Impacts of Food Eco-Labels on Student Consumer Choices

Food eco-labels are a way to utilize consumer interactions within the market to create demand for more sustainable food production. This is important because climate change is drastically altering the way in which agriculture uses land and water resources, which means that more sustainable use of these and other resources must be developed quickly. There are, however, limitations to the extent to which consumers interact with food eco-labels and purchase the products that feature them with an example of this being the attitude-behavior gap, in which while consumers may place value on food eco-labels, their purchasing behavior does not reflect those values (Bray et. al, 2011). Student consumers are an often understudied demographic despite the large and unique populations they make up in the places where universities and colleges exist. This study examined the ways in which student consumers are influenced by food labels when purchasing food products. Through the use of a survey, quantitative and qualitative data was collected and analyzed in R Studio using a logistic regression model. The main findings were that although perceived valuation was the primary factor in consumers&rsquo; purchasing behavior, this was limited by consumers&rsquo; willingness to pay more for food labels which was dependent on their level of food label knowledge and financial security. These findings are representative of a complex argument that student consumers can behave differently from nonstudent populations of consumers. This study suggests that a high valuation of food eco-labels does in fact correspond to students purchasing those labels more frequently, which may suggest that the attitude-behavior gap is smaller among student populations than among other consumers. This study has implications for further research, which could illustrate more specific ways for how to market eco-labels toward student consumers and increase demand at the food production level for sustainability to create positive environmental change.&nbsp;</p

The Indestructible Insect: Velvet Ants from Across the United States Avoid Predation by Representatives from All Major Tetrapod Clades

Velvet ants are a group of parasitic wasps that are well known for a suite of defensive adaptations including bright coloration and a formidable sting. While these adaptations are presumed to function in antipredator defense, observations between potential predators and this group are lacking. We conducted a series of experiments to determine the risk of velvet ants to a host of potential predators including amphibians, reptiles, birds, and small mammals. Velvet ants from across the United States were tested with predator’s representative of the velvet ants native range. All interactions between lizards, free-ranging birds, and a mole resulted in the velvet ants survival, and ultimate avoidance by the predator. Two shrews did injure a velvet ant, but this occurred only after multiple failed attacks. The only predator to successfully consume a velvet ant was a single American toad (Anaxyrus americanus). These results indicate that the suite of defenses possessed by velvet ants, including aposematic coloration, stridulations, a chemical alarm signal, a hard exoskeleton, and powerful sting are effective defenses against potential predators. Female velvet ants appear to be nearly impervious to predation by many species whose diet is heavily derived of invertebrate prey

Advances in modelling of biomimetic fluid flow at different scales

The biomimetic flow at different scales has been discussed at length. The need of looking into the biological surfaces and morphologies and both geometrical and physical similarities to imitate the technological products and processes has been emphasized. The complex fluid flow and heat transfer problems, the fluid-interface and the physics involved at multiscale and macro-, meso-, micro- and nano-scales have been discussed. The flow and heat transfer simulation is done by various CFD solvers including Navier-Stokes and energy equations, lattice Boltzmann method and molecular dynamics method. Combined continuum-molecular dynamics method is also reviewed

Cleanout of a Plug-Flow Anaerobic Digester after Five Years of Continuous Operation

Several plug-flow anaerobic digesters have been constructed on dairy farms in New York State in recent years primarily for odor control and also for combined heat and power generation. One long-term concern with these systems is the accumulation of non-digestible solids in the digestion cell. Non-digestible solids, made up of fixed solids and/or non-biologically degradable volatile solids can enter a manure treatment system; typical sources include manure, animal feed, bedding, and stones and sand tracked in by equipment tires. Typically an anaerobic digester (AD) is designed for a target daily loading rate and hydraulic retention time (HRT). If a significant portion fills with non-digestible materials over time and lowers the HRT, biogas production may be reduced and the digester may not perform as desired. A mesophilic plug-flow anaerobic digester in New York State was temporarily decommissioned in March of 2006 to perform emergency repairs to the internal heating system. This untimely need for repair provided an opportunity to extensively analyze the digester contents, both immediately after removing the flexible membrane cover in an undisturbed state and also during the cleanout process