Human schistosomiasis popularly known as bilharzias in many regions of Africa is a freshwater snail-transmitted disease caused by parasitic flatworms known as schistosomes. The growth and development of schistosomes typically requires developmental stages in multiple hosts and transmission stages in freshwater. These life cycle environments present a plethora of stressors. Certain gene families including heat shock proteins (HSPs/Hsps) and universal stress proteins (USPs) help schistosomes to respond to unfavourable conditions. The availability of genomes sequences information for Schistosoma japonicum, Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma haematobium provide unique research resources to apply bioinformatics analysis of its associated USPs to predict regulatory features from sequence analysis. The objectives of the research were to (i) Infer the biochemical and environmental regulation of universal stress proteins of Schistosoma species; (ii) Identify biological function relevant protein sequence and structure features for prioritized universal stress proteins from Schistosoma species; (iii) Determine the distinctive structural features of a predicted regulator of Schistosoma adenylate cyclase activity that has possible influence on the functioning of universal stress proteins. The findings revealed that (i) schistosomes USPs are hydrophilic and very reactive in the water environment or in aqueous phase, which seems adaptive with their immediate environment and developmental stages; (ii) The functions of Smp_076400 and Sjp_0058490 (Q86DW2) are regulated by conserved binding site residues and metallic ions ligands (Ca2+, Mg2+ and Zn2+), particularly Ca2+ predicted to bind to both USPs; (iii) The S. mansoni life cycle and stress resistance pathway protein (Smp_059340.1) is regulated by Ser53, Thr188, Gly210 and Asp207 residues. The overall scope has highlighted the role of bioinformatics in predicting exploitable regulatory features of schistosome universal stress proteins and biological pathways that might lead to identification of putative functional biomarkers of common environmental diseases. The findings of this research can be applicable to other areas of environmental health and environmental genomics. / Environmental Sciences / (D. Litt et Phil. (Environmental Sciences)

The increasing evidence of the organizational demands encountered by sports performers provides a fertile ground for research. There is now a requirement to move beyond describing the organizational stressors that performers encounter in order to understand the complex appraisal and coping processes that athletes engage in when experiencing organizational stress. This thesis aimed to conduct a detailed examination of these processes in high-level sport performers. Chapter 2 describes a narrative review of the extant appraisal literature that has examined the roles of situational and personal influences on appraising. In order to generate a detailed understanding of this literature, the review includes findings from the general, occupational, organizational, and sport psychology literatures. This review was instrumental in determining the direction of the research described in later chapters. Chapter 3 aimed to narrow the focus of the thesis to organizational stress transactions in sport performers and therefore, describes a diary study that explored swimmers appraisals of organizational stressors. The findings of this study provided insight into the complex process of appraisal and suggested that appraisals are related to the situational property of the stressor encountered. In addition, the results pointed to the importance of exploring the coping strategies that athletes use to manage organizational stressors in future research. Chapter 4 describes a narrative review of the literature that has examined athletes ways of coping with organizational stressors. Due to the limited sport psychology research in this area and in order to extend current knowledge in sport, prominent findings from the organizational and occupational psychology domains were considered. Chapter 5 was designed to extend the findings of Chapter 3 and the existing literature by examining the coping strategies that swimmers use in response to organizational stressors. This chapter highlighted the complexity of coping and suggested that appraisal mechanisms are linked to the coping family employed. Chapter 6 aimed to take a more complete approach to examining organizational stress transactions by exploring various components of stress transactions. The study presented in this chapter suggested that the appraisal an athlete makes is influential in determining the performance outcome that they will experience. Collectively, the chapters described above highlighted appraising as the pivotal element in stress transactions and established a rationale for the cognitive-behavioral based intervention that is described in Chapter 7. The study presented in Chapter 7 aimed to alleviate some of the negative outcomes of organizational stress by optimizing sport performers appraisals. The findings suggested that cognitive restructuring was a useful technique for achieving this aim. The program of research presented in this thesis suggests that appraising is the pivotal element of organizational stress transactions in sport and that appraising can be optimized in order to alleviate the negative emotional and performance outcomes of maladaptive appraisals. In addition, the research highlights the importance of considering the situational properties of stressors, the complexity of coping, and the relationships between components of stress transactions in future research. Further, the findings presented within this thesis suggest that future research should aim to make methodological and measurement advances and examine, in detail, performers appraisal and coping processes.

