Risk and food: environmental concerns and consumer practices

Environmental risks related to food consumption produce needs among consumers to handle such risks through their consumption practices. Consumers' ways of coping with risks are dependent on the social relations of everyday life, of which consumption practices are a part. Risk-handling in food consumption is socio-culturally broader than the cognitive rationality assumed in expert knowledge and administrative procedures on risk and risk-handling. Likewise, risk-handling in food consumption is also characterized by ambivalences. The objective of the article is to show that an important social and cultural source of ambivalence in consumers' handling of risk in food consumption comes from food consumption practices being caught in the tension between desire and control. The article proposes a heuristic theoretical device, called 'the contested space of the body', which is used to discuss the bodily dimension of consumer risk-handling. This is based on a Danish empirical study of parents with small children. A typology of consumers' risk-handling is presented which differs from traditional typologies of consumer segments by allowing for overlaps and shifts between the individual positions in the typology. The three types of risk-handling are the worried, the irritated and the pragmatic. The results suggest that in worried risk-handling control marginalizes desire, in irritated risk-handling desire is openly in conflict with control, and in pragmatic risk-handling relief from the contested space of the body is attempted.     

A Fixed-Bed Reactor Study of Catalytic Partial Oxidation over Rh/Al2O3: An Indication of a Direct Pathway to CO

Catalytic partial oxidation (CPO) of CH₄ in air was investigated over Rh/Al₂O₃ catalysts (0.01, 0.05, 0.1 and 1 wt% Rh⁰) in co-feed modus in laboratory scale fixed-bed reactors. Main focus was on catalyst stability and selectivity at low temperatures (<700 °C). A particularly high selectivity to CO was observed, indicating existence of a direct pathway.     

Validation of a quantitative assay for the total content of lipophilic and hydrophilic antioxidants in foods

One of the main methods used to assess total antioxidant content in foods is the Ferric Reducing Ability of Plasma (FRAP) assay. The FRAP assay has previously not been extensively validated. In the present study, 39 pure compounds, such as different polyphenols, ascorbic acid, tocopherols, tocotrienols and carotenoids dissolved in water/methanol, water/2-propanol and 2-propanol, were tested. Our results demonstrate that the FRAP assay can quantitate satisfactorily most hydrophilic and lipophilic compounds with antioxidant properties. The reaction was followed for 60 min. The most extensive reaction occurred within the first 4 min for most compounds and foods. The lipophilic tocopherols and tocotrienols were easily quantitated and reached endpoint within 4 min while carotenoids were somewhat more demanding due to low solubility and slower reaction kinetics. We conclude that the FRAP assay, with 4 min reaction time, is suitable for high-throughput screening of total antioxidant content of edible items.     

Bread from common cereal cultivars contains an important array of neglected bioactive benzoxazinoids

Bread is consumed in large quantities all over the world, and rye bread is especially popular throughout the Nordic countries. Wholemeal bread is highly recommended as a basic ingredient in daily food, because wholemeal food products generally promote good health due to their vitamin, mineral and fibre content. The literature suggests that wholemeal products have other health-promoting effects even if the ingredients responsible have not been identified. Benzoxazinoids are a group of natural products that have not previously been reported in mature grains. Here, we report for the first time the identity and quantity of 10 compounds of the benzoxazinoid family in mature grains, hydrothermally processed grains of durum wheat (Triticum durum, cv. Kamut), a commercial variety of rye (Secale cereale cv. Picasso) and an old Nordic rye landrace (S. cereale, Svedjerug), as well as in bread baked with flour milled from those grains. Concentrations of the 10 benzoxanoids were determined using LC–MS/MS and ranged from 0 to 348 nmol g⁻¹ for conventional flour, to 772–1177 nmol g⁻¹ in bread baked with flour from hydrothermally processed grains and to 3116–5570 nmol g⁻¹ in flour from hydrothermally processed grains. Benzoxazinoids possess documented physiological effects, and research into the importance of these compounds in the daily diet is therefore needed. Ongoing studies in our lab on the uptake and transformation of benzoxazinoids in mammals will be reported in the near future.     

The effect of different surfaces on biomechanical loading of shoulder and lumbar spine during pushing and pulling of two-wheeled containers

Seven waste collectors pushed and pulled a two-wheeled container on three different surfaces: flagstones, paving stones, grass. Net torques at the shoulder joint and the lumbar spine as well as the compression and shear forces in the lumbar spine at the L4/L5 level were calculated for the tilting, initial and sustained phases. The lumbar spine compression force was below 1800N and the shear force was below 200 N in all situations. The shoulder torque when pulling with one hand was up to 80 N m. The container weight affected the magnitude of the push/pull forces and the load on the shoulders but not the load on the lumbar spine. The type of surface affected the magnitude of the push/pull forces during initial and sustained phases, and affected the load on the shoulder in the sustained phase. However, it did not affect the compression in the lumbar spine.     

