Psychosocial risks in small enterprises: the mediating role of perceived working conditions in the relationship between enterprise size and workers’ anxious or depressive episodes

Purpose. The relationship between enterprise size and psychosocial working conditions has received little attention so far but some findings suggest that conditions are more favorable in small enterprises. This could have a positive impact on workers’ mental health. The objective of this study was to test the mediating effect of perceived working conditions in the relationship between enterprise size and anxious or depressive episodes. Methods. Data from the 2010 SUMER – Surveillance Médicale des Expositions aux Risques professionnels (French periodical cross-sectional survey) were analyzed; N?=?31,420 for the present study. Anxious or depressive episodes were measured with the hospital anxiety and depression scale and the perceived working conditions were psychological demand, decision latitude and social support as assessed with Karasek's job content questionnaire. The indirect effect was tested according to the method proposed by Preacher and Hayes. Results. In a multivariate logistic regression, the risk of anxious or depressive episodes was found to be lower in micro enterprises (2–9 employees). Formal tests pointed to a significant indirect effect of enterprise size on mental health through perceived working conditions, with a larger effect for psychological demand. Conclusion. This study highlights perceived working conditions as an explanation of the effects of enterprise size.     

Local policies for reducing the ecological impact of households: the case study of a suburban area in France

Since Rio, governments have increased measures to promote sustainable household consumption, but this has induced limited changes in consumers’ daily practices. This article argues that one of the reasons behind the poor efficiency of these policies is the low level of consideration granted to local decision-making. The article discusses the results of a study which aims at better ascertaining the practices and representations of local government leaders in promoting sustainable development in households. We shall analyse the motivations, obstacles, interaction of players, communication and action plans associated with promoting sustainable development, in which individual will and effort are the keywords. The results obtained show how important it is to introduce better management systems for information and resource exchange between the different institutions involved. The study was carried out in a suburban area of south-west France counting 71 small towns and villages, characteristic of the spatial dynamics triggered by the global phenomenon of urbanisation.     

Associations between urinary cadmium levels,blood pressure,and hypertension: the ESTEBAN survey

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Cadmium is inconsistently associated with blood pressure (BP) and hypertension. Our study focuses to understand the association between urinary...     

Extraction of Co,Ni, Cu,Zn and Cd ions using 2-aminophenylaminopropylpolysiloxane

Insoluble porous solid functionalized ligand system bearing 2-aminophenylaminopropyl chelating ligand of the general formula P–(CH₂)₃NH–(C₆H₄)–NH₂ was prepared via the sol–gel process, where P represents [Si–O] _n polysiloxane network. First, the 2-aminophenylaminopropylsilane agent was prepared by substitution reaction between 3-chloropropyltrimethoxysilane and 1,2-phenylenediamine, followed by hydrolytic polycondensation between 2-aminophenylaminopropylsilane agent and tetraethylorthosilicate(TEOS). The immobilized 2-aminophenylaminopropylpolysiloxane P–(CH₂)₃NH–(C₆H₄)–NH₂(P–AphA) was characterized by ¹³C NMR, XPS, and FTIR. The results showed that 1,2-phenylenediamine groups were introduced onto polysiloxane network. The functionalized ligand system exhibits 90–100% metal uptake capacity for all metal ions except Cd²⁺. The elemental analysis data and the metal uptake capacities of the immobilized ligand system suggest that over than 90% ligand sites were involved in coordination with metal ions except that of cadmium forming 1:1 metal to ligand ratio complexes.     

Operator-splitting errors in coupled reactive transport codes for transient variably saturated flow and contaminant transport in layered soil profiles

One possible way of integrating subsurface flow and transport processes with (bio)geochemical reactions is to couple by means of an operator-splitting approach two completely separate codes, one for variably-saturated flow and solute transport and one for equilibrium and kinetic biogeochemical reactions. This paper evaluates the accuracy of the operator-splitting approach for multicomponent systems for typical soil environmental problems involving transient atmospheric boundary conditions (precipitation, evapotranspiration) and layered soil profiles. The recently developed HP1 code was used to solve the coupled transport and chemical equations. For steady-state flow conditions, the accuracy was found to be mainly a function of the adopted spatial discretization and to a lesser extent of the temporal discretization. For transient flow situations, the accuracy depended in a complex manner on grid discretization, time stepping and the main flow conditions (infiltration versus evaporation). Whereas a finer grid size reduced the numerical errors during steady-state flow or the main infiltration periods, the errors sometimes slightly increased (generally less than 50%) when a finer grid size was used during periods with a high evapotranspiration demand (leading to high pressure head gradients near the soil surface). This indicates that operator-splitting errors are most significant during periods with high evaporative boundary conditions. The operator-splitting errors could be decreased by constraining the time step using the performance index (the product of the grid Peclet and Courant numbers) during infiltration, or the maximum time step during evapotranspiration. Several test problems were used to provide guidance for optimal spatial and temporal discretization.     

