Special Stresses Research Articles

Psychosocial burden and quality of life of parents with children with univentricular hearts compared to ASD parents and parents of heart-healthy children.

Patients with univentricular hearts can only be palliated by a staged surgical procedure that carries a high morbidity and mortality risk. The aim of this study was to examine the emotional demands, psychosocial burden, and quality of life of parents with children with univentricular hearts compared to parents of children with a simple heart defect, those with no heart defect and children with chronic diseases. An anonymous questionnaire was created to interview parents about their quality of life, stressors, needs, strategies for coping with illness, and partnership satisfaction. 73 families participated in the study. Parents of children with univentricular hearts experience a significantly higher psychosocial burden, limitations in daily life, and distress in family interactions, as well as greater emotional distress compared to the other study groups. When comparing the families of children with other chronic diseases (e.g. cystic fibrosis, chronic arthritis and diabetes), these differences remained significant. The study confirms a higher psychosocial burden, restrictions in daily life and a lower quality of life of parents with children with univentricular hearts, compared to parents of children with simple heart defects and parents of heart-healthy children or those with other chronic diseases. Since this condition persists until adolescence and adulthood, the families are exposed to special challenges and stresses throughout their lives. This has yet to be adequately addressed in the management of these families.

Academic Stress: Coping Strategies by Nursing Students

Students across a wide range of industries and educational levels frequently feel academic stress. It is defined as the body's and mind's reaction to the demands and strains of education, such as homework, projects, exams, and clinical training. Particularly when it comes to juggling the demands of their education and their clinical training and practicum, nursing students confront special stresses. To uncover practical coping mechanisms that assist nursing students in their academic endeavors, this study examines the coping mechanisms used by these students to deal with academic stress. Data were gathered from 196 nursing students at St. Michael's College of varying academic levels using a descriptive-correlational study approach. The study looks at how respondents' characteristics, academic stress, and the coping mechanisms they use—such as problem-, emotional-, and avoidant-focused coping mechanisms—relate significantly. The results add to the understanding of how nursing students cope with academic stress by highlighting the importance of including stress management programs into the nursing curriculum to teach a variety of student-specific coping mechanisms. A preliminary investigation including thirty-two nursing students yielded significant information for improving the research questionnaire. Results revealed that there exist notable differences in the academic pressures experienced by the respondents when classified based on their profile. The stresses related to personal time management do not significantly differ according to age, sex, parental marital status, or family rank, except for year level, where fourth-year students exhibit greater stress levels. However, there are notable differences in the stresses associated with academic burden according to age and year level. Participants who are 20 years of age or younger report feeling less stressed than older participants, while first-year students report feeling more stressed than second- and third-year students. In conclusion, the results show that year level and age have a major impact on the stress that academic overload causes for the respondents. To lessen academic stress and improve students' general well-being, recommendations include encouraging peer-to-peer connection to create a friendly environment in educational institutions and advocating for self-care techniques. Important insights from nursing students helped to improve the research technique. One suggestion is to create a welcoming atmosphere in educational institutions by encouraging self-care behaviors and peer-to-peer engagement lessen the burden of school and improve the general wellbeing of children. These suggestions are pertinent to nursing educators and educational establishments that aim to provide nursing students with all-encompassing assistance in efficiently handling academic stress, therefore enhancing their general welfare and scholastic achievement.

Introduction: Resisting Anti-Migrant Politics: Challenging Borders, Boundaries, and Belongings in Europe and Africa

This special issue argues that the novelty of current migration realities is not so much due to the scale or forms of migration practices as it is to as the rise of anti-migrant politics, which has led to the institution and differentiation of novel border regimes. Over the years, practices of resistance have developed against these regimes and these politics in different places and on various scales. This special issue highlights the emergent interplay of anti-migrant politics and everyday practices of resisting and subverting them. In their combination, the four articles in this issue make two important contributions: they address the increasing need to unveil unexpected forms of challenging dominant regimes of borders, boundaries, and belongings, and they present a specific case-study-based methodological perspective for capturing counterintuitive and unexpected forms of resisting anti-migrant politics. This special issue stresses the importance of studying resistant practices in different local, regional, national, and continental settings in a comparative and longitudinal manner. Additionally, it emphasizes the consideration of the role of anti-migrant politics and practices as they relate to resistant practices in countries of departure, as in geographic contexts such as the African continent, even if – and especially when – attempts of migration fail due to enhanced border control.

