Cheng, Brian Hugh. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts also in Chinese.

Because of the impact of stress on health, it is important to understand the variables that underlie cardiovascular reactivity to stress because it may lead to more focused targets of intervention for helping people to reduce or otherwise better manage their stress. The purpose of the present study was to answer the following questions: does lack of eudaimonic well-being (a combination of psychological and social well-being) predict increased cardiovascular reactivity to stress in a clinically distressed population? And does increased eudaimonic well-being protect against increased cardiovascular reactivity to stress when hedonic well-being (a combination of positive affect and life satisfaction) is low and depression and stress are high? If so, then it may be possible to reduce the effects of stress on health even if depression and stress are present. One hundred twenty-nine college students (ages 18-29) who were clinically distressed were administered a questionnaire that included questions about demographic variables and measures of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, depression, and general perceived stress. After answering the questionnaire, a baseline reading of cardiovascular activity was taken. After the baseline reading, participants were subjected to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), an interpersonal stressor that consists of an anticipation period, a speech, and a math task. Measurements of cardiovascular activity were taken throughout the TSST. I predicted that lower levels of eudaimonic and hedonic well-being, mental health, and higher amounts of general perceived stress would predict increased cardiovascular reactivity to the TSST as measured by systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate. Then, should the prior hypothesis be true, I predicted that higher eudaimonic well-being will suppress the effect of lower hedonic will-being, lower mental health, and higher general perceived stress on cardiovascular activity to acute stress. Results of the study found no effect of eudaimonic well-being, hedonic well-being, depression, and general perceived stress on cardiovascular reactivity during the TSST. The results suggest that there is no relationship between well-being, depression, and general perceived stress and cardiovascular reactivity to stress in a young college student population.

Teaching is considered one of the most challenging professions, often associated with high levels of occupational stress and job turnover that perpetuates additional negative outcomes including depleted funding for school districts, poor education quality, and reduced student academic performance. Research shows that teachers are an integral part of the classroom with the power to positively influence students’ perceived classroom support and emotional competence (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009). Positive psychology has facilitated school-based initiatives that foster feelings of subjective well-being (happiness) through the implementation of brief, scripted activities (i.e., Positive Psychology Interventions; PPIs) that reflect the thoughts and behaviors of happy people (Layous & Lyubomirsky, 2014). Studies have demonstrated the positive impact of positive psychology interventions (PPIs) for adults (Bolier et al., 2013) and youth including a multicomponent, multitarget PPI (i.e., Well-Being Promotion Program) that improves students’ well-being (Suldo et al., 2015). McCullough’s (2015) investigation of the efficacy of a strengths-based intervention (Utilizing Signature Strengths in New Ways) on elementary teachers’ well-being revealed promising effects on teacher reduced emotional distress, increased life and work satisfaction, and SWB. This study examined the additive impact of teachers’ participation in the brief strengths-based teacher intervention (SBTI) on elementary students’ social and emotional outcomes, as reflected in levels of SWB, psychopathology, as well as classroom engagement and relationships among teachers and students. Concurrently, these elementary students took part in a Classwide Well-Being Promotion Program, a 10-week intervention targeting a variety of positive psychological constructs (i.e., positive relationships, gratitude, kindness, character strengths, hope) with additional parent and teacher components. A total of 7 classes (4 fifth grade; 3 fourth grade) within one large elementary school received the classwide, multicomponent student intervention in spring 2016, while 3 teachers were randomly assigned to participate in the SBTI concurrently. Follow-up analyses examined group differences on the variables of interest for the combined intervention (WBPP + SBTI) group, relative to classes of students engaged in the classwide-only intervention (WBPP). At immediate post-intervention, results revealed that classes of students participating in the combined intervention group did not demonstrate significantly improved student-reported life satisfaction, positive or negative affect, classmate or teacher support, emotional or behavioral engagement, nor teacher-reported relationship satisfaction, instrumental help, and emotional or behavioral engagement relative to the classwide-only intervention group. Additionally, students in classes within the combined approach reported statistically higher levels of negative affect and reduced levels of perceived teacher support relative to a classwide-only intervention group at immediate post-intervention, although the unexpected impact on negative affect appeared driven by data from students in the class led by a teacher with questionable fidelity of intervention implementation. Results of this study do not provide support that targeting teachers’ well-being through the SBTI may promote superior student outcomes for students concurrently engaged in the WBPP. Nonetheless, high levels of treatment acceptability reported by teachers and students participating in the combined intervention, as well as limitations to the study design, justify further investigation on the impact of targeting both teacher and student well-being in the context of positive psychological practices.

