Differences in Hedonic Responses, Facial Expressions and Self-Reported Emotions of Consumers Using Commercial Yogurts: A Cross-Cultural Study

Hedonic scale testing is a well-accepted methodology for assessing consumer perceptions but is compromised by variation in voluntary responses between cultures. Check-all-that-apply (CATA) methods using emotion terms or emojis and facial expression recognition (FER) are emerging as more powerful tools for consumer sensory testing as they may offer improved assessment of voluntary and involuntary responses, respectively. Therefore, this experiment compared traditional hedonic scale responses for overall liking to (1) CATA emotions, (2) CATA emojis and (3) FER. The experiment measured voluntary and involuntary responses from 62 participants of Asian (53%) versus Western (47%) origin, who consumed six divergent yogurt formulations (Greek, drinkable, soy, coconut, berry, cookies). The hedonic scales could discriminate between yogurt formulations but could not distinguish between responses across the cultural groups. Aversive responses to formulations were the easiest to characterize for all methods; the hedonic scale was the only method that could not characterize differences in cultural preferences, with CATA emojis displaying the highest level of discrimination. In conclusion, CATA methods, particularly the use of emojis, showed improved characterization of cross-cultural preferences of yogurt formulations compared to hedonic scales and FER

Digital technologies to assess yoghurt quality traits and consumers acceptability

BACKGROUND Sensory biometrics provide advantages for consumer tasting by quantifying physiological changes and the emotional response from participants, removing variability associated with self-reported responses. The present study aimed to measure consumers' emotional and physiological responses towards different commercial yoghurts, including dairy and plant-based yoghurts. The physiochemical properties of these products were also measured and linked with consumer responses. RESULTS Six samples (Control, Coconut, Soy, Berry, Cookies and Drinkable) were evaluated for overall liking by n = 62 consumers using a nine-point hedonic scale. Videos from participants were recorded using the Bio-Sensory application during tasting to assess emotions and heart rate. Physicochemical parameters Brix, pH, density, color (L, a and b), firmness and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy were also measured. Principal component analysis and a correlation matrix were used to assess relationships between the measured parameters. Heart rate was positively related to firmness, yaw head movement and overall liking, which were further associated with the Cookies sample. Two machine learning regression models were developed using (i) NIR absorbance values as inputs to predict the physicochemical parameters (Model 1) and (ii) the outputs from Model 1 as inputs to predict consumers overall liking (Model 2). Both models presented very high accuracy (Model 1: R = 0.98; Model 2: R = 0.99). CONCLUSION The presented methods were shown to be highly accurate and reliable with respect to their potential use by the industry to assess yoghurt quality traits and acceptability. © 2022 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry

Hybrid silicon nanostructures with conductive ligands and their microscopic conductivities

Silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) functionalized with conjugated molecules promise a potential pathway to generate a new category of thermoelectric materials. While the thermoelectric performance of materials based on phenyl-acetylene capped SiNPs has been proven, their low conductivity is still a problem for their general application. A muon study of phenyl-acetylene capped SiNPs has been recently carried out using the HiFi spectrometer at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, measuring the ALC spectra as a function of temperature. The results show a reduction in the measured line width of the resonance above room temperature, suggesting an activated behaviour for this system. This study shows that the muon study could be a powerful method to investigate microscopic conductivity of hybrid thermoelectric materials

A study of 54 cases of left displacement of the abomasum: February to July 2005

Fifty-four cows with left displacement of the abomasum (LDA) submitted to the hospital facility at Riverview Veterinary Clinic from February to July 2005 were treated by right flank laparotomy and omentopexy. Five cows died (a survival rate 90.7%) and one cow (1.8%) was culled due to recurrence of the LDA post-operatively. Forty-one cows (76%) returned to good production post-operatively. Thirty-nine cows (72%) were pregnant six months after corrective surgery

Development and validation of an improved algorithm for overlaying flexible molecules

A program for overlaying multiple flexible molecules has been developed. Candidate overlays are generated by a novel fingerprint algorithm, scored on three objective functions (union volume, hydrogen-bond match, and hydrophobic match), and ranked by constrained Pareto ranking. A diverse subset of the best ranked solutions is chosen using an overlay-dissimilarity metric. If necessary, the solutions can be optimised. A multi-objective genetic algorithm can be used to find additional overlays with a given mapping of chemical features but different ligand conformations. The fingerprint algorithm may also be used to produce constrained overlays, in which user-specified chemical groups are forced to be superimposed. The program has been tested on several sets of ligands, for each of which the true overlay is known from protein–ligand crystal structures. Both objective and subjective success criteria indicate that good results are obtained on the majority of these sets

Isolation of microplastics in biota-rich seawater samples and marine organisms.

notes: PMCID: PMC3970126types: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tThis is an open access article that is freely available in ORE or from the publisher's web site. Please cite the published version.Microplastic litter is a pervasive pollutant present in aquatic systems across the globe. A range of marine organisms have the capacity to ingest microplastics, resulting in adverse health effects. Developing methods to accurately quantify microplastics in productive marine waters, and those internalized by marine organisms, is of growing importance. Here we investigate the efficacy of using acid, alkaline and enzymatic digestion techniques in mineralizing biological material from marine surface trawls to reveal any microplastics present. Our optimized enzymatic protocol can digest >97% (by weight) of the material present in plankton-rich seawater samples without destroying any microplastic debris present. In applying the method to replicate marine samples from the western English Channel, we identified 0.27 microplastics m(-3). The protocol was further used to extract microplastics ingested by marine zooplankton under laboratory conditions. Our findings illustrate that enzymatic digestion can aid the detection of microplastic debris within seawater samples and marine biota.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC

Multiple populations in globular clusters. Lessons learned from the Milky Way globular clusters

