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EVERYONE today is busily engaged in devising new methods, bringing about economies in motions, and applying incentives, but is enough attention being paid to the maintenance mechanics, from the human aspect, in these applications of work study?

In the age of digital media, customers have access to vast digital information sources, within and outside a company's direct control. Yet managers lack a metric to capture customers' cross-media exposure and its ramifications for individual customer journeys. To solve this issue, this article introduces media entropy as a new metric for assessing cross-media exposure on the individual customer level and illustrates its effect on consumers' purchase decisions.

Building on information and signalling theory, this study proposes the entropy of company-controlled and peer-driven media sources as a measure of cross-media exposure. A probit model analyses individual-level customer journey data across more than 25,000 digital and traditional media touchpoints.

Cross-media exposure, measured as the entropy of information sources in a customer journey, drives purchase decisions. The positive effect is particularly pronounced for (1) digital (online) versus traditional (offline) media environments, (2) customers who currently do not own the brand and (3) brands that customers perceive as weak.

The proposed metric of cross-media exposure can help managers understand customers' information structures in pre-purchase phases. Assessing the consequences of customers' cross-media exposure is especially relevant for service companies that seek to support customers' information search efforts. Marketing agencies, consultancies and platform providers also need actionable customer journey metrics, particularly in early stages of the journey.

Service managers and marketers can integrate the media entropy metric into their marketing dashboards and use it to steer their investments in different media types. Researchers can include the metric in empirical models to explore customers' omni-channel journeys.

Thick film resistor materials' microstructure, sheet resistivity and temperature coefficient of resistivity during the firing process in the temperature range between 350°C and 950°C were investigated. During firing the sheet resistivities at first decrease because of evaporation and/or oxidation of the organic phase and later, at higher firing temperatures, increase due to sintering of the glass phase and the rearrangement of conductive particles. The TCR is negative for firing temperatures below 450°C, due to the presence of partly pyrolysed organic vehicle, and positive for higher firing temperatures.

Crops are increasingly affected by drought; hence, the current study explored the potential role of three desert endophytic fungi, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus terreus and Talaromyces variabilis, in conferring drought tolerance in tomato plants.

Preserved endophytic fungi from a Rhazya stricta desert plant were adopted to obtain the required fungal treatment; tomatoes received fungal treatments directly in plastic trays and subsequently in pots. Drought was applied using 15% of PEG-6000 at two stages: flowering and fruiting. The following parameters were measured: pollen sterility, growth characteristics, morphological analysis and biochemical analysis, including proline, gibberellic acid (GA3) and chlorophyll measurements; thus, the data were analyzed statistically using SPSS software.

All applied endophytes significantly promoted pollen viability and tomato yield under stressed and nonstressed conditions. Interestingly, these endophytes significantly enhanced the number of trichomes under drought stress and promoted tomato fruit quality. The colonized tomato plants accumulated a high proline level under drought stress but lower than un-inoculated stressed plants. Also, a significant rise in growth characteristics was observed by A. fumigatus and A. terreus under normal conditions. Moreover, both raised GA3 levels under drought-stressed and nonstressed conditions. Also these two endophytes enhanced chlorophyll and carotenoid contents under drought stress. Fruit characteristics were enhanced by nonstressed T. variabilis and stressed A. fumigatus.

The present endophytic fungi provide impressive benefits to their host in normal and drought-stressed conditions. Consequently, they represent valuable sources as sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives to mitigate drought stress.

The importance of sanitary conditions in the production, manufacture, and distribution of foods was never greater than to‐day, for less of the food consumed by the individual is produced and prepared at home than ever before; and likewise, the necessity for sanitary laws in regard to foods was never more keenly realised. The disclosures of the insanitary conditions in our packing houses, exaggerated in many instances, has aroused public indignation. The newspapers added fuel to the flame by rehashing every case in recent history containing anything gruesome or revolting in connection with the preparation of food products. These reports, appearing day after day in the newspapers, gave the public the false impression that the manufacture of human bodies into food products was a matter of not uncommon occurrence, and that insanitary conditions prevailed in the manufacture of most foods. The discussion was continued until not only this country, but Europe, looked with suspicion on the food products of the United States.

