501 research outputs found
Challenges in studying positive change after adversity: Illustrations from research on breast cancer.
No full textMany people initially assumed that the ability to find benefits from an illness would contribute to better adjustment to the illness, and much research has supported that view. In persons with various cancers, for example, links have emerged between concurrent benefit finding and lower distress, higher self-esteem, less anxiety greater well-being, more positive mood, and higher current life satisfaction and estimates of future life satisfaction. Yet a number of studies of women treated for breast cancer have obtained findings that differ from these. In some cases, no relation emerged between benefit finding and distress or well-being. In at least one case, benefit finding early in the cancer experience related to higher distress and reports of poorer quality of life later on. These puzzling inconsistencies generated much comment among researchers interested in benefit finding. What might account for the inconsistency? (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved
Enhancing positive adaptation: Example intervention during treatment for breast cancer.
No full textThis chapter draws from our program of research to tell the story of how we approached the questions germane to many cancer patients: What are their experiences? What changes occur in their lives? Which processes govern this? Which resources matter most? Can patients learn techniques to help themselves optimize this period of their lives and beyond? We begin by reviewing the stressors and major concerns that women experience as they deal with diagnosis, surgery, and adjuvant therapy for breast cancer. These stressors set the stage for the development of benefit finding and other aspects of positive adaptation indexed with psychosocial and physiological indicators. We next review individual differences such as optimism, certain cognitive coping strategies, social support, and anxiety reduction, all of which serve as resilience factors-qualities that predict better adaptation and benefit finding during treatment. We then consider the role of stress physiology in adapting to illness. Although the research on stress physiology has not been conducted specifically in the context of cancer, the findings may be relevant to cancer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved
Plumbing, electricity, acoustics : sustainable design methods for architecture / Norbert Lechner.
No full textIncludes index.xi, 289 pages :Discover sustainable methods for designing crucial building systems for architects.
This indispensable companion to Norbert Lechner's landmark volume Heating, Cooling, Lighting: Sustainable Design Methods for Architects, Third Edition completes the author's mission to coverall topics in the field of sustainable environmental control. It provides knowledge appropriate for the level of complexity needed at the schematic design stage and presents the most up-to-date information available in a concise, logical, accessible manner and arrangement. Although sustainability deals with many issues, those concerning energy and efficiency are the most critical, making an additional goal of this book one of providing architects with the skills and knowledge needed to create buildings that use electricity and water efficiently. Guidelines and rules-of-thumb are provided to help designers make their buildings use less energy, less water, and less of everything else to achieve their primary objectives.
In addition, this book:
Addresses ways to reduce electricity usage through more efficient lighting systems and appliances and by incorporating automatic switches and control systems that turn off systems not in use.
Covers the design of well-planned effluent treatment systems that protect against potential health hazards while also becoming a valuable source of reclaimed water and fertilizer
Provides coverage of fire protection and conveyance systems, including very efficient types of elevators and escalators and designs that encourage the use of stairs or ramps.
Complete with case studies that illustrate how these systems are incorporated into large-project plans, Plumbing, Electricity, Acoustics is an indispensable resource for any architect involved in a sustainable design project
The competitiveness of entrepreneurial firms from a network perspective
No full textThis book sheds light on how the competitiveness of entrepreneurial firms can be understood from a relational perspective. The relational perspective complements internally focused approaches to explain firm competitiveness. Through the review of publications of the author, it will be shown how the relational view extends the classic notion of strategic management and how different types of networks matter in time for the competitiveness of firms but also how the spatial distribution of relationships matter for firms. The latter leads also to an investigation of the nature of clusters and how they are born and developed but most importantly how differential firm performance within clusters can be explained (allowing firms to develop a competitive advantage). If we consider that the network model is relevant for the development of entrepreneurial firms, the question arises what the limits of this model are and what the consequences are for firm development. Moreover, while research stretches the positive effects of networks, the negative effects are somehow under-researched. Research is presented that sheds some light on network liabilities. Understanding networks as an organizational configuration, the perspective is extended to other organizational configurations that drive firm competitiveness: they include research on teams as sub-units and small business groups. Concluding remarks will finally link the idea of competitive advantage to entrepreneurship
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Medical illness and positive life change: Can crisis lead to personal transformation?
