25 years of higher‐order confirmatory factor analysis in the organizational sciences: A critical review and development of reporting recommendations

We discuss how confirmatory factor analysis results should be used to examine potential higher‐order constructs and advocate that researchers present five types of evidence, which are as follows: (1) the ability of the higher‐order model to reproduce the observed covariation among manifest variables; (2) the ability of the higher‐order model to reproduce the observed covariation among manifest variables better than more parsimonious alternative models—and no less well than less parsimonious alternative models; (3) the ability of the higher‐order model to reproduce the observed covariation among lower‐order factors; (4) the ability of the higher‐order factor to explain variation in lower‐order factors; and (5) the ability of the higher‐order factor to explain variation in manifest variables. We illustrate how this type of evidence could be presented with a worked example and contrast our recommendations with the manner in which higher‐order confirmatory factor analysis has been used in the organizational sciences over the past 25 years to support claims regarding higher‐order constructs such as core self‐evaluations and transformational leadership. Our review shows that a substantial proportion of the 44 examined articles failed to present enough evidence to allow readers to understand the size and importance of higher‐order factors. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessment of Ecological Quality of the Tajan River in Iran Using a Multimetric Macroinvertebrate Index and Species Traits

The objectives of this study were to assess the biological water of the Iranian Tajan River using different metrics, i.e., a Multimetric Macroinvertebrate Index (MMI) and a traits-based method. Twenty-eight physico-chemical parameters, 10 habitat factors, and abundance of macroinvertebrates were obtained for 17 sites. The Shahid-Rajaie dam divides the Tajan River into an up- and downstream part, with different land uses. Eighteen metrics were used to represent four components of ecosystem quality, including tolerance (Hilsenhoff, SIGNAL), diversity (Margalef, Shannon–Wiener, Simpson, and Evenness), abundance (total number of taxa, individuals, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera, EPT, and Insects), and composition of assemblages (% Ephemeroptera, % Plecoptera, % Trichoptera, and % EPT Taxa). The integrated MMI was calculated by averaging the obtained scores of all indices. In the next step, we gathered information on 22 biological traits of macroinvertebrates to evaluate whether (group of) traits could be identified that are indicative for specific or general stress. Result showed a decrease in MMI from upstream (very good water quality) to downstream (bad) due to human activities. Industrial activities like pulping and papermaking operations or sand mining in the downstream part had more effects than agriculture and fish ponds in the upstream part. A redundancy analysis biplot showed the variation between the modalities of trait of macroinvertebrates and their correlation with physico-chemical parameters in Tajan River. The findings show that traits can be indicative for different kind of stress but that more effort has to be put in gathering data sets to disentangle the effect of habitat quality, pollution, and the physico-chemical properties of high- versus lowland rivers.     

亚热带红壤丘陵区浅层地下水氮淋失特征研究

土壤养分累积引起的氮素(N)淋失是导致农区地下水污染的重要原因,也是农业面源污染的重要形式.本文以湖南省长沙县典型亚热带红壤丘陵流域为研究对象,通过连续定位观测,研究了林地、稻田、菜地和茶园4种代表性土地利用类型浅层(130~150 cm)地下水中N浓度的逐月动态变化特征.连续3年(2010—2013年)的观测结果表明:4种土地利用类型下浅层地下水总氮(TN)平均浓度差异显著(p0.05),其中,林地最低(0.85 mg·L-1),茶园最高(7.64 mg·L-1);从N的形态构成来看,林地、菜地和茶园浅层地下水中N形态以硝态氮(NO-3-N)为主,分别占TN的46.7%、70.2%和72.8%,而稻田浅层地下水N形态则以铵态氮(NH+4-N)为主,占TN 43.5%,表明土壤淹水条件是影响地下水N淋失形态的关键因子.地下水各形态N浓度的动态变化在不同土地利用下也迥然不同:林地地下水各形态N的含量低、变幅小,而稻田、菜地和茶园地下水N浓度变幅较大;采用单因子方法对不同土地利用下地下水的水质进行评价,结果表明:研究区浅层地下水中TN和NO-3-N无显著污染,NH+4-N污染较为严重,而综合指数法(F值法)进一步表明研究区浅层地下水污染主要出现在稻田和茶园,因此,控制稻田和茶园N肥的施用量是预防亚热带红壤丘陵区地下水N污染的关键.     

