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1 – 10 of 94Elena Proskurnina, Galina Portnova, Maria Ivanova and Svetlana Sokolova
An electroencephalography (EEG) examination may cause psychological stress in children with autism that can interfere with the examination results. The objective information on…
Abstract
Purpose
An electroencephalography (EEG) examination may cause psychological stress in children with autism that can interfere with the examination results. The objective information on the presence or absence of psycho-emotional stress in patients can help interpret electroencephalograms. This paper aimed to demonstrate the potential of noninvasive objective diagnostics of emotional stress in autistic children undergoing an EEG examination based on analysis of saliva.
Design/methodology/approach
This study involved 19 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (ICD-10 F84.0); the mean age was seven years. During EEG examination of the children, behavioral parameters were assessed. The activity of cytochrome P450 reductase (CYPOR) in saliva was measured before and after the EEG procedure using lucigenin-enhanced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-stimulated chemiluminescence assay.
Findings
Significant differences in CYPOR activity were found between the children who were distressed during an EEG examination and the children without behavioral disturbances (Mann–Whitney test, p = 0.002). Thus, the EEG examination resulted in an increase in CYPOR activity in saliva cells, which may prove the stressful effect of this procedure on autistic children.
Originality/value
The chemiluminescent indices reflecting the activity of microsomal CYPOR in cells presenting in saliva correlate with the absence or presence of psychological stress in children; this phenomenon can be explained by an increased metabolism of the stress hormone, cortisol, by the cytochrome P450 microsomal system. Furthermore, the proposed method is completely safe, noninvasive, rapid (recording time is 20 min), inexpensive and promising for an objective assessment of psycho-emotional stress in autistic children undergoing medical examinations.
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Neha Gupta, Manya Khanna, Rashi Garg, Vedantika Sethi, Shivangi Khattar, Purva Tekkar, Shwetha Maria, Muskan Gupta, Akash Saxena, Parul Gupta and Sara Ann Schuchert
This study aims to examine the psycho-emotional and social experiences of caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder. Various facets of the caregiving experience are…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the psycho-emotional and social experiences of caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder. Various facets of the caregiving experience are explored, including the feelings and thoughts of the parents/caregivers, such as the resilience experienced in their journey, how they coped with the challenges and also their positive experiences.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, these aspects of the caregiving experience are broadly probed using semi-structured interviews subjected to narrative analysis. Lastly, there is a focus on the role of therapist-led intervention, specifically, the Eye to I© intervention model and its contributions to the parent/caregiver experience.
Findings
Findings from this study indicate that parents benefit from interventions that bridge gaps in skills and interpersonal communication which parents/caregivers feel they encounter in their day-to-day activities. Additionally, support groups for parents and caregivers could further address these issues.
Originality/value
This exploration reveals insights about the roles of societal structures and the caregiving journey.
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Diana K. Аvdeeva, Wenjia Guo, Dang Quang Nguyen, Mikhail M. Yuzhakov, Ivan L. Ivanov, Nikita V. Turushev, Ivan V. Maksimov and Maria V. Balakhonova
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the results of recording electrophysiological signals by nanosensors during tests on volunteers using neutral questions and questions that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the results of recording electrophysiological signals by nanosensors during tests on volunteers using neutral questions and questions that cause excitement.
Design/methodology/approach
The nanosensor-based hardware and software complex (HSC) was used for simultaneous recording of electrocardiogram, electroencephalogram and galvanic skin response during tests on volunteers using neutral questions and questions that cause excitement. The recording was carried out in real time without averaging and filtering in the extended frequency range from 0 to 10,000 Hz, level of more than 1 µV and sampling frequency equal to 64 kHz.
Findings
For the first time, the following signals were recorded by nanosensors without filtering and averaging in the measuring channels: real-time micropotentials on an electrocardiogram with a duration of 0.2 ms and a level of 1 µV or more. Also, for the first time, changes in the shape and amplitude of the P wave, slow waves on the electroencephalography (EEG), high impulse activity of the EEG and impulse activity of short duration on the GSR were recorded in response to questions that cause excitement.
