Kinetics and thermodynamic studies of Methyl Orange removal by polyvinylidene fluoride-PEDOT mats

We report the preparation of poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene) (PEDOT)-modified polyvinylidene fluoride electrospun fibers and their use as a novel adsorbent material for the removal of the anionic dye Methyl Orange (MO) from aqueous media. This novel adsorbent material can be used to selectively remove MO on a wide pH range (3.0–10.0), with a maximum capacity of 143.8 mg/g at pH 3.0. When used in a recirculating filtration system, the maximum absorption capacity was reached in a shorter time (20 min) than that observed for batch mode experiments (360 min). Based on the analyses of the kinetics and adsorption isotherm data, one can conclude that the predominant mechanism of interaction between the membrane and the dissolved dye molecules is electrostatic. Besides, considering the estimated values for the Gibbs energy, and entropy and enthalpy changes, it was established that the adsorption process is spontaneous and occurs in an endothermic manner. The good mechanical and environmental stability of these membranes allowed their use in at least 20 consecutive adsorption/desorption cycles, without significant loss of their characteristics. We suggest that the physical-chemical characteristics of PEDOT make these hybrid mats a promising adsorbent material for use in water remediation protocols and effluent treatment systems.     

Long-term Dynamics of Pike Infection by Parasites Triaenophorus crassus and T. nodulosus (Plathelminthes,Cestoda) in the Rybinsk Reservoir: Effect of Hydraulic Construction and Climate Warming

Russian Journal of Ecology - The long-term dynamics (over more than 70 years) of pike infection by cestodes Triaenophorus crassus and T. nodulosus in the Rybinsk Reservoir (the Volga River) has...     

Effect of Anthropogenic Factors on the Ability of Narrow-skulled Voles (Lasiopodomys gregalis) to Adapt to Captive Conditions

Russian Journal of Ecology - To test the hypothesis that animals from habitats exposed to high anthropogenic pressure are more successful in adapting to captivity, immature narrow-skulled voles...     

Empirical analysis of shared leadership promotion and team creativity: An adaptive leadership perspective

Promoting shared leadership in teams and enhancing team creativity is aided by complementarity between leader and team member characteristics. We integrate insights from social learning theory and dominance complementarity perspective with the team leadership and creativity literature to explore the facilitating role of formal participative leadership for enhancing team creativity indirectly by promoting shared leadership. The relationships among formal participative leadership, shared leadership, and team creativity are bounded by team voice behavior and team creative efficacy. To test our theoretical model, we collected multisource and multiwave survey data from 382 members of 73 teams. Results revealed a significant positive relationship of participative leadership with shared leadership in teams, which in turn was positively associated with team creativity. Team voice behavior and team creative efficacy moderated these relationships, respectively, by strengthening the positive relationships. We discuss the theoretical contributions, practical implications, and future directions of our findings.     

Time perspective balance and team adaptation in dynamic task contexts

The concept of time perspective balance has attracted increased attention from scholars in the past decade, reflected in published evidence suggesting positive outcomes ranging from enhanced mood to life satisfaction for those individuals possessing balance among their past, present, and future time perspectives, and assumedly able to shift their time perspective to match situational demands. In this paper, we consider the notion of time perspective balance in an organizational setting within which much consequential adaptation often occurs—the team environment—and explore different configurations of time perspective balance in teams facing dynamic task contexts. Drawing from work on situational awareness, we first consider the mechanism by which time perspective balance likely influences individual adaptation in dynamic task-focused situations. Next, we postulate what types of team configurations—ones with more balanced time perspective uniformity or ones with more time perspective variety—might be more appropriate in dynamic contexts given key team conditions. We illustrate our analysis with examples from healthcare team settings and offer ideas for future research.     

Environmental pollution,hydropower and nuclear energy generation before and after catastrophe: Bathtub-Weibull curve and MS-VECM methods

In this paper, the life span of hydro and nuclear energy generations and the relationship between hydro and nuclear energy generations, environmental pollution, and economic growth were investigated for Japan covering the period of 1960–2018 by employing the Bathtub-Weibull curve and Markov switching-vector error correcting (MSVEC) method, respectively. According to the Bathtub-Weibull curve analysis, a rising failure rate for nuclear energy was found, indicating that the life of nuclear energy has expired, but a decreasing failure rate for hydroelectric energy has been detected. Then two different MSVEC models were used. The MSVEC method, unlike traditional approaches, determines the relationship between variables under different regimes. The results of MSVEC methods indicate three important points. First, regime-dependent asymmetry and regime changes are crucial for policy recommendations. Second, the shocks to hydropower and nuclear energy generations cause temporary deviations from the long-run growth path in both regimes. Lastly, the increase in hydropower generation leads to a decrease in environmental pollution and an increase in GDP, and an increase in nuclear power generation increases pollution and growth in both regimes.     

Use of Predictive Weather Uncertainties in an Irrigation Scheduling Tool Part II: An Application of Metrics and Adjoints

We apply predictive weather metrics and land model sensitivities to improve the Colorado State University Water Irrigation Scheduler for Efficient Application (WISE). WISE is an irrigation decision aid that integrates environmental and user information for optimizing water use. Rainfall forecasts and verification performance metrics are used to estimate predictive rainfall probabilities that are used as input data within the irrigation decision aid. These input data errors are also used within a land model sensitivity study to diagnose important prognostic water movement behaviors for irrigation tool development purposes simultaneously performing the analysis in space and time. Thus, important questions such as “how long can a crop water application be delayed while maintaining crop yield production?” are addressed by evaluating crop growth stage interactions as a function of soil depth (i.e., space), rainfall events (i.e., time), and their probabilistic uncertainties. Editor’s note : This paper is part of the featured series on Optimizing Ogallala Aquifer Water Use to Sustain Food Systems. See the February 2019 issue for the introduction and background to the series.