Principles Of Choice Research Articles

The Radical Transparency of Cities - Lost Public Anonymity and its Consequences

In a time of rapid development in privacy and data protection laws, the state of urban life has much to tell us about their long run effectiveness. Compared to even the recent past, major cities have largely lost the definitive public anonymity and obscurity that has characterised urban life for centuries. Saturated with sensors networked to powerful data analytics, they are at the epicentre of an ongoing revolution in governmental and commercial surveillance. In short, the future radical transparency of all human life is already emerging in our major cities. This paper addresses a crucial question. Given a hundred years of privacy and then data protection law, how did this happen? In this paper, I argue that the explanation for this long running failure lies substantially in the wider political economy of information law, which continues to shape and limit the capacities of privacy and data protection law. The prevailing liberal democratic model of information law is structured around two key concerns: protecting the state’s powers of ultimate access to information and ensuring that all information remains potentially marketable. The particular vulnerability of personal information to demands for state and market access is, however, much more than a matter of political and economic power imbalances. Information law has developed through a dynamic relationship between governmental and commercial information uses and the continuous application of new technologies that render information more accessible and usable. Over the long history of privacy and data protection laws, technologies have thus played a uniquely important role in catalysing the erosion of existing personal information protections and creating opportunities for strengthening access rights. The formidable privacy of physical circumstances, which was an ordinary and often unremarkable feature of life, has been gradually eroded away. The contested re-construction of that privacy through law has been, in comparison, porous and compromised. I explain this claim through three illustrations: First, in the transformation of the concepts of public space and public domain, which are frequently used to justify access to personal information with minimal safeguards; Second, in the conflict within the principles of individual consent and choice, which provide the cornerstone for both personal autonomy and marketability of information; and, Third, in the comparative structural weaknesses of privacy and data protection laws as a field within the wider sphere of information law. Whether societies find more effective boundaries against further transparency or even change the governance of how personal information is accessed and used in conditions of transparency are primarily political and economic questions. Constructive changes in law and regulation can, however, feed into those wider processes of decision making. In its final part, the paper discusses ways in which important elements of privacy and data protection laws could be used more effectively. This includes current efforts to use diverse forms of collaborative public scrutiny and accountability to challenge information law’s embedded preferences towards access and use. Cities, not surprisingly, remain the test bed for success or failure.

Principles of Collective Choice and Constraints of Fairness

In “The Difference Principle Would Not Be Chosen behind the Veil of Ignorance,” Johan E. Gustafsson argues that the parties in the Original Position (OP) would not choose the Difference Principle to regulate their society’s basic structure. In reply to this internal critique, we provide two arguments. First, his choice models do not serve as a counterexample to the choice of the difference principle, as the models must assume that individual rationality scales to collective contexts in a way that begs the question in favor of utilitarianism. Second, the choice models he develops are incompatible with the constraints of fairness that apply in the OP, which by design subordinates claims of rationality to claims of impartiality. When the OP is modeled correctly the difference principle is indeed entailed by the conditions of the OP.

Principle of the free choice of the Nature in forest ecosystems

The free choice of the Nature is understood here as formation of forest ecosystems under action of natural mechanisms of biotic autoregulation. The methodology of researches is based on uniform of ecological and genetics analysis of a condition of forest ecosystems and assessment of a role of key adaptive mechanisms in regulation of pathogenic processes in forest ecosystems.The primary factor that causing the long-term changes in forests tree mortality, tree growth and recruitment is interspecific and intraspecific competition. Competition among tree species is most important. Natural selection is a key mechanism of adaptation, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Survival and reproduction of individual due to differences in phenotype. Variation exists within all populations of organisms. Offspring inherits mutations of parents. Inbreeding influences a condition of populations in forest ecosystems. Sexual reproduction of offspring can lead to a decreased biological fitness of a population. Inbreeding depression is especially dangerous in relative small populations. Ability of forest populations to survive and reproduce is dynamic. Sometimes it leads to epidemics of parasitic organisms. Allelic drift may reduce genetic variation in forest populations by disappear gene variants. The relevant problem is in providing freedom of action of natural mechanisms of biotic regulation in forest ecosystems. This problem is solved through formation of high-heterogeneous mosaic forest plantings.Such plantings are capable to long sustainable development without use of chemical and biological pesticides in the conditions of the changing global and local conditions.The long approbation of innovative forest plantings took place in conditions of the Central Russian forest-steppe.Ecosystem regulation of pathogenesis was successful.

