Search results for: psychological measurement

Authors: Mohamad Shariff Nurasikin, Paul Crawford, Nicola Wright

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People with any mental disorder can get benefit from the spiritual aspects of life for recovery, particularly in searching for the meaning of life and engaging in meaningful activities. However, little is known about such effects in the population of bipolar disorder. The concepts of spirituality are highly contestable, as they are too broad and removed from the original religious understanding. The concepts are more notable as encompassing multi-dimensional aspects of people’s lives such as social, emotional, and psychological. Viewing that Western or secular worldview dominates most of the literature in spirituality, it is time to explore the concept of spirituality from the Eastern and religious worldview, such as the Malaysian view. Thus, the aim of this study is to provide a conceptual understanding of people with bipolar disorder with a religious affiliation in Malaysia. This study employs a Grounded Theory and explores the narratives from the interviews of 25 participants. The narratives strongly suggest the salient resources or can be referred to as various forms of capital, as in the capital theory, namely, religious, social, psychological, and medicinal. More important is how these capitals are the enablers for recovery in mental health and well-being, where the participants in the sample engage in a more meaningful life and positive adaptations. This study also extends the Bourdieusian spiritual capital, in which the salient resources are termed as the capital bundle. More significant is how the capital bundles are working contiguously in building and accumulating the spiritual capital. This process is conducive to recovery within the social life of people with bipolar disorder or perhaps other mental disorders.

Keywords: bipolar, Bourdeau, recovery, spiritual

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Authors: Ava Zarif Sanayei, Sedigheh Sina

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Despite the advancement of radiation-free interventions in the gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary fields, endoscopy and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) remain indispensable procedures that necessitate radiation exposure. ERCP, in particular, relies heavily on radiation-guided imaging to ensure precise delivery of therapy. Meanwhile, interventional radiology (IR) procedures also utilize imaging modalities like X-rays and CT scans to guide therapy, often under local anesthesia via small needle insertion. However, the complexity of these procedures raises concerns about radiation exposure to healthcare professionals, including nurses, who play a crucial role in these interventions. This study aims to assess the radiation exposure to the hands and fingers of nurses 1 and 2, who are directly involved in ERCP procedures utilizing (TLD-100) dosimeters at the Gastrointestinal Endoscopy department of a clinic in Shiraz, Iran. The dosimeters were initially calibrated using various phantoms and then a group was prepared and used over a two-month period. For personal equivalent dose measurement, two TLD chips were mounted on a finger ring to monitor exposure to the hands and fingers. Upon completion of the monitoring period, the TLDs were analyzed using a TLD reader, showing that Nurse 1 received an equivalent dose of 298.26 µSv and Nurse 2 received an equivalent dose of 195.39 µSv. The investigation revealed that the total radiation exposure to the nurses did not exceed the annual limit for occupational exposure. Nevertheless, it is essential to prioritize radiation protection measures to prevent potential harm. The study showed that positioning staff members and placing two nurses in a specific location contributed to somehow equal doses. To reduce exposure further, we suggest providing education and training on radiation safety principles, particularly for technologists.

Keywords: dose measurement, ERCP, interventional radiology, medical imaging

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Authors: Muhammad Yasir Wadood, Fatemeh Babaeian

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By developing ultra-wideband (UWB) systems, there is a high demand for UWB filters with low insertion loss, wide bandwidth, and having a planar structure which is compatible with other components of the UWB system. A microstrip interdigital filter is a great option for designing UWB filters. However, the presence of via holes in this structure creates difficulties in the fabrication procedure of the filter. Especially in the higher frequency band, any misalignment of the drilled via hole with the Microstrip stubs causes large errors in the measurement results compared to the desired results. Moreover, in this case (high-frequency designs), the line width of the stubs are very narrow, so highly precise small via holes are required to be implemented, which increases the cost of fabrication significantly. Also, in this case, there is a risk of having fabrication errors. To combat this issue, in this paper, a via-less UWB microstrip filter is proposed which is designed based on a modification of a conventional inter-digital bandpass filter. The novel approaches in this filter design are 1) replacement of each via hole with a quarter-wavelength open circuit stub to avoid the complexity of manufacturing, 2) using a bend structure to reduce the unwanted coupling effects and 3) minimising the size. Using the proposed structure, a UWB filter operating in the frequency band of 3.9-6.6 GHz (1-dB bandwidth) is designed and fabricated. The promising results of the simulation and measurement are presented in this paper. The selected substrate for these designs was Rogers RO4003 with a thickness of 20 mils. This is a common substrate in most of the industrial projects. The compact size of the proposed filter is highly beneficial for applications which require a very miniature size of hardware.

Keywords: band-pass filters, inter-digital filter, microstrip, via-less

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Authors: Lovro Štefan

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The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the associations between the overweight/obesity status and lifestyle factors. In this cross-sectional study, participants were 1950 urban secondary-school students (54.7% of female students) aged 17-18 years old. Dependent variable was body-mass index status derived from self-reported height and weight. The outcome was binarised, where participants with value <25 kg/m2 were collapsed into „normal“, while those ≥25 kg/m2 into „overweight/obesity“ category. Independent variables were gender, type of school, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, self-rated health, self-perceived socioeconomic status and psychological distress. The associations between the dependent and independent variables were analyzed by using multiple logistic regression analysis. In the univariate model, being overweight/obese was significantly associated with being a male student (OR 0.31; 95% CI 0.23 to 0.42), attending a vocational school (OR 1.87; 95% CI 1.42 to 2.48), not meeting the recommendations for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (OR 0.44; 95% CI 0.22 to 0.88), more time spending in sedentary behaviour (OR 1.53; 95% CI 1.07 to 2.19), poor self-rated health (OR 0.35, 95% CI 0.20 to 0.56) and lower socioeconomic status (OR 0.63; 95% CI 0.48 to 0.84). In the multivariate model, the same associations occured between the dependent and independent variable. In both models, psychological distress was not associated with being overweight/obese. In conclusion, our findings suggest, that lifestyle factors are independently associated with body-mass index

Keywords: body mass index, secondary-school students, Croatia, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, logistic regression

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Authors: Lenon M. Pereira, Helen J. Khoury, Marcos E. A. Andrade, Dean L. Cutajar, Vinicius S. M. Barros, Anatoly B. Rozenfeld

