bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Leadership and Decision Making: A Retrospective Application and Assessment
Authors: Duncan W. Jack , LaFrance Kevin G. , Ginter Peter M. 
Published: August 2007

This paper examines the applicability of the Vroom-Yetton model of leadership and decision making to the battlefield behavior of ten commanding generals in six major battles of the American Civil War. The purpose of the paper was twofold. The first objective was to see if it is possible to utilize official war records, autobiographies, biographies of close associates, and scholarly works to reconstruct the thinking of decision makers in the past and frame this thinking within a contemporary theory of leadership and decision making. The second objective was to illustrate the potential value of using prior events as retrospective test cases for a contemporary leadership theory. Although no attempt was made to suggest that the selection of the appropriate decision making and leadership style was the determining factor in the outcome of major battles of the Civil War, the study provided some interesting findings. The findings suggest that when the selected commanders on the field acted consistently with the prescriptions of the Vroom-Yetton model they were more often successful in accomplishing the goals of the campaign. In addition, the findings suggest that even though the commanders tended to favor autocratic styles, the lack of information sharing and consensus building resulted in serious disadvantages. In the cases examined, the pressure for prompt decision making was not sufficient to justify the loss of information that resulted from the determination to act alone.
From Transactional to Transcendental: Toward An Integrated Theory of Leadership
Authors: Sanders Joseph E. , Hopkins Willie E. , Geroy Gary D. 
Published: August 2007

In this article we explore the spiritual dimensions of leadership by setting forth a theory that both integrates and extends the transactional and transformational theories of leadership. Specifically, we propose that the transcendental theory of leadership set forth in this article comprises three dimensions of spirituality (consciousness, moral character, and faith) that incorporate the managerial aspects of transactional theory and the charismatic aspects of transformational theory to enhance leader effectiveness. Utilizing a conceptual model, we show the hierarchical relationship that exists between transcendental, transformational, and transactional theories of leadership and set forth several propositions related to the development of spiritual dimensions as leaders develop along the hierarchical continuum. Implications of the model for leadership theory and practice are discussed.
Featured Interview Sherron Watkins, Former Vice President for Corporate Development of Enron
Authors: Lucas Nance , Koerwer V. Scott 
Published: August 2007

Sherron Watkins is the former Vice President for Corporate Development of the Enron Corporation, who alerted then-CEO Ken Lay in August 2001 to accounting irregularities within the company. Her warning signaled to Ken Lay that Enron 'might implode in a wave of accounting scandals, ' predicting that hidden "improper -- possibly illegal - partnerships" would lead to the energy-trading giant's collapse. Enron's demise was being led by then-Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Skilling and Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow and assisted by Enron's accounting firm Andersen and Vinson & Elkins, a law firm representing Enron. When the collapse began months later, Watkins told Lay that Enron should come clean about its massive financial losses -- about $1 billion -that were being misrepresented to investors. She testified before Congressional Committees from the House and Senate investigating Enron's business practices in February 2002. Ms. Watkins is a former Arthur Andersen accountant who joined Enron in 1993, initially working for Andrew Fastow, managing Enron 's $1 billion-plus portfolio of energy related investments held in Enron 's various investment vehicles. She held the portfolio management position for just over 3 years, transferring at the start of 1997 to Enron's international group focusing primarily on mergers and acquisitions of energy assets around the world. In early 2000, Ms. Watkins transferred into Enron's broadband unit where she worked on various projects until late June of 2001 when she went back to work for Mr. Fastow in his new area of responsibility over the mergers and acquisitions group of the Enron Corporation. As a result of her memos to Ken Lay urging the company to change its accounting practices and restate its earnings, she has become known to the world as the Enron whistle-blower. Sherron Watkins was named, along with two others, as one of Time magazine's 2002 Persons of the Year for "people who did right just by doing their jobs rightly" and for their courageous actions. The story of Enron's collapse can be found in the book, Power Failure: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Enron, by Mimi Swartz with Sherron Watkins. In recognition of her outstanding demonstration of ethics in the work place, Ms. Watkins has received numerous other awards, including the Court TV Scales of Justice Award and its Everyday Hero's Award, the Women Mean Business Award from the Business and Professional Women/USA Organization, and the 2003 Woman of the Year Award by Houston Baptist University. Prior to joining Enron, Ms. Watkins worked for 3 years as the portfolio manager of MG Trade Finance Corp's commodity backed finance assets in New York City and for 8 years in the auditing group of both the New York and Houston offices of Arthur Andersen. Ms. Watkins is a Certified Public Accountant. She holds a Masters in Professional Accounting as well as a B.B.A. in accounting and business honors from the University of Texas at Austin.
Today's Corporate Executive Leadership Programs: Building for the Future
Authors: Bennett Robert H. , Harriman Joy H. P. , Dunn Greg 
Published: August 2007

