Hypothetical Option Research Articles

Perceived career compromise, affect and work-related satisfaction in college students

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of career compromise on positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA), and work-related satisfaction (WRS). Career compromise refers to the modification of occupational preferences under pressing external circumstances [Gottfredson, L. S. (1981). Circumscription and compromise: A developmental theory of occupational aspirations [Monograph]. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 28, 549–579]. Prior research has shown that career compromise leads to diminished satisfaction and higher depression [Carr, D. (1997). The fulfillment of career dreams at midlife: Does it matter for women’s mental health? Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 38, 331–344; Hesketh, B., & McLachlan, K. (1991). Career compromise and adjustment among graduates in the banking industry. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 19, 191–208; Ocansey, F. (2000). Career compromise and adjustment among non-professional graduate teachers. Ife Psychologia, 8, 84–95]. Based on Gottfredson’s Theory of Circumscription and Compromise, Higgins’ [Higgins, E. T. (1987). Self-discrepancy: A theory relating self and affect. Psychological Review, 94, 319–340] Self-Discrepancy Theory, and Michalos’ [Michalos, A. C. (1985). Multiple Discrepancies Theory (MDT). Social Indicators Research, 16, 347–413] Multiple Discrepancies Theory career compromise was expected to have a positive relationship with NA, and a negative relationship with PA and WRS. It was also expected that the larger the career compromise, the more pronounced the effects. Participants consisted of 188 college students assigned to four compromise conditions (no compromise, minor, moderate, and major compromise) and presented with a hypothetical career option, whose desirability they had rated previously. The hypotheses were confirmed. Linear trend analysis showed that the higher the degree of compromise, the higher the NA, the lower the PA, and the lower the WRS. This study provides an extension to Gottfredson’s theory and constitutes a springboard for further exploration of the effects of career compromise.

A simulation model to assess herd-level intervention strategies against E. coli O157.

A simulation model of a herd of grazing cattle, which has been developed to provide insight into the infection dynamics of E. coli O157 is described. The spatially explicit model enables the modelling of the infection transmission processes to be realistically addressed under field management conditions. The model is used to explore the efficacy of various potential control strategies in reducing the levels of within-herd infection. These measures include restricting the size of herds, niche engineering, improving housing hygiene and vaccination. While a vaccination strategy remains a hypothetical option, it has the potential to be particularly effective. It is likely that the most successful strategy will involve the implementation of a combination of measures.

Potential new methods for antiepileptic drug delivery.

Use of novel drug delivery methods could enhance the efficacy and reduce the toxicity of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Slow-release oral forms of medication or depot drugs such as skin patches might improve compliance and therefore seizure control. In emergency situations, administration via rectal, nasal or buccal mucosa can deliver the drug more quickly than can oral administration. Slow-release oral forms and rectal forms of AEDs are already approved for use, nasal and buccal administration is currently off-label and skin patches for AEDs are an attractive but currently hypothetical option. Therapies under development may result in the delivery of AEDs directly to the regions of the brain involved in seizures. Experimental protocols are underway to allow continuous infusion of potent excitatory amino acid antagonists into the CSF. In experiments with animal models of epilepsy, AEDs have been delivered successfully to seizure foci in the brain by programmed infusion pumps, acting in response to computerised EEG seizure detection. Inactive prodrugs can be given systemically and activated at the site of the seizure focus by locally released compounds. One such drug under development is DP-VPA (or DP16), which is cleaved to valproic acid (sodium valproate) by phospholipases at the seizure focus. Liposomes and nanoparticles are engineered micro-reservoirs of a drug, with attached antibodies or receptor-specific binding agents designed to target the particles to a specific region of the body. Liposomes in theory could deliver a high concentration of an AED to a seizure focus. Penetration of the blood-brain barrier can be accomplished by linking large particles to iron transferrin or biological toxins that can cross the barrier. In the near future, it is likely that cell transplants that generate neurotransmitters and neuromodulators will accomplish renewable endogenous drug delivery. However, the survival and viability of transplanted cells have yet to be demonstrated in the clinical setting. Gene therapy also may play a role in local drug delivery with the use of adenovirus, adeno-associated virus, herpesvirus or other delivery vectors to induce brain cells to produce local modulatory substances. New delivery systems should significantly improve the therapeutic/toxic ratio of AEDs.

Environmentally sustainable development: a life-cycle costing approach for a commercial office building in Melbourne, Australia

A range of property and construction options is analysed using standard life-cycle costing methodology. The options are to renovate the existing building, buy an alternative building and renovate, and buy a development site and construct a new building. The do-nothing option and a hypothetical option to construct a new building on an ideal site are analysed as benchmarks. The results show that the optimum option is to buy a suitable site and construct a new building and that the least sustainable option, in the case study, is to stay in the existing property and renovate the building. Although staying in the existing building and doing nothing carries the lowest financial cost, energy consumption and greenhouse emissions are significantly worse than for the alternative options.

Preferences regarding treatments for period problems: relationship to menstrual and demographic factors.

Beliefs about periods and hysterectomy and preferences regarding treatment for period problems were assessed in 362 women--patients referred for menorrhagia, premenstrual syndrome, or dysmenorrhea (n = 99, 102 and 56 respectively), and a control sample (n = 105). Overall, women were predominantly in favor of a treatment which normalized periods (89%) and which coincidentally provided reversible contraceptive effect (74%), while they marginally preferred a one-off operation to tablets. Preferences with regard to contraceptive effect of treatment, effect on periods and hypothetical treatment option were most strongly related to reproductive status (p < 0.00002), in that nulliparous or unsterilized women were least likely to rate as acceptable a treatment that affected their periods or fertility. The women's feelings about their periods and their evaluation of the utilitarian consequences of hysterectomy were most strongly related to their report of menstrual problem(s), with the potential benefits of an end to periods being most often affirmed by women reporting 'severe' menorrhagia, dysmenorrhea or multiple period problems. In contrast, women's evaluation of the reproductive consequences of hysterectomy were most strongly related to reproductive status, with nulliparous women and unsterilized parous women finding them least acceptable. Feelings about periods did not predict intentions with respect to periods, or treatment preferences, and in this regard the usefulness of menstrual attitudes is questioned.