Appropriate choice of aggregation operators in fuzzy decision support systems

Fuzzy logic provides a mathematical formalism for a unified treatment of vagueness and imprecision that are ever present in decision support and expert systems in many areas. The choice of aggregation operators is crucial to the behavior of the system that is intended to mimic human decision making. This paper discusses how aggregation operators can be selected and adjusted to fit empirical data—a series of test cases. Both parametric and nonparametric regression are considered and compared. A practical application of the proposed methods to electronic implementation of clinical guidelines is presented

Iran, war, displacement and my choice of Joan of Arc

This paper discusses the personal perceptions that have shaped my poetics in writing La Pucelle: an Epic of Joan of Arc as part of a PhD candidature in the School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University.

One career, two identities : an assessment of gay men`s career trajectory

Most of the research on career development of sexual minorities focuses on lesbians. Gay men, on the other hand, have received little attention in the literature as it is assumed that they face fewer difficulties in career development because they are men. This paper redresses this gap by presenting an analysis of the impact of sexual identity on the career development of gay men, drawing on both a literature review of the literature on sexual identity, gay organizational studies and career development and the results of a recent interview study. In accord with other literature, the study demonstrates that gay men, like other sexual minorities, are confronted with a conflict between personal and career needs, and have to deal with society's expectations and intolerance towards homosexuality. Suggestions are given for research that will lead to a deeper understanding of the career decisions and attitudes of gay men.

Cluster housing and the freedom of choice: a response to Emerson (2004)

Comments on the study of people with an intellectual disability. Inferiority of the standard of various objectively measured variables for the people living in cluster housing; Behavior of people living in cluster housing; Consideration of a study that compared pensioners with socialites on the extent of their social networks.

The transition from schoolboy to elite sportsman: education and training and early career players in the AFL

IIn this paper we discuss some of the findings of a research project funded by the Australian Football League (AFL) titled: Getting the Balance Right: Professionalism, Performance, Prudentialism and Playstations in the Life of AFL Footballers. The research explored the following issues: the emergence and evolution of a 'professional identity' for AFL footballers an identity that has many facets including the emerging ideas that a professional leads a balanced life, and has a prudent orientation to the future, to life after football. This 'professional identity' isn't natural, and must be developed through a range of 'professional development' activities (a common link to all other 'professions'). In the AFL at this time professional development has a focus on engaging players in a variety of education and training activities TAFE & University courses, and workshops and seminars that the industry has put in place to educate players about issues that the industry sees as important.

The paper focuses on our research with players we classified as Early Career. For many of these 17 to 21 year old young men the later years of secondary schooling were compromised in their pursuit of an AFL career. Their subsequent drafting is followed by intense efforts to physically prepare for football. In this context our research indicates that many Early Career players put football first, second and third. Education and training, and professional development come further down their list of priorities.

Psychological and situational influences on commuter-transport-mode choice

The relative importance and relationship between psychological and situational factors in predicting commuter-transport-mode choice was tested by four hypotheses. First, the influence of individuals’ values on commuter behavior is mediated by their corresponding beliefs about the environmental threat of cars (mediation hypothesis). Second, the influence of these beliefs on behavior is moderated by individual consideration of future consequences and control beliefs (moderation hypothesis). Third, cost, time, and access factors contribute to individuals’ commuter choice (situational hypothesis). Fourth, situational and psychological factors jointly influence proenvironmental behavior (interaction hypothesis). A sample of 205 Australian university students completed a survey to measure these relationships. Regression analyses indicated support for the mediation, situational, and interaction hypotheses. It was concluded that to achieve a transport-mode shift to public transport, public policy strategies should focus on individuals’ transport-related environmental beliefs (personal control and environmental effect of cars) and situations (access to public transport at reduced cost).

Design, format, validity and reliability of mutiple choice questions for use in nursing research and education

Multiple choice questions are used extensively in nursing research and education and play a fundamental role in the design of research studies or educational programs. Despite their widespread use, there is a lack of evidence-based guidelines relating to design and use of multiple choice questions. Little is written about their format, structure, validity and reliability of in the context of nursing research and/or education and most of the current literature in this area is based on opinion or consensus. Systematic multiple choice question design and use of valid and reliable multiple choice questions are vital if the results of research or educational testing are to be considered valid. Content and face validity schould be established by expert panel review and construct validity should be established using ‘key check’, item discrimination and item difficulty analyses. Reliability measures include internal consistency and equivalence. Internal consistency should be established by determination of internal consistency using reliability coefficients while equivalence should be established using alternate form correlation. This paper reviews literature related to the use of multiple choice questions, current design recommendations and processes to establish reliability and validity, and discusses implications for their use in nursing research and education.

