Based on the current weight of evidence of all available data, the risk for humans from the use of nano-structured titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) or zinc oxide (ZnO) currently used in cosmetic preparations or sunscreens is considered negligible. There is a large body of information that when viewed in its entirety is considered as sufficient to demonstrate that these nano-structured ultraviolet (UV) filters, irrespective of various treatments (coatings) or crystalline structure, can be regarded as safe for use at concentrations up to 25% in cosmetic products to protect the skin from harmful effects of solar UV radiation. "Nano" TiO(2) and ZnO formulated in topically applied sunscreen products exist as aggregates of primary particles ranging from 30-150 nm in size. These aggregates are bonded such that the force of sunscreen product application onto the skin would have no impact on their structure or result in the release of primary particles. Multiple studies have shown that under exaggerated test conditions neither nano-structured TiO(2) nor ZnO penetrates beyond the stratum corneum of skin. Further, the distribution and persistence of these nano-structured metal oxides is the same compared to larger pigment-grade (i.e., >100 nm) particles, demonstrating equivalence in the recognition and elimination of such material from the body. Finally, the in vitro genotoxic and photogenotoxic profiles of these nano-structured metal oxides are of no consequence to human health. Whereas the most logical, straightforward conclusion based on data from internationally-recognized guideline studies and current 20+ year history of human use is that nano-structured TiO(2) and ZnO are safe, there will continue to be questions as "nano" conjures images of technology gone awry. Despite this rather sober view, the public health benefits of sunscreens containing nano TiO(2) and/or ZnO outweigh human safety concerns for these UV filters.

Organizational researchers and practitioners are increasingly interested in the topic of employee pro-environmental or 'green' behavior. In this study, we examine the relative importance of employee green behavior to overall job performance ratings compared with task performance, organizational citizenship behavior and counterproductive work behavior. We used an experimental policy-capturing design, which involves participants rating the job performance of several hypothetical employees who vary in their work behaviors. Thirty-eight managers from the Netherlands each rated 36 scenarios describing employee behaviors (1368 ratings in total). Results showed that employees' task performance contributed most to overall job performance ratings, followed by counterproductive work behavior, organizational citizenship behavior and employee green behavior. More broadly, findings suggest that employee green behavior makes an independent positive contribution to overall job performance ratings, but its influence is weaker than that of other forms of work behavior. Implications for future research and green human resource management are discussed. KEYWORDS employee green behavior, job performance, policy-capturing design 1 | INTRODUCTION Performance appraisal entails the process in which an employee's individual work performance is evaluated over a certain period of time (DeNisi & Smith, 2014). The goal of this study is to examine whether and how employee green behavior (EGB) predicts overall job performance ratings above and beyond more established forms of employee behavior. EGB refers to 'scalable actions and behaviors that employees engage in that are linked with and contribute to or detract from environmental sustainability' (Ones & Dilchert, 2012a, p. 452).Examples of EGB include recycling paper, printing double sided, saving electricity and avoiding waste. Established forms of employee behavior include task performance, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and counterproductive work behavior (CWB). According to Rotundo and Sackett (2002), task performance describes 'behaviors that contribute to the production of a good or the provision of a service' (p. 67), OCB describes 'behavior that contributes to the goals of the organization by contributing to its social and psychological environment' (pp. 68-69) and CWB describes 'voluntary behavior that harms the well-being of the organization' (p. 69). Thus, task performance and OCB represent positive employee contributions, whereas CWB is an undesirable form of employee behavior.With the current study, we constructively replicate research by Rotundo and Sackett (2002), who investigated whether employees' task performance, OCB and CWB contribute to overall ratings of job performance by supervisors. They found that task performance had a moderate and positive effect, followed by a moderate and negative effect of CWB and a weaker positive effect of OCB on overall job performance ratings. These findings suggest that task performance, OCB and CWB influence overall job perform...

Sialic acid storage disease (SASD) is an inborn error resulting from defects in the lysosomal membrane protein sialin. The SASD phenotypical spectrum ranges from a severe presentation, infantile sialic acid storage disease (ISSD) which may present as hydrops fetalis, to a relatively mild form, Salla disease. Screening for SASD is performed by determination of free sialic acid (FSA) in urine or amniotic fluid supernatant (AFS). Subsequent diagnosis of SASD is performed by quantification of FSA in cultured fibroblasts and by mutation analysis of the sialin gene, SLC17A5. We describe simple quantitative procedures to determine FSA as well as conjugated sialic acid in AFS, and FSA in cultured fibroblasts, using isotope dilution (13C3-sialic acid) and multiple reaction monitoring LC-ESI-MS/MS. The whole procedure can be performed in 2–4 h. Reference values in AFS were 0–8.2 μmol/L for 15–25 weeks of gestation and 3.2-12.0 μmol/L for 26–38 weeks of gestation. In AFS samples from five fetuses affected with ISSD FSA was 23.9-58.9 μmol/L demonstrating that this method is able to discriminate ISSD pregnancies from normal ones. The method was also validated for determination of FSA in fibroblast homogenates. FSA in SASD fibroblasts (ISSD; 20–154 nmol/mg protein, intermediate SASD; 12.9-15.1 nmol/mg, Salla disease; 5.9-7.4 nmol/mg) was clearly elevated compared to normal controls (0.3-2.2 nmol/mg). In conclusion, we report simple quantitative procedures to determine FSA in AFS and cultured fibroblasts improving both prenatal diagnostic efficacy for ISSD as well as confirmatory testing in cultured fibroblasts following initial screening in urine or AFS.

Information and communication technology (ICT) has continuously reshaped the way in which businesses operate. Yet opinions among economists about the returns to ICT, especially at the aggregate level, are divided. We exploit business-to-business transaction panel data from ICT producers to construct ICT capital stocks for a large sample of Belgian firms. This allows us to estimate the returns to ICT at the firm level and to investigate how firm-level ICT investments affected aggregate gross domestic product and productivity. We find large returns to ICT—more precisely, a firm investing an additional euro in ICT—increases value added by 1 euro and 35 cents on average. This marginal product of ICT investment increases with firm size and varies across sectors. Although we find substantial returns to ICT at the firm level, returns are much lower at the aggregate level. This is due to underinvestment in ICT (ICT capital deepening is low) and because firms with especially high returns are underinvesting.

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