Work ability in nursing: the role of relative heart rate reserve and work-related stress

Introduction and/or Aim(s): Western countries are facing a demographic evolution which induces an increase of the retirement age. As a result, the workforce is gradually ageing and a higher number of employees suffer from health problems. Questions are raised regarding the feasibility of professions with high physical and mental workload, such as nursing. Work ability is a concept to achieve insight into nursing. First, the association between the subjective perception of current work ability and the relative heart rate reserve (%HRR) was investigated. Second, the role of the psychosocial work environment according to the Job DemandControl-Support model, as a moderator in that association was analysed. Methods: 83 nurses at University Hospital Ghent, including 15 men and 68 women, underwent the test procedure, containing questionnaires about the subjective perception of current work ability, using the Work Ability Score (WAS), and three different work stressors (job demands, job control and social support), using the Dutch version of the Job Content Questionnaire. Finally, objective registrations of the ambulatory heart rate were executed to calculate the mean %HRR at work. Results: No significant association between %HRR and WAS was observed. Multiple linear regressions demonstrated that job control and social support were significantly and positively associated to WAS and that job demands and social support moderated the association between %HRR and WAS. In the stratified analysis, the Spearman correlation showed a tendency towards a positive association between %HRR and WAS among nurses with low social support. Conclusions and/or implications: The results imply the importance of involving the psychosocial work environment in further research on the work ability of nurses, which is highlighted by the significant positive relationship of the WAS with job control and social support. Future studies are needed to verify the current statements, using a more extensive group

[Influence of manufacturing process on properties of lateritic bricks]

In a recent paper, the authors have indicated the possibility of producing, according to an industrial type manufacturing process, bricks at relatively low temperatures, with lateritic raw materials. These bricks had satisfactory physical and mechanical performances, and were intended for the construction of average importance buildings in tropical areas. The present paper accounts for complementary results obtained according to a craft manufacturing process. The comparison of the results obtained shows that the preparation and shaping mode of the raw products plays a significant role on the properties of fired products. One concludes the paper by the recommendation for an intermediate way of production, that reduces cost and will favour its dissemination in tropical regions

Levels of personality functioning and their association with clinical features and interpersonal functioning in patients with personality disorders

Recently, the DSM-5 Personality and Personality Disorders Work Group has proposed a multiple level approach toward the classification and diagnosis of personality disorders (PDs), with the first level entailing a rating of impairments in levels of personality functioning. Although a number of measures that assess levels of personality functioning have been validated, given its prominent status in the DSM-5 proposal and contemporary theories of personality pathology, the Work Group has called for more research in this area (e.g., Bender, Morey, & Skodol, 2011). In response to this call, this study investigates the relationship between two major, well-validated dimensional measures of levels of personality functioning, that is, the Differentiation-Relatedness Scale (DR-S; Diamond, Blatt, Stayner, & Kaslow, 1991), as scored on the Object Relations Inventory (ORI; Blatt, Wein, Chevron, & Quinlan, 1979), and the Inventory of Personality Organization (IPO; Lenzenweger, Clarkin, Kernberg, & Foelsch, 2001), a self-report instrument, and their relationship with different measures of clinical and interpersonal functioning in 70 patients with a PD. First, results showed that higher levels of differentiation and relatedness of descriptions of self and significant others, and of the self in particular, were negatively related to indices of personality functioning as assessed by the IPO. Lower levels of personality functioning, as measured with both the DR-S and the IPO, were positively related to severity of depression, symptomatic distress, self-harm, and interpersonal problems. Finally, results showed that the DR-S and the IPO independently predicted clinical features and interpersonal functioning. Hence, this study lends further support for the concurrent and predictive validity of the DR-S and the IPO in assessing levels of personality functioning. However, more research concerning the validity of these measures in assessing levels of personality functioning is needed. Suggestions for further research are formulated.status: publishe

A psychoanalytically informed hospitalization-based treatment of personality disorders

This study presents a model of psychic change in personality disorders focusing on three dimensions: felt safety, mentalization and self-object relations. Based upon this model a hospitalization-based therapy program was created. Four scales to measure these three dimensions on the Object Relation Interview are discussed: the Felt Safety Scale, the Reflective Functioning Scale and the Bion Grid Scale and the Differentiation-Relatedness Scale. A naturalistic symptom outcome study of the program showed a large effect on both symptoms and personality functioning. Furthermore, trajectory based on pre-treatment patient characteristics (i.e., anaclitic versus introjective personality styles). Importantly, we also found a relation between symptomatic and personality change and change in felt safety and object relations. At 5-year follow-up, patients showed sustained improvement in symptomatic distress and further improvement in terms of personality and interpersonal functioning.status: publishe