Influence of label information on dark chocolate acceptability

The aim of the present work was to study how the information on product labels influences consumer expectations and their acceptance and purchase intention of dark chocolate. Six samples of dark choco- late, varying in brand (premium and store brand) and in type of product (regular dark chocolate, single cocoa origin dark chocolate and high percentage of cocoa dark chocolate), were evaluated by 109 con- sumers who scored their liking and purchase intention under three conditions: blind (only tasting the products), expected (observing product label information) and informed (tasting the products together with provision of the label information). In the expected condition, consumer liking was mainly affected by the brand. In the blind condition, differences in liking were due to the type of product; the samples with a high percentage of cocoa were those less preferred by consumers. Under the informed condition, liking of dark chocolates varied depending on both brand and type of product. Premium brand chocolates generated high consumer expectations of chocolate acceptability, which were fulfilled by the sensory characteristics of the products. Store brand chocolates created lower expectations, but when they were tasted they were as acceptable as premium chocolates. Claims of a high percentage of cocoa and single cocoa origin on labels did not generate higher expectations than regular dark chocolates.

Altered processing of contextual information during fear extinction in PTSD: an fMRI study.

Medial prefrontal cortical areas have been hypothesized to underlie altered contextual processing in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We investigated brain signaling of contextual information in this disorder. Eighteen PTSD subjects and 16 healthy trauma-exposed subjects underwent a two-day fear conditioning and extinction paradigm. On day 1, within visual context A, a conditioned stimulus (CS) was followed 60% of the time by an electric shock (conditioning). The conditioned response was then extinguished (extinction learning) in context B. On day 2, recall of the extinction memory was tested in context B. Skin conductance response (SCR) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected during context presentations. There were no SCR group differences in any context presentation. Concerning fMRI data, during late conditioning, when context A signaled danger, PTSD subjects showed dorsal anterior cingulate cortical (dACC) hyperactivation. During early extinction, when context B had not yet fully acquired signal value for safety, PTSD subjects still showed dACC hyperactivation. During late extinction, when context B had come to signal safety, they showed ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) hypoactivation. During early extinction recall, when context B signaled safety, they showed both vmPFC hypoactivation and dACC hyperactivation. These findings suggest that PTSD subjects show alterations in the processing of contextual information related to danger and safety. This impairment is manifest even prior to a physiologically-measured, cue-elicited fear response, and characterized by hypoactivation in vmPFC and hyperactivation in dACC.

The Political Communication of Independent Regulatory Agencies

Since independent regulatory agencies (IRAs) became key actors in European regulatory governance in the 1990s, a significant share of policy-making has been carried out by organizations that are neither democratically elected nor directly accountable to elected politicians. In this context, public communication plays an important role. On the one hand, regulatory agencies might try to use communication to raise their accountability and thereby to mitigate their democratic deficit. On the other hand, communication may be used with the intent to steer the behavior of the regulated industry when more coercive regulatory means are unfeasible or undesirable. However, empirical research focusing directly on how regulators communicate is virtually non-existent. To fill this gap, this paper examines the public communication of IRAs in four countries (the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, and Switzerland) and three sectors (financial services, telecommunications, and broadcasting). The empirical analysis, based on qualitative interviews and a quantitative content analysis, indicates that the organization of the communication function follows a national pattern approach while a policy sector approach is helpful for understanding the use of communication as a soft tool of regulation.

Reporting of methodologic information on trial registries for quality assessment: a study of trial records retrieved from the WHO search portal