Collaboration and health promotion for the health care system – evaluation of the WOL healthcare

Abstract Background Health care and social services are industries with special challenges: Constant emotional demands, the shortage of skilled workers is noticeable (in Germany) and special organizational stresses, not only since the Corona pandemic. This study evaluates the Working out Loud (WOL) program for healthcare, which aims to create a learning culture for interdisciplinary collaboration and network-oriented learning and increases growth-oriented thinking at organizational level. Methods The sample consists of 51 participants. From 16 persons data could be analyzed in the pre-post-design of the 10-week intervention accompanied by individual coaching. All respondents work in the health care system in Germany. Dependent variables were collected with validated scales for psychological safety, psychological flexibility, cooperative learning, emotional energy, engagement and voice behavior. Results Effects of moderate strength were shown for all variables: psychological safety (Mt1= 4.86, Mt2 = 5.45 t(15) =-1.86, p =.083, d = 0.46), psychological flexibility (Mt1= 3.57, Mt2 = 3.82 t(15) = -2.12, p = .051, d = 0.53), cooperative learning (Mt1= 4.63, Mt2 = 4.81 t(15) = -2.18, p =. 045, d = 0.54), emotional energy (Mt1= 2.70, Mt2 = 2.75 t(15) = -0.82, p = .423, d = 0.20), engagement (Mt1= 2.87, Mt2 = 3.05 t(15) = -1.65, p = .119, d = 0.41)and voice behavior (Mt1= 3.84, Mt2 = 4.05 t(15) = -1.64, p = .120, d = 0.41). Correlations are shown for psychological safety with emotional energy (r = .426, p = .012) and job satisfaction (r = .612, p = .000). Conclusions The 10-week WOL Healthcare program can strengthen employees in the important area of health promotion and care. The program serves as behavioral prevention and, by empowering individuals, brings about job crafting structural prevention in the workplace. The intervention follows a bottom-up principle, it is an approach for health promotion in the healthcare sector, that can strengthen patient's safety. Key messages • Evidence for the effectiveness of a health promotion intervention for health care workers. • Organizational learning promotes workers health.

Frequency and Temperature-Dependent Space Charge Characteristics of a Solid Polymer under Unipolar Electrical Stresses of Different Waveforms.

In this paper, we studied the space charge phenomena of a solid polymer under thermal and electrical stresses with different frequencies and waveforms. By analyzing the parameter selection method of a protection capacitor and resistor, the newly built pulsed electro-acoustic (PEA) system can be used for special electrical stresses under 500 Hz, based on which the charge phenomena are studied in detail under positive and negative DC and half-wave sine and rectangular wave voltages. Experimental results show that the charge accumulated in the polyimide polymer under DC conditions mainly comes from the grounded electrode side, and the amount of charge accumulated with electric field distortion becomes larger in a high-temperature environment. At room temperature, positive charges tend to accumulate in low-frequency conditions under positive rectangular wave voltages, while they easily appear under high-frequency situations of negative ones. In contrast, the maximum electric field distortion and charge accumulation under both half-wave sine voltages occur at 10 Hz. When the measurement temperature increases, the accumulated positive charge decreases, with a more negative charge appearing under rectangular wave voltages, while a more positive charge accumulates at different frequencies of half-wave sine voltages. Therefore, our study of the charge characteristics under different voltage and temperature conditions can provide a reference for applications in the corresponding environments.

Introduction to the Special Issue: The ecology and genetics of population differentiation in plants.

