Biomedical subjects

Irena Iskra-Golec

Publications and source records attributed to Irena Iskra-Golec.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Ultradian and asymmetric rhythms of hemispheric processing speed.

Daily changes in cognitive performance have been documented, both in time of day/effect paradigm studies and in time-isolation studies. However, in both types of studies, phenomena such as the "post-lunch dip" have been found that were difficult to explain in terms of theoretical backgrounds. These phenomena may suggest ultradian rhythms in cognitive performance. A number of studies have also shown ultradian and asymmetric rhythms in activity indices of the brain hemispheres. The aim of this study was to test three hypotheses: the first two assumed that there is a significant ultradian frequency in a component of the endogenous rhythm of processing speed, and the third assumed that the ultradian endogenous rhythms of the processing speed (encoding and recognition) of stimuli addressed to the left brain hemisphere differ in period length from those addressed to right hemisphere. During a 24 h constant-routine experiment, the memory performance of 30 participants was measured eight times (every 2.5-3 h), starting at 06:30 h. Parallel sets of words and pictures were shown to subjects in a random order in either the left or the right visual field on a computer screen. The participants pressed one of two buttons in response to the picture or word, or when answering a question concerning the meaning of a presented stimulus. Cosinor analysis was applied to individual time series data. Two significant ultradian components were found in a majority of the time series. Dominant periods were analyzed using three factor ANOVA. The results showed an asymmetry between both hemispheres in the frequency of ultradian rhythms in encoding speed.

Activity Cycles↗

PubMed2004

The impact of night work on subjective reports of well-being: an exploratory study of health care workers from five nations.

OBJECTIVE: To carry out a survey data collection from health care workers in Brazil, Croatia, Poland, Ukraine and the USA with two primary goals: (1) to provide information about which aspects of well-being are most likely to need attention when shiftwork management solutions are being developed, and (2) to explore whether nations are likely to differ with respect to the impacts of night work on the well-being of workers involved in health care work. METHODS: The respondents from each nation were sorted into night worker and non-night worker groups. Worker perceptions of being physically tired, mentally tired, and tense at the end of the workday were examined. Subjective reports of perceived felt age were also studied. For each of these four dependent variables, an ANCOVA analysis was carried out. Hours worked per week, stability of weekly work schedule, and chronological age were the covariates for these analyses. RESULTS: The results clearly support the general proposal that nations differ significantly in worker perceptions of well-being. In addition, perceptions of physical and mental tiredness at the end of the workday were higher for night workers. For the perception of being physically tired at the end of a workday, the manner and degree to which the night shift impacts the workers varies by nation. CONCLUSIONS: Additional research is needed to determine if the nation and work schedule differences observed are related to differences in job tasks, work schedule structure, off-the-job variables, and/or other worker demographic variables.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Personal age and assessment of work stress in Polish nurses.

Workers' perception of age and work stress was examined within the context of aging and work. Nurses from selected hospitals in a large Polish town completed the Survey of Health Care Professionals to assess their personal age and on-the-job and off-the-job stressors. The assessment of work performance, effort, and abilities associated with work demands and tiredness after the workday was compared between groups of subjects differing in the magnitude and direction of discrepancies between felt age and chronological age. The results showed that, compared to others, nurses feeling older than their chronological age assessed themselves as putting forth the highest effort to meet their work demands, reported more tiredness after the workday, and reported the lowest work abilities.

Adult↗