of waste recovered is to maximize the convenience of the collection system to maximize consumer participation. Convenient collection is often mandated in EPR/PS laws, however it is not defined. Convenience is a subjective construct rendering it extremely difficult to define. However, based on a dissection of post-consumer collection efforts under a generic EPR/PS system, this paper identifies and examines five categories of convenience – knowledge requirements, proximity to a collection site, opportunity to drop-off materials, the draw of the collection site, and the ease of the process—and the various factors of convenience within each of these categories. By using a simplified multiple criteria decision analysis, this paper proposes a performance matrix of criteria of convenience. Stakeholders can use this matrix to assist in the design, assessment, and/or implementation of a convenient post-consumer collection system under an EPR/PS framework.     

Utilisation of single added fatty acids by consortia of digester sludge in batch culture

Inocula derived from an anaerobic digester were used to study (i) their potential for methane production and (ii) the utilisation rates of different short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) by the microbial community in defined media with mono-carbon sources (formic-, acetetic-, propionic-, butyric acid) in batch culture. It could be demonstrated that the microbial reactor population could be transferred successfully to the lab, and its ability to build up methane was present even with deteriorating biogas plant performance. Therefore, this reduction in performance of the biogas plant was not due to a decrease in abundance, but due to an inactivity of the microbial community. Generally, the physico-chemical properties of the biogas plant seemed to favour hydrogenotrophic methanogens, as seen by the high metabolisation rates of formate compared with all other carbon sources. In contrast, acetoclastic methanogenesis could be shown to play a minor role in the methane production of the investigated biogas plant, although the origin of up to 66% of methane is generally suggested to be generated through acetoclastic pathway.     

Shared responsibility for managing electronic waste: A case study of Maine,USA

Based on high disposal and low recycling rates of electronic waste (e-waste) and continued exportation to developing countries, reliance on municipal responsibility for e-waste management has been unsuccessful in the United States. This case study examines Maine’s program, which was the first US state to mandate producer responsibility for recycling household e-waste. Maine’s program established a shared cost responsibility among producers, municipalities, and consumers. The study found that Maine’s program resulted in a significant reduction in disposal and a corresponding increase in environmentally sound recycling. In the first 3 years of the program, 6.406 million kg of household e-waste was collected and recycled for a population of 1.32 million. The new program, implemented in 2006, increased the number of e-waste items collected and recycled by 108% in the first year, 170% in the second year, and 221% in the third year. The program decreased direct economic costs to municipalities and households because of the shared cost approach and for the first time established costs for producers. There was no empirical evidence indicating that producers have or will improve the recyclability of electronic products to reduce recycling costs. While other weaknesses were that found potentially limit the adoption of Maine’s program, its positive aspects warrant consideration by other governments.     

Effects of Community-Based Collaborative Group Characteristics on Social Capital

Recent research suggests that community-based collaboration may build social capital—defined as trust, norms of reciprocity, and networks. Social capital may improve a group’s ability to collaborate, manage risk, innovate, and adapt to change. We used mail surveys of group participants and key informant interviews to assess whether the following collaborative group characteristics affected social capital built within 10 collaborative groups in northwest Colorado: perceived success, conflict, activeness, stakeholder diversity, previous collaboration experience, similar values and beliefs, group size, group age, and initial social capital. Perceived success and initial levels of social capital were the strongest predictors of current levels of and changes in social capital over time. Collaboration experience negatively influenced current levels of trust. Our results suggest that collaborative groups may need to consider the outcomes of collaborative interactions in order to build social capital.     

Using Data From Seed-Dispersal Modelling to Manage Invasive Tree Species: The Example of Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marshall in Europe

Management strategies to control invasive species need information about dispersal distances to predict establishment potential. Fraxinus pennsylvanica is a North American anemochorous tree species that is invasive in many Central European floodplain forests. To predict seed-dispersal potential, the stochastic model WaldStat was used, which enables different options for directionality (isotropic and anisotropic) to be simulated. In this article, we (1) show empirical results of fructification and seed dispersal for this tree species. The model predicts approximately 250,000 seeds for one F. pennsylvanica tree. These results were used to (2) calculate species-specific dispersal distances and effects of wind direction. To consider the influence of wind on dispersal potential of the tree species, long-distance dispersal (LDD [95th percentile dispersal distance]) was calculated. Mean dispersal distances varied between 47 and 66 m. LDD values modelled along the main wind direction ranged from 60 to 150 m. Seed production, dispersal distance, and direction data were (3) incorporated into theoretical management scenarios for forest ecosystems. Finally (4), we discuss management options and the practical relevance of model scenarios in relation to the accuracy of spatial dispersal predictions. Further analyses should be focused on possible, well-adapted management concepts at stand level that could restrict the potential spread of invasive species.