Seven domains for leadership mentoring and executive coaching A reflective paper

This article discusses how coaching and mentoring can be integrated and work together as systematic tools for leadership development. The author draws on psychotherapy as a parallel for practitioner research and posits five validation hypotheses for coaching and mentoring. Arguably coaching is not sufficient to develop leaders, but a useful toolbox within mentoring. Internal mentors in particular have cultural and industry knowledge of direct relevance to the adept.Seven domains are identified for an integrated framework: Insight from reflection and meta-learning; Working with the whole person; Competence modelling; Deep listening, beyond words; Emotional intelligence; Coaching for results; and Systemic thinking and team development.Keywords: leadership, coaching, mentoring, internal mentors, executive coaching, practice theory

“Becoming a Family”: Developmental Processes Represented in Blended Family Discourse

We adopted a process-focus in order to gain a deeper understanding of how (step) blended family members experiencing different developmental pathways discursively represented their processes of becoming a family. Using a qualitative/interpretive method, we analyzed 980 pages of interview transcripts with stepparents and stepchildren. We studied the first four years of family development, using the five developmental pathways developed by Baxter, Braithwaite, and Nicholson (1999). Three salient issues identified in the family experiences were boundary management, solidarity, and adaptation. While the negotiation of these issues varied across the five trajectories, there were commonalities across family experiences that helped determine whether families had a successful experience of becoming a family. Implications for blended family researchers and practitioners are also discussed

Instances and connectors : issues for a second generation process language

This work is supported by UK EPSRC grants GR/L34433 and GR/L32699Over the past decade a variety of process languages have been defined, used and evaluated. It is now possible to consider second generation languages based on this experience. Rather than develop a second generation wish list this position paper explores two issues: instances and connectors. Instances relate to the relationship between a process model as a description and the, possibly multiple, enacting instances which are created from it. Connectors refers to the issue of concurrency control and achieving a higher level of abstraction in how parts of a model interact. We believe that these issues are key to developing systems which can effectively support business processes, and that they have not received sufficient attention within the process modelling community. Through exploring these issues we also illustrate our approach to designing a second generation process language.Postprin

The lifetime of nitrogen oxides in an isoprene-dominated forest

The lifetime of nitrogen oxides (NO_x) affects the concentration and distribution of NO_x and the spatial patterns of nitrogen deposition. Despite its importance, the lifetime of NO_x is poorly constrained in rural and remote continental regions. We use measurements from a site in central Alabama during the Southern Oxidant and Aerosol Study (SOAS) in summer 2013 to provide new insights into the chemistry of NO_x and NO_x reservoirs. We find that the lifetime of NO_x during the daytime is controlled primarily by the production and loss of alkyl and multifunctional nitrates (ΣANs). During SOAS, ΣAN production was rapid, averaging 90 ppt h^(−1) during the day, and occurred predominantly during isoprene oxidation. Analysis of the ΣAN and HNO_3 budgets indicate that ΣANs have an average lifetime of under 2 h, and that approximately 45 % of the ΣANs produced at this site are rapidly hydrolyzed to produce nitric acid. We find that ΣAN hydrolysis is the largest source of HNO_3 and the primary pathway to permanent removal of NO_x from the boundary layer in this location. Using these new constraints on the fate of ΣANs, we find that the NO_x lifetime is 11 ± 5 h under typical midday conditions. The lifetime is extended by storage of NO_x in temporary reservoirs, including acyl peroxy nitrates and ΣANs

Commensurate and Incommensurate Vortex Lattice Melting in Periodic Pinning Arrays

We examine the melting of commensurate and incommensurate vortex lattices interacting with square pinning arrays through the use of numerical simulations. For weak pinning strength in the commensurate case we observe an order-order transition from a commensurate square vortex lattice to a triangular floating solid phase as a function of temperature. This floating solid phase melts into a liquid at still higher temperature. For strong pinning there is only a single transition from the square pinned lattice to the liquid state. For strong pinning in the incommensurate case, we observe a multi-stage melting in which the interstitial vortices become mobile first, followed by the melting of the entire lattice, consistent with recent imaging experiments. The initial motion of vortices in the incommensurate phase occurs by an exchange process of interstitial vortices with vortices located at the pinning sites. We have also examined the vortex melting behavior for higher matching fields and find that a coexistence of a commensurate pinned vortex lattice with an interstitial vortex liquid occurs while at higher temperatures the entire vortex lattice melts. For triangular arrays at incommensurate fields higher than the first matching field we observe that the initial vortex motion can occur through a novel correlated ring excitation where a number of vortices can rotate around a pinned vortex. We also discuss the relevance of our results to recent experiments of colloidal particles interacting with periodic trap arrays.Comment: 8 figure

