Outsourcing and cutting choice in private hospital menus – does it impact on patient foodservice satisfaction?

Patient satisfaction with foodservices is multidimensional. It is well recognised that food and other aspects of foodservice delivery are important elements of patients overall perception of the hospital experience. This study aimed to determine whether menu changes in 2008 at an acute private hospital, considered negative by the dietetic staff, would affect patient satisfaction with the foodservice. Changes to the menu, secondary to the refurbishment of the foodservice facilities decreased the number of choices at breakfast from six to four, and altered the dessert menu to include a larger proportion of commercially produced products. The Acute Care Hospital Foodservice Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (ACHFPSQ) was utilised to assess patient satisfaction with the menu changes, as it has proven accuracy and reliability in measuring patient satisfaction. Results of the survey (n=306) were compared to data with previous ACHFPSQ surveys conducted annually since 2003. Data analysed included overall foodservice satisfaction and four dimensions of foodservice satisfaction: food quality, meal service quality, staff/service issues and the physical environment. Satisfaction targets were set at 4 (scale 1–5) for each foodservice dimension. Analysis showed that despite changes to the menu, overall foodservice satisfaction rated high, with a score of 4.3. Eighty-six percent of patients rated the foodservice as either ‘very good’ or ‘good’. The four foodservice dimensions were rated highly (4.2–4.8). Findings were consistent with previous survey results, demonstrating a high level of patient satisfaction across all dimensions of the foodservice, despite changes to the menu. The annual ACHFPSQ was of value to this practice question.

Host location by the fruit fly parasitoid Diachasmimorpha krausii : role of fruit fly species, life stage and host plant

1 Diachasmimorpha krausii is a braconid parasitoid of larval tephritid fruit flies, which feed cryptically within host fruit. At the ovipositor probing stage, the wasp cannot discriminate between hosts that are physiologically suitable or unsuitable for offspring development and must use other cues to locate suitable hosts. 2 To identify the cues used by the parasitoid to find suitable hosts, we offered, to free flying wasps, different combinations of three fruit fly species (Bactrocera tryoni, Bactrocera cacuminata, Bactrocera cucumis), different life stages of those flies (adults and larvae) and different host plants (Solanum lycopersicon, Solanum mauritianum, Cucurbita pepo). In the laboratory, the wasp will readily oviposit into larvae of all three flies but successfully develops only in B. tryoni. Bactrocera tryoni commonly infests S. lycopersicon (tomato), rarely S. mauritianum (wild tobacco) but never C. pepo (zucchini). The latter two plant species are common hosts for B. cacuminata and B. cucumis, respectively. 3 The parasitoid showed little or no response to uninfested plants of any of the test species. The presence of adult B. tryoni, however, increased parasitoid residency time on uninfested tomato. 4 When the three fruit types were all infested with larvae, parasitoid response was strongest to tomato, regardless of whether the larvae were physiologically suitable or unsuitable for offspring development. By contrast, zucchini was rarely visited by the wasp, even when infested with B. tryoni larvae. 5 Wild tobacco was infrequently visited when infested with B. cacuminata larvae but was more frequently visited, with greater parasitoid residency time and probing, when adult flies (either B. cacuminata or B. tryoni) were also present. 6 We conclude that herbivore-induced, nonspecific host fruit wound volatiles were the major cue used by foraging D. krausii. Although positive orientation to infested host plants is well known from previous studies on opiine braconids, the failure of the wasp to orientate to some plants even when infested with physiologically suitable larvae, and the secondary role played by adult fruit flies in wasp host searching, are newly-identified mechanisms that may aid parasitoid host location in environments where both physiologically suitable and unsuitable hosts occur.

Geoproof : proofs of geographic location for cloud computing environment

Cloud computing has emerged as a major ICT trend and has been acknowledged as a key theme of industry by prominent ICT organisations. However, one of the major challenges that face the cloud computing concept and its global acceptance is how to secure and protect the data that is the property of the user. The geographic location of cloud data storage centres is an important issue for many organisations and individuals due to the regulations and laws that require data and operations to reside in specific geographic locations. Thus, data owners may need to ensure that their cloud providers do not compromise the SLA contract and move their data into another geographic location. This paper introduces an architecture for a new approach for geographic location assurance, which combines the proof of storage protocol (POS) and the distance-bounding protocol. This allows the client to check where their stored data is located, without relying on the word of the cloud provider. This architecture aims to achieve better security and more flexible geographic assurance within the environment of cloud computing.

