Emerging Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations: Myths, Meaning and Motivations

This report contributes to the understanding of, and conversation about, how to develop emerging leaders in the nonprofit sector. It provides recommendations for various stakeholders of the sector, including funders. A bibliography is included

Protein kinase C phosphorylates AMP-activated protein kinase α1 Ser487

The key metabolic regulator, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is reported to be downregulated in metabolic disorders, but the mechanisms are poorly characterised. Recent studies have identified phosphorylation of the AMPKα1/α2 catalytic subunit isoforms at Ser487/491 respectively as an inhibitory regulation mechanism. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) stimulates AMPK and protein kinase B (Akt) in cultured human endothelial cells. As Akt has been demonstrated to be an AMPKα1 Ser487 kinase, the effect of VEGF on inhibitory AMPK phosphorylation in cultured primary human endothelial cells was examined. Stimulation of endothelial cells with VEGF rapidly increased AMPKα1 Ser487 phosphorylation in an Akt-independent manner, without altering AMPKα2 Ser491 phosphorylation. In contrast, VEGF-stimulated AMPKα1 Ser487 phosphorylation was sensitive to inhibitors of protein kinase C (PKC) and PKC activation using phorbol esters or overexpression of PKC stimulated AMPKα1 Ser487 phosphorylation. Purified PKC and Akt both phosphorylated AMPKα1 Ser487 in vitro with similar efficiency. PKC activation was associated with reduced AMPK activity, as inhibition of PKC increased AMPK activity and phorbol esters inhibited AMPK, an effect lost in cells expressing mutant AMPKα1 Ser487Ala. Consistent with a pathophysiological role for this modification, AMPKα1 Ser487 phosphorylation was inversely correlated with insulin sensitivity in human muscle. These data indicate a novel regulatory role of PKC to inhibit AMPKα1 in human cells. As PKC activation is associated with insulin resistance and obesity, PKC may underlie the reduced AMPK activity reported in response to overnutrition in insulin-resistant metabolic and vascular tissues

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): The effect of galaxy group environment on active galactic nuclei

In galaxy clusters, efficiently accreting active galactic nuclei (AGN) are preferentially located in the infall regions of the cluster projected phase-space, and are rarely found in the cluster core. This has been attributed to both an increase in triggering opportunities for infalling galaxies, and a reduction of those mechanisms in the hot, virialised, cluster core. Exploiting the depth and completeness (98 per cent at r9.9 in 695 groups with 11.53≤log 10 (M 200 /M ⊙ )≤14.56 at z13.5 , AGN are preferentially found in the infalling galaxy population with 3.6σ confidence. At lower halo masses we observe no difference in AGN fraction between core and infalling galaxies. These observations support a model where a reduced number of low-speed interactions, ram pressure stripping and intra-group/cluster medium temperature, the dominance of which increase with halo mass, work to inhibit AGN in the cores of groups and clusters with log 10 (M 200 /M ⊙ )>13.5 , but do not significantly affect nuclear activity in cores of less massive structures

Proceedings of the 3rd Biennial Conference of the Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC) 2015: advancing efficient methodologies through community partnerships and team science