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With the increase of beam widths and the advent of multiple-slice and helical scanners, concerns related to the current dose measurement protocols and instrumentation in computed tomography (CT) have arisen. The current methodology of dose evaluation, which is based on the measurement of the integral of a single slice dose profile using a 100 mm long cylinder ionization chamber (Ca,100 and CPPMA, 100), has been shown to be inadequate for wide beams as it does not collect enough of the scatter-tails to make an accurate measurement. In addition, a long ionization chamber does not offer a good representation of the dose profile when tube current modulation is used. An alternative approach has been suggested by translating smaller detectors through the beam plane and assessing the accumulated dose trough the integral of the dose profile, which can be done for any arbitrary length in phantoms or in the air. For this purpose, a MOSFET dosimeter of small dosimetric volume was used. One of its recently designed versions is known as the MOSkin, which is developed by the Centre for Medical Radiation Physics at the University of Wollongong, and measures the radiation dose at a water equivalent depth of 0.07 mm, allowing the evaluation of skin dose when placed at the surface, or internal point doses when placed within a phantom. Thus, the aim of this research was to characterize the response of the MOSkin dosimeter for X-ray CT beams and to evaluate its application for the accumulated dose assessment. Initially, tests using an industrial x-ray unit were carried out at the Laboratory of Ionization Radiation Metrology (LMRI) of Federal University of Pernambuco, in order to investigate the sensitivity, energy dependence, angular dependence, and reproducibility of the dose response for the device for the standard radiation qualities RQT 8, RQT 9 and RQT 10. Finally, the MOSkin was used for the accumulated dose evaluation of scans using a Philips Brilliance 6 CT unit, with comparisons made between the CPPMA,100 value assessed with a pencil ionization chamber (PTW Freiburg TW 30009). Both dosimeters were placed in the center of a PMMA head phantom (diameter of 16 cm) and exposed in the axial mode with collimation of 9 mm, 250 mAs and 120 kV. The results have shown that the MOSkin response was linear with doses in the CT range and reproducible (98.52%). The sensitivity for a single MOSkin in mV/cGy was as follows: 9.208, 7.691 and 6.723 for the RQT 8, RQT 9 and RQT 10 beams qualities respectively. The energy dependence varied up to a factor of ±1.19 among those energies and angular dependence was not greater than 7.78% within the angle range from 0 to 90 degrees. The accumulated dose and the CPMMA, 100 value were 3,97 and 3,79 cGy respectively, which were statistically equivalent within the 95% confidence level. The MOSkin was shown to be a good alternative for CT dose profile measurements and more than adequate to provide accumulated dose assessments for CT procedures.

Keywords: computed tomography dosimetry, MOSFET, MOSkin, semiconductor dosimetry

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Authors: Lily Ranjbar, Haori Yang

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Online education has been around for several decades, but the importance of online education became evident after the COVID-19 pandemic. Eventhough the online delivery approach works well for knowledge building through delivering content and oversight processes, it has limitations in developing hands-on laboratory skills, especially in the STEM field. During the pandemic, many education institutions faced numerous challenges in delivering lab-based courses, especially in the STEM field. Also, many students worldwide were unable to practice working with lab equipment due to social distancing or the significant cost of highly specialized equipment. The laboratory plays a crucial role in nuclear science and engineering education. It can engage students and improve their learning outcomes. In addition, online education and virtual labs have gained substantial popularity in engineering and science education. Therefore, developing virtual labs is vital for institutions to deliver high-class education to their students, including their online students. The School of Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE) at Oregon State University, in partnership with SpectralLabs company, has developed an Advanced Virtual Radiation Detection and Measurement Lab (AVR-DML) to offer a fully online Master of Health Physics program. It was essential for us to use a system that could simulate nuclear modules that accurately replicate the underlying physics, the nature of radiation and radiation transport, and the mechanics of the instrumentations used in the real radiation detection lab. It was all accomplished using a Realistic, Adaptive, Interactive Learning System (RAILS). RAILS is a comprehensive software simulation-based learning system for use in training. It is comprised of a web-based learning management system that is located on a central server, as well as a 3D-simulation package that is downloaded locally to user machines. Users will find that the graphics, animations, and sounds in RAILS create a realistic, immersive environment to practice detecting different radiation sources. These features allow students to coexist, interact and engage with a real STEM lab in all its dimensions. It enables them to feel like they are in a real lab environment and to see the same system they would in a lab. Unique interactive interfaces were designed and developed by integrating all the tools and equipment needed to run each lab. These interfaces provide students full functionality for data collection, changing the experimental setup, and live data collection with real-time updates for each experiment. Students can manually do all experimental setups and parameter changes in this lab. Experimental results can then be tracked and analyzed in an oscilloscope, a multi-channel analyzer, or a single-channel analyzer (SCA). The advanced virtual radiation detection and measurement laboratory developed in this study enabled the NSE school to offer a fully online MHP program. This flexibility of course modality helped us to attract more non-traditional students, including international students. It is a valuable educational tool as students can walk around the virtual lab, make mistakes, and learn from them. They have an unlimited amount of time to repeat and engage in experiments. This lab will also help us speed up training in nuclear science and engineering.

Keywords: advanced radiation detection and measurement, virtual laboratory, realistic adaptive interactive learning system (rails), online education in stem fields, student engagement, stem online education, stem laboratory, online engineering education

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Authors: Mi-Hyang Lee, Seung-Hoon Han

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Korean traditional residences have been built with deep design issues for various values such as social, cultural, and environmental influences to be started from a few thousand years ago, but its meaning is being vanished due to the different lifestyles these days. It is necessary, therefore, to grasp the meaning of the Korea traditional building called Hanok and to get Korean people understand its real advantages. The purpose of this study is to propose a standardization methodology for evaluating comfort features towards Korean traditional houses. This paper is also trying to build an official standard evaluation system and to integrate aesthetic and psychological values induced from Hanok. Its comfort performance values could be divided into two large categories that are physical and psychological, and fourteen methods have been defined as the Korean Standards (KS). For this research, field survey data from representative Hanok types were collected for each method. This study also contains a qualitative in-depth analysis of the Hanok comfort index by the professions using AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) and has examined the effect of the methods. As a result, this paper could define what methods can provide trustful outcomes and how to evaluate the own strengths in aspects of spatial comfort of Hanok using suggested procedures towards the spatial configuration of the traditional dwellings. This study has finally proposed an integrated development of a standardization methodology assessing the comfort performance for Korean traditional residences, and it is expected that they could evaluate inhabitants of the residents and interior environmental conditions especially structured by wood materials like Hanok.

