A New Method for the Rapid Determination of Volatile Organic Compound Breakthrough Times for a Sorbent at Concentrations Relevant to Indoor Air Quality

Abstract

The use of sorbents has been proposed to remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in ambient air at concentrations in the parts-per-billion (ppb) range, which is typical of indoor air quality applications. Sorbent materials, such as granular activated carbon and molecular sieves, are used to remove VOCs from gas streams in industrial applications, where VOC concentrations are typically in the parts-per-million range. A method for evaluating the VOC removal performance of sorbent materials using toluene concentrations in the ppb range is described. Breakthrough times for toluene at concentrations from 2 to 7500 ppb are presented for a hydrophobic molecular sieve at 25% relative humidity. By increasing the ratio of challenge gas flow rate to the mass of the sorbent bed and decreasing both the mass of sorbent in the bed and the sorbent particle size, this method reduces the required experimental times by a factor of up to several hundred compared with the proposed American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers method, ASHRAE 145P, making sorbent performance evaluation for ppb-range VOC removal more convenient. The method can be applied to screen sorbent materials for application in the removal of VOCs from indoor air.     

Multifoci effects of injustice on counterproductive work behaviors and the moderating roles of symbolization and victim sensitivity

Past research suggests that employees, in response to workplace experiences, selectively engage in targeted counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). Taking a retributive justice and target similarity perspective, we predict that employee perceptions of unfairness from the organization uniquely predict CWB specifically targeted at the organization whereas employee perceptions of supervisory unfairness uniquely predict CWB specifically targeted at the supervisor. We further hypothesized that moral identity‐symbolization would strengthen these target‐similar relationships. Finally, drawing from the sensitivity to mean intentions model, we hypothesized that victim sensitivity would not only strengthen these target‐similar relationships but also lead to cross‐foci effects of multifoci fairness perceptions on targets of CWB. Results from 3 field studies of full‐time employees provided support for most of our hypothesized relationships.     

Conflict and collective action in Tonle Sap fisheries: adapting governance to support community livelihoods

This paper presents the results of action research conducted from 2009 to 2015 on the dynamics of resource conflict concerning fisheries and livelihoods in the Tonle Sap Lake, as well as the institutional context and strategies for institutional adaptation to address such conflicts equitably. Over the past 15 years, Cambodia has made significant advances in building the policy framework, regulations and institutions to support community‐based fisheries management and increase the sector's contribution to the rural economy. However, fundamental challenges of increased resource conflict and loss of livelihoods by the most vulnerable remain. Key sources of conflict include destructive and illegal fishing practices, clearing of flooded forests, competing uses of land and water, and overlapping resource claims. Addressing these challenges requires collective action by all key actors: local fishers, the private sector, civil society, development partners, and government from the local to the national level. We identify and elaborate upon four governance priorities: (1) clarify roles and responsibilities in fisheries management; (2) link civil society and government efforts in law enforcement; (3) strengthen partnerships for livelihoods development; and (4) integrate fisheries management into decentralised development planning.     

Buyer–supplier alliances in the automobile industry: how exit‐voice strategies influence interpersonal relationships

Although automobile manufacturers emphasize that they are building more cooperative, long‐term relationships with their suppliers, we hypothesized and found that buyers are actually pursuing a dual strategy approach, in which they use threats on out‐group suppliers while providing help to in‐group members. Our hypotheses were based on the exit, voice, and loyalty typology, and on research from leader–member exchange theory. We also found that the macro‐level strategy set the context for the micro‐level interactions between buyers and suppliers. The degree to which the buyers and suppliers interacted in a friendly, informal manner depended more on the in‐ or out‐group status of the supplier firm than on the interaction style preferences of the suppliers. These findings are consistent with Mischel's ( 1977 ) theory that individual differences predict behavior under weak environmental conditions but not under strong environments. Compared to buyers, suppliers were more likely to prefer a friendly, informal interaction style. These findings were predicted based on the research on emotional display rules and emotional labor. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Book reviews

