What Determines Trust in Information About Food-Related Risks? Underlying Psychological Constructs

Trust in risk information about food related-hazards may be an important determinant of public reactions to risk information. One of the central questions addressed by the risk communication literature is why some individuals and organizations are trusted as sources of risk information and others are not. Industry and government often lack public trust, whereas other sources (for example, consumer organizations, the quality media, medical doctors) are highly trusted. Problematically, previous surveys and questionnaire studies have utilized questions generated by the investigators themselves to assess public perceptions of trust in different sources. Furthermore, no account of the hazard domain was made. In the first study reported here, semistructured interviewing was used to elicit underpinning constructs determining trust and distrust in different sources providing food-related risk information ( n = 35). In the second study, the repertory grid method was used to elicit the terminology that respondents use to distinguish between different potential food-related information sources ( n = 35), the data being submitted to generalised Procrustes analysis. The results of the two studies were combined and validated in survey research ( n = 888) where factor analysis indicated that knowledge in itself does not lead to trust, but that trusted sources are seen to be characterised by multiple positive attributes. Contrary to previous research, complete freedom does not lead to trust—rather sources which possess moderate accountability are seen to be the most trusted.     

Machine learning for multi-criteria inventory classification applied to intermittent demand

Multi-criteria inventory classification groups inventory items into classes, each of which is managed by a specific re-order policy according to its priority. However, the tasks of inventory classification and control are not carried out jointly if the classification criteria and the classification approach are not robustly established from an inventory-cost perspective. Exhaustive simulations at the single item level of the inventory system would directly solve this issue by searching for the best re-order policy per item, thus achieving the subsequent optimal classification without resorting to any multi-criteria classification method. However, this would be very time-consuming in real settings, where a large number of items need to be managed simultaneously.

In this article, a reduction in simulation effort is achieved by extracting from the population of items a sample on which to perform an exhaustive search of best re-order policies per item; the lowest cost classification of in-sample items is, therefore, achieved. Then, in line with the increasing need for ICT tools in the production management of Industry 4.0 systems, supervised classifiers from the machine learning research field (i.e. support vector machines with a Gaussian kernel and deep neural networks) are trained on these in-sample items to learn to classify the out-of-sample items solely based on the values they show on the features (i.e. classification criteria). The inventory system adopted here is suitable for intermittent demands, but it may also suit non-intermittent demands, thus providing great flexibility. The experimental analysis of two large datasets showed an excellent accuracy, which suggests that machine learning classifiers could be implemented in advanced inventory classification systems.     

A methodological strategy for a one-number census in the UK

As a result of lessons learnt from the 1991 census, a research programme was set up to seek improvements in census methodology. Underenumeration has been placed top of the agenda in this programme, and every effort is being made to achieve as high a coverage as possible in the 2001 census. In recognition, however, that 100% coverage will never be achieved, the one-number census (ONC) project was established to measure the degree of underenumeration in the 2001 census and, if possible, to adjust fully the outputs from the census for that undercount. A key component of this adjustment process is a census coverage survey (CCS). This paper presents an overview of the ONC project, focusing on the design and analysis methodology for the CCS. It also presents results that allow the reader to evaluate the robustness of this methodology.     

Identity in political context: lesbian/gay representation in the public sphere

Discourses constructed to represent lesbians and gay men in the public sphere generate an essentialist identity which is both necessary and damaging. Legislative debate illustrates the production of a constrictive and homogeneous identity rejected by many gay/lesbian scholars and activists. Discussion of the rhetorical power of identity claims has produced alternative stances toward variant sexuality. This discussion can be advanced by challenging dominant constructions of civil rights and the public sphere.     

Changing food production and quality of diet in India, 1947-98

Systematic and critical evaluation, using food balance sheets, census population data, government surveys, food composition statistics, and estimates of the population's biological requirements, shows that the realized improvements in food supplies in India of the past five decades, while beneficial, have been insufficient to meet the nutritional needs of the average person in a population that grew from less than 350 million to nearly one billion during this period. The improvements also fall significantly short of meeting the needs of the clinically malnourished. Present per capita dietary energy intakes range from as high as 95 percent to as low as 50 percent of daily requirements. Additionally, comparison of past and present diets shows that as the composition of the diet has changed with time, its nutritional quality for many has deteriorated despite an apparent increase in overall food quantity. This has come about from changes in the production system that have emphasized wheat and rice crops at the expense of more nutritional pulses and coarse grains, and from widespread poverty that leaves high-quality animal foods beyond the means of most.     