Difficulties and countermeasures of diagnosis and treatment of biliary dilatation

The pathogenesis of biliary dilatation is unclear and the preoperative evaluation of pancreaticobiliary junction type is still difficult. The indication of minimally invasive surgery is limited. Diagnosis and treatment of gestational biliary dilatation and reoperation of biliary dilatation are two tricky problems. There are two dilemmas in the treatment of biliary dilatation, including the balance between radical resection of pathological bile ducts and organ reservation, as well as balance between radical resection of pathological bile ducts and surgical safety. The most difficult regions of diagnosis and treatment lie in the hilar dilated bile duct and dilated bile duct in the pancreatic segment. Dong′s classification simplifies the classification of extrahepatic bile duct dilatation and subdivides the classification of intrahepatic bile duct dilatation on the basis of Todani classification. It highlights the difficulties of treatment and provides more accurate basis for choosing appropriate method according to the classification. The therapeutic goals of biliary dilatation are the radical excision of pathological bile duct, removal of the secondary lesions and reconstruction of excellent cholangiojejunostomy. The principle of surgical procedure choice is choosing appropriate method according to the classification. Perihilar surgery technique and pancreatic door plate descending technique can be used to deal with the dilated bile ducts at hilar and pancreatic segment on the basis of accurate evaluation in order to improve the thoroughness and security of pathological bile duct resection. Not only short-term complications such as postoperative bile leakage and pancreatic leakage require management, but radical resection of lesion and long-term life quality of patients should be paid more attention. Key words: Biliary dilatation; Perihilar surgery technique; Dong′s classification; Pancreatic door plate descending technique

Rural development in Wales: looking backwards, looking forwards

Compared with the rest of the United Kingdom, Wales’ rural areas are more important, and also quite markedly different. This article examines a few lessons that should have been learned about rural development policy, and speculates about possible directions for its future development. It begins by deconstructing some potent myths about rural development that act as barriers to achieving spatial justice in Wales. Discussion then turns to how to establish more nuanced principles for policy development and possible choices for implementation beyond 2019.

Forms of Choice in Ring Theory

We investigate the relationship between various choice principles and nhbox {th}-root functions in rings. For example, we show that the Axiom of Choice is equivalent to the statement that every ring has a square-root function. Furthermore, we introduce a choice principle which implies that every integral domain has an nhbox {th}-root function (for odd integers n), and introduce another choice principle which is equivalent to the Prime Ideal Theorem restricted to certain ideals. Finally, we investigate the dependencies between the two new choice principles and a choice principle for families of n-element sets.

