Role of product characteristics for the adoption of fruit and fruit product innovations

The aim of this study was the identification of those product characteristics that are important for the adoption of fruit and fruit product innovations by consumers. Sixteen focus group discussions were held in four European countries (Greece, The Netherlands, Poland, and Spain). Different aspects of six innovative fruit products were discussed, revealing those characteristics that were important for the adoption of each of them. It was observed that the participants did not perceive fruit innovations as a homogenous group, but assigned them to different groups, which led to a number of categories of fruit innovation. Three categories concerned the level of preparation of fruit. These were fresh, prepared, and processed fruit product innovations. Another two categories, radical and evolutionary innovations, related to the level of novelty of the fruit innovation. Characteristics important for the adoption of each of these categories are given.The results will be used for further, more quantitative, research

Consumers' Perception of Milk Safety

Several times during the last decade consumers have been warned about different incidents concerning food safety, like, salmonella in eggs, cheese and poultry, and pesticides residues in tomatoes. The problem of food safety is still to be a largely latent concern for consumers. The main research goal of this paper is to investigate consumers' risk attitudes and risk perceptions concerning milk safety and to estimate their willingness to pay for extra-safe milk. The data was collected in the Netherlands using a mail survey. 211 usable questionnaires (26%) were returned. Results show that, in general, consumers are not concerned about the safety of milk. However, the results of consumers' perceptions of the "riskiness of milk contamination" for vulnerable groups of people show that babies are considered to be more sensitive to different sources of contamination than other groups. This study supports the results of previous food safety studies showed that consumers are willing to pay a price premium to the traditional purchase price to avoid some perceived risks. 58% of respondents are willing to pay an additional price for extra-safe milk. The conjoint experiment results indicate that the most important factors for consumers' preference are risk of contamination and presence of a label. Based on a conjoint analysis four segments of respondents were distinguished: "Balanced Shoppers"; "Safety-Seekers"; "Safety-Indifferent"; and "Extreme-Safety Seekers".food safety, questionnaire survey, risk attitudes, risk perceptions, willingness to pay, willingness to buy., Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Structural insights into the synthesis of FMN in prokaryotic organisms

Riboflavin kinases (RFKs) catalyse the phosphorylation of riboflavin to produce FMN. In most bacteria this activity is catalysed by the C-terminal module of a bifunctional enzyme, FAD synthetase (FADS), which also catalyses the transformation of FMN into FAD through its N-terminal FMN adenylyl transferase (FMNAT) module. The RFK module of FADS is a homologue of eukaryotic monofunctional RFKs, while the FMNAT module lacks homologyto eukaryotic enzymes involved in FAD production. Previously, the crystal structure of Corynebacterium ammoniagenes FADS (CaFADS) was determined in its apo form. This structure predicted a dimer-of-trimers organization with the catalytic sites of two modules of neighbouring protomers approaching each other, leading to a hypothesis about the possibility of FMN channelling in the oligomeric protein. Here, two crystal structures of the individually expressed RFK module of CaFADS in complex with the products of the reaction, FMN and ADP, are presented. Structures are complemented with computational simulations, binding studies and kinetic characterization. Binding of ligands triggers dramatic structural changes in the RFK module, which affect large portions of the protein. Substrate inhibition and molecular-dynamics simulations allowed the conformational changes that take place along the RFK catalytic cycle to be established. The influence of these conformational changes in the FMNAT module is also discussed in the context of the full-length CaFADS protomer and the quaternary organization.This work has been supported by MINECO, Spain (BIO2013-42978-P to MM and BFU2014-59389-P to JAH), the Aragonian Government-FEDER (B18), Autonomous Community of Madrid (S2010/BMD-2457), Departamento Administrativo de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (COLCIENCIAS) and Universidad Industrial de Santander (project 1818 to IL).Peer Reviewe

Impact of the European Clinical Trials Directive on prospective academic clinical trials associated with BMT

The European Clinical Trials Directive (EU 2001; 2001/20/EC) was introduced to improve the efficiency of commercial and academic clinical trials. Concerns have been raised by interested organizations and institutions regarding the potential for negative impact of the Directive on non-commercial European clinical research. Interested researchers within the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) were surveyed to determine whether researcher experiences confirmed this view. Following a pilot study, an internet-based questionnaire was distributed to individuals in key research positions in the European haemopoietic SCT community. Seventy-one usable questionnaires were returned from participants in different EU member states. The results indicate that the perceived impact of the European Clinical Trials Directive has been negative, at least in the research areas of interest to the EBMT

