1,721,209 research outputs found
[Book review] Disability, health and international development
No full textReview of: Disability and International Development: Towards Inclusive Global Health MacLachlan Malcolm, Swartz Leslie Springer, 2009No Full Tex
An exploratory study into secondary school teacher motivation, occupational attitudes and job performance in Uganda in the context of HIV/AIDS
No full textTHESIS 9450The current study aimed at exploring how teachers\u27 perception of the HIV/AIDS context
impacts their motivation and occupational attitudes and how these in turn affect their job performance. Data was collected in two phases: in the first phase, motivational and demotivational factors for teachers and job performance indicators were generated and an understanding of the impact of HIV/AIDS on education was gained using three
discussion groups. Most of the data generated in the first phase were used in the
construction of the questionnaire for the main survey in phase two to which 410
secondary school teachers responded. The survey was organized in sections to cover
teacher demographic variables; motivation; HIV/AIDS context; job satisfaction; job
involvement; organizational commitment; work ethic; and job performance
Plotting the intertwining psychological and biological pathways linking stress and health
No full textTHESIS 8926The ability to maintain psychological well-being in the face of exposure to stressors is a crucial capacity that has implications for human health. How a person responds to adverse conditions is contingent on a multitude of interwoven biological and psychological factors. It is my goal in this thesis to outline a broad framework derived closely from the reserve capacity model (Gallo & Matthews, 2003) that specifies and provides empirical support for these relations. I do this by extending the current reserve capacity model and the methodology used to test its core tenets. Specifically, I demonstrate via empirical studies (i) how methodological advancements for the measurement of affect and psychobiological functioning can be used to test and provide support for the model (chapters 2 and 3), (ii) how feedback loops from health to emotion can be addressed in the model (chapters 4 and 5), and (iii) how genetic factors can be incorporated into the reserve capacity model (chapters 6 and 7). This is followed by a general discussion of the main findings, chapter 8. Chapter 2 investigates the relation between affect levels and cardiovascular activity in day-to-day settings using a primary data source of 186 people who completed the Day Reconstruction Method (Kahneman, Krueger, Schkade, Schwarz, & Stone, 2004) and underwent baseline physiological testing and were monitored naturalistically for an entire day. Negative affect was found to predict an elevated ambulatory heart rate and tiredness predicted a lower heart rate. Chapter 3 examines whether a psychosocial resource, self-control, modulates patterns of emotion with likely implications for psychobiological functioning. High trait self-control was associated with stable emotional patterns which partially mediated cortisol and heart rate levels. This study indicated that the capacity to sustain stable patterns of affect across diverse contexts appears to be an important pathway through which self-control relates to health. Chapters 4 and 5 address the idea that health conditions and psychobiological processes can influence well-being. Firstly, morning cortisol levels were shown to predict a steep increase in positive affect from morning through to the evening, particularly among the distressed. Next, in a study based on secondary data from two samples (N = 8190), obesity-related inflammation, as indexed by the acute phase reactant C-reactive protein, was shown to mediate between the presence of obesity and the neurovegetative symptoms of depression. Both of these studies suggest that it may be beneficial to extend the reserve capacity model to incorporate reciprocal relations and reverse feedback processes. Chapters 6 and 7 aimed to investigate if genetic factors can modulate the emotional and health response to life-stressors (based on secondary data, N = 755). The first genetic study tested the role of the apolipoprotein E gene in moderating the influence of an exogenous stressor, an earthquake, on health. Those who experienced damage to their property or were forced to move from their homes as a result of the earthquake had low self-rated health a year later, only if they were apolipoprotein 4 carriers (a dysfunctional lipid transporter). This study indicates support for the proposed extension to include genetic factors in the reserve capacity model. The second gene-stressor interaction study aimed to test if the stress of illness can be modified by both psychosocial and genetic factors. It did this by showing the number of chronic illnesses a person has been diagnosed with interacted with perceived control and variation in the apolipoprotein E gene to predict psychological adjustment. High levels of perceived control appeared to dampen genetic sensitivity to the adverse psychological effects of illness. As discussed in Chapter 8, the results of this thesis support a bidirectional resource model of health where one?s genetic endowment, exposure to stressors, and psychological resources interact to produce patterns of emotion and psychobiological functioning which may lead to the exacerbation of illness
