The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of job stress and other selected variables on self-reported levels of professional burnout among psychologists practicing in Virginia public schools. The study was also designed to analyze burnout not just as a series of changes resulting from job stressors, but explained by interactions of occupational stress with select demographic characteristics and coping variables. A survey packet containing rating scales and a demographic sheet were mailed to 504 school psychologists, of which 180 responded with usable data. Data analysis primarily involved hierarchical multiple regression, testing the model that interactions of job stress with demographic/coping variables would significantly affect burnout outcomes. Results indicated that burnout, specifically emotional exhaustion partially explained by an unclear or interpersonally conflictual role and having little control over one's work, was significantly mediated by the coping strategy of cognitive problem solving. This exhaustion aspect of burnout was also substantially affected by membership in professional affiliations. However, job stress related to role overload significantly predicted burnout, but was not significantly mediated by any hypothesized demographic or coping variables. It can be concluded that Virginia psychologists experience particular job stressors, such as role overload, that may lead to emotional exhaustion. Membership in collegial, professional organizations, along with inservice in specific problem-solving skills, may help alleviate this occupational stress. Future research is needed to determine how demographic and coping variables mediate specific aspects of work overload for these professionals. / Ed. D.

The rapid adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHRs)--electronic versions of a patient's medical history--has been instrumental in streamlining administrative tasks, increasing transparency, and enabling continuity of care across providers. An unintended consequence of the increased documentation burden, however, has been reduced face-time with patients and, concomitantly, a dramatic rise in clinician burnout. Time spent maintaining and making sense of a patient's electronic record is a leading cause of burnout. In this thesis, we pinpoint a particularly time-intensive, yet critical, documentation task: generating a summary of a patient's hospital admissions, and propose and evaluate automated solutions. In particular, we focus on faithfulness, i.e., accurately representing the patient record, and completeness, i.e., representing the full context, as the sine qua non for safe deployment of a hospital-course summarization tool in a clinical setting. The bulk of this thesis is broken up into four chapters: §2 Creating and Analyzing the Data, §3 Improving the Faithfulness of Summaries, §4 Measuring the Faithfulness of Summaries, and, finally, §5 Generating Grounded, Complete Summaries with LLMs. Each chapter links back to the core themes of faithfulness and completeness, while the chapters are linked to each other in that the findings from each chapter shape the direction of subsequent chapters. Given the documentation authored throughout a patient's hospitalization, hospital-course summarization requires generating a lengthy paragraph that tells the story of the patient admission. In § 2, we construct a dataset based on 109,000 hospitalizations (2M source notes) and perform exploratory analyses to motivate future work on modeling and evaluation [NAACL 2021]. The presence of highly abstractive, entity dense references, coupled with the high stakes nature of text generation in a clinical setting, motivates us to focus on faithfulness and adequate coverage of salient medical entities. In § 3, we address faithfulness from a modeling perspective by revising noisy references [EMNLP 2022] and, to reduce the reliance on references, directly calibrating model outputs to metrics [ACL 2023]. These works relied heavily on automatic metrics as human annotations were limited. To fill this gap, in §4, we conduct a fine-grained expert annotation of system errors in order to meta-evaluate existing metrics and better understand task-specific issues of domain adaptation and source-summary alignments. We find that automatically generated summaries can exhibit many errors, including incorrect claims and critical omissions, despite being highly extractive. These errors are missed by existing metrics. To learn a metric which is less correlated to extractiveness (copy-and-paste), we derive noisy faithfulness labels from an ensemble of existing metrics and train a faithfulness classifier on these pseudo labels [MLHC 2023]. Finally, in § 5, we demonstrate that fine-tuned LLMs (Mistral and Zephyr) are highly prone to entity hallucinations and cover fewer salient entities. We improve both coverage and faithfulness by performing sentence-level entity planning based on a set of pre-computed salient entities from the source text, which extends our work on entity-guided news summarization ([ACL, 2023] and [EMNLP, 2023]).