Executive Summary Companies are making great strides in their efforts to develop leadership talent and ability in their organizations, but predicting and consistently building leadership in the executive levels of the company remain very difficult endeavors. Many companies are investing in upper level leadership development programs, with a real hope for strategic benefits to their organization. Uncertainty remains as to what these leadership development programs should be teaching their participants, and whether real competitive advantage can accrue. This article stems from our recent review of the research and practitioner literature to document the approaches to leadership development being recommended by leadership experts and being performed by leading organizations. The paper discusses current thought on what it takes to be a leader, how such can be instructed, and the approaches currently being used by three leading organizations. We provide a number of observations, interpretations, and suggestions for carrying out successful leadership development efforts.
Transformational Leadership and Urban Renewal
Authors: Rada Deborah R. 
Published: August 2007

Executive Summary Leadership is a concept that has generated increasing interest in this century. A current focus has been on Burns's theory of transformational leadership. Transformational leadership involves leaders and followers working together to develop mutual goals, to recognize and achieve higher order needs based on needs hierarchies postulated by developmental theorists, and to intend substantive change. Further, Burns postulated that transformational leadership is not the purview of a few, select individuals but occurs at all levels of organizations and in the routine tasks of everyday life. That is, anyone can be a transformational leader. Despite Burns's contention that transformational leadership can occur at all levels of organization and society, most of the discussion of transformational leadership has centered on persons in traditional, hierarchical power positions. This paper focuses on a social movement, urban renewal, which involves volunteer activity and persons not in hierarchical power positions. The urban renewal efforts of two southern California towns are highlighted, with examples from other towns' renewal efforts also cited. It is demonstrated that many renewal efforts utilize a transformational leadership approach. It is further shown that those efforts which employ a transformational leadership approach are often more successful than those that do not. It is concluded that transformational leadership does occur in voluntary, non-hierarchical groups and leads to substantive change. Further study is recommended to confirm these conclusions and advocate for broader recognition and encouragement of transformational leadership in various organizations.
Wound ballistics, surgery and the law of war
Authors: Coupland Robin M , Kneubuehl Beat P , Rowley David I , Bowyer Gavin W 
Published: August 2007

Wound ballistics is a science which can relate to other disciplines such as law, design of weapons, forensic pathology and surgery. We present an approach to wound ballistics which should make this complex subject accessible to and understandable by surgeons. There are two major contributions made by the science of wound ballistics to the surgical management of war-wounded people. The first is the demonstration of the transfer of kinetic energy from the projectile to the tissues along the projectile’s track (‘down-track’); this explains the heterogeneity of war wounds. The ‘down-track’ deposit of energy of a projectile is determined principally by the mass and velocity of the projectile and also, in the case of a bullet, by its construction and stability in flight. The rate with which energy is transferred determines the amount of tissue damage. If surgeons recognize the heterogeneity of wounds they can adopt appropriate management strategies for each individual wounded person. However, guidelines for surgeons as to which or how much tissue should be excised from a war wound have not yet been generated from wound ballistics studies. The second contribution pertains to fractures; the transfer of energy from the projectile to the bone and its surrounding soft tissues has important implications for fracture management. A comminuted fracture may result from low energy transfer. The extent of soft tissue damage surrounding a fracture influences the excision of the wound and the choice of fracture holding. In the context of the law of war and, in particular, the Hague Declaration of 1899, we propose that ‘down-track’ deposit of energy as opposed to technical consideration of bullet construction should be a starting point for legal debate about weapons.
Reticulocyte-secreted exosomes bind natural IgM antibodies: involvement of a ROS-activatable endosomal phospholipase iPLA2
Authors: Blanc Lionel , Barres Céline , Bette-Bobillo Pascale , Vidal Michel 
Published: August 2007

