Consumer Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Food Safety in Portugal

The recent food crises and its great diffusion through the media had as consequence a reduction of the European consumer's confidence, in general, and of the Portuguese ones in particular, in the products that they buy and consume. These events also served to disclose some of the existing problems in the current marketing chain, in which many sectors result to have low, or no transparency or unknown ones to the consumers. For moreover, these crises had demonstrated that science and technology, in set with the governmental regulation do not offer guarantees that the risks associated with food have acceptable levels. All these questions triggered the interest of researchers to study the impact of food safety related issues on consumer behaviour. The objective of this paper is to increase knowledge on Portuguese consumer perceptions and attitudes towards food safety. Specially, consumers' level of concern about food crises, their view on the safety of several products throughout the supply chain and the assessment of different practices that may reduce food poisoning risks are here analysed. Likewise, the role of labels and the different information channels on purchasing habits are studied. Internet interviews have been used as the main source of information and have been conducted throughout Portugal and addressed to a sample of 1497 persons, representing the different geographic areas and age groups. The results indicate that, with exception of the residence place, the other socio-economic variables play an ever-decreasing role when explaining the consumer behaviour. The factors measuring lifestyle, especially those related to safety, and mainly, consumption experience, seem to be the main aspects explaining Portuguese consumers' perception on food safety. For moreover, one evidences of the reading of labels, the date of caducity is the information more consulted by the consumers, leaving of part other important food safety information and relation diet versus health, such as the instructions of storage and cooking, the nutritional value and the ingredients. In order to restore the confidence lost, an effort of diffusion of clear and truthful information is necessary, for beyond the necessity of an efficient coordination throughout all the marketing chain in order to offer food safety products.food safety, consumer behaviour, perceptions, attitudes, Portugal, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Discrimination, Acculturation, Acculturative Stress, and Latino Psychological Distress: A Moderated-Mediational Model

Prior research has found that perceived discrimination is associated with adverse mental health outcomes among Latinos. However, the process by which this relationship occurs remains an understudied area. The present study investigated the role of acculturative stress in underlying the relationship between perceived discrimination and Latino psychological distress. Also examined was the ability of acculturation to serve as a moderator between perceived discrimination and acculturative stress. Among a sample of Latino adults (N = 669), moderated mediational analyses revealed that acculturative stress mediated the perceived discrimination-psychological distress relationship, and that the link between perceived discrimination and acculturative stress was moderated by Anglo behavioral orientation but not Latino behavioral orientation. The findings are discussed within a stress and coping perspective that identifies the psychological consequences associated with perceived discrimination and acculturative stress

Sensitivities of one-prong tau branching fractions to tau neutrino mass, mixing, and anomalous charged current couplings

We analyse the sensitivities of exclusive one-prong tau branching fractions to: the tau neutrino mass; its mixing with a fourth generation neutrino; the weak charged current magnetic and electric dipole moments of the tau; and the Michel parameter $\eta$. Quantitative constraints are derived from current experimental data and the future constraints derivable from tau-charm factory measurements are estimated. The anomalous coupling constraints are used to constrain the tau compositeness scale and the allowed parameter space for Higgs doublet models.Comment: Invited talk at the Tau-Charm Workshop, 6-9 March 1999, SLAC, US

Feasibility of EPC to BPEL Model Transformations Based on Ontology and Patterns

Model-Driven Engineering holds the promise of transforming\ud business models into code automatically. This requires the concept of\ud model transformation. In this paper, we assess the feasibility of model\ud transformations from Event-driven Process Chain models to Business\ud Process Execution Language specifications. To this purpose, we use a\ud framework based on ontological analysis and workflow patterns in order\ud to predict the possibilities/limitations of such a model transformation.\ud The framework is validated by evaluating the transformation of several\ud models, including a real-life case.\ud The framework indicates several limitations for transformation. Eleven\ud guidelines and an approach to apply them provide methodological support\ud to improve the feasibility of model transformation from EPC to\ud BPEL

