Trading goods versus sharing money: An experiment testing whether fairness and efficiency are frame dependent.

Systematic experiments with distribution games have shown that participants are strongly motivated by considerations of fairness and efficiency. This evidence, however, results mainly from experimental designs in which money is shared directly. Furthermore, fairness does not necessarily require equal payoffs, but may instead require equal allocations. We investigate experimentally the frame dependency of reaching equal (commodity or payoff) splits by systematically comparing net-trade proposals and payoff proposals for the same exchange economy with two traders, two commodities and multi-period negotiations. We can confirm the hypothesis that asking participants to allocate money directly, rather than more naturally via the allocation of commodities, is far from being harmless and likely overstates fairness and efficiency concerns. What is more, we try to apply the insights gained from our experiment to management problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Selecting Agricultural Best Management Practices for Water Conservation and Quality Improvements Using Atanassov’s Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets

Improper agricultural practices can affect ground water through leaching, surface water through runoff, algae infestations, deforestation, and air quality through burning operations and ammonia emissions. These effects may be mitigated through the institution of best management practices. The utility of best management practices (BMPs) is recognized and being actively promoted by agricultural agencies; however, identifying a set of mandatory BMPs is inappropriate given variations between climactic, demographic and geographic regions as well as differences in farming practices. In this study, a multi-criteria decision making model based on Attanassov’s Intuitionistic Fuzzy Set (A-IFS) theory is introduced and its utility to rank agricultural best management practices is illustrated using a case-study from South Texas. Implementation of the A-IFS MCDM method to the South Texas region resulted in “irrigation scheduling” being ranked as the most preferred alternative, while “brush control/management” was the least preferred. The A-IFS MCDM approach was particularly suitable for prioritizing and ranking agricultural best management practices because decision makers often tend to have both likes and dislikes with regards to specific BMPs and for a given evaluation attribute. Not only does the A-IFS MCDM method provide a single composite score to rank the BMP alternatives, but the output of the A-IFS MCDM method also includes upper and lower bounds that help identify the uncertainties in the decision making process.     

Successfully detecting and correcting false friends using channel profiles

The detection and correction of false friends—also called real-word errors—is a notoriously difficult problem. On realistic data, the break-even point for automatic correction so far could not be reached: the number of additional infelicitous corrections outnumbered the useful corrections. We present a new approach where we first compute a profile of the error channel for the given text. During the correction process, the profile (1) helps to restrict attention to a small set of “suspicious” lexical tokens of the input text where it is “plausible” to assume that the token represents a false friend. In this way, recognition of false friends is improved. Furthermore, the profile (2) helps to isolate the “most promising” correction suggestion for “suspicious” tokens. Using a conventional word trigram statistics for disambiguation we obtain a correction method that can be successfully applied to unrestricted text. In experiments for OCR documents, we show significant accuracy gains by fully automatic correction of false friends.     

Assessing landscape preferences: a visual choice experiment in the agricultural region of Märkische Schweiz,Germany

Natural amenities and the aesthetic value of agricultural landscapes are important territorial assets for improving rural tourism and the quality of the living environment. To identify which characteristics shape the visual quality of a landscape, a stated-preference survey was conducted (N = 200) using photorealistic landscape visualisations of four different landscape attributes (point green elements, linear green elements, crop diversity and presence of livestock). We estimated respondents’ preferences for landscape attributes, examined the extent of agreement among respondents and identified socio-economic factors influencing their responses. Results revealed that point elements had the highest general preference. About 70% of respondents preferred diverse and highly structured landscapes, while about 30% of respondents had opposing preferences. Preferences were also found to be dependent on the individual’s sociocultural background, such as their level of education, gender or age. These results can help to improve the multi-objective targeting of policies by including an aesthetic value perspective.     

Cutaneous Adverse Events Associated with Interferon-β Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis

Interferons are widely used platform therapies as disease-modifying treatment of patients with multiple sclerosis. Although interferons are usually safe and well tolerated, they frequently cause dermatological side effects. Here, we present a multiple sclerosis (MS) patient treated with interferon-β who developed new-onset psoriasis. Both her MS as well as her psoriasis finally responded to treatment with fumarates. This case illustrates that interferons not only cause local but also systemic adverse events of the skin. These systemic side effects might indicate that the Th17/IL-17 axis plays a prominent role in the immunopathogenesis of this individual case and that the autoimmune process might be deteriorated by further administration of interferons. In conclusion, we think that neurologists should be aware of systemic cutaneous side effects and have a closer look on interferon-associated skin lesions. Detection of psoriasiform lesions might indicate that interferons are probably not beneficial in the individual situation. We suggest that skin lesions may serve as biomarkers to allocate MS patients to adequate disease-modifying drugs.     