Population differentiation is a pervasive process in nature. At present, evolutionary studies on plant population differentiation address key questions by undertaking joint ecological and genetic approaches and employing a combination of molecular and experimental means. In this special issue, we gathered a collection of papers dealing with various ecological and genetic aspects of population differentiation in plants. In particular, this special issue encompasses eight research articles and two reviews covering a wide array of worldwide environments, plant functional types, genetic and genomic approaches, and common garden experiments to quantify molecular and/or quantitative trait differentiation in plant populations. Overall, this special issue stresses the validity of traditional evolutionary studies focused on plant populations, whilst emphasizing the integration of classical biological disciplines and state-of-the-art molecular techniques into a unique toolkit for evolutionary plant research.

A simplified method for structural fatigue analysis of hovercraft

Objectives The operation principle of a hovercraft is different from those of conventional ship, with special stresses and much higher speeds than conventional ships. At present, the simplified fatigue strength calculation method proposed by major classification societies is not fully applicable to hovercraft, so it is necessary to put forward a suitable simplified method. Methods According to the special structure and sailing mode of hovercraft, and combined with mainstream specifications, experiments and related research, this paper analyzes the working conditions, load calculations, cumulative damage derivation and other aspects, and puts forward a simplified method suitable for the fatigue analysis of hovercraft structures using a specific hovercraft as an example for calculation. Results The simplified calculation results show that the fatigue life of typical longitudinal nodes meets the requirements of fatigue strength, and the analysis results of the example show that this method has certain applicability. Conclusions The simplified method proposed in this paper can be used as a reference for the development, design and verification of hovercraft.

The material culture and politics of artifacts in nuclear diplomacy

This special issue stresses the importance of material culture in diplomatic studies of science and technology. In our studies, objects are considered powerful tokens of complexity in diplomatic encounters and of asymmetry in international relations. The contributors are committed to theorizing about the role of objects in diplomatic exchanges during the postwar period and, at the same time, the role of diplomacy in constituting the materiality of nuclear things. Our approach combines attention to the political and diplomatic nuclear history with recognition of the roles played by nuclear artifacts throughout the whole spectrum of diplomatic activities. On the whole, we argue that the material approach should be located at the center of the study of nuclear history and the diplomatic exchanges that made it possible.

Site-Specific Nutrient Management

The editorial introduces to a Special Issue entitled ”Site-Specific Nutrient Management. The concept of the nitrogen gap (NG) is as a core challenge for an effective realization of the so called “twin objectives” in sustainable agriculture. This special issue stresses on some hot spots in crop production, being responsible in the yield gap development, that farmers have to take control. The yield gap cannot be ameliorated without the synchronization of the in-season requirements of the currently grown crop for N with its three-dimensional variability in a supply on a field (temporal, spatial and vertical). A recognition of soil fertility status in the rooted zone, which includes availability of both mineral N and nutrients decisive for its uptake, is the first step in the NG amelioration. The sustainability in soil fertility, as a prerequisite of N fertilizer application, requires a wise strategy of organic matter management, based on farmyard manure, and/or cultivation of legumes. The soil fertility status, irrespectively of the World region determines ways of the N rate optimization. The division of a particular field into homogenous productive units is the primary step in the NG cover. It can be delineated, using both data on soil physico-chemical properties of the soil rooted zone, and then validated by using satellite spectral images of the crop biomass in a well-defined stage of its growth, decisive for yield. The proposed set of diagnostic tools is a basis for elaboration an effective agronomic decision support system.

