An assessment of health and safety management within working groups in the UK manufacturing sector

Problem: In response to the demands of competitiveness, there has been a proliferation of management delayering in order to move responsibility to those people carrying out the operations and to focus on working as a team. Teams can be managed in different ways: using supervisors, team leaders, or self-managed. The management of health and safety and other business risks is dependent on the way in which the team is managed. Method: This study has assessed, through the use of semistructured interviews, how UK manufacturing companies have addressed a range of health and safety management issues (i.e., the setting, communication, and measurement of company objectives, employee participation and empowerment, and risk assessment) in relation to different styles of group working (i.e., supervised groups, groups with team leaders, and self-managed groups). Discussion: Although the differences are not always significant, it is noticeable that within organizations using supervised work environments, there is a lack of communication of specific health and safety information, little involvement and participation in safety activities, and a greater reliance on the safety function. However, in organizations using team leaders and self-managed groups, there is evidence of greater management involvement, more open communication, and greater employee involvement in health and safety, although empowerment in its true sense was still limited in these organizations. Impact on industry: The results obtained illustrate the impact of different working groups on the management of health and safety in the UK manufacturing sector.     

Noninvasive prenatal diagnosis of fetal blood group phenotypes: current practice and future prospects

Fetuses of women with alloantibodies to RhD (D) are at risk from hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn, but only if the fetal red cells are D-positive. In such pregnancies, it is beneficial to determine fetal D type, as this will affect the management of the pregnancy. It is possible to predict, with a high level of accuracy, fetal blood group phenotypes from genotyping tests on fetal DNA. The best source is the small quantity of fetal DNA in the blood of pregnant women, as this avoids the requirement for invasive procedures of amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling (CVS). Many laboratories worldwide now provide noninvasive fetal D genotyping as a routine service for alloimmunized women, and some also test for c, E, C and K. In many countries, anti-D immunoglobulin injections are offered to D-negative pregnant women, to reduce the chances of prenatal immunization, even though up to 40% of these women will have a D-negative fetus. High-throughput, noninvasive fetal D genotyping technologies are being developed so that unnecessary treatment of pregnant women can be avoided. Trials suggest that fetal D typing of all D-negative pregnant women is feasible and should become common practice in the near future. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Understanding transitions in farming systems and their effects on livestock rearing and smallholder livelihoods in Telangana,India

Increasing food demands are causing rapid transitions in farming systems, often involving intensified land and resource use. While transitioning has benefits regarding poverty alleviation and food outputs, it also causes environmental and social issues over time. This study aims to understand the transitions in farming systems in a region in Telangana, from 1997 to 2015, and their effect on livestock rearing and smallholder livelihoods. We also examine the impact of the transitions on lower caste groups and women in particular. We collected data using a combination of methods, i.e., a household survey, focus group discussions, and secondary data sources, to build a comprehensive picture of the transitions in the region. We found that subsistence mixed farming systems transitioned to market-orientated specialized systems over a short time span. As the transition process gained momentum, households either intensified their production or got marginalized. Technological interventions, development programs with integrated approaches, and market demand for certain agricultural produce triggered increased regional production but also led to the scarcity of water, land, and labor. The transitions marginalized some of the households, changed the role of livestock in farming, and have been inclusive of both lower caste groups and women in terms of increased ownership of large ruminants and access to technologies. However, for women specifically, further increase in workload in the context of farming is also found.     

COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL DECISION MAKING IN OREGON WATERSHED GROUPS: PERCEPTIONS OF EFFECTIVENESS1

ABSTRACT: Collaborative watershed groups have formed at a significant rate throughout the United States in the last decade. Data on these groups, however, has been largely anecdotal and lacking in rigorous examination of the relationship between group formation, membership, process, and group effectiveness. Using a mail survey, Oregon watershed group participants were asked to identify who initiated the formation of the group, how efficiently the group formed, how the group determines membership, what decision making method the group uses, and how members perceive the group's effectiveness. Findings indicated that a majority believe that, because of their participation in a watershed group, they better understand issues in the watershed and the perspectives of others, but less than half believe that relationships with government decision makers or physical conditions in the watershed have improved. Members of citizen initiated groups rated their groups higher than government initiated groups on addressing difficult or controversial issues. Members of groups that use consensus responded most positively on whether the group gives fair consideration to dissenting opinions. Overall, groups with restricted membership systems rated themselves lowest on involving key decision making groups, timeliness in addressing issues, and overall effectiveness. These results raise concerns about this type of group membership system.     

The social dimension of biodiversity policy in the European Union: Valuing the benefits to vulnerable communities

This paper uses GIS-based mapping tools and economic valuation of ecosystem goods and services to explore the social dimension of biodiversity policy. We investigate the linkages between biodiversity, ecosystem service values, and socio-economic vulnerability indicators in a spatially explicit framework and at different geographic scales. Our focus is on Europe, where biodiversity and ecosystem benefits have been well studied for many ecosystems, such as forests, coastal ecosystems and freshwater wetlands. The analysis focuses in particular on rural agricultural areas and remote mountainous regions accounting for the differences across various income groups, both at national and regional levels. The results of the study provide useful insights for EU policymakers in designing policy instruments that can promote biodiversity conservation and prevent natural resource degradation, on the one hand, while contributing to social stability and human livelihoods, on the other hand.     

岩溶与非岩溶区水稻土团聚体细菌群落结构和功能类群比较

研究岩溶与非岩溶区土壤团聚体中微生物群落结构和功能类群异同,可以为揭示岩溶区土壤有机微生物与团粒结构稳定之间的互作机制提供理论依据.以岩溶与非岩溶稻田的耕层土壤为研究对象,采用湿筛法将团聚体分为大团聚体(0.25～2 mm)、微团聚体(0.053～0.25 mm)和粉、黏粒组分(<0.053 mm),通过高通量测序对土壤团聚体微生物群落结构进行分析,并采用共现网络分析细菌关键类群以及利用FAPROTAX进行功能预测.结果表明,(1)岩溶区大团聚体质量占比为30.94%,团聚体平均质量直径和几何平均直径分别为0.41 mm和0.15 mm,这3个项目均显著高于非岩溶区,表明岩溶区的环境有利于团聚体的形成;(2)岩溶区3个粒径团聚体的酸杆菌门、变形菌门、酸杆菌(Gp3、 Gp4和Gp6)和鞘氨醇单胞菌属等相对丰度均高于非岩溶区.岩溶区微团聚体中的绿弯菌门的相对丰度(6.13%)显著高于粉、黏粒组分(2.79%);(3)共现网络分析表明,变形菌门和酸杆菌门为3个粒径团聚体中的关键类群.岩溶区微团聚体中细菌正相关边(65.5%)最高,相互关系多为协同关系;(4)岩溶区土壤3个粒径团聚体中...     

Enhanced adsorption of arsenate by spinel zinc ferrite nano particles: Effect of zinc content and site occupation

In this work, zinc ferrite spinel with different zinc contents (Zn_xFe_3-xO₄) was synthesized by a hydrothermal method and used for removing As(V) in aqueous solution. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicated that in the crystal structure of Zn_xFe_3-xO₄, the zinc atoms tended to occupy the octahedral sites for x?<?0.6 and diffused into the tetrahedral sites gradually with x?>?0.6. The size of Zn_xFe_3-xO₄ crystallites increased with the increasing zinc content. Batch adsorption experiments showed that the adsorption isotherms could be well described by the Langmuir model, while the adsorption kinetics followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Zinc ferrite exhibited the highest adsorption capacity towards As(V) when x?=?0.6. Study of the mechanism indicated that doping with zinc increased the number of surface hydroxyl groups on ferrite spinel, and thus enhanced the adsorption capacity when x?=?0.6. This work revealed the effects of doping site and content of metal atoms on the adsorption ability of ferrite spinel towards As(V).     

