Understanding reports and proposals

Chapter 10 explains the functions and types of report and proposal documents commonly used in business and professional contexts.

Organising reports and proposals

Chapter 12 explains the structure and style of formal report and proposal documents.

Language learning in the public eye: an analysis of newspapers and official documents in England

This article considers the issue of low levels of motivation for foreign language learning in England by exploring how language learning is conceptualised by different key voices in that country through the examination of written data: policy documents and reports on the UK's language needs, curriculum documents, and press articles. The extent to which this conceptualisation has changed over time is explored, through the consideration of documents from two time points, before and after a change in government in the UK. The study uses corpus analysis methods in this exploration. The picture that emerges is a complex one regarding how the 'problems' and 'solutions' surrounding language learning in that context are presented in public discourse. This, we conclude, has implications for the likely success of measures adopted to increase language learning uptake in that context.

Interstate Commerce Commission reports : reports and decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States /

Some vols., beginning with v. 250, include vols. entitled Water carrier and freight forwarder reports.

Interstate Commerce Commission reports : reports and decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States /

Some vols. beginning with v. 65, include Finance reports; with v. 250, Water carrier and freight forwarder reports.

Collection of interesting and important reports and papers on the navigation and trade of Great Britain, Ireland, and the British colonies in the West Indies and America...

The two reports reprinted in this volume were framed by the Earl of Liverpool, President of the Committee on Trade and Foreign Plantations. cf. Introd. p.xiii.

Machine learning classification of surgical pathology reports and chunk recognition for information extraction noise reduction

Background and aims: Machine learning techniques for the text mining of cancer-related clinical documents have not been sufficiently explored. Here some techniques are presented for the pre-processing of free-text breast cancer pathology reports, with the aim of facilitating the extraction of information relevant to cancer staging.

Materials and methods: The first technique was implemented using the freely available software RapidMiner to classify the reports according to their general layout: ‘semi-structured’ and ‘unstructured’. The second technique was developed using the open source language engineering framework GATE and aimed at the prediction of chunks of the report text containing information pertaining to the cancer morphology, the tumour size, its hormone receptor status and the number of positive nodes. The classifiers were trained and tested respectively on sets of 635 and 163 manually classified or annotated reports, from the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry.

Results: The best result of 99.4% accuracy – which included only one semi-structured report predicted as unstructured – was produced by the layout classifier with the k nearest algorithm, using the binary term occurrence word vector type with stopword filter and pruning. For chunk recognition, the best results were found using the PAUM algorithm with the same parameters for all cases, except for the prediction of chunks containing cancer morphology. For semi-structured reports the performance ranged from 0.97 to 0.94 and from 0.92 to 0.83 in precision and recall, while for unstructured reports performance ranged from 0.91 to 0.64 and from 0.68 to 0.41 in precision and recall. Poor results were found when the classifier was trained on semi-structured reports but tested on unstructured.

Conclusions: These results show that it is possible and beneficial to predict the layout of reports and that the accuracy of prediction of which segments of a report may contain certain information is sensitive to the report layout and the type of information sought.

Configuring processes and business documents : an integrated approach to enterprise systems collaboration

Enterprise Systems (ES) provide standardized, off-theshelf support for operations and management within organizations. With the advent of ES based on a serviceoriented architecture (SOA) and an increasing demand of IT-supported interorganizational collaboration, implementation projects face paradigmatically new challenges. The configuration of ES is costly and error-prone. Dependencies between business processes and business documents are hardly explicit and foster component proliferation instead of reuse. Configurative modeling can support the problem in two ways: First, conceptual modeling abstracts from technical details and provides more intuitive access and overview. Second, configuration allows the projection of variants from master models providing manageable variants with controlled flexibility. We aim at tackling the problem by proposing an integrated model-based framework for configuring both, processes and business documents, on an equal basis; as together, they constitute the core business components of an ES.

Central America: Labor Reports and Child Labor Reports Pursuant to the Trade Act of 2002, Section 2102(c)(8)-(9)

[Excerpt] These comments are in response to the “Request for Information Concerning Labor Rights in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua and their Laws Governing Exploitative Child Labor” published at 68 Fed. Reg. 19580 (April 21, 2003). This Request for Information was issued pursuant to Section 2102(c)(8) and (9) of the Trade Act of 2002, Pub. L. 107-210, which requires the President, with respect to any proposed trade agreement, to submit to Congress a “meaningful labor rights report” and a “report describing the extent to which the country or countries that are parties to the agreement have in effect laws governing exploitative child labor.”

