Regulating the fast-food landscape: Canadian news media representation of the Healthy Menu Choices Act

With the rapid rise of fast food consumption in Canada, Ontario was the first province to legislate menu labelling requirements via the enactment of the Healthy Menu Choice Act (HMCA). As the news media plays a significant role in policy debates and the agenda for policymakers and the public, the purpose of this mixed-methods study was to clarify the manner in which the news media portrayed the strengths and critiques of the Act, and its impact on members of the community, including consumers and stakeholders. Drawing on data from Canadian regional and national news outlets, the major findings highlight that, although the media reported that the HMCA was a positive step forward, this was tempered by critiques concerning the ineffectiveness of using caloric labelling as the sole measure of health, and its predicted low impact on changing consumption patterns on its own. Furthermore, the news media were found to focus accountability for healthier eating choices largely on the individual, with very little consideration of the role of the food industry or the social and structural determinants that affect food choice. A strong conflation of health, weight and calories was apparent, with little acknowledgement of the implications of menu choice for chronic illness. The analysis demonstrates that the complex factors associated with food choice were largely unrecognized by the media, including the limited extent to which social, cultural, political and corporate determinants of unhealthy choices were taken into account as the legislation was developed. Greater recognition of these factors by the media concerning the HMCA may evoke more meaningful and long-term change for health and food choicesYork University Librarie

Support for Economic Activity of People Aged 50+ in Poland: The Best Solutions of the Government’s Programme Solidarity of Generations

The article aims to assess some selected solutions of the Polish government’s programme “Solidarity of generations” [SG] designed to support economic activity among people aged 50+. It presents the results of a national survey conducted in the first half of 2012, mainly the outcomes of questionnaire interviews carried out with representative samples of people aged 45+ and employers. Studies under the name ‘Diagnosis of the current situation of females and males 50+ on the labour market in Poland [D50+]’ were conducted within the project “Equal Opportunities in the Labour Market for People Aged 50+”. In addition to standard methods of descriptive analysis and the assessment of relations, factor analysis is also used to identify the main types of activities advancing opportunities for people aged 45+. Some solutions of the government’s programme, such as the protection of employees from dismissal during the last four years before their retirement, were sometimes evaluated very differently by employers and people aged 45+. At the same time, both employers and people aged 45+ were favourable about free training and public subsidies to set up jobs for an unemployed persons aged 50+. According to the factor analysis results, the most important activities for people aged 45+ to have equal opportunities in the labour market are those activities that directly improve their qualifications. Although this finding is endorsed by both employers and people aged 45+, the insufficient systemic support for life-long learning limits the number of opportunities they could use to increase their employment activity. The variety of evaluations presented by the beneficiaries of the government programme should be taken into account in planning its modification.Celem artykułu jest ocena skuteczności wybranych rozwiązań zaproponowanych w rządowym programie Solidarność pokoleń [SG] dedykowanym wsparciu aktywności zawodowej osób 50+. W artykule zaprezentowano wyniki ogólnokrajowych badań przeprowadzonych w I poł. 2012 r., w tym przede wszystkim badań kwestionariuszowych przeprowadzonych na reprezentatywnych próbach osób w wieku 45+ oraz pracodawców. Badania pt. Diagnoza obecnej sytuacji kobiet i mężczyzn 50+ na rynku pracy w Polsce [D50+] zostały zrealizowane w ramach projektu Wyrównywanie szans na rynku pracy dla osób 50+. Poza standardowymi metodami analizy deskryptywnej i oceny współzależności, zastosowano analizę czynnikową celem wskazania głównych kierunków działań sprzyjających wyrównywaniu szans osób w wieku 45/50+ na rynku pracy w Polsce. Rozwiązania ujęte w programie rządowym, jak np. wprowadzenie okresów ochronnych przez zwolnieniem z pracy pracowników na 4 lata przed nabyciem praw do emerytury, spotykały się niekiedy z krańcowo różną oceną przez pracodawców i osoby 50+. Zarówno pracodawcy, jak i osoby w wieku 45+ wysoko oceniają bezpłatne szkolenia czy dofinansowanie ze środków publicznych wyposażenia miejsca pracy dla bezrobotnego 50+. W świetle analizy czynnikowej, dla wyrównywania szans osób w wieku 45/50+ na rynku pracy zasadnicze znaczenie odgrywają te działania, które bezpośrednio przyczyniają się do zwiększenia kwalifikacji osób w wieku 45/50+. Pracodawcy i osoby w niemobilnym wieku produkcyjnym są zgodni w tym zakresie, lecz niedostatek systemowego wsparcia edukacji ustawicznej dla osób w wieku 50+ osłabia możliwości wzrostu ich aktywności zawodowej. Zróżnicowane oceny mogą być wzięte pod uwagę przy modyfikacji programów wsparcia aktywności zawodowej 50+

A High Precision, Optical Polarimeter to Measure Inclinations of High Mass X-Ray Binaries

We present commissioning data for the POLISH instrument obtained on the Hale 5-m telescope. The goal of this high precision polarimeter is to constrain orbital inclination of high mass X-ray binaries and to therefore obtain independent mass estimates for their black hole companions. We have obtained photon shot noise limited precision on standard stars, and we have measured the polarization of bright stars at the part per million level on a nightly basis. Systematic effects have been reduced to less than 1% of the measured polarization for polarized sources and to the part per million level for weakly polarized sources. The high sensitivity of this instrument to asymmetry suggests that valuable contributions will be made in many other fields, including studies of extrasolar planets, debris disks, and stellar astrophysics.Comment: 35 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in PAS

The causal clauses with the initial position of the predicate

The paper discusses causal clauses in contemporary German, positioned after the main clause, which lack a conjunction combining it with that clause. Their characteristic feature is the initial position of the predicate and the obligatory use of the particle doch. Numerous grammars either ignore such causal clauses or consider them obsolete, although they are found not only in literary but also in colloquial speech texts. The paper discusses causal clauses in contemporary German, positioned after the main clause, which lack a conjunction combining it with that clause. Their characteristic feature is the initial position of the predicate and the obligatory use of the particle doch. Numerous grammars either ignore such causal clauses or consider them obsolete, although they are found not only in literary but also in colloquial speech texts.

Aigirdas J. Greimas et Jacques Fontanille, Sémiotique des passions. Des états de choses aux états d’âme

Des états de choses aux états d’âm

Die Grammatikalisierung der Partikel schon

Die Grammatikalisierung der Partikel scho