Coffee consumption and human health – beneficial or detrimental? – Mechanisms for effects of coffee consumption on different risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus

Coffee is probably the most frequently ingested beverage worldwide. Especially Scandinavia has a high prevalence of coffee-drinkers, and they traditionally make their coffee by boiling ground coffee beans and water. Because of its consumption in most countries in the world, it is interesting, from both a public and a scientific perspective, to discuss its potential benefits or adverse aspects in relation to especially two main health problems, namely cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Epidemiological studies suggest that consumption of boiled coffee is associated with elevated risk for cardiovascular disease. This is mainly due to the two diterpenes identified in the lipid fraction of coffee grounds, cafestol and kahweol. These compounds promote increased plasma concentration of cholesterol in humans. Coffee is also a rich source of many other ingredients that may contribute to its biological activity, like heterocyclic compounds that exhibit strong antioxidant activity. Based on the literature reviewed, it is apparent that moderate daily filtered, coffee intake is not associated with any adverse effects on cardiovascular outcome. On the contrary, the data shows that coffee has a significant antioxidant activity, and may have an inverse association with the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus.     

Monolithic Semiconductor Waveguide Device Concept for Picosecond Pulse Amplification, Isolation, and Spectral Shaping

In this paper, a waveguide device concept, named IRIS, is presented. The device consists of a monolithic array of concatenated semiconductor optical amplifiers and saturable absorbers. We have theoretically investigated picosecond pulse transmission through these devices. The parameters used in the simulation are representative for InP-InGaAsP bulk gain material, operating in the 1550-nm region. Operated as an optical amplifier for picosecond pulses, the simulation results show increased pulse peak amplification and decreased temporal broadening of the pulses for the IRIS devices as compared to a semiconductor optical amplifier of equivalent length. Used as a nonlinear element to increase the optical bandwidth of a picosecond pulse, the spectra obtained with IRIS devices show an increased broadening and smoothness as compared to a semiconductor optical amplifier. Finally the feasibility for using the IRIS device as an optical isolator is shown. It is operated in a regime where the device is transparent for a picosecond pulse train, while it is absorbent for lower power reflections.     

Fucosterol Causes Small Changes in Lipid Storage and Brassicasterol Affects some Markers of Lipid Metabolism in Atlantic Salmon Hepatocytes

Several feeding trials with Atlantic salmon fed naturally high phytosterol concentrations due to dietary rapeseed oil inclusion have shown changes in lipid metabolism and increased hepatic lipid storage in the fish. An in vitro trial with Atlantic salmon hepatocytes was, therefore, performed to study the possible direct effects of phytosterols on lipid storage and metabolism. The isolated hepatocytes were exposed to seven different sterol treatments and gene expression, as well as lipid accumulation by Oil Red O dyeing, was assessed. Fucosterol, a sterol found in many algae species, had an effect on the size of individual lipid droplets, leading to smaller lipid droplets than in the control without added sterols. A sterol extract from soybean/rapeseed led to an increase in the percentage of hepatocytes with visible lipid droplets at 20× magnification, while hepatocytes of both the sterol extract‐treated groups and fucosterol‐treated groups had a larger proportion of their area covered with lipids compared to control cells. Brassicasterol, a sterol characteristic of rapeseed oil, was the only sterol treatment leading to a change in gene expression, affecting the expression of the nuclear receptors, peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor gamma (pparg) and retinoid X receptor (rxr). The current study thus shows that phytosterols can have direct, although subtle, effects on both hepatic lipid storage and gene expression of Atlantic salmon in vitro.     

Variability and Reproducibility in Software Engineering: A Study of Four Companies that Developed the Same System

The scientific study of a phenomenon requires it to be reproducible. Mature engineering industries are recognized by projects and products that are, to some extent, reproducible. Yet, reproducibility in software engineering (SE) has not been investigated thoroughly, despite the fact that lack of reproducibility has both practical and scientific consequences. We report a longitudinal multiple-case study of variations and reproducibility in software development, from bidding to deployment, on the basis of the same requirement specification. In a call for tender to 81 companies, 35 responded. Four of them developed the system independently. The firm price, planned schedule, and planned development process, had, respectively, “low,” “low,” and “medium” reproducibilities. The contractor's costs, actual lead time, and schedule overrun of the projects had, respectively, “medium,” “high,” and “low” reproducibilities. The quality dimensions of the delivered products, reliability, usability, and maintainability had, respectively, “low,” "high,” and “low” reproducibilities. Moreover, variability for predictable reasons is also included in the notion of reproducibility. We found that the observed outcome of the four development projects matched our expectations, which were formulated partially on the basis of SE folklore. Nevertheless, achieving more reproducibility in SE remains a great challenge for SE research, education, and industry.     

To buy or not to buy: Influence of seller photos and reputation on buyer trust and purchase behavior

Reputation scores and seller photos are regarded as two types of signals promoting trust in e-commerce. Little is known about their differential impact when co-occurring in online transactions. Using a computer-mediated trust game, the current study combined three photo conditions (trustworthy, untrustworthy and no seller photo) with three reputation conditions (positive, negative and no seller reputation) in a 3×3 within-subject design. Buyers' ratings of trust and number of purchases served as dependent variables. Significant main effects were found for reputation scores and photos on both dependent variables and there was no interaction effect. Trustworthy photos and positive reputation contributed towards buyers' trust and higher purchase rates. Surprisingly, neither untrustworthy photos nor negative reputation performed worse than missing information. On the contrary, completely missing information (no reputation, no photo) led to distrust and differed significantly from completely negative information (low reputation, untrustworthy photo), which resulted in a neutral trust level. Overall, the data suggest that not only does positive information increase trust, but mere uncertainty reduction regarding a seller can also contribute towards trust in online transactions.