Taking a Proposal Seriously : Orientations to Agenda and Agency in Support Workers’ Responses to Client Proposals

While joint decision-making is regularly launched by a proposal, it is the recipients’ responses that crucially influence the proposal outcome. This chapter examines how support workers respond to the proposals made by clients during rehabilitation group meetings at the Clubhouse. Drawing on a collection of 180 client-initiated proposal sequences, the paper describes two dilemmas that the support workers face when seeking to take client proposals “seriously.” The first concerns the meeting’s agenda and consists of a tension between providing recognition for the individual client and encouraging collective participation. The second dilemma has to do with agency and consists of a tension between focusing on the client as the originator of the proposal and avoiding treating him or her alone accountable for it. The analysis of these dilemmas contributes to a deeper understanding of group decision-making, in general, while these findings have specific relevance in mental health rehabilitation.While joint decision-making is regularly launched by a proposal, it is the recipients’ responses that crucially influence the proposal outcome. This chapter examines how support workers respond to the proposals made by clients during rehabilitation group meetings at the Clubhouse. Drawing on a collection of 180 client-initiated proposal sequences, the paper describes two dilemmas that the support workers face when seeking to take client proposals “seriously.” The first concerns the meeting’s agenda and consists of a tension between providing recognition for the individual client and encouraging collective participation. The second dilemma has to do with agency and consists of a tension between focusing on the client as the originator of the proposal and avoiding treating him or her alone accountable for it. The analysis of these dilemmas contributes to a deeper understanding of group decision-making, in general, while these findings have specific relevance in mental health rehabilitation.Peer reviewe

Assessment of Level-Of-Service for Freeway Segments Using HCM and Microsimulation Methods

AbstractThe Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) 2015 freeway facilities methodology offers a supplemental computational engine FREEVAL, which is a macroscopic/mesoscopic tool that enables users to implement HCM-based freeway analysis quickly and conveniently. On the other hand, Vissim is a microscopic simulation tool that enables users to model real-world conditions with high level of accuracy and comprehensiveness. Thus, the two tools represent quite opposite sides in freeway modelling – Vissim requires time-consuming preparation and calibration of the model but it usually provides benefits that are more comprehensive. FREEVAL requires less on input and calibration sides but its results may not be as beneficial as comprehensive and accurate as Vissim’s. The problem, that has not been addressed enough, is that we do not know how different their results are (when compared between themselves) and, at the same time, how close to the field conditions. Researchers and practitioners use both tools for freeway analysis and tend to compare the results directly. One of the commonly used performance measures is the Level of Service (LOS), which is used to quickly evaluate the freeway segment or facility performance. The HCM Freeway Facility Methodology uses density to estimate LOS. However, density is calculated differently in FREEVAL and Vissim, and comparing the estimated LOSs between the two may not represent a proper comparison. In essence, FREEVAL, in the under-saturated condition, estimates the density from the fundamental equations where the volume is estimated from the user entered demand and the speed is calculated using the statistical models provided in respective chapters of each segment type. On the other hand, Vissim tracks each individual vehicle as it moves along a freeway and calculates key performance measures by using individually modeled driver’s behavior. This paper aims to compare and contrast the methodologies behind the two tools and offer explanation and discussion of their outputs. The paper will cover four major HCM freeway segment types (basic, merge, diverge, and weaving) in under-saturated conditions. Field data will be acquired from a section of I-880 freeway in California. FREEVAL and Vissim models will be calibrated and validated using Mobile Century Data provided by University of California at Berkley and Caltrans Performance Measurement System. The output of both tools will be evaluated against the field data. The assessment should reveal the ability of each tool to replicate the real-world conditions. Paper results will contribute to the existing body of knowledge by filling the gap in the literature related to comparison and contrast of the key (LOS-related) performance measures of these two tools

Effect of cold start on engine performance and emissions from diesel engines using IMO-Compliant distillate fuels

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd Emissions from ships at berth are small compared to the total ship emissions; however, they are one of the main contributors to pollutants in the air of densely-populated areas, consequently heavily affecting public health. This is due to auxiliary marine engines being used to generate electric power and steam for heating and providing services. The present study has been conducted on an engine representative of a marine auxiliary, which was a heavy duty, six-cylinder, turbocharged and after-cooled engine with a high pressure common rail injection system. Engine performance and emission characterisations during cold start are the focus of this paper, since cold start is significantly influential. Three tested fuels were used, including the reference diesel and two IMO (International Maritime Organization) compliant spiked fuels. The research engine was operated at a constant speed and 25% load condition after 12 h cooled soak. Results show that during cold start, significant heat generated from combustion is used to heat the engine block, coolant and lubricant. During the first minute, compared to the second minute, emissions of particle number (PN), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM), and nitrogen oxides (NOx) were approximately 10, 4, 2 and 1.5 times higher, respectively. The engine control unit (ECU) plays a vital role in reducing engine emissions by changing the engine injection strategy based on the engine coolant temperature. IMO-compliant fuels, which were higher viscosity fuels associated with high sulphur content, resulted in an engine emission increase during cold start. It should be taken into account that auxiliary marine diesel engines, working at partial load conditions during cold start, contribute considerably to emissions in coastal areas. It demonstrates a need to implement practical measures, such as engine pre-heating, to obtain both environmental and public health advantages in coastal areas

