Performance and burnout in intensive care units

Abstract

The relationship between three different performance measures and burnout was explored in 20 Dutch Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Burnout (i.e. emotional exhaustion and depersonalization) proved to be significantly related to nurses' perceptions of performance as well as to objectively assessed unit performance. Subjective performance measures relate negatively to burnout levels of nurses, whereas an objective performance measure relates positively to burnout. Furthermore, subjectively assessed personal performance (i.e. personal accomplishment) is more strongly related to burnout than subjectively assessed unit performance. A model test of the relationship between both types of subjective performance and burnout reveals that nurses' perception of unit performance is indirectly related to burnout through perception of personal performance. This model holds similarly for objectively well- and poor-performing ICUs.     

Multicultural education: A new approach for a new South African dispensation

In a new South African dispensation, the reconstruction of a national education system necessitates fundamental change to existing educational policies and practices. Seen as a cultural kaleidoscope or ethnic mosaic of peoples, modern South African society can be characterised as being multicultural. It stands to reason, therefore, that multicultural education for a new multicultural South Africa has become a logical, outcomes-based necessity. The extent to which multicultural education will succeed depends largely on the knowledge, attitudes, views and conduct of the teacher as initiator, facilitator and manager of the educational and learning practice. Most teachers in this country have been trained in a monocultural context and are therefore not adequately prepared for implementing multicultural education. All educators in South Africa who are seriously concerned with the formal education of children will have to become equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to initiate and facilitate optimal learning in a multicultural context. What is needed is an innovative and studious predisposition, cultural reappraisal, and the acceptance of co-ownership in building a new democratic dispensation for South Africa. Teachers within multicultural school contexts need to bring about this conceptual paradigm shift in the hearts and minds of young people.     

A Combined D.C. Optimization—Ellipsoidal Branch-and-Bound Algorithm for Solving Nonconvex Quadratic Programming Problems

In this paper we propose a new branch-and-bound algorithm by using an ellipsoidal partition for minimizing an indefinite quadratic function over a bounded polyhedral convex set which is not necessarily given explicitly by a system of linear inequalities and/or equalities. It is required that for this set there exists an efficient algorithm to verify whether a point is feasible, and to find a violated constraint if this point is not feasible. The algorithm is based upon the fact that the problem of minimizing an indefinite quadratic form over an ellipsoid can be efficiently solved by some available (polynomial and nonpolynomial time) algorithms. In particular, the d.c. (difference of convex functions) algorithm (DCA) with restarting procedure recently introduced by Pham Dinh Tao and L.T. Hoai An is applied to globally solving this problem. DCA is also used for locally solving the nonconvex quadratic program. It is restarted with current best feasible points in the branch-and-bound scheme, and improved them in its turn. The combined DCA-ellipsoidal branch-and-bound algorithm then enhances the convergence: it reduces considerably the upper bound and thereby a lot of ellipsoids can be eliminated from further consideration. Several numerical experiments are given.     

高校文学课程立体化教学改革探索

近年来我国高校文学课程教学改革一直呼声不断，但效果甚微。其主要原因是理念谈得多，而把理论转化为实践，摸索出的可操作性内容较少。据此，笔者提出文学教学改革具体实施方略。呼吁突破传统教学方法，摆脱教材束缚，增加课堂灵活度；提倡课堂教学回归文学性，重视学生实践能力培养，将教学内容划分板块，使其层次化；着力延伸课外教学，加强学生自主学习性，使课外教学丰富化、多样化；完善考核评价机制，提高教学实施效果，最终实现立体化教学新模式。     

新中国少数民族题材美术的话语实践

新中国少数民族题材美术创作的产生和发展与中国近现代文化转型时期的文化内部需求密切相关,作为新中国文化史上重要的视觉文本,其创作成果形象地见证了中国近现代文化向多元一体文化格局转化的过程,而其创作历程则是中国美术家立足于本土文化资源,传承与重构中华民族文化脉络,致力于实现文化自主价值,对抗文化"同质化"趋势的话语实践。     

农业适度规模家庭经营的理论思考与政策建议

农业是经济再生产和自然生命再生产密切结合的产业,此特点决定了农业生产过程无法像工业生产过程那样进行精确的计量和监督,在组织形式的选择上,决定了家庭是农业生产的基本单元。家庭不仅是一个经济活动单元,更是一个由血缘关系联系起来的生命共同体,其成员之间容易形成共识与合力,为着共同利益和共同目标努力,不计利害,无需监督管理。当前实践中出现的合作社、工商资本直接进入农业生产过程的目的更多的在于获取国家财政补贴、土地增值收益及其他更高的非农或非粮收益,长此以往,必将对我国粮食安全及社会稳定产生重大影响。因此,必须对这种现象保持高度警惕。     

适度金融资本与中国农业经济增长——基于向量自回归（VAR）模型的实证分析

应用新古典经济增长模型对适度金融资本与经济增长之间的关系进行了理论分析。基于VAR模型对中国农村金融资本与农业经济增长的数量关系进行了实证检验。实证结果表明,1985-2011年间中国农村金融发展并不与农业经济增长相适应。具有外生性的农村金融资本深化率并没有成为农业经济增长的有利因素,而具有内生性的农村金融资本比率和农业金融资本比率却有助于农业经济增长。     

农村成人职业教育发展的新思维

要提高农民的社会地位和社会参与能力,就需要改变农民的思想意识,提高他们的素质,因此就迫切需要对他们实施补偿性教育。对农民实施补偿性教育,要着眼于农村成人职业教育以促进农村产业的技术升级,促进农民向具有从事现代农业生产能力的新式农民转化,并不断提高农村对人才的吸引力和吸附力;使农村乃至整个社会实现结构性社会流动,促使进城的农村劳动者能够获得更多的就业机会和提升其就业层次,帮助他们最终实现身份改变和人格转换,成为真正的城市人。     

结缕草基因遗传转化研究的相关进展

结缕草（Zoysia spp．）主要分布在东亚,它是当前广泛应用的有众多优良特性的暖季型草坪草．综述了结缕草植株再生体系的高效建立方法、抗性基因遗传转化及转基因结缕草对生态环境的影响。旨在为通过生物技术手段引入相关抗性基因增强结缕草的抗逆性及延长绿期等提供参考．     

论语言变化的影响因素

本文旨辨析语言变化的不同观点和语言变化的影响因素。包括以时间纵轴对语言在历史上的整个变化;在同一时代范围内,由于社会阶层的需求、强势文化的冲击、地域差异以及新技术的使用对群体语言变化的影响;以及微观的个体语言的变化,如个人年龄、性别、性格、教养、受教育程度、使用语言的环境和背景等。