Increasing Effectiveness in Global NGO Networks

A tsunami hits a densely populated coast. Aid organizations mobilize, and the world watches as several national members of the same global network respond independently in an uncoordinated way. A new treaty is being developed that would allow countries to claim carbon offsets through forest conservation. But national leaders in the same global nonprofit network disagree about its value. A large organization solicits funds from a major U.S. foundation. At the same time, its sister nonprofit, with the same brand name, approaches the foundation. The funder's leaders are confused, and wonder about the seeming conflict. The question of how much to centralize -- or decentralize -- decision-making and operations has dogged global organizations for centuries. Studies of for-profits show that the best answer can be different at different points in an organization's growth. But few such studies exist for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and for too many of these nonprofits, the scenarios described above will sound all too familiar because they reflect flashpoints that occur when an operational structure is no longer optimal. What's needed is a way for an NGO's leaders to get out ahead of these flashpoints when possible, by learning to determine in advance when their organization's approach to operations and decision-making need to be revised, and along what lines. In an effort to help with this important task, we synthesized what we've learned through case work with a diverse group of global nonprofits; we also conducted interviews with the leaders and staff at more than 30 global NGOs. Our findings illuminate an emerging approach that blends the best of efficiencies at an organization's center and local innovation in the field

Nonprofit Leadership Development: What's Your "Plan A" for Growing Future Leaders?

Bridgespan has created Nonprofit Leadership Development: What's Your "Plan A" for Growing Future Leaders? as a guide to help nonprofits think differently about leadership development. Nonprofit Leadership Development treats leadership development not as an ad hoc response to the crisis but as a proactive and systematic investment in building a pipeline of leaders within an organization, so that when transitions are necessary, leaders at all levels are ready to answer the call.At the heart of the leadership, development discipline is Plan A. As originally described to us by American Express CEO Ken Chenault, Plan A is a three-year road map for the future that spells out an organization's evolving leadership needs, identifies future leaders, and details activities to strengthen their leadership muscle. While the future itself may not unfold exactly as expected, having a plan allows the organization to develop leaders more intentionally and effectively. Plan A is created and executed through the five linked processes detailed in this guide

Do patients with type 2 diabetes who aren't taking insulin benefit from self-monitoring blood glucose?

Patients with type 2 diabetes who aren't on insulin and perform self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) show small but significant reductions in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) at 6 months but not at 12 months (strength of recommendation [SOR]: B, systematic reviews and meta-analyses of disease-oriented evidence). Patients with a baseline HbA1c 8% do (SOR: B, systematic reviews and meta-analyses of disease-oriented evidence). More frequent SMBG--4 to 7 times weekly--doesn't reduce HbA1c more than less frequent self-monitoring--1 or 2 times a week (SOR: B, a systematic review and meta-analysis of disease-oriented evidence)

Genetic Contributions to Age-Related Decline in Executive Function: A 10-Year Longitudinal Study of COMT and BDNF Polymorphisms

Genetic variability in the dopaminergic and neurotrophic systems could contribute to age-related impairments in executive control and memory function. In this study we examined whether genetic polymorphisms for catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were related to the trajectory of cognitive decline occurring over a 10-year period in older adults. A single nucleotide polymorphism in the COMT (Val158/108Met) gene affects the concentration of dopamine in the prefrontal cortex. In addition, a Val/Met substitution in the pro-domain for BDNF (Val66Met) affects the regulated secretion and trafficking of BDNF with Met carriers showing reduced secretion and poorer cognitive function. We found that impairments over the 10-year span on a task-switching paradigm did not vary as a function of the COMT polymorphism. However, for the BDNF polymorphism the Met carriers performed worse than Val homozygotes at the first testing session but only the Val homozygotes demonstrated a significant reduction in performance over the 10-year span. Our results argue that the COMT polymorphism does not affect the trajectory of age-related executive control decline, whereas the Val/Val polymorphism for BDNF may promote faster rates of cognitive decay in old age. These results are discussed in relation to the role of BDNF in senescence and the transforming impact of the Met allele on cognitive function in old age

Neutron Stars as Type-I Superconductors

In a recent paper by Link, it was pointed out that the standard picture of the neutron star core composed of a mixture of a neutron superfluid and a proton type-II superconductor is inconsistent with observations of a long period precession in isolated pulsars. In the following we will show that an appropriate treatment of the interacting two-component superfluid (made of neutron and proton Cooper pairs), when the structure of proton vortices is strongly modified, may dramatically change the standard picture, resulting in a type-I superconductor. In this case the magnetic field is expelled from the superconducting regions of the neutron star leading to the formation of the intermediate state when alternating domains of superconducting matter and normal matter coexist.Comment: 4 page

