Examining the relationship between different elements of the coaching process and its perceived effectiveness

This study confirmed the importance of the three main parts of coaching; the coach, the coachee and the coaching process while examining the relationships between different elements of the coaching process and its perceived effectiveness. The findings were significant and could be used to determine future paths of research within coaching. Three themes that consistently emerged from the results of the current study are: 1. The importance of coach experience and technical expertise 2. The idea that key processes change in significance in different phases of coaching 3. The need for greater attention to coachee goals

Tourism development as Greek tragedy: implications for tourism development policy and education

Although tourism has been used as a development strategy in many parts of the world for several decades, there is little evidence that it is an effective tool for improving the wellbeing of destination communities. It is not uncommon to find cases where tourism development has resulted in extensive negative impacts on destination. Despite considerable academic concern over these issues there has been little change in tourism development policy or practice. This suggests a need to try innovative approaches to analysing and thinking about tourism development policy and planning processes. This paper reports on a study that explored the value of using classical Greek tragedy as a metaphor to guide analysis of the political context of tourism development. The study conducted a qualitative analysis of 10 case studies where a proposed tourism development had both significant negative impacts on the destination and failed as a commercial enterprise. This analysis highlighted a consistent pattern of events and characteristics that mirrored those central to Greek tragedies. The evidence suggests that the recognition of the tragic nature of tourism decisions could be an important step in changing tourism development policies. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of both the analysis and taking a tragic vision in tourism development policy, for education to support more sustainable tourism

Exploring the dimensions of social capital that are effective mediators of long distance commuting impacts on wellbeing

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Long distance commuting (LDC) impacts are difficult to generalize due to interactions between neighbouring communities. This paper explored resident perceptions and the nature of social capital in Kalgoorlie-Boulder to mediate LDC impacts. Group interview respondents reported a lack of linking social capital, they did not possess this type of social capital thus could not use it as a mediator between LDC impacts and wellbeing. There was a sense of helplessness based on a perceived inability to influence the scale of LDC (thus the size of the impact). Respondents were empathetic towards the local council (their linking social capital), however, participants perceived the council as powerless to influence the size of the LDC workforce in Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Respondents also identified structural limitations in LDC employment such as 12-h shifts, which impeded any attempt to build (bridging) social capital between residents and the LDC workforce.Peer reviewe

Challenges for the theory and practice of business coaching: A systemic review of empirical evidence

Until recently, there has been little published systematic empirical research into business coaching. This article reports on a systematic, critical review of 111 published empirical papers investigating business coaching theory, processes, and outcomes. The present article identifies a significantly larger body of empirical research than covered in previous reviews and uses a Systematic Review methodology (SRm) to conduct a comprehensive review of the available empirical evidence into business coaching effectiveness focusing on implications for theoretical development, practice (within human resource development) and further research in this area. This review identifies convergence around factors that contribute to perceived effective coaching practice but nevertheless highlights a number of issues to be resolved in further research. These include determining the primary beneficiaries of coaching, the factors that contribute to coach credibility, and how the organizational and social context impacts on coaching. Weaknesses in coaching research methodology and research gaps are also noted

Inhabiting the kingdom: theologies of nonviolence in the catholic worker movement

This article considers understandings of nonviolence within the Catholic Worker movement and their embodiment. The aim is to make the Worker's position theologically understandable, demonstrating how this drives their methods for action. The article argues that a particular ethic of nonviolence can be found within the movement, grounded within the aims of its founders and the current practices of the movement today, drawing on the example of the Jubilee Ploughshares 2000 from which the London Catholic Worker was founded to illustrate this. By exploring the movement's theological foundations for the practice of grassroots, active nonviolence, it will seek to present an important example of Catholic nonviolent practice questioning how this may challenge contemporary Catholic thinking on war and peace

Coaching and Mentoring in the Asia Pacific

Coaching and mentoring as management approaches have spread rapidly across the Asia Pacific region. Basic concepts of supporting people in their learning, in their career journeys and in the acquisition of wisdom are deeply rooted in all clutures, yet today there is little agreement about what constitutes good practice. Coaching and Mentoring in Asia Pacific is the first book to put coaching and mentoring into an Asia Pacific context - exploring the challenges, benefits and differences in application, both in concept and practice. Opening with a foreword from Anthony Grant, this book provides commentaries and practical case studies from a wide variety of countries, sectors and perspectives. The authors show how organisations in the Asia Pacific region can make effective use of this powerful developmental tool, in cost-effective, culturally relevant ways. This book will be invaluable reading for students and practitioners based in, planning to work in or curious about coaching and mentoring in the Asia Pacific

