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This study was undertaken with the objective of assessing whether the ingestion of a Multivitamin Complex with Calcium and Magnesium would be efficacious in reducing stress. Tlrree hundred subjects who were suffering from stress were selected in Gauteng and Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. The selection was based on a stress questionnaire. The subjects took a battery of tests and questionnaires to assess the level ofthe stress they were experiencing. A 30 day supply of effeiVescent tablets was given to all subjects - half placebos and half the vitamin supplement. These were randomly allocated. At the end of30 days a further battery oftests were administered. The results were statistically analysed. It was found that both the placebo and the vitamin supplement proved beneficial but the Multivitamin Complex with Calcium and Magnesium had a greater effect in reducing and helping to manage stress. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

This study was undertaken with the objective of assessing whether the ingestion of a Multivitamin Complex with Calcium and Magnesium would be efficacious in reducing stress. Tlrree hundred subjects who were suffering from stress were selected in Gauteng and Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. The selection was based on a stress questionnaire. The subjects took a battery of tests and questionnaires to assess the level ofthe stress they were experiencing. A 30 day supply of effeiVescent tablets was given to all subjects - half placebos and half the vitamin supplement. These were randomly allocated. At the end of30 days a further battery oftests were administered. The results were statistically analysed. It was found that both the placebo and the vitamin supplement proved beneficial but the Multivitamin Complex with Calcium and Magnesium had a greater effect in reducing and helping to manage stress. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

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Practical approach to the issue of music applicability is a multi-disciplinary taking into account the complexity of working environment, personality of modern managers and the sole human nature. Musical map could serve to HR experts in building innovative programs of staff training in accordance with organization' preferences and individuals uniqueness. Recent investigations of the connection between music and motivation, music and team work, music and creativity, music and learning process, are opening numerous options for practical applicability of music in working environment aimed at increasing existing competencies and developing the new ones. The need for an increase in staff performances has imposed a need to explore how musical practice can support creation and implementation of realistic organizational goals in intercultural environment. The main goal of this doctoral thesis is to examine musical preferences and applicability of music with its positive effects on different aspects of working environment, creating thus, via empirical research, a musical map of geographical region that could be employed to increase working performance and efficiency. In order to achieve the goals defined, a field research has been conducted via structured questionnaire including 6 socio-demographic variables (gender, age, educational degree, position in the organization, sector and working experience) and 6 dependant variables (working atmosphere, efficiency in accomplishing tasks at work, motivation, learning, team work and stress reduction). The research was conducted in Serbia, on a random sample of 126 managers and employees in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Novi Pazar. The main hypothesis was that applicative music positively affects creation of proper corporative ambient and improvement of employees' competences, and was tested via 13 auxiliary hypotheses. Main empirical outcome of the Ph.D. thesis research is the determination of Serbian working population Musical Map and results of influence of certain socio-demographic and professional factors on the Musical Map Method implementation. HR staff would subsequently implement the "concept of musical map method" within its own company that is expected to increase motivation, learning and creativity as shown empirically in the study conducted. Also team work and working efficiency are expected to increase and stress at work to decrease under the proper musical exposition and all of these are explicitly shown in the thesis research results. In addition, influence of the degree of education on musical preference at work place and in general are the most surprising data, as revealed by chi square test if independence. Although general statistics of total sample on participant's opinion, speaks in favour of hypotheses confirmation expressing positive effects of music on 6 dependent variables, there are some fine differences, influenced by cardinal and derived variables, as shown by one way ANOVA test (e.g. influence of gender on opinion of positive music effects on stress reduction etc.). The final result of the thesis is the creation of the Musical Map Method that contains original approach toward creation of musical map and determination of the necessary factors that could substantially influence its implementation. Method could be applied anywhere in the Globe to produce other unique music maps as per sponsor request.

Syftet med denna studie var att ta reda på om en kortare massage i hemmet kan bidra med stressreducering hos kärlekspar och om en instruktionsvideo för att lära ut massage kan vara en bra metod. En kvalitativ och kvantitativ ansats har använts, även kallat mixed methods. Deltagarna var 18 personer, som alla ingick i kärleksrelationer. Inledningsvis fick de titta på en inspelad kort informationsvideo om massage för att sedan med stöd av en inspelad 20 minuter lång instruktionsvideo massera varandra på rygg och nacke. Före och efter att de gett och fått massage, skulle de också svara på en webbenkät. Resultaten från enkäten visade att stressnivån sjönk hos både de som gett (p=0,0463) och de som fått (p=0,001) massage. Av de som fått massage kände alla sig avslappnade efteråt och majoriteten (83,3%) kände sig lugna. De som gett massage kände sig även de mer lugna (77,8%) efteråt. Ingen av deltagarna uppgav att de kände sig stressade efter massagen. En instruktionsvideo visade sig, genom svaren från webbenkäten, vara en bra metod för att lära ut massage till kärlekspar. / The aim of this study was to find out if a shorter massage at home can contribute to stress reduction in love couples and if an instructional video for teaching massage can be a good method. A qualitative and quantitative approach has been used, also called mixed methods. The participants were 18 people, all of whom were involved in love relationships. Initially, the participants had to watch a recorded short information video about massage and then, with the support of a recorded 20-minute instructional video, massage each other on the back and neck. Before and after giving or receiving a massage, they also had to respond to an online survey. The results from the survey showed that the stress level decreased in both those who gave (p = 0.0463) and those who received (p = 0.001) massage. Of those who received massage, all felt relaxed afterwards and the majority (83.3%) felt calm. Those who gave massages also felt calmer (77.8%) afterwards. None of the participants stated that they felt stressed after the massage. An instructional video proved, through the answers from the web survey, to be a good method for teaching massage to love couples.