No full textPeople often claim to experience improved relationships with family and friends, a clearer sense of their own strengths and resilience, changed priorities about what is important in life, and various other positive changes after struggling with stressful or traumatic events. What are we to make of these claims? Can we determine whether perceptions of change reflect real, verifiable change--that is, is it possible for someone to believe that he or she has grown while still exhibiting the same self-defeating thoughts and behaviors? Or is the perception of change itself an important meaning reconstruction process? What factors influence personal growth, and what effect does growth have on physical and mental health? This book examines these issues in depth and draws out their implications for research and clinical practice. Because medical illness has been one of the primary contexts in which researchers have studied the phenomenon of positive life change, this book focuses on how positive life change might be fostered in the context of medical illness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved
sj-docx-1-msj-10.1177_13524585221111677 – Supplemental material for Prediction of relapse activity when switching to cladribine for multiple sclerosis
No full textSupplemental material, sj-docx-1-msj-10.1177_13524585221111677 for Prediction of relapse activity when switching to cladribine for multiple sclerosis by Michael Zhong, Anneke van der Walt, Mastura Monif, Suzanne Hodgkinson, Sara Eichau, Tomas Kalincik, Jeannette Lechner-Scott, Katherine Buzzard, Olga Skibina, Vincent Van Pesch, Ernest Butler, Julie Prevost, Marc Girard, Jiwon Oh, Helmut Butzkueven and Vilija Jokubaitis in Multiple Sclerosis Journal</p
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Benefit Finding in Women with Breast Cancer: Assessment and Relations with Cortisol
No full textDespite the stress associated with the diagnosis of breast cancer, many women are able to find benefits in the experience. Recent work has characterized benefit finding (BF) as a multidimensional construct with perceived benefits found in a variety of distinct domains, including family relations and world view, among others (Weaver, Llabre, Lechner, Penedo, & Antoni, 2008). However, factor analysis results from the Benefit Finding Scale (BFS; Antoni et al., 2001; Tomich & Helgeson, 2004) have been mixed, demonstrating the need for further examination of the question. Increased BF after psychological intervention has predicted improvements in physical health-related measures in breast cancer patients, including improved profiles of the stress hormone cortisol. An interesting question is whether women’s ability to find benefit (independent of an intervention) in early stages of breast cancer treatment predicts lower levels of stress as measured by cortisol. An exploratory factor analysis of the BFS was conducted on a sample of 419 women with early-stage breast cancer who were 2-10 weeks post-surgery. A subset of 179 women from this larger sample also provided serum and salivary cortisol samples. This subset was utilized to assess the cross-sectional relationship between BF and cortisol, controlling for relevant sociodemographic and medical variables. A single-factor model of BF best represented perceived benefits in post-surgical breast cancer patients. Higher levels of BF were reported in younger and premenopausal women, Hispanic women, and those who had undergone a mastectomy rather than a lumpectomy. Higher evening cortisol levels were found in women with less education. Finally, BF was found to be unrelated to cortisol except in pre-menopausal women and those with lower income. In these subgroups, higher BF predicted lower cortisol awakening response. Findings suggest that time of assessment may influence the factor structure of BF such that the BFS generates a unitary measure of BF in the weeks after surgery. Furthermore, relations between BF and cortisol indicators during this period seem to be most evident in specific subgroups of women. This work may be relevant in planning future biobehavioral studies of BF-related processes in women with breast cancer.</p
Forma y razón histórica del Estado en el pensamiento de Norbert Lechner
No full textThis article examines one of the central approaches
in Norbert Lechner’s theory, who was
one of the most emblematic intellectuals in
Latin America’s studies of political subjectivity.
