How Can Psychological Contagion Effect Be Attenuated? The Role of Boundary Effect on Menu Design

Psychological effects can be greatly influential for the foodservice industry, especially in menu design. Presenting dish pictures is a common practice on menus, but because of the psychological contagion effect, this practice could decrease consumers’ evaluations of dishes, sometimes without the awareness of consumers, let alone restaurant managers. This research aims to explore the potential threats of a psychological contagion by considering how dishes that make consumers feel uncomfortable can affect their evaluations of dishes located nearby. It further examines how a psychological contagion can be attenuated when a visual boundary is placed between a discomfiting dish and a target dish. The results demonstrate the occurrence of psychological contagion in menu design. The interaction between psychological contagions and visual boundaries suggest that the psychological contagion can be attenuated through visual boundaries

Dynamics of Airborne Influenza A Viruses Indoors and Dependence on Humidity

There is mounting evidence that the aerosol transmission route plays a significant role in the spread of influenza in temperate regions and that the efficiency of this route depends on humidity. Nevertheless, the precise mechanisms by which humidity might influence transmissibility via the aerosol route have not been elucidated. We hypothesize that airborne concentrations of infectious influenza A viruses (IAVs) vary with humidity through its influence on virus inactivation rate and respiratory droplet size. To gain insight into the mechanisms by which humidity might influence aerosol transmission, we modeled the size distribution and dynamics of IAVs emitted from a cough in typical residential and public settings over a relative humidity (RH) range of 10–90%. The model incorporates the size transformation of virus-containing droplets due to evaporation and then removal by gravitational settling, ventilation, and virus inactivation. The predicted concentration of infectious IAVs in air is 2.4 times higher at 10% RH than at 90% RH after 10 min in a residential setting, and this ratio grows over time. Settling is important for removal of large droplets containing large amounts of IAVs, while ventilation and inactivation are relatively more important for removal of IAVs associated with droplets <5 µm. The inactivation rate increases linearly with RH; at the highest RH, inactivation can remove up to 28% of IAVs in 10 min. Humidity is an important variable in aerosol transmission of IAVs because it both induces droplet size transformation and affects IAV inactivation rates. Our model advances a mechanistic understanding of the aerosol transmission route, and results complement recent studies on the relationship between humidity and influenza's seasonality. Maintaining a high indoor RH and ventilation rate may help reduce chances of IAV infection

Miniband-related 1.4–1.8 μm luminescence of Ge/Si quantum dot superlattices

The luminescence properties of highly strained, Sb-doped Ge/Si multi-layer heterostructures with incorporated Ge quantum dots (QDs) are studied. Calculations of the electronic band structure and luminescence measurements prove the existence of an electron miniband within the columns of the QDs. Miniband formation results in a conversion of the indirect to a quasi-direct excitons takes place. The optical transitions between electron states within the miniband and hole states within QDs are responsible for an intense luminescence in the 1.4–1.8 µm range, which is maintained up to room temperature. At 300 K, a light emitting diode based on such Ge/Si QD superlattices demonstrates an external quantum efficiency of 0.04% at a wavelength of 1.55 µm

Measurement of the νe and total 8B solar neutrino fluxes with the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory phase-III data set

This paper details the solar neutrino analysis of the 385.17-day phase-III data set acquired by the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO). An array of 3He proportional counters was installed in the heavy-water target to measure precisely the rate of neutrino-deuteron neutral-current interactions. This technique to determine the total active 8B solar neutrino flux was largely independent of the methods employed in previous phases. The total flux of active neutrinos was measured to be 5.54-0.31+0.33(stat.)-0.34+0.36(syst.)×106 cm-2 s-1, consistent with previous measurements and standard solar models. A global analysis of solar and reactor neutrino mixing parameters yielded the best-fit values of Δm2=7.59-0.21+0.19×10 -5eV2 and θ=34.4-1.2+1.3degrees

The use of information technology by the port of Singapore authority

World Development20121785-179

Effect of organic acids on the microbial quality of Taiwanese-style sausages

The effects of organic acids on the microbial quality of Taiwanese-style sausages were studied. Pork meat from a Taiwan retail market was decontaminated with various organic acids (citric, lactic and tartaric acid), then, the raw meat was used to make Taiwanese-style sausages and stored from 0 to 40 days at 4 degrees C. The total plate counts, lactic acid bacteria, Micrococcus, Listeria monocytogenes, Hunter-L and Hunter-a values were determined. The total plate counts of the control group were initially greater than those of the treated groups. Higher incidence rates of L. monocytogenes in the products were obtained from the control group, but were not detected in the treated groups during storage. Lactic acid bacteria counts following the lactic acid treatment were lower than those of the other groups. Micrococcus counts of the controls increased by 0.6-1.2 log(10) colony-forming unit (CFU)/g greater than those of treated groups throughout storage at 4 degrees C. The light color (L-value) of the control group gradually decreased during storage. Pork meat dipped in various organic acids was found to be suitable to extend the shelf-life and improve the microbiological quality of Taiwanese-style sausages

The development of angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitor derived from chicken bone protein

In order to produce angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor for application in functional food, chicken bones were gathered from a meat processing factory and then hydrolyzed with Alcalase, pepsin and trypsin for 12 h. The hydrolysates were lyophilized, stored at -80 degrees C and tested experimentally every 2 h for pH value, peptide content, degree of hydrolysis (DH), electrophoresis and activity of ACE inhibitor. The hydrolysates of Alcalase had the highest peptide content and DH. The components of more than 66 kDa had disappeared in hydrolysates of Alcalase and trypsin after 2 h of hydrolysis. The hydrolysates of Alcalase were more active in inhibiting ACE, especially when hydrolyzed at 4 and 8 h, and also had low IC50 values of 1.960 and 0.945 mg/mL. According to the results of DH and electrophoresis, the higher activity of ACE inhibitor is assumed to be derived from the low molecular peptides in hydrolysates of Alcalase. Chicken leg bone has a high potential to be utilized to develop ACE inhibitory peptides as a potential ingredient of functional food intended to alleviate hypertension