Background: Although randomized clinical trials (RCTs) are considered the gold standard of evidence, their reporting is often suboptimal. Trial registries have the potential to contribute important methodologic information for critical appraisal of study results. Methods and Findings: The objective of the study was to evaluate the reporting of key methodologic study characteristics in trial registries. We identified a random sample (n = 265) of actively recruiting RCTs using the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) search portal in 2008. We assessed the reporting of relevant domains from the Cochrane Collaboration’s ‘Risk of bias’ tool and other key methodological aspects. Our primary outcomes were the proportion of registry records with adequate reporting of random sequence generation, allocation concealment, blinding, and trial outcomes. Two reviewers independently assessed each record. Weighted overall proportions in the ICTRP search portal for adequate reporting of sequence generation, allocation concealment, blinding (including and excluding open label RCT) and primary outcomes were 5.7% (95% CI 3.0–8.4%), 1.4% (0–2.8%), 41% (35–47%), 8.4% (4.1–13%), and 66% (60–72%), respectively. The proportion of adequately reported RCTs was higher for registries that used specific methodological fields for describing methods of randomization and allocation concealment compared to registries that did not. Concerning other key methodological aspects, weighted overall proportions of RCTs with adequately reported items were as follows: eligibility criteria (81%), secondary outcomes (46%), harm (5%) follow-up duration (62%), description of the interventions (53%) and sample size calculation (1%). Conclusions: Trial registries currently contain limited methodologic information about registered RCTs. In order to permit adequate critical appraisal of trial results reported in journals and registries, trial registries should consider requesting details on key RCT methods to complement journal publications. Full protocols remain the most comprehensive source of methodologic information and should be made publicly available.

Postmortem magnetic resonance imaging of the heart ex situ: development of technical protocols.

Postmortem MRI (PMMR) examinations are seldom performed in legal medicine due to long examination times, unfamiliarity with the technique, and high costs. Furthermore, it is difficult to obtain access to an MRI device used for patients in clinical settings to image an entire human body. An alternative is available: ex situ organ examination. To our knowledge, there is no standardized protocol that includes ex situ organ preparation and scanning parameters for postmortem MRI. Thus, our objective was to develop a standard procedure for ex situ heart PMMR examinations. We also tested the oily contrast agent Angiofil® commonly used for PMCT angiography, for its applicability in MRI. We worked with a 3 Tesla MRI device and 32-channel head coils. Twelve porcine hearts were used to test different materials to find the best way to prepare and place organs in the device and to test scanning parameters. For coronary MR angiography, we tested different mixtures of Angiofil® and different injection materials. In a second step, 17 human hearts were examined to test the procedure and its applicability to human organs. We established two standardized protocols: one for preparation of the heart and another for scanning parameters based on experience in clinical practice. The established protocols enabled a standardized technical procedure with comparable radiological images, allowing for easy radiological reading. The performance of coronary MR angiography enabled detailed coronary assessment and revealed the utility of Angiofil® as a contrast agent for PMMR. Our simple, reproducible method for performing heart examinations ex situ yields high quality images and visualization of the coronary arteries.

The Impact of a Character Posture Model on the Communication of Affect in an Immersive Virtual Environment

This paper presents the quantitative and qualitative findings from an experiment designed to evaluate a developing model of affective postures for full-body virtual characters in immersive virtual environments (IVEs). Forty-nine participants were each requested to explore a virtual environment by asking two virtual characters for instructions. The participants used a CAVE-like system to explore the environment. Participant responses and their impression of the virtual characters were evaluated through a wide variety of both quantitative and qualitative methods. Combining a controlled experimental approach with various data-collection methods provided a number of advantages such as providing a reason to the quantitative results. The quantitative results indicate that posture plays an important role in the communication of affect by virtual characters. The qualitative findings indicated that participants attribute a variety of psychological states to the behavioral cues displayed by virtual characters. In addition, participants tended to interpret the social context portrayed by the virtual characters in a holistic manner. This suggests that one aspect of the virtual scene colors the perception of the whole social context portrayed by the virtual characters. We conclude by discussing the importance of designing holistically congruent virtual characters especially in immersive settings.

The synchronization of personal information between mobile devices and online services by using SyncML