Based on the diagnosis of a State crisis due to its
functioning as an instrument of domination, the
author conceives it as form and historical reason.
That is, as an imaginary referent that mediates
the social relations between everyday praxis
and institutionality. For him, it is in the microphysical
spaces where the hegemonic struggle,
which must be represented by a general interest,
unfolds. Without this mediation and ethical
content, the State becomes a simple reproductive
device of capitalist relations. Therefore, we
propose that the search for a historical perspective
within the conceptualization of the State
constitutes one of the bases that support Norbert
Lechner’s theory of political subjectivity.El presente artículo revisa uno de los planteamientos
centrales en la teoría de Norbert
Lechner, quien fue uno de los intelectuales más
representativos de los estudios de subjetividad
política en América Latina. A partir del diagnóstico
de una crisis de Estado operada por
su funcionamiento como instrumento de dominación,
el autor formula una concepción
de éste como forma y razón histórica, es decir,
como un referente imaginario que medie las relaciones
sociales entre la praxis cotidiana y la
institucionalidad. Para Lechner, es en los espacios
microfísicos donde se despliega la lucha
hegemónica que debe ser representada por un
interés general. Sin esa mediación y sin contenido
ético, el Estado deviene en mero aparato
reproductor de relaciones capitalistas. Proponemos
que la búsqueda de una conceptualización
con perspectiva histórica, se constituye en una
de las bases que sustentan la teoría de la subjetividad
política de Norbert Lechner
O PENSAMENTO POLÍTICO DE NORBERT LECHNER E O PAPEL DA IDEIA DE UTOPIA DO CONSENSO COMO FUNDAMENTO DA DEMOCRACIA
No full textThis article analyzes the contributions of Norbert Lechner\u27s political thinking to the understanding of the democratic political order, its role in the constitutions of the symbolic sense of collective life and its fundament from the secularization of power by modernity. The text initially highlights the relevance of the theme of political order and its role in fixing the idea of certainty and security for collective coexistence. Then, it emphasizes the links established by the author\u27s thinking between democratic political order, pluralism and secularization of the world. Finally, it analyzes consensus as a possible utopia that fundament the democratic political order. For the realization this research, the hypothetical-deductive method and the bibliographic technique were used.O presente artigo analisa as contribuições do pensamento político de Norbert Lechner para a compreensão da ordem política democrática, seu papel nas constituições do sentido simbólico da vida coletiva e seu fundamento a partir da secularização do poder pela modernidade. O texto destaca inicialmente a relevância do tema da ordem política e seu papel na fixação da ideia de certeza e de segurança para a convivência coletiva. Em seguida, enfatiza os vínculos estabelecidos pelo pensamento do autor entre ordem política democrática, pluralismo e secularização do mundo. Por fim, analisa o consenso como uma utopia possível que fundamenta a ordem política democrática. Para a realização desta pesquisa, foram utilizados o método hipotético-dedutivo e a técnica de pesquisa bibliográfica
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Emotional Well-being in Men With Prostate Cancer: Effects of a Psychosocial Intervention Using Growth Mixture Modeling
No full textProstate Cancer (PC) is associated with disease- and treatment-related side effects that can compromise quality of life (QoL). Psychosocial interventions designed to improve adjustment and quality of life (QoL) for post-treatment PC patients have been conducted with mixed results. Intervention effects are typically analyzed using either mean difference scores or a single estimate of growth parameters (e.g., intercept and slope factors) across groups. These methods assume homogeneity within groups. Evidence suggests, however, considerable variability both in the experience of disease-specific outcomes and in the long-term adjustment and emotional well-being of men with PC. The present study used growth mixture modeling (GMM) to explore the effects of a cognitive behavioral stress management (CBSM) intervention on emotional well-being among men recently treated for localized PC. This methodology allowed examination of intervention effects across unobserved subgroups characterized by different trajectories of emotional well-being and identified factors associated with intervention efficacy.</p
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