Anchoring Temporal Expressions in Scheduling-related Emails

In this paper we adopt a constraint-based representation of time, Time Calculus (TC), for anchoring temporal expressions in a novel genre, emails. Email is sufficiently different from the most studied genre - newswire texts, and its highly under-specified nature fits well with our representation. The evaluation of our anchoring system shows that it performs significantly better than the baseline, and the result compares favorably with some of the closest related work

A Pilot Study to Prevent Hearing Loss in Farmers

Objective: Determine the feasibility and outcome of a pilot program to increase farm workers\u27 use of hearing protection when performing activities with high noise exposure. Design: The study was a quasi-experimental study. Sample: Eight intervention farmers and 17 comparison farmers participated in the study. Measures: Before and after the intervention, farmers complted a survey to identify their frequency of use of hearing protection and their beliefs about hearing loss and use of hearing protection. Intervention: The intervention consisted of noise assessments, educational sessions, mailed reminders with brochures, and placement of hearing protection on the farm. Results: The intervention was effective in increasing the use of hearing prtection 1 and 2 months after the implementation of the program. Conclusion: Hearing loss is a serious problem with farmers, and yet many farmers neglect to protect their hearing with the use of protection. The pilot study findings indicate that efforts to increase the use of hearing protection by farmers can be effective