Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 306-323).

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing

Background: Data on the typical daily exposure of non-smokers to second-hand smoke (SHS) are limited. The aim of this study was to estimate the SHS exposure encountered by adults and children in Scotland and to examine the proportion of total exposure received within different microenvironments. Methods: Primary research was carried out to gather information on SHS concentrations within cars in both simulated and real-life settings. Observational work was also carried out to determine the prevalence of exposure to SHS in cars. Further work was carried out to gather information on occupational SHS exposure. Data from all of these components were combined with data from previously published sources to produce estimates of how much SHS-derived PM2.5 exposure is typically received by adults and children within different micro-environments. Results: The contribution to total SHS exposure from each micro-environment was calculated. This was carried out for a child living in: a non-smoking home; a home where only the father smokes; a home where only the mother smokes; and a home where both parents smoke. In addition to this the equivalent dose of SHS inhaled (expressed as a mass) were also calculated for each of the micro-environments. This method was also used to determine the SHS contribution of different micro-environments for adult non-smokers. Exposure calculations were carried out assuming that exposure in the home was reduced to the levels found in non-smoking homes and the contribution from the remaining micro-environments unchanged. Observations identified that 2.4% of cars carrying children exposed children to SHS and exposure intensities during smoking car journeys can be particularly high with peak exposures ranging from 55 to 886 μgm-3. Conclusion: This is the first study to estimate the SHS exposure contributions from different microenvironments encountered by children and adults in Scotland. This study indicates that encouraging behavioural change in terms of smoking in home and car micro-environments has the greatest potential to reduce non-smokers’ daily exposure to tobacco derived fine particulate matter.

The purpose of this study was twofold. First, the study investigated the influence of nonsmokers' argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness levels on their compliance-gaining message selection. Second, the study examined compliance-gaining usage on the basis of two additional independent variables -- agent and target gender. One hundred fifty-four participants completed instrumentation consisting of seven pages. The instrumentation included the Modified Argumentativeness Scale, the Verbal Aggressiveness Scale, the Nonsmoking Compliance-Gaining Scale, demographic and smoking questions.A median split was used to dichotomize both argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness into the two categories of high and low. A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the first three hypotheses which made predictions about compliance-gaining strategy use on the basis of the agent's argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness levels. None of the ANOVAs produced significance between high and low argumentativeness. However, there was significance between high and low verbal aggressives. Specifically, high verbal aggressives reported greater use of a variety of compliance-gaining strategies than did low verbal aggressives.The second set of hypotheses made predictions about compliance-gaining strategy use on the basis of the agent's and target's gender. A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and univariate analyses were used to test these hypotheses. Males reported greater use of the explanation, direct request, and threat strategies when the target was of the same sex than did females. When the target was of the opposite sex, males reported more use of the threat strategy than did females. An interaction was found with threat. Both men and women reported using the threat strategy more when the target was male.Some of these findings were contradictory to previous research. Sprowl (1984) did not find a distinction between compliance-gaining strategies on the basis of target gender. Further research should examine the effects of agent and target gender on compliance-gaining usage. Additionally, high verbal aggressives reported using positive strategies. Infante and Rancer (1982) described verbal aggressiveness as a negative phenomena. Hence, future research needs to explore the potential positive traits of verbally aggressive individuals. / Department of Speech Communication

Thesis (M.Nurs.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-127)

Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-96).

Thesis (M.Med.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Also available in print.

published_or_final_version / Pharmacology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-97). Also available in print.