Survival analysis model to estimate sensory shelf life with temperature and illumination as accelerating factors

The main objective of this study was to introduce a survival model to contemplate two simultaneous accelerating factors affecting a food product's shelf life: temperature and illumination. A second objective was to consider the case where the same consumer tests different experimental conditions and thus his/her data are not independent. Sample data comprised 108 consumers who evaluated a lemon-flavored juice stored at 24 °C, 37 °C and 45 °C; under conditions of no-illumination and with illumination; with seven different storage times for each of the six experimental conditions. Aiming to estimate the storage time at which a consumer rejects a sample a model including an Arrhenius term for the temperature, a binomial response for illumination (with and without) and the interaction of both was developed. The model also considered that the same consumer tested different experimental conditions.Fil: Garitta, Lorena Garitta. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Dirección General de Cultura y Educación. Instituto Superior Experimental de Tecnología Alimentaria; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Langohr, Klaus. Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya; EspañaFil: Elizagoyen, Eliana Soledad. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Dirección General de Cultura y Educación. Instituto Superior Experimental de Tecnología Alimentaria; ArgentinaFil: Gugole Ottaviano, Maria Fernanda. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Dirección General de Cultura y Educación. Instituto Superior Experimental de Tecnología Alimentaria; ArgentinaFil: Gómez, Guadalupe. Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya; EspañaFil: Hough, Guillermo. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Dirección General de Cultura y Educación. Instituto Superior Experimental de Tecnología Alimentaria; Argentina. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentin

Relative efficiency of Argentinean airports

The main objectives of this paper are to measure the relative efficiency of Argentinean airports, and to infer possible regulatory consequences of the results. We pay attention to regional differences that could help the regulator in its task. At the same time, we try to determine which “environmental” variables (in the sense of particular conditions which are specific to different sets of airports) affect the relative efficiency of different airports. Since 1997, most of the airports were privatized, by means of concessions contracts. Of the DEA analysis we derive two broad conclusions. Firstly, significant differences in efficiency are prevalent in Argentinean airports. Secondly, best-practice calculations indicate that much of the Argentinean airports operate at a high level of efficiency during the period. Therefore, the overall conclusion is that Argentinean airports are mixed managed during the period as far as technical efficiency is concerned. Moreover, dimension makes a difference and therefore, some airports have decreasing returns to scale, while others have increasing returns to scale.efficiency; airports; Argentina

Methodology for sensory shelf-life estimation: A review

When talking about shelf life of foods, in the vast majority of cases we are talking about sensory shelf life of foods. The review presents an overview of the published research over the past decades classified according to the following topics: (1) cut-off point methodology (arbitrary and regression-based cut-off points); (2) methods based on product failure or consumers' rejection (failure with no censorship, logistic regression and survival analysis); (3) accelerated studies; and (4) other topics and further research.Fil: Hough, Guillermo. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaFil: Garitta, Lorena Garitta. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Sensory cut-off point obtained from survival analysis statistics

In the present work we applied interval-censored survival analysis techniques to estimate sensory cut-off points based on consumer’s decision to accept or reject food products taking into account the inherent variability in sensory measurements. We compared the values obtained using this survival analysis methodology with those obtained by applying a previous regression based method. Cut-off point (COP) estimations were made for acid flavor in yogurt, strawberry flavor in a strawberry flavored drink and appearance quality index in broccoli. For two of these products the regression based cut-off points were unrealistic, and would lead to much too conservative COP’s, leading to unnecessary rejection of samples in quality control inspections or very short shelf-lives. For one of the products (strawberry flavored drink), the survival and regression-based COP’s were comparable. The survival analysis methodology is recommended for estimating sensory cut-off points in food products.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author’s final draft

Debi Ghate and Richard E. Ralston: Why businessmen need philosophy: the capitalist’s guide to the ideas behind Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged: New American Library (Penguin Group), New York, 2011, 316 pp, ISBN: 978-0-451-23269-4