Furman Landscapes Archaeological Project: Spring 2022

This project included an archaeological survey by Prof. Andrew Womack and students in ANT-304 Archaeological Methods and Theory in Spring of 2022 on the campus of Furman University. The archaeological survey, located on campus property, exists as part of ongoing research conducted by the “Furman Landscapes Archaeological Project” in order to garner a better understanding of the land-use and occupation history of the current Furman campus. Our focus this season was on the remains of a historic structure visible in aerial photos from the 1940s, but with only a foundation are surrounding debris visible today. Our survey and test excavations of this area allowed us to garner a better understanding of the dating and use of this building, which most likely was occupied from the late 1800s or early 1900s until around 1950. Our research also laid the groundwork for further archaeological investigations in this and other areas of campus

Environmental DNA metabarcoding of lake fish communities reflects long-term data from established survey methods

Organisms continuously release DNA into their environments via shed cells, excreta, gametes and decaying material. Analysis of this ‘environmental DNA’ (eDNA) is revolutionizing biodiversity monitoring. eDNA outperforms many established survey methods for targeted detection of single species, but few studies have investigated how well eDNA reflects whole communities of organisms in natural environments. We investigated whether eDNA can recover accurate qualitative and quantitative information about fish communities in large lakes, by comparison to the most comprehensive long-term gill-net data set available in the UK. Seventy-eight 2L water samples were collected along depth profile transects, gill-net sites and from the shoreline in three large, deep lakes (Windermere, Bassenthwaite Lake and Derwent Water) in the English Lake District. Water samples were assayed by eDNA metabarcoding of the mitochondrial 12S and cytochrome b regions. Fourteen of the 16 species historically recorded in Windermere were detected using eDNA, compared to four species in the most recent gill-net survey, demonstrating eDNA is extremely sensitive for detecting species. A key question for biodiversity monitoring is whether eDNA can accurately estimate abundance. To test this, we used the number of sequence reads per species and the proportion of sampling sites in which a species was detected with eDNA (i.e. site occupancy) as proxies for abundance. eDNA abundance data consistently correlated with rank abundance estimates from established surveys. These results demonstrate that eDNA metabarcoding can describe fish communities in large lakes, both qualitatively and quantitatively, and has great potential as a complementary tool to established monitoring methods

The Plasmodium berghei serine protease PbSUB1 plays an important role in male gamete egress.

The Plasmodium subtilisin-like serine protease SUB1 is expressed in hepatic and both asexual and sexual blood parasite stages. SUB1 is required for egress of invasive forms of the parasite from both erythrocytes and hepatocytes, but its subcellular localisation, function, and potential substrates in the sexual stages are unknown. Here, we have characterised the expression profile and subcellular localisation of SUB1 in Plasmodium berghei sexual stages. We show that the protease is selectively expressed in mature male gametocytes and localises to secretory organelles known to be involved in gamete egress, called male osmiophilic bodies. We have investigated PbSUB1 function in the sexual stages by generating P. berghei transgenic lines deficient in PbSUB1 expression or enzyme activity in gametocytes. Our results demonstrate that PbSUB1 plays a role in male gamete egress. We also show for the first time that the PbSUB1 substrate PbSERA3 is expressed in gametocytes and processed by PbSUB1 upon gametocyte activation. Taken together, our results strongly suggest that PbSUB1 is not only a promising drug target for asexual stages but could also be an attractive malaria transmission-blocking target

Identifying areas at risk of drought-induced tree mortality across South-Eastern Australia

South-East Australia has recently been subjected to two of the worst droughts in the historical record (Millennium Drought, 2000–2009 and Big Dry, 2017–2019). Unfortunately, a lack of forest monitoring has made it difficult to determine whether widespread tree mortality has resulted from these droughts. Anecdotal observations suggest the Big Dry may have led to more significant tree mortality than the Millennium drought. Critically, to be able to robustly project future expected climate change effects on Australian vegetation, we need to be able to assess the vulnerability to drought of Australian trees. Here, we implemented a model of plant hydraulics into the Community Atmosphere Biosphere Land Exchange (CABLE) land surface model. We parameterised the drought response behaviour of five broad vegetation types, based on a common garden dry-down experiment with species originating across a rainfall gradient (188–1125 mm yr1 ) across South-East Australia. The new hydraulics model significantly improved (~35–45 % reduction in root mean square error) CABLE’s previous predictions of latent heat fluxes during periods of water stress at two eddy covariance sites in Australia. Landscape-scale predictions of the greatest percentage loss of hydraulic conductivity (PLC), 40–60 %, were broadly consistent with satellite estimates of regions of the greatest change in both droughts. In neither drought did CABLE predict that trees would have reached critical PLC in widespread areas (i.e. it projected a low mortality risk), although the model highlighted critical levels near the desert regions of South-East Australia where few trees live. Overall, our experimentally constrained model results imply significant resilience to drought conferred by hydraulic function, but also highlight critical data and scientific gaps. Our approach presents a promising avenue to integrate experimental data and make regional-scale predictions of potential drought-induced hydraulic failure