Being severely burned is a traumatic life event that affects the victim both physically and psychologically. Recovery can be a long process that is dependent in part upon psychological factors, but research in this area is still quite limited. The main aim of the thesis was to explore coping, personality and cognitive processes in long-term and short-term adaptation. The participants were recruited from three separate samples of former and consecutive adult burn patients. A questionnaire, the Coping with Burns Questionnaire (CBQ), was developed to retrospectively assess coping. It consisted of six coping factors related in different ways to self-reported health status. Regarding personality, the former patients displayed slightly more Neuroticism than people in general, suggesting an overrepresentation of premorbid neurotic personality traits. Avoidant coping was related to poorer perceived health status, more maladaptive personality traits, and was a strong predictor of psychological symptoms at three months post-burn. Regarding cognitive processes, a moderate attentional bias towards burn-related information was found in the former patients when using the emotional Stroop task. This indicates that the burn may still be an important issue years after the event. Finally, former patients’ reactions to participating in a trauma-related postal survey were investigated. A majority felt that participation was positive or even beneficial, while a small subgroup felt that participation was cumbersome or negative. To summarise, although many burn patients adapt well in the long run, the burn may still be a significant theme and the subgroup of Avoidant copers are especially vulnerable. The CBQ seems to be an adequate tool for discerning individuals at risk for poor adjustment. Trauma-related postal questionnaires are well accepted by a majority of former burn patients. Although long-term prospective follow-ups are needed to further validate the results, it is suggested that early screening of psychological factors could be of value in burn care.

When the heavy hydrogen isotopes deuterium (D) and tritium (T) undergo nuclear fusion large amounts of energy are released. At the Joint European Torus (JET) research is performed on how to harvest this energy. Two of the most important fusion reactions, d+d→3He+n (En = 2.5 MeV) and d+t→4He+n (En = 14 MeV), produce neutrons. This thesis investigates how measurements of these neutrons can provide information on the fusion performance. The Magnetic Proton Recoil (MPR) neutron spectrometer has operated at JET since 1996. The spectrometer was designed to provide measurements on the 14 MeV neutron emission in DT operation, thereby conveying information on the state of the fuel ions. However, a majority of today’s fusion experiments are performed with pure D fuel. Under such conditions, the measurements with the MPR were severely hampered due to interfering background. This prompted an upgrade of the instrument. The upgrade, described in this thesis, included a new focal plane detector, a phoswich scintillator array, and new data acquisition electronics, based on transient recorder cards. This combination allows for pulse shape discrimination techniques to be applied and a signal to background of 5/1 has been achieved in measurements of the 2.5-MeV neutrons in D experiments. The upgrade also includes a new control and monitoring system, which enables the monitoring and correction of gain variations in the spectrometer’s photo multiplier tubes. Such corrections are vital for obtaining good data quality. In addition, this thesis describes a new method for determining the total neutron yield and hence the fusion power by using a MPR spectrometer in combination with a neutron emission profile monitor. The system has been operated at JET both during DT and D experiments. It is found that the systematic uncertainties are considerably lower (≈6 %) than for traditional systems. For a dedicated system designed for the next generation fusion experiments, i.e, ITER, uncertainties of 4 % could be attained. Neutron spectroscopy can also be an important tool for determining the neutron emission from residual tritium in D plasmas. This information is combined with other measurements at JET in order to determine the confinement of the 1 MeV tritons from the d+d→t+p reactions.

A major burn is one of the most severe traumas a person can experience, and recovery can be a protracted process. The principal aim was to increase the knowledge base regarding factors related to return to work and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after burns. Patients treated at the Uppsala Burn Center between 2000 and 2007 were included on a consecutive basis. Assessments were made at hospitalization, and thereafter and included a home visit 2 to 7 years after injury. The psychometric properties of the generic HRQoL instrument EQ-5D were investigated. The results support the use of EQ-5D as an adjunct to burn-specific assessments of HRQoL. Most former patients exhibited a good HRQoL at 2 to 7 years postburn. Not working at the time of injury and having PTSD at 12 months, as well as having low scores on the EQ VAS at 12 months, were related to a worse EQ VAS score at 2 to 7 years after injury. The majority of former patients had returned to work 2 to 7 years postburn. Time to return to work was predicted by length of hospital stay and a personality disorder diagnosis. Predictors for not returning to work were length of stay and having any anxiety or substance use disorder prior to injury. Those who were not back at work reported lower generic and burn-specific health, and exhibited more psychiatric morbidity at follow-up than those who were working. The latter group exhibited HRQoL that was comparable to that of the general population. Participants emphasized their own psychological resources and capabilities as facilitators in the process of returning to active work. The findings suggest that an early and systematic approach for assessing recognized risk factors enhances the possibility of discovering patients at risk of developing problems during postburn adaptation.