Complexities in the career-family perspectives of young professionals

Work-life balance issues are not a constant but are framed differently at different stages of the life-course. In addition to analysing behaviour, it is also important to develop an understanding of the meaning that actors attach to what they do. This article examines the perspectives of young Australian professionals on career, relationships and family. Work-life balance issues are not a constant but are framed differently at different stages of the life-course. In addition to analysing behaviour, it is also important to develop an understanding of the meaning that actors attach to what they do. This article examines the perspectives of young Australian professionals on career, relationships and family formation as these evolve over the early years after university graduation. It provides an insight into their views about the balance between their career goals and family in the early years of their professional working lives. It reports a longitudinal study of 86 young Australian professionals from 1997 to 2003, which highlights the emergent and contingent nature of decisions about careers and relationships and their relevance for childbearing. Gender plays a role in their plans and expectations but they reject the traditional male breadwinner model. The high value given to dual career relationships may put stress on their ability to balance family aspirations with satisfactory careers.yformation as these evolve over the early years after university graduation. It provides an insight into their views about the balance between their career goals and family in the early years of their professional working lives. It reports a longitudinal study of 86young Australian professionalsfrom 1997 to 2003, which highlights the emergent and contingent nature of decisions about careers and relationships andtheir relevancefor childbearing. Gender plays a role in their plans and expectations but they reject the traditional male breadwinner model. The high value given to dual career relationships may put stress on their ability to balance family aspirations with satisfactory careers.

Reasons stated by commencing students for studying engineering and technology

Responses were collected from commencing engineering students and an inventory of reasons stated for electing to study engineering was developed. Commencing engineering students were strongly career oriented; they believed that engineering would be an interesting and rewarding career that would offer enjoyment and career options. No difference was found in the principal reasons stated by respondents based on gender or course of study. On-campus students nominated principally career-related reasons for their choice of study (71 percent). While career-related reasons were still important for off-campus students, the most frequent type of responses were related to career upgrading (43.9 percent).

Career development year in emergency nursing: using specific educational preparation and clinical support to facilitate the transition to specialist practice

This article outlines the development, implementation and evaluation of the Career Development Year (CDY) in the Emergency Department (ED) at Dandenong Hospital in Victoria, Australia. As a consequence of a shortage of emergency nurses, hospitals have recruited inadequately prepared nurses to staff their EDs. The resultant increase in stress of qualified and experienced emergency nurses has had a major impact on the retention of emergency nurses. The CDY aims to provide nurses with little or no experience in emergency nursing with supported entry into this area of specialist practice. The CDY is based on three factors identified as important in the transition to emergency nursing; knowledge, clinical support and professional development. By providing beginning emergency nurses with supported entry to a new and challenging clinical environment, the CDY has been an effective recruitment and retention strategy. In addition it has demonstrated that a committed ED team has the capability to teach and nurture the emergency nurses of the future.

Measuring social welfare: application of social choice theory

This paper questions conventional approaches to measuring social welfare through gross domestic product (GDP). This paper is divided into two parts. The first part adopts a systems approach to development and incorporates this into the theory of social choice. The second part operationalises this approach through the development of a cost-benefit adjusted gross domestic product (CBAGDP) social welfare function, which overcomes certain limitations of this traditional measure of development. The CBAGDP is then used to estimate welfare in Thailand. This approach is justified because of its normative values and its plausible results.

Measuring human well-being in Thailand : a normative social choice approach

Numerous methods exist within the literature to measure human well-being. A limitation of some approaches however is that they fail to explicitly consider society's views, choices and preferences on how human well-being should be defined. It is possible though to explicitly incorporate society's value judgements in defining and measuring human well-being through normative social choice theory. Normative social choice theory reflects the views, opinions and perspectives of societies of differing economic and social circumstances so that measures of human well-being retain their relevance for public policy makers in those countries. This paper reviews two indicators based on this theory for Thailand over the 25 year period, 1975-1999. The first indicator focuses on certain hierarchical needs and the second is a measure of adjusted national income. It is concluded that both measures provide important insights.