A Multicriteria Decision‐Making Application to the Conceptual Design of Mechanical Components

Early design is crucial for the success of the final product. In the conceptual design phase, several constraints, criteria, objectives and disciplines have to be considered. To this aim, multidisciplinary optimization has proven effective for the solution of engineering design problems, even in the industrial every‐day practice, to improve and simplify the work of designers in a successful quest of the best compromise solution. In this paper, a multicriteria decision‐making (MCDM)‐based design platform for early optimal design of industrial components is proposed. In a group decision‐making context, the selection of the most suitable component among several possible layouts is performed by means of a group Fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution approach. Hence, a multi‐objective optimization is performed on the selected component by applying a multi‐objective particle swarm optimization for finding optimal component dimensions. An industrial case study is presented for showing the efficiency of the multicriteria decision‐making‐based design platform, regarding an innovative and low‐cost solution to increase the duration of heel tips in women's shoes. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sandtray Play with Traumatized Children

Summary

The patterns of play in latency age males were examined to determine how play influenced by sexual abuse trauma differs from other types of traumatic play. Three groups of five boys each were assessed using sandtray play. The first were victims of sexual abuse, the second were being treated for chronic or terminal health conditions and the third had no known trauma. Although the number of subjects was small, the findings reflected distinct patterns in the groups examined including differences in the average number of figures used, organization in their trays, whether they were chosen deliberately or randomly, the central figure and the ability to find resolution.     

Exploring the Perceived Career Success of Staff in a South African Science and Engineering Company

This study explored the core themes underlying individuals’ perceptions of their career success with the view to inform retention practices. The participants were a convenience sample of 207 employees (63% Blacks; 60% males) within a South African science and engineering company. Data were gathered by using a quantitative survey approach and posing an open-ended question to the participants regarding their perceived career success. The data were thematically analysed by using the Atlas.ti version 6 computer-aided qualitative data analysis software. Findings suggest that self-perceptions of career success are multifaceted, including learning and development; skills, experience and competence; career transitions and advancement; job content; contributing to a larger community; goal achievement; helping others; rewards and recognition; and work-life balance. Individuals’ inner definitions of career success could inform retention strategies in the science and engineering field focused on their career development, career wellbeing and satisfaction.     

The Discriminating Properties of an Optoelectronic Movement Analysis Method in Patients With Parkinsonism

Several partly overlapping diseases have Parkinsonism as a symptom and tools that may differentiate between these disorders would be helpful. The authors evaluated the discriminating properties of the objective automated posturo-locomotor-manual (PLM) L-DOPA test in regard to health, and the movement disorders Parkinson's disease (PD), multiple system atrophy (MSA), and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). A PLM test–retest procedure was performed in healthy controls (n = 37) and results were compared with PLM L-DOPA tests performed by 132 patients with Parkinsonism in intermediate to advanced stages (56 PD, 53 MSA, 23 PSP). The movement time (MT) for the standardized movement and its different components was measured. The discriminating abilities of individual, or combinations of, test variables were determined by forward stepwise multiple logistic regression and evaluated with receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Each PLM variable separated healthy persons from patients with Parkinsonism before administration of L-DOPA (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.94–0.99, p <.001 for any separate variable). A combination of (MT_off – MT_on)/MT_off and MT_on had the highest ability to separate patients with PD from patients with atypical Parkinsonism (area under the curve = 0.91, p <.001). The PLM test discriminates between healthy controls and patients with Parkinsonism, and between patients with Parkinson's disease and patients with atypical Parkinsonism.

[Supplementary material is available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Journal of Motor Behavior for the following free supplemental resource: supplementary data.]     

Embodied self-awareness among South African social services therapist-practitioners: An exploratory study

We explored South African social service therapist-practitioners’ experiences of their own lived body in the context of practice. The participants consisted of a convenience sample of 13 therapist-practitioners registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa and the South African Council for Social Service Professions, in private practice (n?=?9) or government departments (n?=?4) in the Western Cape and Gauteng Provinces of South Africa. They provided data on their embodied self-awareness by means of naïve sketches and/or drawings, experiential body awareness activities, and in-depth one-on-one semi-structured interviews. Findings from the thematic analysis of the data indicated bodily self-awareness; including experiences of bodily felt sensations while doing therapy, intuitive knowing, a sense of warning/ danger, and a sense of the body-schema-in-relation. Most of the therapist-practitioners reported a tendency to deny, suppress, or control their sensory cues or to rationalise them. Embodied self-awareness appears to be a true phenomenon among South African therapist-practitioners.     

