How can consumer trust in organic products be enhanced?

The study presented explores consumer trust in organic food and the effectiveness of enhancing consumer trust by communication strategies on traceability. The research is based on the general finding that trust is one of the most crucial aspects when consumer decide whether to buy or not to buy organic products. However, there are hardly any empirical works which analyse in detail consumer trust in organic food and the ways it can be enhanced. First, based on a quantitative inquiry of 600 persons in Germany the study presented investigates consumer trust in the different actors involved in the organic supply chain (farmers, processors, traders, labels), in distinct attributed qualities such as benefits for health, ecology and animal welfare as well as the customers’ criteria for assessing trustworthiness of the organic products. Empirical data is analysed by multivariate statistics such as cluster analysis to identify distinct consumer segments with respect to their trust characteristics. In a second step there will be a qualitative research method using interviews combined with a visualizing technique. The aim of this method is to understand the consumers’ attitudes towards the supply chain of organic food and the complex construct of trust better. The results shall help to develop communication strategies for enhancing consumer trust in organic food

Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-2α as a Novel Target in Renal Cell Carcinoma

Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF), an important mediator of hypoxia response, is implicated in tumorigenesis in the setting of pseudohypoxia, such as in the inactivation of von Hippel–Lindau tumor suppressor protein (pVHL), leading to development and progression of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Targeting downstream molecules in HIF pathway, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), has led to improvement in clinical outcome for patients with advanced ccRCC, but such therapy thus far has been limited by eventual resistance and treatment failure. Following the discovery of HIF-2α playing a key role in ccRCC carcinogenesis, inhibitors targeting HIF-2α have been developed and have demonstrated encouraging efficacy and safety profile in clinical trials. This review discusses HIF-2α as a promising therapeutic target for ccRCC

Verbrauchervertrauen in Biolebensmittel

Heutzutage existiert ein sehr komplexer und anonymer Lebensmittelmarkt. Somit ist das Vertrauen in Lebensmittel für den Verbraucher zu einem Schlüsselproblem bei seiner Lebensmittelauswahl geworden. Dieser Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit der Frage, ob Verbraucher dem Produktionsprozess von Biolebensmitteln oder dem Produkt als solches vertrauen. Weiterhin soll der Einfluss von Rückverfolgbarkeitssystemen auf den Kaufentscheidungsprozess untersucht werden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Verbraucher in zwei Gruppen eingeteilt werden können, Verbraucher die dem Produktionsprozess vertrauen und Verbraucher, die dem Produkt vertrauen. Bezogen auf Rückverfolgbarkeitssysteme wird deutlich, dass sie im Prozess der Kaufentscheidung des Verbrauchers für oder gegen Biolebensmittel keine bedeutsame Rolle spielen. Allerdings ist die Herkunft des Lebensmittels, wie regionale Herkunft oder Ursprungsland, ein wichtiges Kriterium bei der Entscheidung des Verbrauchers für oder gegen ein Lebensmittel. Die Ergebnisse der Studie sollen helfen, Kommunikationsstrategien für die Stärkung des Verbrauchervertrauens in Biolebensmittel zu entwickeln

A Design Study of an Animated System for Representing Financial Ratios

Computer visualizations are all around us. In this paper we describe a design process in which we explore the development of a new visualization to aid managerial decision making. The ultimate goal of our design effort is to develop a visualization that allows for presenting most of the critical financial ratios used to describe a firm’s activity on a single computer display and dynamically. In doing so, we hope to enable managers to develop holistic and intuitive appreciations of such matters as how a business changes through time, how the flows of resources in healthy businesses differ from those in trouble, and how decisions about one aspect of a business affect others

An Empirical Comparison of Accounting Information Representations (Research-in-Progress)

Information is often multidimensional, dynamic, and difficult to communicate using traditional representations such as verbal descriptions or even graphics. Taking a distributed cognition perspective and integrating several theories of visualization, this study formulates a theoretical model to examine the effects of information representation on a classic business decision-making task: bankruptcy prediction. The preliminary results from a laboratory experiment show that animated representations lead more accurate decisions than static graphs. The findings indicate that animation facilitates identification of the flows and problems in operating and financing processes, thereby improving subjects’ assessment of firm health