This work studied the productivity evaluation and well test analysis of horizontal wells. The major components of this work consist of a 3D coupled reservoir/wellbore model, a productivity evaluation, a deconvolution technique, and a nonlinear regression technique improving horizontal well test interpretation. A 3D coupled reservoir/wellbore model was developed using the boundary element method for realistic description of the performance behavior of horizontal wells. The model is able to flexibly handle multiple types of inner and outer boundary conditions, and can accurately simulate transient tests and long-term production of horizontal wells. Thus, it can serve as a powerful tool in productivity evaluation and analysis of well tests for horizontal wells. Uncertainty of productivity prediction was preliminarily explored. It was demonstrated that the productivity estimates can be distributed in a broad range because of the uncertainties of reservoir/well parameters. A new deconvolution method based on a fast-Fourier-transform algorithm is presented. This new technique can denoise "noisy" pressure and rate data, and can deconvolve pressure drawdown and buildup test data distorted by wellbore storage. For cases with no rate measurements, a "blind" deconvolution method was developed to restore the pressure response free of wellbore storage distortion, and to detect the afterflow/unloading rate function using Fourier analysis of the observed pressure data. This new deconvolution method can unveil the early time behavior of a reservoir system masked by variable-wellbore-storage distortion, and thus provides a powerful tool to improve pressure transient test interpretation. The applicability of the method is demonstrated with a variety of synthetic and actual field cases for both oil and gas wells. A practical nonlinear regression technique for analysis of horizontal well testing is presented. This technique can provide accurate and reliable estimation of well-reservoir parameters if the downhole flow rate data are available. In the situation without flow rate measurement, reasonably reliable parameter estimation can be achieved by using the detected flow rate from blind deconvolution. It has the advantages of eliminating the need for estimation of the wellbore storage coefficient and providing reasonable estimates of effective wellbore length. This technique provides a practical tool for enhancement of horizontal well test interpretation, and its practical significance is illustrated by synthetic and actual field cases.