With Virtual Reality (VR),   education can be made possible for people who work in hazardous situations or   in dangerous environments and that otherwise are difficult or impossible to   recreate. The problem is that the use of VR at the present time only seems to   have been studied in conjunction with training of hazardous situations within   physical work operations. As threats and violence in many workplaces   increases, staff also need to be trained to be able to handle and respond to   threatening and violent situations. The purpose of the study is to evaluate   the use of VR in conjunction with training of managing threats and violence   in the workplace through stress-reducing treatment, in order to elucidate   which factors are important to the users. Based on the Technology Acceptance   Model, the knowledge of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use is   used to investigate which factors are important. By doing a case study,   users' experiences were captured through observations, recording and interviews.     The result showed that   individual differences in the habit of using the technology affect the   perception of perceived usefulness. For the system properties, factors   related to communication, interaction, realism, scenario and individual   settings were most important to the perceived usefulness. Since the training   simulator was still under development, the study could only give an   indication of the influence of social influence and what kind of the facilitating conditions that would   be needed. The conclusion is that communication is the most important factor   for the perceived usefulness and that education and experience of using VR   are most important for the perceived ease of use for stress-reducing training using VR. / Med Virtual Reality   (VR) kan utbildning möjliggöras för personer som arbetar med riskfyllda   situationer eller i farliga miljöer och som annars är svåra eller omöjliga   att återskapa. Problemet är att användandet av VR för närvarande endast verkar ha   studerats i samband med träning av riskfyllda situationer inom de fysiska   arbetsmomenten. I och med att hot och våld på många arbetsplatser ökar   behöver personal även tränas för att kunna hantera och bemöta hotfulla och   våldsamma situationer. Syftet med studien är att utvärdera användningen av VR   i samband med träning av att hantera hot och våld på arbetsplatsen genom   stressreducerande bemötande, för att belysa vilka faktorer som är viktiga för   användarna. Utifrån Technology Acceptance Model används kunskapen om användbarhet   och användarvänlighet för att undersöka vilka faktorer som är viktiga. Genom att göra en fallstudie fångades användarnas upplevelser genom   observationer, inspelning och intervjuer.      Resultatet visade att individuella skillnader vad   gäller vanan av att använda tekniken påverkar uppfattningen av uppfattad   användarvänlighet. För systemegenskaperna var det faktorer som rör   kommunikation, interaktion, realism, scenario och individuella inställningar   som var viktigast för den upplevda användbarheten. Då träningssimulatorn   fortfarande var under utveckling kunde studien endast ge en indikation om det   sociala inflytandets påverkan samt vad för underlättande förhållanden  som skulle behövas. Slutsatsen är att kommunikation   är den viktigaste faktorn för den upplevda användbarheten samt att utbildning   och erfarenhet av att använda VR är viktigast för den upplevda   användarvänligheten för stressreducerande träning med VR.

This dissertation is devoted to study of complex systems in human physiology particularly heartbeats and brain dynamics. We have studied the dynamics of heartbeats that has been a subject of investigation of two independent groups. The first group emphasized the multifractal nature of the heartbeat dynamics of healthy subjects, whereas the second group had established a close connection between healthy subjects and the occurrence of crucial events. We have analyzed the same set of data and established that in fact the heartbeats are characterized by the occurrence of crucial and Poisson events. An increase in the percentage of crucial events makes the multifractal spectrum broader, thereby bridging the results of the former group with the results of the latter group. The crucial events are characterized by a power index that signals the occurrence of 1/f noise for complex systems in the best physiological condition. These results led us to focus our analysis on the statistical properties of crucial events. We have adopted the same statistical analysis to study the statistical properties of the heartbeat dynamics of subjects practicing meditation. The heartbeats of people doing meditation are known to produce coherent fluctuations. In addition to this effect, we made the surprising discovery that meditation makes the heartbeat depart from the ideal condition of 1/f noise. We also discussed how to combine the wave-like nature of the dynamics of the brain with the existence of crucial events that are responsible for the 1/f noise. We showed that the anomalous scaling generated by the crucial events could be established by means of a direct analysis of raw data. The efficiency of the direct analysis procedure is made possible by the fact that periodicity and crucial events is the product of a spontaneous process of self-organization. We argue that the results of this study can be used to shed light into the nature of this process of self-organization.

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No description available.