Monet henkilökohtaiset mobiililaitteet tarjoavat mahdollisuuden tallentaa henkilötietoja ja mahdollisuuden lyhyen kantaman radiotekniikoiden hyödyntämiseen. Vastaavasti henkilötietoja käyttävien tai vaativien verkkopalveluiden määrä on kasvussa. Mobiililaitteisiin tallennetut henkilötiedot tarjoavat potentiaalisen keinon välttää samojen henkilötietojen toistuva käsinsyöttö erilaisiin verkkopalveluihin ja keskitettyyn ajantasallapitoon. Tässä työssä käydään läpi ratkaisumalli henkilökohtaisen mobiililaitteen ja verkkopalveluiden välillä tapahtuvaan henkilötietojen siirtoon ja synkronointiin. Malli pohjautuu selainlaajennukseen, joka voi pyytää sekä selaimessa auki olevalta verkkopalvelun sivulta että mobiililta päätelaitteelta senhetkiset henkilötiedot ja synkronoida ne. Jo olemassaolevia henkilötietojen hallintaa helpottavia ratkaisuja käydään läpi arvioiden käyttökelpoisuutta tämänkaltaisiin tarpeisiin. Ratkaisumallin kannalta olennaiset tekniikat ja standardit, erityisesti Bluetooth ja SyncML, esitellään. Ratkaisumallin arkkitehtuuri käydään korkealla tasolla läpi ja esitellään toteutuksen yksityiskohtia. Tuloksena on periaatteeltaan kelvollinen henkilökohtaisten tietojen synkronointijärjestelmä, jonka toteutusta nykyisten mobiilien päätelaitteiden toiminnallisuus jossain määrin hankaloittaa.

The development of an information infrastructure for cost estimating in the automotive industry

Työn tavoitteena on luoda yleinen informaatioinfrastruktuuri autoteollisuuden valmistuskustannusten arviointiin. Nykyään tämä kustannusarviointi on laajassa käytössä oleva menetelmä. Se mahdollistaa tuotekustannusten hallitsemisen, mikä lisää autovalmistajien kilpailukykyä. Kustannusarvioinnissa tarvitaan laadukasta tietoa, mutta suoritetussa tutkimuksessa paljastui, että useat seikat haittaavat tätä arviointia. Erityisesti resurssien vähyys, tiedonhankinta ja tiedon luotettavuuden varmentaminen aiheuttavat ongelmia. Nämä seikat ovat johtaneet kokemusperäisen asiantuntemuksen laajaan käyttöön, minkä johdosta erityisesti kokemattomilla kustannusarvioijilla on vaikeuksia ymmärtää kustannusarvioiden tietovaatimuksia. Tämän johdosta tutkimus tuo esiin kokeneiden kustannusarvioijien käyttämiä tietoja ja tietolähteitä päämääränä lisätä kustannusarvioiden ymmärtämistä. Informaatioinfrastruktuuri, joka sisältää tarvittavan tiedon järkevien ja luotettavien kustannusarvioiden luontiin, perustuu tutkimuksen tuloksiin. Infrastruktuuri määrittelee tarvittavan kustannustiedon ja niiden mahdolliset tietolähteet. Lisäksi se selvittää miksi tieto on tarpeellista ja miten tiedon oikeellisuus pitäisi varmentaa. Infrastruktuuria käytetään yhdessä yleisen kustannusarvioprosessimallin kanssa. Tämä integrointi johtaa tarkempiin ja selkeämpiin kustannusarvioihin autoteollisuudessa.

Integration and Implementation of Accounting Information Systems in Global Companies Case: The UPM-Kymmene Group

Tämän tutkielman tavoitteena on perehtyä globaalin yrityksen laskentatoimen tietojärjestelmien yhtenäistämiseen ja käyttöönottoon esimerkkinä UPM-Kymmene konsernin projekti. Tutkielmassa sovelletaan hermeneuttista tutkimusotetta. Teoreettisesti aihetta tarkastellaan globalisoitumisen ja laskentatoimen tietojärjestelmille asetettavien vaatimusten pohjalta, sekä järjestelmän muutosprosessin eri vaiheissa huomioon otettavien muuttujien perusteella. Yhtenäisen laskentatoimen tietojärjestelmän tuomat edut globaalille yritykselle ovat ilmeisiä. Ennen yhtenäisen projektin kehittelyä on olennaista tutkia lähtökohdat projektin onnistumiselle ja suunnitella projektin eri vaiheet huolella. Tutkielmassa havaitaan myös, että globaalissa yrityksessä tulee huomioida eri yrityskulttuurit sekä tulosyksiköiden erilaiset toimintatavat. Johtopäätöksenä todetaan, että sekä yritysjohdon että tulosyksiköiden sitoutuneisuus projektiin ja yhtenäiset tavoitteet ovat oleellisia projektin onnistumisen kannalta.

