Leadership as Practice: Theory and Application. By Joseph A. Raelin (Ed.)

LEADERSHIP AS PRACTICE: THEORY AND APPLICATION. By Joseph A. Raelin (Ed.). New York, NY: Routledge (2016). Paperback, 310 pages. ... practice leadership, as described in this text, relies heavily upon integrated communication, such as is reflected in shared, distributed, and relational leadership. Such interaction, dialogue, collaboration and shared learning reflect what the text refers to as holarchy, which is an ethically grounded relationship between unity and diversity. In such a context, the whole and the parts are equally valued

A Strategy for Collaborative Leadership at Mt. Sinai Seventh-day Adventist Church in Orlando, Florida

Problem Organized as a Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1899, Mt. Sinai was the first Adventist Church for people of color in Orlando. Although Mt. Sinai gave birth to several other churches in the Central Florida area, Mt. Sinai lost its ability to build a successive and collaborative leadership, giving way to conflict and dysfunction. Clashes arose between African American and Caribbean cultures related to leadership, worship, and doctrinal interpretations. Methodology The church was asked to help identify areas of concern related to types of conflict, conflict management, and conflict resolution as identified by the project proposal. The church was asked to offer input on what outcomes they would expect to see followed by the formation of focus groups which was the method of study for this project. The focus groups were formed through a collaborative effort with the pastor and local church leaders. Six focus groups of diverse persons were selected. Nine to twelve persons were proposed to comprise the focus groups. All persons within the groups were eighteen or more years of age. Each person was a member of the Mt. Sinai Seventh-day Adventist Church who attended not less than two Sabbaths per month. They had an acceptable history of involvement in some phase of the church’s ministry and mission. Group participants were asked to have a history with Mt. Sinai of at least one full year. Factors such as age, gender, marital status, positions served, education, longevity in membership, prior membership from another Adventist church, culture and ethnicity, leadership experience, and spiritual inclinations such as conservative, progressive, or liberal were used to help create diversity in the focus group composition. The focus groups were asked to assess predetermined subjects related to the identified needs and issues of Mt. Sinai. When specific areas or concerns were identified, selected presenters and discussion facilitators were asked to share knowledge, methods and learning on how to recognize, classify, form resolution strategies and approach the implementation of such strategies for resolution and growth. These instructional presentations were made at least twice monthly for six to eight months. The focus groups met at least twice monthly. The remaining four to six months were to demonstrate and test learning associated with the instruction and facilitation presented to the focus groups. At the end of the focus period, assessments were made of what issues were identified, what instruction and learning, what methods and techniques were used to implement learning and how that learning would be achieved and measured. The focus groups proposed recommendations to the church for how it could successfully make adaptations and changes that would create leadership strategies desired by the congregation. The project was limited to Mt. Sinai Seventh-day Adventist Church and as such, is intended only to demonstrate what may or may not result from the work done in this project. Results A new organizational structure designed to correlate compatible ministries into relevant leadership teams was implemented. An administrative elder was added to help coordinate the collective ministries. More engagement of leaders in planning and implementation produced collaboration and empowerment thus broadening participation and ownership. Leaders were not only given more opportunity to lead, but were also given opportunity to risk failure and thus to gain practical experience. Conclusion The project demonstrated that collaborative engagement by a broader base of informed leaders created empowerment and lessened conflict. It was further demonstrated that a wider implementation of these strategies would assure leadership growth and provide better potential for more productive successive leadership

Mental disorders and drug/alcohol use in patients commencing extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis treatment.

Mental disorders and alcohol/drug use worsen treatment outcomes for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (TB), but data are lacking for extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB. We investigated the association of baseline mental disorders and alcohol/drug use on XDR-TB treatment outcomes in a retrospective study of 53 XDR-TB Peruvian patients during 2010-2012. Logistic regression estimated the odds ratios for unfavourable XDR-TB treatment outcomes. Overall treatment success was 25%. Mental disorders and drug/alcohol use were found in respectively 22.4% and 20.4% of patients; neither were associated with unfavourable treatment outcomes. Future research should explore the relationship between mental health and drug/alcohol use in XDR-TB treatment outcomes

Supplement to Christian Chronicle, May 10, 1968

A supplement to the Christian Chronicle, this special issue contains a report of the Race Relations Workshop held March 4-8, 1968, in Nashville, Tennessee at Schrader Lane Church of Christ. Included are full texts of speeches delivered by the workshop theme speakers: David Jones, Jr., Lawrence L. (Bud) Stumbaugh, James Dennis, Sr., Don Finto, leon Hill, Phillip Roseberry, Joseph Tucker, Joe Tomlinson, Perry Wallace, Jim Mayo, Walter E. Burch, and an article by David Lipscomb condensed from the February 21, 1878 Gospel Advocate