The aim of this study was to come to a better understanding of possible neuropsychological mechanisms underlying psychosocial well-being and therefore to determine whether a relationship between neuropsychological executive functions and psychosocial well-being does indeed exist. Research was conducted in the domains of neuropsychology and positive psychology. This thesis consists of three articles, namely I ) Neuropsychological executive functions and psychosocial well-being: A review, 2) Attentional switching and psychosocial! well-being, and 3) The relationship between generativity as neuropsychological process and psychosocial well-being. The first article argued the possibility of a relationship between neuropsychological and psychosocial aspects, with reference to a pluralistic ecosystems perspective, neuropsychological and other positive psychological theories, such as Miller's neuropsychodynamic model and Frederickson's broaden-and-build theory, as well as existing empirical studies. Numerous neuropsychological studies have indicated that the prefrontal cortex is involved in executive functions, with its main function to regulate both cognitive and affective functioning. Analyses of existing empirical studies indicated an established relationship between prefrontal lobe / executive / regulatory dysfunction and psychopathology, but also that the relationship between normal or optimal prefrontal executive functions and psychosocial well-being is still unclear. The first article concluded that evidence correlating neuropsychological functioning with human flourishing, or indicating possible neuropsychological mechanisms involved in psychosocial well-being, is sparse, presenting a serious lacuna in scientific knowledge. The following two articles focused on contributing to filling this lacuna. "Attentional switching and psychosocial well-being" and "The relationship between generativity, as neuropsychological process and psychosocial well-being" focused on attentional switching and generativity, as part of neuropsychological executive functions, as potential mechanisms associated with psychosocial well-being. These studies aimed to determine whether the capacity to switch attention, as measured by the Color Trails Test (CTT) and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), and the capacity to generate novelty, as measured by the Controlled Verbal Fluency Task (CVFT) (Benton, 1967) and Uses of Objects Test (UOT) (Getzels & Jackson, 1962), are related to the degree of psychosocial well-being experienced. As part of the interdisciplinary POWIRS (Profiles of Obese Women with Insulin Resistance Syndrome) project, black African women (article 2 n=66; article 3 n=72) completed the above mentioned neuropsychological measures, as well as indices of psychosocial wellbeing, in a cross-sectional design. The psychosocial measures included the Affectometer (AFM) 2 (Kammann & Flett, 1983); Constructive Thinking Inventory (CTI) abbreviated version (Epstein & Meier, 1989); Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC- 29) (Antonovsky, 1987, 1993); The Fortitude Questionnaire (FORQ) (Pretorius, 1998); JAREL Spiritual Well-being Scale (SWS-H) (Hungelman et al., 1989); Psychological Well-being Scales (SPW-B) (Ryff & Singer, 1998); and the Cognitive Appraisal Questionnaire (CAQ) (Botha & Wissing, 2003). The main findings of these studies were hat the ease of attentional switching and generativity correlates statistically (p<0.5) and practically significantly with higher levels of psychosocial well-being. From a micro-deterministic perspective it can be concluded that frontal lobe executive functions may play a role in the regulation higher-order adjusting psychosocial functions related to quality of life. From a micro-deterministic perspective it can be concluded that psychosocial well-being, while being influenced by executive functions, may also influence the continuous development of neuropsychological executive functions. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

Every year, many wells are subject to well intervention operations for a variety of different reasons, such as Plug and Abandon (P&A) operations or well control situations. Wells that are not properly plugged, in addition becoming an inherent blowout threat, can act as a preferential pathway for surface contaminants to reach and impair ground water quality, and could cause injury to livestock, wildlife, or humans. Hence, federal code (or state code if in state waters) states that the wells must be plugged according to regulations. If attempts with a surface intervention operation fail, a relief type subsurface intervention project is deemed appropriate. A relief well type of intersection into each target wellbore will create a hydraulic flow path suitable for plugging operations. The plugging operation will require the placement of permanent plugging fluids into the Target Well (TW) to meet Mineral Management Services (MMS), or other regulatory agency, approved plugging criteria. Evidently, there is a need to design a method to insure that the scenarios are accurately defined, analyzed and the results can be effectively implemented to complete the plug and abandonment operations. A software package, coupled with the skill of a hydraulic modeling specialist, could provide final resolution to and better understanding of the problem. However, considering uncertainties in some input information, there is a need to develop a multi-purpose package which enables the user to manipulate dynamically a wide range of input data in order to obtain the best fit. Therefore, the decision was made to develop a software package specifically built and designed to address the common problems encountered during well intervention projects. The well intervention toolkit will be used to investigate the plugging and abandonment scenarios. The well intervention toolkit not only provides the critical input parameters to other commercial software but would also be a means to analyze and simulate the well intervention hydraulics

Conventional approaches to the analysis of human well-being use money-metric measures such as income or consumption. However, they are heavily criticised for relying on a limited understanding of well-being. In recent decades, subjective measures of well-being have been increasingly presented as providing a more inclusive and holistic perspective of well-being. Using data from the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS), this dissertation examines the relationship between income, a common money-metric measure of well-being, and life satisfaction, a key indicator of subjective well-being. The results show that income and life satisfaction exhibit a weak but significant positive relationship, one which is stronger at lower levels of income. In addition to income, the analysis identifies a number of other significant correlates of subjective well-being. Furthermore, several differences in the correlates of income and life satisfaction are detected. These results highlight how subjective well-being measures can include information about people’s lived experiences in ways that are not fully captured in objective money-metric measures. / M.Dev.Studies University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2013.

