Gender and Leadership

The topic of leadership has been addressed and applied for millennia. Yet, it is only within the past 80 years that leadership has been a topic of serious discussion. It is important to understand variables relevant to effective leadership. Gender is one such variable that must be examined with regard to optimizing leadership effectiveness. The topic of gender and leadership deserves serious and thoughtful consideration and discussion because of professional, political, cultural, and personal realities of the twenty‐first century. Women and men have been, are, and should be leaders. Gender must be considered to determine how each leader can reach maximum potential and effectiveness. The FourCe‐PITO conceptual framework of leadership is designed to help guide leadership development and education. The present chapter uses this conceptual framework of leadership to discuss how consideration of gender may affect and optimize leadership development and effectiveness. It is the goal of this chapter to lay out the issues that educators of leaders, potential leaders, and “practicing” leaders should be aware of, to achieve success for the good of the groups and individuals they have the responsibility to lead

Rapid Liana Colonization along a Secondary Forest Chronosequence

Lianas (woody vines) can have profound effects on tree recruitment, growth, survival, and diversity in tropical forests. However, the dynamics of liana colonization soon after land abandonment are poorly understood, and thus it is unknown whether lianas alter tree regeneration early in succession. We examined the liana community in 43 forests that ranged from 1 to 31 yr old in central Panama to determine how fast lianas colonize young forests and how the liana community changes with forest succession. We found that lianas reached high densities early in succession, commonly exceeding 1000 stems/ha within the first 5 yr of forest regeneration. Lianas also increased rapidly during early succession in terms of basal area but did not show evidence of saturation within the 30 yr of our chronosequence. The relative contribution of lianas to total woody plant community in terms of basal area and density increased rapidly and reached a saturation point within 5 yr (basal area) to 15 yr (density) after land abandonment. Our data demonstrate that lianas recruit early and in high density in tropical forest regeneration, and thus lianas may have a large effect on the way in which secondary forests develop both early and throughout succession

Groundwater residence time estimates obscured by anthropogenic carbonate

© The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Seltzer, A. M., Bekaert, D. V., Barry, P. H., Durkin, K. E., Mace, E. K., Aalseth, C. E., Zappala, J. C., Mueller, P., Jurgens, B., & Kulongoski, J. T. Groundwater residence time estimates obscured by anthropogenic carbonate. Science Advances, 7(17), (2021): eabf3503, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abf3503.Groundwater is an important source of drinking and irrigation water. Dating groundwater informs its vulnerability to contamination and aids in calibrating flow models. Here, we report measurements of multiple age tracers (14C, 3H, 39Ar, and 85Kr) and parameters relevant to dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) from 17 wells in California’s San Joaquin Valley (SJV), an agricultural region that is heavily reliant on groundwater. We find evidence for a major mid-20th century shift in groundwater DIC input from mostly closed- to mostly open-system carbonate dissolution, which we suggest is driven by input of anthropogenic carbonate soil amendments. Crucially, enhanced open-system dissolution, in which DIC equilibrates with soil CO2, fundamentally affects the initial 14C activity of recently recharged groundwater. Conventional 14C dating of deeper SJV groundwater, assuming an open system, substantially overestimates residence time and thereby underestimates susceptibility to modern contamination. Because carbonate soil amendments are ubiquitous, other groundwater-reliant agricultural regions may be similarly affected.his work was conducted as a part of the USGS National Water Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) Enhanced Trends Project (https://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/studies/gwtrends/). Measurements at Argonne National Laboratory were supported by Department of Energy, Office of Science under contract DE-AC02-06CH11357. Measurements at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory were part of the Ultra-Sensitive Nuclear Measurements Initiative conducted under the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program. PNNL is operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC05-76RL01830. This work was also partially supported by NSF award OCE-1923915 (to A.M.S. and P.H.B. at WHOI)

Development and evaluation of a remote training strategy for the implementation of mental health evidence-based practices in rural schools: pilot study protocol.