Sjuksköterskeyrket, i synnerhet arbetet på akutmottagning, är ett yrke vars arbetsmiljö kantas av en mängd olika stressorer. Svenska sjuksköterskors arbete på akutmottagning i relation till stress är inte ett välstuderat ämne. Syftet i studien är att beskriva variationer i hur en grupp sjuksköterskor, verksamma vid akutmottagningar, uppfattar fenomenet stress i arbetsmiljön. Frågeställningarna i studien är: Vad erfar svenska sjuksköterskor som stressorer i arbetsmiljön? Hur påverkas sjuksköterskorna av arbetsrelaterad stress och hur hanteras den? Forskningsansatsen är av induktiv, kvalitativ och fenomenografisk karaktär. Datainsamlingen består av intervjuer med nio sjuksköterskor. Resultatet visade att de främsta stressorerna utlöses av bristande teamarbete, organisatoriska orsaker, ständiga avbrott i arbetet och en känsla av otillräcklighet. Informanterna upplevde flera aspekter av stress i arbetet och att de i olika grad påverkades av den arbetsrelaterade stressen på arbetet. Alla informanter, utom en, uppgav någon slags påverkan från arbetsrelaterad stress på fritiden. Vad gäller stressens påverkan identifierades följande kategorier; Påverkan på kropp och själ, stress som drivkraft, att de egna behoven blir sekundära samt påverkan i förmågan att kommunicera. Den vanligaste copingstrategin i denna studie var av problemlösande karaktär. Resultatet visade vissa likheter med internationella studier i ämnet tex att bristande teamarbete, avbrott i arbetet, konflikter i teamet, hög arbetsbelastning och krävande patienter och anhöriga är stressorer i arbetsmiljön. En slutsats i studien är att sjuksköterskorna sällan stressas av själva patientarbetet, det är andra faktorer i arbetsmiljön som uppfattas som stressorer. Detta underlättar förutsättningarna för ett förbättringsarbete. Studien visade att stressorer, stresspåverkan och stresshantering är av en mångfacetterad karaktär och att upplevelsen är högst personlig. Med en ökad kunskap om stress kan konstruktiva lösningar på problemet leda fram till en god arbetsmiljö. Sjuksköterskorna kan då ägna energi till att uppnå en patientvård i världsklass! / The nursing profession, in particular the work in the emergency department, is a work that is lined a with a variety of stressors. Swedish nurses working in the emergency department in relation to stress is not a well-studied subject. The purpose of the study is to describe variations in how a group of nurses, working in emergency departments, perceive the phenomenon of stress in their work environment. The questions in the study are: What does Swedish nurses experience as stressors in the work environment? How are the nurses affectetd by work-related stress and how is it handled? The research approach is inductive, qualitative and phenomenographic. Data collection consists of interviews with nine nurses. The results showed that the main stressors is triggered by a lack of teamwork, organizational reasons, constant interruptions at work and a feeling of inadequacy. The informants experienced several aspects of stress at work and that they in varying degrees were affected by work-related stress at work. All informants, except one, indicated some sort of impact of work-related stress at leisure. As to the impact of stress the following categories were identified; The effect on body and soul, stress as a driving force, the own needs become secondary and the effect of the ability to communicate. The most common coping strategy in this study were of the problem-solving nature. The results showed some similarities with the international studies on the subject such as the lack of team work, work interruptions, conflicts in the team, heavy workloads and demanding patients and families as stressors in the work environment. One conclusion of the study is that taking care of the patient rarely stresses nurses, there are other factors in the work environment that is perceived as stressors. This facilitates the conditions for improvement projects. The study showed that stressors and the impact of stress are of diverse nature. The experience is highly personal. With greater knowledge of stress constructive solutions can lead to a good working environment. The nurses can then devote energy to achieve a world class patient care!

