142 research outputs found

    Transforming Leadership

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    The complex challenges of today’s organizations are calling for a new kind of heroic leader. The unquestioned assumption that vision is a pre-requisite for successful change, and that leaders need to be visionaries who can show us the way, presumes the future is predictable, organizations are controllable, and that plans can be implemented.  We argue these assumptions are responsible for the abysmal failure rate of organization change programs. In this paper we will describe how our  ongoing study of newer change practices (Bushe & Marshak, 2009, 2014, 2015) leads us to argue that successful leadership in situations of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA), which describe most transformational change scenarios, will require very different assumptions about organizing and leading from the prevailing “Performance Mindset” that emphasizes instrumental and measurable goal setting and achievement.  Rather than identifying what the change will be, leaders need to identify and lead processes for  ngaging the necessary stakeholders in emergent change processes.  To do that successfully requires a Generative Leader Mindset that acknowledges and works with the social construction of organizations.  We identify seven assumptions we think underlie successful leadership practice in a VUCA world. The continuing emphasis on being a solitary, strategic thinker who can envision viable futures and the path to those futures does little to prepare today’s leaders for the complex, ever-changing challenges they face. Instead, leaders need to be able to hold the space of complexity and uncertainty in ways that encourage and enable emergent and generative transformational change

    組織開発(OD)とは何か? : 起源と哲学、その可能性

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    南山大学人間関係研究センター公開講演会日時:2011年1月29日(土)18:00~20:00場所:南山大学名古屋キャンパス D棟DB1教室講師:ロバート J. マーシャク(アメリカン大学/NTLメンバー)(通訳:溝口良子)(校正:中村和彦

    The effect of evocative frames on strategic decisions

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    We employ the frame perspective and data from a natural experiment conducted over a period of 22 years to investigate framing effects and how they can influence strategic decision-making in a total of 205 teams of participants in an organization theory course. We find that frames can have substantial effects on strategic decisions, through evoking implicit storylines which invite moral considerations and emotions into the decision process. The finding that frames can implicitly impact decisions through their selectivity, salience and emotive effects extends our understanding of strategic decision making as well as of how frames shape decisions. We contribute to understanding of frames and framing effects by highlighting the pervasive role of emotion; and offer an expanded perspective that goes beyond frames as interpretive schemes, to view them as situated symbolic actions. We conclude by discussing practical implications for executives and organizations

    Very-high energy gamma-ray astronomy: A 23-year success story in high-energy astroparticle physics

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    Very-high energy (VHE) gamma quanta contribute only a minuscule fraction - below one per million - to the flux of cosmic rays. Nevertheless, being neutral particles they are currently the best "messengers" of processes from the relativistic/ultra-relativistic Universe because they can be extrapolated back to their origin. The window of VHE gamma rays was opened only in 1989 by the Whipple collaboration, reporting the observation of TeV gamma rays from the Crab nebula. After a slow start, this new field of research is now rapidly expanding with the discovery of more than 150 VHE gamma-ray emitting sources. Progress is intimately related with the steady improvement of detectors and rapidly increasing computing power. We give an overview of the early attempts before and around 1989 and the progress after the pioneering work of the Whipple collaboration. The main focus of this article is on the development of experimental techniques for Earth-bound gamma-ray detectors; consequently, more emphasis is given to those experiments that made an initial breakthrough rather than to the successors which often had and have a similar (sometimes even higher) scientific output as the pioneering experiments. The considered energy threshold is about 30 GeV. At lower energies, observations can presently only be performed with balloon or satellite-borne detectors. Irrespective of the stormy experimental progress, the success story could not have been called a success story without a broad scientific output. Therefore we conclude this article with a summary of the scientific rationales and main results achieved over the last two decades.Comment: 45 pages, 38 figures, review prepared for EPJ-H special issue "Cosmic rays, gamma rays and neutrinos: A survey of 100 years of research

    The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment: Exploring Fundamental Symmetries of the Universe

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    The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early Universe, the dynamics of the supernova bursts that produced the heavy elements necessary for life and whether protons eventually decay --- these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our Universe, its current state and its eventual fate. The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) represents an extensively developed plan for a world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions. LBNE is conceived around three central components: (1) a new, high-intensity neutrino source generated from a megawatt-class proton accelerator at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, (2) a near neutrino detector just downstream of the source, and (3) a massive liquid argon time-projection chamber deployed as a far detector deep underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. This facility, located at the site of the former Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, is approximately 1,300 km from the neutrino source at Fermilab -- a distance (baseline) that delivers optimal sensitivity to neutrino charge-parity symmetry violation and mass ordering effects. This ambitious yet cost-effective design incorporates scalability and flexibility and can accommodate a variety of upgrades and contributions. With its exceptional combination of experimental configuration, technical capabilities, and potential for transformative discoveries, LBNE promises to be a vital facility for the field of particle physics worldwide, providing physicists from around the globe with opportunities to collaborate in a twenty to thirty year program of exciting science. In this document we provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess.Comment: Major update of previous version. This is the reference document for LBNE science program and current status. Chapters 1, 3, and 9 provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess. 288 pages, 116 figure

