Fluid milk consumption has declined for decades while consumption of nondairy alternatives has increased. A better understanding of why consumers purchase fluid milk or nondairy alternatives is ...needed to assist increased sales of milk or maintain sales without further decline. The objective of this study was to determine the extrinsic attributes that drive purchase within each product category. The second objective was to determine the personal values behind the purchase of each beverage type to give further understanding why particular attributes are important. An online conjoint survey was launched with 702 dairy consumers, 172 nondairy consumers, and 125 consumers of both beverages. Individual means-end chain interviews were conducted with fluid milk consumers (n = 75), plant-based alternative consumers (n = 68), and consumers of both beverages (n = 78). Fat content was the most important attribute for dairy milk followed by package size and label claims. Consumers of fluid milk preferred 1 or 2% fat content, gallon, or half-gallon packaging, conventionally pasteurized store-brand milk. Sugar level was the most important attribute for plant-based beverages, followed by plant source and package size. Almond milk was the most desirable plant source, and half-gallon packaging was the most preferred packaging. Means-end chain interviews results suggested that maintaining a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle was important to all consumer groups. Lactose free was an important attribute for plant-based alternative consumers and consumers of both dairy and nondairy. A distinguishing characteristic of those who only drank nondairy plant-based alternatives was that plant-based beverages contributed to a goal to consume less animal products, beliefs about animal mistreatment, and perceived lesser effect on the environment than fluid milk. Unique to fluid milk consumers was that fluid milk was perceived as a staple food item. These results suggest that the dairy industry should focus on the nutrition value of milk and educating consumers about misconceptions regarding dairy milk. Future beverage innovation should include the development of lactose-free milk that is also appealing to consumers in flavor.
Sensory quality is the ultimate measure of product quality and success. Sensory analysis comprises a variety of powerful and sensitive tools to measure human responses to foods and other products. ...Selection of the appropriate test, test conditions, and data analysis result in reproducible, powerful, and relevant results. Appropriate application of these tests enables specific product and consumer insights and interpretation of volatile compound analyses to flavor perception. Trained-panel results differ from dairy judging and grading and one objective of this review is to clearly address and demonstrate the differences. Information on available sensory tests, when and how to use them, and the powerful results that can be obtained is presented.
The first St Gallen Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference (APCCC) Expert Panel identified and reviewed the available evidence for the ten most important areas of controversy in advanced ...prostate cancer (APC) management. The successful registration of several drugs for castration-resistant prostate cancer and the recent studies of chemo-hormonal therapy in men with castration-naïve prostate cancer have led to considerable uncertainty as to the best treatment choices, sequence of treatment options and appropriate patient selection. Management recommendations based on expert opinion, and not based on a critical review of the available evidence, are presented. The various recommendations carried differing degrees of support, as reflected in the wording of the article text and in the detailed voting results recorded in supplementary Material, available at Annals of Oncology online. Detailed decisions on treatment as always will involve consideration of disease extent and location, prior treatments, host factors, patient preferences as well as logistical and economic constraints. Inclusion of men with APC in clinical trials should be encouraged.
Primary prostate cancers are infiltrated with programmed death-1 (PD-1) expressing CD8+ T-cells. However, in early clinical trials, men with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer did not ...respond to PD-1 blockade as a monotherapy. One explanation for this unresponsiveness could be that prostate tumors generally do not express programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1), the primary ligand for PD-1. However, lack of PD-L1 expression in prostate cancer would be surprising, given that phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) loss is relatively common in prostate cancer and several studies have shown that PTEN loss correlates with PD-L1 upregulation--constituting a mechanism of innate immune resistance. This study tested whether prostate cancer cells were capable of expressing PD-L1, and whether the rare PD-L1 expression that occurs in human specimens correlates with PTEN loss.
Human prostate cancer cell lines were evaluated for PD-L1 expression and loss of PTEN by flow cytometry and western blotting, respectively. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining for PTEN was correlated with PD-L1 IHC using a series of resected human prostate cancer samples.