Chest Wall Resection for Adult Soft Tissue Sarcomas and Chondrosarcomas: Analysis of Prognostic Factors

Background: Wide resection with tumor-free margins is necessary in soft-tissue sarcomas to minimize local recurrence and to contribute to long-term survival. Information about treatment outcome and prognostic factors of adult sarcoma requiring chest wall resection (CWR) is limited. Methods: Sixty consecutive patients were retrospectively studied for overall survival (OS), local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), and disease-free survival (DFS). Twenty-one prognostic factors regarding survival were analyzed by univariate analysis using the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test. Results: With a median survival of 2.5 years, the OS was 46% (33%) at 5 (10) years. The LRFS was 64% at 5 and 10 years, and the DFS was 30% and 25% at 5 and 10 years. At the end of the study period, 26 patients (43%) were alive, of which 20 patients (33%) had no evidence of disease and 40 patients (67%) had no chest wall recurrence. In the group of 9 patients with a radiation-induced soft-tissue sarcoma, the median survival was 8 months. Favorable outcome in univariate analysis in OS and LRFS applied for the low-grade sarcoma, bone invasion, and sternal resection. For OS only, age below 60 years and no radiotherapy were significant factors contributing to an improved survival. CWR was considered radical (R0) at the pathological examination in 43 patients. There were 52 patients with an uneventful recovery. There was one postoperative death. Conclusions: CWR for soft-tissue sarcoma is a safe surgical procedure with low morbidity and a mortality rate of less than 1%. With proper patient selection acceptable survival can be reached in a large group of patients. Care must be given to patients with radiation-induced soft-tissue sarcoma who have a significantly worse prognosis

Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Their Hydroxylated Metabolites (OH-PCBs) in Pregnant Women from Eastern Slovakia

OBJECTIVE: Our aim in the present study was to characterize and quantify the levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and specific polychlorobiphenylol (OH-PCB) metabolites in maternal sera from women delivering in eastern Slovakia. DESIGN: During 2002–2004, blood samples were collected from women delivering in two Slovak locations: Michalovce district, where PCBs were formerly manufactured, and Svidnik and Stropkov districts, about 70 km north. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 762 and 341 pregnant women were sampled from Michalovce and Svidnik/Stropkov, respectively, and OH-PCBs were measured in 131 and 31. EVALUATION/MEASUREMENTS: We analyzed PCBs using gas chromatography (GC)/electron capture detection. OH-PCBs and pentachlorophenol (PCP) were determined as methyl derivatives using GC-electron capture negative ionization/mass spectrometry. We characterized distributions in the full cohort using inverse sampling weights. RESULTS: The concentrations of both PCBs and OH-PCB metabolites of Michalovce mothers were about two times higher than those of the Svidnik/Stropkov mothers (p < 0.001). The median weighted maternal serum levels of the sum of PCBs (∑PCBs) were 5.73 ng/g wet weight (Michalovce) and 2.82 ng/g wet weight (Svidnik/Stropkov). The median sum of OH-PCBs (∑OH-PCBs) was 0.55 ng/g wet weight in Michalovce mothers and 0.32 ng/g wet weight in Svidnik/Stropkov mothers. 4-OH-2,2′ ,3,4′ ,5,5′ ,6-Heptachlorobiphenyl (4-OH-CB187) was a primary metabolite, followed by 4-OH-2,2′ ,3,4′ ,5,5′ -hexachlorobiphenyl (4-OH-CB146). Only four PCB congeners—CBs 153, 138, 180, and 170—had higher concentrations than 4-OH-CB187 and 4-OH-CB146 (p < 0.001). The median ratio of the ∑OH-PCBs to the ∑PCBs was 0.10. CONCLUSIONS: Mothers residing in eastern Slovakia are still highly exposed to PCBs, and their body burdens of these pollutants and OH-PCB metabolites may pose a risk for adverse effects on health for themselves and their children

Zuivering van dompelbadrestanten met de Sentinel

Het doel van dit onderzoek is om het bloembollenbedrijfsleven en de KAVB in het bijzonder de kennis te geven waarmee zij kan beoordelen of zuivering van dompelbadrestanten met de Sentinel een reëel alternatief is, voor het geval het uitrijden van dompelbadrestanten in de toekomst geen werkbare oplossing meer zou zijn. Hiervoor is inzicht nodig in: - effectiviteit van zuivering met de Sentinel - het wettelijke kader waar bij gebruik van de Sentinel rekening gehouden dient te worden - kosten. Daarnaast is gevraagd de voor- en nadelen van biologische zuivering van dompelbadrestanten ten opzichte van zuivering met de Sentinel inzichtelijk te maken indien dat mogelijk is op basis van bestaande kennis

