Francis J. Ryan, 1916-1963

Obituary - Francis J. Ryan - by David M. Banne

Book Review: Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage in Human Consciousness by Frederic Laloux

Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness is a terrific book for anyone interesting in learning about democratizing and debureaucratizing organizations while increasing profits and employee satisfaction, engagement, and well-being. Though this sounds unrealistic and perhaps a bit Utopian, author Frederic Laloux’s thorough research and in-depth reportage of various exemplar organizations around the world, demonstrate that it can be done—but not by anybody. Like any evolutionary system, the forefront of enlightened organizational change begins with a few who become the models and create the systems and conditions for others to follow—when they are ready. This fascinating resource will inspire everyone who wants to learn about the successful transformation of what were once stultifying, disempowering, red-tape-riven workplaces that crush the human spirit. In Reinventing Organizations, we finally see there is a way out—toward building truly remarkable achievement oriented organizations that help the human spirit thrive

Servant Leaders as Change Agents

Servant leadership (SL) produces high performance and employee engagement. Non-SL senior leaders lacking business ethics have caused negative outcomes. This study explored the lived experiences of senior leaders’ decision-making in SL organizations. Maslow’s theories, decision theory, spirituality, Cicero’s virtue theory of ethics; SL comprised the theoretical/conceptual foundation. Data collection used purposive sampling of 18 senior leader participants in SL organizations employing Giorgi’s descriptive psychological structures of experiences analysis method. Findings confirmed ethical decision-making in SL organizations. Recommendations included examining CEO ethical leadership and firm performance interrelations and promoting ethical decision-making at all levels. Conclusions supported teamwork as the one structure of experience. Positive social change implications are an ethical capitalism that occurs by building community and SL organizations

A Phenomenological Investigation of Leader Development and Mindfulness Meditation

Regardless of the gap between the demands of the global work environment and the maturity of leaders, minimal research exists on the trend of the practice of mindfulness meditation and the developmental experiences of leaders. Consequently, scholars have little understanding of how an increasing number of leaders experience mindfulness meditation. The purpose of this study was to understand the perceived impact mindfulness meditation had on leader development for 20 manager-leaders who had a regular (at least 3 days a week) mindfulness meditation practice. The primary recruitment strategy included outreach to potential participants affiliated with professionally oriented mindfulness groups on LinkedIn. The main conceptual framework was Day’s conceptualization of leader development. The central research question addressed leaders’ perceptions and experiences of the impact of mindfulness meditation on their development as leaders. A modified Stevick–Colaizzi–Keen data analysis procedure was used in this study. Key results included the identification of 10 core themes and the associated conclusion that leaders who want to contribute solutions to global challenges will have to access more of their potential, which may require engaging in contemplative practices such as mindfulness meditation. The principal recommendation includes the serious consideration of mindfulness meditation by leaders and organizational decision makers of development investments. This study has implications for positive social change, in that a better understanding of how leaders experience mindfulness meditation may provide direction for leaders and organizations about developmental practices that support leadership effectiveness

ZIKATracker: a mobile app for reporting cases of ZIKV worldwide

We have developed a mobile App called ZIKATracker (zikatracker.net) to voluntarily be used to report ZIKV cases on a public or private level. As the Zika virus (ZIKV) infection zones are rapidly expanding across South, Central, and North America, and reports have emerged linking ZIKV infection with developmental defects and neurological sequelae, reporting the movement and sequelae of ZIKV is essential. ZIKATracker is a multi-lingual App (English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese) freely available to anyone worldwide wishing to report a suspected or confirmed case of Zika virus and related symptoms. Knowledge gained from the use of this App will help direct the implementation of mosquito control measures in needed areas, bring aid to those affected by the Zika virus, and understand the movement and sequelae of ZIKV as it spreads through communities and across continents

Impaired heterologous immunity in aged ferrets during sequential influenza A H1N1 infection

The major burden of influenza morbidity resides within the elderly population. The challenge managing influenza-associated illness in the elderly is the decline of immune function, where mechanisms leading to immunological senescence have not been elucidated. To better represent the immune environment, we investigated clinical morbidity and immune function during sequential homologous and heterologous H1N1 influenza infection in an aged ferret model. Our findings demonstrated experimentally that aged ferrets had significant morbidity during monosubtypic heterologous 2° challenge with significant weight loss and respiratory symptoms. Furthermore, increased clinical morbidity was associated with slower and shorter hemagglutinin antibody generation and attenuated type 1 T-cell gene responses in peripheral blood. These results revealed dampened immune activation during sequential influenza infection in aged ferrets. With the presence of an aged model, dissecting clinical morbidity, viral dynamics and immune response during influenza infection will aid the development of future prophylactics such as age specific influenza vaccines

Simultaneous measurement of flight time and energy of large matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization ions with a superconducting tunnel junction detector

We evaluated a cryogenically cooled superconducting Nb-Al2O3-Nb tunnel junction (STJ) for use as a molecular ion detector in a matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometer. The STJ responds to ion energy and theoretically should detect large molecular ions with a velocity-independent efficiency approaching 100%. The STJ detector produces pulses whose heights are approximately proportional to ion energy, thus the height of a pulse generated by the impact of a doubly charged ion is about twice the height of a singly charged ion pulse. Measurements were performed by bombarding the STJ with human serum albumin (HSA) (66,000 Da) and immunoglobulin (150,000 Da) ions. We demonstrate that pulse height analysis of STJ signals provides a way to distinguish with good discrimination HSA+ from 2HSA2+, whose flight times are coincident. The rise time of STJ detector pulses allows ion flight times to be determined with a precision better than 200 ns, which is a value smaller than the flight time variation typically observed for large isobaric MALDI ions detected with conventional microchannel plate (MCP) detectors. Deflection plates in the flight tube of the mass spectrometer provided a way to aim ions alternatively at a MCP ion detector