Improving Patient-Provider Partnerships across the Healthcare System

Background: Patient engagement has been identified as a central element of patient-centred care, and engaged patients are more likely to understand their health conditions, participate in treatment plans, and report greater satisfaction with their healthcare 1. Despite the widely recognized benefits of a more patient-centred healthcare system, there is a lack of consensus on how this can be achieved. Patients and their caregivers wish to be engaged in decision-making, but this is often not well accommodated in existing practice models. In prior work, we synthesized available evidence around engagement of older adults in healthcare decision-making into the “CHOICE” Patient Engagement Framework 2. The CHOICE framework emphasizes the development of meaningful relationships that allow mutual understanding of values and preferences. In partnership with patients, caregivers and health care providers, this current project aimed to answer the following questions: 1 How do the CHOICE principles correspond with actual experiences of engagement? 2 What factors currently facilitate or hinder engagement? and 3 What resources and materials are needed to support patient engagement? Methods: We conducted observations and interviews in two healthcare settings with providers n=10 and older adults n=15 to understand current perspectives, practices, and facilitating/hindering factors related to patient engagement. Health care providers n=120 were also consulted in a facilitated one-day workshop, with notes taken of small group discussion and individual feedback. Observation and interview data were analyzed using emergent coding as well as directed coding guided by the CHOICE Framework. Results: Experiences of engagement were consistent with the CHOICE Framework, and confirmed the importance of: understanding the whole patient; recognizing the importance of family caregivers; and training health care providers to engage patients and families in a meaningful way. System constraints, lack of education, and family dynamics present challenges to engagement of patients and families in decision-making. Flexibility in care approaches, knowledgeable care providers, and the building of trusting relationships facilitate more meaningful engagement. Healthcare providers indicated a need for more education on strategies for meaningful engagement of patients and families in decision-making; preferred education modalities include hands-on workshops and e-learning modules. Discussion & Conclusions: Our study found that elements of the CHOICE framework are relevant to the development of meaningful patient-provider engagement. Resources and education may facilitate these partnerships, but current practice and system constraints will challenge these efforts. Lessons Learned: In the current health care system, regardless of strategies and resources provided; it is difficult to take the time to have meaningful conversations with patients during clinic appointments. Building trusting relationships is key to successful patient-provider partnerships. Limitations: Work to date has been limited to primary and community care settings. Suggestions for Future Research: The resources and materials co-designed in this project will be implemented as part of a larger study to improve patient and family caregiver engagement in primary care settings. In future work, we aim to link engagement strategies, which enable mutual understanding of values and preferences, with tools for shared decision-making that support consideration of available research evidence.

A theorem of target points for the ground reaction force in a planar serial-linked walking limb

An important energy expense in the legged locomotion of both animals and robots is the mechanical antagonism between muscles/actuators, which is the positive mechanical work of some muscles opposed by the simultaneous negative work of the others. One known way to minimize the mechanical antagonism is the proper employment of the redundant degrees of freedom of the limb. Here, I present and analyze a generalized model of a planar serial-linked limb composed of any number of segments and conclude that the minimization of the inter-actuator antagonism requires fixation of all the joint angles except the two defined by simple geometric considerations. So, regardless of the number of joints, the limb should optimally act as a two-joint system. Which of the redundant joints to fix or move depends on the instantaneous position of the joints relative to the vertical line through the center of the foot contact with the ground. Subsequently, for the first time, I pose and solve the following problem: how to eliminate the inter-actuator antagonism by the adjustment of the horizontal component of the ground reaction force. The solution is that, during the contact phase, the ground reaction force vector should be redirected so as to maintain alignment with the limb joints in the order in which they attain the smallest angular deflection from the vertical line through the foot. As the joints pass the vertical line through the point of limb contact with the ground one by one, abrupt changes of the horizontal ground force component from positive to negative should occur. Mammals cannot follow this algorithm exactly due to muscular actuator limitations and they tend to align the ground reaction force with some compromise target point above the hip or scapula. The suggested principles of the optimal choice of redundant degrees of freedom and direction of the ground reaction force can be implemented in robotics to achieve a lower cost of transport than is known for animals.

Connectedness of the continuum in intuitionistic mathematics

AbstractWorking in (Intuitionistic analysis) we prove a strong, constructive connectedness property of the continuum: for any non‐empty sets, A and B, if then is non‐empty. It is well known that the intuitionistic continuum is indecomposable: if and then or , but this property is essentially negative—equivalent to if A, B are non‐empty and then . Our connectedness property is positive; so, given , , and a witness to , to prove our theorem we must construct a real number . We can construct the needed real number using only Bishop's constructive mathematics () and a weak form of Brouwer's continuity principle (and the choice principles that come from the Brouwer‐Heyting‐Kolmogorov interpretation of quantifiers in constructive type theory). We also replace indecomposability by connectedness in some results of van Dalen that use additional intuitionistic axioms.

Expectorants: principles of choice and possibilities of modern herbal therapy

Herbal therapy occupies a special niche in the treatment of acute respiratory infections. The article discusses the causes and mechanisms of cough, as well as the possibility of its therapy with herbal drugs. It presents the multipurpose effect of phytopreparations on all components of the cough pathogenesis: they facilitate expectoration, improve the bronchial drainage, as well as the antimicrobial effect, which is an integral part of the treatment. The authors highlighted the compatibility of phytopreparations with other drugs for the treatment of respiratory pathology.