AbstractReticulocytes release small membrane vesicles termed exosomes during their maturation into erythrocytes. It has been suggested that reticulocytes remodel the plasma membrane of the immature red cell during erythropoiesis by specifically eliminating various proteins. We report here that exosome release is associated with a physiologic cascade induced by the expression of a 15-lipoxygenase at the reticulocyte stage. We found that the phospholipase iPLA2 specifically associated with the endosomal and exosomal membranes could be activated by reactive oxygen species (ROSs) produced during mitochondria degeneration induced by 15-lipoxygenase. Since iPLA2 has recently been demonstrated to participate in the clearance of apoptotic cells, we investigated its role in vesicle removal. We found that exosomes isolated directly from the blood of an anemic rat or released during in vitro maturation of rat reticulocytes bind IgM antibodies on their surface, in contrast to immature and mature red cells. These natural IgM antibodies recognize lysophosphatidylcholine and are able to specifically bind to apoptotic cells. Finally, evidence of C3 deposition on the exosome surface leads us to hypothesize that this cascade may favor the clearance of exosomes by cells once released into the bloodstream, via a mechanism similar to that involved in the elimination of apoptotic cells.
Subnormal Serum Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I Levels in Young Adults with Childhood-Onset Nonacquired Growth Hormone (GH) Deficiency Who Recover Normal GH Secretion May Indicate Less Severe but Persistent Pituitary Failure
Authors: Gelwane Georges , Garel Catherine , Chevenne Didier , Armoogum Priscilla , Simon Dominique , Czernichow Paul , Léger Juliane 
Published: August 2007

AbstractContext: The unexpected observation of a normal GH peak in 22% of young adults with childhood-onset GH deficiency (GHD) and ectopic neurohypophysis has raised questions about the criteria defining GHD in young adults and whether patients with subsequent increases in GH secretion nonetheless have a subtle form of GHD.Objective: Our objective was to determine the characteristics of patients with childhood-onset nonacquired GHD who recover normal peak GH secretion when adult height has been achieved.Design and Setting: We conducted a university hospital-based observational follow-up study.Participants: Sixty-two patients with ectopic neurohypophysis (n = 24), isolated hypoplastic anterior pituitary (n = 14), or normal hypothalamic pituitary area (n = 24) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at the time of GHD diagnosis underwent reevaluation of the GH-IGF-I axis at a mean age of 16.8 ± 1.6 yr.Main Outcome Measures: Outcome measures included clinical and MRI findings and serum IGF-I and peak GH levels.Results: On retesting, peak GH exceeded 10 μg/liter in 31 patients (50%): six (20%) patients with ectopic neurohypophysis, 10 (32%) patients with initially isolated hypoplastic anterior pituitary, and 15 (48%) patients with normal MRI findings. Among these patients, serum IGF-I levels were significantly lower in patients with ectopic neurohypophysis than in those without structural abnormalities of the hypothalamic pituitary axis (n = 25), but patients without structural abnormalities also had significantly lower serum IGF-I levels than control subjects, after controlling for age, sex, and body mass index (mean serum IGF-I levels of 374 ± 83 vs. 446 ± 108 μg/liter; β-coefficient = −72; P = 0.003).Conclusions: The severity of the disease seems to have decreased over time in these patients, who may nonetheless present persistent pituitary failure. The natural history and clinical implications of these findings remain to be clarified. The possibility of a deterioration in the secretion of GH and other pituitary hormones later in life in a subset of these patients warrants the careful long-term follow-up of this population.
Should We Pursue Patients Who Fail to Attend Colorectal Clinics? A 9-Year Study
Authors: John SKP , Jones OM , Fay H , Howell RD , Fozard JBJ 
Published: August 2007