The Perils of Clumpfind: The Mass Spectrum of Sub-structures in Molecular Clouds

We study the mass spectrum of sub-structures in the Perseus Molecular Cloud Complex traced by 13CO (1-0), finding that $dN/dM\propto M^{-2.4}$ for the standard Clumpfind parameters. This result does not agree with the classical $dN/dM\propto M^{-1.6}$. To understand this discrepancy we study the robustness of the mass spectrum derived using the Clumpfind algorithm. Both 2D and 3D Clumpfind versions are tested, using 850 $\mu$m dust emission and 13CO spectral-line observations of Perseus, respectively. The effect of varying threshold is not important, but varying stepsize produces a different effect for 2D and 3D cases. In the 2D case, where emission is relatively isolated (associated with only the densest peaks in the cloud), the mass spectrum variability is negligible compared to the mass function fit uncertainties. In the 3D case, however, where the 13CO emission traces the bulk of the molecular cloud, the number of clumps and the derived mass spectrum are highly correlated with the stepsize used. The distinction between "2D" and "3D" here is more importantly also a distinction between "sparse" and "crowded" emission. In any "crowded" case, Clumpfind should not be used blindly to derive mass functions. Clumpfind's output in the "crowded" case can still offer a statistical description of emission useful in inter-comparisons, but the clump-list should not be treated as a robust region decomposition suitable to generate a physically-meaningful mass function. We conclude that the 13CO mass spectrum depends on the observations resolution, due to the hierarchical structure of MC.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

The Large and Small Scale Structures of Dust in the Star-Forming Perseus Molecular Cloud

We present an analysis of ~3.5 square degrees of submillimetre continuum and extinction data of the Perseus molecular cloud. We identify 58 clumps in the submillimetre map and we identify 39 structures (`cores') and 11 associations of structures (`super cores') in the extinction map. The cumulative mass distributions of the submillimetre clumps and extinction cores have steep slopes (alpha ~ 2 and 1.5 - 2 respectively), steeper than the Salpeter IMF (alpha = 1.35), while the distribution of extinction super cores has a shallow slope (alpha ~ 1). Most of the submillimetre clumps are well fit by stable Bonnor-Ebert spheres with 10K < T < 19K and 5.5 < log_10(P_ext/k) < 6.0. The clumps are found only in the highest column density regions (A_V > 5 - 7 mag), although Bonnor-Ebert models suggest that we should have been able to detect them at lower column densities if they exist. These observations provide a stronger case for an extinction threshold than that found in analysis of less sensitive observations of the Ophiuchus molecular cloud. The relationship between submillimetre clumps and their parent extinction core has been analyzed. The submillimetre clumps tend to lie offset from the larger extinction peaks, suggesting the clumps formed via an external triggering event, consistent with previous observations.Comment: 38 pages, 12 figures, accepted by Astrophysical Journal slight changes to original due to a slight 3" error in the coordinates of the SCUBA ma

13CO Cores in Taurus Molecular Cloud

Young stars form in molecular cores, which are dense condensations within molecular clouds. We have searched for molecular cores traced by $^{13}$CO $J=1\to 0$ emission in the Taurus molecular cloud and studied their properties. Our data set has a spatial dynamic range (the ratio of linear map size to the pixel size) of about 1000 and spectrally resolved velocity information, which together allow a systematic examination of the distribution and dynamic state of $^{13}$CO cores in a large contiguous region. We use empirical fit to the CO and CO$_2$ ice to correct for depletion of gas-phase CO. The $^{13}$CO core mass function ($^{13}$CO CMF) can be fitted better with a log-normal function than with a power law function. We also extract cores and calculate the $^{13}$CO CMF based on the integrated intensity of $^{13}$CO and the CMF from 2MASS. We demonstrate that there exists core blending, i.e.\ combined structures that are incoherent in velocity but continuous in column density. The core velocity dispersion (CVD), which is the variance of the core velocity difference $\delta v$, exhibits a power-law behavior as a function of the apparent separation $L$:\ CVD (km/s) $\propto L ({\rm pc})^{0.7}$. This is similar to Larson's law for the velocity dispersion of the gas. The peak velocities of $^{13}$CO cores do not deviate from the centroid velocities of the ambient $^{12}$CO gas by more than half of the line width. The low velocity dispersion among cores, the close similarity between CVD and Larson's law, and the small separation between core centroid velocities and the ambient gas all suggest that molecular cores condense out of the diffuse gas without additional energy from star formation or significant impact from converging flows.Comment: 46 pages, 23 figures, accepted by Ap