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The overall performance of an electronic nose system will depend on the individual performance of its constituent elements. Although often overlooked, it is clear that careful design/selection of the front‐end signal conditioning circuit is of critical importance if optimal performance of the odour sensing system is to be achieved. In this paper circuits are reviewed, which have been employed as front‐end signal conditioners for resistance‐based sensors in electronic nose systems, with many of the conclusions drawn being equally applicable to other resistor sensors. The relevant equations governing the behaviour of each circuit methodology are derived and advantages and disadvantages are discussed. The performance of the circuit is then quantitatively assessed in a specific test case, in which the maximum sensitivity of the circuit is calculated in relation to the task of interfacing to a theoretical thin‐film conducting‐polymer sensor.

There is an ongoing need to explore opportunities and build a healthy and prosperous future, create new revenue streams and wealth, discover new solutions, and transform our organizations, industries, and societies. This need leads us to focus on innovation management. Through innovation management, order can be found in chaos, while nations, industries and economies can be pulled out of crisis. This will lead to a new foundation for growth and prosperity, which may be realized sooner rather than later.

Despite the growing awareness that innovation is the only sustainable source of growth, competitive advantage, and new wealth, the Council on Competitive Report [1] and a recent Arthur D. Little survey of 700 global companies and their executives found fewer than 25 percent of the companies believe innovation performance is where it needs to be if they are to be successful in the competitive global marketplace. Having tried endless alternatives, company leaders are now ready to accept innovation management as a key operational discipline, just as in the past they adopted the disciplines of quality, strategic planning, and performance management systems [2]. Innovation management is not a new concept in most organizations. However, the old tried and true ways, even those that may have worked in the past, are no longer adequate for the organizations of tomorrow. Across the board, organizations are engaged in new and exciting experiments to reinvent the way they conceptualise and create the future, because the old business-as-usual approaches have not produced the desired results [3].

The EUROPAGATE project aims to construct a gateway system which will allow end users of library catalogue servers to access servers which are based on different protocols, and to provide a service using electronic mail to those users who would otherwise be unable to access the catalogues. It will also provide value‐added services such as data format conversion.

This article aims to discuss how concepts from the analog world apply to a purely digital environment, and look in particular at how authenticity needs to be viewed in the digital world in order to make some form of validation possible.

The article describes authenticity and integrity in the analog world and looks at how to measure it in a digital environment.

Authenticity in the digital world generally means, in a purely technical sense, that a document's integrity has been checked using mathematical algorithms against other copies on independently managed servers, and that provenance records show that the document has a clearly established succession from a clearly defined original. Readers should recognize that this is different than how one defines authenticity and integrity in the analog world.

Most of the key issues surrounding digital authenticity have not yet been tested, but they will be when the economic value of an authentic digital work reaches the courts.

The UK Office for Library and Information Networking are engaged in a wide range of work in the area of metadata, in cooperation with various partners. Projects on metadata for Internet resource discovery, interoperability and digital preservation all point to the continuing need for something like traditional library services to organise, access and preserve networked information.

Sira, the UK independent applied research and technology company, is expanding its presence in North America with the formation of two new companies: Sira Inc and Sira Holdings Inc. The new companies will spearhead Sira's drive to increase its instrumentation and control systems business in the North American market, which already accounts for 22% of the Group's turnover.

This article aims to optimise energy use and consumption by integrating Lean Six Sigma methodology with the ISO 50001 energy management system standard in an Irish dairy plant operation.

This work utilised Lean Six Sigma methodology to identify methods to measure and optimise energy consumption. The authors use a single descriptive case study in an Irish dairy as the methodology to explain how DMAIC was applied to reduce energy consumption.

The replacement of heavy oil with liquid natural gas in combination with the new design of steam boilers led to a CO₂ footprint reduction of almost 50%.

A further longitudinal study would be useful to measure and monitor the energy management system progress and carry out more case studies on LSS integration with energy management systems across the dairy industry.

The novelty of this study is the application of LSS in the dairy sector as an enabler of a greater energy-efficient facility, as well as the testing of the DMAIC approach to meet a key objective for ISO 50001 accreditation.

The more recent history of the National Health Service, especially the Hospital Service, has been in the nature of a lumbering from one crisis to another. From the moment of its inception it has proved far more costly than estimated and over‐administered, but in the early years, it had great promise and was efficient at ward level, which continued until more recent times. As costs increased and administration grew and grew, much of it serving no useful purpose, there appeared to be a need for reorganisation. In 1974, a three‐tier structure was introduced by the establishment of new area health authorities, the primary object of which was to facilitate — and cheapen — decision making; to give the district bodies and personnel easier access to “management”. It coincided with reorganisation of Local Government, which included the transfer of all the personal health services and abolition of the office of medical officer of health. At the time and in looking back, there was very little need for this and reviewing the progress and advances made in local government, medical officers of health who had advocated the transfer, mainly for reasons of their own status, would have achieved this and more by remainining in the local government service; the majority of health visitors appear to have reached the same conclusion. They constitute a profession within themselves and in truth do not have all that much in common with day‐to‐day nursing. The basic training and nursing qualification is most essential, however. It has been said that a person is only as good a health visitor as she is a nurse.