The role of organisational concern for workplace fairness in the choice of a performance mesaurement system

Prior studies linking performance management systems (PMS) and organisational justice have examined how PMS influence procedural fairness. Our investigation differs from these studies. First, it examines fairness as an antecedent (instead of as a consequence) of the choice of PMS. Second, instead of conceptualising organisational fairness as procedural fairness, it relies on the impression management interpretation of organisational fairness. Hence, the study investigates how the need of senior managers to cultivate an impression of being fair is related to the choice of PMS systems and employee outcomes. Based on a sample of 276 employees, the results indicate that the need of senior management to cultivate an impression of being fair is associated with employee performance. They also indicate that a substantial component of these effects is indirect through the choice of comprehensive performance measures (CPM) and employee job satisfaction. These findings highlight the importance of organisational concern for workplace fairness as an antecedent of choice of CPM. From a theoretical perspective, the adoption of the impression management interpretation of organisational fairness contributes by providing new insights into the relationship between fairness and choice of PMS from a perspective that is different from those used in prior management accounting research.

Effect of outdoor site location on calculated I/O ratios

Motor vehicle emissions have been identified as one of the major contributors of fine and ultrafine particles (UFP) in urban areas. Schools located near major roads could potentially be exposed to high levels of UPFs and school classroom is an important microenvironment where significant exposure to UFPs is likely to occur. Most of the research conducted to date has investigated the relationship between indoor and outdoor particle number concentration (PNC) in schools based on one outdoor location, which may introduce a level of error when calculating the variation of total UPFs, and can result in the underestimation or overestimation of indoor to outdoor (I/O) ratio values.

Short answer versus multiple choice examination questions for first year chemistry

Multiple choice (MC) examinations are frequently used for the summative assessment of large classes because of their ease of marking and their perceived objectivity. However, traditional MC formats usually lead to a surface approach to learning, and do not allow students to demonstrate the depth of their knowledge or understanding. For these reasons, we have trialled the incorporation of short answer (SA) questions into the final examination of two first year chemistry units, alongside MC questions. Students’ overall marks were expected to improve, because they were able to obtain partial marks for the SA questions. Although large differences in some individual students’ performance in the two sections of their examinations were observed, most students received a similar percentage mark for their MC as for their SA sections and the overall mean scores were unchanged. In-depth analysis of all responses to a specific question, which was used previously as a MC question and in a subsequent semester in SA format, indicates that the SA format can have weaknesses due to marking inconsistencies that are absent for MC questions. However, inclusion of SA questions improved student scores on the MC section in one examination, indicating that their inclusion may lead to different study habits and deeper learning. We conclude that questions asked in SA format must be carefully chosen in order to optimise the use of marking resources, both financial and human, and questions asked in MC format should be very carefully checked by people trained in writing MC questions. These results, in conjunction with an analysis of the different examination formats used in first year chemistry units, have shaped a recommendation on how to reliably and cost-effectively assess first year chemistry, while encouraging higher order learning outcomes.

Using advanced traits of passengers to facilitate route-choice decision-making

Research interest in pedestrian behaviour spans the retail industry, emergency services, urban planners and other agencies. Most models to simulate and model pedestrian movement can be distinguished on the basis of geographical scale, from the micro-scale movement of obstacle avoidance, through the meso-scale of individuals planning multi-stop shopping trips, up to the macro-scale of overall flow of masses of people between places. In this paper, route-choice decision-making model is devised for modelling passengers flow in airport terminal. A set of devised advanced traits of passengers is firstly proposed. Advanced traits take into account a passenger’s cognitive preferences and demonstrate underlying motivations of route-choice decisions. Although the activities of passengers are normally regarded as stochastic and sometimes unpredictable, real scenarios of passenger flows are basically feasible to be compared with virtual simulations in terms of tactical route-choice decision-making. Passengers in the model are as intelligent agents who possess a bunch of initial basic traits and are categorized into five distinguish groups in terms of routing preferences. Route choices are consecutively determined by inferring current advanced traits according to the utility matrix.

