Search results

Tenderness is probably the single most sought after quality of meat but it is also one of the most variable. Not surprisingly, considerable efforts have been made to predict and improve this aspect in meat production. It has been known for centuries that storing meat increases tenderness and that meat, like wine or cheese, needs to ‘age’ or ‘mature’ before reaching perfect condition. However, it is only relatively recently that we have begun to understand the biochemical changes which occur during the ‘ageing’ process.

By law, no substance may be added to fresh meat to enhance its colour; so one might be forgiven for thinking that colour is a good natural guide to meat quality. Indeed, cookery books often urge you to choose bright red meat and avoid that which is dull and brown. But this preference is based on a fallacy. The appearance of bright red meat is undoubtedly psychologically attractive, but it is not an indicator of quality. The fact is that meat colour is not a reliable guide to either freshness or flavour. As we shall see, a number of factors — ranging from the age of the animal through to the eventual packaging and display — can affect the colour of meat; although in most cases they do not affect the eating quality of the meat after cooking. It is the chemistry of the pigment myoglobin which determines meat colour, and it is affected by a variety of chemical and physical factors.

Discusses applications of genetic engineering including some which are already used commercially. Outlines some of the technical complexities of gene transfer in plants. Touches on the regulation of gene transfer technology.

IRRADIATED FOODS An international conference on the acceptance, control of and trade in irradiated foods was held in Geneva at the end of 1988. A new EEC directive on irradiated food was discussed and Consumers' Association food expert, Anna Bradley claimed that the UK ban on food irradiation must stay in force until there is a test that can detect whether or not food had been so treated. She also called for more information on the effects of irradiation on food before the ban is lifted.

The article aims to analyze how personal development training influences managers' identity processes.

The article, taking an interpretive‐critical approach, is based on a qualitative, longitudinal study of five participants (managers) in a personal development training program. During the two years of research, 62 interviews (with the managers and related personnel) were conducted and 13 observations were made.

Personal development training provokes identity regulation by prescribing a normative identity process that claims managers should engage in a process of reflection in order to gain self‐awareness. Such training constitutes a local management discourse that may influence different levels of identity work and identity regulation processes depending on the participants' expectations, their organizations and professional situations, their level of insecurity, as well as their previous experience with management discourse.

Since management training influences participants' identity processes, program organizers, purchasers and participants should be wary of the expectation that management training will deliver content as “a package” of managerial skills.

The study challenges the traditional view of management training as a provider of skills and solutions for managers by focusing instead on its influence on managers' processes of identity work and identity regulation. Management training in general is claimed to regulate identities and direct identity work by providing inspirational identities. However, this study finds that personal development training regulates identities by prescribing the identity process in itself.

Fumes, grit, dust, dirt—all have long been recognized as occupational hazards, their seriousness depending on their nature and how they assail the human body, by ingestion, absorption, inhalation, the last being considered the most likely to cause permanent damage. It would not be an exaggeration to state that National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) provisions, now contained in the Social Security Act, 1975, with all the regulations made to implement the law, had their birth in compensating victims of lung disease from inhalation of dust. Over the years, the range of recognized dust disease, prescribed under regulations, has grown, but there are other recognized risks to human life and health from dusts of various kinds, produced not from the manufacturing, mining and quarrying, &c. industries; but from a number of areas where it can contaminate and constitute a hazard to vulnerable products and persons. An early intervention by legislation concerned exposed foods, e.g. uncovered meat on open shop fronts, to dust and in narrow streets, mud splashed from road surfaces. The composition of dust varies with its sources—external, atmospheric, seasonal or interior sources, uses and occupations, comings and goings, and in particular, the standards of cleaning and, where necessary, precautions to prevent dust accumulation. One area for long under constant scrutiny and a subject of considerable research is the interior of hospital wards, treatment rooms and operating theatres.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse extant literature on POE of a building’s operations and performance as a means of holistically mapping the existing body of knowledge (BOK); identify impediments preventing its wide-scale adoption throughout practice; and develop new theory that seeks to integrate digital technologies (such as building information modelling (BIM)) within facilities management (FM) via a POE feedback mechanism.

An inductive and interpretivist methodological approach is adopted that utilises a mixed methods systematic review to map bibliometric data on the POE, associated underpinning processes and benchmarking facilities. Publication and citation metrics are produced via the software VOSviewer to determine the extent to which POE interrelates with other fields of study (namely, digital technologies and FM).

The BOK accrued illustrates that whilst POE has received comparatively scant academic attention in comparison to other fields of study, interest in the area is growing. The work also identifies that a stronger community of practice (CoP) is needed (that comprises of academics and practitioners) to ensure that a consistent approach to POE implementation is developed and that the barriers to POE implementation are addressed.

Findings presented accentuate the need for design practitioners to reverse engineer POE implementation to inform future design vis-à-vis simply reporting upon an existing building’s performance post construction. Other new theories are also introduced as a means of engendering wider academic discourse in this field of science.

Survivor employees and senior management perceptions of career development issues were examined in a downsizing organization. It emerged that the organization lacked a coherent strategy for survivors’ career development. The main career development structure, the performance management and appraisal scheme, was generally viewed as inadequate, while the other structures in place, although generally perceived as useful, were underutilized. A substantial proportion of employees considered lateral moves to potentially undermine advancement and security, and senior management views implied a potential lack of wide managerial support for widespread use of this tool. A senior management attitude for selective career development, targeted on an élite group of key employees, was also detected. The study concluded that proper downsizing planning must include a coherent career development strategy for survivors.