THIS scheme of exact classification has now been long enough upon trial to justify the publication of a few explanatory notes, adjustments, and revisions which may be useful to present and future users of the system. For an entirely new scheme, which to some extent broke fresh ground, its reception has been extremely kind and flattering, and although it has not escaped criticism, nothing has appeared which has been anything but reasonable and helpful. A surprising circumstance has been that, notwithstanding the very controversial nature of much of the subject, so few points of difference have appeared. These are all more or less directed against the mere placing of certain topics and do not to any extent reflect upon the theory or structure of the system as a whole. One mistake has been made, however, of a more important nature, but this must have arisen either through misapprehension or carelessness. It has been assumed that the Subject Classification claims to be thoroughly scientific, and that each class is arranged in a logical and evolutionary order, so as to modulate or merge naturally into its successor. Any modest claim which may have been made to an attempted logical order is invariably qualified by a statement in the “Introduction” to the effect that such perfect order is only to be expected to a very limited extent. On page eight it is stated that—“The departments of human knowledge are so numerous, their intersections so great, their changes so frequent, and their variety so confusing, that it is impossible to show that they proceed from one source or germ, or that they can be arranged so that each enquirer will find the complete literature of his special subject at one fixed place.” All through the tables and the introduction the same kind of limitation is insisted upon, and it can only be due to misunderstanding to say that I have made such a preposterous claim to sequential perfection. No librarian who has attempted to compile a system of exact classification would ever dream of claiming that he did more than get as near as possible to an ideal arrangement in accordance with his basal plan.

The Presidential Address to the Liverpool Engineering Society by Mr. Farthing (the salient points of which are reproduced in this issue) has particular bearing upon lubrication and especially on young lubrication engineers. Mr. Farthing stressed the very wide field open to young engineers and the difficulties associated with training in order to cover as wide a field as may be necessary. It is usually so important to gain a wide knowledge before one can specialise and this is certainly the case with lubrication engineers. One cannot begin to fully appreciate the intricacies of a lubrication system with all its accessory components lubricating and guarding, for example, a large motive power plant or rolling mill, until one has more than a mere working knowledge of the plant itself, the duties it must perform, how it performs them and the snags that arise which might be overcome by correct lubrication. In view of the fact that lubrication systems are just as important in a textile mill as in a power station or a large brick works, the almost impossible‐to‐achieve‐range of knowledge that would simplify the work of a lubrication engineer is very obvious. Fortunately, lubricating principles apply to most cases and knowing how to apply one's knowledge from basic principles is the key to success in this difficult profession.

The purpose of this study is to identify to what extent individual-level factors (age, gender, participation in formal and non-formal education and levels of skills use at work) and country-level factors (social capital factors, national competitiveness and gross domestic product [GDP]) have contributed to older generations’ earnings in developed countries.

Utilizing the data from the Organizational Economic Co-operation and Development Skills Outlook 2013 survey, GDP and the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Competitiveness Report, this study adopted a multilevel path analysis method to measure cross-country-level effect of the study variables on older workers’ earnings.

Study results indicated that age, gender, non-formal education, use of influencing and task discretion skills at work at the individual level, and GDP, social trust, and higher education and training at the country level were identified as influential factors for older workers’ monthly earnings.

With more aging societies worldwide, the traditional view of the aging workforce has been affected by the desires and needs of the elderly. This study contributes to the literature by identifying what individual- and country-level factors should be considered for policymakers to improve the economic benefits of older generations living in developed countries.

INDUSTRIALLY the two ‘in’ words today seem to be participation and consensus, the first leading to the second. How these can become a reality in modern business was discussed recently by the London Region of the Institute of Work Study Practitioners.