Accumulation of Succinyl Coenzyme A Perturbs the Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Succinylome and Is Associated with Increased Susceptibility to Beta-Lactam Antibiotics

Penicillin binding protein 2a (PBP2a)-dependent resistance to β-lactam antibiotics in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is regulated by the activity of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle via a poorly understood mechanism. We report that mutations in sucC and sucD, but not other TCA cycle enzymes, negatively impact β-lactam resistance without changing PBP2a expression. Increased intracellular levels of succinyl coenzyme A (succinyl-CoA) in the sucC mutant significantly perturbed lysine succinylation in the MRSA proteome. Suppressor mutations in sucA or sucB, responsible for succinyl-CoA biosynthesis, reversed sucC mutant phenotypes. The major autolysin (Atl) was the most succinylated protein in the proteome, and increased Atl succinylation in the sucC mutant was associated with loss of autolytic activity. Although PBP2a and PBP2 were also among the most succinylated proteins in the MRSA proteome, peptidoglycan architecture and cross-linking were unchanged in the sucC mutant. These data reveal that perturbation of the MRSA succinylome impacts two interconnected cell wall phenotypes, leading to repression of autolytic activity and increased susceptibility to β-lactam antibiotics. IMPORTANCE mecA-dependent methicillin resistance in MRSA is subject to regulation by numerous accessory factors involved in cell wall biosynthesis, nucleotide signaling, and central metabolism. Here, we report that mutations in the TCA cycle gene, sucC, increased susceptibility to β-lactam antibiotics and was accompanied by significant accumulation of succinyl-CoA, which in turn perturbed lysine succinylation in the proteome. Although cell wall structure and cross-linking were unchanged, significantly increased succinylation of the major autolysin Atl, which was the most succinylated protein in the proteome, was accompanied by near complete repression of autolytic activity. These findings link central metabolism and levels of succinyl-CoA to the regulation of β-lactam antibiotic resistance in MRSA through succinylome-mediated control of two interlinked cell wall phenotypes. Drug-mediated interference of the SucCD-controlled succinylome may help overcome β-lactam resistance

Atmospheric fates of Criegee intermediates in the ozonolysis of isoprene

We use a large laboratory, modeling, and field dataset to investigate the isoprene + O_3 reaction, with the goal of better understanding the fates of the C_1 and C_4 Criegee intermediates in the atmosphere. Although ozonolysis can produce several distinct Criegee intermediates, the C_1 stabilized Criegee (CH_2OO, 61 ± 9%) is the only one observed to react bimolecularly. We suggest that the C_4 Criegees have a low stabilization fraction and propose pathways for their decomposition. Both prompt and non-prompt reactions are important in the production of OH (28% ± 5%) and formaldehyde (81% ± 16%). The yields of unimolecular products (OH, formaldehyde, methacrolein (42 ± 6%) and methyl vinyl ketone (18 ± 6%)) are fairly insensitive to water, i.e., changes in yields in response to water vapor (≤4% absolute) are within the error of the analysis. We propose a comprehensive reaction mechanism that can be incorporated into atmospheric models, which reproduces laboratory data over a wide range of relative humidities. The mechanism proposes that CH_2OO + H_2O (k_((H_2O)) ∼ 1 × 10^(−15) cm^3 molec^(−1) s^(−1)) yields 73% hydroxymethyl hydroperoxide (HMHP), 6% formaldehyde + H_2O_2, and 21% formic acid + H_2O; and CH_2OO + (H_2O)_2 (k_((H_2O)_2) ∼ 1 × 10^(−12) cm^3 molec^(−1) s^(−1)) yields 40% HMHP, 6% formaldehyde + H_2O_2, and 54% formic acid + H_2O. Competitive rate determinations (k_(SO_2/k(H_2O)n=1,2) ∼ 2.2 (±0.3) × 10^4) and field observations suggest that water vapor is a sink for greater than 98% of CH2OO in a Southeastern US forest, even during pollution episodes ([SO_2] ∼ 10 ppb). The importance of the CH_2OO + (H_2O)n reaction is demonstrated by high HMHP mixing ratios observed over the forest canopy. We find that CH_2OO does not substantially affect the lifetime of SO_2 or HCOOH in the Southeast US, e.g., CH_2OO + SO_2 reaction is a minor contribution (<6%) to sulfate formation. Extrapolating, these results imply that sulfate production by stabilized Criegees is likely unimportant in regions dominated by the reactivity of ozone with isoprene. In contrast, hydroperoxide, organic acid, and formaldehyde formation from isoprene ozonolysis in those areas may be significant

