Previous work has shown that the risk of hearing loss is related to the cumulative sound energy received by the ear. The instrument which computes a measure of this parameter is an integrating sound level meter (ISLM). Optimum design requirements for ISLMs which meet a variety of demanding specifications have been determined. Evaluation procedures have been proposed and the necessary specialized tone burst signal sources have been designed. An early survey of instruments which were available revealed serious shortcomings in their ability tointegrate accurately a typical impulsive signal. The aim of this work was to determine and critically evaluate the limiting mechanism, and to subsequently investigate design strategies leading to high performance instruments. Techniques for extending the performance of several standard circuits have been developed. In addition, a novel method for storing data in analogue and digital form and subsequently recovering a continuous output has been developed and is fully described. Combinations of analogue, random logic and microprocessor-based techniques have been investigated. Complete instruments which utilize different combinations have been designed and evaluated. The optimum performance for an instrument which meets the highest specification is shown to be achieved by the use of analogue techniques for the majority of the signal processing, with a combination of random logic and microprocessor-based techniques for control and data storage.

Major Depression (MD) currently affects over 17 million individuals in North America (Greenberg et al., 2003). Identifying factors predictive of MD treatment response is important for developing more efficacious treatments and better understanding MD vulnerability. The goal of the present study was to examine the main and interactive effects of personality and stressful life events as predictors of MD treatment response. One hundred and thirty-one clinically depressed participants were randomly assigned to either 16-weeks of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), or pharmacotherapy (PT). Personality in the form of trait self-criticism, neediness, and connectedness was assessed at pre and post-treatment using the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ; Blatt et al., 1976). Stressful life events experienced during treatment were assessed using the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule (LEDS; Bifulco et al., 1989). Results revealed that amongst individuals scoring lower in pre-treatment self-criticism, higher pre-treatment connectedness predicted superior treatment response. As well, amongst individuals scoring lower in pre-treatment neediness, higher pre-treatment connectedness predicted superior treatment response. In terms of personality change, both a reduction in neediness and a reduction in self-criticism over the course of treatment predicted superior treatment response. A personality × stressful life event interaction was also found such that amongst those experiencing a stressful life event during treatment, higher scores on pre-treatment self-criticism predicted poor treatment response. These results suggest that personality and stressful life events play an important role in the treatment of MD. Limitations and clinical implications are discussed. / Thesis (Master, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2007-09-28 12:08:15.84

The diploma thesis deals with the issue of stable climate, amount of gas emissions in pig breeding. It evaluates the technology used in the selected breed and suggests improvement. Part of the thesis is a literary research of the issue of breeding from a physical and legislative point of view. The measurements were carried out using Commeter D4141, Testo 435 and INNOVA 1412. The measured values are compared to the EU directive. By measuring, it was found that despite the technology used, the existing limits in breeds were exceeded by up to 47%. There are suggested options for how to change this situation.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was three-fold. Firstly, it examined whether there was a positive relationship between the two burnout dimensions of emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation, for career women in particular. Secondly, this relationship was further examined by considering whether stressful life events and racial differences moderated the association between emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. Thirdly, racial differences in depersonalisation were assessed. Motivation for study: In the fast paced environment of the 21st century, individuals are faced with increased demands which they need to address at an ever-increasing rate. This can translate into burnout, which is quickly becoming an epidemic. Existing theories on burnout postulate that burnout and its dimensions develop in a specific order, in that depersonalisation develops from increased levels of emotional exhaustion. Although several studies have tested this theory, limited research exists on how the relationship between emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation may be influenced by negative factors outside of the work environment (i.e., stressful life events). In addition, the relationship between the burnout dimensions has not been assessed in relation to racial differences in the unique cultural context of South Africa. Studies have shown that burnout is detrimental both on an individual and collective level, and can result in extensive cost implications for organisations. Therefore, this research could assist organisations, perhaps including South African organisations, to understand which factors may accelerate the occurrence and development of burnout and its dimensions. Subsequently, organisations may be advised to introduce tailored interventions to reduce or prevent burnout from occurring. Research design, approach, and method: A post-positivistic quantitative research strategy was used with a sample of 31 female participants, aged between 25 and 60 years of age. Participants were employed at a higher education institution in South Africa. Data were obtained through the use of an online questionnaire consisting of three measurement scales: the emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation scales from the Maslach Burnout Inventory General survey, and a stressful life events checklist. Data were analysed through the use of hierarchical multiple regression analysis and a one-way ANOVA. Main Findings: The results contradicted previous studies on burnout dimensions as the relationship between emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation was not significant. Furthermore, both stressful life events and race did not have a significant impact on the relationship between emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. Finally, the different racial groups assessed in this study did not differ significantly in terms of levels of depersonalisation. Practical Implications: Based on the findings of this study, organisations should not gear burnout interventions toward specific groups of women, that is, women experiencing greater stressful life events or women from specific racial groups, as these factors do not appear to have an influence on the occurrence of burnout or its dimensions. In addition, the occurrence of depersonalisation does not seem to be avoided by addressing levels of emotional exhaustion in women. Contribution/value-add: The study makes a knowledge contribution to the existing gap in burnout research regarding the development of emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation, and the impact that stressful life events and race can have on this relationship. Even though the hypotheses were not supported, it adds value by equipping organisations with additional information regarding which factors to include or exclude when designing interventions to address burnout. / Mini Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Human Resource Management / MCom / Unrestricted