Pine sandhill are integral pyrogenic communities in the southeastern United States. Though once widespread, habitat destruction, fire suppression and fragmentation have reduced the population to nearly 3%. It is important to learn as much as possible about these unique areas in order to implement best management practices to conserve and restore the existing populations of these communities. Fire is central to the maintenance of pine sandhill communities and two conceptual hypothesis regarding burn frequency have come to light in maintaining the unique species composition and richness of these areas. The first is the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis which suggests that intermediate fire regime maintains species diversity. The second is the Most Frequent Fire Hypothesis suggests that these areas should be burned as frequently as fuels allow. We used species area curves and species area relationships to answer the following questions about a pine sandhill community in the burn plot area of the University of South Florida Ecological Research Area (ERA). What are the patterns of species richness and how do they change with spatial scale? What are the factors contributing to the heterogeneity of this area and how much are they contributing? Do similarly burned areas have similar species composition? Do our results shed some light on the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis or Most Frequent Fire Hypothesis? We found that physical distance contributed more to species compositional and spatial patterns than burn regime or elevation, whose effects were small. On this particular scale, the results did not support either the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis or Most Frequent Fire Hypothesis, as acquisition rates of species in all burn regimes were quite similar. There was no obvious pattern of increased species richness with frequent or intermediate burning. Our results suggest a need for a dynamic plan for the conservation, preservation and management of pine sandhill communities. One must consider as many factors as possible when managing these lands, as every sandhill is unique. More research should be conducted on these ecologically sensitive and diminished areas in order to formulate best management practices to conserve, protect and restore pine sandhill in the southeastern United States.

Landsat imagery has been used successfully to assess burn severity and monitor post-fire forest structure in a variety of ecosystems, but to date there are few documented studies on its application in the eastern deciduous forests of the eastern United States. The occurrence of a wildfire in the Daniel Boone National Forest in2010 provided a rare opportunity for research into the use of Landsat data for assessing burn severity and its ecological effects. We used differenced normalized burn ratio (∆NBR) to quantify burn severity. The ∆NBR based burn severity classification had 70% agreement with a qualitative ground-based burn severity assessment. We also examined the relationship between the presence of an invasive species (Paulownia tomentosa), and our assessment of burn severity, where we found a weak but statistically significant relationship (adj R2 0.13, p<0.0001). We also examined the relationship between the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and forest structure measurements. The relationship between NDVI and basal area was strongly and significantly related (adj R2 0.41, p<0.0001). The relationship of NDVI with stem density was weak but significant (adj R2 0.23. p=0.004). These results indicate that data from Landsat imagery have great potential for quantifying burn severity, identifying potential hotspots for invasive species, and assessing post fire forest structure in the eastern deciduous forest.

The present study examined the relationships between the emotional effects of chronic stress at work (burnout) and the quality of family interactions. A systemic approach was adopted, leading to the use of the concept of spillover to describe the transmission of effects across the work-home interface. The relationship between burnout and family life was expected to be moderated by frequency of coping strategies and by size of social support network. Data was gathered from questionnaires distributed to married policemen and their wives in 13 stations and units in the Natal Midlands region of the SAPS. The fmal sample consisted of 84 policemen and 74 of their wives. The data was analyzed using Pearson product-moment correlation, stepwise multiple regression, non-parametric tests, and content analysis of the free comment part of the questionnaire. The results of the study showed this sample of policemen to be experiencing relatively high levels of burnout and this was manifest particularly in terms of a diminished sense of personal accomplishment and feelings of negative self-evaluation. Specific sources of discontent for the policemen were frustrations with an unresponsive police hierarchy, low wages, and disruption to family life caused by overtime and irregular hours. Further results showed that those policemen experiencing the highest frequencies of emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation were more likely to bring their work-related strain home with them in the form of upset and angry feelings, physical exhaustion, and complaints about problems at work. This process of Work-to-Home Spillover significantly predicted Quality of Family Life for the wives of such policemen. No moderator effects were shown for coping or social support, although those policemen with greater numbers of supporters were also more likely to experience a greater sense of personal accomplishment. These results were discussed in terms of the burnout and spillover literature, and were evaluated with due regard for the present socio-political context in South Africa. Recommendations were made pertaining to the provision of psychological services to SAPS members and their families, and to the need to eliminate the stigma attached to using such services. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, 1966.