Intersectionality Research Within Latinx Mental Health: Conceptual and Methodological Considerations

Intersectionality considers the meaning and consequences associated with multiple identities along interlocking systems of disadvantage and inequality (Cole, 2009; Crenshaw, 1991). In recent years, there has been increasing attention on examining the mental health outcomes associated with membership in multiple marginalized groups. Unfortunately, intersectionality research examining the unique experiences of Latinx groups remains scarce. The current article reviews theoretical and methodological considerations regarding intersectionality research within Latinx mental health. From a theoretical perspective, intersectionality brings a series of questions regarding the epistemological approaches to studying psychological phenomena. This, in turn, influ- ences the methodological strategies used to examine these processes. The discussion advances the ongoing discourse regarding the benefits and limitations of integrating intersectionality within research that provides further insight into our Latinx communities

Vibrations of free and embedded anisotropic elastic spheres: Application to low-frequency Raman scattering of silicon nanoparticles in silica

Vibrational mode frequencies and damping are calculated for an elastic sphere embedded in an infinite, homogeneous, isotropic elastic medium. Anisotropic elasticity of the sphere significantly shifts the frequencies in comparison to simplified calculations that assume isotropy. New low frequency Raman light scattering data are presented for silicon spheres grown in a SiO2 glass matrix. Principal features of the Raman spectrum are not correctly described by a simple model of the nanoparticle as a free, isotropic sphere, but require both matrix effects and the anisotropy of the silicon to be taken into account. Libration, not vibration, is the dominant mechanism

Resistencia al nematodo Meloidogyne en patrones de tomate a temperaturas del suelo superiores a los 28ºC

El gen Mi en tomate confiere resistencia al nematodo Meloidogyne, aunque su eficacia disminuye a temperaturas superiores a los 28ºC. Para determinar la resistencia relativa de 12 patrones y cultivares de tomate frente a M. arenaria y M. javanica se realizaron ensayos en un invernadero sin control climático donde las plantas estaban sujetas a fluctuaciones diarias de temperatura. En el transcurso de los ensayos, la temperatura del suelo fue superior a 28ºC durante 31 días en el primer ensayo (Exp.1) y durante 20 días en el segundo (Exp. 2). El intervalo de tiempo en que la temperatura se mantuvo por encima de los 28oC osciló entre 0,5 a 6 horas/día en el Exp.1 y entre 0,5 a 7,5 horas/día en Exp. 2. Los patrones Morgan, King Kong y Unifort consistentemente mostraron alta resistencia frente a M. arenaria y M. javanica en ambos experimentos, incluso con picos de temperaturas superiores a 28ºC durante parte del experimento. Los patrones Multifort y Maxifort expresaron menor grado de resistencia que los anteriores bajo las mismas condiciones experimentales. En general, la tasa de multiplicación de M. javanica fue mayor (P<0,05) que la de M. arenaria tanto en los tomates resistentes como en los susceptibles.Postprint (published version

Qualidade em agricultura: sistemas de certificação, desafios e perspectivas

Qualidade, quando referida ao sector agrícola, integra toda a cadeia produtiva, desde a provisão de matérias-primas até ao consumo e pode ser vista na óptica do produtor e do consumidor. Os sistemas de garantia e certificação da qualidade existentes na União Europeia, baseados numa abordagem holística, são particularmente complexos e variados, pela diversidade de consumidores existentes. A maioria aplica-se a um mercado diferenciado e apenas um reduzido número e muito diversificado vai além das normas legais, visando a diferenciação dos produtos e a manutenção de determinados padrões de qualidade. O seu desenvolvimento é influenciado por medidas de políticas distintas e, factores económicos e sociodemográficos. Podem classificar- se em função do objecto (produtos ou processos), dos objectivos (consumidor final ou os diferentes intervenientes na cadeia de comercialização alimentar), o conteúdo (rastreabilidade na origem ou modo de produção), os promotores (públicos ou privados), o contexto (local, regional, nacional ou internacional) e, o número de etapas envolvidas na cadeia agro-alimentar