Temporal Inferences in Conversation

Within this article, I explore how coproductions (expansions made by a second speaker upon a previous utterance) and questions regarding prior utterances work to verbalize inferences regarding the temporal information in spoken German conversation. While questions regarding prior utterances and coproductions are traditionally understood to have different communicative functions (signaling understanding/ misunderstanding; turn taking) to coproductions, empirical data shows how these expression types enable the speaker to gradually verbalize different strengths of assumption about details of the previous turn. These two expression types are not a dichotomy, but a continuum

THE LAST PLANNER® SYSTEM PATH CLEARING APPROACH IN ACTION: A CASE STUDY

The “Last Planner® System” (LPS) is commonly viewed as the foundation of Lean Project Delivery. It is increasingly used in certain parts of the globe. However, LPS implementation often fades off due to issues reported at organisational, project and external levels. The LPS Path Clearing Approach (PCA) offers an antidote to these issues. The goal of this paper is to outline how the LPS-PCA helped restart a stalled implementation of the LPS through a “shallow and wide” organisational approach rather than a more traditional “narrow and deep” project approach. The LPS-PCA in action is documented within an on-going UK case study organisation. Action and covert research methods were used to introduce LPS principles, thinking and language without attributing them to LPS in response to resistance to the actual LPS. The 15 step actions within the LPS-PCA are expanded from a past, current and future state perspective. The study found that the LPS-PCA’s 15 step actions were useful as a benchmark to continuously remove constraints that blocked the implementation of the LPS. In summary, the use of the LPSPCA is recommended before, during and after organisations engage with LPS Consultants if organisations are serious about sustaining the implementation of the LPS

Portfolio Strategies, Relinquishment, The Urban School System of the Future, and Smart Districts

Today, there are many new proposals about governance of K-12 Education: The portfolio strategy emphasizes a system of continuous improvement for diverse, autonomous schools governed by performance contracts; devolution models include efforts to expand the role of charter management organizations and other nonprofit providers (Andy Smarick's "Urban School System of the Future," Neerav Kingslad's "Relinquishment"); and school transformation models emphasize the role of third-party support organizations that create K-12 feeder patterns of allied schools (Bill Guenther and Justin Cohen's Mass Insight "Smart Districts" proposal).Are these really rival proposals as the authors of some are claiming? This idea is misguided; these are complemetns not alternatives

Is Workers' Compensation Disguised Unemployment Insurance?

This paper examines how yhe Workers' Compensation (WC) and the Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs interact to influence the duration of claims due to workplace accidents. We use longitudinal WC administrative micro-data on more than 30,000 workers in the Quebec construction industry for the period 1976-1986. Our results show that a reduction in the UI wage replacement ratio is associated with an increase in the duration of claims due to serve accidents that are difficult to diagnose (this category includes severe back-related problems). Also, an increase in the WC replacement ratio leads to an increase in the average duration of claims due to minor accidents that are difficult to diagnose (this category includes minor low-back injuries). Moreover, there seems to be an important seasonal effect in the duration of claims; i.e., the average duration of spells on WC is estimated to be 21.2% higher when an accident occurs in December rather than in July. Ce texte examine comment l'assurance contre les lésions professionnelles (ALP) et l'assurance-chômage (AC) interagissent pour influencer la durée des réclamations pour lésions professionnelles. Nous utilisons des micro-données administratives longitudinales couvrant plus de 30 000 travailleurs du secteur de la construction pour la période 1976-1986. Nos résultats montrent qu'une réduction du taux de remplacement salarial de l'assurance-chômage est associée à une augmentation de la durée des accidents majeurs difficiles à diagnostiquer (cette catégorie inclut les maux de dos majeurs). De plus, un accroissement du taux de remplacement salarial de l'ALP entraîne un accroissement de la durée des accidents mineurs difficiles à diagnostiquer (cette catégorie inclut les lombalgies). Enfin, il semble y avoir un effet saisonnier lié à la durée des périodes d'indemnisation est plus élevée de 21.2% lorsqu'un accident survient en1101 plutôt qu'en0701.duration, worplace accidents, construction, worker's compensation, unemployment insurance, hazard, durée, accidents du travail, lésions professionnelles, assurance-chômage, construction, hazard