Keywords: Hanok, comfort performance, human condition, analytical hierarchy process

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Authors: Shang-Yu Chiang, Yu-Shan Tsai, Shih-Hsien Sung, Chung-Ming Lo

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Mitral regurgitation (MR) is a heart disorder which the mitral valve does not close properly when the heart pumps out blood. MR is the most common form of valvular heart disease in the adult population. The diagnostic echocardiographic finding of MR is straightforward due to the well-known clinical evidence. In the determination of MR severity, quantification of sonographic findings would be useful for clinical decision making. Clinically, the vena contracta is a standard for MR evaluation. Vena contracta is the point in a blood stream where the diameter of the stream is the least, and the velocity is the maximum. The quantification of vena contracta, i.e. the vena contracta width (VCW) at mitral valve, can be a numeric measurement for severity assessment. However, manually delineating the VCW may not accurate enough. The result highly depends on the operator experience. Therefore, this study proposed an automatic method to quantify VCW to evaluate MR severity. Based on color Doppler ultrasound, VCW can be observed from the blood flows to the probe as the appearance of red or yellow area. The corresponding brightness represents the value of the flow rate. In the experiment, colors were firstly transformed into HSV (hue, saturation and value) to be closely align with the way human vision perceives red and yellow. Using ellipse to fit the high flow rate area in left atrium, the angle between the mitral valve and the ultrasound probe was calculated to get the vertical shortest diameter as the VCW. Taking the manual measurement as the standard, the method achieved only 0.02 (0.38 vs. 0.36) to 0.03 (0.42 vs. 0.45) cm differences. The result showed that the proposed automatic VCW extraction can be efficient and accurate for clinical use. The process also has the potential to reduce intra- or inter-observer variability at measuring subtle distances.

Keywords: mitral regurgitation, vena contracta, color doppler, image processing

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Authors: Othman Maklouf, Abdunnaser Tresh

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Land vehicle navigation is subject of great interest today. Global Positioning System (GPS) is the main navigation system for positioning in such systems. GPS alone is incapable of providing continuous and reliable positioning, because of its inherent dependency on external electromagnetic signals. Inertial Navigation (INS) is the implementation of inertial sensors to determine the position and orientation of a vehicle. The availability of low-cost Micro-Electro-Mechanical-System (MEMS) inertial sensors is now making it feasible to develop INS using an inertial measurement unit (IMU). INS has unbounded error growth since the error accumulates at each step. Usually, GPS and INS are integrated with a loosely coupled scheme. With the development of low-cost, MEMS inertial sensors and GPS technology, integrated INS/GPS systems are beginning to meet the growing demands of lower cost, smaller size, and seamless navigation solutions for land vehicles. Although MEMS inertial sensors are very inexpensive compared to conventional sensors, their cost (especially MEMS gyros) is still not acceptable for many low-end civilian applications (for example, commercial car navigation or personal location systems). An efficient way to reduce the expense of these systems is to reduce the number of gyros and accelerometers, therefore, to use a partial IMU (ParIMU) configuration. For land vehicular use, the most important gyroscope is the vertical gyro that senses the heading of the vehicle and two horizontal accelerometers for determining the velocity of the vehicle. This paper presents a field experiment for a low-cost strap down (ParIMU)\GPS combination, with data post processing for the determination of 2-D components of position (trajectory), velocity and heading. In the present approach, we have neglected earth rotation and gravity variations, because of the poor gyroscope sensitivities of our low-cost IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) and because of the relatively small area of the trajectory.

Keywords: GPS, IMU, Kalman filter, materials engineering

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Authors: Mahjabeen Akbar

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Dental aesthetics and its associated psychosocial influence have a significant impact on individuals. Correcting malocclusions is a key motivating factor for majority patients; however, psychosocial factors have been rarely incorporated in evaluating malocclusions. Therefore, it is necessary to study the psychosocial influence of malocclusion in patients. The study aimed to determine the psychosocial influence of dental aesthetics in dental students by the ‘Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire’ and self-rated Aesthetic Component of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN). This was a quantitative study using a cross-sectional study design. One hundred twenty dental students (71 females and 49 males; mean age 24.5) were selected via purposive sampling from July to August 2019. Dental students with no former orthodontic treatment were requested to fill out the ‘Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire.’ Variables including; self-confidence/insecurity, social influence, psychological influence and self-perception of the need of an orthodontic treatment were evaluated by a sequence of statements, while dental aesthetics were evaluated by using the IOTN Aesthetic Component. To determine the significance, the Kruskal-Wallis test was utilized. The results show that all four variables measuring psychosocial impact indicated significant correlations with the perceived malocclusions with a p-value of less than 0.01. The results conclude there is a strong psychological and social influence of altered dental aesthetics on an individual. Moreover, the relationship between the IOTN-AC grading with the psychosocial wellbeing of an individual stands proven, indicating that the perception of altered dental aesthetics is as important as a factor in treatment need as the amount of malocclusion.

Keywords: dental aesthetics, malocclusion, psychosocial influence, dental students

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Authors: Colm Barcoe, Garvan Whelan

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Over the past five years, visitations of American holidaymakers to Ireland have grown exponentially owing to the online strategies of Tourism Ireland, a Destination Marketer (DMO) with a meagre budget which is extended by their understanding of best practices to maximise their monetary allowance. This suggested framework incorporates a range of Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) such as financial, marketing, and operational that offer a scale of measurement from which the Irish DMO can monitor the success of each promotional campaign when targeting the US and Canada. These are presented not as final solutions but rather as suggestions based on empirical evidence obtained from both primary and secondary sources. This research combines the wisdom extracted through qualitative methodologies with the objective of understanding the processes that drive both emergent and agile strategies. The Study extends the work relative to performance and examines the role of social media in the context of promoting Ireland to North America. There are two main themes that are identified and analysed in this investigation, these are the approach of the DMO when advocating Ireland as a brand and the benefits of digital platforms set against a proposed scale of KPIs, such as destination marketing, brand positioning, and identity development. The key narrative of this analysis is to focus on the power of social media when capitalising upon marketing opportunities, operating on a relatively small budget. This will always be a relevant theme of discussion due to the responsibility of an organisation like Tourism Ireland operating under the restraints imposed by government funding. The overall conclusions of this research may help inform those concerned with the implementing of social media strategies develop clearer models of measurement when promoting a destination to North America. The suggestions of this study will benefit small and medium enterprises particularly.

