116 research outputs found
Reconfigured domains: alternative pathways for the international wine industry
Consumer reviews, opinions and shared experiences in the use of a product form a powerful source of information about consumer preferences that can be used for making recommendations. A novel approach, which utilises this valuable information sources first time to create recommendations in recommender agents was recently developed by Aciar et al. (2007). This paper presents a general framework of this approach. The proposed approach is demonstrated using digital camera reviews as an example
The Illawarra at Work: A Summary of the Major Findings of the Illawarra Regional Workplace Industrial Relations Survey
This paper summarises the main results of the Illawarra Regional Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (IRWIRS). The data is unique in that it provides the only comprehensive and statistically reliable source of information about workplace employee relations at the regional level in Australia, and compares regional patterns with national trends. The data collected relates to industrial relations indicators, workplace ownership, market conditions, management organisation and decision- making in the workplace, among other things. The results reveal a positive pattern of employment relations in the Illawarra, distinctive in many respects from national trends.Illawarra Regional Workplace Industrial Relations Survey, workplace employee relations, Australia
Natural Resources Research Institute Technical Report
This report summarizes a Natural Resources Research Institute supported
study (Zanko, 1988) in which the tax and royalty policies of Minnesota, Michigan,
South Dakota, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, and the Canadian province of Ontario were
examined and their impact on the cost of mining evaluated. The evaluation was
accomplished by applying the policies of each state and province to three
hypothetical non-ferrous mining operations and performing an after tax economic
analysis.
The analysis demonstrated that such policies have a profound effect on
mining costs, and also showed that policy differences between each state and
Ontario are potentially significant enough to influence mineral exploration and
mineral investment decisions. However, and perhaps most importantly, the
analysis also revealed that Minnesota is no longer a high tax state with regard
to non-ferrous mining activity, and in fact compares very well with states
recognized for their lower tax burdens.Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota Duluth, 5013 Miller Trunk Highway, Duluth, MN 55811-144
Assessing for futures: Can professional learning provide a sustainable assessment platform to support learning beyond graduation
Recent evidence suggests that assessment in higher education is predominantly focused on certifying learning (Australian Learning and Teaching Council, 2008), and that the assessment methodologies adopted do not necessarily focus on ‘driving’ learning (Ramsden, 1993; Bransford et al., 2000). The notion that assessment should reach beyond graduation to nurture attitudes, skills and knowledge for life (Boud et al., 2010) requires that it be used to do more than just measure learning objectives. Instead it should be designed to be sustainable, to inform judgment, to encourage reflexive learning and to develop students to become practitioners. This paper is based on an Australian Learning and Teaching Council–funded project entitled ‘Engaging industry: embedding professionally relevant learning in the business curriculum’. Through a series of surveys, focus groups and interviews, a framework was developed to categorise professional learning practices within the business curriculum and to provide exemplars of good practice for each category. This framework and the related examples were then used to develop resources to support academics using professional learning in their teaching, including ‘enablers and impediments’ as well as good practice principles and assessment guidelines. In this paper the guidelines will be discussed alongside examples of good practice from universities across Australia that use professional learning practices to support learning beyond graduation
Engaging industry: Embedding professional learning in the business curriculum
Professional learning has become a feature of business curricula in universities throughout Australia and around the world. ‘Professional learning’ is often used to denote educational programs that are explicitly linked to industry and professional bodies through industry placements, industry projects and teaching approaches that highlight contemporary industry issues. Professional learning encompasses the skills, qualities and attributes that are required by a profession and the processes through which those skills are learnt: that is, the methods of teaching – case studies, role plays, field trips, work placement and the like. Professional learning encourages deep learning in relation to the student’s future profession, and includes industry engagement, work‐integrated learning and authentic learning environments..