A Well Protected Intruder: The Effective Antimicrobial Defense of the Invasive Ladybird Harmonia axyridis

The harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) is a polyphagous predatory beetle native to Central and Eastern Asia. Since 2007 it has established all over Central Europe. In order to elucidate which defense strategy is responsible for its high resistance to diseases, we tested hemolymph as well as eleven main components of the headspace of H. axyridis for antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis, B. thuringiensis ssp. tenebrionis, Micrococcus luteus) and Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli) and yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). While three of the volatile compounds weakly reduced the growth of microorganisms, hemolymph of adults and larvae of H. axyridis strongly inhibited the growth of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as yeast. Furthermore, we compared the antimicrobial activity in the hemolymph of H. axyridis and Coccinella septempunctata. Antimicrobial activity in H. axyridis was about a thousand times higher compared to hemolymph from C. septempunctata. In contrast to C. septempunctata, the antimicrobial activity in H. axyridis was present without prior challenge. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the hemolymph of H. axyridis was lowest against E. coli and yeast followed by B. subtilis, and was highest against entomopathogenic B. thuringiensis ssp. tenebrionidae. Furthermore, MIC values of the hemolymph obtained from live beetles were significantly lower than from frozen insects. This suggests that the active antimicrobial compound is affected by freezing and subsequent thawing of the beetles. Potential implications of our findings for the competitive advantages of H. axyridis over C. septempunctata are discussed.     

A power analysis and data acquisition system for ocean wave energy device testing

In the testing of ocean wave energy devices, the demand for a portable and robust data acquisition and electrical loading system has become apparent. This paper investigates the development of a 30 kW inclusive system combining loading capabilities, real-time power analysis, and data acquisition for the testing of deployed ocean wave energy devices. Hardware results for ocean testing are included.     

Low pH enhances the transfer of carotene from carrot juice to olive oil

A current model for carotenoid transport and absorption in the gut proposes an initial solubilization in the oil phase of dietary emulsions followed by incorporation of the carotenoids in mixed bile salt micelles. To assess the relevance of the first stage of this model to what is observed in vivo we have examined the transfer of carotene from carrot juice to olive oil. Increased acidity enhanced the transfer from both whole juice and carotene crystals isolated from both whole juice and carotene crystals isolated from carrot chromoplasts. The transfer was significantly slower from whole juice. By using exogenous β-carotene and measuring its transfer to oil in the presence and absence of carrot juice we have demonstrated that the inhibition of the transfer in juice arises, at least in part, from soluble juice factors. The inhibition is relieved by a fall in pH, which leads to lowering of the electric potential at the oil/aqueous phase interface and aggregation of carrot tissue including crystalline carotene. Under conditions of low pH, oil droplets adhere to the tissue aggregates, allowing carotene to pass into the oil. Our results provide an explanation for why carotene absorption in vivo is depressed by conditions of low gastric acidity.     

An FTIR study of the induction and release of kiwifruit buds from dormancy

BACKGROUND: Many deciduous, perennial fruit crops require winter chilling for adequate budbreak and flowering. Recent research has shown that changes in sugar and amino acid profiles are associated with the release of buds from dormancy. This paper uses FTIR spectrometry to provide an alternative mechanism for tracking metabolic changes in the meristems of kiwifruit buds during winter dormancy. The results suggest that the application of multivariate analysis to FTIR spectra has the potential to be a reliable and fast method for detecting structural and compositional changes in fruit crops. RESULTS: Ten wave numbers of the FTIR spectra are used to calculate a bud development function. This function has been validated using data from two seasons and four orchards, and by monitoring the effects of hydrogen cyanamide application, sugar concentrations and soil temperatures on this function. These wave numbers appear to be associated with carbohydrate, pectin and cellulose levels in the meristems. CONCLUSION: It is expected that this FTIR signature can be used to advance our understanding of the influence of the various environmental and physiological factors on the breaking of bud dormancy and shoot outgrowth, including the optimum timing and concentrations of applications of budbreak regulators, such as hydrogen cyanamide. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Quality of Sour Cream Packaged in Cups with Different Light Barrier Properties Measured by Fluorescence Spectroscopy and Sensory Analysis

ABSTRACT:  In this study, photooxidation of sour cream packaged in cups with different light barrier properties was investigated. The sour cream was light exposed for 36 h with a standard fluorescent light tube, simulating storage conditions in many Norwegian grocery stores. Three different cups were evaluated: a white cup, a cup with medium light barrier (LB), and a cup with high LB. The quality of the sour cream was evaluated by sensory analysis and front face fluorescence spectroscopy. The sour cream stored in white cups became very rancid during the light exposure, with a rancid flavor score of 7.8 on a scale from 1 to 9, where 9 is the highest intensity. Cups with high LB gave best protection against the light. The sensory assessors could not distinguish between sour cream stored in cups with high LB and sour cream stored in the dark. The rancid flavor intensity for the cups with medium LB was significantly different ( P  < 0.05) from both the white cup and the cup with high LB. The sensory flavor intensities indicated that with 36 h of light exposure, only a cup with high LB will protect the sour cream sufficiently. The fluorescence measurements corresponded well with the sensory analysis as the photosensitizers were somewhat degraded for sour cream stored in cups with medium LB and most degraded in the white cups. For the cups with high LB, the fluorescence peaks that originated from the photosensitizers were all intact.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Dairy products such as sour cream will develop off-odor and taste faults ("sunlight taste") in a few hours if exposed to sufficient fluorescent lightning in the grocery stores. A light barrier can be incorporated in the packaging material to protect the dairy products from the light. Our experiment showed that the incorporation of a black pigment into 1 of the 3 plastic layers in the cup for packaging of sour cream protected the sour cream from degradation when exposed to light.