Keywords: destination marketing, framework, measure, performance

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Authors: Jonathan D. Recchi

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Introduction: Workplace violence is a major concern for nurses throughout the United States and is a rising occupational health hazard that has been exacerbated by both the Covid-19 pandemic and increasing patient and family member incivility. De-escalation training has been found to be an evidence-based tool for emergency department nurses to help avoid or mitigate high-risk situations that could lead to workplace violence. Many healthcare organizations either do not provide de-escalation training to their staff or only provide it sparingly, such as during new employee orientation. There is limited research in the literature on the psychological benefits of de-escalation training. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine if there are psychological and organizational advantages to providing emergency department nurses with de-escalation training. Equipping emergency department nurses with skills that are essential to de-escalate violent or potentially violent patients may help prevent physical, mental, and/or psychological damage to the nurse because of violence and/or threatening acts. The hypothesis is that providing de-scalation training to emergency department nurses will lead to increased nurse confidence in dealing with aggressive patients, increased resiliency, increased professional quality of life, and increased intention to stay with their current organization. This study aims to show that organizations would benefit from providing de-escalation training to all nurses operating in high-risk areas on a regular basis. Significance: Showing psychological benefits to providing evidence-based de-escalation training can provide healthcare organizations with the ability to retain a more resilient and prepared workforce. Method: This study uses a pre-experimental cross-sectional pre-/post-test design using a convenience sample of emergency department registered nurses employed across Jefferson Health Northeast (Jefferson Torresdale, Jefferson Bucks, and Jefferson Frankford. Inclusion criteria include registered nurses who work full or part-time, with 51% or more of their clinical time spent in direct clinical care. Excluded from participation are registered nurses in orientation, per-diem nurses, temporary and/or travel nurses, nurses who spend less than 51% of their time in direct patient care, and nurses who have received de-escalation training within the past two years. This study uses the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 10 (CD-RISC-10), the Clinician Confidence in Coping with Patient Aggression Scale, the Press Ganey Intention To Stay question, and the Professional Quality of Life Scale. Results: A Paired t-Test will be used to analyze the mean scores of the three scales and one question pre and post-intervention to determine if there is a statistically significant difference in RN resiliency, confidence in coping with patient aggression, intention to stay, and professional quality of life. Discussion and Conclusions: Upon completion, the outcomes of this intervention will show the importance of providing evidence-based de-escalation training to all nurses operating within the emergency department.

Keywords: de-escalation, nursing, emergency department, workplace violence

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Authors: Madeline Phillips, Luis Mendez

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The 21st century has seen an increase in the amount and variety of psychological research on Latinx, the largest minority group in the U.S., with great variability from the individual’s cultural origin (e.g., ethnicity) to region (e.g., nationality). We were interested in exploring how scientists recruit, conduct and report research on Latinx samples. Ethnicity and race are important components of individuals and should be addressed to capture a broader and deeper understanding of psychological research findings. In order to explore Latinx/Hispanic work, the Journal of Latinx Psychology (JLP) and Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences (HJBS) were analyzed for 1) measures of ethnicity and race in empirical studies 2) nationalities represented 3) how researchers reported ethnic-racial demographics. The analysis included publications from 2013-2018 and revealed two common themes of reporting ethnicity and race: overrepresentation/underrepresentation and overgeneralization. There is currently not a systematic way of reporting ethnicity and race among Latinx/Hispanic research, creating a vague sense of what and how ethnicity/race plays a role in the lives of participants. Second, studies used the Hispanic/Latinx terms interchangeably and are not consistent across publications. For the purpose of this project, we were only interested in publications with Latinx samples in the U.S. Therefore, studies outside of the U.S. and non-empirical studies were excluded. JLP went from N = 118 articles to N = 94 and HJBS went from N = 174 to N = 154. For this project, we developed a coding rubric for ethnicity/race that reflected the different ways researchers reported ethnicity and race and was compatible with the U.S. census. We coded which ethnicity/race was identified as the largest ethnic group in each sample. We used the ethnic-racial breakdown numbers or percentages if provided. There were also studies that simply did not report the ethnic composition besides Hispanic or Latinx. We found that in 80% of the samples, Mexicans are overrepresented compared to the population statistics of Latinx in the US. We observed all the ethnic-racial breakdowns, demonstrating the overrepresentation of Mexican samples and underrepresentation and/or lack of representation of certain ethnicities (e.g., Chilean, Guatemalan). Our results showed an overgeneralization of studies that cluster their participants to Latinx/Hispanic, 23 for JLP and 63 for HJBS. The authors discuss the importance of transparency from researchers in reporting the context of the sample, including country, state, neighborhood, and demographic variables that are relevant to the goals of the project, except when there may be an issue of privacy and/or confidentiality involved. In addition, the authors discuss the importance to recognize the variability within the Latinx population and how it is reflected in the scientific discourse.

Keywords: Latinx, Hispanic, race and ethnicity, diversity

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Authors: Boon Yih Mah

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Web-based Cognitive Writing Instruction (WeCWI)’s contribution towards language development can be divided into linguistic and non-linguistic perspectives. In linguistic perspective, WeCWI focuses on the literacy and language discoveries, while the cognitive and psychological discoveries are the hubs in non-linguistic perspective. In linguistic perspective, WeCWI draws attention to free reading and enterprises, which are supported by the language acquisition theories. Besides, the adoption of process genre approach as a hybrid guided writing approach fosters literacy development. Literacy and language developments are interconnected in the communication process; hence, WeCWI encourages meaningful discussion based on the interactionist theory that involves input, negotiation, output, and interactional feedback. Rooted in the e-learning interaction-based model, WeCWI promotes online discussion via synchronous and asynchronous communications, which allows interactions happened among the learners, instructor, and digital content. In non-linguistic perspective, WeCWI highlights on the contribution of reading, discussion, and writing towards cognitive development. Based on the inquiry models, learners’ critical thinking is fostered during information exploration process through interaction and questioning. Lastly, to lower writing anxiety, WeCWI develops the instructional tool with supportive features to facilitate the writing process. To bring a positive user experience to the learner, WeCWI aims to create the instructional tool with different interface designs based on two different types of perceptual learning style.