The purpose of this study was to: (1) identify the sources of job-related stress which create excessive pressures for the directors and faculty of medical record administration and medical record technology programs; (2) identify the strategies that the directors and faculty of medical record administration and medical record technology programs find most helpful in coping with stress; (3) determine the relationship among demographic variables and job-related stressors as perceived by the directors and faculty of medical record administration and medical record technology programs; and (4) determine the difference among the means of five stress factors as perceived by the directors of medical record administration, faculty of medical record administration, directors of medical record technology and faculty of medical record technology programs. Questionnaires were mailed to 403 respondents. The response rate was 81.3%. Within the limitations of this study, the results revealed that "Having insufficient time to keep abreast of current developments in my field"was the highest stressor. The top stress coping strategy was "Social interaction." The relationship between demographic variables and five stress factors of reward and recognition, time constraint, departmental influence, professional identity and student interaction revealed a positive correlation between degree and professional identity factor, and a negative correlation between degree and student interaction factor. The results also indicated a positive correlation between type of program and the factors-time constraint, professional identity and student interaction; a positive correlation between academic rank and the factors--time constraint and student interaction; a positive correlation between teaching responsibilities and time constraint factor; and a positive correlation between marital status and professional identity factor. The directors and faculty of medical record administration perception of time constraint and professional identity factors differed from that of the directors and faculty of medical record technology programs.

The present thesis focuses on stress management in conference interpreting. It explains the biological purpose of stress, stressors - aspects inducing a stress reaction, and the physiological, behavioral, emotional and cognitive symptoms and effects. Special attention is paid to occupational stress, namely in relation to interpreting, to the requirements on an interpreter's personality, and to stressors interpreters generally face. The thesis presents a detailed dscription of stress management- and coping styles, strategies and techniques. The empirical part explores the positive and negative expectations of interpreting students in the earliest stage of their studies in terms of stress, and aims at discovering whether students of interpreting as well as professional interpreters consider interpreting a stressful activity, whether they feel that stress management- and coping strategies and techniques should constitute an integral part of interpreter training, and whether this is or is not the case. The research concerned university institutes and departments of selected universities in the Czech Republic and abroad. On the basis of the outcomes of this research recommendations for practice concerning stress management, especially in terms of interpreter training, are outlined. Keywords: stress,...

The diploma thesis deals with the school burnout as a new phenomenon. The thesis gives an overview of associated field problems, different causes and factors important to its development. The first chapter of the work includes a brief description of a developmental period of adolescence, which is a critical stage to the development of school burnout. The thesis further speaks about the role of education in adolescence; in this context it mentions the role of classmates, school class and school, teachers and parents. The thesis also speaks in details about stressors in school environment and overall stress. A next part of the work is devoted to the basic concept of burnout syndrome from which school burnout is derived. It gives several definitions and different conceptions of burnout syndrome, describes causes, personal characteristics leading toward burnout and its course. The empirical part the diploma thesis displays a process of an adaptation of School Burnout Inventory, which was translated and extended. It introduces elementary psychometric characteristics of the new questionnaire. This questionnaire was tested on a research sample of 323 high school students of five high schools in Prague, including two comprehensive secondary schools. Findings indicate interesting relations of school...