It is well documented that the majority of adults, children and families in need of evidence-based behavioral health interventionsi do not receive them [1, 2] and that few robust empirically supported methods for implementing evidence-based practices (EBPs) exist. The Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC) represents a burgeoning effort to advance the innovation and rigor of implementation research and is uniquely focused on bringing together researchers and stakeholders committed to evaluating the implementation of complex evidence-based behavioral health interventions. Through its diverse activities and membership, SIRC aims to foster the promise of implementation research to better serve the behavioral health needs of the population by identifying rigorous, relevant, and efficient strategies that successfully transfer scientific evidence to clinical knowledge for use in real world settings [3]. SIRC began as a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded conference series in 2010 (previously titled the “Seattle Implementation Research Conference”; $150,000 USD for 3 conferences in 2011, 2013, and 2015) with the recognition that there were multiple researchers and stakeholdersi working in parallel on innovative implementation science projects in behavioral health, but that formal channels for communicating and collaborating with one another were relatively unavailable. There was a significant need for a forum within which implementation researchers and stakeholders could learn from one another, refine approaches to science and practice, and develop an implementation research agenda using common measures, methods, and research principles to improve both the frequency and quality with which behavioral health treatment implementation is evaluated. SIRC’s membership growth is a testament to this identified need with more than 1000 members from 2011 to the present.ii SIRC’s primary objectives are to: (1) foster communication and collaboration across diverse groups, including implementation researchers, intermediariesi, as well as community stakeholders (SIRC uses the term “EBP champions” for these groups) – and to do so across multiple career levels (e.g., students, early career faculty, established investigators); and (2) enhance and disseminate rigorous measures and methodologies for implementing EBPs and evaluating EBP implementation efforts. These objectives are well aligned with Glasgow and colleagues’ [4] five core tenets deemed critical for advancing implementation science: collaboration, efficiency and speed, rigor and relevance, improved capacity, and cumulative knowledge. SIRC advances these objectives and tenets through in-person conferences, which bring together multidisciplinary implementation researchers and those implementing evidence-based behavioral health interventions in the community to share their work and create professional connections and collaborations

Construction and validation of a children’s interpersonal trust belief scale

A scale was constructed to assess children’s generalized trust beliefs (CGTB) in four target groups (mother, father, teacher and peer) with respect to three bases of trust: reliability, emotionality, and honesty. The CGTB Scale was administered to 145 Year 5 and 156 Year 6 children (mean age = 10 years, 1 month) residing in the English Midlands, United Kingdom. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses yielded evidence for the expected factor structure of the CGTB Scale. The total CGTB Scale and subscales demonstrated acceptable internal consistency and expected levels of stability across time. As support for validity, Year 6 participants’ scores on the CGTB peer subscale were correlated with their trust beliefs in classmates, assessed a year earlier. As hypothesized, children’s helpfulness to their classmates was correlated with the CGTB Scale and subscales. Girls displayed greater trust beliefs and helpfulness to classmates than did boys

Motivation at Work: Which Matters More, Generation or Managerial Level?

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether generations differ in level of work motivation and whether differences in work motivation are better explained by managerial level than by generation. Data were collected from 3,440 working participants by using an online survey. Results indicate that managerial level better explains work motivation than does generation. Although Gen Xers, Late Boomers, and Early Boomers did differ in external and introjected work motivation, there was substantially more variance in work motivation explained by managerial level. Individuals at lower managerial levels had higher levels of external motivation than did those at higher managerial levels, whereas individuals at higher managerial levels had higher levels of intrinsic, identified, and introjected motivation. Understanding that work motivation appears to be more related to managerial level than it is to generation advances our knowledge of both generational differences and motivation at work. This knowledge assists practitioners by providing evidence that organizations should look to factors of level more than generation when acting to understand and improve employee motivation. Our study shows that in the current managerial working population work motivation is related to managerial level more than it is to generation

Perceptions of authority and leadership: a cross-national, cross-generational investigation

Common wisdom suggests that social, technological, political and economic events have led to unusually distinct cultural identities among the generations, and that these identities are going to cause substantial upheaval within companies as large cohorts of older employees retire and a new cadre of younger workers replaces them. As the younger generation has been entering the workplace, there is an emerging belief in organizations around the world that these workers are different from the older generations especially with regard to perceptions of authority relationships and beliefs about what makes a leader effective. In the context of this chapter, we define perceptions of authority relationships as the extent to which a respondent believes it is important to defer to authority figures.We also define beliefs about leadership as beliefs respondents hold regarding what leadership styles most contribute to effective leadership. While it has been established that there are differences among societal cultures with regard to perceptions of authority and beliefs about leadership (for example, House et al., 2004), how those differences are affected by generation has not yet been explored. Does generation affect perceptions of authority or of what makes an effective leader? Are those perceptions the same in different countries? This chapter addresses these questions by focusing on perceptions of authority and related beliefs about leadership as expressed by those generations currently in the workforce in four different countries (India, South Africa, the UK and the US)