Keywords: WeCWI, literacy discovery, language discovery, cognitive discovery, psychological discovery

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Authors: Renae McNair

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Subjective well-being levels were assessed in individuals diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. The current exploratory analysis sought to examine two factors that impact subjective well-being in individuals diagnosed with a chronic health condition. The two factors, resilience, and rumination, were assessed as possible moderators in self-reported levels of subjective well-being were measured. The importance of understanding the psychological state of perceived well-being in an individual diagnosed with an autoimmune disease is important given the impact of the level of subjective well-being on life longevity. In previous research, higher levels of subjective well-being are correlated with longer life longevity, including those individuals who have been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. Conversely, individuals who report higher levels of negative affect have a shorter length of life longevity. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and a report from the National Health Council, currently, 8-10% of individuals in the United States have been diagnosed with at least one autoimmune disease. Although treatment plans are in place to help manage the physical effects of disease, the psychological state of the person impacts life longevity. Resilience and rumination impact subjective well-being as an outcome in individuals diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. Resilience is the ability to adjust or adapt effectively and positively to unfavorable life conditions or events. Resilience acts as a protective factor in life, allowing those who face adversity to successfully adapt, regardless of the health diagnosis. Rumination is the worry or dwelling on the negative aspects of a given situation. Rumination interrupts the adaptive response, leading to a decrease in well-being. The relationship between resilience and subjective well-being were examined correlated with higher levels of resilience and higher levels of self-reported subjective well-being.

Keywords: subjective well-being, rumination, resilience, autoimmune disease

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Authors: K. Jankowski, M. Pawlikowski, A. Makuch, K. Skalski

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Depth-sensing indentation (DSI) or nanoindentation is becoming a more and more popular method of measuring mechanical properties of various materials and tissues at a micro-scale. This technique allows measurements without complicated sample preparation procedures which makes this method very useful. As a result of measurement force and displacement of the intender are obtained. It is also possible to determine three measures of hardness i.e. Martens hardness (HM), nanohardness (HIT), Vickers hardness (HV) and Young modulus EIT. In this work trabecular bone mechanical properties were investigated. The bone samples were harvested from human femoral heads during hip replacement surgery. Patients were of different age, sexes and stages of tissue degeneration caused by osteoarthritis. The specimens were divided into three groups. Each group contained samples harvested from patients of different range of age. All samples were investigated with the same measurement conditions. The maximum load was Pmax=500 mN and the loading rate was 500 mN/min. The tests were held without hold at the peak force. The tests were conducted with indenter Vickers tip and spherical tip of the diameter 0.2 mm. Each trabecular bone sample was tested 7 times in a close area of the same trabecula. The measured loading P as a function of indentation depth allowed to obtain hysteresis loop and HM, HIT, HV, EIT. Results for arbitrarily chosen sample are HM=289.95 ± 42.31 MPa, HIT=430.75 ± 45.37 MPa, HV=40.66 ± 4.28 Vickers, EIT=7.37 ± 1.84 GPa for Vickers tip and HM=115.19 ± 15.03 MPa, HIT=165.80 ± 19.30 MPa, HV=16.90 ± 1.97 Vickers, EIT=5.30 ± 1.31 GPa for spherical tip. Results of nanoindentation tests show that this method is very useful and is perfect for obtaining mechanical properties of trabecular bone. Estimated values of elastic modulus are similar. The differences between hardness are significant but it is a result of using two different types of tips. However, it has to be emphasised that the differences in the values of elastic modulus and hardness result from different testing protocols, anisotropy and asymmetry of the micro-samples and the hydration of bone.

Keywords: human bone, mechanical properties, nano hardness nanoindentation, trabecular bone

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Authors: Linda Frost, Lindsay Anderson, Jana Borras, Ariel Dysangco, Vimabayi Makwaira

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The academic environment in which nursing students are immersed in comes with many demands and expectations. Course load, clinical placements, and financial expenses are examples of the pressures facing students each semester. These pressures contribute to student stress and impact their overall well-being and mental fitness. Students' ability to cope with stress and bounce back from adversity is enhanced when we build their mental fitness. Building mental fitness has the benefit of improving physical health, relationships, self-esteem, resilience, work productivity, and overall contentment, happiness and life satisfaction. While self-care is encouraged to avoid burnout, there is a gap in literature on programs to help build nursing students’ mental health and ability to engage in self-care. There is an opportunity and a need to design programs and implement actions aimed at reducing stress and its adverse effects on nursing students. Nursing students require the support of people who understand the complexities of the nursing profession, multifaceted work environments in which they operate, and the impact these environments have on their mental fitness. Nursing academia is in the best position to ensure that tools are in place to support the next generation of nurses who face a career with significant emotional and physical demands. This is a mixed-method study using an embedded design. We utilized a pretest-posttest design to compare the difference in psychological capital (PsyCap) and burnout in students who have received the Mastering My Mental Fitness-Nurses™ (MMMF-N™) workshops (n=8) and the control group (n=9) who have not. Semi structured interviews were conducted with the eight nursing students in the intervention group, along with data from feedback forms to explore the impact of the workshops on student’s burnout and PsyCap and determine how to improve the workshops for future students. The quantitative and qualitative data will be merged using a side-by-side comparison. This will be in a discussion format that allows for the comparison of the results from both phases. The findings will be available January 2025. We anticipate that students in the control and intervention group will report similar levels of burnout. As well, students in the intervention group will indicate the benefits of the MMMF-N™ workshops through qualitative interviews and workshop feedback forms.

Keywords: burnout, mental fitness, nursing students, psychological capital

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Authors: S. Ebadzadsahraei, H. Kazemian