Sjuksköterskor väljer att lämna yrket på grund av rådande arbetsvillkor. I den kliniska verkligheten är det högt arbetstempo samtidigt som krav och ansvar över patienten måste uppfyllas. Nyutexaminerade sjuksköterskor upplever en hög stressbelastning vilket ger konsekvenser på hälsan och ökar benägenhet att vilja lämna professionen. Sjuksköterskans kärnkompetens handlar om att främja patientens hälsa och lindra lidande samtidigt som den egna hälsan ska skötas så förmågan att ge en god vård inte äventyras. En komplex problematik för den enskilde individen och samhället. Syftet med studien var att undersöka upplevelser av orsaker till stress i arbetet bland nyutexaminerade sjuksköterskor. Metoden som använts är en litteraturöversikt över befintligt forskningsläge där både kvalitativa och kvantitativa studier har sammanställts. I databearbetningen framkom tre teman, Känsla av otillräcklighet, Känsla av utsatthet och utanförskap samt Individen i professionen. Resultatet visar att nyutexaminerade sjuksköterskor upplever ett flertalstressfaktorer och att det verkar vara en allmängiltig upplevelse runt om i världen i denna yrkesgrupp. Upplevelser av orsaker till stress visades i samband med rollanpassning, klinisk kompetens, hantering av palliativ vård, konflikter, brist på stöd, mobbning, arbetsbelastning samt schema. Ålder, yrkeserfarenhet och karaktärsdrag påverkade upplevelsen av arbetsrelaterad stress och det framgick att vissa grupper av nyutexaminerade sjuksköterskor har en ökad sårbarhet. Dessa kunskaper är viktiga för att utveckla strategier som kan minska stressrelaterad ohälsa i denna yrkesgrupp och föra yrket mot en mer hållbar utveckling. / Nurses choose to leave the profession because of prevailing working conditions. In the clinical reality, it is a high workload, while demands and responsibilities over the patient must be fulfilled. Newly graduated nurses experience high rate of stress load, which have consequences on their health and increases the tendency for wanting to leave the profession. The core competence of the nurse’s is about promoting the patient’s health and alleviating suffering while at the same time managing their own health so that the ability to provide good care is not compromised. A complex problem for the individual and society. The purpose of the study was to investigate experiences of causes of stress in the work of newly graduated nurses. The method used is a literature review of the existing research situation where both qualitative and quantitative studies have been compiled. In the data processing, three themes could be revealed, Feeling of inadequacy, Feeling of vulnerability and exclusion and The person in the profession. The result shows that newly graduated nurses experience a number of stress factors and that it seems to be a universal experience around the world in this professional group. Experiences of causes of stress were shown in connection with role adaptation, clinical competence, management of palliative care, conflicts, lack of support, bullying, workload and schedule. Such as age, professional experience and character traits affected the experience of work-related stress and it emerged that certain groups of newly graduated nurses have an increased vulnerability. These insights are important for developing strategies that can reduce stress-related ill-health in this professional group and lead the profession towards a more sustainable development.

Climate change and introduced species are among the top five threats to freshwater systems face. Tropical regions are considered to be especially sensitive to the effects of climate change, while island systems are more susceptible to species introductions. Climate-driven changes in rainfall are predicted to decrease streamflow and increase flash flooding in many tropical streams. In addition, guppies (Poecilia reticulata), an invasive fish, have been introduced to many tropical freshwater ecosystems, either intentionally for mosquito population control, or accidentally because of the aquarium trade. This dissertation examines the effects of climate-driven change in rainfall and introduced guppies on stream structure (resource and invertebrate biomass and composition) and function (nutrient recycling) in Trinidad and Hawaii. In the first data chapter we used a time series to examine how nutrient recycling of guppies changes in the first 6 years after introduction to a new habitat and to examine drivers of these changes. We found that when guppy populations establish in a new environment, they show considerable variation in nutrient recycling through time. This resulted from changes in guppy density in the first two years of introductions, and changes in individual excretion in subsequent stages. In the following chapter we utilized a rainfall gradient that mimics forecasted, climate-driven changes in precipitation and resulting changes in streamflow to examine the effects of climate change on stream food resources and macroinvertebrates. We found that the drying of streams across the gradient was associated with a decrease in resource quality and a 35-fold decline in macroinvertebrate biomass. Invertebrate composition also switched to taxa with faster turnover rates. In the third data