Assessing Effective Attributes Of Followers In A Leadership Process

Followership, being an understudied concept, raises fundamental questions: How did followership develop? Why do people submit into becoming followers? The developmental trajectory for the development of individual attributes is as yet, uncharted. Current study provides an overview of assessed attributes of followers, as proposed by Antelo (2010). Statistical survey design and correlation procedures are applied to assess selected variables and their relationship when examining the results of a multicultural survey conducted among leaders and followers in Russia, Belarus, United States, Bolivia, Mexico and Italy, totaling in over 400 members. Findings indicate that individual worker motivation influences performance and productivity.  Results of the study also illustrate that leaders typically rate themselves higher than followers do. The study discusses the need to understand how individual traits are developed, discovered, and how individuals can be formed, nurtured and prepared to become effective leaders as well as effective followers. The criticality of certain attributes characteristic to both leaders and followers is examined along with the need to analyze how some attributes can be changed.  Evolutionary approach in personal development and formation of individual attributes is taken into a great consideration.   &nbsp

Rainbow Of Followers Attributes In A Leadership Process

While the breeze of leadership is swaying the continent of North America with irresistible appeal, followership is left to rest in the shade. The subject has been given a very limited attention, thus, the paper attempts to address this deficiency and propose attributes of effective followers. Statistical survey design and correlation procedures are applied to assess selected variables and their relationship when examining the results of a multicultural survey conducted among leaders and followers of six countries. The results of the sample countries Russia and Belarus are being reviewed. Findings indicate that respondents tend to have an involuntary inclination towards group work and camaraderie, and are comfortable in the atmosphere of togetherness. Results also illustrate that respondents of the sample have a different understanding of notion of tolerance than respondents in the United States. The study discusses the need to understand how individual traits are assessed and developed, and how individuals can be formed, nurtured and prepared to become effective followers. The criticality of certain attributes characteristic to followers is examined along with practical suggestions of how some attributes can be brought to a more advanced level. The significance of having a leader inside every follower is emphasized. Uncomplicated, yet effective strategies on how to unleash and sustain followership capacity in individuals are described

Assessing Effective Attributes Of Followers In A Leadership Process

Followership, being an understudied concept, raises fundamental questions: How did followership develop? Why do people submit into becoming followers? The developmental trajectory for the development of individual attributes is as yet, uncharted. Current study provides an overview of assessed attributes of followers, as proposed by Antelo (2010). Statistical survey design and correlation procedures are applied to assess selected variables and their relationship when examining the results of a multicultural survey conducted among leaders and followers in Russia, Belarus, United States, Bolivia, Mexico and Italy, totaling in over 400 members. Findings indicate that individual worker motivation influences performance and productivity.  Results of the study also illustrate that leaders typically rate themselves higher than followers do. The study discusses the need to understand how individual traits are developed, discovered, and how individuals can be formed, nurtured and prepared to become effective leaders as well as effective followers. The criticality of certain attributes characteristic to both leaders and followers is examined along with the need to analyze how some attributes can be changed.  Evolutionary approach in personal development and formation of individual attributes is taken into a great consideration.   &nbsp

In silico scrutiny of genes revealing phylogenetic congruence with clinical prevalence or tropism properties of Chlamydia trachomatis strains

Microbes possess a multiplicity of virulence factors that confer them the ability to specifically infect distinct biological niches. Contrary to what is known for other bacteria, for the obligate intracellular human pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis, the knowledge of the molecular basis underlying serovars’ tissue specificity is scarce. We examined all ~900 genes to evaluate the association between individual phylogenies and cell-appetence or ecological success of C. trachomatis strains. Only ~1% of the genes presented a tree topology showing the segregation of all three disease groups (ocular, urogenital, and lymphatic) into three wellsupported clades. Approximately 28% of the genes, which include the majority of the genes encoding putative type III secretion system effectors and Inc proteins, present a phylogenetic tree where only lymphogranuloma venereum strains form a clade. Similarly, an exclusive phylogenetic segregation of the most prevalent genital serovars was observed for 61 proteins. Curiously, these serovars are phylogenetically cosegregated with the lymphogranuloma venereum serovars for ~20% of the genes. Some clade-specific pseudogenes were identified (novel findings include the conserved hypothetical protein CT037 and the predicted a-hemolysin CT473), suggesting their putative expendability for the infection of particular niches. Approximately 3.5% of the genes revealed a significant overrepresentation of nonsynonymous mutations, and the majority encode proteins that directly interact with the host. Overall, this in silico scrutiny of genes whose phylogeny is congruent with clinical prevalence or tissue specificity of C. trachomatis strains may constitute an important database of putative targets for future functional studies to evaluate their biological role in chlamydial infections.This work was supported by a grant, ERA-PTG/0004/2010, from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) (to J.P.G.), in the frame of ERA-NET PathoGenoMics. A.N. is recipient of a FCT post-doctoral fellowship (SFRH/BPD/75295/2010), V.B. and R.F. are recipients of Ph.D. fellowships (SFRH/BD/68527/2010 and SFRH/BD/68532/2010, respectively) from FCT, and V.D. is a recipient of fellowship on behalf of the grant ERA-PTG/0004/2010

Prevalence of Hyperuricemia and Its Association with Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Subclinical Target Organ Damage

