The overall aim of this study was to examine the work environment and the associations with safety, and see the relations with occupational accidents and undesired events on board industrial and cruise ships. 215 seafarers participated in this quantitative survey study, with a response rate of 35%. When conducting the hierarchical block regression analysis separately on superiors/officers and subordinates/ratings, the work environment emerged as a predictor for safety status (compliance, attitudes and commitment). Several significant differences in the beta value between the two groups were also found. When testing the differences in the safety status on ships with high and low number of undesired events and accidents, separately on the two groups, significant differences emerged only for superiors and officers; Significant differences were found in compliance when testing high and low number of undesired events, and for high and low number of accidents safety status and compliance emerged significant. Without assuming causation, the work environment appears to be a possible alternate and indirect way of improving on the safety status on board ships. However, safety status and the relations with undesired events and accidents require further investigation before a more accurate conclusion can be made.

<p>This paper is a study within the general area of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), focusing on second language learning in formal (class room) settings. The main questions discussed in this essay are firstly, whether social factors matter while learning a second language, secondly, to what extent attitudes towards the second language matter and thirdly, what attitudes students actually have towards studying a second language.</p><p>The paper compares both students and teachers in the UK and Sweden. To be able to make this comparison I travelled to the UK and followed a class at the University of Wolverhampton that study Swedish.</p><p>This paper has benefited from both quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative part consists of a questionnaire that was handed out to the students in both England and Sweden. For the qualitative part of my research I made use of the structured interview form, which is a method that has a compact nest of questions and where the sequence of questions is decided before the interview. I interviewed two students and one teacher in each of the countries that this paper covers.</p><p>The social factors that this paper recognises are age, gender, social class and ethnic identity. Furthermore, the essay examines the impact of students’ motivation and attitudes while studying and learning a new language. It has been demonstrated that motivation has a major role to play while learning a second language. It can be argued that the more motivated students are the more and better they will learn. According the students in question their opinions are that you have to have a good teacher while learning languages, i.e. a teacher that can encourage you and make you develop. On the other hand the teachers in question said that the students must be interested in learning second languages otherwise it is pointless since they will not develop.</p><p>The findings of the present paper are analysed in the light of previous research published in this field.</p>

This dissertation asks how the communication dimensions of technological literacy are understood in three informal education programs in Texas that aim to bridge the digital divide for female and low-income minority youth. Technological literacy is a prerequisite for economic, political, and cultural equality, yet different rationales for technological literacy highlight the economic, democratic, and social benefits for marginalized youth. Economically, technological literacy prepares youth to enter the workforce and positions the U.S. as competitive in the global market. Democratically, technological literacy allows citizens to participate in political discussions. Socially, technological literacy helps citizens make decisions in their everyday lives. Drawing from developmental democratic theory, I argue for an expanded definition of technological literacy that highlights the importance of communication and cultural production to democratic societies. Developmental democratic theory stresses the importance of individual development, including self-expression and creativity, to fostering democracy. I argue for an analysis of the digital divide that looks at capabilities, or the freedoms individuals have to pursue their own desires. These capabilities include self-representation, accessing information that is relevant to one’s life, learning to communicate about technology, and the freedom to achieve what one values. My research questions are grounded not only in the processes through which youth engage in technological learning through their participation in these informal educational programs, but also how the programs’ missions and activities envision technological literacy. Thus, I ask how is technological literacy conceptualized in three informal education programs? How is technological literacy implemented in program activities? How do youth themselves respond to technology and technological learning? I investigate these research questions through participant-observation, interviews, self-administered questionnaires, and analysis of program documents and students’ projects. I analyze these research questions in light of the economic, political, and social rationales for technological literacy. / text

