scholarly journals Does the ‘Mountain Pasture Product’ Claim Affect Local Cheese Acceptability?

Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 682
Author(s):  
Isabella Endrizzi ◽  
Danny Cliceri ◽  
Leonardo Menghi ◽  
Eugenio Aprea ◽  
Flavia Gasperi
Keyword(s):  
Product Information ◽  
Raw Milk ◽  
Valley Floor ◽  
External Information ◽  
Food Miles ◽  
Protected Designation Of Origin ◽  
Milk Cows ◽  
Mountain Pasture ◽  
Consumer Habits ◽  
The Impact

This paper aims to explore the impact of “mountain pasture product” information on the acceptability of local protected designation of origin (PDO) cheese produced from the raw milk of cows grazing in mountain pastures (P) or reared in valley floor stalls (S). A total of 156 consumers (55% males, mean age 41 years) were asked to evaluate their overall liking on a 9-point hedonic scale of four samples: Cheeses P and S were presented twice with different information about the origin of the milk (cows grazing on mountain pasture or reared in a valley floor stall). Demographics, consumer habits, and opinions on mountain pasture practice (MPP), attitudes towards sustainability, and food-related behaviours (i.e., diet, food waste production, organic food, and zero food miles products purchase) were recorded and used to segment consumers. The cheeses were all considered more than acceptable, even though they were found to be significantly different in colour and texture by instrumental analyses. In the whole consumer panel, the cheese P was preferred, while in consumer segments less attentive to product characteristics, this effect was not significant. External information had a strong effect: Overall liking was significantly higher in cheeses presented as “mountain pasture product”, both in the whole panel and in consumer segments with different attitudes (except for those with a low opinion of MPP).

Impact of Raw Materials and Processing Techniques on The Microbiological Quality of Egyptian Domiati Cheese

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
Microbiological Quality ◽  
Raw Milk ◽  
Plate Count ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Fresh Cheese ◽  
Processing Techniques ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Total Yeast

Domiati cheese is the most popular brand of cheese ripened in brine in the Middle East in terms of consumed quantities. This study was performed to investigate the impact of the microbiological quality of the used raw materials, the applied traditional processing techniques and ripening period on the quality and safety of the produced cheese. Three hundred random composite samples were collected from three factories at Fayoum Governorate, Egypt. Collected samples represent twenty-five each of: raw milk, table salt, calf rennet, microbial rennet, water, environmental air, whey, fresh cheese, ripened cheese & swabs from: worker hands; cheese molds and utensils; tanks. All samples were examined microbiologically for Standard Plate Count (SPC), coliforms count, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) count, total yeast & mould count, presence of E. coli, Salmonellae and Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes). The mean value of SPC, coliforms, S. aureus and total yeast & mould counts ranged from (79×102 CFU/m3 for air to 13×108 CFU/g for fresh cheese), (7×102 MPN/ cm2 for tank swabs to 80×106 MPN/ml for raw milk), (9×102 CFU/g for salt to 69×106 CFU/g for fresh cheese) and (2×102 CFU/cm2 for hand swabs to 60×104 CFU/g for fresh cheese), respectively. Whereas, E. coli, Salmonella and L. monocytogenes failed to be detected in all examined samples. There were significant differences in all determined microbiological parameters (p ≤0.05) between fresh and ripened cheese which may be attributed to different adverse conditions such as water activity, pH, salt content and temperature carried out to improve the quality of the product.

scholarly journals An Evaluation Methodology for Interactive Reinforcement Learning with Simulated Users

Biomimetics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Adam Bignold ◽  
Francisco Cruz ◽  
Richard Dazeley ◽  
Peter Vamplew ◽  
Cameron Foale
Keyword(s):  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Information Source ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Evaluation Methodology ◽  
External Information ◽  
Preliminary Evaluation ◽  
Learning Agents ◽  
Learning Agent ◽  
Knowledge Bias ◽  
The Impact