北京市4种不同污水处理系统中病原菌变化研究

采用定量PCR技术,对北京市4种不同污水处理系统中大肠杆菌、军团菌和沙门氏菌随工艺及四季的数量变化进行了追踪研究,以评估病原菌的去除效果及污水回用的健康风险.结果发现,大肠杆菌在夏季进水和出水中的浓度分别在107~108copies·m L-1和105copies·m L-1左右;G-A/O系统对大肠杆菌的去除率最高,平均去除率达99.88%.军团菌在4个污水处理系统中进水浓度为104~105copies·m L-1,出水浓度约为104copies·m L-1,其在剩余污泥样品中浓度较高,达到105~106copies·m L-1.沙门氏菌进水浓度较低,为102~103copies·m L-1,且其在多个工艺段样品中未检出.季节变化对于病原菌的去除具有较大影响.研究表明,大肠杆菌在各污水处理系统中均可检出,且其分布具有一定的季节性,夏季的进出水中浓度相对较高;而军团菌和沙门氏菌浓度在各工艺中则并未呈现出明显的季节性变化.G-A/O系统对3种细菌的整体去除效果最为稳定,去除率较高.大肠杆菌在污水处理厂的出水及剩余污泥中浓度仍然较高,此外,冬季出水中也能检测到沙门氏菌的存在,因此,污水处理厂的出水和污泥排放仍存在一定的生态和健康风险.     

过氧化氢对铜绿微囊藻的损伤效应研究

采用室内培养的方法研究了不同浓度H2O2对铜绿微囊藻(Microcystic aeruginosa)藻细胞的损伤效应.结果表明,H2O2浓度越大,对藻细胞的毒害作用越大.24 h之后,铜绿微囊藻藻细胞数、叶绿素a、类胡萝卜素和蛋白质含量及总抗氧化能力(T-AOC)都快速下降,而MDA含量显著增加,同时培养基中的H2O2含量也迅速降低;随着处理时间的增加,毒性效应逐渐增强;72 h之后,藻细胞各指标值都降得很低,MDA含量也增加到最大,培养基中H2O2也逐渐被消耗和分解,藻细胞的损伤效应也达到最大.其中,H2O2浓度为50 mg·L-1时,能够有效的去除藻细胞,并且对藻细胞的生理指标及抗氧化能力都有很强的损伤效应.     

不同形态的砷水生生物基准探讨及在辽河流域的初步应用

有毒元素砷在我国各流域分布广泛,主要包括三价和五价两种价态,其毒性差别很大,目前我国缺乏本土的砷水质基准研究,而国外的砷水质基准多以总砷表示,科学性有待商榷.因此,本文分别搜集了三价砷、五价砷和总砷对我国本土水生生物的毒性数据,共获得三价砷12属12种,五价砷18种23属,以及总砷25属29种的合格数据.利用美国环保局推荐的物种敏感度排序法,通过数据分析得出,三价砷的急性和慢性基准阈值分别为84.26μg·L-1和56.55μg·L-1,五价砷的急性和慢性基准阈值分别为1171μg·L-1和633.3μg·L-1,总砷的急性和慢性基准阈值分别为264.4μg·L-1和150.7μg·L-1;总砷的基准阈值与美国现行砷基准值相当,而五价砷基准阈值与三价砷基准阈值体现出数量级的差异,因此,需要分价态考虑砷基准的制定.基于推算的砷基准阈值,用商值法评价了辽河流域枯水期总砷暴露的生态风险.检测结果表明,辽河的总砷暴露浓度范围在2.6~82.4μg·L-1之间,全部位点均无风险,但西辽河段上游支流两点位的砷浓度分别超出三价砷慢性基准阈值的1.20和1.45倍,表明可能存在潜在的砷暴露风险.