The Culture of Conflict Resolution and its Influence on Employee Retention: A Study of Russian Companies

Purpose — The purpose of this paper is a pilot study of e-communications in three Russian firms to assess the culture of conflict resolution and the impact of strategies on employee retention at these firms. Design/methodology/approach — Qualitative and quantitative research through a questionnaire and observation method to confirm the results. We use questionnaires by spontaneous sampling with quota elements; employees of the three selected firms have an equal chance of getting into an anonymous sample. Findings — The culture of conflict in any organization should include professional mediation (fulfilled either by professional instructor or by a specially trained HR-specialist). All members of the organizational “family” should be informed that dealing with conflict and solving it is much better and productive than hiding and suppressing it.Research limitations/implications — The paper shows the first results of the conflict study. It shows obvious drawbacks of contemporary empirical conflict solving. Further research should explore the effects of the recommendations we made and their fulfillment.Originality/value — The article assesses the main conflict triggers in Russian organizations of various sizes. It also reveals the key assumptions that both workers and employers have that prevent them from effectively resolving conflicts. Based on empirical results, we have developed practical recommendations on conflicts that will be useful not only for managing the organizations we have studied but also for those who have ever encountered a conflict at work

Magnetron sputtering in rigid optical solar reflectors production

Magnetron sputtering was applied to meet the growing need for glass optical solar reflectors. This plasma method provided more uniform deposition of the silver based coating on glass substrates resulted in decrease of defective reflectors fraction down to 5%. For instance, such parameter of resistive evaporation was of 30%. Silver film adhesion to glass substrate was enhanced with indium tin oxide sublayer. Sunlight absorption coefficient of these rigid reflectors was 0.081-0.083

New implications for Tunguska explosion based on magnetic, dendrological, and lacustrine records

Introduction: Evenkia is a district in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, characteristic of preserved areas of East Siberian continental taiga. In 1908, this region experienced catastrophe (Tunguska event = TE). Over 2,000 km2 of boreal forest were felled and burned [1,2]. The exact cause of this event is not known but this event has often been associated with either an asteroid or comet encounter [3,4,5]. Material and Methods: We collected tree samples that survived the explosion within the tree collapse area. Most of the tree is Siberian larix. Samples were analyzed for elemental composition (XRF and similar). We collected sediment from three lakes, Zapoviednoe, Cheko, and Gin. Lake Zapoviednoe and Cheko varved sediment came from similar depth of about 35-40 m with conical bottom bachymetry. Lake Gin was shallow (50-60 cm) and had no varves. Chronology of the sediment was already established in Cheko lake using 210Pb, 137Cs, and 226Ra radioactive isotopes analysis [6]. An increase in 137Cs corresponded to 1961 [6]. We ran similar analysis for the two new lakes, Gin and Zapoviednoe and established the sediment chronology. Zapoviednoe lake sediment was exposed to 0-50 keV X-Ray Fluorescence and major element data, including magnetic susceptibility, were obtained across the TE containing sediment. We plotted aeromagnetic data from the world magnetic map flown at ~4 km [7,8] over the tree fall area. Magnetic paleointensity was obtained from the samples collected from Mount Stoikovich and Farrington near epicentre. Results: Tree samples provided an evidence that the ovepressure wave compressed the floem fluid rich in Ca, Sr, Mn into the xylem at the time of TE. This compression had strong anisotropy with maximum compression directed towards the epicenter. We detected that after TE, during the past 40 years the Larix trees in Tunguska have anomalous increase in Hg concentration. Lake sediment revealed 2-4 mm thick clay layer deposited at the time of TE. The layer has anomalous decrease in Fe, while magnetic susceptibility increased. In addition the TE layer has significant increase in Pa, Mo, Th, Cd, Nb, Y, Cu, Cr, Sr, Ti, and V. Aeromagnetic data showed negative magnetic anomaly covering the toppled forest area around the epicenter. Samples from Mount Farrington indicated magnetic paleofields exceeding 1 mT. Four samples from Mount Stoikovitch detected paleofields consistent with geomagnetic field intensity while two samples indicated magnetic paleofield exceeding 0.1 mT. Discussion and Conclusion: TE was shown to leave a biochemical signature in the wood of Larix Sibirica sensitive to explosion direction. TE area was subjected to large energy pulse that may have compromised the permafrost in the area. This was indicated here by an excess of Hg detected in the last 40 years of tree ring material. Tunguska layer in the Zapoviednoe lake is of very fine nature, resembling the clay. While the content of Fe dropped from 160 ppm to 19 ppm the magnetic susceptibility increased two fold. This is an evidence of quick and intense burst of energy, melting vapourizing the dust, causing agglutination of the dust material. This resulted in a ubiquitous presence of nanophase iron with large magnetic susceptibility that became part of molten dust particulates and deposited in the lake sediment. Anomalous elemental increase in lake suggested possible allochtonous material. Paleomagnetic data revealed presence of plasma during the TE near rock surfaces.Web of Science5

The Forest Observation System, building a global reference dataset for remote sensing of forest biomass [data paper]

Forest biomass is an essential indicator for monitoring the Earth's ecosystems and climate. It is a critical input to greenhouse gas accounting, estimation of carbon losses and forest degradation, assessment of renewable energy potential, and for developing climate change mitigation policies such as REDD+, among others. Wall-to-wall mapping of aboveground biomass (AGB) is now possible with satellite remote sensing (RS). However, RS methods require extant, up-to-date, reliable, representative and comparable in situ data for calibration and validation. Here, we present the Forest Observation System (FOS) initiative, an international cooperation to establish and maintain a global in situ forest biomass database. AGB and canopy height estimates with their associated uncertainties are derived at a 0.25 ha scale from field measurements made in permanent research plots across the world's forests. All plot estimates are geolocated and have a size that allows for direct comparison with many RS measurements. The FOS offers the potential to improve the accuracy of RS- based biomass products while developing new synergies between the RS and ground-based ecosystem research communities

A global reference dataset for remote sensing of forest biomass. The Forest Observation System approach

Forest biomass is an essential indicator for monitoring the Earth’s ecosystems and climate. It is a critical input to greenhouse gas accounting, estimation of carbon losses and forest degradation, assessment of renewable energy potential, and for developing climate change mitigation policies such as REDD+, among others. Wall-to-wall mapping of aboveground biomass (AGB) is now possible with satellite remote sensing (RS). However, RS methods require extant, up-to-date, reliable, representative and comparable in situ data for calibration and validation. Here, we present the Forest Observation System (FOS) initiative, an international cooperation to establish and maintain a global in situ forest biomass database. AGB and canopy height estimates with their associated uncertainties are derived at a 0.25ha scale from field measurements made in permanent research plots across the world's forests. All plot estimates are geolocated and have a size that allows for direct comparison with many RS measurements. The FOS offers the potential to improve the accuracy of RS-based biomass products while developing new synergies between the RS and ground-based ecosystem research communities. Live, most up-to-date dataset is available at https://forest-observation-system.net