En studie om hur en ökad kommersialisering inom revisionsbranschen påverkar revisorers well-being. Begreppet kommersialisering representeras av de tre aspekterna marknadsorientering, kundorientering och affärsorientering medan well-being aspekten representeras av lycka, arbetstillfredsställelse och arbetsmiljö. Det empiriska resultatet av studien tyder på att kommersialiseringsaspekterna marknadsorientering och affärsorientering har en positiv påverkan på revisorers well-being.

The aim of this study was to come to a better understanding of possible neuropsychological mechanisms underlying psychosocial well-being and therefore to determine whether a relationship between neuropsychological executive functions and psychosocial well-being does indeed exist. Research was conducted in the domains of neuropsychology and positive psychology. This thesis consists of three articles, namely I ) Neuropsychological executive functions and psychosocial well-being: A review, 2) Attentional switching and psychosocial! well-being, and 3) The relationship between generativity as neuropsychological process and psychosocial well-being. The first article argued the possibility of a relationship between neuropsychological and psychosocial aspects, with reference to a pluralistic ecosystems perspective, neuropsychological and other positive psychological theories, such as Miller's neuropsychodynamic model and Frederickson's broaden-and-build theory, as well as existing empirical studies. Numerous neuropsychological studies have indicated that the prefrontal cortex is involved in executive functions, with its main function to regulate both cognitive and affective functioning. Analyses of existing empirical studies indicated an established relationship between prefrontal lobe / executive / regulatory dysfunction and psychopathology, but also that the relationship between normal or optimal prefrontal executive functions and psychosocial well-being is still unclear. The first article concluded that evidence correlating neuropsychological functioning with human flourishing, or indicating possible neuropsychological mechanisms involved in psychosocial well-being, is sparse, presenting a serious lacuna in scientific knowledge. The following two articles focused on contributing to filling this lacuna. "Attentional switching and psychosocial well-being" and "The relationship between generativity, as neuropsychological process and psychosocial well-being" focused on attentional switching and generativity, as part of neuropsychological executive functions, as potential mechanisms associated with psychosocial well-being. These studies aimed to determine whether the capacity to switch attention, as measured by the Color Trails Test (CTT) and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), and the capacity to generate novelty, as measured by the Controlled Verbal Fluency Task (CVFT) (Benton, 1967) and Uses of Objects Test (UOT) (Getzels & Jackson, 1962), are related to the degree of psychosocial well-being experienced. As part of the interdisciplinary POWIRS (Profiles of Obese Women with Insulin Resistance Syndrome) project, black African women (article 2 n=66; article 3 n=72) completed the above mentioned neuropsychological measures, as well as indices of psychosocial wellbeing, in a cross-sectional design. The psychosocial measures included the Affectometer (AFM) 2 (Kammann & Flett, 1983); Constructive Thinking Inventory (CTI) abbreviated version (Epstein & Meier, 1989); Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC- 29) (Antonovsky, 1987, 1993); The Fortitude Questionnaire (FORQ) (Pretorius, 1998); JAREL Spiritual Well-being Scale (SWS-H) (Hungelman et al., 1989); Psychological Well-being Scales (SPW-B) (Ryff & Singer, 1998); and the Cognitive Appraisal Questionnaire (CAQ) (Botha & Wissing, 2003). The main findings of these studies were hat the ease of attentional switching and generativity correlates statistically (p<0.5) and practically significantly with higher levels of psychosocial well-being. From a micro-deterministic perspective it can be concluded that frontal lobe executive functions may play a role in the regulation higher-order adjusting psychosocial functions related to quality of life. From a micro-deterministic perspective it can be concluded that psychosocial well-being, while being influenced by executive functions, may also influence the continuous development of neuropsychological executive functions. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Tulsa, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-92).