In vitro, many prostate cancer cell lines upregulated PD-L1 expression in response to inflammatory cytokines, consistent with adaptive immune resistance. In these cell lines, no association between PTEN loss and PD-L1 expression was apparent. In primary prostate tumors, PD-L1 expression was rare, and was not associated with PTEN loss.
These studies show that some prostate cancer cell lines are capable of expressing PD-L1. However, in human prostate cancer, PTEN loss is not associated with PD-L1 expression, arguing against innate immune resistance as a mechanism that mitigates antitumor immune responses in this disease.
Magnetic reconnection in current sheets is a magnetic-to-particle energy conversion process that is fundamental to many space and laboratory plasma systems. In the standard model of reconnection, ...this process occurs in a minuscule electron-scale diffusion region
. On larger scales, ions couple to the newly reconnected magnetic-field lines and are ejected away from the diffusion region in the form of bi-directional ion jets at the ion Alfvén speed
. Much of the energy conversion occurs in spatially extended ion exhausts downstream of the diffusion region
. In turbulent plasmas, which contain a large number of small-scale current sheets, reconnection has long been suggested to have a major role in the dissipation of turbulent energy at kinetic scales
. However, evidence for reconnection plasma jetting in small-scale turbulent plasmas has so far been lacking. Here we report observations made in Earth's turbulent magnetosheath region (downstream of the bow shock) of an electron-scale current sheet in which diverging bi-directional super-ion-Alfvénic electron jets, parallel electric fields and enhanced magnetic-to-particle energy conversion were detected. Contrary to the standard model of reconnection, the thin reconnecting current sheet was not embedded in a wider ion-scale current layer and no ion jets were detected. Observations of this and other similar, but unidirectional, electron jet events without signatures of ion reconnection reveal a form of reconnection that can drive turbulent energy transfer and dissipation in electron-scale current sheets without ion coupling.
A long-standing problem in the study of space and astrophysical plasmas is to explain the production of energetic electrons as magnetic fields 'reconnect' and release energy. In the Earth's ...magnetosphere, electron energies reach hundreds of thousands of electron volts (refs 1-3), whereas the typical electron energies associated with large-scale reconnection-driven flows are just a few electron volts. Recent observations further suggest that these energetic particles are produced in the region where the magnetic field reconnects. In solar flares, upwards of 50 per cent of the energy released can appear as energetic electrons. Here we show that electrons gain kinetic energy by reflecting from the ends of the contracting 'magnetic islands' that form as reconnection proceeds. The mechanism is analogous to the increase of energy of a ball reflecting between two converging walls-the ball gains energy with each bounce. The repetitive interaction of electrons with many islands allows large numbers to be efficiently accelerated to high energy. The back pressure of the energetic electrons throttles reconnection so that the electron energy gain is a large fraction of the released magnetic energy. The resultant energy spectra of electrons take the form of power laws with spectral indices that match the magnetospheric observations.
Plant-based dairy alternative beverage sales have increased in recent years. Plant-based dairy alternatives often advertise on a platform of sustainability and environmental commitment. To ...successfully position and market dairy products in this competitive environment, dairy companies must understand the consumer definition of and importance placed on sustainability, as well as communicate sustainability information effectively. The objective of this study was to characterize consumer perception of the sustainability of milk and dried dairy ingredients and their respective plant-based alternatives. Focus groups and 2 online surveys were conducted. In the first survey, maximum difference scaling was used to rank the importance of specific dairy product attributes to sustainability, along with an exercise in which respondents selected whether a fluid milk or protein powder product was sustainable. A follow-up survey included 2 exercises in which respondents selected whether generic dairy products or dried dairy ingredients were sustainable, natural, healthy, trustworthy, or ethical. Over half of dairy product consumers reported that they looked for sustainability-related information. Consumers who purchased both plant-based dairy alternative and dairy products placed a higher self-reported importance on sustainability than those who purchased dairy products only. Focus group and survey maximum difference scaling results identified 5 key attributes for sustainability: minimal carbon footprint/greenhouse gas emissions, few/no preservatives, animal happiness and welfare, and simple/minimal ingredients. Plant-based dairy alternatives followed by fluid milk and protein powders were considered more sustainable than dairy products, but package type and organic status also played a role in consumer sustainability perception. Product labels were the most common source of sustainability information, although consumers also sought information on websites affiliated and unaffiliated with dairy companies. There was cognitive overlap among the terms sustainable, natural, healthy, ethical, and trustworthy as they relate to dairy products, but consumers used the terms distinctly. Consumers perceived differences in these terms between general categories of dairy as well as among products in a specific dairy category. Dairy companies may be able to differentiate themselves by helping consumers make these choices by simplifying sustainability-related messaging and by maintaining open, transparent communication regarding sustainability.