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The main objective of this research was to measure particulate matter (PM₂.₅) and Volatile Organic Compound (VOCs) as two classes of air pollutants, at Prince George (PG) neighborhood in warm and cold seasons. To fulfill this objective, analytical protocols were developed for accurate sampling and measurement of the targeted air pollutants. PM₂.₅ samples were analyzed for their chemical composition (i.e., toxic trace elements) in order to assess their potential source of emission. The City of Prince George, widely known as the capital of northern British Columbia (BC), Canada, has been dealing with air pollution challenges for a long time. The city has several local industries including pulp mills, a refinery, and a couple of asphalt plants that are the primary contributors of industrial VOCs. In this research project, which is the first study of this kind in this region it measures physical and chemical properties of particulate air pollutants (PM₂.₅) at the city neighborhood. Furthermore, this study quantifies the percentage of VOCs at the city air samples. One of the outcomes of this project is updated data about PM₂.₅ and VOCs inventory in the selected neighborhoods. For examining PM₂.₅ chemical composition, an elemental analysis methodology was developed to measure major trace elements including but not limited to mercury and lead. The toxicity of inhaled particulates depends on both their physical and chemical properties; thus, an understanding of aerosol properties is essential for the evaluation of such hazards, and the treatment of such respiratory and other related diseases. Mixed cellulose ester (MCE) filters were selected for this research as a suitable filter for PM₂.₅ air sampling. Chemical analyses were conducted using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) for elemental analysis. VOCs measurement of the air samples was performed using a Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) allowing for quantitative measurement of VOC molecules in sub-ppb levels. In this study, sorbent tube (Anasorb CSC, Coconut Charcoal), 6 x 70-mm size, 2 sections, 50/100 mg sorbent, 20/40 mesh was used for VOCs air sampling followed by using solvent extraction and solid-phase micro extraction (SPME) techniques to prepare samples for measuring by a GC-MS/FID instrument. Air sampling for both PM₂.₅ and VOC were conducted in summer and winter seasons for comparison. Average concentrations of PM₂.₅ are very different between wildfire and daily samples. At wildfire time average of concentration is 83.0 μg/m³ and daily samples are 23.7 μg/m³. Also, higher concentrations of iron, nickel and manganese found at all samples and mercury element is found in some samples. It is able to stay too high doses negative effects.

Keywords: air pollutants, chemical analysis, particulate matter (PM₂.₅), volatile organic compound, VOCs

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Authors: Fernanda F. Zimmermann, Beverley Burrell, Jennifer Jordan

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Introduction: Supportive care for people affected by cancer is recognised as a priority for research but yet there is little solid evidence of the effectiveness of psychological treatments for those with advanced cancer. The literature suggests that mindfulness-based interventions may be acceptable and beneficial for this population. This study aims to develop a mindfulness intervention to provide emotional support for advanced cancer population. The treatment package includes mindfulness meditation, developing an acceptance attitude and reflections on meaning in life. Methods: This study design is a one-group pre-post test with a mixed methods approach. Participants are recruited through public and private hospitals in Christchurch, NZ. Quantitative measures are the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II, Mindful Coping Scale and, the Meaning in Life Questionnaire. Qualitative semi-structured interviews enquire about emotional support before and after the diagnosis, participants’ thoughts about meaning in life, expectations and reflections on the mindfulness training. Qualitative data will be analysed using thematic analysis. Treatment consists of one to one 30 minutes session weekly for 4 weeks using a pre-recorded CD/podcast of the mindfulness training. This research is part of the presenter’s PhD study. Findings: This project is currently underway. The presenter will provide preliminary data on the acceptability of the mindfulness training package being delivered to participants along with the recruitment strategies. We anticipate that this novel treatment used as a self-management tool will reduce psychological distress and enable better coping for patients with advanced cancer.

Keywords: acceptance, cancer, meaning in life, mindfulness

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Authors: Bo Yan, Amy Y. M. Chow

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Bereavement is recognized as a universal challenging experience. It is important to gather research evidence on protective factors in bereavement. Hope is considered as one of the protective factors in previous coping studies. The present study aims to add knowledge by investigating hope at the first month after death to predict psychological symptoms altogether including complicated grief (CG), anxiety, and depressive symptoms at the seventh month. The data were collected via one-on-one interview survey in a longitudinal project with Hong Kong hospice users (sample size 105). Most participants were at their middle age (49-year-old on average), female (72%), with no religious affiliation (58%). Bayesian Structural Equation Modeling (BSEM) analysis was conducted on the longitudinal dataset. The BSEM findings show that hope at the first month of bereavement negatively predicts both CG and anxiety symptoms at the seventh month but not for depressive symptoms. Age and gender are controlled in the model. The overall model fit is good. The current study findings suggest assessing hope at the first month of bereavement. Hope at the first month after the loss is identified as an excellent predictor for complicated grief and anxiety symptoms at the seventh month. The result from this sample is clear, so it encourages cross-cultural research on replicated modeling and development of further clinical application. Particularly, practical consideration for early intervention to increase the level of hope has the potential to reduce the psychological symptoms and thus to improve the bereaved persons’ wellbeing in the long run.

Keywords: anxiety, complicated grief, depressive symptoms, hope, structural equational modeling

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Authors: Mila Radovanovic, Jovana Jestrovic, Ivana Mihic

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Deciding whether to have a child is a complex psychological process, and the child's birth is an everlasting change in the life of the family. Researchers from all over the world have been recognized the importance of the motivation for parenthood in latter family life, but there is no very clear picture of factors which make the difference in this motivation. One of these factors can be the method of conception and results of the earlier studies are different- some showed the differences, but the others did not. The aim of this study was to determine the type and intensity of motivation for parenting among women in Serbia and to examine whether there are differences in motivation depend on the method of conception. The total sample consisted of 94 women- 57 pregnant women who conceive naturally and the same number of women in the process of in vitro fertilization, who still haven’t known the final result of the process- are they pregnant or no. The Child Study Inventory, which estimates four types of motivation for parenthood- altruistic, instrumental, narcissistic and fatalistic-was used for this purpose. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to answer the main question of the study. The results indicate that there is no statistically significant difference between the two groups of women, while the most common is the altruistic motivation that emphasizes the psychological value of the child, and sees the motivation for parenting as a desire to give love to the child. The results are encouraging because altruistic motivation is intrinsic one and the protective factor for latter family relations and care about child and sensitivity of parents. Altruistic motivation is showed like a good predictor in developing stable emotional relationship between mother and her baby but also is correlated with the higher satisfaction with marriage.

Keywords: development of parental role, in vitro fertilization, motivation for parenthood, pregnancy

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Authors: Robyn White, Juan Bornman, Ensa Johnson

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People with disabilities are at a high risk of becoming victims of crime. Individuals with little or no functional speech (LNFS) face an even higher risk. One way of reducing the risk of remaining a victim of crime is to face the alleged perpetrator in court as a witness – therefore it is important for a person with LNFS who has been a victim of crime to have the required vocabulary to testify in court. The aim of this study was to identify and describe the core and fringe legal vocabulary required by illiterate victims of crime, who have little or no functional speech, to testify in court as witnesses. A mixed-method, the exploratory sequential design consisting of two distinct phases was used to address the aim of the research. The first phase was of a qualitative nature and included two different data sources, namely in-depth semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. The overall aim of this phase was to identify and describe core and fringe legal vocabulary and to develop a measurement instrument based on these results. Results from Phase 1 were used in Phase 2, the quantitative phase, during which the measurement instrument (a custom-designed questionnaire) was socially validated. The results produced six distinct vocabulary categories that represent the legal core vocabulary and 99 words that represent the legal fringe vocabulary. The findings suggested that communication boards should be individualised to the individual and the specific crime. It is believed that the vocabulary lists developed in this study act as a valid and reliable springboard from which communication boards can be developed. Recommendations were therefore made to develop an Alternative and Augmentative Communication Resource Tool Kit to assist the legal justice system.

