A Novel Fully Differential Second Generation Current Conveyor and Its Application as a Very High CMRR Instrumentation Amplifier

This paper aims to introduce a novel Fully Differential second generation Current Conveyor (FDCCII) and its application to design a novel Low Power (LP), very high CMRR, and wide bandwidth (BW) Current Mode Instrumentation Amplifier (CMIA). In the proposed application, CMRR, as the most important feature, has been greatly improved by using both common mode feed forward (CMFF) and common mode feedback (CMFB) techniques, which are verified by a perfect circuit analysis. As another unique quality, it neither needs well-matched active blocks nor matched resistors but inherently improves CMRR, BW, and power consumption hence gains an excellent matchless choice for integration. The FDCCII has been designed using 0.18 um TSMC CMOS Technology with ±1.2 V supply voltages. The simulation of the proposed FDCCII and CMIA have been done in HSPICE LEVEL 49. Simulation results for the proposed CMIA are as follow: Voltage CMRR of 216 dB, voltage CMRR BW of 300 Hz. Intrinsic resistance of X-terminals is only 45 Ω and the power dissipation is 383.4 μW.  Most favourably, it shows a constant differential voltage gain BW of 18.1 MHz for variable gains (here ranging from 0 dB to 45.7 dB for example) removing the bottleneck of constant gain-BW product of Voltage mode circuits

Corticotropin-releasing hormone as the homeostatic rheostat of feto-maternal symbiosis and developmental programming In utero and neonatal life

A balanced interaction between the homeostatic mechanisms of mother and the devel- oping organism during pregnancy and in early neonatal life is essential in order to ensure optimal fetal development, ability to respond to various external and internal challenges, protection from adverse programming, and safeguard maternal care availability after parturition. In the majority of pregnancies, this relationship is highly effective resulting in successful outcomes. However, in a number of pathological settings, perturbations of the maternal homeostasis disrupt this symbiosis and initiate adaptive responses with unpre- dictable outcomes for the fetus or even the neonate. This may lead to development of pathological phenotypes arising from developmental reprogramming involving interaction of genetic, epigenetic, and environmental-driven pathways, sometimes with acute conse- quences (e.g., growth impairment) and sometimes delayed (e.g., enhanced susceptibility to disease) that last well into adulthood. Most of these adaptive mechanisms are activated and controlled by hormones of the hypothalamo-pituitary adrenal axis under the influ- ence of placental steroid and peptide hormones. In particular, the hypothalamic peptide corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) plays a key role in feto-maternal communication by orchestrating and integrating a series of neuroendocrine, immune, metabolic, and behavioral responses. CRH also regulates neural networks involved in maternal behavior and this determines efficiency of maternal care and neonate interactions. This review will summarize our current understanding of CRH actions during the perinatal period, focusing on the physiological roles for both mother and offspring and also how external challenges can alter CRH actions and potentially impact on fetus/neonate health

Operational manager’s perceptions and interventions for work-related stress concerning nurse assistants who work in elderly home care

Work-related stress can be recognized as a widespread phenomenon that influences individuals, organizations, and society. Stress and work-related stress are complex issues that involve and are influenced by different factors at different levels. This exploratory study aimed to get a deeper understanding of operational managers' perceived assumptions regarding work-related stress for nurse assistants who work in elderly home care in different municipalities. Additionally, this thesis attempted to identify the municipalities’ organizational and individual interventions and investigate how they evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions. Applying the qualitative method with deductive reasoning and using semi-structured interviews (N=5) resulted in two core categories “multiple dimensions of stress and stress interventions” and “lack of effective tools”. The operational managers expressed that there is continuous a challenge to getting more budget from government to implement more effective interventions, however, they claimed that individuals' lifestyles and situations can not be ignored. Moreover, analyzing respondents’ interviews indicated that there is a lack of effective tools to evaluate organizational effectiveness. Finally, according to all respondents, municipalities do not have regular leadership training for unit managers or healthy workshops for nurse assistants to promote healthy working conditions. This study highlighted the importance of interdisciplinary approaches in investigating work-related studies including political power relations and economic contexts

Operational manager’s perceptions and interventions for work-related stress concerning nurse assistants who work in elderly home care

Work-related stress can be recognized as a widespread phenomenon that influences individuals, organizations, and society. Stress and work-related stress are complex issues that involve and are influenced by different factors at different levels. This exploratory study aimed to get a deeper understanding of operational managers' perceived assumptions regarding work-related stress for nurse assistants who work in elderly home care in different municipalities. Additionally, this thesis attempted to identify the municipalities’ organizational and individual interventions and investigate how they evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions. Applying the qualitative method with deductive reasoning and using semi-structured interviews (N=5) resulted in two core categories “multiple dimensions of stress and stress interventions” and “lack of effective tools”. The operational managers expressed that there is continuous a challenge to getting more budget from government to implement more effective interventions, however, they claimed that individuals' lifestyles and situations can not be ignored. Moreover, analyzing respondents’ interviews indicated that there is a lack of effective tools to evaluate organizational effectiveness. Finally, according to all respondents, municipalities do not have regular leadership training for unit managers or healthy workshops for nurse assistants to promote healthy working conditions. This study highlighted the importance of interdisciplinary approaches in investigating work-related studies including political power relations and economic contexts

Gender-based evaluation differences in eventual sexually harassing situations

This study aimed to investigate gender-based evaluation differences in situations that occasionally can be perceptualized as sexual harassing situations. Hypothesis stated that when women are presented as victims in an eventual sexual harassing situation, participants would rate the event as more serious in comparisons when the victims are men. The study used survey-based between-group experimental design with story-based gender manipulation of the victim’s character in fictitious stories that may or may not be attributed with low-, moderate- or high grade of seriousness into a ratio scale (0-10). Four groups (N = 120) were included and separated depending on the victims as well as the participants gender. The assumption homogeneity of variance for one-way analysis of variance was violated when Levene's test was performed. Non-parametric equivalent Kruskal Wallis-test indicated a significant difference between the groups. Further findings were presented from multiple Mann Whitney U-tests for six possible comparisons (α = .008). Five significant differences between the groups were found confirming the first hypothesis despite the strict alpha level. Concluding the results as a potential confirmation of the prototype theory.

Predicting quality in leader-member exchange relations : The role of Impersonal Trust in predicting LMX-quality

The aim of this study is to test if the impersonal trust sub-constructs serve aspredictors of quality in LMX-relations. By performing structural equation modelingwith empirical data, a model was developed that optimally predicts quality in LMXrelations. A cross-sectional survey was designed in order to gather data fromemployees in Kalmar municipality (N=574) and was analyzed by Analysis ofMoment Structures (AMOS). The result suggests that the sub-construct of HRMpractices predicts quality in LMX-relations while simultaneously being regressed bythe sub-construct management of business and people and organizing theoperational activities. Additionally, the result indicates that the sub-constructmanagement of business and people correlate with other sub-constructssustainability, fair play and communication. This study indicates the importance ofHRM-practices, managerial capability and the organizing the operational activitiesin order to predict quality in LMX-relations by increasing the impersonal trust.