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The main purpose of this article is to consider the conceptual approach of the patriotic attitude to the historical roots and individuality of nations in works of fiction on historical themes by outstanding writers who lived in different countries in the same century. In their works, Mary Stewart and Aziza Jafarzade wrote about the historical environment, human relations, religion, the struggle for their beliefs, and other issues. One thing that unites writers is that their appeals to historical works coincide with their age of wisdom. Writers created their works, feeling the spirit of the historical realities of their countries, and skillfully used the artistic imagination to depict events of the long past. This article mainly compared Mary Steward�s �Arthur pentalogy� and Aziza Jafarzade�s �Baku-1501� historical novel and �Hun Mountain� story. The real historical person living in the 16th century AD. Shah Ismail Khatai is the protagonist of �Baku-1501� written by Aziza Jafarzade. Shah Ismail�s name is connected with the flourishing of the Azerbaijani language as both poetry and a diplomatic language. He has a special place in our history and his name is written with golden letters in the history of Azerbaijan. Of course, the appeal to this period is a manifestation of love for Azerbaijan. The same motive is clearly seen in Mary Stewart�s �Arthur pentalogy�. The love for her country aroused interest in the historical subject. Thanks to the legendary king Arthur writer decodes the real identity of the nation. The heroes of these two novels struggle for their convictions and during their reign, they become masters of the ruling. Although the exact period is not indicated in the story about the Turkic-speaking tribe �Hun Mountain�, it is possible to define the era based on historical realities. The Huns� migration to Azerbaijan falls approximately to the 4th century AD. At the same time, Aziza Jafarzade makes special stresses in the story of �Hun Mountain� to our ancient Turkish words. The period of �Arthur pentalogy� is the 5-6th centuries AD. The parallels between Mary Stewart�s pentalogy and Aziza Jafarzade�s �Hun Mountain� are that they describe the far periods of our age and the main feature of that period is that the elements of legendary motifs are inevitable.

Numerical simulation of the space charge accumulation inside solid insulation subjected to special polarization conditions

The insulation of high-power electronic equipment faces special electrical stresses such as square and pulse waves, but the numerical research on space charge inside the insulation under such conditions is still in the blank at present. Based on the traditional bipolar charge transport model, it is indicated that the polarization conditions with changing polarities require that the solving algorithms of the model should be selected according to the electric field direction inside the sample grid. The charge phenomena under different sample parameters and polarization conditions in the power frequency range are further simulated. It is concluded that both the total charge amounts under unipolar and bipolar conditions are affected by the polarization power, and the charge migration depth is within 20 μm. For the sample parameters, it is found that the accumulated charge amount under two types of polar polarization conditions is obviously reduced as the value of injection barrier or extraction coefficient increases. And the trapping and detrapping parameters have a greater influence under unipolar conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to select appropriate modified parameters according to the actual operating conditions when controlling the insulating performance. As for the polarization condition, it is found that the charge amount at high frequencies is unaffected by the frequency value, and a phenomenon that positive and negative charges simultaneously accumulate can be found under all the bipolar conditions with a frequency of 0.01 Hz. In addition, the simulation also indicates that the charge measurement technique needs to have a sufficiently high spatial resolution under these conditions, and the required time to measure the steady charge is relatively shorter under bipolar conditions.

High cycle fatigue testing of thermosonic ball bonds

During operation, miniaturized thermosonic Cu ball bond interconnects on Al pads occurring in microelectronic devices experience thermomechanical cyclic stresses, which lead to a degradation and subsequent fatigue fracture at the bond interface. Standard static tests, however, ignore the performance of such bonds under cyclic loads.Therefore, a new mechanical fatigue testing method tailored for such interconnects has been introduced, allowing to study their high cycle fatigue behavior in reasonable time. By means of a vibrating system and a special specimen setup cyclic stresses are mechanically induced at the bond interface causing fatigue lift off, where the bond is separated at its weakest site.For this purpose, two distinct specimen preparation methods basing on industrially applicable soldering techniques are suggested and can be used equally, depending on the focus of the investigation and the availability of the required testing structures.The first method - “single bond testing” - allows to test each bond individually regardless of the chip layout. In contrast, the second test method - “multiple bond testing” - allows to test several bonds simultaneously. To interpret and analyze the stresses occurring at the bond interface during these tests, finite element analyses were conducted.In the present study both methods are applied to CuAl ball bonds of the same quality and chip layout. It is shown that the aluminum is responsible for the fatigue crack initiation and propagation processes as confirmed by fractographic analyses of the fatigued bond interfaces.It can be concluded that the proposed fatigue test method is a powerful alternative screening method for such miniaturized bond interfaces, which allows to reveal their mechanical fatigue behavior in reasonable time and to identify the weakest link of the tested bond interface.