Keywords: augmentative and alternative communication, person with little or no functional speech, sexual crimes, testifying in court, victim of crime, witness competency

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Authors: M. Hilmi Ozdemir, Gokhan Ozkan

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Performance Based Logistics (PBL) is a strategic approach that enables creating long-term and win-win relations among stakeholders in the acquisition. Contrary to the traditional single transactions, the expected value is created by the performance of the service pertaining to the strategic relationships in this approach. PBL motivates all relevant stakeholders to focus on their core competencies to produce the desired outcome in a collective way. The desired outcome can only be assured with a cost effective way as long as it is periodically measured with the right performance parameters. Thus, defining these parameters is a crucial step for the PBL contracts. In performance parameter determination, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), which is a multi-criteria decision making methodology for complex cases, was used within this study for a complex system. AHP has been extensively applied in various areas including supply chain, inventory management, outsourcing, and logistics. This methodology made it possible to convert end-user’s main operation and maintenance requirements to sub criteria contained by a single performance parameter. Those requirements were categorized and assigned weights by the relevant stakeholders. Single performance parameter capable of measuring the overall performance of a complex system is the major outcome of this study. The parameter deals with the integrated assessment of different functions spanning from training, operation, maintenance, reporting, and documentation that are implemented within a complex system. The aim of this study is to show the methodology and processes implemented to identify a single performance parameter for measuring the whole performance of a complex system within a PBL contract. AHP methodology is recommended as an option for the researches and the practitioners who seek for a lean and integrated approach for performance assessment within PBL contracts. The implementation of AHP methodology in this study may help PBL practitioners from methodological perception and add value to AHP in becoming prevalent.

Keywords: analytic hierarchy process, performance based logistics, performance measurement, performance parameters

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Authors: Nguyen Manh Hien

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Service quality is the highest requirement from users, especially for the service in electronic government. During the past decades, it has become a major area of academic investigation. Considering this issue, there are many researches that evaluated the dimensions and e-service contexts. This study also identified the dimensions of service quality but focused on a new conceptual and provides a new methodological in developing measurement scales of e-service quality such as information quality, service quality and organization quality. Finally, the study will suggest a key factor to evaluate e-government service quality better.

Keywords: dimensionality, e-government, e-service, e-service quality

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Authors: G. Traini, G. Battistoni, F. Collamati, E. De Lucia, R. Faccini, C. Mancini-Terracciano, M. Marafini, I. Mattei, S. Muraro, A. Sarti, A. Sciubba, E. Solfaroli Camillocci, M. Toppi, S. M. Valle, C. Voena, V. Patera

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In Particle Therapy (PT) treatments a large amount of secondary particles, whose emission point is correlated to the dose released in the crossed tissues, is produced. The measurement of the secondary charged fragments component could represent a valid technique to monitor the beam range during the PT treatments, that is a still missing item in the clinical practice. A sub-millimetrical precision on the beam range measurement is required to significantly optimise the technique and to improve the treatment quality. In this contribution, a detector, named Dose Profiler (DP), is presented. It is specifically planned to monitor on-line the beam range exploiting the secondary charged particles produced in PT Carbon ions treatment. In particular, the DP is designed to track the secondary fragments emitted at large angles with respect to the beam direction (mainly protons), with the aim to reconstruct the spatial coordinates of the fragment emission point extrapolating the measured track toward the beam axis. The DP is currently under development within of the INSIDE collaboration (Innovative Solutions for In-beam Dosimetry in hadrontherapy). The tracker is made by six layers (20 × 20 cm²) of BCF-12 square scintillating fibres (500 μm) coupled to Silicon Photo-Multipliers, followed by two plastic scintillator layers of 6 mm thickness. A system of front-end boards based on FPGAs arranged around the detector provides the data acquisition. The detector characterization with cosmic rays is currently undergoing, and a data taking campaign with protons will take place in May 2017. The DP design and the performances measured with using MIPs and protons beam will be reviewed.

Keywords: fragmentation, monitoring, particle therapy, tracking

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Authors: Tamale Vincent

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Groundwater investigation is the investigation of underground formations to understand the hydrologic cycle, known groundwater occurrences, and identify the nature and types of aquifers. There are different groundwater investigation methods and surface geophysical method is one of the groundwater investigation more especially the Geoelectrical resistivity Schlumberger configuration method which provides valuable information regarding the lateral and vertical successions of subsurface geomaterials in terms of their individual thickness and corresponding resistivity values besides using surface geophysical method, hydrogeological and geological investigation methods are also incorporated to aid in preliminary groundwater investigation. Investigation for groundwater in lwantonde district has been implemented. The area project is located cattle corridor and the dry seasonal troubles the communities in lwantonde district of which 99% of people living there are farmers, thus making agriculture difficult and local government to provide social services to its people. The investigation was done using the Geoelectrical resistivity Schlumberger configuration method. The measurement point is located in the three sub-counties, with a total of 17 measurement points. The study location is at 0025S, 3110E, and covers an area of 160 square kilometers. Based on the results of the Geoelectrical information data, it was found two types of aquifers, which are open aquifers in depth ranging from six meters to twenty-two meters and a confined aquifer in depth ranging from forty-five meters to eighty meters. In addition to the Geoelectrical information data, drilling was done at an accessible point by heavy equipment in the Lwakagura village, Kabura sub-county. At the drilling point, artesian wells were obtained at a depth of eighty meters and can rise to two meters above the soil surface. The discovery of artesian well is then used by residents to meet the needs of clean water and for irrigation considering that in this area most wells contain iron content.