BACKGROUND: An increasing number of schools in rural settings are implementing multi-tier positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) to address school-climate problems. PBIS can be used to provide the framework for the implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) to address children\u27s mental health concerns. Given the large service disparities for children in rural areas, offering EBPs through PBIS can improve access and lead to better long-term outcomes. A key challenge is that school personnel need technical assistance in order to implement EBPs with fidelity and clinical effectiveness. Providing ongoing on-site support is not feasible or sustainable in the majority of rural schools, due to their remote physical location. For this reason, remote training technology has been recommended for providing technical assistance to behavioral health staff (BHS) in under-served rural communities. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to use the user-centered design, guided by an iterative process (rapid prototyping), to develop and evaluate the appropriateness, feasibility, acceptability, usability, and preliminary student outcomes of two online training strategies for the implementation of EBPs at PBIS Tier 2. METHODS: The study will employ a pragmatic design comprised of a mixed-methods approach for the development of the training platform, and a hybrid type 2, pilot randomized controlled trial to examine the implementation and student outcomes of two training strategies: Remote Video vs. Remote Video plus Coaching. DISCUSSION: There is a clear need for well-designed remote training studies focused on training in non-traditional settings. Given the lack of well-trained mental health professionals in rural settings and the stark disparities in access to services, the development and pilot-testing of a remote training strategy for BHS in under-served rural schools could have a significant public health impact. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The project was reviewed and approved by the institutional review board. Results will be submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov and disseminated to community partners and participants, peer-reviewed journals, and academic conferences. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicialTrials.gov, NCT05034198 and NCT05039164

The function-dominance correlation drives the direction and strength of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships

Community composition is a primary determinant of how biodiversity change influences ecosystem functioning and, therefore, the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BEF). We examine the consequences of community composition across six structurally realistic plant community models. We find that a positive correlation between species' functioning in monoculture versus their dominance in mixture with regard to a specific function (the "function-dominance correlation") generates a positive relationship between realised diversity and ecosystem functioning across species richness treatments. However, because realised diversity declines when few species dominate, a positive function-dominance correlation generates a negative relationship between realised diversity and ecosystem functioning within species richness treatments. Removing seed inflow strengthens the link between the function-dominance correlation and BEF relationships across species richness treatments but weakens it within them. These results suggest that changes in species' identities in a local species pool may more strongly affect ecosystem functioning than changes in species richness

Human Lipoxygenase Pathway Gene Variation and Association with Markers of Subclinical Atherosclerosis in the Diabetes Heart Study

Aims. Genes of the 5-lipoxygenase pathway are compelling candidates for atherosclerosis. We hypothesize that polymorphisms in ALOX12, ALOX15, ALOX5, and ALOX5AP genes are associated with subclinical atherosclerosis in multiple vascular beds. Methods. Families with two or more siblings with type 2 diabetes and their nondiabetic siblings were studied as part of the Diabetes Heart Study (DHS). European American diabetic (n = 828) and nondiabetic (n = 170) siblings were genotyped for SNPs in the ALOX12, ALOX15, ALOX5, and ALOX5AP genes. Subclinical measures of atherosclerosis (IMT, coronary (CorCP), carotid (CarCP) and aortic (AorCP) calcified plaque) were obtained. Results. Associations were observed between ALOX12 with CorCP, ALOX5 with CorCP, AorCP, and IMT, and ALOX5AP with CorCP and CarCP, independent of known epidemiologic risk factors. Further, lipoxygenase pathway SNPs that were associated with measures of atherosclerosis were associated with markers of inflammation (CRP, ICAM-1) and calcification (MGP). Conclusions. Polymorphisms within ALOX12, ALOX5, and ALOX5AP are genetically associated with subclinical atherosclerosis and with biomarkers of disease in families with type 2 diabetes. These results suggest that variants in lipoxygenase pathway genes may have pleiotropic effects on multiple components that determine risk of cardiovascular disease

Prospective Evaluation of the Impact of Stress, Anxiety, and Depression on Household Income among Young Women with Early Breast Cancer from the Young and Strong Trial

Background: Young women with breast cancer tend to report lower quality of life and higher levels of stress than older women with breast cancer, and this may have implications for other psychosocial factors including finances. We sought to determine if stress, anxiety, and depression at diagnosis were associated with changes in household income over 12-months in young women with breast cancer in the United States. Methods: This study was a prospective, longitudinal cohort study comprised of women enrolled in the Young and Strong trial. Of the 467 women aged 18–45 newly diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer enrolled in the Young and Strong trial from 2012 to 2013, 356 (76%) answered income questions. Change in household income from baseline to 12 months was assessed and women were categorized as having lost, gained, maintained the same household income \u3c$100,000, or maintained household income ≥$100,000. Patient-reported stress, anxiety, and depression were assessed close to diagnosis at trial enrollment. Adjusted multinomial logistic regression models were used to compare women who lost, gained, or maintained household income ≥$100,000 to women who maintained the same household income \u3c$100,000. Results: Although most women maintained household income ≥$100,000 (37.1$100,000 (32.3%), 15.4% lost household income and 15.2% gained household income. Stress, anxiety, and depression were not associated with gaining or losing household income compared to women maintaining household incomes \u3c$100,000. Women with household incomes \u3c$50,000 had a higher risk of losing household income compared to women with household incomes ≥$50,000. Women who maintained household incomes ≥$100,000 were less likely to report financial or insurance problems. Among women who lost household income, 56% reported financial problems and 20% reported insurance problems at 12 months. Conclusions: Baseline stress, anxiety, and depression were not associated with household income changes for young women with breast cancer. However, lower baseline household income was associated with losing household income. Some young survivors encounter financial and insurance problems in the first year after diagnosis, and further support for these women should be considered