Risk Factors for Fatigue in Shipping, the Consequences for Seafarers’ Health and Options for Preventive Intervention:Research in Organizational & Health Behavior at Sea
No full textThe consequences of fatigue for the health and safety of seafarers have caused concern in the industry and among academics, and indicates the importance of further research into risk factors and preventive interventions at sea. This chapter gives an overview of the key issues relating to seafarer fatigue. A literature study was conducted aimed at collecting publications that address risk factors for fatigue, short-term and long-term consequences for health and safety, and options for fatigue mitigation at sea. Due to the limited number of publications that deal with seafarers, experiences from other populations sharing the same exposures (e.g. shift work) were also included when appropriate. Work at sea involves multiple risk factors for fatigue, which in addition to acute effects (e.g. impaired cognition, accidents) contributes through autonomic, immunologic and metabolic pathways to the development of chronic diseases that are particularly prevalent in seafarers. Taking into account the frequency of seafarer fatigue and the severity of its consequences, the efficacy of the current legislative framework and the industry’s compliance, the manning of the international merchant fleet, and optimized working, living and sleeping conditions at sea all need serious reconsideration. Given the circumstances at sea which cannot be altered, e.g. working in shifts and crossing time zones, further assessment of the potentials of preventive interventions including fatigue prediction tools and individual Fatigue Risk Management Systems (FRMS) is recommended
Phantom sensation as experienced by people with a spinal cord injury
No full textTHESIS 10012All the approaches in this thesis are linked by a common query: What is the meaning, structure and essence of the lived experience for a person with a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) who perceives phantom sensation and/or pain? (See Figure 1). The thesis will allow you to form an accurate impression of phantom sensation in the population of people with a spinal cord injury and it highlights some of the confusion surrounding the terms now in common use. As the thesis progresses, the review of the literature and the presentation of the research informs a change in the use of the term "phantom" for the reader. Currently a regular dictionary definition of phantom pain/sensation is frequently limited and to be found only if you look under "pain". If looking under "phantom" the reader will probably only find the term as it applies to an amputated limb or as it applies to x-ray technology (e.g. Dorland, 2011). The description of the phenomenon across different populations is similar but a precise definition difficult to narrow down. I began with the concept that any sensation apparently felt in a deafferented part of the body (amputated or not) is a phantom
Environmental philosophy, threat and well-being
No full textTHESIS 7081This thesis represents a comprehensive attempt to address the dearth of research on relationships between environment and mental health. The aim is to present a novel theoretical and empirical investigation of the links between environmental values, perceived environmental quality and psychological well-being. Across seven chapters we have endeavoured to tell this story, by weaving together strands from the pertinent literature and unravelling meaning from responses to more than one thousand questionnaires. Multiple levels of design and analysis were employed to examine existing and new theoretical propositions. Survey methods were employed, in three separate studies, to collect cross-sectional and longitudinal data from young people attending academic institutions in Dublin. Sampling included convenience and matched group methods. Aspects of the third study involved field research on an experiential education program for ecology and enterprise. Following schematic representation of the constructs, factorial, and path modelling were employed to examine the nature of eco-wellness: the relationships between eco-philosophy, threat, and well-being
Discourse and difference : \u27New Irish\u27 in the media
No full textTHESIS 9209This thesis presents a discourse analytic study of Irish newspaper talk about those
described as refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants. The analysis looks at newspaper
talk from two leading Irish newspapers. The Irish Times and The Irish Independent over a five year period (2001-2005). The aim of the analysis is to understand how the print
media in Ireland constructs the \u27new Irish\u27, those who have come to live in Ireland
seeking, asylum, work, study or new life
Enabling communication: Pictures as language
No full textA developmental disability often includes a language disorder, the result of which render learning, in part, if not entirely impossible. This has drastic consequences for children and adults, and gradually ends up becoming the primary disability. With t
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
- …