Interactive reinforcement learning methods utilise an external information source to evaluate decisions and accelerate learning. Previous work has shown that human advice could significantly improve learning agents’ performance. When evaluating reinforcement learning algorithms, it is common to repeat experiments as parameters are altered or to gain a sufficient sample size. In this regard, to require human interaction every time an experiment is restarted is undesirable, particularly when the expense in doing so can be considerable. Additionally, reusing the same people for the experiment introduces bias, as they will learn the behaviour of the agent and the dynamics of the environment. This paper presents a methodology for evaluating interactive reinforcement learning agents by employing simulated users. Simulated users allow human knowledge, bias, and interaction to be simulated. The use of simulated users allows the development and testing of reinforcement learning agents, and can provide indicative results of agent performance under defined human constraints. While simulated users are no replacement for actual humans, they do offer an affordable and fast alternative for evaluative assisted agents. We introduce a method for performing a preliminary evaluation utilising simulated users to show how performance changes depending on the type of user assisting the agent. Moreover, we describe how human interaction may be simulated, and present an experiment illustrating the applicability of simulating users in evaluating agent performance when assisted by different types of trainers. Experimental results show that the use of this methodology allows for greater insight into the performance of interactive reinforcement learning agents when advised by different users. The use of simulated users with varying characteristics allows for evaluation of the impact of those characteristics on the behaviour of the learning agent.

scholarly journals Amplicon-sequencing of raw milk microbiota: impact of DNA extraction and library-PCR

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annemarie Siebert ◽  
Katharina Hofmann ◽  
Lena Staib ◽  
Etienne V. Doll ◽  
Siegfried Scherer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sample Preparation ◽  
Dna Extraction ◽  
Raw Milk ◽  
Amplicon Sequencing ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Bacterial Dna ◽  
Microbiome Analysis ◽  
Eukaryotic Dna ◽  
Selective Lysis ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The highly complex raw milk matrix challenges the sample preparation for amplicon-sequencing due to low bacterial counts and high amounts of eukaryotic DNA originating from the cow. In this study, we optimized the extraction of bacterial DNA from raw milk for microbiome analysis and evaluated the impact of cycle numbers in the library-PCR. The selective lysis of eukaryotic cells by proteinase K and digestion of released DNA before bacterial lysis resulted in a high reduction of mostly eukaryotic DNA and increased the proportion of bacterial DNA. Comparative microbiome analysis showed that a combined enzymatic and mechanical lysis procedure using the DNeasy® PowerFood® Microbial Kit with a modified protocol was best suitable to achieve high DNA quantities after library-PCR and broad coverage of detected bacterial biodiversity. Increasing cycle numbers during library-PCR systematically altered results for species and beta-diversity with a tendency to overrepresentation or underrepresentation of particular taxa. To limit PCR bias, high cycle numbers should thus be avoided. An optimized DNA extraction yielding sufficient bacterial DNA and enabling higher PCR efficiency is fundamental for successful library preparation. We suggest that a protocol using ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) to resolve casein micelles, selective lysis of somatic cells, extraction of bacterial DNA with a combination of mechanical and enzymatic lysis, and restriction of PCR cycles for analysis of raw milk microbiomes is optimal even for samples with low bacterial numbers. Key points • Sample preparation for high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing of raw milk microbiota. • Reduction of eukaryotic DNA by enzymatic digestion. • Shift of detected microbiome caused by high cycle numbers in library-PCR.

The impact of Danmu technological features on consumer loyalty intention toward recommendation vlogs: a perspective from social presence and immersion

