Knowledge-based reactive scheduling

Reactive scheduling has emerged as a new concept in production planning and control over the past few years. It is attracting the increased interest of both academic and industrial researchers in developing available knowledge-based techniques in real-time shop floor control applications and providing advanced tools for subsequent industrial applications. In this paper, we provide an overview of research results in the domain of knowledge-based reactive scheduling and some related industrial applications. Since reactive scheduling is a new and not well-defined paradigm, we start by examining some definitions of the problem given by different practitioners in the field. We then examine alternative knowledge-representation technologies and reasoning approaches which, because of t heir flexibility and reactive capability, are often applied in real-time decision-making environments. This is followed by a review of some reported industrial applications, and a summary on major areas for further research, which gives a picture of the width of the gap between the results of current research and their application in practice. Finally, some major trends apparent in the domain are outlined.     

Community Social Work in a Market Environment: A British-American exchange of technologies and experience

Correspondence to Roger Hadley, Department of Applied Social Science, Cartmel College, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YL Summary Community social work, which flourished in Britain in the late1970s and through much of the 1980s, has been sidelined in recentyears by the combined development of market-oriented policiesand managerialism. However, certain recent initiatives in humanservices in the USA, a country which has moved far further towardsa contract culture than Britain, show that some American practitionersare increasingly critical of the perceived limitations of theirown system and are now seeking to borrow from earlier Britishexperience in making it more integrated, localized and community-oriented.This paper explores the example of an American county humanservices agency which has moved in this direction and considersits relevance for the survival and future development of communityoriented social work and social services in the quasi-marketenvironment which is emerging in Britain.     

SELF-INTEREST AND PUBLIC OPINION TOWARD SMOKING POLICIES; A REPLICATION AND EXTENSION

Numerous studies report that self-interest has a non significantinfluence upon various political and social attitudes. In contrast,a recent article by Green and Gerken (1989) reports a Californiastudy showing that cigarette smokers are significantly moreopposed than nonsmokers to public smoking restrictions and tobaccosales tax increases. The present article replicates and extendsthis analysis with data from two different states—Illinois(in 1984, N=458)—and North Carolina (in 1985, N=488)—andusing analysis techniques that differ from and expand upon theCalifornia study. Despite these methodological differ ences,self-interest is again shown to have a significant influenceon opinions concerning public smoking restrictions and taxation,as well as on several additional issues relating to smokingand tobacco.     

Reception to Prison

Summary The paper is concerned with the admission process to prison.The paper begins by outlining some of the current views on theeffects of imprisonment and the adjustment of the inmate toprison life. Gofiman in particular has identified the importantpart played by admission procedures in depriving the individualof his personal identity and immersing him in the institutionalsystem.The authors studied the admission procedures at two penalestablishments to see how far these showed the characteristicsdescribed by Gofrman as being 'fairly standard in total institutions'.The paper describes how the study was conducted, and gives anaccount of the admission procedure at the institutions. In theirfindings the authors try to assess the impact of this systemon the inmate, and its significance within the total socialsystem of the institution. The study casts doubt on the generalapplicability of Goffman's hypothesis, but at the same timeshows that the admission procedure has a potential for introducingthe inmate to his new environment in a constructive way, whichis not being realized within the present system     

THE CYCLICALITY OF PRICE‐COST MARGINS IN BANKING: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF ITS DETERMINANTS

We study the determinants of the cyclical behavior of banks' price‐cost margins in the United States banking sector, using time series quarterly data for the period 1979–2005. We contribute to the literature by building an empirical model of the countercyclical behavior of these margins first documented by Aliaga‐Díaz and Olivero (2010a) . Doing so we are able to explore potential explanations for this behavior, and to show that margins are consistently countercyclical, even after controlling for the effects of credit risk and monetary policy. As a mechanism for the propagation of aggregate shocks, the countercyclical nature of margins in banking can provide additional support to stabilization policy. (JEL E32, E44, G21)