    Outcome of radiotherapy in T1 glottic carcinoma: A population-based study

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    We evaluated the radiation outcome and prognostic factors in a population-based study of early (T1N0M0) glottic carcinoma. Survival parameters and prognostic factors were evaluated by uni- and multivariate analysis in 316 consecutive irradiated patients with T1 glottic carcinoma in the Comprehensive Cancer Center West region of the western Netherlands. Median follow-up was 70 months (range 1-190 months). Five and ten-year local control was 86 and 84%. Disease specific survival was 97% at 5 and 10 years. In multivariate analysis, pre-existent laryngeal hypertrophic laryngitis was the only predictive factor for local control (relative risk = 3.0, P = 0.02). Comorbidity was prognostic for overall survival. No factor was predictive for disease specific survival. Pre-existent laryngeal hypertrophic laryngitis is a new risk factor associated with reduced local control in T1 glottic carcinoma treated with radiotherapy

    Autoantibody Epitope Spreading in the Pre-Clinical Phase Predicts Progression to Rheumatoid Arthritis

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    Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a prototypical autoimmune arthritis affecting nearly 1% of the world population and is a significant cause of worldwide disability. Though prior studies have demonstrated the appearance of RA-related autoantibodies years before the onset of clinical RA, the pattern of immunologic events preceding the development of RA remains unclear. To characterize the evolution of the autoantibody response in the preclinical phase of RA, we used a novel multiplex autoantigen array to evaluate development of the anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) and to determine if epitope spread correlates with rise in serum cytokines and imminent onset of clinical RA. To do so, we utilized a cohort of 81 patients with clinical RA for whom stored serum was available from 1–12 years prior to disease onset. We evaluated the accumulation of ACPA subtypes over time and correlated this accumulation with elevations in serum cytokines. We then used logistic regression to identify a profile of biomarkers which predicts the imminent onset of clinical RA (defined as within 2 years of testing). We observed a time-dependent expansion of ACPA specificity with the number of ACPA subtypes. At the earliest timepoints, we found autoantibodies targeting several innate immune ligands including citrullinated histones, fibrinogen, and biglycan, thus providing insights into the earliest autoantigen targets and potential mechanisms underlying the onset and development of autoimmunity in RA. Additionally, expansion of the ACPA response strongly predicted elevations in many inflammatory cytokines including TNF-α, IL-6, IL-12p70, and IFN-γ. Thus, we observe that the preclinical phase of RA is characterized by an accumulation of multiple autoantibody specificities reflecting the process of epitope spread. Epitope expansion is closely correlated with the appearance of preclinical inflammation, and we identify a biomarker profile including autoantibodies and cytokines which predicts the imminent onset of clinical arthritis

    Gαq-containing G proteins regulate B cell selection and survival and are required to prevent B cell–dependent autoimmunity

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    Survival of mature B cells is regulated by B cell receptor and BAFFR-dependent signals. We show that B cells from mice lacking the Gαq subunit of trimeric G proteins (Gnaq−/− mice) have an intrinsic survival advantage over normal B cells, even in the absence of BAFF. Gnaq−/− B cells develop normally in the bone marrow but inappropriately survive peripheral tolerance checkpoints, leading to the accumulation of transitional, marginal zone, and follicular B cells, many of which are autoreactive. Gnaq−/− chimeric mice rapidly develop arthritis as well as other manifestations of systemic autoimmune disease. Importantly, we demonstrate that the development of the autoreactive B cell compartment is the result of an intrinsic defect in Gnaq−/− B cells, resulting in the aberrant activation of the prosurvival factor Akt. Together, these data show for the first time that signaling through trimeric G proteins is critically important for maintaining control of peripheral B cell tolerance induction and repressing autoimmunity

    Low exposure long-baseline neutrino oscillation sensitivity of the DUNE experiment

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    The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) will produce world-leading neutrino oscillation measurements over the lifetime of the experiment. In this work, we explore DUNE's sensitivity to observe charge-parity violation (CPV) in the neutrino sector, and to resolve the mass ordering, for exposures of up to 100 kiloton-megawatt-years (kt-MW-yr). The analysis includes detailed uncertainties on the flux prediction, the neutrino interaction model, and detector effects. We demonstrate that DUNE will be able to unambiguously resolve the neutrino mass ordering at a 3σ\sigma (5σ\sigma) level, with a 66 (100) kt-MW-yr far detector exposure, and has the ability to make strong statements at significantly shorter exposures depending on the true value of other oscillation parameters. We also show that DUNE has the potential to make a robust measurement of CPV at a 3σ\sigma level with a 100 kt-MW-yr exposure for the maximally CP-violating values \delta_{\rm CP}} = \pm\pi/2. Additionally, the dependence of DUNE's sensitivity on the exposure taken in neutrino-enhanced and antineutrino-enhanced running is discussed. An equal fraction of exposure taken in each beam mode is found to be close to optimal when considered over the entire space of interest
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