Trade‐off ranking method for multi‐criteria decision analysis

Multi‐criteria decision analysis presumes trade‐off between different criteria. As a result, the optimal solution is not unique and can be represented by the Pareto frontier in the objective space. Each Pareto solution is a compromise between different objectives. Despite a limited number of Pareto optimal solutions, the decision‐maker eventually has to choose only one option. Such a choice has to be made with the use of additional preferences not included in the original formulation of the optimization problem. The paper represents a new approach to an automatic ranking that can help the decision‐maker. In contrast to the other methodologies, the proposed method is based on the minimization of trade‐off between different Pareto solutions. To be realized, the approach presumes the existence of a well‐distributed Pareto set representing the entire Pareto frontier. In the paper, such a set is generated with the use of the directed search domain algorithm. The method is applied to a number of test cases and compared against two existing alternative approaches.     

心理科学领域内的客观测量——Rasch模型之特点及发展趋势

Rasch模型是在国外学术界受到广泛关注和深入研究的一个潜在特质模型。该模型为解决心理科学领域内测量的客观性问题提供了一个可行性很高的解决方案。而国内关于Rasch模型的理论探讨和应用研究却并不多见。不同于一般项目反应理论, Rasch模型要求所收集的数据必须符合模型的先验要求, 而不是使用不同的参数去适应数据的特点。Rasch模型的主要特点(包括个体与题目共用标尺、线性数据、参数分离)确保了客观测量的实现。未来关于Rasch模型的研究方向包括多维度Rasch模型、测验的等值与链接、计算机自适应性考试, 大型应用测量系统(比如Lexile系统)等等。     

客观地看待慢性乙型肝炎抗病毒治疗

乙肝病毒(HBV)感染是我国肝硬化和肝癌的主要致病因子,因此抗HBV治疗十分重要.但是,由于对抗HBV的治疗现状不够了解,不少人在盲目追求彻底清除体内的HBV,以至于弄巧成拙,所以,有必要客观地看待慢性乙型肝炎的抗病毒治疗,以求得到最佳的治疗效果.     

"半投射"和"客观性":动机测验的两种新形式

介绍两种动机测验及其形式:1)多元动机测验(MMG)及其半投射测验形式和网格技术,它综合了投射测验和问卷的优点;2)客观性成就动机测验(OAMT)及其通过被试完成操作性任务测评成就动机的客观性测验形式。     

The loss‐bet paradox: Actuaries,accountants, and other numerate people rate numerically inferior gambles as superior

Psychologists have convincingly demonstrated that preferences are not always stable and, instead, are often “constructed” based on information available in the judgment or decision context. In 4 studies with experts (accountants and actuaries in Studies 1 and 2, respectively) and a diverse lay population (Studies 3 and 4), the evidence was consistent with the highly numerate being more likely than the less numerate to construct their preferences by rating a numerically inferior bet as superior (i.e., the bets effect). Thus, the effect generalizes beyond a college student sample, and preference construction differs by numeracy. Contrary to prior thinking about preference construction, however, high expertise and high ability (rather than low) consistently related to the paradoxical phenomenon. Results across studies including Study 3's experimental modifications of the task supported the hypothesized number comparison process (and not a lack of expertise with monetary outcomes and probabilities or numeracy‐related differences in attention to numbers) as the effect's underlying cause. The bets effect was not attenuated by Study 4's instructions to think about what would be purchased with bet winnings. Task results combined with free‐response coding supported the notion that highly numerate participants have a systematic and persistent inclination for doing simple and complex number operations that drive their judgments (even after controlling for nonnumeric intelligence). Implications for 3 types of dual‐process theories are discussed. The results were inconsistent with default‐interventionist theories, consistent or unclear with respect to fuzzy trace theory, and consistent with interactive theories.