Relationships between daily affect and pro-environmental behavior at work: The moderating role of pro-environmental attitude

Research in organizational psychology has increasingly focused on understanding the determinants of "green" employee behavior. The present study used a daily diary design to investigate relationships between employees' daily affect, pro-environmental attitude, as well as daily task-related pro-environmental behavior (i.e., the extent to which employees complete required work tasks in environmentally friendly ways), and daily proactive pro-environmental behavior (i.e., the extent to which employees show personal initiative when acting in environmentally friendly ways at work). Fifty-six employees working in small businesses completed a baseline survey and two daily surveys over ten workdays. Daily unactivated positive affect and pro-environmental attitude positively predicted daily task-related pro-environmental behavior. In addition, daily activated positive affect positively predicted daily proactive pro-environmental behavior among employees with a less positive pro-environmental attitude but not among employees with a more positive pro-environmental attitude. These findings suggest that fostering pro-environmental attitudes and, to some extent, positive affect among employees could help organizations to promote pro-environmental behavior in the workplace.

On the importance of pro-environmental organizational climate for employee green behavior

In their call to action, Ones and Dilchert(2012) discuss several possible individual and some contextual determinants of employee green behavior that await examination by industrial and organizational I–O) psychologists. Although these authors briefly mentioned organizational climate, specifically ethical climate, as a potentially relevant predictor of green behaviors, they mostly emphasized the role of individual difference characteristics and traditional job performance determinants such as knowledge, skills, abilities, and other person factors (KSAOs).

Protocol for assessing maternal, environmental and epigenetic risk factors for dental caries in children

Background Expenditure on dental and oral health services in Australia is $3.4 billion AUD annually. This is the sixth highest health cost and accounts for 7 % of total national health expenditure. Approximately 49 % of Australian children aged 6 years have caries experience in their deciduous teeth and this is rising. The aetiology of dental caries involves a complex interplay of individual, behavioural, social, economic, political and environmental conditions, and there is increasing interest in genetic predisposition and epigenetic modification. Methods The Oral Health Sub-study; a cross sectional study of a birth cohort began in November 2012 by examining mothers and their children who were six years old by the time of initiation of the study, which is ongoing. Data from detailed questionnaires of families from birth onwards and data on mothers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices towards oral health collected at the time of clinical examination are used. Subjects’ height, weight and mid-waist circumference are taken and Body Mass Index (BMI) computed, using an electronic Bio-Impedance balance. Dental caries experience is scored using the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS). Saliva is collected for physiological measures. Salivary Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid (DNA) is extracted for genetic studies including epigenetics using the SeqCap Epi Enrichment Kit. Targets of interest are being confirmed by pyrosequencing to identify potential epigenetic markers of caries risk. Discussion This study will examine a wide range of potential determinants for childhood dental caries and evaluate inter-relationships amongst them. The findings will provide an evidence base to plan and implement improved preventive strategies.

In Situ Observation of the Thermal Decomposition of Weddelite by Heating Stage Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy

The morphological and chemical changes occurring during the thermal decomposition of weddelite, CaC2O4·2H2O, have been followed in real time in a heating stage attached to an Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope operating at a pressure of 2 Torr, with a heating rate of 10 °C/min and an equilibration time of approximately 10 min. The dehydration step around 120 °C and the loss of CO around 425 °C do not involve changes in morphology, but changes in the composition were observed. The final reaction of CaCO3 to CaO while evolving CO2 around 600 °C involved the formation of chains of very small oxide particles pseudomorphic to the original oxalate crystals. The change in chemical composition could only be observed after cooling the sample to 350 °C because of the effects of thermal radiation.