Workplace deviance,organizational citizenship behavior,and business unit performance: the bad apples do spoil the whole barrel

The influences of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and workplace deviant behavior (WDB) on business unit performance were investigated using data from branches of a fast food organization. Data included measures of WDB and OCB obtained from staff, ratings of performance provided by supervisors, and objective measures of performance. It was found that WDB was negatively and significantly associated with business unit performance measured both subjectively and objectively. OCB, however, failed to contribute to the prediction of business unit performance beyond the level that was achieved by WDB. It appeared, therefore, that the presence of deviant employees among business units impinges upon the performance of the business unit as a whole, whereas OCBs had comparatively little effect. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of spatial variation on salinity tolerance of macroinvertebrates in Eastern Australia and implications for ecosystem protection trigger values

Salinisation of freshwater has been identified as a serious environmental issue in Australia and around the world. Protective concentrations (trigger values) for salinity can be used to manage salinity impacts, though require locally relevant salinity tolerance information. 72-h acute salinity tolerance values were determined for 102 macroinvertebrates collected from 11 locations in four biologically distinct freshwater bio-regions in Northeast Australia and compared with sensitivities observed in Southeast Australia. The salinity tolerance of individual taxa was consistent across Northeast Australia and between Northeast and Southeast Australia. However, two distinct communities were identified in Northeast Australia using distributions of the acute tolerance values and a calculated index of salinity sensitivity. Salinity trigger values should therefore be representative of local or regionally relevant communities and may be adequately calculated using sensitivity values from throughout Eastern Australia. The results presented provide a basis for assessing salinity risk and determining trigger values for salinity in freshwater ecosystems at local and regional scales in Eastern Australia.     

Inactivation and injury assessment of Escherichia coli during solar and photocatalytic disinfection in LDPE bags

Solar disinfection (SODIS) of Escherichia coli suspensions in low-density polyethylene bag reactors was investigated as a low-cost disinfection method suitable for application in developing countries. The efficiency of a range of SODIS reactor configurations was examined (single skin (SS), double skin, black-backed single skin, silver-backed single skin (SBSS) and composite-backed single skin) using E. coli suspended in model and real surface water. Titanium dioxide was added to the reactors to improve the efficiency of the SODIS process. The effect of turbidity was also assessed. In addition to viable counts, E. coli injury was characterised through spread-plate analysis using selective and non-selective media. The optimal reactor configuration was determined to be the SBSS bag (t₅₀ = 9.0 min) demonstrating the importance of UVA photons, as opposed to infrared in the SODIS disinfection mechanism. Complete inactivation (6.5-log) was achieved in the presence of turbidity (50 NTU) using the SBSS bag within 180 min simulated solar exposure. The addition of titanium dioxide (0.025 g L⁻¹) significantly enhanced E. coli inactivation in the SS reactor, with 6-log inactivation observed within 90 min simulated solar exposure. During the early stages of both SODIS and photocatalytic disinfection, injured E. coli were detected; however, irreversible injury was caused and re-growth was not observed. Experiments under solar conditions were undertaken with total inactivation (6.5-log) observed in the SS reactor within 240 min, incomplete inactivation (4-log) was observed in SODIS bottles exposed to the same solar conditions.     

Transforming conservation science and practice for a postnormal world

We examine issues to consider when reframing conservation science and practice in the context of global change. New framings of the links between ecosystems and society are emerging that are changing peoples’ values and expectations of nature, resulting in plural perspectives on conservation. Reframing conservation for global change can thus be regarded as a stage in the evolving relationship between people and nature rather than some recent trend. New models of how conservation links with transformative adaptation include how decision contexts for conservation can be reframed and integrated with an adaptation pathways approach to create new options for global‐change‐ready conservation. New relationships for conservation science and governance include coproduction of knowledge that supports social learning. New processes for implementing adaptation for conservation outcomes include deliberate practices used to develop new strategies, shift world views, work with conflict, address power and intergenerational equity in decisions, and build consciousness and creativity that empower agents to act. We argue that reframing conservation for global change requires scientists and practitioners to implement approaches unconstrained by discipline and sectoral boundaries, geopolitical polarities, or technical problematization. We consider a stronger focus on inclusive creation of knowledge and the interaction of this knowledge with societal values and rules is likely to result in conservation science and practice that meets the challenges of a postnormal world.     

Harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones) from the Middle Jurassic of China

Harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones) are familiar animals in most terrestrial habitats but are rare as fossils, with only a handful of species known from each of the Palaeozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras. Fossil harvestmen from Middle Jurassic (ca. 165 Ma) strata of Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China, are described as Mesobunus martensi gen. et sp. nov. and Daohugopilio sheari gen. et sp. nov.; the two genera differ primarily in the relative length of their legs and details of the pedipalps. Jurassic arachnids are extremely rare and these fossils represent the first Jurassic, and only the fourth Mesozoic, record of Opiliones. These remarkably well-preserved and modern-looking fossils are assigned to the Eupnoi, whereby M. martensi demonstrably belongs in Sclerosomatidae. It thus represents the oldest record of a modern harvestman family and implies a high degree of evolutionary stasis among one of the most widespread and abundant groups of long-legged, round-bodied harvestmen.     

用大型底栖动物和ODP系统评价珠江的有机污染

采用大型底栖动物需氧有机体百分率ODP(oxygen demander percentage)法对广州珠江前航道、西航道和流溪河的下游段进行河流有机污染评价.结果显示:底栖动物需氧类群密度在三河段间分布确有显著性差异,并根据其ODP可以判断流溪河水质相对较好,水质级别为中国地表水环境质量标准(EQSSW)Ⅳ级,西航道和前航道水质级别都为Ⅴ级.通过测试,这一方法能成功地应用在珠江及流溪河,且该法可以较好地匹配于EQSSW五级评价系统,初步认为ODP系统可以成为一个较好的河流水质生物监测方法.图3表4参13