Most of dengue transmission occurs in tropical and subtropical zones. As a result, studies on the dynamics of dengue transmission are principally focused in these areas. Less is known about the dynamics of dengue transmission and the interplay of social and climatic determinants in arid regions located at the fringe of transmission zones. This dissertation uses surveillance data from the state of Sonora, an arid region in northern Mexico, to examine three specific aims: 1) to assess relationships among social and climatic factors utilizing locality-level dengue incidence data across the state of Sonora, 2) to determine the correlation between the spatial pattern of dengue cases during an outbreak in Hermosillo, a large urban area, and neighborhood-level socio-economic and water supply factors using a novel case-control study design, and 3) to determine how dengue cases disseminated across two arid cities, Hermosillo and Navojoa, and to determine if changing socio-demographic patterns were similar between cities. Results from the first ecological study indicated that the distribution of dengue across the state was associated most strongly with the climatic gradient and, secondarily, by population size and lack of education. Underreporting in rural areas with lower access to transportation infrastructure was also detected. We demonstrated that a spatially-based case-control study design was useful in identifying associations between dengue transmission and neighborhood-level characteristics related to population density, lack of access to healthcare and water supply restrictions. Finally, the spatio-temporal study identified common patterns between the two cities/outbreaks. Dengue transmission arose and was maintained for 2-3 months in specific foci areas characterized by low access to healthcare and then the disease moved to contiguous areas. Recommendations for surveillance and control programs based on these results include: 1) in small localities at risk of transmission a combination of active and passive surveillance should be carried out for a period of time to determine if transmission is occurring, 2) monitoring water storage practices during water restrictions and ensuring appropriate messaging about covering storage containers should be made, and 3) spatial monitoring of dengue cases and agency reaction to initial disease occurrence could reduce spread to adjacent areas.

Žemdirbių namų ūkių disponuojamų pajamų ir jų veiksnių analizė, pajamų lygis ir pokytis; Tyrime analizuojami žemdirbių namų ūkių pajamų skirtumai, grupuojant namų ūkius pagal tokius požymius: namų ūkio galvos išsilavinimą, amžių ir pagal dirbamos žemės plotą (siaurąja ir plačiąja prasme). / Analysis of disposable income of farm household and their factors. Evaluate income differences of farmers’ households while grouping households according to the following features: education, age of the household owner and according to the size of farmland (in a narrow and broad way).

<p>The goal of this research study was to do an explorative study in order to establish the experiences of patients with regard to social and health services factors that contribute to delays in seeking treatment for Tuberculosis.</p>

<p>The focus of this research is the experiences of patients with regard to social and health services factors that contribute to delays in seeking treatment for tuberculosis. The goal of this&nbsp / research study was to do an explorative study in order to establish the experiences of patients with regard to social and health services factors that contribute to delays in seeking treatment for Tuberculosis. The objectives to meet the goal were an exploration and description of patients&rsquo / experiences with regards to social and health service factors contributing to delays in seeking&nbsp / treatment for Tuberculosis. Another goal was to make recommendations on social and health service factors that contribute to patients&rsquo / delays in seeking treatment based on the findings. The research study had been of a qualitative nature exploring patients&rsquo / experiences of social and health services factors that contribute to delays in seeking treatment for Tuberculosis. Qualitative&nbsp / research was used in this study using semi-structured interviews with an interview guide. Data analysis was done according to the eight steps as recorded in Tesch in Creswell (1994: 155). The&nbsp / findings of this research were or include social factors contributing to patients&rsquo / delays in seeking treatment for TB. There were four categories related to social factors namely socio-economic,&nbsp / substance abuse, psycho-social and interpersonal relations factors. The findings also indicated that there were health service factors contributing to patients&rsquo / delay in seeking treatment for TB.&nbsp / These include quality of health care services, attitudes of medical staff and other medical conditions treatment. It was concluded that social and health services, as mentioned indeed contribute to patients&rsquo / delays in seeking treatment for Tuberculosis. Recommendations for practice included better case detection, treatment and health education. In order to address the various social&nbsp / factors as described above it is necessary to treat TB holistically and include a social worker as part of the multidisciplinary team.</p>