Recent progress in studies of globular clusters has shown that they are not simple stellar populations, being rather made of multiple generations. Evidence stems both from photometry and spectroscopy. A new paradigm is then arising for the formation of massive star clusters, which includes several episodes of star formation. While this provides an explanation for several features of globular clusters, including the second parameter problem, it also opens new perspectives about the relation between globular clusters and the halo of our Galaxy, and by extension of all populations with a high specific frequency of globular clusters, such as, e.g., giant elliptical galaxies. We review progress in this area, focusing on the most recent studies. Several points remain to be properly understood, in particular those concerning the nature of the polluters producing the abundance pattern in the clusters and the typical timescale, the range of cluster masses where this phenomenon is active, and the relation between globular clusters and other satellites of our Galaxy.Comment: In press (The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review

Jellyfish Modulate Bacterial Dynamic and Community Structure

Jellyfish blooms have increased in coastal areas around the world and the outbreaks have become longer and more frequent over the past few decades. The Mediterranean Sea is among the heavily affected regions and the common bloom - forming taxa are scyphozoans Aurelia aurita s.l., Pelagia noctiluca, and Rhizostoma pulmo. Jellyfish have few natural predators, therefore their carcasses at the termination of a bloom represent an organic-rich substrate that supports rapid bacterial growth, and may have a large impact on the surrounding environment. The focus of this study was to explore whether jellyfish substrate have an impact on bacterial community phylotype selection. We conducted in situ jellyfish - enrichment experiment with three different jellyfish species. Bacterial dynamic together with nutrients were monitored to assess decaying jellyfish-bacteria dynamics. Our results show that jellyfish biomass is characterized by protein rich organic matter, which is highly bioavailable to ‘jellyfish - associated’ and ‘free - living’ bacteria, and triggers rapid shifts in bacterial population dynamics and composition. Based on 16S rRNA clone libraries and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis, we observed a rapid shift in community composition from unculturable Alphaproteobacteria to culturable species of Gammaproteobacteria and Flavobacteria. The results of sequence analyses of bacterial isolates and of total bacterial community determined by culture independent genetic analysis showed the dominance of the Pseudoalteromonadaceae and the Vibrionaceae families. Elevated levels of dissolved proteins, dissolved organic and inorganic nutrient release, bacterial abundance and carbon production as well as ammonium concentrations characterized the degradation process. The biochemical composition of jellyfish species may influence changes in the amount of accumulated dissolved organic and inorganic nutrients. Our results can contribute insights into possible changes in bacterial population dynamics and nutrient pathways following jellyfish blooms which have important implications for ecology of coastal waters

Clonally expanded mitochondrial DNA deletions within the choroid plexus in multiple sclerosis

OBJECTIVE: Mitochondrial DNA deletions (Δ-mtDNA) are implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s disease (PD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and ageing. Given the diffuse nature of inflammation in MS, aim of this study was to determine whether Δ-mtDNA caused respiratory deficient cells in excess of age within choroid plexus (CP) and ongoing mutagenesis or clonal expansion accounted for the respiratory deficiency in MS. METHODS: Respiratory chain complex IV and complex II activity was determined sequentially using histochemistry. Δ-mtDNA were characterized using real time PCR, long range PCR, sequencing and single molecule PCR. Sources of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) were explored using immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Respiratory deficient cells (lacking complex IV and with intact complex II activity) within CP epithelium were in excess of age in MS, PD and AD. Subunit-I of complex IV was lacking to a greater extent in MS than controls. Percentage of respiratory deficient cells harboring >50% heteroplasmy level of Δ-mtDNA was significantly greater in MS than PD, AD and controls. Long range PCR and sequencing confirmed Δ-mtDNA. Single molecule PCR identified clonally expanded Δ-mtDNA in MS, despite an increase in sources of RONS. INTERPRETATION: Our findings establish clonal expansion of Δ-mtDNA causing respiratory deficiency in MS and the extraparenchymal intracranial location indicated the potential to involve multiple cell types. Understanding factors that influence clonal expansion of Δ-mtDNA, a molecular link between inflammation and delayed cellular energy failure, may identify potential therapeutic targets for progressive forms of MS as well as other neurodegenerative disorders

Litter Size Variation in Hypothalamic Gene Expression Determines Adult Metabolic Phenotype in Brandt's Voles (Lasiopodomys brandtii)

Early postnatal environments may have long-term and potentially irreversible consequences on hypothalamic neurons involved in energy homeostasis. Litter size is an important life history trait and negatively correlated with milk intake in small mammals, and thus has been regarded as a naturally varying feature of the early developmental environment. Here we investigated the long-term effects of litter size on metabolic phenotype and hypothalamic neuropeptide mRNA expression involved in the regulation of energy homeostasis, using the offspring reared from large (10-12) and small (3-4) litter sizes, of Brandt's voles (Lasiopodomys brandtii), a rodent species from Inner Mongolia grassland in China.Hypothalamic leptin signaling and neuropeptides were measured by Real-Time PCR. We showed that offspring reared from small litters were heavier at weaning and also in adulthood than offspring from large litters, accompanied by increased food intake during development. There were no significant differences in serum leptin levels or leptin receptor (OB-Rb) mRNA in the hypothalamus at weaning or in adulthood, however, hypothalamic suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) mRNA in adulthood increased in small litters compared to that in large litters. As a result, the agouti-related peptide (AgRP) mRNA increased in the offspring from small litters.These findings support our hypothesis that natural litter size has a permanent effect on offspring metabolic phenotype and hypothalamic neuropeptide expression, and suggest central leptin resistance and the resultant increase in AgRP expression may be a fundamental mechanism underlying hyperphagia and the increased risk of overweight in pups of small litters. Thus, we conclude that litter size may be an important and central determinant of metabolic fitness in adulthood