Developing Box-Pushing Behaviours Using Evolutionary Robotics

The context of this report and the IRIDIA laboratory are described in the preface. Evolutionary Robotics and the box-pushing task are presented in the introduction.The building of a test system supporting Evolutionary Robotics experiments is then detailed. This system is made of a robot simulator and a Genetic Algorithm. It is used to explore the possibility of evolving box-pushing behaviours. The bootstrapping problem is explained, and a novel approach for dealing with it is proposed, with results presented.Finally, ideas for extending this approach are presented in the conclusion.

New graduate nurses' developmental trajectories for capability beliefs concerning core competencies for healthcare professionals : A national cohort study on patient-centered care, teamwork and evidence-based practice.

Background: This study aimed to describe the developmental trajectories of registered nurses' capability beliefs during their first 3 years of practice. The focus was on three core competencies for health professionals-patient-centered care, teamwork, and evidence-based practice. Methods: A national cohort of registered nurses (n = 1,205) was recruited during their nursing education and subsequently surveyed yearly during the first 3 years of working life. The survey included 16 items on capability beliefs divided into three subscales for the assessment of patient-centered care, teamwork, and evidence-based practice, and the data were analyzed with linear latent growth modeling. Results: The nurses' capability beliefs for patient-centered care increased over the three first years of working life, their capability beliefs for evidence-based practice were stable over the 3 years, and their capability beliefs for teamwork showed a downward trend. Linking evidence to action: Through collaboration between nursing education and clinical practice, the transition to work life could be supported and competence development in newly graduated nurses could be enhanced to help them master the core competencies. Future research should focus on determining which factors impact the development of capability beliefs in new nurses and how these factors can be developed by testing interventions.