THE SPARTA Model: An Econometric Analysis of Consumer Behaviour under Risk

This paper explores the role of trust in food safety information in determining consumer choice in relation to socio-demographic effects and other determinants. The complexity of factors influencing the way a consumer processes food safety information makes it difficult to develop adequate risk communication strategies. This is, however, a priority for current European policy and this paper tries to answer some key questions: (1) can the consumer be segmented into socio-demographic groups in relation to their trust in food safety information? (2) are country and cultural differences relevant in the way food safety information is processed? (3) how do risk perception and trust in food safety information influence food choice in relation to other determinants? (4) How does a food scare alter the weight of these determinants? (5) How do information sources differ in terms of how they impact on consumers risk perception and behaviours? To provide some answers to the above questions, we propose a modelling framework which extends the Theory of Planned Behaviour to account for risk perception and trust and allows for country-specific effects. The model is tested on the impact of salmonella information on chicken consumption choices across five European countries, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and the United Kingdom, based on a nationally representative survey for a total of 2725 face-to-face interviews. Results show that although no relationship emerges between socio-demographics variables and the trust placed by consumer in food safety information, although country differences are relevant. The findings also suggest that the policy priority should be on building and maintaining trust in food and health authorities, and research institutions.food safety information, trust, risk perception, Theory of Planned Behaviour, chicken, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Food Scares and Consumer Behaviour: A European Perspective

In this paper a consumer food choice model based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) is extended to account for risk perception and trust. The data are from a nationally representative European survey of 2 725 respondents from five countries, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The model relates the intention to purchase chicken in an extended TPB framework, which incorporates risk perceptions, and trust in alternative sources of food safety information. This model was run for two behaviours of interest: the standard likelihood of intention to purchase and the likelihood of intention to purchase conditional on news about a salmonella incident. The model has good predictive power and shows distinct country differences. Only in the case of a food scare do risk perceptions and trust come into play. The findings suggest that the government policy priority should be on building and maintaining trust in food and health authorities, and research institutions, while food chain actors could eliminate many of the adverse consequences of a food scare if they could build public trust. Interestingly there is no relationship between socio-demographic variables and the trust placed by consumers in food safety information.food safety information, trust, risk perception, Theory of Planned Behaviour, chicken, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, D80, D12, Q18,

Risk perception and chicken consumption in the avian flu age - a consumer behaviour study on food safety information

As the avian flu pandemic threatens Europe, consumer awareness of the theoretical possibility of contraction of the avian flu virus through consumption of chicken saw a decline in demand at the end of 2005, with peaks between 40% - 50% in Southern European countries such as Italy whilst having little impact on demand in Northern countries like the UK. Such food scares, coupled with an increasing awareness of food safety issues by the general public, highlight the importance of evaluating the perceived risks associated with food purchasing and consumption are paramount in order to provide effective policy communication in this area. There is considerable empirical evidence that different consumers respond to food risk communication in different ways. This implies that policymakers and food firms cannot rely on a single public information strategy for emerging food risks. Furthermore, the impact of food safety information varies significantly according to the sources that provide it. Using data are from a nationally representative pan-European survey of 2 725 respondents from five EU countries (France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and the United Kingdom), we show that in a situation of increased perceived risk hence increased levels of involvement households across the EU are likely to respond in culturally specific ways which suggest a need for country level policy design.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Superfluid Helium Tanker (SFHT) study

Replenishment of superfluid helium (SFHe) offers the potential of extending the on-orbit life of observatories, satellite instruments, sensors and laboratories which operate in the 2 K temperature regime. A reference set of resupply customers was identified as representing realistic helium servicing requirements and interfaces for the first 10 years of superfluid helium tanker (SFHT) operations. These included the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF), the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF), the Particle Astrophysics Magnet Facility (Astromag), and the Microgravity and Materials Processing Sciences Facility (MMPS)/Critical Point Phenomena Facility (CPPF). A mixed-fleet approach to SFHT utilization was considered. The tanker permits servicing from the Shuttle cargo bay, in situ when attached to the OMV and carried to the user spacecraft, and as a depot at the Space Station. A SFHT Dewar ground servicing concept was developed which uses a dedicated ground cooling heat exchanger to convert all the liquid, after initial fill as normal fluid, to superfluid for launch. This concept permits the tanker to be filled to a near full condition, and then cooled without any loss of fluid. The final load condition can be saturated superfluid with any desired ullage volume, or the tank can be totally filed and pressurized. The SFHT Dewar and helium plumbing system design has sufficient component redundancy to meet fail-operational, fail-safe requirements, and is designed structurally to meet a 50 mission life usage requirement. Technology development recommendations were made for the selected SFHT concept, and a Program Plan and cost estimate prepared for a phase C/D program spanning 72 months from initiation through first launch in 1997

Herbaceous Tropical Legume Integration into Small-Holder Crop-Livestock Systems in Eastern Indonesia: Results of 10-Years of Multi-Disciplinary Systems Research

