Silent Hands: A Leader’s Ability to Create Nonverbal Immediacy

Nonverbal immediacy is a core element of a leader’s ability to lead followers. Nevertheless, there are no empirical studies regarding a link between a leader’s hand gestures and followers’ perceptions of immediacy (attraction to someone) or nonimmediacy (distancing). Guided by Mehrabian’s theory of nonverbal behavior, this study included one independent variable segmented into seven levels (positive hand gestures defined as community hand, humility hands, and steepling hands; three defensive gestures, defined as hands in pocket, arms crossed over chest, and hands behind back; and neutral/no hand gestures) to test for immediacy or nonimmediacy. In this experimental study, participants (n = 300; male = 164; female = 143) were shown one of seven pictures of a leader. Four hypotheses were tested for main and interactional effects and all were supported by the results. Immediate communication received strong support, meaning immediacy on the part of a leader is likely to lead to increased emotional connection to achieve desirable outcomes. This study advances theory from previous research that specific hand gestures are more effective than others at creating immediacy between leaders and followers

Physical Drivers of Phytoplankton Bloom Initiation in the Southern Ocean's Scotia Sea

Abstract: The Scotia Sea is the site of one of the largest spring phytoplankton blooms in the Southern Ocean. Past studies suggest that shelf‐iron inputs are responsible for the high productivity in this region, but the physical mechanisms that initiate and sustain the bloom are not well understood. Analysis of profiling float data from 2002 to 2017 shows that the Scotia Sea has an unusually shallow mixed‐layer depth during the transition from winter to spring, allowing the region to support a bloom earlier in the season than elsewhere in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. We compare these results to the mixed‐layer depth in the 1/6° data‐assimilating Southern Ocean State Estimate and then use the model output to assess the physical balances governing mixed‐layer variability in the region. Results indicate the importance of lateral advection of Weddell Sea surface waters in setting the stratification. A Lagrangian particle release experiment run backward in time suggests that Weddell outflow constitutes 10% of the waters in the upper 200 m of the water column in the bloom region. This dense Weddell water subducts below the surface waters in the Scotia Sea, establishing a sharp subsurface density contrast that cannot be overcome by wintertime convection. Profiling float trajectories are consistent with the formation of Taylor columns over the region's complex bathymetry, which may also contribute to the unique stratification. Furthermore, biogeochemical measurements from 2016 and 2017 bloom events suggest that vertical exchange associated with this Taylor column enhances productivity by delivering nutrients to the euphotic zone

Maritime Economics in a Post-Expansion Panama Canal Era

(First paragraph) The 2016 opening of an expanded Panama Canal will allow for Post-Panamax containerships up to 12 500 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) in size to transit the Panama Canal. In response, some US East Coast container ports are having their channels and berths dredged deeper—to allow Post-Panamax containerships from Asia (transiting the expanded canal) to call at their ports. What are the implications for the US West Coast ports? Will there be a cargo shift from West Coast to East Coast ports? These topics as well as the impacts of other changes in global shipping lanes (e.g., the Suez Canal and the Arctic shipping lanes) on global trade and ports in the Post-Expansion Panama Canal Era were discussed in various sessions of the International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME) 2014 Conference. This special issue is dedicated to the study of the above impacts. The goal of this special issue is to encourage research in this important area by highlighting the influence of the Panama Canal expansion to the global maritime sectors and examining the potentially dramatic changes in the Post-Expansion Era. Hence, five IAME conference papers and an additional paper by Ducruet are chosen for this reason

Study of Long and Short Term Variation of Radon Concentration and Comparison of Sampling Methodologies in Public Drinking Water Supplies

Long term and short term sampling was performed to determine the radon concentration in well water at 11 sites in the piedmont region of North Carolina. Sampling was performed in anticipation of a possible future drinking water standard, to be proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for radon in public water supplies. The goal of the long term sampling was to determine, at individual wells, how well grab samples can predict the annual average radon concentration for a particular well site. The results of the long term sampling supports the findings of previous UNC researchers that approximately 97 percent of the well water samples were within 30% of their associated sample mean. Two short term sampling tests were also performed. The first short term test examined the variation in radon concentration over an eight hour period to determine the source of a trend observed by previous researchers at UNC while collecting sequential well water samples. The results of this test identified an association between well pump operation and well water sample radon concentration reduction, further research must be done to determine if the association is causal. The first short term test also identified an area of concern for sampling of public drinking water supply systems, that it is possible for water treatment chemicals to introduce sample artifacts by diluting the samples obtained for analysis. This dilution is possible if sampling locations are downstream of the water treatment chemical injection point and if the sample flow rate is low enough such that the water treatment chemical flow rate contributes a significant fraction of the sample volume, thus introducing a bias in the sample result. The second short term test was performed to compare the slow-flow sampling method, developed at UNC, to the proposed EPA sampling method, EPA Method 913.0 (Draft), for determining the radon concentration in drinking water. Sample method comparison between the UNC slow-flow method and the EPA method resulted in the conclusion that no difference in the methods could be distinguished; this conclusion assumes that both methods minimize the amount of time that the filled sample vials are open and exposed to ambient air.Master of Science in Public Healt