A bacia do Rio Imboassu, no município de São Gonçalo (RJ) como unidade viabilizadora da educação ambiental no contexto do planejamento e gestão ambiental

Os problemas ambientais são cada vez mais comuns e de magnitudes e escalas variadas, atingindo principalmente as áreas urbanas. Poluição atmosférica e dos corpos dágua, deslizamentos de encostas e enchentes são alguns dessas situações adversas. São Gonçalo não foge á regra. Localizada na Região Metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro, essa cidade sofre com as situações exemplificadas, principalmente em relação a degradação dos rios urbanos e as enchentes que acometem algumas áreas do município. Partindo-se da problemática exposta, a presente pesquisa tem como objetivo principal promover uma discussão teórica e reflexiva sobre a importância da efetivação da educação ambiental com foco na bacia hidrográfica urbana, tomando-se a bacia hidrográfica do rio Imboassú no município de São Gonçalo (RJ), como recorte. A fundamentação metodológica deste trabalho está pautada na análise ambiental que prioriza a participação pública e a educação ambiental no processo de planejamento e gestão, visando minimizar as diversas situações de desequilíbrio e degradação que acometem a bacia. A operacionalização deu-se do seguinte modo: análise inicial a partir da sistematização de estudos diagnósticos e de consultas de documentos, relatórios, dentre outros de órgãos governamentais; análise intermediária a partir da observação em campo do atual estado de degradação da bacia hidrográfica do rio Imboassú e da identificação do conjunto de políticas públicas vigentes; análise integrada análise dos estudos diagnósticos, análise da situação atual da bacia (in loco e documental), análise final com identificação de lacunas de gestão e propostas viáveis no âmbito da educação ambiental. Verificou-se que essa bacia está urbanizada e os rios que a compõem descaracterizados e poluídos, com histórico de enchentes. Falta de ordenamento urbano, degradação ambiental e descaso do poder público são alguns problemas enfrentados pelos moradores dessa bacia, resultando na falta de ordenamento territorial urbano e falta de qualidade de vida da população. Diante do exposto, fica claro a necessidade de se criar mecanismos que amenizem essa degradação e tragam equilíbrio ao funcionamento e dinâmica da bacia, influenciando positivamente o dia-a-dia da população residente em seu interior. Um eficiente caminho para promover essa mudança é a educação ambiental como ferramenta para a transformação da sociedade, conscientizando-a de seu papel participativo e modificando a maneira como esta se relaciona com o meio ambiente. Verificou-se que na prática, na bacia do Imboassú, o poder público não efetiva os pressupostos presentes, tanto na legislação ambiental, quanto no plano diretor municipal e alguns órgãos (CEDAE, INEA, SEMMA) não atuam de forma satisfatória. Logo, levantar a discussão da importância da Educação Ambiental como política pública a ser promovida pelos gestores municipais e apontar para a participação e atuação da sociedade de forma crítica na estruturação do espaço urbano é de extrema importância para promover melhoria na relação sociedade meio ambiente.

Program, abstracts and related documents.