Detection of oxaliplatin- and cisplatin-DNA lesions requires different global genome repair mechanisms that affect their clinical efficacy

The therapeutic efficacy of cisplatin and oxaliplatin depends on the balance between the DNA damage induction and the DNA damage response of tumor cells. Based on clinical evidence, oxaliplatin is administered to cisplatin-unresponsive cancers, but the underlying molecular causes for this tumor specificity are not clear. Hence, stratification of patients based on DNA repair profiling is not sufficiently utilized for treatment selection. Using a combination of genetic, transcriptomics and imaging approaches, we identified factors that promote global genome nucleotide excision repair (GG-NER) of DNA-platinum adducts induced by oxaliplatin, but not by cisplatin. We show that oxaliplatin-DNA lesions are a poor substrate for GG-NER initiating factor XPC and that DDB2 and HMGA2 are required for efficient binding of XPC to oxaliplatin lesions and subsequent GG-NER initiation. Loss of DDB2 and HMGA2 therefore leads to hypersensitivity to oxaliplatin but not to cisplatin. As a result, low DDB2 levels in different colon cancer cells are associated with GG-NER deficiency and oxaliplatin hypersensitivity. Finally, we show that colon cancer patients with low DDB2 levels have a better prognosis after oxaliplatin treatment than patients with high DDB2 expression. We therefore propose that DDB2 is a promising predictive marker of oxaliplatin treatment efficiency in colon cancer.</p

Making personalised nutrition the easy choice: creating policies to break down the barriers and reap the benefits

Personalised diets based on people\u27s existing food choices,and/or phenotypic, and/or genetic information hold potential to improve public dietary-related health. The aim of this analysis, therefore, has been to examine the degree to which factors which determine uptake of personalised nutrition vary between EU countries to better target of policies to encourage uptake, and optimise the health benefits of personalised nutrition technology. A questionnaire developed from previous qualitative research was used to survey nationally representative samples from 9 EU countries (N=9381). Perceived barriersto the uptake of personalised nutrition comprised three factors (data protection; the eating context; and societal acceptance). Trust insources of information comprised 4 factors (commerce and media;practitioners; government; family and friends). Benefits comprised single factor. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was employed to comparedifferences in responses between the United Kingdom; Ireland; Portugal;Poland; Norway; the Netherlands; Germany; and Spain. The resultsindicated that those in Greece, Poland, Ireland, Portugal and Spain,rated the benefits of personalised nutrition highest, suggesting aparticular readiness in these countries to adopt personalised nutritioninterventions. Greek participants were more likely to perceive the socialcontext of eating as a barrier to adoption of personalised nutrition,implying a need for support in negotiating social situations whilst on aprescribed diet. Those in Spain, Germany, Portugal and Poland scoredhighest on perceived barriers related to data protection. Government wasmore trusted than commerce to deliver and provide information onpersonalised nutrition overall. This was particularly the case inIreland, Portugal and Greece, indicating an imperative to build trust,particularly in the ability of commercial service providers to deliverpersonalised dietary regimes effectively in these countries. These findings, obtained from a nationally representative sample of EU citizensimply that a parallel, integrated, public-private delivery system would capture the needs of most potential consumer

Defining eye-fixation sequences across individuals and tasks: the Binocular-Individual Threshold (BIT) algorithm

We propose a new fully automated velocity-based algorithm to identify fixations from eye-movement records of both eyes, with individual-specific thresholds. The algorithm is based on robust minimum determinant covariance estimators (MDC) and control chart procedures, and is conceptually simple and computationally attractive. To determine fixations, it uses velocity thresholds based on the natural within-fixation variability of both eyes. It improves over existing approaches by automatically identifying fixation thresholds that are specific to (a) both eyes, (b) x- and y- directions, (c) tasks, and (d) individuals. We applied the proposed Binocular-Individual Threshold (BIT) algorithm to two large datasets collected on eye-trackers with different sampling frequencies, and compute descriptive statistics of fixations for larger samples of individuals across a variety of tasks, including reading, scene viewing, and search on supermarket shelves. Our analysis shows that there are considerable differences in the characteristics of fixations not only between these tasks, but also between individuals