Individual adaptive performance in organizations: A review

Modern work is frequently characterized by jobs where adaptive performance (AP) is crucial for employees to succeed in light of new or altered task demands. This recognition has fueled growing interest in AP as a dimension of workplace performance. To this point, however, research on AP has evolved from disparate perspectives and methods, resulting in fragmentation and a less than coherent knowledge base. This paper presents a comprehensive review of research studies regarding the nomological network of individual AP. In doing so, we synthesize the current knowledge base surrounding correlates of AP, elucidate current ambiguities, and suggest directions for future research efforts. We conclude that although the extant AP literature has amassed a critical body of studies linking various predictors to successful AP outcomes, much remains unknown, most critically regarding the implications of different methods of assessing AP, the effects of different types of changes in the task environment, the process of AP, and the steps organizations can take to foster AP among their employees. We hope that our synthesis and analysis paves the way for efforts to address these important questions. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Framing an independent,integrated and evidence-based evaluation of the state of Australia's biophysical and human environments

A new approach was developed for Australia's 2011 national State of the Environment (SoE) report to integrate the assessment of biophysical and human elements of the environment. A Common Assessment and Reporting Framework (CARF) guided design and implementation, responding to jurisdictional complexity, outstanding natural diversity and ecosystem values, high levels of cultural and heritage diversity, and a paucity of national-scale data. The CARF provided a transparent response to the need for an independent, robust and evidence-based national SoE report. We conclude that this framework will be effective for subsequent national SoE assessments and other integrated national-scale assessments in data-poor regions.     

Modelling and Prediction of Diesel Engine Performance using Relevance Vector Machine

Diesel engines are being increasingly adopted by many car manufacturers today, yet no exact mathematical diesel engine model exists due to its highly nonlinear nature. In the current literature, black-box identification has been widely used for diesel engine modelling and many artificial neural network (ANN) based models have been developed. However, ANN has many drawbacks such as multiple local minima, user burden on selection of optimal network structure, large training data size, and over-fitting risk. To overcome these drawbacks, this article proposes to apply an emerging machine learning technique, relevance vector machine (RVM), to model and predict the diesel engine performance. The property of global optimal solution of RVM allows the model to be trained using only a few experimental data sets. In this study, the inputs of the model are engine speed, load, and cooling water temperature, while the output parameters are the brake-specific fuel consumption and the amount of exhaust emissions like nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide. Experimental results show that the model accuracy is satisfactory even the training data is scarce. Moreover, the model accuracy is compared with that using typical ANN. Evaluation results also show that RVM is superior to typical ANN approach.     

Investigation of Nanoparticle Additives to Biodiesel for Improvement of the Performance and Exhaust Emissions in a Compression Ignition Engine

Worldwide energy demand has been growing steadily during the past five decades and most experts believe that this trend will continue to rise. The amount of emitted harmful emission gases increases in parallel with increasing energy consumption. This increase has forced many countries to take various precautions, and various restrictions on emitted emissions have been carried. In this study, effects of addition of oxygen containing nanoparticle additives to biodiesel on fuel properties and effects on diesel engine performance and exhaust emissions were investigated. Two different nanoparticle additives, namely MgO and SiO₂, were added to biodiesel at the addition dosage of 25 and 50 ppm. Fuel properties, engine performance, and exhaust emission characteristics of obtained modified fuels were examined. As a result of this study, engine emission values NO_x and CO were decreased and engine performance values slightly increased with the addition of nanoparticle additives.     

用水协会运行绩效及其影响因素分析——基于江西省3949个用水协会的实证研究

近年来我国用水协会的数量呈爆炸式增长,但学者对其运行绩效及影响因素的研究不够全面和深入。论文使用江西省11个市3 949个用水协会数据,对用水协会的运行绩效及其影响因素进行实证研究。研究表明,是否注册、参与农户数、组建边界、协会主要领导人产生方式、是否有工程产权证、灌溉设施完好率、灌区规模对用水协会运行绩效有显著正影响;而租用和借用办公场所、协会工作人员数、协会起源、协会主要领导人身份则有显著负影响。要使用水协会运行良好,应重视协会的注册工作,完善协会主要领导人产生方式,控制协会工作人员规模,深化小型农田水利工程设施产权制度改革。     

Analysis of trace dicyandiamide in stream water using solid phase extraction and liquid chromatography UV spectrometry

