Ecological changes in historically polluted soils: Metal(loid) bioaccumulation in microarthropods and their impact on community structure

International audienceSoil pollution by persistent metal(loid)s present environmental and sanitary risks. While the effects of metal(loid)s on vegetation and macrofauna have been widely studied, their impact on microarthropods (millimetre scale) and their bioaccumulation capacity have been less investigated. However, microarthropods provide important ecosystem services, contributing in particular to soil organic matter dynamics. This study focussed on the impact of metal(loid) pollution on the structure and distribution of microarthropod communities and their potential to bioaccumulate lead (Pb). Soil samples were collected from a contaminated historical site with a strong horizontal and vertical gradient of Pb concentrations. Microarthropods were extracted using the Berlese method. The field experiments showed that microarthropods were present even in extremely polluted soils (30,000 mg Pb kg− 1). However, while microarthropod abundance increased with increasing soil C/N content (R2 = 0.79), richness decreased with increasing pollution. A shift in the community structure from an oribatid-to a springtail-dominated community was observed in less polluted soils (R2 = 0.68). In addition, Pb bioamplification occurred in microarthropods, with higher Pb concentrations in predators than in detritivorous microarthropods. Finally, the importance of feeding and reproductive ecological traits as potentially relevant descriptors of springtail community structures was highlighted. This study demonstrates the interest of microarthropod communities with different trophic levels and ecological features for evaluating the global environmental impact of metal(loid) pollution on soil biological quality

Possible interactions between stent and electromagnetic field

Over the past years, an increase in the amount of the electromagnetic sources could be observed. Model presented in this article is limited to the impact of low frequency fields generated by the e.g. electrical power lines or magnetic coils in a bone fractures therapy. Particularly, the effect of the magnetic component of the electromagnetic field on stents will be evaluated. The conductivity of human tissues will be investigated. Yielded results will be used to simplify complicated, three-dimensional problem of the current distribution in stent branches, to one-dimensional one. The merits of the paper is proposing, implementing and using for analysis a numerical model of the stent in magnetic field. The impact of frequency and positioning of stent in the magnetic field will be investigated and current distributions found

Finding peace of mind when there still is so much left undone: A diary study on how job stress, competence need satisfaction, and proactive work behavior contribute to work-related rumination during the weekend

Unfinished work tasks have been identified as a significant job-related stressor in recent occupational stress research. Extending this research, we examine how and when not finishing one's tasks by the end of the work week affects work-related rumination at the weekend. Drawing on control theory, we examined competence need satisfaction as a mediating mechanism that links unfinished tasks at the end of the work week to work-related rumination at the weekend. Furthermore, we scrutinized whether proactive work behavior within the work week may neutralize the detrimental effects of unfinished tasks on competence need satisfaction and rumination. Using diary methodology, we collected weekly observations from 58 employees at the beginning and at the end of the work week over a period of 12 consecutive weeks, yielding 377 matched observations. Multilevel modeling analyses provided evidence for the assumed indirect effect at the intraindividual level. Higher levels of unfinished tasks were associated with lower levels of competence need satisfaction during the weekend. Competence need satisfaction, in turn, was negatively related to work-related rumination. Proactive work behavior attenuated the detrimental effects of unfinished tasks on competence need satisfaction and rumination at the weekend. These results imply that proactive work behavior facilitates switching off mentally during the weekend as it may restore competence need satisfaction in the face of unfinished tasks

Heat treatment effect on crystalline structure and photoelectrochemical properties of anodic TiO2TiO_2 nanotube arrays formed in ethylene glycol and glycerol based electrolytes

The effect of annealing temperature on crystal structure of anodic titanium dioxide (ATO) layers prepared via anodization in the ethylene glycol and glycerol based electrolytes was studied. Then samples were annealed in air at the temperatures ranging from 400 to 1000 °C. The XRD measurements proved that a gradual phase change from anatase to rutile occurs with increasing annealing temperature. The anatase-to-rutile transformation occurs between 500 and 600 °C. The changes in the average crystallite sizes of anatase and rutile occurring during heat treatment of ATO layers were correlated with the mechanism of rutile phase nucleation. It was found also that the transition to the rutile phase in the samples formed in the ethylene glycol based electrolyte is considerably retarded and takes place at higher annealing temperatures due to the higher content of the embedded fluoride ions. The photoelectrochemical performance of ATO layers were studied under pulsed UV illumination. Photocurrent vs incident light wavelength and applied potential plots were recorded. The highest photocurrents were observed for the samples annealed at 400 °C, regardless of the electrolyte. It was demonstrated that the decrease in photocurrent values is related with the decreasing amount of the anatase phase in ATO samples. The enhanced photocurrent response was observed for ATO layers decorated with Ag nanoparticles. The highest photoconversion efficiencies, determined by incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) calculations, were observed for the wavelength of 350 nm

Moving from opposition to taking ownership of open science to make discoveries that matter.

Guzzo et al. (Reference Guzzo, Schneider and Nalbantian2022) argue that open science practices may marginalize inductive and abductive research and preclude leveraging big data for scientific research. We share their assessment that the hypothetico-deductive paradigm has limitations (see also Staw, Reference Staw2016) and that big data provide grand opportunities (see also Oswald et al., Reference Oswald, Behrend, Putka and Sinar2020). However, we arrive at very different conclusions. Rather than opposing open science practices that build on a hypothetico-deductive paradigm, we should take initiative to do open science in a way compatible with the very nature of our discipline, namely by incorporating ambiguity and inductive decision-making. In this commentary, we (a) argue that inductive elements are necessary for research in naturalistic field settings across different stages of the research process, (b) discuss some misconceptions of open science practices that hide or discourage inductive elements, and (c) propose that field researchers can take ownership of open science in a way that embraces ambiguity and induction. We use an example research study to illustrate our points