This study examined the relationship between select role-related stressors, as measured by the Teacher Stress Measure, as well as the background variables of gender, years of experience as aspects of educator burnout, as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). From a sample of 104 educators from schools in the Pietermaritzburg region, it was found that burnout is exhibited largely through feelings of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and lack of personal accomplishment. While both males and females appear to be affected similarly, the less experienced educators appeared to be more susceptible to burnout than their more experienced counterparts. This study also indicated that stressors such as redeployment, promotion and salary correlated with burnout, although not significantly. Learner pressures, lack of support and recognition, poor interpersonal relationships, role ambiguity, role conflict, lack of decision-making and role insufficiency (which encapsulates the issue of Outcomes Based Education) were found to have a significant influence on educator burnout. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

Bisherige Studien deuten an, dass Emotionale Intelligenz eine wichtige Rolle in der Lehrtätigkeit spielt. Sie hilft dem Lehrer bzw. der Lehrerin mit sich selbst, aber auch mit Schülern klarzukommen. Jedoch ist bislang noch weitgehend unklar, welche Mechanismen dem Zusammenhang zwischen Emotionaler Intelligenz und berufsnahen Kriterien zugrundeliegen. Zur Klärung dieser Frage soll die vorliegende Arbeit einen Beitrag leisten. Emotionale Intelligenz wird dabei in Anlehnung an Mayer und Salovey (1997) als Fähigkeit aufgefasst. Die vorliegende Arbeit umfasst drei Artikel. Der erste Artikel beschäftigt sich mit dem Zusammenhang zwischen wahrgenommener Emotionaler Intelligenz des Lehrers und Schülerverhalten im Klassenraum. Gefunden wurde, dass Lehrer über weniger unpassendes Verhalten ihrer Schüler berichten, wenn sie selbst über hohe emotionale Fähigkeiten verfügen. Hohe Emotionale Intelligenz scheint positiv verbunden zu sein mit der Tendenz, auf die Bedürfnisse der Schüler zu fokussieren, die wiederum weniger unpassendes Verhalten im Klassenraum zeigen. Im zweiten Artikel wird der Zusammenhang zwischen Emotionaler Intelligenz und Burnout untersucht. Proaktives Coping wurde als Mediator zwischen Emotionaler Intelligenz und Burnout angenommen. Daneben wurde geprüft, ob die wahrgenommene Unterstützung durch den Vorgesetzten den vermuteten Zusammenhang zwischen Emotionaler Intelligenz und Burnout und die Dimension moderiert. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass Lehrer mit hoher Emotionaler Intelligenz deshalb weniger Burnout-Symptome zeigen, weil sie dazu tendieren, proaktives Coping als Strategie der Stressbewältigung zu nutzen. Sie können ihre Kompetenzen und Ressourcen offensichtlich situationsangemessen einsetzen, um emotional anspruchsvolle Situationen am Arbeitsplatz zu meistern. Darüber hinaus zeigt sich, dass wahrgenommene Unterstützung durch den Vorgesetzten den Zusammenhang zwischen Emotionaler Intelligenz und Burnout moderiert: Für Lehrer, die angaben, von ihrem Vorgesetzten unterstützt zu werden, zeigte sich der indirekte Effekt von Emotional Intelligenz auf wahrgenommene Leistungsfähigkeit über proaktives Coping deutlicher. Die Beziehung zwischen positivem und negativem Affekt, Arbeitszufriedenheit und Burnout ist Inhalt des dritten Artikels. Gefunden wurde, dass Lehrer mit hohem positiven Affekt zufriedener mit ihrer Arbeit sind als Lehrer, die negativen Affekt im Zusammenhang mit ihrer Arbeit berichten. Darüber hinaus war Arbeitszufriedenheit negativ mit dem Level an Burnout verbunden. Die Ergebnisse der Mediationsanalyse zeigen, dass Arbeitszufriedenheit den Zusammenhang zwischen Affekt und Burnout vermittelt. Zusammenfassend lässt sich also sagen, dass Lehrer mit hoher wahrgenommener Emotionaler Intelligenz erfolgreicher und zufriedener im Beruf sind und zudem eine höhere psychische Gesundheit aufweisen. Schüler von Lehrern mit hohen emotionalen Fähigkeiten scheinen deshalb weniger unpassendes Verhalten im Klassenraum zu zeigen, weil auf sie mehr geachtet und ihre Probleme und Bedürfnisse besser erkannt werden. Emotional intelligente Lehrer versuchen, Problemen im Klassenraum schon bei deren Entstehung zu begegnen, was wiederum dazu führen könnte, dass sie weniger Belastung erleben und langfristig weniger Burnoutsymptome zeigen. Dieser Prozess kann durch die Unterstützung des Vorgesetzten positiv beeinflusst werden. Daneben zeigt sich auch, dass Lehrer, die positiven Affekt gegenüber ihrer Arbeit erfahren, zufriedener mit ihrer Arbeitstätigkeit sind, was wiederum damit verbunden ist, dass jene Lehrer Burnout-Symptome in geringem Maße erleben. Daher scheint es gewinnbringend, in die Personalauswahl Emotionale Intelligenz als ein wichtiges Entscheidungskriterium einzubeziehen. Bestehende Qualifizierungsprogramme sollten zusätzlich auf eine Verbesserung der emotionalen Fähigkeiten abzielen. Weiteres Potential zur Intervention von Burnout besteht im Aufbau oder der Stabilisierung kooperativer Beziehungen zwischen Lehrer und Vorgesetztem. / Many teachers experience high levels of stress from their work, but not all of them suffer from burnout. Why are some teachers less likely to succumb to burnout than others? How can teachers avoid suffering from burnout and continue to have a good influence on the behavior of their students? One reason that some teachers are able to avoid burnout might be that these teachers embody personality characteristics such as emotional intelligence and proactive coping, and these characteristics may act as resources that