Practical implications
The obtained results will be used for high-resolution equipment to develop additional measuring channels in existing types of equipment for psychophysiological studies.
Originality/value
For the first time, new data undistorted by filters was obtained on the amplitude and time parameters of electrophysiological signals in the frequency range from 0 to 10,000 Hz in response to questions that cause excitement, which was due to high sensitivity and noise immunity of nanosensors in comparison with existing electrodes for biopotential recording.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine how chatbots can be used to address two key struggles that students face in first year – a sense of being disconnected from the instructor…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how chatbots can be used to address two key struggles that students face in first year – a sense of being disconnected from the instructor, and information overload. The authors propose that chatbots can be a useful tool for helping students navigate the volumes of information that confront them as they begin attending university, while at the same time feeling somewhat personally connected with the instructor. This is achieved without increasing instructor time commitment, and perhaps reducing it in large classes. The paper reveals the results of applying this tool in a large first year class and proposes improvements for future iterations.
Design/methodology/approach
A tool was designed and implemented and tested against research insights.
Findings
Chatbots are an effective means to reduce student transition challenges.
Research limitations/implications
Technology which feels social and personal as well as functioning on a tool that students use will make the student feel more connected to the course and the instructor.
Practical implications
Tools aiding transition should be easy to use and allow customizable information access.
Originality/value
Chatbots are an unexplored tool. They have the benefit of addressing information overload as well as making the student feel socially connected without increasing instructor workload.
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Despite an apparent increase in investment and commitment over the last ten years, more recent studies now give grounds for reservations about overall ability of management…
Abstract
Despite an apparent increase in investment and commitment over the last ten years, more recent studies now give grounds for reservations about overall ability of management development to meet the challenges of radical change and fulfil its strategic potential. Argues that the constraints imposed by a complex array of contextual influences emanating from an increasingly turbulent organisational system pose risks to investment and commitment in development. Unless these influences can be managed effectively, management development may start to lag behind or fall out of synchronisation with the needs and demands of managers and their employing organisations. Examines the case for a shift towards a more situated and contextual view of management development where the complex dynamics induced by radical change are considered and managed alongside or even ahead of development strategies and approaches. Posits a framework for a more relational approach and explores some of the issues this raises.
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David M. Penetar and Karl E. Friedl
Understanding how health status and physiological factors affect performance is a daunting task. This chapter will discuss physiological, behavioral, and psychological factors…
Abstract
Understanding how health status and physiological factors affect performance is a daunting task. This chapter will discuss physiological, behavioral, and psychological factors that influence or determine the capacity to fight, and will consider metrics that can be used to measure their status. The premise of this discussion is that there is a set of physiological and psychological factors that intimately affect performance and that the relative contribution of these variables is individually unique. These factors can be identified and assessed, and are amenable to modification. A fuller understanding of these variables can lead the effort to maintain and improve performance in the adverse and challenging environments of military operations.
Marios Koukounaras-Liagkis, Evdokia Karavas and Manolis Papaioannou
This paper presents the results of empirical research on the effects of teaching practice on student teachers’ teaching competence and psycho-emotional development using the “most…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper presents the results of empirical research on the effects of teaching practice on student teachers’ teaching competence and psycho-emotional development using the “most significant change” narrative investigative technique.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a qualitative research approach, the study was conducted during the academic year 2021–2022 in two phases (January and May) with the participation of 73 student teachers of the Department of Theology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) during their mentored teaching practice. Student teachers’ narratives were collected and analysed using the most significant change technique (Davies and Dart, 2005). Content analysis was conducted with the contribution of seven independent judges.
Findings
The results indicate that the Teaching Practice course with the guidance of mentors has a direct and positive effect on student teachers’ teaching competence. Mentors also seem to have a positive effect on student teachers’ psycho-emotional development. The research also confirms the reliability of the most significant change narrative technique for investigating the effect of related educational interventions.
Originality/value
The study empirically validates the usefulness and potential of the investigative narrative most significant change technique for evaluating the effects of teaching practice on student teachers’ professional development with the guidance of experienced mentor teachers. The results of the study also have implications for the design and evaluation of teacher practice programmes.