Selection of optimal logistics strategies of RTEs by the criterion of marginal profit using MS Excel
Метод расчета баланса триадных красок
У статті запропоновано новий метод розрахунку балансу тріадних друкарських фарб на стадії попередньої обробки зображень. Представлено результати розрахунку балансу тріадних фарб в ідеальних і реальних умовах друкарського процесу на різних типах паперів.In paper is offered new computational method balance triad printing inks on stage preparative processing images. Presented result calculation balance triad inks in ideal and actual conditions printed process on various types papers.В статье предложен новый метод расчета баланса триадных печатных красок на стадии предварительной обработки изображений. Представлены результаты расчета баланса триадных красок в идеальных и реальных условиях печатного процесса на различных типах бумаг
Environmental Particulate Matter Characterization
The NRRI characterization studies provide physical (size and shape), mineralogical, chemical, geological, geographical, and historical context to the findings of the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health (SPH) and the University of Minnesota Medical School (UMMS). The SPH and UMMS findings (Finnegan and Mandel, 2014) showed that mesothelioma is associated with working longer in the taconite industry. However, the SPH and UMMS investigators “…were not able to state with certainty that the association with EMPs and mesothelioma was related to the ore dust or to the use of commercial asbestos or both.”
The NRRI findings indicate the following:
1) Low concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, and EMPs in Mesabi Iron Range community air.
2) Elemental iron concentrations in MIR communities were similar to elemental iron concentrations in background sampling locations when taconite mines/plants were inactive. When taconite mines/plants were active, the elemental iron concentrations within communities were found to be statistically higher.
3) Mineralogically and morphologically, the EMPs identified in MIR communities and taconite processing plants were dominated by particles that did not fit the “countable”/”covered” classification criteria. Of the 145 “covered” EMPs identified within the six MIR taconite processing plants, a total of 8 were “countable” (NIOSH, 2011), representing 1.1% of the total number of EMPs, out of 691 total. These EMPs were detected in two taconite plants (seven in one plant and one in another); no other “countable”/”covered” EMPs were detected in the other four plants.
4) The lake sediment study returned similar results, in which 4 of the study’s 790 identified EMPs found in the lake sediment samples met the “countable”/”covered” classification.
5) In comparison to the NIOSH standard, for countable particles, the results from this study show that the community air has significantly lower amounts than the standard.
6) Only one plant and two areas in this plant had countable EMPs above the NIOSH benchmark.
7) The highest particulate matter found was for the Minneapolis reference site in comparison for the Range communities and the other two reference sites.
8) The use of MOUDI sampling techniques is a good method for better understanding not only what is in the air, but also the size of the particles that are in the air.
9) Study of lake sediment can be used to interpret some of the impacts of past industrial activities and to gain a better understanding of the impact of local geology
Natural Resources Research Institute Technical Report
Plates 1-7B mentioned in the report are also attached to this record. Disks 1-4 have not been located yet.Minnesota has a variety of clays and shales that have potential as industrial
clays. These clays are: 1) Precambrian clays; 2) Paleozoic shales; 3) pre-Late
Cretaceous primary (residual) and secondary kaolins; 4) Late Cretaceous ball clays and
marine shales; 5) Pleistocene glacial clays; and 6) Recent clays. Minnesota clays are
currently used for brick and as a portland cement additive. Other potential uses
include filler and coating grade kaolins, ceramic tile, refractory products, lightweight
aggregate, sanitaryware, and livestock feed filler.
Precambrian clays occur in the 1 .1 Ga Keweenawan interflow sediments of the
North Shore Volcanic Group, the Middle Proterozoic Thomson Formation and in the
Paint Rock member of the Biwabik Iron-Formation on the Mesabi Iron Range, all in
northeastern Minnesota. The Paint Rock clays have potential as red coloring additives
and glazes.
Paleozoic shales in southeastern Minnesota are primarily kaolinitic and illitic
shales that are interbedded with limestones. The Ordovician Decorah and Glenwood
Formations are marine shales that, in the past, have been used to make bricks, tile,
and lightweight aggregate. The thickness of these shales ranges from 10-90 feet.
The Decorah Shale has the lowest firing temperature with the best shrinkage and
absorption characteristics of all the Minnesota clays.