counteract burnout. Another reason might be that they experience feelings of positive affect from their work and feel satisfied with their jobs. Perhaps this occurs because emotional intelligence helps teachers to understand the emotions of their students and to interact with them. Or perhaps these teachers are engaged in their jobs, and this might reduce the risk of burnout. Proactive coping helps teachers to use their resources to overcome their difficulties and to manage the demands they face, which aids in preventing burnout. Emotional intelligence can help teachers to control their emotions and be able to think effectively and use active strategies to find solutions to their problems. In my thesis, I expected that emotional intelligence would have a direct negative effect on burnout and an indirect effect on it through proactive coping. Furthermore, proactive coping was expected to be positively related to emotional intelligence and negatively related to burnout. Perceived supervisor support in the form of information, advice, and feedback provided by supervisors may help teachers to more actively deal with stressors. I assumed that perceived support from supervisors would moderate the influence of emotional intelligence on reduced personal accomplishment through proactive coping. However, teachers with positive affect tend to derive enjoyment from their work and to find their jobs interesting in spite of many difficulties. They are satisfied with their jobs, and this may prevent them from experiencing burnout. Positive affect is considered to be a stable personality variable, whereas job satisfaction is a temporal attitude toward one’s job; therefore, positive affect was expected to predict job satisfaction and to be positively related to it. Burnout is more of a job outcome that results from having excessive stress for a long time, whereas job satisfaction is an evaluative response to one’s job. Job satisfaction also means that a person enjoys his or her career and is engaged in it; people who are satisfied tend to feel energized and competent and are protected from being at risk of burnout. Thus, job satisfaction was expected to contribute to the prediction of burnout by being negatively linked to it. In addition, teachers who experience positive emotions while working as teachers tend to want to keep working as teachers despite any setbacks that they experience. They have positive attitudes about their jobs and are thus satisfied with them. Therefore, it was expected that positive affect would predict job satisfaction and would be positively related to it. Having positive emotions in the workplace can help teachers to like their work and to find pleasure in it. They then probably exhibit good job performance and this prevents them from suffering from burnout. Therefore, I assumed that job satisfaction would mediate the relation between positive affect and burnout. Little attention has been given to the relation between teachers’ emotional intelligence and student misconduct in the literature, but these factors may be linked. Emotionally intelligent teachers are aware of their own emotions; thus, they can regulate their own negative emotions so they can act as a role model for the students and influence the behavior of their students. Emotional intelligence also helps teachers to understand their students’ emotions, to address their students’ emotions in a positive fashion, and to establish warm relationships with their students. Emotionally intelligent teachers can understand their students and motivates these students so the teachers can focus on helping their students to accomplish their goals. These factors strengthen the relationships between the teachers and their students and have a positive impact on the behavior of the students. This thesis consists of three studies.The aim of the first study was to investigate the link between emotional intelligence and student misconduct through attention to student needs. The findings showed that attention to student needs mediates the emotional intelligence- student misconduct relation. Identifying the factors that are related to burnout is important as this can help to reduce the risk of such negative outcomes. Although many studies have been conducted on the resources that protect teachers from burnout, few studies have examined the relation between burnout and personal resources such as emotional intelligence and proactive coping. Therefore, I tested how these factors are related to burnout in direct and indirect ways. The role of perceived supervisor support has also been neglected. Thus, I tested the relation between emotional intelligence and burnout through proactive coping in the second study. In addition, I tested the moderating role of perceived supervisor support on the link between emotional intelligence and reduced personal accomplishment through proactive coping. The results showed that proactive coping mediated the impact of emotional intelligence on burnout, and perceived supervisor support moderated the influence of emotional intelligence on reduced personal accomplishment through proactive coping. Emotions in the work environment play an essential role in job satisfaction and seem to protect teachers from experiencing burnout. The purpose of the third study was to examine the relations between positive affect, job satisfaction, and burnout and to determine whether job satisfaction would mediate the association between positive affect and burnout. The results indicated that positive affect was positively related to job satisfaction and negatively related to burnout, and job satisfaction functioned as a mediator between positive affect and burnout.