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Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / The aim of the present study was to develop and evaluate a process model linking stressful environmental change, perceived job insecurity and stress reactions, A review of the literature revealed that stressful changes in the environment are linked to individual stress reactions, Stress theory has also recognised that appraisal of a stressful situation leads to stress reactions, Moreover, the literature has identified job Insecurity as a form of appraisal in that it is an internal event reflecting a transformation of beliefs about what 's happening in the organisation and environment. Job insecurity in turn has been shown to result in various stress reactions in individuals, Based on such research and theorising, a causal model was developed and tested using structural equation modeling techniques, It was assessed whether: stressful environmental change impacted upon stress reactions and job insecurity; job insecurity impacted upon stress reactions; and whether Job insecurity operated as a form of appraisal in mediating the relationship between stressful environmental change and stress reactions, The Independent variable, stressful environmental change, was specified as a common factor of the measured variables, political change, social change and organisational change, The proposed mediator variable, job insecurity, was specified as a common factor of the measured variables perceived threat to total job multiplied by powerlessness, and perceived threat to job features multiplied by powerlessness, The dependent variable, stress reactions, was specified as a common factor of the measured variables psychological distress, job dissatisfaction and reduced organisational commitment. The model was tested empirically using a combined sample of 267 subjects from three organisations, Results indicated that all relationships In the proposed model were confirmed, and that a reasonable fit was demonstrated between the empirical data and the theoretical model. Stressful environmental change was causally related to both stress reactions and Job insecurity, Job Insecurity was causally related to stress reactions, and in addition operated as a partial mediator between stressful environmental change and stress reacdons. Conceptual and methodological reasons for the findings are discussed, as well as some theoretical and practical implications, Limitations in the methodology are identified and future considerations of research are suggested, / AC2017

Events in the life history of an individual such as childhood stressful events alter the strategies that guide behavior, specifically sexual strategies. Evolutionary Developmental Psychology suggests that development must be studied through the integration of various aspects, such as Attachment, Sexual strategies, and Personality. Important and stable part of psychology, personalitys factor Neuroticism reflects how people react to stress. Considering this, in the present thesis we analyzed the relationship between childhood stressful life events, neuroticism and adult attachment. We interviewed 173 people, 99 women and 74 men, aged from 18 to 45 years old (M= 29.51; SD= 7.3), that had a family income range from 1 to 3 Brazilian MW. We applied a Stressful Events Inventory, a Neuroticism Test, and an Attachment Scale. It was found an average of 16,59 of occurrence of stressful events (SD = 5.82). In addition to this high frequency, it was found that the greater the number of stressful events, the greater the perceived stress; and participants perceived the events as more stressful than expected. There were sex differences, with men experiencing more events related to violence and authority, and women, more events that are social. Women also tended to perceive all events as more stressful and to have higher Neuroticism. 42% of the sample had a secure attachment style, less than expected. Lastly, occurrence of stressful events, neuroticism, age, and income explained 46% of variance of this sample attachment style. A structural model analysis showed that neuroticism mediates the relationship between occurrence of stressful events and attachment, without the role of perception. This means that Neuroticism has a much larger role than previously credited, and its study in research on development can explain the high variation found when examining the relationship between childhood and adulthood / Eventos na história de vida de um indivíduo, tais como eventos estressores da infância alteraram as estratégias que orientam o comportamento, especificamente as estratégias sexuais. A Psicologia Evolucionista do Desenvolvimento sugere que o desenvolvimento deve ser estudado através da integração de vários aspectos, como apego, estratégias sexuais, e personalidade. Parte importante e estável da psicologia, o fator de personalidade Neuroticismo reflete como as pessoas reagem a eventos de vida. Considerando isso, na presente tese foi analisada a relação entre eventos estressores da infância, neuroticismo e apego adulto. Foram entrevistadas 173 pessoas, 99 mulheres e 74 homens, com idades entre 18 a 45 anos (M = 29,57; DP = 7,35), com renda familiar de 1 a 3 SM. Foi aplicado o Inventário de Percepção de Eventos Estressores, a Escala Fatorial de Neuroticismo, e a Escala de Estilo de Relacionamento. Foi encontrada uma média de 16,59 eventos estressores ocorridos (DP= 5,82). Além dessa alta frequência, encontrou-se que quanto maior o número de eventos estressores, maior foi o estresse percebido, e os participantes perceberam os eventos como mais estressantes do que o esperado. Houve diferenças sexuais, com homens relatando mais eventos ligados à violência e autoridade, e as mulheres, mais eventos sociais. Elas também tendiam a perceber todos os eventos como mais estressantes e a ter escores mais altos de Neuroticismo. 42% da amostra tinha um estilo de apego seguro, menos do que o esperado. Por fim, a ocorrência de eventos estressores, o neuroticismo, idade, e renda explicaram 46% da variância do estilo de apego desta amostra. Uma análise de modelo estrutural mostrou que o neuroticismo mediava a relação entre ocorrência de eventos estressores e apego. Isso significa que o Neuroticismo tem um papel muito maior do que o anteriormente creditado, e seu estudo em pesquisas com desenvolvimento pode explicar a alta variabilidade encontrada quando se examina as relações entre infância e vida adulta