LE DÉFI DE COMPLÉMENTARITÉ DE LA CATÉCHÈSE PAROISSIALE ET DE L’ENSEIGNEMENT RELIGIEUX EN POLOGNE

The article shows, in detail, the interrelation which occurs between the parish religious education and school teaching of religion in Poland. The author takes up a reflection 25 years after bringing religion back to schools. Starting from establishments of religious education documents of the Catholic and Polish Church, he points at the complementarity of these two forms of the religious education service of the word. It is also related to the possibility of carrying three functions of religious education out - the teaching, the upbringing and acquainting both in the parish, and at the school. In conclusion, the author formulates conclusions which are a response to the complementarity challenge of the parish catechesis and religious education in Poland. In the special way he stresses out the substantial role of liturgy and its connections with the religious education.

Quantitative performance assessment of corrosion protection systems for offshore wind power transmission platforms

The paper reports about the assessment of deteriorated protective coatings and exposed steel surfaces on offshore wind power platforms in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. A simple procedure for the assessment of coating deterioration and metal loss on exposed steel surfaces is developed. The procedure delivers a protection number NPNC + NS, whereby the term NC characterizes coating deterioration, and the term NS characterizes metal loss at exposed surfaces. For NP = 0, the structure is fully protected, and for NP = 2, the capacity of the corrosion protection system (protective coating combined with corrosion allowance) is completely exhausted. This number is linked to maintenance procedures. A total of 750 inspection results are reviewed and categorized. The majority of coating damages can be attributed to unsuitable constructive design and to mechanical loading. Design specifications and testing scenarios for coating assessment may be updated in order to account for special stresses in addition to corrosive stresses. Color-based digital image processing is applied for the quantitative recording and rating of coating deterioration processes and for the estimation of NC-values. Preliminary investigations reveal that color-based digital image processing opens the opportunity to evaluate fouling, top coat color changes, and early iron corrosion products.

The effect of pregnancy on peak expiratory flow rate in comparison with non-pregnant Iraqi women Sample in MARJAN Teaching Hospital

Background: Profound alterations of respiratory function physiology accompany pregnancy; these conditions contribute to many of the disorders of the lung during pregnancy. The adaptive changes during the gravid period are designed to support maternal and fetal well-being during the special stresses of fetal growth and parturition Peak.Objective: This study aimed to know the effect of pregnancy on peak expiratory flow rate in comparison with non-pregnant Iraqi women.Method: This study was conducted on 255 healthy female at their reproductive ages , made up of 60 pregnant female in 1st trimester , 65 in 2nd trimester , 60 in 3rd trimester and 70 non pregnant as control group.Results: There were a significant negative relation between PEFR % and gestational age. The PEFR % decrease progressively with advancing gestational age in comparison with control group (p< 0.001).Conclusion: These results suggest that the effect of pregnancy on the respiratory function of healthy women is influenced by gestational age.

Lifetime prevalence of DSM-IV mental disorders among new soldiers in the U.S. Army: results from the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS).

The prevalence of 30-day mental disorders with retrospectively reported early onsets is significantly higher in the U.S. Army than among socio-demographically matched civilians. This difference could reflect high prevalence of preenlistment disorders and/or high persistence of these disorders in the context of the stresses associated with military service. These alternatives can to some extent be distinguished by estimating lifetime disorder prevalence among new Army recruits. The New Soldier Study (NSS) in the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS) used fully structured measures to estimate lifetime prevalence of 10 DSM-IV disorders in new soldiers reporting for Basic Combat Training in 2011-2012 (n = 38,507). Prevalence was compared to estimates from a matched civilian sample. Multivariate regression models examined socio-demographic correlates of disorder prevalence and persistence among new soldiers. Lifetime prevalence of having at least one internalizing, externalizing, or either type of disorder did not differ significantly between new soldiers and civilians, although three specific disorders (generalized anxiety, posttraumatic stress, and conduct disorders) and multimorbidity were significantly more common among new soldiers than civilians. Although several socio-demographic characteristics were significantly associated with disorder prevalence and persistence, these associations were uniformly weak. New soldiers differ somewhat, but not consistently, from civilians in lifetime preenlistment mental disorders. This suggests that prior findings of higher prevalence of current disorders with preenlistment onsets among soldiers than civilians are likely due primarily to a more persistent course of early-onset disorders in the context of the special stresses experienced by Army personnel.