INTRODUCTION No uniform protocol exists on how to deal with patients who fail to attend colorectal clinics. Our aim was to identify whether the tendency to ‘failure to attend’ (FTA) in the colorectal clinic was associated with FTA in other clinics and also whether FTA patients have serious pathology. PATIENTS AND METHODS This was a retrospective study of a prospectively recorded list of FTA patients, in colorectal urgent or two-week wait clinics from 1996–2004. RESULTS A total of 151 patients, who failed to attend their first appointment, were included in the study. Of these, 61 (40.4%) were colorectal referrals, 76 (50.3%) were general surgical referrals, and for 14 (9.3%) case notes were not available. There were 59 FTA episodes in 61 colorectal patients associated with 59 FTA episodes in other clinics (Pearson correlation: r = 0.411; P = 0.01, two-tailed, SPSS v.12). Of 58 colorectal outcomes, five (8.6%) colorectal cancers (CRC) were diagnosed, 23 (39.6%) were persistent non-attendees, 16 (27.5%) had benign colorectal pathology, two (3.4%) benign non-colorectal outcomes and 12 (20.6%) normal outcomes. CONCLUSIONS Tendency to FTA is habitual. Care needs to be exercised in the management of FTAs to avoid delayed presentation of colorectal cancer.
Popliteal Aneurysms: From John Hunter to the 21st Century
Authors: Galland RB 
Published: August 2007

Popliteal aneurysms are rare and tend to occur in older men with significant co-morbidity. Historically, management of popliteal aneurysms can be considered in three broad groups: (i) the technique of Antyllus; (ii) techniques relying upon a collateral circulation; and (iii) techniques involving maintenance or restoration of circulation. Bypass and exclusion is currently been challenged by endovascuiar techniques which show promise in selected cases. Current controversies in popliteal aneurysms management are: when to repair asymptomatic aneurysms, what operation to do and how to manage acute thrombosis. These have been addressed by studying, prospectively, 73 patients presenting with 116 popliteal aneurysms. Diameter greater than 2 cm is often stated as being an indication for elective operation in asymptomatic popliteal aneurysms. However, distortion of the aneurysm appears to be at least as important as size in determining whether symptoms are likely to develop. Of 17 popliteal aneurysms followed for a median of 34 months with a diameter 2–3 cm and distortion less than 45°, none thrombosed. This is no worse than patency following elective bypass (P= 0.064). Popliteal aneurysms greater than 3 cm in diameter in patients who are unfit or who declined an operation were significantly more likely to develop thrombosis or any other symptom (P = 0.01 and P = 0.004, respectively). Popliteal aneurysms less than 3 cm in diameter with distortion less than 45° can safely be managed by ultrasound surveillance. Popliteal aneurysms with greater diameter or distortion are best operated upon. Bypass, combined with proximal and distal ligation of the aneurysm, resulted in 5-year graft patency of 78% and 65% for popliteal aneurysms originally patent or thrombosed, respectively, with good long-term exclusion of the aneurysm. In addition to the general complications of intra-arterial thrombolysis, acute deterioration of the limb during lysis appears to be a particular problem when dealing with thrombosed popliteal aneurysms. It occurs in about 13% of cases which compares with 2% when dealing with thrombosed grafts or native arteries. Intra-arterial thrombolysis for thrombosed popliteal aneurysms is associated with unacceptabiy high numbers of complications and thrombolysis should be reserved for intra-operative use only.
Giant Haemangioma of the Liver: Is Enucleation Better than Resection?
Authors: Singh Rajneesh Kumar , Kapoor Sorabh , Sahni Peush , Chattopadhyay Tushar K 
Published: August 2007

