Student Number : 9901985W - MA research report - School of Psychology - Faculty of Humanities / The current research focuses on stress within the medical call centre environment and the way in which organisational factors may impact on the psychological and physical well being of employees in such a context. The rationale of the study occurs as a relative lack of current research in this area, particulary within the South African context. Furthermore, the study aimed to combine previous research conducted in call centres with other studies carried out on emergency medical service personnel, in order to generate distinctive findings for the unique environment of the emergency medical call centre. The study was quantitative in nature and was based on the transactional model of stress. The participants were selected non-randomly from an accessible of convenience and elements of both purposive and convenience sampling procedures were used. One hundred and fifty questionnaires were distributed within the three medical call centres and 78 were completed and returned. The findings indicate that medical call employees experience stress from environmental aspects such as support from outside of work, organisational factors, feelings of being undervalued, support at work and the nature of the work itself. Additionally, findings indicated that the stress factors of support outside of work, organisational characteristics, being undervalued and support at work had and impact on the psychological and physical wellbeing of employees and increased absenteeism and their desire to leave the organisation. Results also indicated that the stress related to the nature of the work itself was not significant and decreased as tenure within the medical call centre increased. Having identified aspects of medical call centre stress and the way in which these factors impact on the psychological and physical wellbeing of employees, the implications this work were discussed both theoretically and practically. Limitations of the study were acknowledged and further research directions were suggested.

Dynamic knee valgus and limb asymmetry have been linked to greater risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) or patellofemoral joint (PFJ) injury. Two-dimensional (2D) frontal plane projection angle (FPPA)is more clinically useful than three-dimensional (3D) motion analysis techniques used to assess dynamic knee valgus in the literature. Further, hop for distance tests and the star excursion balance test (SEBT)offer a clinically useful assessment of limb symmetry. 1. Reliability and validity of 2D FPPA Within-day and between-session reliability of 2D FPPA during the drop jump (DJ), single leg land (SLL) and single leg squat (SLS) tasks was fair to good.Intra-and inter-tester reliability was excellent. Significant correlations were found between 2D FPPA and 3D measures of dynamic knee valgus . These re sults indicate that 2D FPPA is a reliable and valid measure of dynamic knee valgus. 2. Reliability of hop for distance tests and the SEBT Between - session reliability of the hop for distance tests and SEBT was good. Error measurement v alues were calculated to evaluate future performance . 3. Investigation of factors contributing to 2D FPPA Significant correlations were found between DJ FPPA and isometric hip abduction, external rotation and combined abduction/external rotation (clam) strength. Clam strength accounted for 20% of the variance in 2D FPPA. No significant correlations were found for SLL FPPA. 4. Use of feedback to modify movement patterns Augmented feedback was shown to significantly improve landing patterns during the drop DJ and SLL tasks. In the DJ task a significant reduction in FPPA and increase in contact time were found post - feedback. A significant reduction in FPPA and vertical ground reaction forces were found for the SLL task. 5. Prospective assessment of ACL injury risk in women’s sport One women’s footballer suffered an ACL injury and was found to demonstrate greater FPPA during the DJ, SLL and SLS tasks and lower crossover hop for distance scores than her peers. Limb asymmetry did not appear to predict ACL injury risk in this athlete.

The aim of this series of studies was to determine the effect of power clean variation (power clean (PC), hang power clean (HPC), mid-thigh power clean (MTPC) and mid-thigh clean pull (MTCP)) and load on force time characteristics, in an attempt to identify the optimal variation and load to develop specific force time characteristics. Study 1 demonstrated that assessment of peak force, peak rate of force development (RFD) and peak power were highly reliable (ICC r≥0.968) during the PC, with smallest detectable differences of ≥8.68 N, ≥24.54 N.s, ≥68.01 W, respectively, signifying a meaningful change. Study 2 and 3 demonstrate that the MTCP and MTPC are preferential in terms of maximising acute kinetic performances when compared to the PC and HPC, as they result in the greatest peak force, peak RFD and peak power. In contrast, study 4 showed no kinetic differences (p > 0.05) across PC variations (PC, HPC, MTPC) or load (70, 70, 80% 1-RM) in inexperienced female collegiate athletes. Study 5 revealed that peak power output during the PC was achieved at a load of 70% 1-RM, although this was not significantly (p > 0.05) different when compared to the 60% and 80% 1-RM loading conditions, in inexperienced athletes, in line with previous research in well trained athletes. Finally, study 6 demonstrated that when the MTCP is performed with loads of 120-140% 1-RM PC, significantly greater peak force (p < 0.001), peak RFD (p=0.004) and impulse (p≤0.023) occur when compared to loads ≤100% 1-RM. In contrast, significantly greater peak power (p≤0.02), bar displacement (p≤0.02) and bar velocity (p < 0.001) occurs when performed at a load of 40-60% 1-RM. When incorporating the MTCP into different training mesocycles, it would be useful to use heavier loads during the strength phases, progressing from 120-140% 1-RM PC, to maximise force production and RFD. In contrast, during power mesocycles, it would be advantageous to progressively reducing load to 40-60% 1-RM PC, to elicit the greatest peak power possible during the MTCP or MTPC.

