On modality in Georgian sign language (GESL)

Modality is one of the most fascinating and complex areas of language studies. This paper illustrates the types of modal constructions in Georgian Sign language (GESL), including negative forms. GESL shows modality semantics with a combination of manual and facial signs. Modals in GESL can occur in the pre-verbal, clause-final, or clause-initial positions, as in many other sign languages (SLs). GESL modal constructions show the specific tense-related negation strategy. Modal constructions in this language often use combinations of modal signs with an equal value

Teaching Quality Improvement in a Pediatric Residency Program

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requires residents to demonstrate competence in practice-based learning and improvement (PBLI) and systems-based practice (SBP), two competencies dependent on the principles and practice of quality improvement (QI). In addition, pediatric residents at VCUHS are required to complete a QI project during their residency. We judged the pediatric residents to be sub-par in achieving these competencies as demonstrated by the quality of projects submitted during the last academic year, and set out to improve the QI education they receive by designing a longitudinal curriculum integrating both didactic (using lectures and on-line modules provided through the Institute for Healthcare Improvement) and experiential learning (by having residents develop their own QI projects). In the Fall of 2017, we added a structured PBLI experience to this curriculum through the residents’ primary group clinical practice in order to provide a hands-on learning opportunity. Each resident practice group was tasked with design, implementation, and analysis of a QI project based on the groups’ practice data. We reasoned that the learning acquired through participation in a structured QI experience, through the group practice, will enhance their understanding of QI principles and therefore improve their completion of personal projects. Implementation and data gathering is currently on-going

US Economic Competitiveness At Risk: A Midwest Call to Action on Immigration Reform

For too long the Midwest has waited for Washington to produce meaningful reform of the nation's immigration laws. Bills have come and gone through the years, but often end in political gridlock. The Midwestern economy needs high-skilled, educated workers with long-term visas to create the companies and innovations that will power it in the future. Midwestern businesses need low-skilled immigrants with visas to sustain their industries. Midwestern schools insist that their students get the legal status that will lead to higher education and jobs. Midwestern farms seek a legal way to hire the seasonal help they need. Throughout the Midwest, cities and towns cope imaginatively with the social and economic challenges of immigration. Yet there is only so much the region can do until the federal government acts.That time has come. As economic recovery proceeds and political alignments shift, our region's leaders are thinking strategically about long-term economic competitiveness and the role played by immigrants at all levels. Midwest leaders want to ensure sustainable growth, jobs, population stability, and quality of life. Immigrants are an essential ingredient for this future. America's heartland can wait no longer.A diverse and bipartisan group of civic and business leaders, aware of the urgency of immigration reform and frustrated with delays, began convening in December 2011 to produce this report. Their priority was to state what the region needs from immigration reform to ensure its economic competitiveness. If 53 Republican and Democratic leaders -- drawn from companies, law enforcement, schools, hospitals, nonprofits, foundations, advocacy groups, and communities of faith -- from the 12-state Midwest can support these recommendations, then surely our representatives in Washington can act on them

"Explaining the Gender Wage Gap in Georgia"

This paper evaluates gender wage differentials in Georgia between 2000 and 2004. Using ordinary least squares, we find that the gender wage gap in Georgia is substantially higher than in other transition countries. Correcting for sample selection bias using the Heckman approach further increases the gender wage gap. The Blinder Oaxaca decomposition results suggest that most of the wage gap remains unexplained. The explained portion of the gap is almost entirely attributed to industrial variables. We find that the gender wage gap in Georgia diminished between 2000 and 2004.