THE IMPACT OF FOOD PRODUCT CHARACTERISTICS ON CONSUMER PURCHASING BEHAVIOR: THE CASE OF FRANKFURTERS

Consumers purchase different foods with differing characteristics. These reasons undoubtedly extend beyond prices to include taste, convenience, and the presence or absence of nutrients. Mandatory food product labeling now provides information on nutrients in food products. However, survey data indicates that consumers value taste more highly than nutrition when they purchase food, at least for some food products. This study employs hedonic price analysis to demonstrate that consumers value taste more than nutrition when they purchase frankfurters.Consumer/Household Economics,

THE IMPACT OF CHANGING CONSUMER PREFERENCES ON BABY FOOD CONSUMPTION

This study examines the relationship between processed baby food consumption, socioeconomic factors, and attitudes and awareness concerning baby food safety and nutrition. The results are consistent with the view that recent concerns about safety may have negatively impacted consumption. Several socioeconomic factors were also found to be significant in explaining consumption.Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

HOUSEHOLD FOOD SPENDING BY SELECTED DEMOGRAPHICS IN THE 1990s

Average per-person total food expenditures, adjusted for inflation, declined about 7 percent between 1990 and 1998, from $2,189 to$2,037. This decline resulted primarily from the average at-home food expenditures per person declining by about 6 percent and the away-from-home food expenditures declining by about 8 percent. Price-adjusted food spending reflects changes in the real price of food as well as any quantity adjustments made by consumers. However, the national average masks the fact that some population subgroups had significantly higher or lower food expenditures than average. For example, while total food spending declined for all demographic groups except female-headed and Black households, these two demographic groups still had the lowest per capita spending. In contrast to this, per-person total food expenditures were greatest for households in the highest income quintile, for one-person households, and for households with heads between 55 and 64 years of age.Food expenditures, food spending, demographics, Consumer Expenditure Survey, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

DECOMPOSING RED MEAT, POULTRY, AND FISH EXPENDITURES INTO AGE, TIME, AND COHORT EFFECTS

This paper decomposes red meat, poultry, and fish consumption into cohort, age, and time effects. Younger cohorts spend less in real terms than older cohorts. These findings suggest strong implications for future consumption and nutrient intakes in the U.S.Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries,

Consumer Demand for Convenience Foods: Demographics and Expenditures

Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

FOOD-CONSUMPTION PATTERNS AMONG ELDERLY AGE GROUPS

Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Household Grocery-Coupon Use: The Impact of Income and Demographics

Agribusiness, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Design of a Solid Freeform Fabrication Diamond Reactor

Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) has progressed from the visualization aided stage of computer aided designs (CAD) to rapid prototyping of structural parts. Among the promising techniques for producing structural prototypes is the technology ofchemical vapor deposition (CVD) ofpolycrystalline diamond. This paper discusses the thermodynamic and kinetic theories that suggest that structural diamond may be rapidly deposited at rates approaching 1 mmJhr from the vapor phase at metastable thermodynamic conditions. The design of a reactor that will produce structural diamond prototypes is discussed. This reactor combines downstream microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (DMWPECVD) with a scanned CO2 laser that locally heats the substrate to diamond deposition temperatures. The input:Fases are H2, 02' CH4, and Ar. The operating pressure range of the reactor is 1 x 10- to 7 x 102 Torr. The reactor is designed for in situ determination of deposit thickness while deposition occurs as well as having the capacity of fitting on an existing resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization time of flight mass spectroscopy (REMPITOFMS) apparatus that will allow for plasma diagnostics immediately above the heated substrate. Plasma diagnostics will be employed to determine the active metastable species that results in diamond deposition so that optimization can be made ofthe operating parameters to maximize diamond selectivity and deposition rate.Mechanical Engineerin

Governance of Dual-Use Technologies: Theory and Practice

The term dual-use characterizes technologies that can have both military and civilian applications. What is the state of current efforts to control the spread of these powerful technologies—nuclear, biological, cyber—that can simultaneously advance social and economic well-being and also be harnessed for hostile purposes? What have previous efforts to govern, for example, nuclear and biological weapons taught us about the potential for the control of these dual-use technologies? What are the implications for governance when the range of actors who could cause harm with these technologies include not just national governments but also non-state actors like terrorists? These are some of the questions addressed by Governance of Dual-Use Technologies: Theory and Practice, the new publication released today by the Global Nuclear Future Initiative of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The publication's editor is Elisa D. Harris, Senior Research Scholar, Center for International Security Studies, University of Maryland School of Public Affairs. Governance of Dual-Use Technologies examines the similarities and differences between the strategies used for the control of nuclear technologies and those proposed for biotechnology and information technology. The publication makes clear the challenges concomitant with dual-use governance. For example, general agreement exists internationally on the need to restrict access to technologies enabling the development of nuclear weapons. However, no similar consensus exists in the bio and information technology domains. The publication also explores the limitations of military measures like deterrence, defense, and reprisal in preventing globally available biological and information technologies from being misused. Some of the other questions explored by the publication include: What types of governance measures for these dual-use technologies have already been adopted? What objectives have those measures sought to achieve? How have the technical characteristics of the technology affected governance prospects? What have been the primary obstacles to effective governance, and what gaps exist in the current governance regime? Are further governance measures feasible? In addition to a preface from Global Nuclear Future Initiative Co-Director Robert Rosner (University of Chicago) and an introduction and conclusion from Elisa Harris, Governance of Dual-Use Technologiesincludes:On the Regulation of Dual-Use Nuclear Technology by James M. Acton (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)Dual-Use Threats: The Case of Biotechnology by Elisa D. Harris (University of Maryland)Governance of Information Technology and Cyber Weapons by Herbert Lin (Stanford University