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiantian Yang ◽  
Feng Yang ◽  
Jinqi Men
Keyword(s):  
Social Presence ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Product Information ◽  
Marketing Channel ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Consumer Loyalty ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Consumer Experiences ◽  
Loyalty Intentions ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThis study investigates how Danmu (danmaku) technological features (DTFs) of recommendation vlogs (rec-vlogs) impact consumer experiences and decisions.Design/methodology/approachThe authors adopt the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique with a sample of 422 viewers of Danmu-enabled rec-vlogs to examine the proposed model.FindingsThe DTFs positively affect consumer loyalty intentions through the mediation of social presence and immersion. Also, vlogger-product congruency significantly moderates the relationship between social presence and immersion.Originality/valueWith the increasing popularity of vlogs, retailers have adopted the vlog as a new marketing channel to connect with consumers. Although a growing body of studies focuses on this phenomenon, little is known about how DTFs help to increase consumer loyalty toward using rec-vlogs as product information sources. Anchored on the stimulus–organism–response framework, this study investigates how pseudo-synchronicity, Danmu-content congruency and parallelism, three DTFs used in rec-vlogs, impact consumer experiences of social presence and immersion, eventually influence the consumers' loyalty intentions toward rec-vlogs. The authors also examine whether the effect of social presence on immersion is contingent on vlogger-product congruency. These findings have implications for both researchers and practitioners to understand the effect of DTFs in the context of rec-vlogs.

Effect of Marketing Information on Purchase Intention for Proenvironmental Products in China

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (7) ◽  
pp. 1215-1232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Li
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Purchase Intention ◽  
Product Information ◽  
Environmental Knowledge ◽  
Intention To Purchase ◽  
Marketing Information ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Impact

The focus in this study is on the effect on Chinese consumers’ intention to purchase proenvironmental products of 3 types of marketing information: environmental knowledge relating to a product, information about corporate social responsibility, and descriptive norms about environmental protection. I also examined the impact of social presence on the consumers’ intention to purchase. I conducted 2 laboratory experiments with 723 participants and findings indicate that each of the 3 kinds of marketing information and social presence had a significantly positive effect on participants’ purchase intention, and the effect of marketing information on corporate social responsibility and environmental knowledge was weakened when consumers made the decision with social presence. The findings expand research on marketing information of proenvironmental products and provide insight into the effect of social presence. Suggestions are made for the government and manufacturing managers that may increase Chinese consumer purchase of proenvironmental products.

Impact of Reverse Osmosis on Southeast Milk Markets

1989 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-75
Author(s):  
William A. Schiek ◽  
Emerson M. Babb
Keyword(s):  
Reverse Osmosis ◽  
Network Flow ◽  
Raw Milk ◽  
Milk Products ◽  
Product Pricing ◽  
Flow Algorithm ◽  
Marketing Orders ◽  
New Processing ◽  
Milk Marketing ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe Southeast is a net importer of milk and milk products. Milk must be imported from other regions at certain times of the year. Reverse osmosis (RO) is a new processing technology which could significantly reduce milk transportation costs between regions by removing half the water from raw milk prior to shipment. A network flow algorithm, which incorporates federal milk orders and solves for the least cost procurement pattern, was used to assess the impact of RO on southeast milk marketing orders under alternative raw product pricing scenarios.

scholarly journals Composition of raw milk from conventional and organic dairy farming

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Kucevic ◽  
Snezana Trivunovic ◽  
Vladan Bogdanovic ◽  
Ksenija Cobanovic ◽  
Dobrila Jankovic ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Raw Milk ◽  
Farming System ◽  
Dairy Farming ◽  
Milk Samples ◽  
High Statistical Significance ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Organic Dairy ◽  
One Year ◽  
The Impact

Possible differences between composition of raw milk due to dairy farming system (organic vs conventional) as well as seasonal variations were investigated. The samples were analysed during one year. A total of 6.782 samples of raw milk were collected (4.496 from organic farming). Dairy farms were located in the northern part of Republic of Serbia (Province of Vojvodina). The principle of analysis of raw milk samples was in accordance with the methodology by midinfrared spectrometry and flow cytometry. The fixed effect of system of farming and season (winter, spring, summer and fall) have shown a high statistical significance (P < 0.01) on all examined milk parameters except fat, total solids and somatic cell count, where the impact was slightly lower (P < 0.05). Significant difference wasn't found in number of bacterial colonies (P > 0.05). Composition of milk is also affected by a number of other factors, therefore it is recommended to involve factors such as nutrition of dairy cows, breed and farm management.