Land-clearing fires set by settlers in the Brazilian Amazon give rise to large scale wildfires that threaten mature forests, agricultural plantations, and settlement areas. Our purpose is to examine labor devoted to fire prevention (firebreak establishment) and burning for crop production for subsistence smallholders in the Tapajós National Forest in Pará, Brazil. Both the decision to engage in each activity and the scale of the activity are examined. A household model addressing decision-making under risk is estimated using survey data from 220 households. We find economic variables such as the opportunity cost of household time, market conditions, and the hiring wage to be important predictors of both decisions (often these are more important than household or demographic considerations), as is household reliance on standing forest resources for non-timber products. We also find that the involvement of NGOs and the government plays an important role in encouraging fire prevention behavior. Our results provide support for programs that emphasize economic parameters and for considering smallholder productivity in policies that target accidental fire prevention or reduction in burning activity. / Master of Science

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the relationship between burnout and social support in Minnesota high school guidance counselors during the l983—84 school year. Social support consisted of: work supervisors, peers, spouses, and friends & relatives. Additionally, the relationships between burnout and four demographic and seven job—related variables were investigated. The demographic variables were: age, sex, marital status, and education. The job-related variables were: opportunity for times-out, percentage of contact with troubled students, student/counselor ratio, instruction on stress and burnout reduction, school setting, school size, and years of counseling experience. Finally, the relationships between burnout and several interactive variables were investigated in order to determine if social support had primarily direct or indirect (buffering) effects. Regression analysis was used to test these relationships. The Following variables were consistently significant throughout the study: 2 social support variables-peer support and supervisor support (both negatively correlated with burnout); 1 demographic variable--age (negatively correlated with burnout), and 2 Job-related variables--percentage of contact with troubled students and student/counselor ratio (respectively, negatively and positively correlated with burnout). None of the interactive variables were significant. / Ed. D.

Text in Afrikaans / This study ascertains the extent of the experience of stress and the nature of stress management by educators. The literature showed that stress is defined from various theoretical perspectives; various approaches to stress management exist; and educators manage stress in various ways. This study defines stress from a cognitive-transactional perspective. A qualitative research method was used, descriptive data were generated by focus groups and inductively analysed. The results show that educators experienced stress ( much as seen in the literature) due to organisational, management and personal factors. According to this research, educators experience stress on the physical, emotional, social and intellectual levels. Educators' efforts to deal with stress reflect direct techniques such as seeking personal support and using confrontational techniques, as well as indirect techniques which encompass intellectual and physical techniques. Finally the development of a stress management program for educators is recommended. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