A Graphical Null Model for Scaling Biodiversity–Ecosystem Functioning Relationships

Global biodiversity is declining at rates faster than at any other point in human history. Experimental manipulations at small spatial scales have demonstrated that communities with fewer species consistently produce less biomass than higher diversity communities. Understanding the consequences of the global extinction crisis for ecosystem functioning requires understanding how local experimental results are likely to change with increasing spatial and temporal scales and from experiments to naturally assembled systems. Scaling across time and space in a changing world requires baseline predictions. Here, we provide a graphical null model for area scaling of biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships using observed macroecological patterns: the species–area curve and the biomass–area curve. We use species–area and biomass–area curves to predict how species richness–biomass relationships are likely to change with increasing sampling extent. We then validate these predictions with data from two naturally assembled ecosystems: a Minnesota savanna and a Panamanian tropical dry forest. Our graphical null model predicts that biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships are scale-dependent. However, we note two important caveats. First, our results indicate an apparent contradiction between predictions based on measurements in biodiversity–ecosystem functioning experiments and from scaling theory. When ecosystem functioning is measured as per unit area (e.g. biomass per m2), as is common in biodiversity–ecosystem functioning experiments, the slope of the biodiversity ecosystem functioning relationship should decrease with increasing scale. Alternatively, when ecosystem functioning is not measured per unit area (e.g. summed total biomass), as is common in scaling studies, the slope of the biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationship should increase with increasing spatial scale. Second, the underlying macroecological patterns of biodiversity experiments are predictably different from some naturally assembled systems. These differences between the underlying patterns of experiments and naturally assembled systems may enable us to better understand when patterns from biodiversity–ecosystem functioning experiments will be valid in naturally assembled systems. Synthesis. This paper provides a simple graphical null model that can be extended to any relationship between biodiversity and any ecosystem functioning across space or time. Furthermore, these predictions provide crucial insights into how and when we may be able to extend results from small-scale biodiversity experiments to naturally assembled regional and global ecosystems where biodiversity is changing

Characterisation of an inflammation-related epigenetic score and its association with cognitive ability

BACKGROUND: Chronic systemic inflammation has been associated with incident dementia, but its association with age-related cognitive decline is less clear. The acute responses of many inflammatory biomarkers mean they may provide an unreliable picture of the chronicity of inflammation. Recently, a large-scale epigenome-wide association study identified DNA methylation correlates of C-reactive protein (CRP)-a widely used acute-phase inflammatory biomarker. DNA methylation is thought to be relatively stable in the short term, marking it as a potentially useful signature of exposure. METHODS: We utilise a DNA methylation-based score for CRP and investigate its trajectories with age, and associations with cognitive ability in comparison with serum CRP and a genetic CRP score in a longitudinal study of older adults (n = 889) and a large, cross-sectional cohort (n = 7028). RESULTS: We identified no homogeneous trajectories of serum CRP with age across the cohorts, whereas the epigenetic CRP score was consistently found to increase with age (standardised β = 0.07 and 0.01) and to do so more rapidly in males compared to females. Additionally, the epigenetic CRP score had higher test-retest reliability compared to serum CRP, indicating its enhanced temporal stability. Higher serum CRP was not found to be associated with poorer cognitive ability (standardised β = - 0.08 and - 0.05); however, a consistent negative association was identified between cognitive ability and the epigenetic CRP score in both cohorts (standardised β = - 0.15 and - 0.08). CONCLUSIONS: An epigenetic proxy of CRP may provide a more reliable signature of chronic inflammation, allowing for more accurate stratification of individuals, and thus clearer inference of associations with incident health outcomes