scholarly journals Explaining and Predicting Helpfulness & Funniness of Online Reviews on the Steam Platform

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Keyword(s):  
Applied Research ◽  
Online Shopping ◽  
Product Information ◽  
Online Reviews ◽  
Online Review ◽  
Gradient Boosting ◽  
Related Data ◽  
Review Helpfulness ◽  
Display Content ◽  
The Impact

Online review is a crucial display content of many online shopping platforms and an essential source of product information for consumers. Low-quality reviews often cause inconvenience to the platform and review readers. This article aims to help Steam, one of the largest digital distribution platforms, predict the review helpfulness and funniness. Via Python, 480,000 game reviews related data for 20 games were captured for analysis. This article analyzed the impact of three categories of influencing factors on the usefulness and funniness of game reviews, which are characteristics of review, reviewer and game. Additionally, by using the Random Forest-based classifier, the usefulness of reviews could be accurately predicted, while for funniness, Gradient Boosting Decision Tree was the better choice. This article applied research on the usefulness of reviews to game products and proposed research on the funniness of reviews.

scholarly journals A Case Study of Dairy-Based Farmer Producer Company in Haryana: Collective Action Approach for Enhancing Farmer Income

2021 ◽  
pp. 78-87
Author(s):  
Sunil Kumar ◽  
Devendra Kumar Meena ◽  
Vishnu Shankar Meena
Keyword(s):  
Capacity Building ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Raw Milk ◽  
High Price ◽  
Governance System ◽  
Market Opportunities ◽  
The Impact

The concept behind Farmer Producer Organizations is that farmers, who are the producers of agricultural products, can form groups and register themselves under the Indian Companies Act 1956. The aim is to enhance farmer’s income, capacity building, competitiveness, and increase their advantage in emerging market opportunities. To examine the role of farmer producer organization in enhancing farmers, a case study was conducted in Karnal District of Haryana. Study the management and governance system of FPC and assess the impact of FPC on members was the objective of the case study. Personal interviews and group discussion methods were used for data collection and gathering information on FPC. Mishti farmer producer organization was established on 25 march 2013 for collecting, processing, and marketing milk and milk products. It covered eight villages of Karnal and collect raw milk from members and non-members farmers at high price than other value chain actors. The result of the study indicate that farmer who supplies milk to FPC, get 8-10 rupee per lit high price than others. It also provides bonus to member farmers who are shareholders of the company and their income from dairy farming is enhanced by 25-30 percent. FPC also plays a significant role in enhancing the backward and forward linkage of farmers and capacity building of farmers in different agricultural aspect.  Members of FPC are highly satisfied with the services provided by FPC and its performance in local areas.

scholarly journals Does the Price Support Policy Drive a Balanced Distribution of Profits in the Chinese Dairy Supply Chain? Implications for Supplier and Consumer Psychology

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng Hu ◽  
Xun Xi ◽  
Rongjian Yu ◽  
Rong Xiang ◽  
Yueyue Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Consumer Psychology ◽  
Raw Milk ◽  
Price Increase ◽  
Price Support ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Balanced Distribution ◽  
Support Policy ◽  
The Impact

Evaluating the price policy of raw milk is of great significance to the sustainable development of an industry supply chain. In this context, our study used the multi-period difference-in-difference method to systematically examine the impact of the policy implementation on product price and profit distribution in the supply chain. The results showed the following: (1) the price of raw milk in the implementation area of the price support policy is 13.54% higher than that of the unimplemented area; (2) the effect of price increase in the western region (15.5%) is higher than that in the eastern region (13%), and the central region (10.73%); (3) furthermore, the purchase price guidance policy of raw milk drives price increase or price suppression in the links of the supply chain to promote a balanced distribution of profits among the participants in the chain. These conclusions all have good stability and have reference significance for further improving and adjusting the price support policy of raw milk to realize the sustainable development of the Chinese dairy industry. This will enhance the production confidence of Chinese raw milk producers and improve Chinese consumers’ expectations and consumer psychology regarding domestic dairy products.

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