抗病苹果品种在M.26、M.27和Mark砧木上的生长和结果习性

对以M .2 7EMLA、M .2 6EMLA和Mark为砧的Liberty、NY7541 4— 1、NY74 82 8— 1 2、NY6570 7— 1 9和McShay等苹果品种的生长、早熟性、产量和果实大小等项目进行的研究表明 ,Liberty、McShay、NY74 82 8— 1 2的树体大于NY7541 4— 1、NY6570 7— 1 9的树体最小。就砧木而言 ,以Mark为砧的苹果品种树体大于以M .2 6为砧的 ,以M .2 7为砧的树体最小。本文中的品种和砧木对树体的生长的影响没有交互作用。NY74 82 8— 1 2在定植后第 3、4年花量最大 ,NY6570 7— 1 9的最少。 1 993年时以Mark为砧的树花量比以M .2 6的为最多 ,以M .2 7为砧的开花量最少。Liberty、NY7541 4— 1和NY74 82 8— 1 2的累计产量比McShay和NY6570 7— 1 9的高。以Mark为砧的树累计产量多于以M .2 6为砧的 ,以M .2 7为砧的品种产量最低。NY6570 7— 1 9果形最大 ,NY74 82 8— 1 2的最小。以M .2 7为砧的树所结果实比以M .2 6和Mark为砧的小。NY7541 4— 1的树势中庸 ,早熟 ,高产 ,产量效率高 ,果实大小适度。NY74 82 8— 1 2在本试验中的表现也较好 ,但它对苹果黑星病只具Vm抗性而不具Vf抗性 ,故不可能作为新品种定名。在这些抗病品种中 ,根据早熟性、树势、产量和果形大小来看 ,Liberty和NY7541 4— 1具最佳的商品生产潜力。以     

Gender and income in pharmacy: human capital and gender stratification theories revisited

This is a case study of gender and earnings in pharmacy--a profession characterized by its rapid recruitment of female practitioners. We try to account for disparities in earnings between male and female pharmacists in Ontario with the aid of human capital theory and gender stratification theory. Data is drawn from a random sample of 463 Ontario pharmacists. We find a consistent sex gap in earnings regardless of occupational level of practitioners (i.e. owner, manager or employee) and net of such factors as hours worked, commitment to work, hours devoted to childcare, absences from the labour market, and years since graduation. Instead, the main reason why women in pharmacy earn less than males is because they remain employees throughout their careers. However, we are less successful at identifying the additional factors responsible for the depressed earnings of female practitioners. We discuss our findings in light of the claims of gender stratification and human capital theory.     

Immigrant incorporation in the garment industry of Los Angeles

This study expands immigrant social network theory and examined employment patterns in the garment industry in Los Angeles, California, among Latino workers employed by Asian immigrant entrepreneurs. The study determined that a large percentage of immigrant employees found their jobs through the immigrant economy. Entrepreneurship increased the supply of local jobs and expanded the economy at destination at no expense to natives. Immigrant entrepreneurs bought firms from nonimmigrant owners or started new ones with an immigrant labor supply. Massey's index is flawed due to its exclusion of the role of entrepreneurs. Migration networks facilitate entrepreneurship, but some ethnic groups have fewer entrepreneurs, such as Mexicans and Central Americans. A 1993 Los Angeles survey identified 3642 garment factories in its county. Mean employment was 27.1 persons. The garment industry was the 4th largest industry in the area in 1996, with 98,700 employees. It represented 6% of all wage and salary employees in the City and 5.5% of the immigrant labor force in the County in 1990. 93% of garment workers in 1990 were immigrants. It is estimated that 51% of garment factory owners were Asians; most employees were Latinos. Census figures on sewing machine operators indicated 47.3% of owners were Whites and 42.45 were Asians. 53.3% of employees were other ethnic groups, 14.5% were Asians, and 32.2% were Whites. It is estimated that 47.2% of total employment was due to the immigration economy. 71.5% of the total employment in the garment industry was in the immigrant sector.     

The industrial division of labor among immigrants and internal migrants to the Los Angeles economy

This study examined the industrial division of labor among immigrants and in-migrants in the Los Angeles, California, metropolitan area. It addresses debates about channeling of new arrivals into jobs among similar ethnic groups and human capital views. Data were obtained from the 1990 Census on resident native-born, resident foreign-born, in-migrants, and recent immigrants who arrived during 1985-90. Light and Rosenstein's (1995) concepts of groups and their resources were used to organize ideas about ethnic networks and their effectiveness in channeling migrant workers into 15 industrial sectors. Sectoral differences were revealed with the familiarity index of dissimilarity. Findings reveal that social networks were the strongest for Koreans, who supplied work for recent arrivals in the same sectors as Korean-born residents, regardless of education. Mexican new arrivals were less likely to work in the same sectors as their resident Mexican counterparts. Mexican networks placed new arrivals in durable manufacturing in the 1960s and 1970s when it was a key source of employment. By the 1980s and 1990s, the economy shifted and employment went down in durable manufacturing. Mexicans thus found employment elsewhere. Native White and Black in-migrants had the strongest channeling into same sector jobs. This is attributed to the small streams, the ability of the labor market to absorb these workers, and the availability of job vacancies among native out-migrants. Filipino migrants had similar patterns as Whites and Blacks. Mexican and Central American residents had more inter-ethnic competition over jobs than Whites or Blacks.