The role of uric acid levels in the cardiovascular continuum is not clear. Our objective is to analyze the prevalence of hyperuricemia (HU) and its association with cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF), subclinical target organ damage (sTOD), and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). We evaluated the prevalence of HU in 6.927 patients included in the baseline visit of the IBERICAN study. HU was defined as uric acid levels above 6 mg/dL in women, and 7 mg/dL in men. Using adjusted logistic regression models, the odds ratios were estimated according to CVRF, sTOD, and CVD. The prevalence of HU was 16.3%. The risk of HU was higher in patients with pathological glomerular filtration rate (aOR: 2.92), heart failure (HF) (aOR: 1.91), abdominal obesity (aOR: 1.80), hypertension (HTN) (aOR: 1.65), use of thiazides (aOR: 1.54), left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) (aOR: 1.36), atrial fibrillation (AFIB) (aOR: 1.29), and albuminuria (aOR: 1.27). On the other hand, being female (aOR: 0.82) showed a reduced risk. The prevalence of HU was higher in men, in patients presenting CVRF such as HTN and abdominal obesity, and with co-existence of LVH, atrial fibrillation (AFIB), HF, and any form of kidney injury. These associations raise the possibility that HU forms part of the early stages of the cardiovascular continuum. This may influence its management in Primary Healthcare because the presence of HU could mean an increased CV risk in the patients

L'effet du climat viticole sur la typicité des vins blancs: caractérisation au niveau des régions viticoles ibéro-américaines.

There are many studies in the world that characterize the effect of the climate on grape composition and wine characteristics and typicity concerning different viticultural regions. However, the same is not true concerning studies in a worldwide scale to characterize this effect considering different climate types. This study is part of a CYTED (Ibero-American Program for Science, Technology and Development) project in vitivinicultural zoning. The objective was to characterize the effect of the viticultural climate on white wine typicity on the macro Ibero-American viticultural region. The methodology used 46 grape-growing regions in 6 Ibero-American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Portugal and Spain. The viticultural climate of each region was characterized by the 3 viticultural climate index of the Geoviticulture MCC System (1): HI (Heliothermal index), CI (Cool night index) and DI (Dryness index). The main sensory characteristics observed frequently in representative white wines produced with grapes of each of these 46 grape-growing regions were described by enologists in the respective countries, using the methodology of Zanus & Tonietto (2). The sensory description concerned the intensity of perception of Color (Cou), Aroma - Intensity (Ar), Aroma - Ripe Fruit (Ar-Fm), Body ? Palate Concentration (Con), Alcohol (Al) and Acidity (Ac). The Persistence in Mouth (Per) was also evaluated. The data were submitted to a correlation analysis of the variables and to a Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The results showed that the typicity of the white wines was correlated with the viticultural climate indexes HI, CI and DI from MCC System. The main wine sensory variables affected by viticultural climate are identified

Climatic groups in Ibero-America viticulture compared to worldwide wine producer regions.

The wine production is an important activity in many Ibero-American countries. The wine producer regions of these countries configure a large use of different climate types and viticultural climates. In a vitivinicultural zoning project of CYTED (Ibero-American Program for Science, Technology and Development), a viticultural climatic characterization was done in this macro viticultural region. The project have assembled a climatic database that characterizes the viticultural regions, including relevant variables for viticulture: air temperature (mean, maximum, and minimum), precipitation, relative humidity, solar radiation, number of sunshine hours, wind speed, and evapotranspiration. Using indices of the Geoviticulture MCC System (HI, CI and DI), more than 70 viticultural regions in different countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Spain, Mexico, Peru, Portugal and Uruguay) were characterized according to its viticultural climatic. The results, which will be integrated to the worldwide database of the MCC System, showed that the Ibero-American viticulture is placed in a wide range of climatic groups of the wine producing regions around the world. This article presents the climatic groups found in Ibero-America, identifying also some new climatic groups not yet found in other regions of the world. This work also identifies some climatic groups not found in Ibero-America viticulture. The research has also highlighted viticultural areas characterized by climates with ?intra-annual climatic variability?, with the potential to produce more than one growing cycle per year. The results allow to conclude that the wide variability and climatic diversity present in Ibero-America may be one of the reasons to explain the diversity in terms of wine types, sensorial characteristics, typicity and uniqueness of wines produced on this macro-region

Viticultural climate and climatic groups in Ibero-American wine producer regions.

A produção de vinhos constitui-se numa importante atividade sócio-econômica em diversos países Ibero-Americanos. As regiões vitivinícolas nestes países localizam-se em diversos tipos de clima

Structural basis for the Pr-Pfr long-range signaling mechanism of a full-length bacterial phytochrome at the atomic level.

Phytochromes constitute a widespread photoreceptor family that typically interconverts between two photostates called Pr (red light–absorbing) and Pfr (far-red light–absorbing). The lack of full-length structures solved at the (near-)atomic level in both pure Pr and Pfr states leaves gaps in the structural mechanisms involved in the signal transmission pathways during the photoconversion. Here, we present the crystallographic structures of three versions from the plant pathogen Xanthomonas campestris virulence regulator XccBphP bacteriophytochrome, including two full-length proteins, in the Pr and Pfr states. The structures show a reorganization of the interaction networks within and around the chromophore-binding pocket, an α-helix/β-sheet tongue transition, and specific domain reorientations, along with interchanging kinks and breaks at the helical spine as a result of the photoswitching, which subsequently affect the quaternary assembly. These structural findings, combined with multidisciplinary studies, allow us to describe the signaling mechanism of a full-length bacterial phytochrome at the atomic level