Transparent Food and Consumer Trust

Nowadays the food market is very complex and anonymous. Consequently, consumer trust in food has become a key issue for food choice. For example, the production process of food is not always transparent for consumers. To provide more transparency and to enhance consumer trust, different initiatives communicating traceability to the consumers exist. Visualised traceability systems such as the initiative ‘Bio mit Gesicht’ allow consumers to gather information about the farmer who has produced the food as well as information about his farm and family.This study explores consumer trust in organic food, the impact of trust in the buying decision and the effectiveness of enhancing consumer trust by communication strategies on traceability. The research is grounded on the general finding that trust is one of the most crucial aspects when consumers decide whether or not to buy organic products. The study consists of two tasks, a quantitative and a qualitative survey. In this paper the focus is laid on the second task, a qualitative survey. The used method is the structure formationtechnique. The aim is to combine an interview with a visualising technique. With the help of this method the factors which influence the decision of consumers to buy or not to buy organic food should become clear. Furthermore, the role of trust in the buying decision will be explored. Moreover, an investigation should be made as to whether or not traceability systems influence consumer trust in organic food. This research is currently being conducted but preliminary results can already be presented.The results of the study will help develop communication strategies for enhancing consumer trust in organic food

At-line boar taint classification by means of Rapid Evaporative Ionisation Mass Spectrometry (REIMS)

Increasing awareness of animal welfare has led to a European incentive to ban the surgical castration of piglets. A valid alternative for castration is the rearing of entire male pigs, but this allows the (re)occurrence of boar taint, an off-odour in meat from entire boars (1). Hence, due to adverse consumer reactions to pork with boar taint, the rearing of entire boars requires valid boar taint mitigation strategies. However, the introduction of Rapid Evaporative Ionisation MS (REIMS) offers compelling perspectives for the rapid as well as accurate at-line detection of boar taint by significantly reducing analysis time and workload, yet enhancing research output and efficiency (2). In this study, REIMS was used as a direct analysis technique to train predictive models for identification of boar taint above the odour threshold (based on sensory (soldering iron method) as well as chemical analysis (UHPLC-HRMS analysis of indole, skatole and androstenone levels) 3. Adipose tissue was sampled using a prototype bipolar handheld sampling device connected directly to a Xevo G2-XS Q-TOF system equipped with REIMS source (Fig. 1). The results demonstrate that untargeted mass spectrometric profiling in negative ionisation mode enables the construction of predictive models using LiveID, AMX and Simca (Q2 = 0.547, R2Y = 0.652 and p = 0) for the classification of carcasses according to boar taint status based on alterations in lipid profiles. As REIMS eliminates sample pre-treatment with analysis taking < 10 seconds, it offers significant potential as the first technique enabling accurate in-situ detection of boar taint. REIMS is a promising and highly innovative tool for several types of food quality and safety applications, furthermore allowing us to move state-of-the-art equipment and applications from bench to production site. Acknowledgments: This research was partly funded by the Flemish Government, department of animal welfare (LNE/STG/DWZ/16/11). References: [1] K. Verplanken, Ghent University PhD dissertation, (2018) 1-15. [2] K. Verplanken et al., Talanta, 169 (2017) 30–36. [3] K. Bekaert et al., Journal of Chromatography A, 1239 (2012) 49-55

Chr21 protein–protein interactions: enrichment in proteins involved in intellectual disability, autism, and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease

Down syndrome (DS) is caused by human chromosome 21 (HSA21) trisomy. It is characterized by a poorly understood intellectual disability (ID). We studied two mouse models of DS, one with an extra copy of the Dyrk1A gene (189N3) and the other with an extra copy of the mouse Chr16 syntenic region (Dp(16)1Yey). RNA-seq analysis of the transcripts deregulated in the embryonic hippocampus revealed an enrichment in genes associated with chromatin for the 189N3 model, and synapses for the Dp(16)1Yey model. A large-scale yeast two-hybrid screen (82 different screens, including 72 HSA21 baits and 10 rebounds) of a human brain library containing at least 107 independent fragments identified 1,949 novel protein–protein interactions. The direct interactors of HSA21 baits and rebounds were significantly enriched in ID-related genes (P-value < 2.29 × 10−8). Proximity ligation assays showed that some of the proteins encoded by HSA21 were located at the dendritic spine postsynaptic density, in a protein network at the dendritic spine postsynapse. We located HSA21 DYRK1A and DSCAM, mutations of which increase the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) 20-fold, in this postsynaptic network. We found that an intracellular domain of DSCAM bound either DLGs, which are multimeric scaffolds comprising receptors, ion channels and associated signaling proteins, or DYRK1A. The DYRK1A-DSCAM interaction domain is conserved in Drosophila and humans. The postsynaptic network was found to be enriched in proteins associated with ARC-related synaptic plasticity, ASD, and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. These results highlight links between DS and brain diseases with a complex genetic basis