Political will,political skill,and political behavior

The current study used Mintzberg's (1983) conceptualization of political will and political skill to evaluate the predictors and consequences of political behavior at work. As elements of political will, we hypothesized that need for achievement and intrinsic motivation would predict the use of political behavior at work. Furthermore, we argued that political skill would moderate the relationship between political behavior and emotional labor. Data gathered from employees (N = 193) representing a wide array of organizations substantiated the proposed relationships. Specifically, need for achievement and intrinsic motivation were positively associated with political behavior. In turn, those opting to employ political behavior at work experienced a higher degree of emotional labor, but this relationship was found to operate differently at low and high levels of political skill. Specifically, emotional labor was a consequence of political behavior for those low in political skill, but emotional labor reactions from political behavior were neutralized for individuals high in political skill. Implications of these results, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Change in Pulmonary Function in Children Associated with Air Pollution Episodes

Pulmonary function of approximately 200 school children in Steubenville, OH was measured before and immediately following air pollution alerts in the fall of 1978 and 1979. TSP concentrations exceeded the National Primary Ambient Air Quality 24 h standards in 1978. SO₂ exceeded the standard in 1979. The children were then reexamined in three weekly visits following each alert. Estimated mean Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) was approximately 2% lower following each alert, although the lowest means were observed one to two weeks after the episodes. Forced Expired Volume in 0.75 sec (FEV_0.75) did not change during the 1978 study, but was 4% lower immediately following the 1979 alert. The children were measured again in five weekly examinations in the spring and fall of 1980. Air pollution levels did not exceed the standards on either occasion. In the spring of 1980, estimated mean FVC and FEV_0.75 showed a decline similar to that observed following the alerts in 1978 and 1979. In the fall of 1980, there were no significant differences in the estimated mean FVC or FEV_0.75 between the examinations. A total of 335 children were tested in the four studies, including 194 who participated in more than one study. The evidence for each child from all the studies was combined in a regression analysis of pulmonary function on TSP and SO₂ average concentrations in the previous 24 h. The distribution of the individual regression coefficients was centered significantly below zero, implying a decrease in pulmonary function with increasing TSP and SO₂ concentrations. The magnitude of the median change was less than 1% of the mean FVC and FEV_0.75 over the range of TSP and SO₂ concentrations observed.     

Biogeography of soil nematodes

Biogeography is the study of distributions of organisms, plus an attempt to explain the distributions. Two approaches to explanation of biogeographic patterns may be termed ecological biogeography and historical biogeography. Most nematologists have taken the ecological approach, with a goal of determining why a particular species is restricted to certain areas, and not present in nearby areas. Historical biogeography is based on the premise that present-day patterns of taxa result largely from the history of the taxa and of the areas of the earth in which they have lived. Nematologists generally adhere to the classic view of dispersal in which a center of origin is postulated and long-range dispersal over barriers is invoked. The dispersal mechanism is often assumed to be man himself. Challenges to this approach exist in the form of methods which infer the biogeographic history from phylogeny. Vicariance biogeographers postulate fragmentation of widespread ancestral biotas, resulting from geological, climatic or other disjunctions, and further allopatric speciation among descendant biotas. Distributions amenable to general explanation can be distinguished from those which require unique dispersal events. Biogeography of soil nematodes is hampered by present limitations in systematics, including our inability to determine species limits with certainty.     

Influence tactics and work outcomes: a meta‐analysis

Recent research on influence tactics has focused on the benefits that accrue as a result of using such tactics. The current study utilizes meta‐analytic techniques to estimate the true population correlations between various influence tactics and work‐related outcomes. Results indicate that ingratiation and rationality have positive effects on work outcomes. Additional analyses suggest that these and other influence tactics have significant effects in certain situations and on specific work outcomes. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Minimizing opportunity costs to aquatic connectivity restoration while controlling an invasive species

Controlling invasive species is critical for conservation but can have unintended consequences for native species and divert resources away from other efforts. This dilemma occurs on a grand scale in the North American Great Lakes, where dams and culverts block tributary access to habitat of desirable fish species and are a lynchpin of long‐standing efforts to limit ecological damage inflicted by the invasive, parasitic sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus). Habitat restoration and sea‐lamprey control create conflicting goals for managing aging infrastructure. We used optimization to minimize opportunity costs of habitat gains for 37 desirable migratory fishes that arose from restricting sea lamprey access (0–25% increase) when selecting barriers for removal under a limited budget (US$1–105 million). Imposing limits on sea lamprey habitat reduced gains in tributary access for desirable species by 15–50% relative to an unconstrained scenario. Additional investment to offset the effect of limiting sea‐lamprey access resulted in high opportunity costs for 30 of 37 species (e.g., an additional US$20–80 million for lake sturgeon [Acipenser fulvescens]) and often required ≥5% increase in sea‐lamprey access to identify barrier‐removal solutions adhering to the budget and limiting access. Narrowly distributed species exhibited the highest opportunity costs but benefited more at less cost when small increases in sea‐lamprey access were allowed. Our results illustrate the value of optimization in limiting opportunity costs when balancing invasion control against restoration benefits for diverse desirable species. Such trade‐off analyses are essential to the restoration of connectivity within fragmented rivers without unleashing invaders.     

Political behaviors as moderators of the perceptions of organizational politics—work outcomes relationships

This study investigates the complexities involved in the relationships between perceptions of politics and work outcomes by examining the effects of political behavior on that relationship. More specifically, we suggest that political behavior may serve as a form of control or as a mechanism for coping with highly political organizational environments perceived by individuals to be aversive. As such, we propose moderating roles of self‐promotion and ingratiation on the relationships between perceptions of politics and the work outcomes of satisfaction with job in general, satisfaction with supervision, and intent to leave. It was hypothesized that increased exercise of self‐promotion and ingratiation behaviors would mitigate the negative effects of perceptions of organizational politics on those specific outcomes. Hypotheses were supported for the proposed relationships between self‐promotion and two of the work outcomes: satisfaction with supervision and intent to leave. Significant effects were also found for ingratiation; however, they were opposite to those proposed for the perceptions of organizational politics–intent to leave relationship. Implications of results and areas for future research are discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Close genetic similarity of Atlantic and Pacific skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) demonstrated with restriction endonuclease analysis of mitochondrial DNA

Restriction endonuclease analysis of mitochondrial DNA indicated a surprisingly high degree of genetic similarity between skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The present results (1983) support the findings of previous morphological and electrophoretic studies. Evidently, since the uplift of the Panamá land bridge about 3.1 million years ago, there has been continued genetic contact between Atlantic and Pacific skipjack tuna, presumably via the Southern Ocean.