Supply Problems in an Amphibious Operation (extract from War Diary, HQ, RCASC 3 CDN DIV, October 1944)

The operations to clear the approaches to Antwerp were among the most important actions carried out by the Canadian forces in the Second World War yet relatively little is known about them. The decision to mount an amphibious attack behind German defences in the Breskens Pocket was a particularly brilliant example of what is now called manoeuvre warfare, but neither Lieutenant Guy Simonds, acting commander of First Canadian Army, nor Major-General Dan Spry, General Officer Commanding 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, have been given much credit for the exploit. One of the many aspects of Operation “Switchback” deserving of study is the logistical problems of the operation. This contemporary report prepared from 3rd Division’s CRASC (Commander, Royal Army Service Corps) describes one aspect of the work of the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps

Researching the complexity of classrooms

In recent years, it has become fashionable to demand of research that it produces ‘evidence’ that can be turned into easily generalisable findings. Ever more elaborate sets of managerial standards and pre-defined learning outcomes have been imposed, and English teachers are encouraged to see their practice as merely an implementation of ‘what works’. What gets lost in such discourse is the messy and wonderfully productive complexity of classrooms and the layered and deeply historied character of the interactions that take place in them. This article considers a different kind of research, one that is clearly located within particular contexts and is always attentive to the lives and capacities of the students and their teachers. At the heart of this article is the collaboration between a university academic and a practising English teacher, a collaboration that is both documented and enacted in Confronting Practice, Classroom Investigations into Language and Learning by Brenton Doecke and Douglas McClenaghan

Needs based planning: use of information from individual assessments to develop population estimates of need and use of resources

By separating purchasing from the traditional provider role, the new community care policy has brought about a fundamental change in the planning role of health and local authorities. The policy implies changed assumptions about what constitutes need and requires an improved understanding of local needs. The policy has not only placed a duty on local authorities to assess the needs of the population in support of their Community Care Plans, but has also brought about several changes which have by their nature encouraged many local authorities to undertake a more detailed needs assessment. The PSSRU, in conjunction with Surrey Social Service Department, has been developing a needs based planning modelwhich will assist in the equitable and efficient deployment of community care resources for elderly and physically disabled people. The model is customised to reflect local priorities and assumptions. The model synthesises local client needs assessment data with national data to provide a method of predicting numbers of the population in these target groups which can then be translated into potential resource requirements. This paper provides a background to the development of the project by discussing the place of needs based planning inpopulation needs assessment and local authority strategic planning. The final section discusses the progress anddevelopment of the methodology in Surrey

The Space Between Shared Understandings of the Teaching of Grammar in English and French to Year 7 Learners: Student Teachers Working Collaboratively

In this article, we describe a small scale research project in which an English and a French student teacher on our Postgraduate Certificate of Education course work collaboratively to develop their personal knowledge and understanding of grammar and its role in teaching both subjects to 11 year old learners in an English comprehensive school. The project begins with university-based discussions about the role of grammar in language learning as expressed in a number of government documents and professional journals and continues in school with lesson observation by students of experienced teachers and of each other. Ways in which the cross-language focus beneficially influenced their classroom practice are suggested. The article concludes with the discussion of a number of issues about planning for language development and teaching about language across the curriculum which arise from the project and makes some modest proposals for a way forward within government policy which remains separatist

Managing Food Industry Business and Financial Risks with Commodity-Linked Credit Instruments

This paper reviews the use and structure of commodity-linked credit instruments. It is argued that in the absence of contingent markets food firms face increasing financial risk reduced investment, and limited access to debt markets. One strategy is to issue commodity-linked credit whose payment structure is linked to the price of an underlying commodity. In some cases, a commodity-linked bond (CLB) can be structured to provide an incentive to investors by sharing in profit gains. If the goal is to hedge financial risks, CLB's can also be constructed that reduce the loan principle or coupons depending on price movements.Agribusiness, Risk and Uncertainty,

CAN HYSTERESIS AND REAL OPTIONS EXPLAIN THE FARMLAND VALUATION PUZZLE?

This paper proposes that the common finding that land prices are systematically higher than their fundamental value as measured by the present value of future cash might be due to real options arising from uncertainty in cash flows. The paper posits a model in which the seller has a real option to postpone the sale of land. Because the value of land is measured as a present value, the buyer does not hold a similar option to postpone the purchase. It is argued that the seller's option offers a plausible explanation for the wedge between observed farmland prices and the present value model. The paper uses a Dixit and Pindyck (1996) real options framework. Using historical cash flow and land price information for Ontario, it is shown how real options can lead to a land price greater than that predicted by the present value model. The findings also suggest the existence of land price bubbles and shows how a real options framework can be used to detect bubbles.Land Economics/Use,

WEATHER DERIVATIVES AND SPECIFIC EVENT RISK

This paper investigates the relationship between weather events and agricultural risks. Specific event risks are defined by outcomes related to a specific event such as low temperature and rainfall. Using Ontario data this paper describes specific events and shows how these specific events can be insured using weather derivatives and insurance.Heat insurance, rainfall insurance, weather derivatives, weather options, crop insurance, agricultural risk, Risk and Uncertainty,

Fear, Trust and Agroterrorism

This paper presents results from a consumer survey on risk perceptions about agroterrorism and the safety of the US food supply. The survey conducted in the United States during the fall of 2004, provides insights into what consumers are thinking about terrorism against the food system, their knowledge base on food safety, the vulnerabilities of the food supply chain and food categories to terrorist contamination, and their trust in government and groceries to protect the food supply.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

Behaviour of pultruded beam-to-column joints using steel web cleats

Response of pultruded Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) beam-to-column joints with steel bolted web cleats is studied through physical testing. Two joint configurations are considered with either three or two bolts per cleat leg, as per drawings in a pultruder’s Design Manual. Moment-rotation curves, failure modes and potential performance gains from semi-rigid action are determined from two batches, each having six nominally identical joints. Results show that initial joint properties for stiffness and moment can possess, at 19 to 62%, an extremely high coefficient of variation. All joints failed by fracturing within the FRP column’s flange outstands. Because this failure mode has not been reported previously there is a need to establish how its existence influences joint design. As joint properties for the three- and two-bolted configurations are not significantly different, the middle (third) bolt is found to be redundant. Damage is shown to initiate within the column flange outstands when the mid-span deflection of a 5.08 m span beam, subjected to a uniformly distributed load, is span/500. This is half the serviceability vertical deflection limit recommended in the EUROCOMP Design Code and Handbook. The mean joint moment resistance for design is established to be 2.9 kNm and this is 1.5 times the moment for damage onset