An improved method for trace level quantification of dicyandiamide in stream water has been developed. This method includes sample pretreatment using solid phase extraction. The extraction procedure (including loading, washing, and eluting) used a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min, and dicyandiamide was eluted with 20 mL of a methanol/acetonitrile mixture (V/V = 2:3), followed by pre-concentration using nitrogen evaporation and analysis with high performance liquid chromatography–ultraviolet spectroscopy (HPLC–UV). Sample extraction was carried out using a Waters Sep-Pak AC-2 Cartridge (with activated carbon). Separation was achieved on a ZIC^®-Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography (ZIC-HILIC) (50 mm × 2.1 mm, 3.5 μm) chromatography column and quantification was accomplished based on UV absorbance. A reliable linear relationship was obtained for the calibration curve using standard solutions (R² > 0.999). Recoveries for dicyandiamide ranged from 84.6% to 96.8%, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs, n = 3) were below 6.1% with a detection limit of 5.0 ng/mL for stream water samples.     

高效液相色谱-电感耦合等离子体质谱联用测定生物样品中的有机汞

建立了酸提取-高效液相色谱-电感耦合等离子体质谱联用技术(HPLC-ICP-MS)测定生物样品中甲基汞、乙基汞、苯基汞等3种有机汞的分析方法。鱼肉和贝类样品经盐酸消解,苯萃取,硫代硫酸钠溶液反萃取后,采用醋酸铵/L-半胱氨酸缓冲盐及甲醇体系组成的流动相按一定比例进行梯度洗脱,经前处理的生物样品在液相色谱中经C18柱分离后,进入电感耦合等离子体质谱检测其甲基汞、乙基汞和苯基汞的浓度。3种有机汞化合物均在0.50~50.0μg/L范围内呈现良好的线性关系,线性相关系数(r)均大于0.9998。方法检出限为0.010~0.038mg/kg;3种有机汞样品加标的RSD均小于12.2%;两个水平的加标回收率在50.8~129%。     

Country logistics performance and disaster impact

The aim of this paper is to deepen the understanding of the relationship between country logistics performance and disaster impact. The relationship is analysed through correlation analysis and regression models for 117 countries for the years 2007 to 2012 with disaster impact variables from the International Disaster Database (EM‐DAT) and logistics performance indicators from the World Bank. The results show a significant relationship between country logistics performance and disaster impact overall and for five out of six specific logistic performance indicators. These specific indicators were further used to explore the relationship between country logistic performance and disaster impact for three specific disaster types (epidemic, flood and storm). The findings enhance the understanding of the role of logistics in a humanitarian context with empirical evidence of the importance of country logistics performance in disaster response operations.     

低温下废铁屑对厌氧氨氧化系统的影响

考察了在低温条件下(<20℃)废铁屑及其投加方式对厌氧氨氧化反应器脱氮性能和微生物群落的影响.结果表明,当废铁屑投加量为10g/L时,直接(R2)和间接(R3)投加方式均会对厌氧氨氧化反应造成短期抑制,总氮去除率分别降低4.7%和3.4%;30d连续运行后,2组反应器总氮去除率均提升至70%左右;反应器稳定运行阶段,R2的R_s(NO₂^--N与NH₄⁺-N去除量之比)和R_p(NO₃^--N生成量与NH₄⁺-N去除量之比)为1.57和0.22, R3的R_s和R_p为1.49和0.23,比R2更接近厌氧氨氧化反应理论值.废铁屑在水中发生腐蚀,降低DO并提高pH值,且R2,R3污泥中铁含量分别为对照组的1.64倍和1.93倍,废铁屑不仅改善了厌氧氨氧菌的生境,还满足了其对铁元素的需求.高通量测序结果显示,在20~50d的运行过程中, R1,R2,R3中优势厌氧氨氧化菌属Candidatus_Kuenenia的相对丰度分别增加-1.05%,0.14%和0.96%,废铁屑的投加促进了厌氧氨氧化菌在低温下的生长,且间接投加促进效果更为显著.     

纳米零价铁耦合黏土修复污染土壤的研究进展

黏土负载型nZVI具有低成本、易制备、环境相容性好、综合性能优越的特点.本文在归纳nZVI改性策略的基础上,比较了黏土种类对nZVI形貌和性能的影响,提出了理想黏土载体的优选顺序,分析了复合材料的铁含量、比表面积、nZVI尺寸等与去除性能之间的关系,对nZVI耦合黏土在修复土壤重金属、卤代有机物、硝酸盐、新型污染物等方面的研究进行了总结,并概述了nZVI技术在土壤修复中的负面效应,最后对nZVI耦合黏土修复污染土壤的未来方向进行了展望.