A genetically encoded reporter of synaptic activity in vivo

To image synaptic activity within neural circuits, we tethered the genetically encoded calcium indicator (GECI) GCaMP2 to synaptic vesicles by fusion to synaptophysin. The resulting reporter, SyGCaMP2, detected the electrical activity of neurons with two advantages over existing cytoplasmic GECIs: it identified the locations of synapses and had a linear response over a wider range of spike frequencies. Simulations and experimental measurements indicated that linearity arises because SyGCaMP2 samples the brief calcium transient passing through the presynaptic compartment close to voltage-sensitive calcium channels rather than changes in bulk calcium concentration. In vivo imaging in zebrafish demonstrated that SyGCaMP2 can assess electrical activity in conventional synapses of spiking neurons in the optic tectum and graded voltage signals transmitted by ribbon synapses of retinal bipolar cells. Localizing a GECI to synaptic terminals provides a strategy for monitoring activity across large groups of neurons at the level of individual synapses

Defining Smallness for Gestational Age in the Early Years of the Danish Medical Birth Registry

Background: Being born small for gestational age (SGA) is associated with decreased insulin sensitivity and increased blood pressure in childhood, but the association with clinical disease in early adulthood is less certain. The Danish Medical Birth Registry has registered all births in Denmark since 1973, but due to variable data quality, data is most often used only from 1981 onwards, and birth registers in other countries may have similar problems for the early years. We wanted to examine whether the data can be used for identification of children born SGA and used in future research. Methodology/Principal Findings: All persons born between 1974 and 1996 were identified in the Danish Medical Birth Registry (n = 1.704.890). Immigrants and children without data on gestational age and birth weight were excluded, and a total of 1.348.106 children were included in the analysis. The difference between the different variables used in the history of the registry were examined, and the quality of data in the birth registry from 1974-1981 was examined and compared to subsequent years. Data on birth weight and gestational age in the early years of the registry is inconsistent, and the identification of children born SGA is inaccurate, with 49 % false-positives. The biggest source of error is due to the rough and inaccurate intervals used for gestational age. By using –3 standard deviations as a cut-off for the identification of children born SGA, the number of false-positives was reduced to 9%, while the amount of false-negatives were increased. Conclusion: Choosing –3 standard deviations for identifying children born SGA is a viable, though not optimal solution fo

Prevention of coronary heart disease in people with severe mental illnesses: a qualitative study of patient and professionals' preferences for care

BACKGROUND: People with severe mental illness (SMI) are at increased risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD) and there is growing emphasis on the need to monitor their physical health. However, there is little consensus on how services for the primary prevention of CHD should be organised for this patient group. We explored the views of people with SMI and health professionals from primary care and community mental health teams (CMHTs) on how best to provide these services. METHODS: In-depth interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of patients with SMI (n = 31) and staff from primary care (n = 10) and community mental health teams (n = 25) in North Central London. Transcripts of the qualitative interviews were analysed using a 'framework' approach to identify the main themes in opinions regarding various service models. RESULTS: Cardiovascular risk factors in people with SMI were of concern to participants. However, there was some disagreement about the best way to deliver appropriate care. Although staff felt that primary care should take responsibility for risk factor screening and management, patients favoured CHD screening in their CMHT. Problems with both approaches were identified. These included a lack of familiarity in general practice with SMI and antipsychotic side effects and poor communication of physical health issues to the CMHT. Lack of knowledge regarding CHD risk factor screening and difficulties in interpreting screening results and implementing appropriate interventions exist in secondary care. CONCLUSION: Management of physical health care for people with SMI requires complex solutions that cross the primary-secondary care interface. The views expressed by our participants suggest that neither primary nor secondary care services on their own can provide a comprehensive service for all patients. The increased risk of CHD associated with SMI and antipsychotic medications requires flexible solutions with clear lines of responsibility for assessing, communicating and managing CHD risks

Microtubules gate tau condensation to spatially regulate microtubule functions.

Tau is an abundant microtubule-associated protein in neurons. Tau aggregation into insoluble fibrils is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia1, yet the physiological state of tau molecules within cells remains unclear. Using single-molecule imaging, we directly observe that the microtubule lattice regulates reversible tau self-association, leading to localized, dynamic condensation of tau molecules on the microtubule surface. Tau condensates form selectively permissible barriers, spatially regulating the activity of microtubule-severing enzymes and the movement of molecular motors through their boundaries. We propose that reversible self-association of tau molecules, gated by the microtubule lattice, is an important mechanism of the biological functions of tau, and that oligomerization of tau is a common property shared between the physiological and disease-associated forms of the molecule