Do individual coping strategies help or harm in the work–family conflict situation? Examining coping as a moderator between work–family conflict and well-being.

In this study we examined the moderator role of coping (problem-, emotion-, and avoidance-focused coping strategies) between work-to-family and family-to-work conflict and well-being (work engagement, job satisfaction, and family satisfaction). The study was based on a sample of 527 Finnish workers. Hierarchical moderated regression analyses showed that emotion-focused coping buffered against job dissatisfaction in a high family-to-work conflict situation. On the other hand, emotion-focused coping was harmful for family satisfaction in the same stressful situation: Those who used more emotion-focused coping were less satisfied with their family life under the conditions of high family-to-work conflict. Furthermore, avoidance coping was beneficial in a high family-to-work conflict situation: Those who used more avoidance coping were more satisfied with their family life in this situation. No buffering effects were found for work engagement or for problem-focused coping. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Landscape Character Assessment as an Approach to Understanding Public Interests within the European Landscape Convention

The European Landscape Convention's (ELC) definition of landscape, “an area, as perceived by people…”, places the public central to any understanding of landscape. This paper argues for ‘just’ involvement of the public and looks at how the focus of landscape as a perceived entity has been taken up within Landscape Character Assessment (LCA), an approach applied in England and Scotland for implementing the ELC. Based on a conceptual framework grounded in perception as a phenomenological experience of landscape and informed by principles of participation, LCAs from 2007 to 2011 have been assessed as to how public involvement has been considered. The results show that only a quarter of all assessments accessed involved the public, and that among these there is great disparity in the degree to which the public is engaged.     

Sensory quality and appropriateness of raw and boiled Jerusalem artichoke tubers (Helianthus tuberosus L.)

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to investigate the sensory attributes, dry matter and sugar content of five varieties of Jerusalem artichoke tubers and their relation to the appropriateness of the tubers for raw and boiled preparation. RESULTS: Sensory evaluation of raw and boiled Jerusalem artichoke tubers was performed by a trained sensory panel and a semi‐trained consumer panel of 49 participants, who also evaluated the appropriateness of the tubers for raw and boiled preparation. The appropriateness of raw Jerusalem artichoke tubers was related to Jerusalem artichoke flavour, green nut flavour, sweetness and colour intensity, whereas the appropriateness of boiled tubers was related to celeriac aroma, sweet aroma, sweetness and colour intensity. In both preparations the variety Dwarf stood out from the others by being the least appropriate tuber. CONCLUSION: A few sensory attributes can be used as predictors of the appropriateness of Jerusalem artichoke tubers for raw and boiled consumption. Knowledge on the quality of raw and boiled Jerusalem artichoke tubers can be used to inform consumers on the right choice of raw material and thereby increase the consumption of the vegetable. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Work characteristics and sickness absence in burnout and nonburnout groups: A study of Swedish health care workers.

The aim of this study was to search for constellations of work characteristics that discriminate people who experience burnout from those who do not, and also from those who score high in exhaustion but not in disengagement, and vice versa. The study is based on data from 3,719 employees in a County Council in Sweden. Discriminant analysis revealed that four burnout categories (nonburnout, disengaged, exhausted, and burnout) related in different ways to self-reported work characteristics. The proportions of respondents with overtime, sickness absence, and sickness presence were higher in the burnout and the exhausted groups compared with the nonburnout group. The most common professions in the burnout group were, unexpectedly, dental nurses, secretaries, and service staff. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thermodynamic equilibrium calculations of sulfur poisoning in Ce–O–S and La–O–S systems

Sulfur poisoning is still a problem in many application areas of exhaust gas catalysts despite the fact that the sulfur levels, e.g. in gasoline are being continuously reduced. The aim of this study was to calculate thermodynamic equilibrium compositions of sulfur in Ce–O–S and La–O–S systems in the presence of precious metals (Pt, Pd, and Rh), which all were considered as bulk materials, in order to understand the experimentally observed sulfur poisoning under the real applications of exhaust gas catalysts. Depending on temperature and oxygen partial pressure, sulfur can be present in the form of sulfates, sulfides and oxysulfides. It is thermodynamically favorable that cerium oxide reacts with SO₂ to form cerium sulfate at low temperatures and cerium oxysulfides at high temperatures. Lanthanum oxide reacts with SO₂ to form sulfate under oxidizing conditions and sulfides under reducing conditions.     

Tailoring the morphology of self-assembled block copolymer hollow fiber membranes

Isoporous asymmetric polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP) hollow fiber membranes were successfully made by a dry-jet wet spinning process. Well-defined nanometer-scale pores around 20–40 nm in diameter were tailored on the top surface of the fiber above a non-ordered macroporous layer by combining block copolymer self-assembly and non-solvent induced phase separation (SNIPS). Uniformity of the surface-assembled pores and fiber cross-section morphology was improved by adjusting the solution concentration, solvent composition as well as some important spinning parameters such as bore fluid flow rate, polymer solution flow rate and air gap distance between the spinneret and the precipitation bath. The formation of the well-organized self-assembled pores is a result of the interplay of fast relaxation of the shear-induced oriented block copolymer chains, the rapid evaporation of the solvent mixture on the outer surface and solvent extraction into the bore liquid on the lumen side, and gravity force during spinning. Structural features of the block copolymer solutions were investigated by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and rheological properties of the solutions were examined as well. The scattering patterns of the optimal solutions for membrane formation indicate a disordered phase which is very close to the disorder-order transition. The nanostructured surface and cross-section morphology of the membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The water flux of the membranes was measured and gas permeation was examined to test the pressure stability of the hollow fibers.     

Characterization of hydrogenation active sites on LaCoO3 perovskite

LaCoO₃ becomes active for hydrogenation of ethene upon reduction in hydrogen at temperatures between 300 and 490 °C. Several aspects of the reacting system were studied in order to ascertain the nature of the active sites generated in this manner. Catalyst deactivation was evaluated by comparing rates between two successive experiments. An upper limit was estimated for the amount of polymeric residues formed after a single run: 1.1 ± 0.5 × 10¹⁴ molecules of C₂ per square centimeter. Reduced LaCoO₃ also catalyzed the self-hydrogenation of ethene. When a mixture of C₂H₄:D₂ = 1:1 was reacted over LaCoO₃ reduced to varying extents multiple-exchanged ethenes and ethanes were formed. The exchange patterns were almost unaffected by the extent of reduction. The effect of pretreatment temperatures was also evaluated. The solid in its reduced form was particularly sensitive to high-temperature treatments. The amounts of CO chemisorbed when plotted vs extent of reduction gave curves that were almost identical to the activity plots. The results reported here, discussed in terms of the current literature, are consistent with a model in which finely dispersed Co⁰, formed in the oxide matrix upon reduction, is the locus of hydrogenation activity.