Theory Choice, Theory Change, and Inductive Truth-Conduciveness

(I) Synchronic norms of theory choice, a traditional concern in scientific methodology, restrict the theories one can choose in light of given information. (II) Diachronic norms of theory change, as studied in belief revision, restrict how one should change one’s current beliefs in light of new information. (III) Learning norms concern how best to arrive at true beliefs. In this paper, we undertake to forge some rigorous logical relations between the three topics. Concerning (III), we explicate inductive truth conduciveness in terms of optimally direct convergence to the truth, where optimal directness is explicated in terms of reversals and cycles of opinion prior to convergence. Concerning (I), we explicate Ockham’s razor and related principles of choice in terms of the information topology of the empirical problem context and show that the principles are necessary for reversal or cycle optimal convergence to the truth. Concerning (II), we weaken the standard principles of agm belief revision theory in intuitive ways that are also necessary (and in some cases, sufficient) for reversal or cycle optimal convergence. Then we show that some of our weakened principles of change entail corresponding principles of choice, completing the triangle of relations between (I), (II), and (III).

СОЦІАЛЬНО-ПСИХОЛОГІЧНИЙ ТРЕНІНГ В СИСТЕМІ ПІДГОТОВКИ МАЙБУТНІХ ПРАКТИЧНИХ ПСИХОЛОГІВ ЗАКЛАДІВ ОСВІТИ: ПРИНЦИПИ ТА СТРАТЕГІЇ ПОБУДОВИ ПРОГРАМ

The article considers the socio-psychological training as a system of active training of the practical psychologists of educational institutions for their future professional activity. We have analyzed the theoretical works of domestic and foreign scientists-psychologists which show that the important advantage of the social-psychological training is the use of the educational effect of group interactions and the implementation of the principle of the activity from its participants. The task of social and psychological training is defined as the acquisition of knowledge in the field of psychology of the personality and group; the formation and development of communication skills, the correction and development of the personality, the formation, correction and development of facilities for successful communication, the development of the ability to properly comprehend and evaluate yourself, other people, as well as relationships between people. The functions of social psychological training are determined as the assistance to the students for revising their own psychological picture of the professional activity, for comparing it with ideal models; creation of conditions that facilitate the development of the professional competences, development of readiness for professional creativity; promotion of the process of own creative personal and professional growth; ensuring the growth of linguistic, psychological knowledge, skills and abilities; adjusting if necessary, certain elements of the psychologist’s activity; the formation of positive relationships and behavior in the group. The basic principles of the designing training programs are considered as the principle of creating a motivational microenvironment, the principle of creating a reflexive microenvironment, the organizing principle of the search-heuristic microenvironment, the principle of free choice and without value judgments, the principle of adequate level of difficulty, the principle of educational problem situations, the principle of alternation of logical and heuristic activity, the principle of the thinking activation components, the principle of continuity, the principle of information enrichment. Strategies of the designing the training programs are presented as the combinatorial strategy, the analog search strategy, the reconstructive action strategy, the universal strategy, the strategy of random substitutions or spontaneous actions.

Egalitarianism under Severe Uncertainty

In the spring of 2009, a novel strain of the H1N1 influenza virus, containing a never before witnessed combination of gene segments from human influenza, two forms of swine influenza, and avian influenza, 1 was declared a global pandemic. The UK Government had to decide whether to undertake, at a cost of £1.2 billion (USD 1.9 billion at the time, equivalent to 1 percent of that year’s health budget), an extensive set of preparatory measures, including the purchase of both antiviral medication and a novel vaccine in quantities sufficient to cover the entire UK population, or whether instead to take substantially less costly measures, which would involve having only a limited supply of these medicines and vaccines at hand.2 The possible.