Imagination in school children's choice of their learning environment: An Australian study

A visual research project addressed school children's concepts of ideal learning environments. Drawings and accompanying narratives were collected from Year 5 and Year 6 children in nine Queensland primary schools. The 133 submissions were analysed and coded to develop themes, identify key features and consider the uses of imagination. The children's imagined schools echo ideas promoted by progressive educators. The results of this study suggest benefits for school designers can emerge from the imaginative contributions of children in creating engaging environments, while educational policy makers can benefit from children's ideas in the promotion of engaging, student-centred pedagogies.

Going public : do risk and choice explain differences in caesarean birth rates between public and private places of birth in Australia?

Background: Women who birth in private facilities in Australia are more likely to have a caesarean birth than women who birth in public facilities and these differences remain after accounting for sector differences in the demographic and health risk profiles of women. However, the extent to which women’s preferences and/or freedom to choose their mode of birth further account for differences in the likelihood of caesarean birth between the sectors remains untested. Method: Women who birthed in Queensland, Australia during a two-week period in 2009 were mailed a self-report survey approximately three months after birth. Seven hundred and fifty-seven women provided cross-sectional retrospective data on where they birthed (public or private facility), mode of birth (vaginal or caesarean) and risk factors, along with their preferences and freedom to choose their mode of birth. A hierarchical logistic regression was conducted to determine the extent to which maternal risk and freedom to choose one’s mode of birth explain sector differences in the likelihood of having a caesarean birth. Findings: While there was no sector difference in women’s preference for mode of birth, women who birthed in private facilities had higher odds of feeling able to choose either a vaginal or caesarean birth, and feeling able to choose only a caesarean birth. Women had higher odds of having caesarean birth if they birthed in private facilities, even after accounting for significant risk factors such as age, body mass index, previous caesarean and use of assisted reproductive technology. However, there was no association between place of birth and odds of having a caesarean birth after also accounting for freedom to choose one’s mode of birth. Conclusions: These findings call into question suggestions that the higher caesarean birth rate in the private sector in Australia is attributable to increased levels of obstetric risk among women birthing in the private sector or maternal preferences alone. Instead, the determinants of sector differences in the likelihood of caesarean births are complex and are linked to differences in the perceived choices for mode of birth between women birthing in the private and public systems.

'It had to be my choice' Indigenous smoking cessation and negotiations of risk, resistance and resilience

While Australia is considered a world leader in tobacco control, smoking rates within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population have not declined at the same rate. This failure highlights an obvious shortcoming of mainstream anti-smoking efforts to effectively understand and engage with the socio-cultural context of Indigenous smoking and smoking cessation experiences. The purpose of this article is to explore the narrative accounts of 20 Indigenous ex-smokers within an urban community and determine the motivators and enablers for successful smoking cessation. Our findings indicated that health risk narratives and the associated social stigma produced through anti-smoking campaigns formed part of a broader apparatus of oppression among Indigenous people, often inspiring resistance and resentment rather than compliance. Instead, a significant life event and supportive relationships were the most useful predictors of successful smoking cessation acting as both a motivator and enabler to behavioural change. Indigenous smoking cessation narratives most commonly involved changing and reordering a person’s life and identity and autonomy over this process was the critical building block to reclaiming control over nicotine addiction. Most promisingly, at an individual level, we found the important role that individual health professionals played in encouraging and supporting Indigenous smoking cessation through positive rather than punitive interactions. More broadly, our findings highlighted the central importance of resilience, empowerment, and trust within health promotion practice.

Thinking about Australia and its location in the modern world in the Australian Curriculum : history

The first national history curriculum is being implemented in Australia from 2013. As with the curriculums of other nations, this curriculum has evolved in response to a range of factors and its merits continue to be debated. In critiquing the sort of history education approach encapsulated in the new curriculum, I discuss some of the contextual factors and debates that have shaped the Australian Curriculum: History v0.3 (ACARA, 2012). In doing so, I also explore some of the recent international literature on how students think and learn about history in the classroom. In the third and final part of the paper, I raise some logistical issues and also question how students might engage with the notion of Australia as a nation in the modern world rapidly reshaped by the transformations occurring in Asia and share some concerns about the curriculum’s ‘world history approach’ for Year 10.