Characterizing benthic macroinvertebrate and algal biological condition gradient models for California wadeable Streams, USA

The Biological Condition Gradient (BCG) is a conceptual model that describes changes in aquatic communities under increasing levels of anthropogenic stress. The BCG helps decision-makers connect narrative water quality goals (e.g., maintenance of natural structure and function) to quantitative measures of ecological condition by linking index thresholds based on statistical distributions (e.g., percentiles of reference distributions) to expert descriptions of changes in biological condition along disturbance gradients. As a result, the BCG may be more meaningful to managers and the public than indices alone. To develop a BCG model, biological response to stress is divided into 6 levels of condition, represented as changes in biological structure (abundance and diversity of pollution sensitive versus tolerant taxa) and function. We developed benthic macroinvertebrate (BMI) and algal BCG models for California perennial wadeable streams to support interpretation of percentiles of reference-based thresholds for bioassessment indices (i.e., the California Stream Condition Index [CSCI] for BMI and the Algal Stream Condition Index [ASCI] for diatoms and soft-bodied algae). Two panels (one of BMI ecologists and the other of algal ecologists) each calibrated a general BCG model to California wadeable streams by first assigning taxa to specific tolerance and sensitivity attributes, and then independently assigning test samples (264 BMI and 248 algae samples) to BCG Levels 1–6. Consensus on the assignments was developed within each assemblage panel using a modified Delphi method. Panels then developed detailed narratives of changes in BMI and algal taxa that correspond to the 6 BCG levels. Consensus among experts was high, with 81% and 82% expert agreement within 0.5 units of assigned BCG level for BMIs and algae, respectively. According to both BCG models, the 10th percentiles index scores at reference sites corresponded to a BCG Level 3, suggesting that this type of threshold would protect against moderate changes in structure and function while allowing loss of some sensitive taxa. The BCG provides a framework to interpret changes in aquatic biological condition along a gradient of stress. The resulting relationship between index scores and BCG levels and narratives can help decision-makers select thresholds and communicate how these values protect aquatic life use goals

HOx Observation and Model Comparison During INTEX-A 2004

OH and HO2 were measured with the Airborne Tropospheric Hydrogen Oxides Sensor (ATHOS) as part of a large measurement suite from the NASA DC-8 aircraft during the Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment - A (INTEX-A). This mission, which was conducted mainly over North America and the western Atlantic Ocean in summer 2004, was an excellent test of atmospheric oxidation chemistry. Throughout the troposphere, observed OH was generally 0.60 of the modeled OH; below 8 km, observed HO2 was generally 0.78 of modeled HO2. If the over-prediction of tropospheric OH is not due to an instrument calibration error, then it implied less global tropospheric oxidation capacity and longer lifetimes for gases like methane and methyl chloroform than currently thought. This discrepancy falls well outside uncertainties in both the OH measurement and rate coefficients for known reactions and points to a large unknown OH loss. If the modeled OH is forced to agree with observed values by introducing of an undefined OH loss that removed HOx (HOx=OH+HO2), the observed and modeled HO2 and HO2/OH ratios are largely reconciled within the measurement uncertainty. HO2 behavior above 8 km was markedly different. The observed-to-modeled ratio correlating with NO. The observed-to-modeled HO2 ratio increased from approximately 1 at 8 km to more than approximately 2.5 at 11 km with the observed-to-modeled ratio correlating with NO. The observed-to-modeled HO2 and NO were both considerably greater than observations from previous campaigns. In addition, the observed-to-modeled HO2/OH, which is sensitive to cycling reactions between OH and HO2, increased from approximately 1.2 at 8 km to almost 4 above 11 km. In contrast to the lower atmosphere, these discrepancies above 8 km suggest a large unknown HOx source and additional reactants that cycle HOx from OH to HO2. In the continental planetary boundary layer, the OH observed-to-modeled ratio increased from 0.6 when isoprene was less than 0.1 ppbv to over 3 when isoprene was greater than 2 ppbv, suggesting that forests throughout the United States are emitting unknown HOx sources. Progress in resolving these discrepancies requires further examinations of possible unknown OH sinks and HOx sources and a focused research activity devoted to ascertaining the accuracy of the OH and HO2 measurements