Umami plays an important role in the flavor of many cheese varieties. The purpose of this study was to identify the compound(s) responsible for umami taste in Cheddar and Swiss cheeses. Four Cheddar ...and 4 Swiss cheeses (two with low umami intensity and two with high umami intensity from each type) were selected using a trained sensory panel. Monosodium glutamate (MSG), disodium 5'-inosine monophosphate (IMP), disodium 5'-guanosine monophosphate (GMP), sodium chloride, lactic acid, propionic acid, and succinic acid were quantified in the cheeses instrumentally. Taste thresholds (best estimate thresholds, BETs) were determined for each compound in water. Subsequently, a trained descriptive sensory analysis panel evaluated each compound in odor-free water across threshold concentrations to confirm that the thresholds were based on umami and not some other stimuli. Model system studies with trained panelists were then conducted with each compound individually or all compounds together. Comparison of analytical data and sensory thresholds indicated that IMP and GMP thresholds were 100-fold higher than their concentrations in cheese. All other compounds contributed some umami taste within their concentration range in umami cheeses. Sensory analysis of model cheeses revealed that glutamic acid played the largest role in umami taste of both Cheddar and Swiss cheeses while succinic and propionic acids contributed to umami taste in Swiss cheeses. Knowledge of the key compounds associated with umami taste in cheeses will aid in the identification of procedures to enhance formation of this taste in cheese.
Invited review: Sugar reduction in dairy products McCain, H.R.; Kaliappan, S.; Drake, M.A.
Journal of dairy science,
October 2018, 2018-Oct, 2018-10-00, 20181001, Letnik:
101, Številka:
10
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Sugar overconsumption continues to increase worldwide and contributes to multiple health-related issues. Dairy foods represent a large market, grossing more than $125 billion per year worldwide. ...Consumer demands for healthier products are leading to a large push for sugar reduction in dairy foods. Sugar plays an important role in dairy foods, not only in flavor but also in texture, color, and viscosity. Replacing sugar can have negative effects, making substitution inherently difficult. Natural and artificial nonnutritive sweeteners exist for sugar reduction. Natural nonnutritive sweeteners are popular, particularly for label appeal, but many consumers still prefer the taste of artificial nonnutritive sweeteners. Sweet taste perception can also be affected by texture of the food matrix and the presence of fat. Other sugar reduction techniques include hydrolysis of lactose, ultrafiltration, and direct reduction. This review will address the role of sugar, alternative sweeteners, and sugar reduction in ice cream, yogurt, and flavored milk.
Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental physical process in plasmas whereby stored magnetic energy is converted into heat and kinetic energy of charged particles. Reconnection occurs in many ...astrophysical plasma environments and in laboratory plasmas. Using measurements with very high time resolution, NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission has found direct evidence for electron demagnetization and acceleration at sites along the sunward boundary of Earth's magnetosphere where the interplanetary magnetic field reconnects with the terrestrial magnetic field. We have (i) observed the conversion of magnetic energy to particle energy; (ii) measured the electric field and current, which together cause the dissipation of magnetic energy; and (iii) identified the electron population that carries the current as a result of demagnetization and acceleration within the reconnection diffusion/dissipation region.
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