The Political Communication of Independent Regulatory Agencies

Since independent regulatory agencies (IRAs) became key actors in European regulatory governance in the 1990s, a significant share of policy-making has been carried out by organizations that are neither democratically elected nor directly accountable to elected politicians. In this context, public communication plays an important role. On the one hand, regulatory agencies might try to use communication to raise their accountability and thereby to mitigate their democratic deficit. On the other hand, communication may be used with the intent to steer the behavior of the regulated industry when more coercive regulatory means are unfeasible or undesirable. However, empirical research focusing directly on how regulators communicate is virtually non-existent. To fill this gap, this paper examines the public communication of IRAs in four countries (the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, and Switzerland) and three sectors (financial services, telecommunications, and broadcasting). The empirical analysis, based on qualitative interviews and a quantitative content analysis, indicates that the organization of the communication function follows a national pattern approach while a policy sector approach is helpful for understanding the use of communication as a soft tool of regulation.

The importance of distinguishing information from evidence/observations when formulating propositions

The value of forensic results crucially depends on the propositions and the information under which they are evaluated. For example, if a full single DNA profile for a contemporary marker system matching the profile of Mr A is assessed, given the propositions that the DNA came from Mr A and given it came from an unknown person, the strength of evidence can be overwhelming (e.g., in the order of a billion). In contrast, if we assess the same result given that the DNA came from Mr A and given it came from his twin brother (i.e., a person with the same DNA profile), the strength of evidence will be 1, and therefore neutral, unhelpful and irrelevant 1 to the case at hand. While this understanding is probably uncontroversial and obvious to most, if not all practitioners dealing with DNA evidence, the practical precept of not specifying an alternative source with the same characteristics as the one considered under the first proposition may be much less clear in other circumstances. During discussions with colleagues and trainees, cases have come to our attention where forensic scientists have difficulty with the formulation of propositions. It is particularly common to observe that results (e.g., observations) are included in the propositions, whereas-as argued throughout this note-they should not be. A typical example could be a case where a shoe-mark with a logo and the general pattern characteristics of a Nike Air Jordan shoe is found at the scene of a crime. A Nike Air Jordan shoe is then seized at Mr A's house and control prints of this shoe compared to the mark. The results (e.g., a trace with this general pattern and acquired characteristics corresponding to the sole of Mr A's shoe) are then evaluated given the propositions 'The mark was left by Mr A's Nike Air Jordan shoe-sole' and 'The mark was left by an unknown Nike Air Jordan shoe'. As a consequence, the footwear examiner will not evaluate part of the observations (i.e., the mark presents the general pattern of a Nike Air Jordan) whereas they can be highly informative. Such examples can be found in all forensic disciplines. In this article, we present a few such examples and discuss aspects that will help forensic scientists with the formulation of propositions. In particular, we emphasise on the usefulness of notation to distinguish results that forensic scientists should evaluate from case information that the Court will evaluate.

Disclosure of tax information -from tax reporting system to the financial statements, Case: Fortum Oyj

The main target of the study was to examine how Fortum’s tax reporting system could be developed in a way that it collects required information which is also easily transferable to the financial statements. This included examining disclosure requirements for income taxes under IFRS and US GAAP. By benchmarking some Finnish, European and US companies the purpose was to get perspective in what extend they present their tax information in their financial statements. Also material weakness, its existence, was under examination. The research method was qualitative, descriptive and normative. The research material included articles and literature of the tax reporting and standards relating to it. The interviews made had a notable significance. The study pointed out that Fortum’s tax reporting is in good shape and it does not require big changes. The biggest renewal of the tax reporting system is that there is only one model for all Fortum’s companies. It is also more automated, quicker, and more efficient and it reminds more the notes in its shape. In addition it has more internal controls to improve quality and efficiency of the reporting process.

Gestion et communication de l'information en surveillance biologique. Une approche éthique et interdisciplinaire [Biomonitoring information management and communication: an ethical and interdisciplinary perspective]

This study explores biomonitoring communication with workers exposed to risks. Using a qualitative approach, semi-directive interviews were performed. Results show that occupational physicians and workers share some perceptions, but also point out communication gaps. Consequently, informed consent is not guaranteed. This article proposes some recommendations for occupational physicians' practices.