The power of reflection for would-be leaders: Investigating individual work reflection and its impact on leadership in teams

This paper examines the key role that individual work reflection plays in facilitating individuals' leadership in teams. Consistent with the functional perspective on leadership, we argue that individual work reflection allows individuals to better understand their team's needs, and therefore enact higher levels of task-, relational-, and change-oriented leadership behaviors and be more effective leaders in their teams. We first conducted a series of measure development studies to validate a measure of individual work reflection comprising four dimensions of reflection at work: goals-, methods-, relationships-, and self-focused reflection. Then, across two independent studies assessing individuals in self-managing teams over time, we found support for our theoretical model linking individual work reflection to peer-rated leadership behaviors (Main Studies 1 and 2) and leadership effectiveness (Main Study 2). In further support of our theorizing, Main Study 2 also indicates that individual work reflection shapes leadership behaviors and effectiveness via understanding the team's needs, beyond a wide range of related constructs (e.g., feedback seeking, mindfulness, and rumination), as well as commonly studied predictors of leadership behaviors (i.e., the Big Five). Our theory and empirical findings help advance insights on the role of individual work reflection in improving leadership outcomes in organizations.     

Terminal double bonds in the alkenes and acetates of defensive secretion from the thrips Suocerathrips linguis Mound & Marullo, 1994 (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae)

Defensive secretions of adult males and females of the subsocial thrips Suocerathrips linguis were examined using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The samples contained six long-chain acetates and five aliphatic alkanes and alkenes. Whole-body extracts yielded six methyl esters of fatty acids as well as hexadecyl acetate. Structures of the two main components, (11Z)-icosa-11,19-dienyl acetate and octadecyl acetate, were confirmed. The third most abundant substance was identified as octadec-17-enyl acetate, which is a new natural product. In addition, (9Z)-octadec-9-enyl acetate was identified along with other acetates. Pure icosadienyl acetate was found to remain liquid down to −15°C, and is the solvent for the solid components of the secretion cocktail. A tentative biosynthetic pathway for all of the 12 acetates, alkanes and alkenes is discussed, considering especially the components with terminal double bonds that are uncommon in Thysanoptera and other insects.     

Historical trajectories in land use pattern and grassland ecosystem services in two European alpine landscapes

Regional Environmental Change - Land use and spatial patterns which reflect social-ecological legacies control ecosystem service (ES) supply. Yet, temporal changes in ES bundles associated with...     

Water Mass Balances for the Solaire and the 2020 Tower: Implications for Closing the Water Loop in High‐Rise Buildings1

Abstract: Building water mass balances were performed for one 150‐story conventional building scenario for comparison with three scenarios of the 2020 Tower, a hypothetical 150‐story high‐rise building with on‐site wastewater treatment and reuse. To ensure that the assumptions for the hypothetical building are appropriate, a one‐year water balance was also conducted of the existing 27‐story Solaire building that partly closes the water/wastewater loop, meters major water flows and implements low‐flow/water conserving fixtures and appliances. For comparison, a conventional 27‐story building scenario with the same low‐flow/water conserving fixtures as the Solaire but no water reuse was also assessed. The mean daily indoor water use in the Solaire was 246 l/(d cap) which exceeds mean daily water use found in the literature. The water mass balances showed that an urban high‐rise building needs another source of water even when potable reuse water is produced because of losses during water end use and treatment (i.e., evaporation, water in treatment residues). Therefore, water conservation (i.e., modification of human behavior) and water efficiency improvements (i.e., equipment, appliances and fixtures) are important major factors in reducing the municipal water needed in all scenarios.     

Neue EU-weite Höchstgehalte für Blei und Cadmium in Lebensmitteln

As of 5 April 2002, the maximum levels of the environmental contaminants, lead and cadmium, in different foodstuffs are now applicable for the first time throughout the entire EU. The toxicological assessment of lead and cadmium provides the basis for establishing maximum levels for these heavy metals in foods. The fixation of maximum levels results in obligatory regulations concerning the admissible burden of foods with these contaminants and, consequently, contributes to a health-related protection of the consumer. On 8 March 2001, the Commission issued a directive laying down the smapling methods and the methods of analysis for the official control of the levels of lead, cadmium and mercury in foodstuffs.     

Implications of mangrove dynamics for private and use in bragança, north Brazil: a case study

This work analyses effects of recent variations in the tidal inundation frequency in a mangrove ecosystem in the Bragança peninsula, North Brazil, and its implications for land occupation and use. Field data, time series of remote sensing images and local legislation were analysed focusing on the potential socio-economic impact of a changing environmental setting due to a rise in relative sea level. In the investigated period (1972–1997), vegetation changes along the coastline indicate net losses of mangrove coverage. In the central part of the peninsula, a topographically higher herbaceous plain constituting part of a farm presents an active progression of mangrove forest into an area previously dominated by grasses and herbs. This area measured 8.8 km² in 1972 but was gradually reduced to 5.6 km² in 1997, while progressively replaced by a monospecific stand of the black mangrove,Avicennia germinans. A linear extrapolation indicates that the elevated plain may be completely covered by mangrove by 2035. Current Brazilian legislation prohibits the extraction of mangrove trees without an officially approved management plan. Thus, the usable area of the farm has suffered a reduction by ca. 36% over 25 yr and we predict that is could be entirely replaced by mangroves in the next 35 yr. In this case study, legislation and ecosystem characteristics are analysed and a management plan discussed which could represent income alternatives for affected resource users at the local and regional level.     

TCE recovery mechanisms using micellar and alcohol solutions: phase diagrams and sand column experiments

Forty-one phase diagrams and fifteen sand column experiments were conducted to evaluate the efficiency of three types of washing solutions to recover trichloroethylene (TCE) at residual saturation and to identify the recovery mechanisms involved. This study demonstrates that: (1) an alcohol and a surfactant combination is more efficient than an alcohol used alone in water; (2) the prediction of the dominant recovery mechanism from the tie line slopes in phase diagram is accurate and can be reproduced in sand column experiments; and (3) TCE recovery efficiency in sand column experiments is generally well represented by the position of the miscibility curve in phase diagrams in the low concentration range. However, the miscibility curve alone is not sufficient to exactly predict the TCE recovery mechanisms involved. Tie line slopes and the critical tie line have to be taken into consideration to select the active matter as well as its concentration and to predict the dominant recovery mechanism in sand column experiments. The sand column experiments quantified the recovery efficiency of each solution and identified the proportion of the recovery mechanisms (mobilisation vs. solubilisation). Washing solutions with an active matter concentration above the critical tie line caused dominating mobilisation. Mobilisation was also dominant when the active matter of the washing solution partitioned into the organic phase and the active matter concentration was below the critical tie line. Solubilisation and emulsification were dominant for washing solutions containing active matter, which principally partitioned into the aqueous phase and an active matter concentration below the critical tie line.