Motivational factors underlying the intention to drink and drive in young male drivers

Problem: Anyone drinking and driving has a high risk of being involved in an accident. Young male drivers, however, run the highest risk at the same levels of blood alcohol as other candidates, as they have more accidents than any other group. A better understanding of their motivations toward drinking and driving is needed to help create effective prevention. Method: In the present study, 115 male drivers aged 18–24 completed a questionnaire—based on Ajzen's theory of planned behavior—designed to study the motivational factors leading to drinking and driving. Results: Young males' intention to drink and drive is predicted by their attitudes, their perceived behavioral control (PBC), and, to a lesser degree, subjective norms. Impact on Industry: The results showing slightly positive PBC over driving after drinking suggest that work aimed at reducing this perception to a more realistic level is a potential prevention avenue.     

Phaedon cochleariae and Gastrophysa viridula (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) produce defensive iridoid monoterpenes de novo and are able to sequester glycosidically bound terpenoid precursors

Summary. Larvae of the chrysomelid beetles Phaedon cochleariae and Gastrophysa viridula use iridoid monoterpenes for defense. The compounds are synthesized de novo in the glandular tissue and the reservoir. However, larvae feeding on leaves impregnated with thioglycosides of early precursors of iridoid biosynthesis such as the thioglycosides of 8-hydroxygeraniol, 8 and 9, rapidly accumulate in their defensive secretion. Thioglycosides combine a unique structural similarity to natural substrates with an exceptional chemical and biological stability against hydrolytic enzymes and can be, therefore, used to study transport phenomena of glycosides. The successful import suggests that the larvae possess, in addition to the de novo biosynthesis, the capability to sequester appropriate glycoside precursors that are transformed to iridoid monoterpenes in the reservoir. The uptake process displays a remarkable substrate selectivity, since the thioglycoside of geraniol 10 is not imported. From the two isomeric thioglycosides of 8-hydroxygeraniol, 8 and 9, the isomer 8 is preferred by a factor of ten. The data clearly support the existence of a highly selective transport system which enables the larvae to utilize plant derived terpenoid precursors in addition to their own de novo biosynthesis of iridoids.     

Downscaling climate models and environmental policy: From global to regional politics

High resolution climate models of regions, or downscaling, promises to be at the forefront of future climate policy research. However, most research in this area is in the natural sciences, and the policy community has not taken full notice of this trend at their doorstep. Downscaling provides more concrete information about local impacts of climate change. This raises several important political issues surrounding extreme events, adaptation, risk and equity and legacy concerns, all of which are briefly addressed. The paper concludes with a call for more social science research on downscaling to accompany the rich geophysical science literature in the topic.     

Comparison of external costs between dry tomb and bioreactor landfills: taking intergenerational effects seriously.

Dry tomb and bioreactor landfills were analyzed with respect to their external costs in an intergenerational cost-benefit analysis in a partial framework which enabled a sounder comparison to be carried out between these two technologies from a socio-economic viewpoint. Obviously, this approach was only a first step for building a comprehensive basis of any environmental as well as fiscal policy in the field of waste management. All external costs are identified and evaluated in three different scenarios, corresponding to a worst case, a best guess and a best case. Obviously, discounting is crucial with respect to an intergenerational perspective. Generation-adjusted discounting (GAD) was applied to take into account equity as well as efficiency criteria, in order to deal with three different types of uncertainties that are decisive in waste policy decisions: a physical uncertainty is captured by introducing our three different scenarios; a macroeconomic uncertainty is taken into consideration by calculating present values using different real growth rates; and a microeconomic uncertainty is taken into account by considering individual peculiarities reflected in their subjective time preference rate. The findings show, that whenever there is a low real GDP growth of less than 1%, the bioreactor is generally superior to the dry tomb (lower present values of external costs). This statement becomes more valid as the growth rate decreases. However, whenever there are high positive growth rates, it is the dry tomb technology which is superior to the bioreactor system.