Integration a forage legume into crop-livestock systems of Eastern Indonesia was tested to establish the capacity to improve nitrogen supply and yields of staple cereal crops (maize and rice) and allow for intensification of beef production to ultimately increase farm income and alleviate rural poverty in the region. Species evaluation sites across a diversity of environments showed Clitoria ternatea (butterfly pea) to be the most resilient and adaptable forage legume for use in association with cropping systems. Crop rotation experiments demonstrated that legumes grown in rotation with maize or rice can increase grain yields by 50% where legume was cut and removed, and by 90% where legume biomass was retained – the legume providing the equivalent of 100-150 kg of urea fertiliser. Forage establishment and cutting management were shown to be critical to maximising legume productivity but labour inputs required are important constraints. Lower-labour options can be used effectively without dramatically compromising productivity. Providing legumes as supplements to cattle have been shown to have significant benefits for livestock productivity in various production systems; preventing liveweight losses of reproductive cows during the dry season, doubling calf growth rates and halving calf mortality, and increasing growth rates of growing cattle by 0.3-0.5 kg LW/d. Whole-farm bioeconomic modelling and participatory on-farm evaluation has found that livestock-oriented farmers with available land resources will benefit most from forage legumes with potential increases of farm income of up to 30%. Local seed production is critical for ongoing use of herbaceous forage legumes, and our research has refined locally relevant recommendations for agronomy for seed production methods and processing. Our research has confirmed that herbaceous forage legumes can be integrated into cropping systems to improve crop yields, livestock production and livelihoods of small-holder farmers in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Acute nifedipine withdrawal: Consequences of preoperative and late cessation of therapy in patients with prior unstable angina

Reports of acute ischemic events after withdrawal of calcium antagonist therapy in outpatients and during bypass surgery in patients with prior angina at rest prompted the examination of the effect of nifedipine withdrawal in 81 patients who had completed a prospective, double-blind randomized trial of nifedipine versus placebo for rest angina. Thirty-nine patients underwent bypass surgery for uncontrolled angina or left main coronary artery disease. No significant difference between patients withdrawn from nifedipine or placebo was seen in the incidence of perioperative myocardial infarction, hypotension requiring intraaortic balloon counterpulsation, vasopressor or vasodilator requirements or incidence of significant arrhythmias.An additional 42 patients had completed 2 years on a protocol consisting of nitrates and propranolol in addition to nifedipine or placebo. During a mean of 66 hours of continuous monitoring after withdrawal of nifedipine or placebo, heart rate and blood pressure were unchanged. A worsening of previously present angina at rest occurred in five patients who had continued to experience rest angina before drug withdrawal, four of whom were withdrawn from nifedipine. No patient with class I to III angina experienced new onset of rest angina during drug withdrawal. No patient experienced myocardial infarction. There was no significant difference between patients withdrawn from nifedipine or placebo in the duration or frequency of ischemic ST changes on continuous electrocardiographic monitoring, or in duration or positive results of serial exercise treadmill testing.Thus, no early adverse effects of acute nifedipine withdrawal were found in patients with prior rest angina at the time of bypass surgery or in stable patients receiving long-term medical therapy. Patients with continued symptoms of rest angina, however, may experience adverse ischemic events with nifedipine withdrawal

Imaging-guided chest biopsies: techniques and clinical results

Background This article aims to comprehensively describe indications, contraindications, technical aspects, diagnostic accuracy and complications of percutaneous lung biopsy. Methods Imaging-guided biopsy currently represents one of the predominant methods for obtaining tissue specimens in patients with lung nodules; in many cases treatment protocols are based on histological information; thus, biopsy is frequently performed, when technically feasible, or in case other techniques (such as bronchoscopy with lavage) are inconclusive. Results Although a coaxial system is suitable in any case, two categories of needles can be used: fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) and core-needle biopsy (CNB), with the latter demonstrated to have a slightly higher overall sensitivity, specificity and accuracy. Conclusion Percutaneous lung biopsy is a safe procedure even though a few complications are possible: pneumothorax, pulmonary haemorrhage and haemoptysis are common complications, while air embolism and seeding are rare, but potentially fatal complications

Bose-Einstein correlations of same-sign charged pions in the forward region in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV

Bose-Einstein correlations of same-sign charged pions, produced in protonproton collisions at a 7 TeV centre-of-mass energy, are studied using a data sample collected by the LHCb experiment. The signature for Bose-Einstein correlations is observed in the form of an enhancement of pairs of like-sign charged pions with small four-momentum difference squared. The charged-particle multiplicity dependence of the Bose-Einstein correlation parameters describing the correlation strength and the size of the emitting source is investigated, determining both the correlation radius and the chaoticity parameter. The measured correlation radius is found to increase as a function of increasing charged-particle multiplicity, while the chaoticity parameter is seen to decreas

Observation of an Excited Bc+ State

Using pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 8.5 fb-1 recorded by the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of s=7, 8, and 13 TeV, the observation of an excited Bc+ state in the Bc+π+π- invariant-mass spectrum is reported. The observed peak has a mass of 6841.2±0.6(stat)±0.1(syst)±0.8(Bc+) MeV/c2, where the last uncertainty is due to the limited knowledge of the Bc+ mass. It is consistent with expectations of the Bc∗(2S31)+ state reconstructed without the low-energy photon from the Bc∗(1S31)+→Bc+γ decay following Bc∗(2S31)+→Bc∗(1S31)+π+π-. A second state is seen with a global (local) statistical significance of 2.2σ (3.2σ) and a mass of 6872.1±1.3(stat)±0.1(syst)±0.8(Bc+) MeV/c2, and is consistent with the Bc(2S10)+ state. These mass measurements are the most precise to date

Measurement of the Bs0→J/ψηB_{s}^{0} \rightarrow J/\psi \eta lifetime

Using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $3 fb^{-1}$, collected by the LHCb experiment in $pp$ collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, the effective lifetime in the $B^0_s \rightarrow J/\psi \eta$ decay mode, $\tau_{\textrm{eff}}$, is measured to be $\tau_{\textrm{eff}} = 1.479 \pm 0.034~\textrm{(stat)} \pm 0.011 ~\textrm{(syst)}$ ps. Assuming $CP$ conservation, $\tau_{\textrm{eff}}$ corresponds to the lifetime of the light $B_s^0$ mass eigenstate. This is the first measurement of the effective lifetime in this decay mode.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2016-017.htm