Automatic Annotation of Images from the Practitioner Perspective

This paper describes an ongoing project which seeks to contribute to a wider understanding of the realities of bridging the semantic gap in visual image retrieval. A comprehensive survey of the means by which real image retrieval transactions are realised is being undertaken. An image taxonomy has been developed, in order to provide a framework within which account may be taken of the plurality of image types, user needs and forms of textual metadata. Significant limitations exhibited by current automatic annotation techniques are discussed, and a possible way forward using ontologically supported automatic content annotation is briefly considered as a potential means of mitigating these limitations

The Victorian gambling study: a longitudinal study of gambling and health in Victoria, 2008–2012

The Victorian gambling study is a longitudinal study of gambling and health in Victoria conducted between 2008 and 2012. This study is the only large-scale, general population, longitudinal gambling study conducted in Australia. Key findings Importantly, this study suggests problem gambling may be a long term condition and that relapse is common, indicating that long term support and treatment is required. The study also shows people at moderate risk of developing problems with gambling should be targeted with prevention and intervention programs.   This study deepens our understanding of gambling and provides valuable insights into problem gambling that informs all of the foundation’s programs and services. The study looked at: changes in gambling behaviour over time  the relationship between gambling and health and other social and economic factors  evidence about what factors cause some people to gamble excessively and what factors might help such people to recover  The study will help inform the foundation’s development of intervention, prevention and treatment options for people who have a problem with their gambling. Four waves of data collection have included: a baseline survey of 15,000 randomly selected members of the Victorian population (2008) wave two follow up data collection from 5,003 of the baseline participants (2009) wave three follow up data collection from 5,620 of the baseline participants (2010-11) wave four follow up data collection from 3,701 of the baseline participants (2011-12)

The societal costs of alcohol misuse in Australia

It is well documented that alcohol-related problems compromise individual and social health, and wellbeing. The individual harms are numerous, including premature death, loss of enjoyment and loss of social utility through fear of crime and victimisation. The misuse of alcohol, particularly among those most at risk in our community, presents a major challenge for all levels of government. In this paper, a study is presented that provides a better national-level estimate of the costs of alcohol-related problems in Australia. Despite taking a conservative estimate, the aggregate of a range of societal costs substantially outweighs the tax revenue for the Commonwealth generated from the sale of alcohol. Results of this study provide evidence to policymakers regarding costs to the criminal justice system, costs to the health system, costs resulting from lost productivity and costs related to alcohol-related road accidents. Such evidence will provide an understanding of the economic tradeoffs that are present when making decisions that affect all Australians. Proposals are provided in the conclusion for a greater investment in prevention, based on the sound evaluation of prevention and diversion strategies by comparison with treatment options, in order to ensure better investments for the nation

DO HEALTHIER DIETS COST MORE?

Do healthier diets cost more? We estimate a hedonic regression model of the U.S. diet. Given food expenditures and information on dietary intake we infer the marginal cost of improved quality. Meeting the Pyramid recommendations implies decreased expenditures from two of the seven food groups.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

The role of professional development and learning in the early adoption of the New Zealand curriculum by schools.

This paper is set in the context of Phase One of the Ministry of Education Curriculum Implementation Exploratory Studies (CIES) project. The schools selected for this study were considered early adopters of the revised New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) (Ministry of Education, 2007). The paper provides theoretical insights and research evidence related to the role of professional development and learning in the early stages of implementation of the revised curriculum. A key finding common to most schools was the progressive development of a professional learning culture led by the principal that focused on pedagogy and student achievement prior to the introduction of the curriculum. The establishment of this culture involved processes that were task-oriented, reflective, consultative and collaborative. While there are strong parallels between the experiences of primary and secondary schools in the study, some important differences have also been noted

Sensory Difference of Bio-Dynamically, Organically and Conventionally Produced Wheat from the DOK Long-Term Field Trial

There is a need of scientific evidence on the differentiation of organic from conventional produce concerning health, nutrition and sensory related qualities (Leifert et al., 2007). Analysis of wheat from the DOK long-term system comparison trial near Basel, Switzerland (Mäder et al., 2002) showed that organic wheat differed in contents of 16 “diagnostic” proteins from conventional wheat (Zörb et al., 2009a), had higher concentrations of K+ and Mg2+ cations and lower concentrations of six amino acids, and a different seed ripening metabolism (Zörb et al., 2009b). In a previous sensory test with cooked porridge of wheat (cv. Tamaro) from the DOK trial (harvest 1999), the biodynamic samples had been preferred (Arncken et al., 2007). In the present work we aimed to corroborate these results with dry samples of three harvest years