Promoting Client Participation and Constructing Decisions in Mental Health Rehabilitation Meetings

The chapter analyzes practices by which support workers promote client participation in mental health rehabilitation meetings at the Clubhouse. While promoting client participation, the support workers also need to ascertain that at least some decisions get constructed during the meetings. This combination of goals—promoting participation and constructing decisions—leads to a series of dilemmatic practices, the dynamics of which the chapter focuses on analyzing. The support workers may treat clients’ turns retrospectively as proposals, even if the status of these turns as such is ambiguous. In the face of a lack of recipient uptake, the support workers may remind the clients about their epistemic access to the content of the proposal or pursue their agreement or commitment to the idea. These practices involve the support workers carrying primary responsibility over the unfolding of interaction, which is argued to compromise the jointness of the decision-making outcome.The chapter analyzes practices by which support workers promote client participation in mental health rehabilitation meetings at the Clubhouse. While promoting client participation, the support workers also need to ascertain that at least some decisions get constructed during the meetings. This combination of goals—promoting participation and constructing decisions—leads to a series of dilemmatic practices, the dynamics of which the chapter focuses on analyzing. The support workers may treat clients’ turns retrospectively as proposals, even if the status of these turns as such is ambiguous. In the face of a lack of recipient uptake, the support workers may remind the clients about their epistemic access to the content of the proposal or pursue their agreement or commitment to the idea. These practices involve the support workers carrying primary responsibility over the unfolding of interaction, which is argued to compromise the jointness of the decision-making outcome.Peer reviewe

Co-constructing desired activities : Small-scale activity decisions in occupational therapy

Social inclusion and exclusion are buzzwords in today’s political discourse. While there are many causes of social exclusion, one of the factors repeatedly shown to lead to social exclusion is mental illness, which may hinder people in developing themselves in accordance with their wishes and abilities. Participation is a key dimension of social inclusion—and one that we particularly seek to increase understanding of in this volume. We focus on participation taking place in face-to-face social encounters, seeking to get to the root of the preconditions and consequences of participation by unraveling the interactional processes that underlie what makes it possible. We presuppose that participation in any social or societal sphere presupposes social interaction, which in turn requires the capacity to coordinate with and make sense of others’ actions. Thus, drawing on joint decision-making as a specific arena of social interaction, where the participants’ collaborative management of the turn-by-turn sequential unfolding of interaction can have tangible consequences for the participants’ social and economic circumstances, we seek to increase understanding of the specific vulnerabilities that individuals with mental illness have in this context.In occupational therapy, a therapist and client engage in shared activities that they perform collaboratively during therapeutic sessions. An important part of this joint performance involves providing the client with the opportunity to make short-term decisions on the activities they wish to perform. Analyzing 15 occupational therapy encounters at psychiatric outpatient clinics, in the chapter I explore the functions of these small-scale decisions. The analysis demonstrates that therapists (1) make room for the client’s proposals by shaping the activity context and (2) make proposals themselves on the ways the performance should be accomplished. To summarize, clients are given decision-making power over the content of the activity, whereas therapists use their decision-making power to assist the client’s performance. The analysis shows how small-scale decisions can be employed to construct the occupational performance as shared endeavors and to position the clients as active subjects rather than objects of the professionals’ performance.Peer reviewe

Writing : A Versatile Resource in the Treatment of the Clients’ Proposals

This chapter investigates how writing serves as a resource in decision-making at the Clubhouse and how writing activities relate to professionals’ responses to clients. The ideology of the Clubhouse is one of interaction, and in accordance with this perspective, support workers and clients should be treated equally in decision-making processes related to the activity of the Clubhouse. However, as demonstrated in previous research, encouraging clients in mental health rehabilitation to participate actively in interaction and decision-making can be difficult. Therefore, support workers carry a substantial responsibility for promoting clients’ participation in interactions; this responsibility is supported by how they respond to clients. The focus in this chapter is on a certain type of participation-encouraging response—that is, a response that promotes the documentation of vaguely expressed ideas in written documents and encourages a dialogue between support workers and Clubhouse clients around the formulations in a text-in-production.This chapter investigates how writing serves as a resource in decision-making at the Clubhouse and how writing activities relate to professionals’ responses to clients. The ideology of the Clubhouse is one of interaction, and in accordance with this perspective, support workers and clients should be treated equally in decision-making processes related to the activity of the Clubhouse. However, as demonstrated in previous research, encouraging clients in mental health rehabilitation to participate actively in interaction and decision-making can be difficult. Therefore, support workers carry a substantial responsibility for promoting clients’ participation in interactions; this responsibility is supported by how they respond to clients. The focus in this chapter is on a certain type of participation-encouraging response—that is, a response that promotes the documentation of vaguely expressed ideas in written documents and encourages a dialogue between support workers and Clubhouse clients around the formulations in a text-in-production.Peer reviewe