阳澄西湖浮游藻类功能群演替特征及其与环境因子的关系

采用浮游藻类功能群、RDA（冗余分析）、多元回归分析等方法,对阳澄西湖浮游藻类功能群的演替特征及其影响因子进行了研究.2015年3月~2016年2月逐月对阳澄西湖浮游藻类和环境因子进行调查分析,结果表明,阳澄西湖浮游藻类可划分为21个功能群,其中10个功能群（B、D、E、G、J、Lo、S1、X1、X2、Y）为该湖的优势功能群,反映的生境特征表明该湖为分层敏感,扰动较少且混合程度较高的中-富营养浅水水体.阳澄西湖不同季节优势功能群演替规律为：由春季的B+X2+Y+X1+J+D,经夏季的B+X2+Y+X1+J+G+S1+Lo+E和秋季的B+X2+Y+Lo+E,转变为B+X2+Y+X1+D.RDA分析结果显示,阳澄西湖浮游藻类功能群分布受环境影响较为明显,但不同季节影响因子不同.整体上,水温（T）、pH值、溶解氧（DO）、氨氮（NH₄⁺-N）和浊度（Tur）是影响阳澄西湖浮游藻类功能群分布格局的主要因素.     

Species, functional groups, and thresholds in ecological resilience

The cross-scale resilience model states that ecological resilience is generated in part from the distribution of functions within and across scales in a system. Resilience is a measure of a system's ability to remain organized around a particular set of mutually reinforcing processes and structures, known as a regime. We define scale as the geographic extent over which a process operates and the frequency with which a process occurs. Species can be categorized into functional groups that are a link between ecosystem processes and structures and ecological resilience. We applied the cross-scale resilience model to avian species in a grassland ecosystem. A species' morphology is shaped in part by its interaction with ecological structure and pattern, so animal body mass reflects the spatial and temporal distribution of resources. We used the log-transformed rank-ordered body masses of breeding birds associated with grasslands to identify aggregations and discontinuities in the distribution of those body masses. We assessed cross-scale resilience on the basis of 3 metrics: overall number of functional groups, number of functional groups within an aggregation, and the redundancy of functional groups across aggregations. We assessed how the loss of threatened species would affect cross-scale resilience by removing threatened species from the data set and recalculating values of the 3 metrics. We also determined whether more function was retained than expected after the loss of threatened species by comparing observed loss with simulated random loss in a Monte Carlo process. The observed distribution of function compared with the random simulated loss of function indicated that more functionality in the observed data set was retained than expected. On the basis of our results, we believe an ecosystem with a full complement of species can sustain considerable species losses without affecting the distribution of functions within and across aggregations, although ecological resilience is reduced. We propose that the mechanisms responsible for shaping discontinuous distributions of body mass and the nonrandom distribution of functions may also shape species losses such that local extinctions will be nonrandom with respect to the retention and distribution of functions and that the distribution of function within and across aggregations will be conserved despite extinctions.     

Individualism–collectivism and team member performance: Another look

This study revisits the commonplace research conclusion that greater team member collectivism, as opposed to individualism, is associated with higher levels of individual‐level performance in teams. Whereas this conclusion is based on the assumption that work in teams consists exclusively of tasks that are shared, typical teamwork also includes tasks that are individualized. Results of a laboratory study of 206 participants performing a mix of individualized and shared tasks in four‐person teams indicate that heterogeneous combinations of individualism and collectivism are associated with higher levels of team member performance, measured as quantity of output, when loose structural interdependence enables individual differences in individualism–collectivism to exert meaningful effects. These results support the modified conclusion that a combination of individualism and collectivism is associated with higher levels of member performance in teams under typical work conditions; that is, conditions in which the tasks of individual members are both individualized and shared. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.