Adoption of Local Values for Bureaucratic Reform in Lampung Province

Bureaucratic reform is not only dealing with structural aspects but also cultures that are difficult to change. However, it can be done by adopting the values embedded in the cultural identity of the community. This study aims to identify the local values that can be adopted to reform the bureaucracy in Lampung Province and develop those model values. Qualitative approaches are used with data collection techniques of interviews, documentation, and focus group discussions. The research location is in Lampung Province and involves research informants consist of traditional and bureaucratic leaders. Data analysis techniques used is interactive data analysis model. The research results identify 4 (four) local values, namely Piil Pesengiri (Principle of Success), Nemu Nyimah (Principle of Choice), Nengah Nyappur (Principle of Equality) and Sakai Sambayan (Principles of Cooperation). The adoption model of local values can be developed through a conciliation approach strategy. This approach is chosen because it provides guidance to change bureaucratic culture into a better effectiveness and could minimize the conflicts that may happen.

The strength of prime separation, sobriety, and compactness theorems

We investigate in ZF set theory without choice principles a general lattice-theoretical prime separation lemma and compare it with diverse statements about variants of the sobriety concept for topological spaces. Some of these properties coincide in the presence of choice principles but differ in their absence. UP, the Ultrafilter Principle (or, equivalently, the Prime Ideal Theorem) is not only equivalent to the Separation Lemma, but also necessary and sufficient for the desired coincidences. Furthermore, we prove the equivalence of UP to several statements about filtered systems of compact sets, among them the Hofmann–Mislove Theorems, several compact intersection theorems, and an irreducible transversal theorem. Moreover, many fundamental dualities between certain categories of topological spaces and categories of ordered structures turn out to be equivalent to UP. But we also give choice-free proofs for such dualities, amending slightly the involved definitions.

Presenting primary care teams to the public: a qualitative exploration of general practice websites

BackgroundIncreasing demand and expanded primary care provision, coupled with a reduced GP workforce present challenges for primary care. New workforce models aim to reduce general practitioner workload by directing patients to a variety of alternative clinicians. Concurrently, the principle of patient choice in relation to healthcare providers has gained prominence. It is, therefore, necessary to provide patients with sufficient information to negotiate access to appropriate primary healthcare professionals.AimTo explore how practice websites present three exemplar healthcare professional groups (GPs, advanced nurse practitioners [ANPs], and practice nurses [PNs]) to patients and the implications for informing appropriate consultation choices.MethodQualitative thematic analysis of a sample of general practice websites. 79 accessible websites from a district in England were thematically analysed in relation to professional representation and signposting of the three identified professional groups.ResultsInformation about each group was incomplete, inconsistent and sometimes inaccurate across the majority of general practice websites. There was a lack of coherence and strategy in representation and direction of website users towards appropriate primary healthcare practitioners.ConclusionLimited and unclear representation of professional groups on general practice websites may have implications for the direction of patients to the wider clinical healthcare team. Patients may not have appropriate information to make choices about consulting with different healthcare practitioners. This constitutes a missed opportunity to signpost patients to appropriate clinicians and enhance understanding of different professional roles. Potential for websites to disseminate information to the public is not being maximised.

(Ir)rational choices of humans, rhesus macaques, and capuchin monkeys in dynamic stochastic environments

Human and animal decision-making is known to violate rational expectations in a variety of contexts. Previous models suggest that statistical structures of real-world environments can favor such seemingly irrational behavior, but this has not been tested empirically. We tested 16 capuchin monkeys, seven rhesus monkeys, and 30 humans in a computerized experiment that implemented such stochastic environments. Subjects chose from among up to three options of different value that disappeared and became available again with different probabilities. All species overwhelmingly chose transitively (A > B > C) in the control condition, where doing so maximized overall gain. Most subjects also adhered to transitivity in the test condition, where it was suboptimal, but ultimately led to negligible losses compared to the optimal, non-transitive strategy. We used a modelling approach to show that differences in temporal discounting may account for this pattern of choices on a proximate level. Specifically, when short- and long-term goals are valued similarly, near-optimal decision rules can map onto rational choice principles. Such cognitive shortcuts have been argued to have evolved to preserve mental resources without sacrificing good decision-making, and here we provide evidence that these heuristics can provide almost identical outcomes even in situations in which they lead to suboptimal choices.

