Predictors and correlates of taste preferences in European children: The IDEFICS study

The present study investigated taste preferences in a sample of 1705 children aged 6 to 9 years from survey centres in Italy, Estonia, Cyprus, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Hungary, and Spain and aimed to identify factors correlated with taste preference. Children’s preferences for varying levels of sucrose (sweet) in apple juice and fat, sodium chloride (salt) and monosodium glutamate (umami) in crackers were assessed using paired-comparison tests. Socio-demographics (age, sex, parental education), early feeding practises (breastfeeding, introduction of fruits), parenting behaviour (TV viewing, using food as a reward) and taste threshold sensitivity for sucrose (sweet), sodium chloride (salt), caffeine (bitter) and monosodium glutamate (umami) were investigated as possible correlates of taste preferences. Parents reported on socio-demographics, early feeding and parenting behaviour. Taste thresholds were determined via a paired-comparison staircase method. Country of residence was the strongest factor related to preferences for all four tastes. Taste preferences also differed by age. Preference for sugar and salt increased between 6 and 9 years of age while preference for monosodium glutamate decreased. The age differences remained significant even after adjustment for sex, country of residence, parental education and early feeding habits. Sex, parental education, early feeding habits, TV viewing, using food as a reward and taste thresholds were not consistently related to taste preferences among the survey centres. In summary, the results highlight the importance of culture and age in taste preferences in children younger than 10 years of age.     

A cross-cultural study of a circumplex model of affect.

In the quest to understand how people conceptualize emotional feelings, one approach has been to seek the dimensions by which they perceive the similarities and differences among feelings. A circumplex model of affect represents this set of mutual relations by placing feeling-related concepts in a circular order in a space formed by two bipolar dimensions: pleasure-displeasure and arousal-sleepiness. This article offers evidence that the circumplex structure, rather than being somehow dependent on the English-speaking student population in which it was originally obtained, occurs in different languages and cultures. In Study 1, Estonian, Greek, and Polish Ss judged the similarity between feelings described by 28 words in their respective native languages. In Study 2, Greek and Chinese Ss judged the similarity between feelings conveyed by 10 facial expressions. In all cases, multidimensional scaling of pairwise similarity scores yielded the circular order and underlying dimensions predicted by the circumplex. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Suspension stabilizers for PVC production II: Drop size distribution

The drop size distribution of vinyl chloride in water emulsions has been studied using a photographic technique. A large difference in coalescence stability was observed between emulsions stabilized by a poly(vinyl alcohol), Rhodoviol 5/270, and those stabilized by a cellulose ether, Methocel MF50. Experiments simulating the transport of a monomer soluble initiator to the monomer phase of a coalescence stable vinyl chloride in water emulsion showed that the manner of introducing the initiator may have large consequences on the polymerization process.     

The occurrence of Campylobacter spp. in Estonian broiler chicken production in 2002–2007

The aim of the present study was to monitor the occurrence of Campylobacter spp. in broiler chicken production in Estonia from 2002 to 2007. Campylobacter spp. was isolated in 163 (12.3%) of 1320 broiler chicken meat samples form 2002 to 2007 and in 115 (6.3%) of 1819 cecal samples in 2005–2007. Campylobacter jejuni was the most commonly isolated species (98.2%), followed by Campylobacter coli (1.4%) and Campylobacter lari (0.4%). The seasonal peak of Campylobacter contamination was from July to September. Our findings showed that Campylobacter contamination at all levels of broiler chicken production in Estonia was low.     

Grid Based Genome Wide Studies on Atrial Flutter

The Genetic Linkage Analysis of SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) markers permits the discovery of genetic correlations in complex diseases following their transmission through family generations. However, all major algorithms proposed in the literature require high computational power and memory availability, making large data sets very hard to analyze on a single CPU. A facility for achieving a Whole-Genome Linkage Analysis has been set up as a web application upon a highly distributed infrastructure: the EGEE Grid. Test cases have been run with 10,000 to one million SNPs per Chip and, after validation, the application has been effectively used for a study on cardiac conduction disorders.     

Achieving benefits with enterprise architecture

There is strong anecdotal evidence that Enterprise Architecture (EA) brings benefits to organisations and that organisations are investing significantly in EA initiatives. However, demonstrating the business value of EA has proven elusive. Many of the benefits of EA are intangible and value is achieved indirectly within business change projects. Furthermore, it is not the EA itself that provides benefits, it is the ability to provide advisory services enabled by the EA that is important. In this paper we focus on EA service capability and develop and test a new research model that explains how EA service brings benefits to organisations. Our findings highlight the importance of EA service capability and dynamic capabilities in creating benefits from EA.     

Bidirectionality and Compartmentation of Metabolic Fluxes Are Revealed in the Dynamics of Isotopomer Networks

Isotope labeling is one of the few methods of revealing the in vivo bidirectionality and compartmentalization of metabolic fluxes within metabolic networks. We argue that a shift from steady state to dynamic isotopomer analysis is required to deal with these cellular complexities and provide a review of dynamic studies of compartmentalized energy fluxes in eukaryotic cells including cardiac muscle, plants, and astrocytes. Knowledge of complex metabolic behaviour on a molecular level is prerequisite for the intelligent design of genetically modified organisms able to realize their potential of revolutionizing food, energy, and pharmaceutical production. We describe techniques to explore the bidirectionality and compartmentalization of metabolic fluxes using information contained in the isotopic transient, and discuss the integration of kinetic models with MFA. The flux parameters of an example metabolic network were optimized to examine the compartmentalization of metabolites and and the bidirectionality of fluxes in the TCA cycle of Saccharomyces uvarum for steady-state respiratory growth.     

Inhomogeneity correction in calibration of electrical conductivity standards

The method for inhomogeneity investigation of measurement standards for electrical conductivity has been studied in the conductivity range from 2 MS/m to 14 MS/m. For this purpose a planar spiral coil has been developed and characterized. The impedance values of the coil are measured in the air and with a conducting plate above the coil at discrete frequencies from 2 kHz to 70 kHz. By selecting the corresponding operating frequency, relative changes in the conductivity value throughout the sample thicknesses have been measured. It was revealed that inhomogeneity of measurement standards has an effect on further measurements with calibrated conductivity meters. The relative conductivity changes of 0.1% due to inhomogeneity can be detected with the measurement uncertainty (k = 2) of less than 0.3% of the measured value.     

Traceability of mass measurements in Estonia

Realization of the national mass scale for the optimal coverage of the industrial need for the mass calibrations at the Estonian national metrology institute, AS Metrosert, is described. The cost effective technical solutions to meet the calibration requirements of the advised OIML class E1 weights have been established. The traceability to the International Prototype Kilogram, the measurement capability achieved, and the results of participation in international comparisons are described in detail. The actual need for the mass calibrations in Estonia with respect to the measurement capability of the laboratory is estimated.