INTRODUCTION Haemangioma is the most common liver tumour. Treatment is indicated for symptomatic tumours, rapid increase in size, rupture or doubt in diagnosis. There is continuing debate regarding the ideal method of surgical treatment for liver haemangiomas, with some surgeons favouring enucleation over liver resection. PATIENTS AND METHODS Retrospective analysis of prospectively compiled database of patients who were surgically treated for liver haemangioma. RESULTS Between 1987 and 2003, we operated on 21 patients with liver haemangioma. Pre-operative diagnosis on imaging was made in 16 patients (13 symptomatic, 3 had progressive increase in size). In five patients, the indication of surgery was uncertain diagnosis. Enucleation was performed in 9 patients and liver resection in 12. The size of the haemangioma was similar in the enucleation and resection groups (8.9 cm versus 10 cm; P = 0.85). The mean intra-operatiive blood loss was significantly less in the enucleation group (400 ml versus 1330 ml; P = 0.004). The mean operative time was significantly less in the enucleation group as compared to the resection group (170 min versus 230 min; P = 0.035). Five patients had major postoperative morbidity in the resection group as compared to none in the enucleation group (P = 0.045). The duration of hospital stay was significantly longer in the resection group.(9.9 days versus 5.6 days; P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS Enucleation of liver haemangiomas is safer, quicker and associated with less morbidity than liver resection. Except for some situations, such as uncertain diagnosis or total replacement of a lobe, we recommend enucleation as the surgical procedures of choice for the treatment of hepatic haemangiomas.
Modern Perspectives in the Treatment of Chronic Anal Fissures
Authors: Bhardwaj R , Parker MC 
Published: August 2007

INTRODUCTION Anal fissures are commonly encountered in routine colorectal practice. Developments in the pharmacological understanding of the internal anal sphincter have resulted in more conservative approaches towards treatment. Simple measures are often effective for early fissures. Glyceryl trinitrate is well established as a first-line pharmacological therapy. The roles of diltiazem and botulinum, particularly as rescue therapy, are not well understood. Surgery has a defined role and should not be discounted completely. METHODS Data were obtained from Medline publications citing ‘anal fissure’. Manual cross-referencing of salient articles was conducted. We have sought to highlight various controversies in the management of anal fissures. FINDINGS Acute fissures may heal spontaneously, although simple conservative measures are sufficient. Idiopathic chronic anal fissures need careful evaluation to decide what therapy is suitable. Pharmacological agents such as glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), diltiazem and botulinum toxin have been subjected to most scrutiny. Though practices in the UK vary, GTN or diltiazem would be suitable as first-line therapy with botulinum toxin used as rescue treatment. Sphincterotomy is indicated for unhealed fissures; fissurectomy has been revisited and advancement flaps have a role in patients in whom sphincter division is not suitable.
The Problem Surgical Colleague
Authors: Mosley John G 
Published: August 2007

‘All doctors are problem doctors.’ R Smith 1 The surgical profession, more than any other medical specialty, is constantly in the limelight. Frequently, concerns are expressed about our colleagues. The concerns may be personality clashes rather than failure in behaviour or performance. Most concerns can be addressed locally with support from the Royal College Invited Review Mechanism of the National Clinical Assessment Service. Unfortunately, if the concern is sufficiently serious or repetitive it may warrant referral to the General Medical Council (GMC) who alone has the right to withdraw a surgeon's medical registration. The surgeon will then be unable to work in the medical profession in this country. The procedures the the surgeon must undergo if referred to the GMC are stressful and protracted. Even if successful the surgeon will probably be expected to undergo a period of retraining that will prove difficult to arrange. New proposals to modify the GMC procedures will reduce the standard of proof to one of ‘balance of probabilities’. The surgical profession should be accountable to its patients and colleagues. Will our Royal College rise to the challenge to establish itself as the bulwark of the surgical profession?