Bakalauro darbe analizuojamas psichosocialinių veiksnių poveikis paauglių sveikatai. Tyrime dalyvavo 71 respondentas, 6-8 klasės mokiniai. Tyrimas atliktas 2011 metų balandžio mėnesį Šiaulių „Rasos“ pagrindinėje mokykloje. Tyrimo tikslas- nustatyti psichosocialinių veiksnių poveikį paauglių sveikatai ir savijautai. Anketinės apklausos metodu tirta mergaičių ir berniukų nuomonė apie sveikatą ir savijautą, savęs vertinimą, psichologinių veiksnių- patiriamo streso, žalingų įpročių poveikį , bei socialinių veiksnių- šeimos, bendraamžių ir mokyklos įtaką savijautai. Nustatyta, kad psichosocialinių veiksnių poveikis 6-8 klasių mokinių sveikatai nėra didelis, tačiau paaugliai jį gali pajusti- atsiranda streso požymių, daugėja žalingų įpročių, namuose ir mokykloje nėra su kuo aptarti aktualias problemas. Išsiaiškinta, kad mokiniai savo sveikatą vertina gerai, dauguma jų laimingi, tačiau gana daug iš jų jaučiasi pavargę. Psichologinių veiksnių poveikis sveikatai ir savijautai juntamas nežymiai- tik maža dalis mokinių patiria stresą, tačiau žino, kaip jį įveikti.; 6-8 klasėje tiek mergaitės, tiek berniukai jau turi žalingų įpročių. Socialinių veiksnių poveikis pakankamai svarbus- namuose paaugliai jaučiasi saugiai, tačiau mokykloje dauguma vaikų gerai nesijaučia. Nustatyta, kad tėvų ir mokyklos įtaka paauglių savijautai nėra didelė, tačiau kelia nerimą tai, kad tiek namuose, tiek mokykloje dalis vaikų neturi su kuo pasikalbėti... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Bachelor work analizes the psichosocial factors on adolescent‘s health. Study involved 71 respondents of 6-8 classes. Survey was conducted in April, 2011 in the main Šiaulių „Rasos“ school. The aim of this studies was to analize the psichosocial factors on adolescent‘s health. Using the method of questionnaire it was analyzed the view of girls and boys on the health, well-being, self- assessment and also how psichological factors as stress, injorious habits and social factors such as family, contemporary children and school effect the well- being. The conclusion of this survey generalizes that the effect of psichosocial factorson the health of 6-8 classes school children are not so great, but adolescences of course can feel it- there are signs of strese, increasing of injourious habits. This is somehow caused because lots of adolescences do not have possibility to discuss actual problems at home or at school. This survey made clear that most of adolescences assess their health well and most of them are happy but quite a lot of them feel tired. Psichological factors on the health and well- being are quite limited- only a small part of adolescences feel stress, but they actually know how to overcome it. The girlsand boys of 6-8 classes already have been appropriate to have injorious habits. The importance of social factors is quite great- adolescents feel safe at home, but mosto f them do not feel well at... [to full text]

<p>Härtill 6 uppsatser</p> / digitalisering@umu

Although professionals in psychiatry, psychology and medicine claim to endorse the biopsychosocial model as proposed by George L. Engel (1977), clinicians in all three fields still tend to underutilize it. Some academics have also criticized the model for its inadequate emphasis on cultural contextualization. To improve upon the model, I sought to empirically establish the relationship between culturally-specific social factors and psychological disorder, in this case depressive symptoms in Mexican-American adults. Eighty-six Mexican-American participants living on the US-Mexico border completed scales measuring depressive symptoms, bidirectional acculturation, living situation, diabetes, and health beliefs regarding the origins of diabetes. The results revealed that diabetes, acculturation, and gender were not associated with depressive symptoms in this population, even when controlling for mental health biases. This finding is in contrast to findings from other literature that associated diabetes, low acculturation and gender with depression in Hispanic adults. Extended family cohabitation was also not associated with lower numbers of depressive symptoms, despite the importance of familism and the extended family unit in Mexican-American culture. Unemployment was significantly related to number of depressive symptoms in both genders. There was no significant relationship between acculturation and health beliefs. These results indicate the importance of studying psychological disorders within the context of specific population groups that transcend vague censual terms. The discussion addresses methodological concerns and further directions for research concerning gender roles, chronic illness, depression and out-of-home employment in Mexican-American adults.