Functional Ingredients and Food Choice: Results from a Choice Experiment

In this paper we present the results of a Choice Experiment (CE) conducted to examine how the inclusion of an attribute for a functional ingredient affects consumer food choice. Specifically, we examine consumer attitudes towards bread and the inclusion of a functional ingredient (eg, inulin), which can be added to bread to increase the quantity and the effectiveness of fibre in the final product A novel feature of the design of this CE was the use of Means-End-Chain analysis via semi-structured interviews to reveal key attributes to be included in the CE. In addition, the CE included the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ) so as to collect information on all participants underlying eating behaviours. Preliminary analysis of the data reveals that bread type determines choice, and that the inclusion of a functional ingredient yielded relatively small measures of value. Also, the use of a Latent Class Model reveals that there are differences in willingness-to-pay (WTP) between groups of respondents and that group membership can be partly explained by the DEBQ information. The public health implications of these findings are discussed.Functional Food, Bread, Choice Experiment, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, I10, Q10, R22,

Integrated leadership - it's complex!

As part of Advance HE’s initiative on Integrated Thinking and Reporting, Janet Haddock-Fraser considers the notion of integrated leadership as a means of mobilising institutional action

Radar studies of the vertical distribution of insects migrating over southern Britain: the influence of temperature inversions on nocturnal layer concentrations

Insects migrating over two sites in southern UK (Malvern in Worcestershire, and Harpenden in Hertfordshire) have been monitored continuously with nutating vertical-looking radars (VLRs) equipped with powerful control and analysis software. These observations make possible, for the first time, a systematic investigation of the vertical distribution of insect aerial density in the atmosphere, over temporal scales ranging from the short (instantaneous vertical profiles updated every 15 min) to the very long (profiles aggregated over whole seasons or even years). In the present paper, an outline is given of some general features of insect stratification as revealed by the radars, followed by a description of occasions during warm nights in the summer months when intense insect layers developed. Some of these nocturnal layers were due to the insects flying preferentially at the top of strong surface temperature inversions, and in other cases, layering was associated with higher-altitude temperature maxima, such as those due to subsidence inversions. The layers were formed from insects of a great variety of sizes, but peaks in the mass distributions pointed to a preponderance of medium-sized noctuid moths on certain occasions

Development of a Radioligand Binding Assay for Detection of Gastrin/CCKB Receptors in the Human Gastrointestinal Tract

The initial strategy of the thesis (Chapter 3) examined the presence and characterisation of gastrin/CCKB receptors in the rat pancreatic cell line, AR42J. This cell line was chosen due to its continuous expression of high affinity gastrin/CCKB receptors even after repeated cell culture. Following optimisation of the radioligand binding assay, gastrin/CCKB receptors were characterised using a panel of receptor agonists and antagonists. The AR42J whole cell assay demonstrated that AR42J cells express high affinity gastrin/CCKB receptors with a dissociation constant of 0.3nM and maximal binding capacity of 24fmols/106 cells. These results were similar to those found in the literature by several different groups. Inhibitory dissociation constants (Ki) for the receptor agonists and antagonists used in displacement experiments were also found to correlate closely to literature values thereby confirming the validity of the gastrin/CCKB receptor properties of AR42J cells as measured using the assay developed. The second series of experiments (Chapter 4) examined the preparation of crude membranes from AR42J cells and also the effect of membrane storage. Crude membrane fractions were found to retain the receptor characteristics and properties of receptors on AR42J whole cells. Storage of crude membranes for a limited period at -7

Intraspecific comparison of Phanerochaete chrysosporium strains peroxidase production, pollutant degradation and mycelial differentiation