The plantar soft tissue at the heel and ball of the foot provide the interface between the body and the ground. This tissue is adapted to attenuate large amounts of energy during impact (heel strike) and to become rigid under continuous loading (standing). The heel pad tissue is composed of multiple specialised layers including a rigid bone (Calcaneus), a highly compliant fatty pad and a stiff rugged skin boundary. To assess this complex tissue STRIDE (Soft Tissue Response Imaging Device) has been developed. Using bespoke displacement driven profiles STRIDE is capable of simulating the vertical component of gait to compress the tissue, whilst collecting data to describe the response of the tissue via the combination of ultrasound imaging to detect vertical displacement and a miniature load cell to detect vertical load. From this data we are able to calculate tissue stress and strain and derive the characteristic mechanical properties of the tissue. A study of 38 individuals ranging in age from 18 to 85 was conducted to develop a baseline of tissue properties over age. The results show that the tissue has a highly rate dependent nature, reinforcing the need to conduct tests at rates relevant to the functional range of the tissue. Under gait conditions the elderly group displayed non-significant trends toward increased Energy loss (+45%), elastic modulus (+4%) and compressibility (+11%) whilst decreased trends were observed for viscosity (-20%) and the measured gradient of the stress strain curve throughout tissue compression. These differences suggest that the normal structural changes, which occur within the tissue as a result of aging, can cause disruption to the mechanical response of the tissue during compression. The mechanical properties derived will be used to inform the development of mechanisms (therapy/treatment) or interventions (orthotics/shoes) which may compensate for these changes.

No description available.

The Electrocardiogram (ECG) reflects the activities and the attributes of the human heart and reveals very important hidden information in its structure. The information is extracted by means of ECG signal analysis to gain insights that are very crucial in explaining and identifying various pathological conditions. The feature extraction process can be accomplished directly by an expert through, visual inspection of ECGs printed on paper or displayed on a screen. However, the complexity and the time taken for the ECG signals to be visually inspected and manually analysed means that it‟s a very tedious task thus yielding limited descriptions. In addition, a manual ECG analysis is always prone to errors: human oversights. Moreover ECG signal processing has become a prevalent and effective tool for research and clinical practices. A typical computer based ECG analysis system includes a signal preprocessing, beats detection and feature extraction stages, followed by classification. Automatic identification of arrhythmias from the ECG is one important biomedical application of pattern recognition. This thesis focuses on ECG signal processing using Independent Component Analysis (ICA), which has received increasing attention as a signal conditioning and feature extraction technique for biomedical application. Long term ECG monitoring is often required to reliably identify the arrhythmia. Motion induced artefacts are particularly common in ambulatory and Holter recordings, which are difficult to remove with conventional filters due to their similarity to the shape of ectopic xiii beats. Feature selection has always been an important step towards more accurate, reliable and speedy pattern recognition. Better feature spaces are also sought after in ECG pattern recognition applications. Two new algorithms are proposed, developed and validated in this thesis, one for removing non-trivial noises in ECGs using the ICA and the other deploys the ICA extracted features to improve recognition of arrhythmias. Firstly, independent component analysis has been studied and found effective in this PhD project to separate out motion induced artefacts in ECGs, the independent component corresponding to noise is then removed from the ECG according to kurtosis and correlation measurement. The second algorithm has been developed for ECG feature extraction, in which the independent component analysis has been used to obtain a set of features, or basis functions of the ECG signals generated hypothetically by different parts of the heart during the normal and arrhythmic cardiac cycle. ECGs are then classified based on the basis functions along with other time domain features. The selection of the appropriate feature set for classifier has been found important for better performance and quicker response. Artificial neural networks based pattern recognition engines are used to perform final classification to measure the performance of ICA extracted features and effectiveness of the ICA based artefacts reduction algorithm. The motion artefacts are effectively removed from the ECG signal which is shown by beat detection on noisy and cleaned ECG signals after ICA processing. Using the ICA extracted feature sets classification of ECG arrhythmia into eight classes with fewer independent components and very high classification accuracy is achieved.