Методологическая парадигма института предпринимательства

The paper on the basis of system viewpoints attempts to substantiate the methodology of the study of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial activity and discloses the main concepts of their comprehension and interpretation. Special stresses made on the methodological importance of the theories of stratification and structural and functional analysis as well as on the concepts of X- and Y-matrix, while interpreting and studying various questions connected with entrepreneurial topic.

“I Have a Fear of Really Screwing It Up”

Since the 1980s, a growing number of American women are choosing to start a family without a male partner. Not only are these women going against the norm, they do so in an era of “intensive mothering,” which places enormous responsibility on mothers to assure that their children have every possible advantage and judges mothers for the way their children turn out. An intensive case study of one American single mother by choice illuminates a range of worries produced as a result of engaging in intensive parenting in an age of anxiety and highlights some of the special stresses that may pertain to doing so as an intentionally single mother.

The effect of pregnancy on venous valve repair to the sapheno-femoral junction for varicose veins.

Pregnancy represents a special situation where both the mechanical and hormonal instigating factors of varicose veins are reversible with the venous valve cusps preserved. Exostent venous valve repairs are a physiological alternative which minimises stimulus to collateral growth (recurrence). The study purpose was to assess the effect of pregnancy on the durability of valve repairs. In a prospective study of 36 limbs, 20 young females (30 ± 4.7 years) had an exostent implanted to the terminal valve of the saphenofemoral junction for varicose veins. At routine long-term follow up (9.7 ± 3.8 years), 38 pregnancies were completed (mean: 1.8, range: 1-4). The controls were a non-pregnant group of limbs (n = 386). At 9.7 years, the internal diameter of the greater saphenous vein (GSV) changed from 7.8 ± 2.8 mm preoperatively to 4.5 ± 1.4 mm post-operatively. Recurrence was associated with reflux, preoperative deep system and ovarian vein involvement. Pregnancy induced 33.3% recurrences compared with non-pregnant controls (4.7%) similarly treated or 22.8% compared with non-pregnant ablative controls. At 9.7 years, symptomatic improvement continued with significantly better CEAP status (described later) (31CSEAP preoperative to 6CSEAP) with no further truncal ablation (strip, laser) required. Venous valve repairs can withstand the special stresses of pregnancy. There is no need to ablate the GSV. This approach is contrary to the traditional dictum; the treatment of varicose veins should be delayed until the family is completed.

Simulation training to improve blood management: an approach to globalizing instruction in patient safety

In keeping with intent of this special issue—innovative ways to use modeling and simulation as an enabling technology—this paper addresses a global call for change in medical practice due to shifting populations, rising health risks, and increased expectation of governments to ensure patient safety. In advanced countries the basic economics of supply and demand are making a therapeutic commodity—blood—a costly treatment. In advancing states the rapid deformation of stored red blood cells and the prevalence of patient infection make standard transfusion medicine hazardous. As a result the World Health Organization has issued a call for alternatives to transfusion practice within the medical community. This paper introduces the implementation of patient blood management as that alternative standard of care, and it outlines an effective means to educate medical professionals via a web-based immersive simulation training tool. This tool was developed from evidence-based medicine, engineering and mathematical modeling, and simulations drawn from patient case studies. The medical instruction comprising this tool and its portability can readily serve a global audience of practitioners who are unfamiliar with these techniques and who are without an expedient means to obtain training. The tool is a multidisciplinary effort drawing on engineering, computer science, social science, and medical expertise. And just as this special issue stresses that simulation represents probably the only methodology to provide the human race with a tool for enabling control of mankind’s evolution. Representing the cornerstone for anticipating future critical situations, this tool responds to an imminent dilemma in the global medical community.