O paciente grande queimado está entre os de maior risco de contrair infecção hospitalar, sendo que, aproximadamente 80% dos óbitos nestes pacientes são decorrentes de infecção. Devido à prevalência de S. aureus meticilina resistente (MRSA) nas unidades de queimados prescreve-se a vancomicina como fármaco de 1ª linha. Entretanto como a farmacocinética se encontra profundamente alterada geralmente ocorre a falência terapêutica e surgimento de resistência antimicrobiana. O objetivo do presente estudo foi monitorar as concentrações plasmáticas através da análise em CLAE-UV e realizar a modelagem farmacocinética da vancomicina, administrada nestes pacientes. Para tanto, validou-se método analítico que se mostrou linear, preciso, exato e suficientemente sensível para o monitoramento das concentrações plasmáticas da vancomicina nos pacientes. Investigaram-se 9 pacientes adultos grandes queimados após cirurgia de debridamento; os pacientes foram informados em detalhes sobre o estudo e assinaram o TCLE, e incluídos no protocolo. Coletaram amostras sangüíneas seriadas para a farmacocinética (PK solutions 2.0). A estatística descritiva (Microsoft Excell, Office for Windows, versão 2000) forneceu os resultados expressos através da média +/- DP: 16 mg/L±11, para o pico (referência 20-40mg/L) e 2,6 mg/L±1,5 para o vale (referência,5-10mg/L), abaixo da CME nestes pacientes. Os parâmetros farmacocinéticos foram o volume aparente de distribuição que se mostrou aumentado em cerca de 3,5 vezes, (1,4 L/Kg ± 0,8 versus 0,33-0,45L/kg, referência, a depuração plasmática mostrou-se aumentada em cerca de 2,5 vezes (3,2±1,65 mL/min.kg versus 1,3 - 1,5mL/min.kg, referência, enquanto a constate de eliminação e a meia-vida biológica se mantiveram inalteradas. Este estudo indica que o regime posológico e tipo de infusão endovosa devam ser revistos, utilizando a farmacocinética como ferramenta importante. Recomenda-se ainda que a terapia dose ajustada seja baseada no controle terapêutico destes pacientes em todas as fases da internação, principalmente após cada cirurgia de debridamento. / Nosocomial infections shows high incidence in burn patient, and approximately 80% of mortality of them is due to severe infections and sepse. High prevalence of methycilin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) occurs in the intensive care units for burn patients and vancomycin is largely prescribed as first choice drug for severe infections and sepse. In general occurs therapeutic fail, since the pharmacokinetics is altered in these patients and arise the antimicrobial resistance. The main of the present study was to perform therapeutic plasma vancomycin monitoring by HPLC-UV and also PK- modelling after 1g every 12 hours, 1 hour infusion. Bioanalitical method was validated showing good linearity, precision, accuracy, good stability and robustness. Additionally method required 200µL of plasma and showed sensitivity enough for vancomycin plasma monitoring. Nine large burn patients were included in the study after they signed the informed written consent term to participate of the protocol. The follow up was done after debridment surgery. Blood samples were collected from venous catheter at time dose interval to investigate the pharmacokinetics (PK solutions 2.0) and also to determine the peak and trough. Descriptive statistics was performed applying Microsoft Excell, Office for Windows, versão 2000. Data obtained were 16 mg/L±11 peak (reference 20-40mg/L) and 2.6 mg/L±1.5 trough that was lower than MEC since the reference ranges from 5 to 10mg/L). Pharmacokinetic parameters were volume apparent of distribution, that was increased by 3.5 times (1.4 L/Kg ± 0,8 against the reference values 0.33-0.45L/kg), plasma clearance was also increased by 2.5 times (3.2±1.7mL/min.kg versus 1.3 - 1.5mL/min.kg, reference values), while elimination rate constant and biological half-life remained unchanged in those patients. Based on data obtained in the study, author recommends a revision on dose schedule and also concerning intravenous drug infusion using the pharmacokinetics as a powerful tool and the therapeutic plasma vancomycin monitoring for dose adjustments in all phases of the follow up of burn patient, mainly after each surgery debridement.

Neste trabalho consideramos três tópicos principais. Nos dois primeiros generalizamos alguns dos resultados clássicos da Teoria da Confiabilidade na otimização dos procedimentos de burn-in e de políticas de garantia, respectivamente, sob o modelo de tempo de vida geral, quando um sistema coerente é observado ao nível de seus componentes, e estendemos os conceitos de intensidade de falha na forma de banheira e do modelo de falha geral através da definiçâo de processos progressivamente mensuráveis sob a pré-t-história completa dos componentes do sistema. Uma regra de parada monótona é usada na metodologia de otimizaçâo proposta. No terceiro tópico modelamos os custos de garantia descontados por reparo mínimo de um sistema coerente ao nível de seus componentes, propomos o estimador martingal do custo esperado para um período de garantia fixado e provamos as suas propriedades assintóticas mediante o Teorema do Limite Central para Martingais. / In this work we consider three main topics. In the first two, we generalize some classical results on Reliability Theory related to the optimization in burn-in procedures and warranty policies, using the general lifetime model of a coherent system observed on the component level and extending the definitions of bathtub shaped failure rate and general failure model to progressively measurable processes under the complete pre-t-history. A monotone stopping rule is applied within the proposed methodology. In the third topic, we define the discounted warranty cost process for a coherent system minimally repaired on the component level and we propose a martingale estimator to the expected warranty cost for a fixed period and setting its asymptotic properties by means of Martingale Central Limit Theorem.