The wood-degrading basidiomycete, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, has been studied as a model organism in elucidating the mechanisms and pathways enabling this white-rot fungus to degrade recalcitrant lignin. These same mechanisms are implicated in the mineralisation of environmentally persistent, toxic phenolic chemicals. For this reason, P. chrysosporium has been exploited in a number of environmentally sound technologies, including the degradation of the indigestible lignin component in agricultural waste for the generation of digestible animal feedstocks or high sugar content raw materials for ethanol production; brightening processes in the pulp and paper industry; the detoxification and decolourisation of industrial effluents; and the bioremediation of hazardous waste sites. The improvement of these technologies is dependant on ongoing research involving strain selection, strain development using genetic engineering approaches and process development. Strain improvement using non-recombinant methods is beneficial in that it does not limit the inherent robustness observed amongst natural variants. In this research, through a breeding programme, ten P.chrysosporium sibling strains were screened for variable ligninase activities and pollutant degradation capabilities in order to further describe previously identified differences between these organisms. A conventional stationary liquid culture technique was effectively miniaturised from 10 ml flask cultures to a 96-well microtitre plate format, for the assessment of multigenic traits amongst sibling strains. Using the 96-well microtitre plate method, the relationships between P. chrysosporium growth kinetics, peroxidase production, pollutant sensitivity and pollutant degradation was explored. Significant correlations were primarily associated with P. chrysosporium growth [P 0.05]. These results imply that differences in the biosynthetic pathways for biomass accumulation in sibling strains play a significant role in the intraspecific variation observed in pollutant sensitivity, pollutant degradation, and enzyme production. Categorical analysis of intraspecific differences was assessed according to four criterions. These included growth, extracellular peroxidase activities, tolerance to toxic pollutants and the biodegradation of model pollutants. Sibling strains showing the most variable responses in three or more of the selective criterion were recommended for further studies. These strains include P. chrysosporium ME446, BS 2.52, BS 13, BS 17, BS 18, and BS 24. Interestingly, BS 2.52 (a dikaryotic strain generating from the crossing of two haploid progeny) showed significantly lower degradation capabilities than the wildtype parent strain ME446. The inherited variability observed between sibling strains is to be further explored through proteome and transcriptome analysis and genetic linkage studies aimed at describing the mechanisms or pathways conferring tolerance to or degradation of environmental pollutants. In examining fewer organisms at this next level, the number of replicates examined can be increased and thus the power of detection of experimental procedures improved, enabling the detection of multigenic traits amongst genetically related organisms. Growth was shown to play a significant role in the intraspecific differences detected in pollutant sensitivity and degradation between sibling strains. Little is known about the mechanism of growth and differentiation, or the role of differentiation in regulating the lignolytic activity in this organism. The membrane gradostat bioreactor and a unique plug-flow membrane bioreactor were evaluated as novel tools with which to further explore the relationship between secondary metabolism, pollutant degradation and biofilm development in sibling strains. High yield MnP production at levels as high as 1478.8 U.l-1 was achieved using a laboratory scale membrane gradostat bioreactor. Furthermore, extensive mycelial differentiation and tissue formation are reported for P. chrysosporium in both the membrane gradostat bioreactor and plug-flow membrane bioreactor. Intraspecific differences in the extent of this differentiation were observed in strains ME446, BS 13, BS 17 and BS 26 cultured using the membrane gradostat bioreactor, highlighting the potential of these techniques as a platform for future strain improvement strategies

Observations of wind speed profiles over Greater London, UK, using a Doppler lidar

To calculate the potential wind loading on a tall building in an urban area, an accurate representation of the wind speed profile is required. However, due to a lack of observations, wind engineers typically estimate the characteristics of the urban boundary layer by translating the measurements from a nearby reference rural site. This study presents wind speed profile data obtained from a Doppler lidar in central London, UK, during an 8 month observation period. Used in conjunction with wind speed data measured at a nearby airport, the data have been used to assess the accuracy of the predictions made by the wind engineering tools currently available. When applied to multiple changes in surface roughness identified from morphological parameters, the non-equilibrium wind speed profile model developed by Deaves (1981) provides a good representation of the urban wind speed profile. For heights below 500 m, the predicted wind speed remains within the 95% confidence interval of the measured data. However, when the surface roughness is estimated using land use as a proxy, the model tends to overestimate the wind speed, particularly for very high wind speed periods. These results highlight the importance of a detailed assessment of the nature of the surface when estimating the wind speed above an urban surface