chapter we used this same space-for-time substitution approach to determine if climate-driven changes in stream structure also affected stream function. We showed that population nutrient recycling rates declined at the drier end of our rainfall gradient as a result of drops in population densities. We also found that under the current climate scenario, community excretion supplied up to 70% of the nutrient demand, which was ten-fold lower with projected climate changes in streamflow. Lastly, since freshwater ecosystems often face multiple human impacts, including climate change and invasive species, we wanted to understand how climate-driven changes in flow might alter the impact of introduced guppies on stream ecosystems. We selected several streams with guppies and several without guppies along the Hawaii rainfall gradient to examine if the effect of guppies changed with differences in streamflow. We found that the two stressors had synergistic effects on macroinvertebrate biomass and nutrient recycling rates. We concluded that climate change appeared to enhance effects of guppies, through direct and indirect effects. Overall, this dissertation shows that both climate change and species invasion can affect stream ecosystems at multiple levels of organization. This dissertation demonstrates that the effects of anthropogenic stressors are not static through time, and emphasizes the need and utility of using several methodological approaches when measuring the temporal effects of stressors. We also underline the significance of assessing multiple stressor interactions, as more than one stressor often impacts ecosystems. / Graduate / 2019-09-01

Le rôle modérateur des étapes de carrière n’a jamais cessé d’attirer l’attention des chercheurs dans cette période où ce concept fait l’objet de beaucoup de débats dans milieu de scientifiques. Dans le présent travail notre objectif est d’étudier le rôle modérateur des étapes de carrière dans les relations d’un groupe de variables, avec but de clarifier leurs relations afin d’identifier les variables pouvant contribuer à l’amélioration de la satisfaction au travail et l’engagement organisationnel. Pour atteindre notre objectif, nous avons conçu un modèle de recherche ayant quatre niveaux de variables. Le premier est en rapport avec les facteurs de stress au travail, le deuxième concerne la satisfaction au travail, le troisième s’occupe de l’engagement organisationnel et enfin le dernier bloc traite des étapes de carrière. Ce modèle est testé sur un échantillon de 242 enseignants universitaires en Angola. Après différentes analyses (Analyse Multi-groupes et autres), nos résultats indiquent que les étapes de carrière jouent un rôle modérateur global dans les relations de nos variables. Cette modération se manifeste de manière spécifique dans les relations directes et indirectes de nos variables au niveau des étapes de carrière retenues dans notre étude. Ces résultats nous ont ainsi permis de présenter les apports et recommandations de type managérial allant dans le sens d’aider les professionnels et les gestionnaires des institutions pour améliorer leur politiques sur le bien-être des employés / The moderating role of career stages has never ceased to attract the attention of researchers in this time when a career concept is the subject of much debate in the middle of scientists. Our goal in this study is to investigate the moderating role of career stages in relationships of a group of variables, with a view to clarifying these relationships and to identify variables that may contribute to the improvement of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. To achieve our goal, we developed a research model with four variables levels. The first is related to stress factors at work, the second is job satisfaction, the third deals with the organizational commitment and the last level deals with the stages of career. This model is tested on a sample of 242 university teachers in Angola. After various analyzes (Multi-Group Analysis, and others), our results indicate that career stages play a moderating role in the overall relations between our variables. This moderation is manifested specifically in direct and indirect relationships of our variables in career steps included in our study. These results have allowed us to present the contributions and recommendations of managerial types in line to help professionals and institutional managers to improve their policies on the well-being of employees

