Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2025-07"
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Are morally courageous leaders more effective?Publication . Rego, Arménio; Simpson, Ace Volkmann; Bluhm, Dustin J.; Cunha, Miguel Pina eDetecting, interpreting, assuming responsibility, and being driven to act upon situations with potential ethical implications requires morally courageous leaders to be continuously ‘tuned’ to the environment. We argue that this ‘tuning’ facilitates leader respect for employees and greater receptiveness to their inputs, and that it is through these mechanisms that leader moral courage is positively related to leader effectiveness. In a multi-source study involving 102 team leaders (assessed by peers, subordinates, and supervisors), we found that leaders with higher levels of moral courage convey greater respect for team members and are more receptive to relational transparency from them, and that such respect and receptiveness enhance leader effectiveness. We also hypothesized and found that leaders who overestimate their moral courage (i.e., who self-describe as being morally courageous while others perceive them as not being so) are particularly less respectful toward team members, and thus are less effective.
- Comparative environmental and nutritional sustainability analysis of kabuli and desi chickpea (cicer arietinum l.) types at the farm and product levelPublication . Silva, Beatriz Q.; Silva, Marta Nunes da; Smetana, Sergiy; Vasconcelos, Marta W.Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was conducted to evaluate the environmental impact of cultivating black (Desi type) and white (Kabuli type) chickpeas in Europe under both organic and conventional farming systems. The LCA on a mass basis (1 kg of product) showed that Kabuli chickpea cultivation had a lower global warming potential, water use, and land occupation due to higher yields and more established farming practices for this variety in conventional systems. This study also examined the environmental impact of producing hummus derived from these two raw materials. The LCA on a mass basis (1 kg of product) showed that hummus production generally had a lower environmental impact when using Kabuli chickpeas primarily due to higher yield efficiency and optimised farming practices for the Kabuli type. However, when nutritional LCA is considered, using Nutrient Density as a functional unit (NDU), Desi hummus demonstrates lower environmental impacts in most categories, particularly regarding eutrophication and acidification potential. The study highlights the trade-offs between environmental impacts and nutritional benefits while comparing organic and conventional farming systems, suggesting that incorporating underutilised types such as Desi chickpeas could contribute to a more sustainable and nutritionally diverse food system.
- Juniperus pseudosabina extract-mediated green synthesis of zinc oxide artichoke-like structures for antibacterial applicationsPublication . Kurbanova, Zulfira; Pereira, Sofia I. A.; Sousa, Ana S. S.; Piccirillo, Clara; Shaislamov, Ulugbek; Yubuta, Kunio; Teshima, Katsuya; Eitinger, Thomas; Hojamberdiev, MirabbosThe green synthesis of zinc oxide (ZnO) using plant extracts provides an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional chemical and physical methods. This study investigates the green synthesis of ZnO using Juniperus pseudosabina (J. plseudosabina) extract, eliminating the need for thermal treatment and pH adjustment with alkali metal hydroxides. ZnO nanoparticles are synthesized by varying the plant extract volume (0–20 mL) in a 95 mL aqueous solution of Zn(NO3)2·6H2O. The optimal ratio (5 mL extract) yields phase-pure ZnO with an artichoke-like morphology. The possible formation mechanism of these structures is discussed. Additionally, ZnO is modified with silver (Ag) at concentrations of 0–3 at% to improve antibacterial properties. Structural and morphological characterizations confirm the formation of phase-pure ZnO with high crystallinity. Viable plate count assays demonstrate that both non-modified and Ag-modified ZnO exhibited strong antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, achieving 99.999 % bacterial inactivation. These findings suggest that ZnO and Ag-modified ZnO synthesized using J. pseudosabina extract can be a sustainable antibacterial agent, supporting its application in biomedical and environmental fields.