MAPPING THE EFFECT OF INFORMATION ABOUT ANIMAL WELFARE ON CONSUMER LIKING AND WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR YOGURT

Preference mapping identified different groups of consumers on the basis of their disconfirmations (occurring when the product is either better or worse than expected) and assimilations (occurring when actual liking [L] moves toward the expectations). The negative disconfirmation of a group of consumers (Group 1) was based on the information about animal welfare (the products were worse than expected because the information about animal welfare induced high expectations), whereas in Group 2 the sensory properties of the products prevailed in orienting consumer disconfirmation (products were worse than expected because the sensory properties of low-fat yogurt were disliked). The map of assimilation showed that consumers from Group 1 had higher assimilation for plain yogurt associated with high welfare standards as a consequence of the high discrepancy between blind and expected L for these products. A similar behavior was observed for Group 2 (higher discrepancy between blind and expected L corresponding to higher assimilation for low-fat yogurt paired with high welfare standards).

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Consumers based their choices both on sensory properties (plain yogurts were preferred to low-fat yogurts) and on information about animal welfare (products associated with high welfare standards were preferred to the others). Preference mapping was able to identify groups of consumers behaving differently, as compared with the general trend, on the basis of their disconfirmations and assimilations.
Consumer willingness to pay reflected the hedonic behavior, thus validating the auction procedure for food liking evaluation purposes and providing a useful tool to obtain information about the real value (i.e., in monetary terms) consumers give to animal welfare.     

EFFECT OF PRICE ON PLEASANTNESS RATINGS AND USE INTENTIONS FOR A CHOCOLATE BAR IN THE PRESENCE AND ABSENCE OF A HEALTH CLAIM

The effect of price information on hedonic and use intention responses to a chocolate bar was investigated in the absence and presence of a health claim related to energy, satiety value and cholesterol content. First, Finnish students (n = 79) tasted and rated blind three chocolate bars (one regular, two containing functional ingredients). Second, one group (“Informed,” n = 40) evaluated the samples with the health claim and price information, the other group (“Control,” n = 39) as a regular bar with price information only. A separate focus group (n = 6) interview was conducted to obtain further views of the claim and samples. Neither the health claim nor the price affected pleasantness ratings, while the increasing price significantly reduced the likelihood of buying and preferred frequency of eating the chocolate bar in both groups. Price affected the likelihood of buying more strongly among females than among males, and involvement with chocolate bars affected the likelihood of buying in the control, but not in the informed group. The focus group interview indicated that healthfulness might be irrelevant for chocolate products. Overall, price heavily affected the likelihood of buying the target product, but price and the health claim were incapable of altering hedonic responses to it.     

EFFECT OF HOMOGENIZATION AND FAT CONTENT ON ORAL PERCEPTION OF LOW AND HIGH VISCOSITY MODEL CREAMS

Assessed under low-intensity red illumination, homogenized and thickened higher fat milk samples evoked higher sensory ratings of creaminess than did the unhomogenized or lower-fat milks that had not been thickened to the viscosity of double cream. Furthermore, perceptual ratings of fat content showed the same dependency on homogenization, higher fat and thickness and were entirely accounted for by the creaminess ratings. This indicates that assessors recognize the type of milk or cream most similar to a rated standard and infer its fat content on the basis of tactile patterns produced in the mouth by forces at the surface of small and even-sized dairy fat globules when bulk forces are produced by sufficient viscosity.     

THE ECO‐EVOLUTIONARY RESPONSES OF A GENERALIST CONSUMER TO RESOURCE COMPETITION

This article explores the combined evolutionary and ecological responses of resource uptake abilities in a generalist consumer to exploitative competition for one resource using a simple 2‐resource model. It compares the sizes of ecologically and evolutionarily caused changes in population densities in cases where the original consumer has a strong or a weak trade‐off in its abilities to consume the two resources. The analysis also compares the responses of the original species to competition when the competitor's population size is or is not limited by the shared resource. Although divergence in resource use traits in the resident generalist consumer is expected under all scenarios when resources are substitutable, the changes in population densities of the resources and resident consumer frequently differ between scenarios. The population of the original consumer often decreases as a result of its own adaptive divergence, and this decrease is often much greater than the initial ecological decrease. If the evolving consumer has a strong trade‐off, the overlapped resource increases in equilibrium population density in response to being consumed by a generalist competitor. Some of these predictions differ qualitatively in alternative scenarios involving sustained variation in population densities or nutritionally essential resources.     