The context: Soil biodiversity and sustainable agriculture; Abstracts - Theme 1: Monitoring and assessment: Bioindicators of soil health: assessment and monitoring for sustainable agriculture; Practical tools to measure soil health and their use by farmers; Biological soil quality from biomass to biodiversity - importance and resilience to management stress and disturbance; Integrated management of plant-parasitic nematodes in maize-bean cropping systems; Microbial quantitative and qualitative changes in soils under different crops and tillage management systems in Brazil; Diversity in the rhizobia associated with Phaseolus vulgaris L: in Ecuador and comparisons with Mexican bean rhizobia; Sistemas integrados ganadería-agricultura en Cuba; Soil macrofauna as bioindicator of soil quality; Biological functioning of cerrado soils; Hydrolysis of fluorescein diacetate as a soil quality indicator in different pasture systems; Soil management and soil macrofauna communities at Embrapa Soybean, Londrina, Brazil; Soil macrofauna in a 24 - year old no-tillage system in Paraná, Brazil; Invertebrate macrofauna of soils inpastures under different forms of management in the cerrado (Brazil); Soil tillage modifies the invertebrate soil macrofauna community; Soil macrofauna in various tillage and land use systems on an oxisols near Londrina, Paraná, Brazil; Interference of agricultural systems on soil macrofauna; Scarab beetle-grub holes in various tillage and crop management systems at Embrapa Soybean, Londrina, Brazil; Biological management of agroecosystems; Soil biota and nutrient dynamics through litterfall in agroforestry system in Rondônia, Amazônia, Brazil; Soil-C stocks and earthworm diversity of native and introduced pastures in Veracruz, Mexico; Theme 2 : Adaptive management: Some thoughts on the effects and implications of the transition from weedy multi-crop to wead-free mono-crop systems in Africa; Towards sustainable agriculture with no-tillage and crop rotation systems in South Brazil; Effect of termites on crusted soil rehabilitation in the Sahel; Management of macrofauna in traditional and conventional agroforestry systems from India with special reference to termites and earthworms; Adaptive management for redeveloping traditional agroecosystems; Conservation and sustainable use of soil biodiversity: learning with master nature!; Convergence of sciences: inclusive technology innovation processes for better integrated crop/vegetation, soil and biodiversity management; Potential for increasing soil biodiversity in agroecosystems; Biological nitrogen fixation and sustainability in the tropics; Theme 3: Research and innovation: Plant flavonoids and cluster roots as modifiers of soil biodiversity; The significance of biological diversity in agricultural soil for disease suppressiveness and nutrient retention; Linking above - and belowground biodiversity: a comparison of agricultural systems; Insect-pests in biologically managed oil and crops: the experience at ICRISAT; Sistemas agricolas micorrizados en Cuba; The effect of velvetbean (Mucuna pruriens) on the tropical earthworm Balanteodrilus pearsei: a management option for maize crops in the Mexican humid tropics; The potential of earthworms and organic matter quality in the rehabilitation of tropical soils; Research and innovation in biological management of soil ecosystems; Application of biodynamic methods in the Egyptian cotton sector; Theme 4: Capacity building and mainstreaming: Soil ecology and biodiversity: a quick scan of its importance for government policy in The Netherlands; Agrotechnological transfer of legume inoculants in Eastern and Southern Africa; Agricultura urbana en Cuba; Soil carbon sequestration for sustaining agricultural production and improving the environment; Conservation and sustainable management of below-ground biodiversity: the TSBF-BGBD network project; The tropical soil biology and fertility institute of CIAT (TSBF); South-South initiative for training and capacity building for the management of soil biology/biodiversity; Strategies to facilititate development and adoption of integrated resource management for sustainable production and productivity improvement; The challenge program on biological nitrogen fixation (CPBNF); Living soil training for farmers: improving knowledge and skills in soil nutrition management; Do we need an inter-governmental panel on land and soil (IPLS)? Protection and sustainable use of biodiversity of soils; Cases Studies -- Plant parasitic nematodes associated with common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and integrated management approaches; Agrotechnological transfer of legume inoculants in Eastern and Southern Africa; Restoring soil fertility and enhancing productivity in Indian tea plantations with earthworms and organic fertilizers; Managing termites and organic resources to improve soil productivity in the Sahel; Overview and case studies on biological nitrogen fixation: perspectives and limitations; Soil biodiversity and sustainable agriculture: an overview.

Without prejudice: opening shots and negotiating documents

Reviews case law which has provided guidance on the law relating to without prejudice communications in landlord and tenant disputes. Considers: (1) the extent to which without prejudice communications are inadmissible in subsequent litigation; (2) exceptions to the without prejudice rule; (3) the specific context in which the rule applies; (4) the need for a dispute or negotiation to have arisen; (5) the prohibition on using "without prejudice" as an opening shot; and (6) the effect of changing the negotiating basis.

New Ways of Looking at the State Apparatus and the State Archive in Nineteenth Century Ireland: Curiosities from that Phonetic Museum - Royal Irish Constabulary Reports and their Political Uses, 1879-91

This essay seeks to contextualise the intelligence work of the Royal Irish Constabulary, particularly in the 1880s, in terms of the wider British and imperial practice and, as a corollary, to reflect upon aspects of the structure of the state apparatus and the state archive in Ireland since the Union. The author contrasts Irish and British police and bureaucratic work and suggests parallels between Ireland and other imperial locations, especially India. This paper also defines the narrowly political, indeed partisan, uses to which this intelligence was put, particularly during the Special Commission of 1888 on 'Parnellism and crime', when governmentheld police records were made available to counsel for The Times. By reflecting on the structure of the state apparatus and its use in this instance, the author aims to further the debate on the governance of nineteenth-century Ireland and to explore issues of colonial identity and practice. The line of argument proposed in this essay is prefigured in Margaret O'Callaghan, British high politics and a nationalist Ireland: criminality, land and the law under Forster and Balfour (Cork, 199

The text and the tale: differences between scientific reports and scientists’ reportings on the eruption of Mount Chance, Montserrat

This article looks at the difference between scientists’ written reports and their oral accounts, explanations and stories. The subject of these discourses is the eruption of Mount Chance on Montserrat, a British Overseas Territory in the Eastern Caribbean, and its continued monitoring and reporting. Scientific notions of risk and uncertainty which feature in these texts and tales will subsequently be examined and critiqued. Further to this, this article will end by pointing out that, ironically, the latter - the tale – can in some cases be a more effective and approximate mode of communication with the public than the former – the text.