The focus of this research study is occupational therapy students’ perceptions of employability and professionalism. Using some key principles of grounded theory, data was collected through the Ideal ***Inventory (Norton 2001), through a focus group and through seven individual interviews with final year students on a part time BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy degree programme. The thesis maps two journeys, that of the researcher from novice to more experienced and that of the student occupational therapist from recruitment to graduation examining the trajectory of development for both. The thesis focuses on some pertinent methodological issues around researcher distance and creativity in the study; the term used for this is contamination. The work of Charmaz (2006) on constructivist grounded theory and Clarke (2005) on situational mapping in grounded theory have been used to provide reference points in my research to support the researcher’s engagement with data. It is suggested that the research is situated in the borderlands of modernist and postmodern ideas. There is a critique which focuses on theory, its value and purpose in the study and in grounded theory more generally. Analytical tools and the way in which these support understanding of the data are also debated. Relational Situational Maps (Clarke 2005) were used to engage and display data, to show assumptions about relationships between data and to highlight sites of contamination. Mapping the data in this way has assisted in the researcher to see the data differently and to engage with it more interestingly. Consideration is given to the interpretation of meaning in the data analysis, including the labelling of categories and sub- categories and the consequences of this for dissemination. A greater understanding of professionalism for occupational therapy students has been gained by undertaking the study and the importance of role models, authenticity, a prospective professional identity, personal values and the alignment of these to professional ones are discussed. Individual conceptualisations of professionalism alongside external professional regulation are also considered. Recommendations for curriculum development as a result of this study have also been identified.

No description available.

Rationale: Mammography practitioners control the amount of compression force applied to the breast. There are no quantifiable recommendations for optimal compression force levels for practitioners to follow. Clients report variations in pain and discomfort when compression force is applied. Until now practitioner compression force variability has not been investigated; even though this might lead to variations in client pain and discomfort. The primary purpose of this thesis was to investigate whether practitioner compression force variability exists. Method: Three research papers investigated practitioner compression force variability: one used a cross sectional design; two used longitudinal designs, one was single centre and the other was multicentre. Three further research papers investigated important issues which might confound practitioner variability results: the first investigated compression paddle bend and distortion; the second investigated how breast thickness and compression force vary; the third evaluated practitioner ability to grade breast density, visually. The final research paper was a ‘within client’ investigation to determine how image quality varied with breast thickness and compression force. Key findings: The research firmly demonstrates that practitioner compression force variability exists. Multicentre analysis (4500 client visits) confirmed two out of three screening sites with significant practitioner variability, with the third screening site having a minimum dictate of compression force at 100N. As displayed by MLO/CC projections clients underwent a 55%/57% (site one), 66%/60% (site two) and 27%/26% (site three) change in compression force through their three screening visits. The research confirmed that the compression force received by a client was highly dependent upon the practitioner, and not the client. Within an individual clients screening pathway the research has demonstrated that clients could receive significantly different compression force levels over time. Conclusion and further research: For the first time practitioner compression force variability has been identified. Novel methods for reducing breast thickness need investigating; an example of a novel method is the use of pressure rather than force.

Research shows that raising a child with ASD makes considerable demands on family resources, yet the experiences of neuro typically developing (NTD) siblings of children and young people with ASD remain relatively unexplored. The findings of quantitative research are mixed and inconclusive and little is known about the processes that mediate and moderate the experience of living with a sibling with ASD (Hodapp et al., 2005; Meadan et al., 2010; Petalas et al., 2009). Further descriptive and exploratory research is indicated with participants of different groups to illuminate the multi-factorial nature of the phenomenon and help understand the apparent differences in individual experiences and outcomes. This study uses semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis to explore the self-reported experiences and perceptions of eight neuro-typically developing sisters, aged 10-19, who are also the sole NTD siblings in their families. Their parents were also interviewed to provide contextual information and to ascertain their views on the sibling experience. In addition to looking at their family life and sibling relationships, this study also explores school life and peer group relationships. Analysis suggests eight themes of sibling experience: Continuum of Perceived Challenge: Positively and negatively perceived aspects of having a sibling with ASD. Continuum of Acceptance; Coping and Resilience; Continuum of Relatability; Continuum of Positive Identity; Social world: Threats and Friends; Social Carer; Support. NTD sisters adopt a social caring role towards their sibling with ASD, that is different to that fulfilled by parents and transcends home and school boundaries. NTD sisters can be negatively affected by tension between home and school regarding provision for the child with ASD. Reconciling social persona with loyalty to one's sibling, developing a mutually satisfying sibling relationship and findings strengths and positive meaning in one's experiences, are associated with positive adjustment. Mother-daughter relationship and family beliefs and values are highly influential in the psycho-emotional adjustment of NTD sisters. Implications for the practice of applied psychologists and school-based professionals, in response to these findings, are explored and areas for further research are suggested.