Neste trabalho consideramos três tópicos principais. Nos dois primeiros generalizamos alguns dos resultados clássicos da Teoria da Confiabilidade na otimização dos procedimentos de burn-in e de políticas de garantia, respectivamente, sob o modelo de tempo de vida geral, quando um sistema coerente é observado ao nível de seus componentes, e estendemos os conceitos de intensidade de falha na forma de banheira e do modelo de falha geral através da definiçâo de processos progressivamente mensuráveis sob a pré-t-história completa dos componentes do sistema. Uma regra de parada monótona é usada na metodologia de otimizaçâo proposta. No terceiro tópico modelamos os custos de garantia descontados por reparo mínimo de um sistema coerente ao nível de seus componentes, propomos o estimador martingal do custo esperado para um período de garantia fixado e provamos as suas propriedades assintóticas mediante o Teorema do Limite Central para Martingais. / In this work we consider three main topics. In the first two, we generalize some classical results on Reliability Theory related to the optimization in burn-in procedures and warranty policies, using the general lifetime model of a coherent system observed on the component level and extending the definitions of bathtub shaped failure rate and general failure model to progressively measurable processes under the complete pre-t-history. A monotone stopping rule is applied within the proposed methodology. In the third topic, we define the discounted warranty cost process for a coherent system minimally repaired on the component level and we propose a martingale estimator to the expected warranty cost for a fixed period and setting its asymptotic properties by means of Martingale Central Limit Theorem.

Au fil des années, la modification de la Loi sur l'instruction publique (Loi 180) a fait naître plusieurs changements au sein des organisations scolaires francophones du Québec. Ces nombreux changements et l'adoption du projet de la Loi 124 ont contribué à la complexification de la tâche des directrices et des directeurs d'établissements scolaires, en obligeant ainsi ces derniers à être toujours prêts à rendre des comptes (reddition de comptes). L'objectif principal de cette recherche est d'analyser en quoi consiste l'épuisement professionnel des directions et des directions adjointes d'établissement des commissions scolaires francophones du Québec en identifiant les principaux facteurs qui s'y rapportent. Elle évalue empiriquement l'ampleur de la problématique de l'épuisement professionnel ainsi que les facteurs que les directions et les directions adjointes d'établissement, qui ont déjà vécu un épuisement professionnel et/ou un problème de santé relié au stress, perçoivent comme étant un risque pouvant mener à l'épuisement professionnel. Dans un deuxième temps, elle établi les principaux facteurs menant à l'épuisement professionnel, ses conditions d'apparition, les situations professionnelles favorisant son émergence, ainsi que ses manifestations. En fait, elle se veut un outil de référence en matière de prévention de l'épuisement professionnel chez les directions et les directions adjointes d'établissement, tant pour le Ministère de l'éducation, du Loisir et du Sport du Québec (MELS), la Fédération des commissions scolaires du Québec, les différentes associations de directions d'établissement du Québec et les différents acteurs des commissions scolaires et des établissements scolaires du Québec / With the passing of time, the modification of the public education law (Law 180) gave birth to many changes within the French speaking scholastic organization of Quebec. These numerous changes together with the adoption of Law 124 contributed to render extremely complex the responsibilities of the directors of educational establishments by demanding them to be always accessible to provide accountability. The main object of this research is, to analyse what consist the professional 'Burn Out' related to the directorate of French scholastical commissions in Quebec by identifying the principal reasons which applies. It appraises without any doubt the scope of the problem related to the professional 'Burn Out' together with the reasons that the joint/directorate of establishments who have coped with a stress related health problem, understanding the risks associated with the professional 'Burn Out'. Secondly, it establishes the main reasons leading to professional 'Burn Out' its emerging conditional appearance, the situations at the professional level favouring its emergence together with its manifestations. In fact, it could be used as a tool of reference in matters of prevention of 'Burn Out' within the professional establishment, directorate and associate directorate, as well as the Ministry of Education, Recreation and Sport (MELS). Federation of the educational commissions of Quebec, the various associations of educational establishments and the different performers within the education system in Quebec