Tyrimo tikslas yra įvertinti lazerinės doplerografijos reikšmę nudegimo gylio diagnostikai ir įtaką gydymo metodo pasirinkimui. Darbo uždaviniai: 1. Lazerinės doplerografijos metu ištirti skirtingo laipsnio nudegusių audinių perfuzijos greitį bei spalvinę išraišką. 2. Ištirti lazerinės doplerografijos reikšmę nustatant 2A ir 2B laipsnio nudegimų žaizdų savaiminio sugijimo galimybes. 3. Nustatyti ir palyginti nudegimų gylio klinikinio vertinimo ir lazerinės doplerografijos tyrimo tikslumą, jautrumą ir specifiškumą. 4. Nustatyti ir palyginti nudegimų klinikinio vertinimo ir lazerinės doplerografijos tyrimo įtaką nudegusių pacientų stacionarizavimo trukmei bei gydymo išlaidoms. Darbo metodika: Perspektyvinis atsitiktinių imčių klinikinis tyrimas. Vertinta savaiminė nudegusių audinių epitelizacija ir operacinio gydymo poreikis. Prieš atsitiktinę atranką į grupes į klinikinį tyrimą įtrauktiems ligoniams buvo paimta biopsija iš nudegiminės žaizdos, siekiant nustatyti nudegimo gylį ir palyginti su klinikinio nudegimo vertinimu (KNV) bei lazerinės doplerografijos (LDG) tyrimu. Buvo vertintas KNV ir LDG tyrimų tikslumas, jautrumas ir specifiškumas. Po to ligoniai atsitiktinės atrankos būdu buvo suskirstyti į grupes pagal skirtingus nudegimo vertinimo metodus: KNV ir LDG. Suskirstymas į grupes buvo atliktas siekiant palyginti dviejų skirtingų nudegimo vertinimo metodų įtaką ligonių stacionarizavimo trukmei ir nudegimų gydymo kainai. Išvados: 1. LDG tyrimas gali tiksliai ir... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim of study was to evaluate the importance of laser doppler imaging of burn depth examination and selection of method of treatment. Objectives of the study: 1. To explore the perfusion velocity and color view of different de¬gree of burned wound during laser doppler imaging examination. 2. To explore the importance of laser doppler imaging to determine the sponteneous epithelization of 2A and 2B degree of burn wound. 3. To evaluate and compare the accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of clinical burn depth examination and laser doppler imaging. 4. To evaluate and compare the influence of clinical burn depth examination and laser doppler imaging to length of inpatient stay and the cost of treatment. Materials and Methods: Prospective randomized study. The spontaneous burn wound epithelization and requirement to surgery was estimate. The burn tissue biopsy was made for burned patients before their randomization into groups. The aim of biopsy was to deter¬mine the depth of burn and to define the correlation with clinical burn depth examination (CBDE) and laser doppler imaging (LDI). The accu¬racy, sensitivity and specificity was determined between different examination methods. After this the burned patients were randomized into two groups: CBDE and LDI. The aim of randomization was to compare the length of inpatient stay and cost of treatment of two different burn depth examination methods. Conclusions: 1. LDI scan allows to determine the perfusion velocity... [to full text]

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993.