大螟雄蛾触角对性外激素及其类似物的电生理反应

电生理试验显示出:大螟Sesamia inferens(Walker)雄蛾触角对Z11-16:Ac(A)oZ11-16:OH(B)激起强烈的触角电位(EAG)反应,Z11-16:ALD?,E11-16:Ac(D),Z9-14:Ac(E)和Z7-12:Ac(F)四种化合物也能激起较强的EAG反应;A化合物的刺激阈比B高,此两种化合物5:5比例时,激起的反应最强烈。电生理的试验推测,雄蛾触角对A和B两种化合物的感受,是通过触角内两种不同类型的嗅觉感受器。A和B不同比例混合后,田间诱蛾试验证明:在9:1,8:2,5:5的比例时,其诱蛾量远远超过单独的A化合物;E加入A与B的混合物中,起抑制诱蛾的效果,上述试验表明,Z11-16:OH是大螟的性诱剂。     

THE EFFECT OF SALT REDUCTION ON TASTE PLEASANTNESS IN COOKED'BOLOGNA-TYPE'SAUSAGES

This study's objective was to study how much the salt (NaCl) content of cooked sausage can be reduced without violating the perceived taste pleasantness. The 34 assessors evaluated seven cooked sausages made with added salt concentrations of 1.05; 1.20; 1.35; 1.50; 1.65; 1.80 and 1.95%. A relative-to-standard scale was used for rating the saltiness and taste pleasantness. The saltiness and pleasantness intensity of different salt concentrations was rated against a reference sausage, which contained 1.5% added salt. A reference sample was also hidden among the samples. The assessors were able to rank sausages based on the saltiness into the right order. Based on taste pleasantness, there was no significant difference between the sausages made with 1.35; 1.50; 1.65; 1.80 or 1.95% added salt (p>0.05). Several differences were, however, detected among the saltiness levels. The results of this study suggest that it might be possible to reduce the salt content of cooked sausage to 1.35% added salt.     

生长素和细胞分裂素在调节豌豆根系缺铁反应中的作用

在水培条件下研究了生长素和细胞分裂素对两种基因型豌豆根系铁还原力的影响。结果表明,去顶,顶端涂抹ＮＡＡ和茎基部涂抹ＣＭＥ都不影响豌豆根系铁还原力。茎尖,茎基部和根系的ＩＡＡ、Ｚ／ＺＲ含量与根系铁还原力之间没有明显的相关性。     

THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON THE TURNOVER OF TASTE BUD CELLS IN CATFISH

Renewal of taste bud cells on the barbels of channel catfish was studied. Groups of catfish, held in and acclimitized to 14°C, 18°C, 22°C and 30°C dechlorinated tap water were injected with [³H]thymidine (3.0 μCi/g body weight intraperitoneally). Barbels were sampled at various times after injection and prepared for light microscope autoradiography. Results show that epithelial cells surrounding the taste buds divide and some of their daughter cells migrate into the taste buds. The time at which 50% of the labelled cells have degenerated is taken as the average turnover time or average life span of the taste bud cells. The average life span as well as the time spent inside the taste buds is highly temperature-dependent. At 14°C, 18°C, 22°C and 30°C the average life span is on the order of 40, 30, 15 and 12 days respectively. Further studies indicate that both light and dark staining cells of the taste bud were labelled.     

负荷时间和类型对糖代谢、脂肪代谢、蛋白质代谢的影响

２５名运动员在相同的时间里承受３种不同类型的负荷和在不同的时间里承受相同的负荷,测定负荷后血浆ＴＣＡ循环产物、ＦＦＡ组成和尿液尿素氮、尿肌酐、游离氨基酸组分含量。结果表明：同一时间里采用运动量相近但类型不同的负荷,会产生不同的生理效应,同一负荷内容安排在下午比安排在早晨或上午更容易导致人体内蛋白质分解代谢加强;耐力负荷以及早晨训练对ＴＣＡ循环和ＦＦＡ及其组分影响较大;下午训练利于发展速度、力量等项目的素质     

脑干对谐波复合音反应中的基频成分与早期听觉信息处理

研究了以２００Ｈｚ为基频的谐波复合音诱发的持续性脑干听觉诱发电位。分析了刺激信号中各种参数的改变对诱发电位的影响。发现：１．不含基频的谐波复合音,其诱发反应频谱上除出现与刺激组分相对应的频率成分外,还出现基频成分及其它谐波成分。２．由高次谐波组成的三组分谐波复合音诱发的反应对各刺激组分相位结构有较大敏感性,而低次谐波组成的三组分谐波复合音诱发的反应对相位结构的敏感性较差。３．对双组分谐波复合音,无论其间差频等于基频或基频的两倍,其诱发反应频谱中均出现基频成分。