Culture and food: a model of yoghurt consumption in the EU

The completion of the Single European Market was expected to create a large market that would enable firms to capture economies of scale that would in turn result in lower prices to European consumers. These benefits are only likely to be realised if consumers in the various countries of the EU wish to consume the same products and respond to similar marketing strategies (with respect to promotion, distribution etc). This study examines, through a model of yoghurt consumption, whether cultural differences continue to determine food-related behaviour in the EU. The model is derived from the marketing literature and views the consumption decision as the outcome of a multi-stage process in which yoghurt knowledge, attitudes to different yoghurt attributes (such as bio-bifidus, low-fat, organic) and overall attitude towards yoghurt as a product all feed into the frequency with which yoghurt is consumed at breakfast, as a snack and as a dessert. The model uses data collected from a consumer survey in I I European countries and is estimated using probit and ordinal probit methods. The results suggest that important cultural differences continue to determine food-related behaviour in the I I countries of the study. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Magnetically separable, carbon-supported nanocatalysts for the manufacture of fine chemicals

The best of both worlds: The synthesis of carbon-encapsulated iron-based magnetic nanoparticles is described. With such small catalysts that have macroscopic magnetic properties, the advantages of homogeneous or colloidal and heterogeneous catalysts can be combined.

Regioselective synthesis of mannobiose and mannotriose by reverse hydrolysis using a novel 1,6-alpha-D-mannosidase from Aspergillus phoenicis

A novel 1,6-alpha-D-mannosidase was produced by Aspergillus phoenicis grown on a commercial manno-oligosaccharide preparation in liquid culture. The enzyme hydrolysed only alpha-D-Manp-(1 --> 6)-D-Manp and did not act on alpha-D-Manp-(1 --> 2)-D-Manp, or alpha-D-Manp-(1 --> 3)-D-Manp. The 1,6-alpha-D-mannosidase was used for synthesis of manno-oligosaccharides by reverse hydrolysis reaction. The highest yields, expressed as percentages (w/w) of total sugar, were similar to21% mannobiose and similar to5% mannotriose, and they were obtained with 45% (w/w) initial mannose concentration at pH 4.5 after 12 days incubation at 55 degreesC. The disaccharide and trisaccharide products were separated and their structures determined by methylation analysis. Only 1-6 linkages were found in both of them. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Supporting ad hoc collaborations in peer-to-peer networks

Traditionally, applications and tools supporting collaborative computing have been designed only with personal computers in mind and support a limited range of computing and network platforms. These applications are therefore not well equipped to deal with network heterogeneity and, in particular, do not cope well with dynamic network topologies. Progress in this area must be made if we are to fulfil the needs of users and support the diversity, mobility, and portability that are likely to characterise group work in future. This paper describes a groupware platform called Coco that is designed to support collaboration in a heterogeneous network environment. The work demonstrates that progress in the p development of a generic supporting groupware is achievable, even in the context of heterogeneous and dynamic networks. The work demonstrates the progress made in the development of an underlying communications infrastructure, building on peer-to-peer concept and topologies to improve scalability and robustness.

Kvalitet ur patientens perspektiv : Patienters upplevelser av information, delaktighet och personalens bemötande på en medicinsk vårdavdelning.

Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva patientens upplevelse av information, möjlighet till delaktighet och personalens bemötande under vårdtiden. Syftet var vidare att beskriva hur viktiga patienten ansåg dessa faktorer vara. Studien var en deskriptiv tvärsnittsstudie med kvantitativ ansats. Populationen bestod av patienter över 18 år som vårdats på en utvald medicinavdelning i mellansverige under en period år 2004. Urvalet bestod av 100 utvalda patienter (n=100). Formuläret ”Kvalitet ur patientens perspektiv” (KUPP) har använts som mätinstrument. En övergripande bedömning av vårdens olika dimensioner har gjorts, här med fokus på de faktorer som ingår i dimensionen Identitetsorienterat förhållningssätt – information, delaktighet och bemötande. Resultatet har presenterats i form av ett åtgärdsindex utifrån begreppen: Bristande kvalitet, Balans låg, Balans hög och Övergod kvalitet där resultaten visade totalt för dimensionen Identitetsorienterat förhållningssätt Bristande Kvalitet 15 %, Balans Låg 25 %, Balans Hög 45 % och Övergod Kvalitet 15 %. Resultatet visade vidare att patienterna på den aktuella avdelningen upplevde ett positivt bemötande och ett bemötande med respekt. Angående påståenden gällande informationen erhölls en del positiva resultat, bäst resultat totalt erhöll ”information om avdelningens rutiner” medan ”egenvård, hur jag bäst kan sköta mig” samt ”vilken sjuksköterska som var ansvarig för omvårdnaden” erhöll sämre resultat. Det som erhöll det sämsta resultatet var upplevelsen av delaktighet med en låg procentuell andel på Övergod Kvalitet och en hög procent på Bristande Kvalitet.

Perlen aus Bibel und Talmud

aphoristisch aneinander gereiht von J. Nobel