Making Cities Work: the role of local government in the urban environment. Richard Gilbert, Don Stevenson, Herbert Girardet &; Richard Stren, 1996, London, Earthscan, 203pp. ISBN 1 85383 354 1, £13.95 pbk

Environmental Policy in an International Context, Vols 1–3: Perspectives, Conflicts and Prospects. P. Glasbergen &; A. Blowers (Series Eds) London, Arnold

Rhetoric and Reality in Environmental Policy. M. Wintle &; R. Reeve (Eds), 1994, Aldershot, Avebury Studies in Green Research, 154 pp. ISBN 1 85628 927 3

FutureNatural: Nature, Science, Culture. G. Roberston et al. (Eds) 1996, London, Routledge, ISBN 0415 070139, £40.00 hbk

Environmental Policy with Political Integration: the European Union and the United States. New horizons in environmental economics. John B. Braden, Henk Folmer &; Thomas S. Ulen (Eds), 1996, Cheltenham, Elgar Publishing, 477 pp. ISBN 1 85898 217 0     

Mill’s scissors: structural change and the natural-resource inputs to labour

The environmental structural change strategy claims that by shifting our expenditures to economic sectors with lower environmental intensity, absolute resource consumption and environmental impact can be lowered. Environmental Input-Output methodologies for computing these intensities attribute no resource consumption to labour or households because these are not classified as sectors. The suggestion that service sectors entail less environmental impact, however, loses force if a unit of labour contains embodied energy, and attributing these inputs to labour drastically reduces intensity variation between sectors. Relative growth of service sectors has furthermore not been accompanied by decreased resource consumption; thus models whose intensity computations cover not only inter-firm payments but also labour earnings and household expenditures may have superior predictive power. If moreover natural-resource and labour inputs to product are incommensurable, intensity ratios themselves have perhaps only monetary, rather than real, significance.     

A 2019 Outbreak Investigation of Hepatitis A Virus Infections in the United States Linked to Imported Fresh Blackberries

Globally, hepatitis A virus (HAV) is one of the most common agents of acute viral hepatitis and causes approximately 1.4 million cases and 90,000 deaths annually despite the existence of an effective vaccine. In 2019, federal, state, and local partners investigated a multi-state outbreak of HAV infections linked to fresh blackberries sourced from multiple suppliers in Michoacán, Mexico. A total of 20 individuals with outbreak-related HAV infection were reported in seven states, including 11 hospitalizations, and no deaths. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Nebraska State and Douglas County Health Departments conducted a traceback investigation for fresh blackberries reportedly purchased by 16 ill persons. These individuals reported purchasing fresh blackberries from 11 points of service from September 16 through 29, 2019 and their clinical isolates assessed through next-generation sequencing and phylogenetic analysis were genetically similar. The traceback investigation did not reveal convergence on a common grower or packing house within Mexico, but all of the blackberries were harvested from growers in Michoacán, Mexico. FDA did not detect the pathogen after analyzing fresh blackberry samples from four distributors, one consumer, and from nine importers at the port of entry as a result of increased screening. Challenges included gaps in traceability practices and the inability to recover the pathogen from sample testing, which prohibited investigators from determining the source of the implicated blackberries. This multi-state outbreak illustrated the importance of food safety practices for fresh produce that may contribute to foodborne illness outbreaks.

     

Evidence toward an expanded model of organizational identification

Recent research on organizational identification has called for the consideration of an expanded model of identification, which would include a more thorough treatment of the ways an individual could derive his or her identity from the organization. This paper begins to answer that call by testing operationalizations of the four dimensions of the expanded model: identification, disidentification, ambivalent identification, and neutral identification. Survey results from 330 employed adults support the discriminability of the four dimensions. This exploratory study also begins to establish the criterion‐related validity of the model by examining organizational, job‐related, and individual difference variables associated with the four dimensions of the model, and suggests implications for the expanded model's strong potential for applications in organizational identification research. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.