Editorial for Applied Practices: Perspectives from the Field Section within the Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools edited by Associate Professor Susan Colmar

In this issue of the journal I am pleased to present a paper for Applied Practices by Christine Bhat on the highly topical issue of proactively preventing cyberbullying and sexting. Importantly, these two areas of concern occur commonly in our schools, particularly in secondary contexts, making this paper timely and helpful for practitioners. For example, I found the legal implications and potential recourse material very interesting, and could see that psycho-educational approaches, such that young people were made aware of the wider ramifications of cyberbullying and sexting, would be invaluable. The notion, which was new to me, of digital citizenship, ensuring young people “engage positively, know their online world, and choose consciously” is impressive as these principles of positive engagement, knowledge and choice can apply across other areas pertinent to the students we work with. Bhat addresses and explores four key areas of proactive prevention: school climate, policy, training online disinhibition, and promoting positive use of technology. I would commend this paper to you all as a resource to guide your own dealings and discussions on these critical topics of cyberbullying and sexting.

TRANSBORDER CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT AS A SUI GENERIS CONTRACT

The author investigates the problems of normative and legal regulation of relations arising due to a cross-border construction contract. The author analyzes the concept of contract in its transborder meaning, analyses the principles of choice of law in cases when parties to the treaty have not provided for the applicable law, examines general theoretical and international private law doctrine and arbitration practice on the issue of a cross-border construction contract. In order to properly resolve a dispute from a cross-border construction contract, the court must establish the transborder nature of private-law relations, whether their contractual or non-contractual nature, establish the legal nature (type) of the transaction in order to determine the applicable law. The author examines the features and peculiarities of a cross-border construction contract, which facilitates the establishment of these facts for the court and concludes that it is necessary to separate this sort of contracts into a separate type. The most important aspects revealed by the author in the article concern the theoretical and practical aspects of defining the characteristics and features of the transboundary construction contract. In conclusion, the author comes to the conclusion that the cross-border construction contract is a contract sui generis.

‘I thought they were going to handle me like a queen but they didn't’: A qualitative study exploring the quality of care provided to women at the time of birth

ObjectiveTo explore experiences of care during labour and birth from the perspectives of both the healthcare provider and women receiving care, to inform recommendations for how the quality of care can be improved and monitored, and, to identify the main aspects of care that are important to women. DesignA descriptive phenomenological approach. 53 interviews and 10KII as per table 1 took place including in-depth interviews (IDI), focus group discussions (FGD) and key informant interviews (KII) conducted with women, healthcare providers, managers and policy makers. Following verbatim transcription thematic framework analysis was used to describe the lived experience of those interviewed. Setting11 public healthcare facilities providing maternity care in urban Tshwane District, Gauteng Province (n = 4) and rural Waterberg District, Limpopo Province (n = 7), South Africa. ParticipantsWomen who had given birth in the preceding 12 weeks (49 women, 7 FGD and 23 IDI); healthcare providers working in the labour wards (33 healthcare providers; nurses, midwives, medical staff, 5 FGD, 18 IDI; managers and policy makers (10 KII). FindingsBoth women and healthcare providers largely feel alone and unsupported. There is mutual distrust between women and healthcare providers exacerbated by word of mouth and the media. A lack of belief in women's ability to make appropriate choices negates principles of choice and consent. Procedure- rather than patient-centred care is prioritised by healthcare providers. Although healthcare providers know the principles of good quality care, this was not reflected in the care women described as having received. Beliefs and attitudes as well as structural and organisational problems make it difficult to provide good quality care. Caring behaviour and environment as well as companionship are the most important needs highlighted by women. Professional hierarchy is rarely seen as supportive by healthcare providers but when present, good leadership changes the culture and experience of women and care providers. The use of mobile phones to provide feedback regarding care was positively viewed by women. ConclusionClarity regarding what a healthcare facility can (or cannot provide) is important in order to separate practice issues from structural and organisational constraints. Improvements in quality that focus on caring as well as competence should be prioritised. Increased dialogue between healthcare providers and users should be encouraged and prioritised. Implications for practiceA renewed focus is needed to ensure companionship during labour and birth is facilitated. Training in respectful maternity care needs to prioritise caring behaviour and supportive leadership.