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Through adoption of the psycho-emotional model of disability, this study aims to offer consumer research insight into how the marketplace internally oppresses and…
Abstract
Purpose
Through adoption of the psycho-emotional model of disability, this study aims to offer consumer research insight into how the marketplace internally oppresses and psycho-emotionally disables consumers living with impairment.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws insight from the interview data of a wider two-year interpretive research study investigating access barriers to marketplaces for consumers living with impairment.
Findings
The overarching contribution offers to consumer research insight into how the marketplace internally oppresses and psycho-emotionally disables consumers living with impairment. Further contributions offered by this paper: unearth the emotion of fear to be central to manifestations of psycho-emotional disability; reveal a broader understanding of the marketplace practices, and core perpetrators, that psycho-emotionally disable consumers living with impairment; and uncover psycho-emotional disability to extend beyond the context of impairment.
Research limitations/implications
This study adopts a UK-only perspective. However, findings uncovered that the model of psycho-emotional disability has wider theoretical value to marketing and consumer research beyond the context of impairment.
Practical implications
The insight offered into the precise marketplace practices that disable consumers living with impairment leads this paper to call for a revising of disability training within marketplace and service contexts.
Originality/value
Extending current consumer research and consumer vulnerability research on disability, the empirical adoption of the psycho-emotional model of disability is a fruitful framework for extrapolating insight into marketplace practices that internally oppress and psycho-emotionally disable consumers living with impairment.
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Lynn Corcoran, Beth Perry, Melissa Jay, Margaret Edwards and Paul Jerry
The purpose of this qualitative research study is to explore health-care providers’ perspectives and experiences with a specific focus on supports reported to be effective during…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this qualitative research study is to explore health-care providers’ perspectives and experiences with a specific focus on supports reported to be effective during the COVID-19 pandemic. The overarching goal of this study is to inform leaders and leadership regarding provision of supports that could be implemented during times of crisis and in the future beyond the pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected by semi-structured, conversational interviews with a sample of 33 health-care professionals, including Registered Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Registered Psychologists, Registered Dieticians and an Occupational Therapist.
Findings
Three major themes emerged from the interview data: (1) professional and personal challenges for health-care providers, (2) physical and mental health impacts on health-care providers and (3) providing supports for health-care providers. The third theme was further delineated into three sub-theses: formal resources and supports, informal resources and supports and leadership strategies.
Originality/value
Health-care leaders are advised to pay attention to the voices of the people they are leading. It is important to know what supports health-care providers need in times of crisis. Situating the needs of health-care providers in the Carter and Bogue Model of Leadership Influence for Health Professional Wellbeing (2022) can assist leaders to deliberately focus on aspects of providers’ wellbeing and remain cognizant of the supports needed both during a crisis and when circumstances are unremarkable.
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Del Toro's adult fairy tales create their horror via a disruption in the familiarities of place and identity using a connection between a purposeful mise en scène and techniques…
Abstract
Del Toro's adult fairy tales create their horror via a disruption in the familiarities of place and identity using a connection between a purposeful mise en scène and techniques of sound design world-building that he borrows from the long tradition of horror filmmaking. Though the discussion of the relation between image and sound in del Toro's films would (and do) fill a number of volumes and monographs, this chapter will focus on one particular technique long-employed by horror film sound designers, music supervisors and composers: extra-diegetic sound. Where diegetic sound is the audio that is part of the world of the film and non-diegetic sound its inverse, extra-diegesis points out that these bits of audio effectively collapse the world of the character with the world of the audience. Extra-diegetic audio is a diegetic audio effect (the source being clearly seen or pointed to in the visuals) that has been sweetened, enhanced or noticeably processed to include extra audio elements that are non-diegetic, making the whole of the audio both of the world of the film and simultaneously of the world of the audience. The audience notices and can clearly hear the extra enhancements, though in the stress and horror (which is the point) of the moment these distinctions may collapse and lead the audience to confuse the real with the pretend.
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