Introduction : L’augmentation croissante de la survie après un cancer du sein conduit de plus en plus à accompagner ces femmes vers un retour à la vie active. Ce travail de thèse vise un double objectif. Il s’agira tout d’abord d’étudier la santé mentale au travail des femmes ayant un passé de cancer du sein en ayant recours à une approche comparative avec un groupe contrôle. Plus spécifiquement, nous tenterons de mettre à jour les stresseurs influant sur le burnout d’une part et les ressources impactant le bien-être psychologique au travail d’autre part. Le second objectif s’intéresse au couple et à la santé mentale au travail de chacun de ses membres en ayant recours à une approche dyadique et comparative.Méthode : Au total, 308 personnes ont été interrogées (88 femmes avec un passé de cancer du sein et 20 conjoints ; 100 femmes sans passé de cancer et leur conjoint). Tous ont complété des mesures évaluant leur santé mentale au travail (burnout et bien-être psychologique au travail), leurs ressources personnelles et relatives au travail (auto-efficacité, optimisme, expressivité émotionnelle, détachement psychologique du travail), des stresseurs (charge de travail, conflit vie professionnelle vie privée), leurs manifestations anxio-dépressives, leur satisfaction de vie et leur satisfaction de leur relation de couple. Résultats : Les résultats de la première étude ont montré que les femmes avec un passé de cancer ont des scores de burnout plus élevés que les femmes n’ayant pas ce vécu. Pour autant, ces scores se sont révélés en deçà des seuils critiques pour les deux groupes. Par ailleurs, cette première étude a permis d’identifier un effet modérateur des manifestations anxieuses sur la relation entre le conflit vie professionnelle-vie privée et le burnout dans le groupe clinique. Dans ce même groupe, et comparativement au groupe contrôle, la deuxième étude a permis de mettre à jour le sentiment d’efficacité personnelle comme la variable ressource la plus prédictive du bien-être psychologique au travail global et de ses composantes. Par ailleurs, la troisième étude a permis de montrer l’effet médiateur du sentiment d’appartenance à son environnement professionnel qui protègerait le groupe clinique de l’impact de la charge de travail sur le burnout. Enfin, dans les deux dernières études, et contre toutes attentes, les analyses causales auprès des couples des deux groupes ont révélé une sensibilité accrue du conjoint dont la compagne a été concernée par un cancer à sa satisfaction de sa relation de couple, ainsi qu’une influence tant au niveau de la détresse émotionnelle que des ressources de sa compagne sur sa santé mentale au travail.Conclusion : En contexte professionnel, les femmes ayant un passé de cancer du sein de ce travail de thèse se sont révélées en capacité de mobiliser des ressources pour se protéger du burnout et pour promouvoir et entretenir leur bien-être au travail. En revanche, leurs conjoints sont apparus plus sensibles à la situation de leur couple et aux signaux de leur compagne. Des recommandations en termes d’accompagnement du couple, durant la période de l’après-annonce de la rémission, seront discutées et suggérées. / Introduction : An increasing number of people surviving the cancer lead more and more to assist them in order to return to active working life. This study had two objectives. First, we investigated the mental health at work of women survivor of breast cancer using a comparative approach with a control group. More specifically, we identified stressors that affect burnout and resources that impact psychological well-being at work. The second objective focused on the couple and the mental health at work of each of its members using a dyadic and comparative approach. The main objective of this research wereto identify what positively affects well-being at work, while considering the possible partner’s influence in the context of return to work after cancer. Method: 308 adults were interviewed (88 women affected by a history of breast cancer and 20 spouses, 100 women without cancer experience and their spouse). They completed measures of mental health at work (burnout and psychological well-being at work), personal and work-related resources (self-efficacy, optimism, emotional expressivity, psychological detachment at work), stressors (workload, work-family conflict), anxiety and depression, life satisfaction and satisfaction with their relationship. Results: Results of the first study showed that women with a history of cancer have higher burnout scores than women who do not have this experience. However, these scores were below the critical thresholds for both groups. In addition, this first study identified a moderating effect of anxious manifestations on the relationship between work-family conflict and burnout in the clinical group. In this same group, and compared to the control group, the second study identified self-efficacy as the most predictive resource of psychological well-being at work and its components. In addition, the third study showed the mediating effect of feeling of belonging to professional environment it would protect the clinical group from the impact of the workload on burnout. Finally, in the last two studies, and contrary to expectations, the causal analyzes revealed an increased sensitivity of the spouse whose woman was affected by cancer to his satisfaction with his relationship, as well as an influence at the level of partner’s emotional distress and resources on his mental health at work.Conclusion: In a professional context, women with a history of breast cancer in this thesis work proved to be able to mobilize resources to protect themselves from burnout and to promote and maintain their well-being at work. Moreover, their spouses appeared more sensitive to the situation of their couple and signals of their partner. Recommendations in terms of support for the couple, during the period after the announcement of the remission, will be discussed and suggested.