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Text information retrieval systems fall into three main categories: full text, free vocabulary, controlled vocabulary. Using the software ADABAS and NATURAL, we developed and implemented an Information Retrieval System for the National Television and Radio Network. The system falls into the free vocabulary and controlled vocabulary categories and constitutes an adaptable model for information retrieval applications in other areas as well.

A project, involving selection procedures for choosing information retrieval software (full text) for government administration oriented applications and users, was undertaken by a team from Malam Systems Ltd, an Israeli government‐owned computer company, centre and software house.. A case study and comparison of six IR software systems, Basis, BRS, Context, Documaster, Responsa, TRS, were undertaken as part of the selection process and a list of up to twenty seven selection criteria were compiled in order to evaluate the systems accordingly. Pilot systems, based on an excerpt from a catalogue of custom import fees, were developed in order to test the efficiency and functionality of the IR software system.

Cohesion is a key contributor to team effectiveness, leading to great interest in understanding how to diagnose, monitor, and enhance it in practice. However, there is great inconsistency in how cohesion is conceptualized and measured, making it difficult to compare findings across studies, and therefore limiting the ability to advance science and practice. To begin addressing these issues, we draw from qualitative and quantitative analyses and extract themes indicating what matters most for effective cohesion measurement. Such themes are presented around six major questions – who, what, when, where, why, and how – as they pertain to each major component of the cohesion measurement process. Emerging approaches to cohesion measurement and corresponding avenues for future research are also discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on economics literature on antimicrobial and alternative uses in food animal production on its current state, its drivers, impacts and policy, and provides a general picture of the research for this special agricultural input and future directions for the research and policy.

Reduction of antimicrobial uses in food animal production is relevant to both preventing antimicrobial resistance and ensuring global food security. This study focuses on reviewing antimicrobial impact on global food security, particularly in farm production by documenting the main drivers, functions and alternatives of antimicrobial animal uses, comparing different approaches used in evaluating its production effects and providing recommendations for future research and policy development.

Three main approaches, controlled animal experiments, comparisons between with and without using antimicrobials at the farm level and comparisons before and after antimicrobial ban as growth promoter, have been used in measuring food security effects of antimicrobial uses in food animal production. They are, however, answering different questions with different measuring conditions. The positive production impact of antimicrobial use is often associated to its functions as a growth promoter and in preventing and treating diseases. In this review the author question the technical legitimacy for antimicrobials as a growth promoter and argue that antimicrobials should be treated as a special class of conditional and supportive input in farm production instead of using it as a normal input in its impact evaluation.

An approach of combining damage control function and disease epidemiological model instead of a simplified production function should be used in its impact evaluation including in evaluating those used as antimicrobial growth promoters.

In reducing antimicrobial uses in animal production, apart from more active adoption of the alternatives, we call for a better understanding for the decision makings of antimicrobial use in the production process including government-veterinarian-farm links.

This study examines the main issues in current economic research in antimicrobial food animal production, clarifies ambiguities in antimicrobial production functions and in different approaches used in impact evaluation, provides a roadmap for reduction of antimicrobial uses and a new approach for the policy evaluation.

In 1987, Campbell Soup Company introduced the Souper Combo, a line of frozen soup and sandwiches. Melvin Druin, vice‐president for packaging, called it “the perfect combination of old‐fashioned good taste and today's convenience. No mess. No fuss. Easy to use. All you have to do is clean your spoon. Everything else just throw away.” Unfortunately, the multi‐layered plastic‐coated packaging does not just disappear when thrown away. Plastics packaging, particularly from convenience products, has become a waste disposal nightmare. Garbage, an environmental magazine, gave the Souper Combo an “in the dumpster” award, saying, “It's precisely the kind of product that's created the municipal landfill monster.”

In America the non‐union employment relationship is defined by the rigid doctrine of employment‐at‐will. It is thought to have evolved from the master‐servant relationship which was a personal relationship. With the emergence of industrialisation in the nineteenth century, the personal relationship was essentially replaced by a commercial relationship. This commercial relationship needed definition commensurate with the definition of tasks and responsibilities within the factory's structured management and assembly line type processes. By 1877, employment‐at‐will became a generally accepted position in the American courts. “This doctrine embraces a rule declaring that employment for an indefinite term may be terminated at any time for any reason or for no reason by either the employee or the employer without legal liability” (Seidman, 1993:44). “Bosses could fire workers for any reason — as long as the firing is not discriminatory or retaliatory” (Iwata, 1994).

Although established theoretical models suggest that race differences in physical health are partially explained by exposures to environmental toxins, there is little empirical evidence to support these processes. We build on previous research by formally testing whether black–white differences in self-rated physical health are mediated by the embodiment of environmental toxins.

Using cross-sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (2007–2008), we employ ordinary least squares regression to model environmental toxins (from urine specimens) and overall self-rated health as a function of race and ethnicity. We employ the Sobel test of indirect effects to formally assess mediation.

Our results show that non-Hispanic black respondents tend to exhibit higher levels of total toxins, lead, and cadmium in their urine and poorer physical health than non-Hispanic whites, even with adjustments for age, gender, and socioeconomic status (SES). Our mediation analyses suggest that blacks may exhibit poorer physical health than whites because they tend to embody higher levels of cadmium.

Research limitations include cross-sectional data and restricted indicators of SES.

This study contributes to previous work by bridging the fields of social epidemiology and environmental inequality and by formally testing established theoretical models.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate meat traceability by outlining the different perspectives and opinions of meat supply chain stakeholders (SCSs); it also evaluates potential of acceptance of blockchain technology (BCT) as a viable transparency and traceability system (TTS).

A questionnaire survey of 141 consumers reveals their opinions about TTSs. In addition, semi-structured interviews with seven retail managers, four government officials and one blockchain service provider (Project Provenance Ltd) provide expert insights.

The results demonstrate that consumers are overwhelmed by the amount and complexity of certification labels. As a TTS, BCT implementation appears to have significant positive influences on consumers’ purchasing decisions, mediated by consumers’ quality perceptions. This study reveals the discordant perspectives of different stakeholders with regard to the importance of a BCT-based TTS.

This study investigates current TTSs and certification labels, and probes customer perception of a potential BCT-based solution for meat traceability. Changes to supply chains’ mentality and the active establishment of trust in BCT applications are needed. Firms should take both holistic and altruistic views to deal with the challenges of TTSs in the meat supply chain. The adoption of BCT, in combination with DNA coding, seems promising as a solution to many of the issues that currently plague TTSs.