The pre-Late Cretaceous primary and secondary kaolins are found in the
western and central portions of Minnesota; the best exposures are located along the
Minnesota River Valley from Mankato to the Redwood Falls area and in the St. Cloud
area. The primary or residual kaolinitic clays are the result of intense weathering of
Precambrian granites and gneisses prior to the Late Cretaceous. Subsequent
reworking of these residual clays led to the development of a paleosol and the
formation of pisolitic kaolinite clays. Physical and chemical weathering of the
saprolitic kaolinite-rich rocks produced fluvial/lacustrine (secondary) kaolinitic shales
and sandstones. Recent exploration activity is concentrated in the Minnesota River
Valley where the primary kaolin thickness ranges from 0 to 200 + feet, and the
thickness of the secondary kaolins ranges from 0-45 + feet (Setterholm, et al, 1989).
Similar kaolinitic clays occur in other areas of Minnesota, e.g., St. Cloud and Bowlus
areas. However, less information is available on their thickness, quality, and areal
distribution due to varying thicknesses of glacial overburden. Cement grade kaolin is
extracted from two mines in the residual clays in the Minnesota River Valley, and a
third mine there yields secondary kaolinite-rich clays that are mixed with Late
Cretaceous shales to produce brick.
During the Late Cretaceous, Minnesota was flooded by the transgressing
Western Interior Sea, which deposited both non-marine and marine sediments. These
sediments are characterized by gray and black shales, siltstones, sandstones, and
lignitic material. Significant occurrences of Late Cretaceous sediments are found
throughout the western part of the state, with the best exposures located in Brown
County, the Minnesota River Valley, and the St. Cloud area. In Brown County, the
maximum thickness of the Late Cretaceous sediments is > 100 feet. These sediments
thicken to the west and can be covered by significant thicknesses ( > 300 ft.) of
glacial overburden in many areas. Current brick production comes from the Late
Cretaceous shales in Brown County. In the past, the Red Wing pottery in Red Wing,
Minnesota, used Cretaceous and some Ordovician sediments to produce pottery,
stoneware, and sewer pipe.
Glacial clays occur in glacial lake, till, loess, and outwash deposits, and these
clay deposits range in thickness from 5 to 100 + feet. Much of the early brick and
tile production (late 1800s and early 1900s) in Minnesota was from glacial clays. The
last brickyards to produce from glacial lake clays, e.g., Wrenshall in northeastern
Minnesota and Fertile in west-central Minnesota, closed in the 1950s and 1960s.
There has also been some clay production from recent (Holocene) fluvial and lake
clays that have thicknesses of 2-10 + feet. Both recent and glacial clays are
composed of glacial rock flour with minor quantities of clay minerals. Carbonates can
be a significant component of many of these clays. Glacial lake clays in northwestern
Minnesota (Glacial Lake Agassiz - Brenna and Sherack Formations) begin to bloat at
1830 ° F due to the presence of dolomite and smectite clays. These clays are a
potential lightweight aggregate resource.
Geochemistry, clay mineralogy, particle size, cation exchange capacity (CEC),
raw and fired color, and firing characteristics are useful in distinguishing different
potential industrial uses for Minnesota clays. These physical and chemical
characteristics help to distinguish potentially useful clays from those with less
desirable characteristics, e.g., high quartz or silica content, high shrinkage or
absorption upon firing, undesirable fired color, too coarse-grained, CEC of < 5
milliequivalents, etc. Certain clays, e.g., the bloating Decorah and Brenna Formation
clays, and the high alumina, refractory, pisolitic clays of the Minnesota River Valley,
have physical and chemical characteristics that indicate further exploration and
product research are necessary to fully evaluate the potential of these clays.Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota Duluth, 5013 Miller Trunk Highway, Duluth, MN 55811-1442; Funded by the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resource
Innovation and HRM : absences and politics
This article analyses the role of HRM practices in the implementation of an innovative cross-functional approach to new product development (concurrent engineering, CE) in Eurotech Industries. Contrary to CE methodology stipulations, and despite supportive conditions, HRM received scant attention in the implementation process. Organizational power and politics were clearly involved in this situation, and this article explores how their play created such HRM ‘absences’. The article builds on a four-dimensional view of power in order to provide a deeper understanding of the embedded, interdependent and political nature of HRM practice and innovation.<br /
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