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-04T18:27:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Juliana_Allegretti.pdf: 581604 bytes, checksum: 43c3a099ad486a206a3d11d8a20acbdb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-02-22 / Pontif?cia Universidade Cat?lica de Campinas / The purpose of this study was the evaluation and the comparison between married and single women regarding the incidence of stress, the stressful sources and the confrontation strategies to deal with tension. The association among symptoms, sources and strategies has been investigated. The number of women that participated was 21: a group of 10 women with high leveleduaction, professionally active, married and with children, having in average 37 years; another group of 11 college studentes (2nd. and 3rd.year), single and without children with the average of 19,8 years. The study showed high incidence of stress with predominance of psychological symptoms disclosed in both the groups, indicating that the strategies of confrontation used by the participants are insufficient or inadequate. About the stressful sources there was no significant statistics difference between the groups, however it was observed that with more stressful sources the level of stress presented became higher, what leads to the recommendation of implementing stress control programs in the prophylactic level as well in the treatment level. New studies would be really relevant to verify the real factors that determine the prevalence of decurrently symptoms of excessive stress in women. / Este estudo objetivou avaliar e comparar mulheres casadas e mulheres solteiras quanto ? incid?ncia de stress, fontes estressoras e estrat?gias de enfrentamento usadas para lidar com a tens?o. Correlacionaram-se sintomas, fontes e estrat?gias. As participantes foram um total de 21 mulheres, sendo um grupo de 10 mulheres com n?vel superior completo, profissionalmente ativas, casadas e com filhos, tendo em m?dia 37 anos e outro grupo de 11 mulheres universit?rias de 2? e 3? ano, solteiras e sem filhos com idade m?dia de 19,8 anos. O estudo revelou em ambos os grupos alta incid?ncia de stress com predomin?ncia de sintomas psicol?gicos indicando que as estrat?gias de enfrentamento utilizadas pelas participantes s?o insuficientes ou inadequadas. Quanto ?s fontes estressoras n?o houve diferen?a estat?stica significante entre os grupos, por?m observou-se que quanto mais estressores mais elevado era o n?vel de stress, o que leva a recomenda??o de que se instituam programas de controle do stress tanto a n?vel profil?tico como de tratamento. Estudos posteriores seriam de grande relev?ncia para a verifica??o dos reais determinantes da preval?ncia de sintomas decorrentes do stress excessivo nas mulheres.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-04T18:27:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Flavia Urbini.pdf: 268291 bytes, checksum: 8e79c56903cfc5e622f2251b90bd83fc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-02-07 / Pontif?cia Universidade Cat?lica de Campinas / Hypertension has been studied by many health professionals. According to many researches hypertension is caused by an association of many different risk factors, and stress could be one of them. There are several of studies that demonstrate stress effects on hypertensive patients. The purpose of this study was to verify the possible association between stressful events and hypertensive crises occurrence. This sample was comprised by 20 women whose age was around 45-55. All data were collected in one-section interview with hypertensive urgency patients, and the instruments used were: The Inventory of Stress Symptoms (ISSL), and the Stress Sources Scale. According to the results, most of the subjects had the stress diagnosis, and the present stressors average in the last 6 months was 3,15. The most frequent stressor found was threat to personal integrity These results suggest that new and larger researches are necessary to deeply understand the influence of stressful events on the hypertensive urgency occurrence. / A hipertens?o tem sido muito estudada pelos profissionais da ?rea da sa?de. Considera-se a hipertens?o uma doen?a causada pela associa??o de diferentes fatores de risco, entre eles o stress. Os efeitos do stress no paciente hipertenso, assim como em pacientes com outras doen?as, v?m merecendo aten??o, considerando-se sua grande influ?ncia. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a poss?vel rela??o entre os eventos estressantes e a ocorr?ncia da urg?ncia hipertensiva. Participaram vinte mulheres com idade m?dia de 45-55 nos. Os dados foram coletados em um ?nico encontro com o paciente em urg?ncia hipertensiva. Foram utilizados os seguintes instrumentos: Invent?rio de Sintomas de Stress para Adultos e Escala de Fontes de Stress. A maioria dos participantes apresentou o diagn?stico de stress e a m?dia do n?mero de fontes estressoras presentes nos ?ltimos seis meses foi 3,15. O tipo de fonte de stress mais freq?ente foi a amea?a ? integridade. Esses resultados sugerem novas pesquisas nessa ?rea com maior n?mero de participantes para uma melhor compreens?o da influ?ncia dos eventos estressantes na ocorr?ncia da urg?ncia hipertensiva.