Keywords: artesian well, geoelectrical, lwantonde, Schlumberger

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Authors: Cely D. Magpantay, Geolynne Marie Adel, Cire-rine Mae Concepcion, Dessa Jean Orcajada, Jorgette Andrea Santos, Orian Laurace Canaman

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Mental illness initiative is very relevant in promoting the Mental Health Bill act of 2017. In the Philippines alone, the public is more open and receptive to people at risks with a mental condition. Although it is uncommon that parents can become more psychologically unfit compared to their children, research shows that parents who are suffering from mental illness have a more significant negative effect than another family member. The impact of parent’s mental health can put their children more susceptible to acquire the same disorder. The aim of the study is to explore the lived experiences of children whose parents suffered from mental illness. It discusses how their parent's mental condition in, anyway, affects their psychological development. Using Phenomenological Qualitative Research, an in-depth, interview was conducted to five (5) consenting adults who lived with their parents diagnosed with a mental disorder. Results are clustered into four themes. The first theme is the negative emotion towards parents, the second theme is the psychosocial dynamics in caring for the patient, third is accepting the disease, and fourth is a general perspective on the family. Each themes is validated by experts and the participants. This theme generates subcomponent like isolation, shallow relationship and debt of gratitude. Along with these themes comes the fear of having a family emerged. There is a growing need to strengthen the family ties even more because of parent’s mental illness. Therefore, parental mental illness has an effect on the children’s psychological and social development.

Keywords: lived experience in Philippines, mental health, parental mental illness, psychosocial dynamics

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Authors: Hussain-Abdulah Arjmand, Nikki S. Rickard

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The response to stress can be highly heterogenous, and may be influenced by methodological factors. The integrity of data will be optimized by measuring both positive and negative affective responses to an event, by measuring responses in real time as close to the stressful event as possible, and by utilizing data collection methods that do not interfere with naturalistic behaviours. The aim of the current study was to explore short term prototypical responses to major stressor events on outcome measures encompassing both positive and negative indicators of psychological functioning. A novel mobile experience sampling methodology (m-ESM) was utilized to monitor both effective responses to stressors in real time. A smartphone mental health app (‘Moodprism’) which prompts users daily to report both their positive and negative mood, as well as whether any significant event had occurred in the past 24 hours, was developed for this purpose. A sample of 142 participants was recruited as part of the promotion of this app. Participants’ daily reported experience of stressor events, levels of depressive symptoms and positive affect were collected across a 30 day period as they used the app. For each participant, major stressor events were identified on the subjective severity of the event rated by the user. Depression and positive affect ratings were extracted for the three days following the event. Responses to the event were scaled relative to their general reactivity across the remainder of the 30 day period. Participants were first clustered into groups based on initial reactivity and subsequent recovery following a stressor event. This revealed distinct patterns of responding along depressive symptomatology and positive affect. Participants were then grouped based on allocations to clusters in each outcome variable. A highly individualised nature in which participants respond to stressor events, in symptoms of depression and levels of positive affect, was observed. A complete description of the novel profiles identified will be presented at the conference. These findings suggest that real-time measurement of both positive and negative functioning to stressors yields a more complex set of responses than previously observed with retrospective reporting. The use of smartphone technology to measure individualized responding also proved to shed significant insight.

Keywords: depression, experience sampling methodology, positive functioning, resilience

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Authors: Man Kumar Tamang, Uday Narayan Yadav

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Background and objectives: Every country in the world is facing a demographic challenge due to drastic growth of population over 60 years. Adequate diet and nutritional status are important determinants of health in elderly populations. This study aimed to assess the nutritional status among the elderly population and factors associated with malnutrition at the community setting in rural Nepal. Methods: This is a community-based cross-sectional study among elderly of age 60 years or above in the three randomly selected VDCs of Morang district in eastern Nepal, between August and November, 2016. A multi stage cluster sampling was adopted with sample size of 345 of which 339 participated in the study. Nutritional status was assessed by MNA tool and associated socio-economic, demographic, psychological and nutritional factors were checked by binary logistic regression analysis. Results: Among 339 participants, 24.8% were found to be within normal nutritional status, 49.6% were at risk of malnutrition and 24.8% were malnourished. Independent factors associated with malnutrition status among the elderly people after controlling the cofounders in the bivariate analysis were: elderly who were malnourished were those who belonged to backward caste according to traditional Hindu caste system [OR=2.69, 95% CI: 1.17-6.21), being unemployed (OR=3.23, 95% CI: 1.63-6.41),who experienced any mistreatment from caregivers (OR=4.05, 95% CI: 1.90-8.60), being not involved in physical activity (OR=4.67, 95% CI: 1.87-11.66) and those taking medication for any co-morbidities. Conclusion: Many socio-economic, psychological and physiological factors affect nutritional status in our sample population and these issues need to be addressed for bringing improvement in elderly nutrition and health status.

Keywords: elderly, eastern Nepal, malnutrition, nutritional status

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Authors: Nurlaila Effendy

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Companies in Asia face a number of constraints in tight competitiveness in ASEAN Economic Community 2015 and globalization. An economic capitalism system as an integral part of globalization processing brings broad impacts. They need to improve business performance in globalization and ASEAN Economic Community. Organizational development has quite clearly demonstrated that aligning individual’s personal goals with the goals of the organization translates into measurable and sustained performance improvement. Human capital is a key to achieve company performance. Employee Engagement (EE) creates and expresses themselves physically, cognitively and emotionally to achieve company goals and individual goals. One will experience a total involvement when they undertake their jobs and feel a self integration to their job and organization. A leader plays key role in attaining the goals and objectives of a company/organization. Any Manager in a company needs to have leadership competence and global mindset. As one the of positive organizational behavior developments, psychological capital (PsyCap) is assumed to be one of the most important capitals in the global mindset, in addition to intellectual capital and social capital. Textile companies also need to face a number of constraints in tight competitiveness in regional and global. This research involved 42 managers in two textiles and a spinning companies in a group, in Central Java, Indonesia. It is a quantitative research with Partial Least Squares (PLS) studying job resource (Social Support & Organizational Climate) and Personal Resource (4 dimensions of Psychological Capital & Leadership Competence) as prediction of Employee Engagement, also Employee Engagement and leadership competence as prediction of leader’s performance. The performance of a leader is measured by means of achievement on objective strategies in terms of 4 perspectives (financial and non-financial perspectives) in a Balanced Score Card (BSC). It took one year during a business plan of year 2014, from January to December 2014. The result of this research is there is correlation between Job Resource (coefficient value of Social Support is 0.036 & coefficient value of organizational climate is 0.220) and Personal Resource (coefficient value of PsyCap is 0.513 & coefficient value of Leadership Competence is 0.249) with employee engagement. There is correlation between employee engagement (coefficient value is 0.279) and leadership competence (coefficient value is 0.581) with performance.

Keywords: organizational climate, social support, psychological capital leadership competence, employee engagement, performance, integrated textile companies

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