The essays in this book are meant to serve as an introduction to those ideas of Ayn Rand, which are of particular relevance to business people. Rand was known as a spirited defender of the laissez-faire free enterprise system. It is less commonly known that Rand was also deeply committed to the centrality of the enterprise of philosophy for both public and private life. The essays in this book try to bridge the gap between these two aspects of Rand’s thought. The results of the review of the book are mostly positive. The review attempts to separate the different themes in the book such as the importance of philosophy in general, the importance of philosophy for business, the philosophical defense of the free enterprise system and then to evaluate the evidence and arguments presented by the essayists for each claim

Illuminating the Meaning of 'being' in the later Heidegger Through Aspects of the Theologies of Pseudo-Dionysius and Meister Eckhart

The dissertation involves an attempt to illuminate the meaning of being in Heidegger through the dialectic of negation, the complex and subtle relation between affirmation and negation which is present in the 'negative' theologies of Pseudo-Dionysius and Meister Eckhart. Although the focus is on the later Heidegger, the early chapters work to establish a sold grounding in both the question about the meaning of being, and what intelligibility concerning being is present in the early Heidegger. "The Onto-Theo-Logical Constitution of Metaphysics" has been selected as the primary text to represent the later Heidegger. We employ Dionysius and Eckhart first to clarify Heidegger's critique of ontotheology and then finally in an attempt to illuminate Heidegger' project of thinking being as "the difference as such" (differenz as solche)

Assessment of aspects related to meat consumption, quality and safety in argentinian meat consumers

El crecimiento del sector productor de carne se ve influenciado directamente por los conceptos y criterios de los consumidores. Los aspectos tenidos en cuenta por estos al momento de comprar son numerosos y variados, y los puntos más importantes son la calidad sensorial, higiénico-sanitaria, disponibilidad de productos y tendencia de consumo. Conocer las preferencias, conceptos y actitud de compra por parte de los consumidores permite al sector agroindustrial un mejor crecimiento y desarrollo. El presente trabajo planteó como objetivo estudiar aspectos de consumo, calidad y sanidad de la carne mediante encuesta con consumidores argentinos. Los datos fueron recabados en ciudades de la provincia de Buenos Aires. La encuesta fue anónima, voluntaria y mediante un cuestionario dispuesto on-line. La información obtenida fue analizada mediante test descriptivo según sexo, rango etario, situación laboral y zona de residencia. Los resultados logrados mostraron similitud de comportamiento con otras sociedades latinoamericanas, estudiadas previamente. Los datos indicaron que los rasgos y tendencias más destacados en los hábitos de consumo, criterios de calidad y decisión de compra de carne en ciudadanos de la provincia de Buenos Aires, están relacionados con la edad y en menor medida con el sexo, lugar de residencia o la situación laboral. Las observaciones sugerirían que una buena oportunidad para el sector productor es trabajar en el desarrollo de productos “dirigidos” según los grupos etarios y sus preferencias. En relación con los aspectos de la sanidad, se pudo apreciar que la población usa prácticas en el hogar con elevado potencial de contaminación cruzada y proliferación de microorganismos en los alimentos. Frente a esto se destaca la importancia de los sectores científico y educativo en la necesidad de generar y transmitir información a la sociedad sobre hábitos adecuados de manipulación de alimentos especialmente en hogares.The development of meat producing sector is directly influenced by the concepts and criteria of the consumers. Numerous and diverse aspects are taken into account by consumers at the time of purchase, with appearance, freshness and product availability being the most important points. Knowledge the trends, concepts and willingness to purchase by consumers is allows the agroindustrial sector a better growth and development. The aim at study was to study the consumption, quality and health aspects of meat through a survey of Argentine consumers of meat. The data were collected in cities of the province of Buenos Aires. The survey was anonymous, voluntary and through a questionnaire arranged online. The information collected was analyzed by descriptive test according to: sex, age range, employment status and area of residence. The data indicated that the most outstanding features and trends in consumer habits, quality criteria and decision to purchase meat in citizens of the province of Buenos Aires, are related according to age and, to a lesser extent, sex, residence or employment situation. These observations suggest that would be a good opportunity for the producer’s development products orientated to particular age group public and their preferences. Health general aspects suggested it is important for scientific and educational sector generate and transmit more information to society about proper habits of food handling at home.Fil: Cáffaro Tommasiello, Estefanía Milagros. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Departamento de Tecnologia y Calidad de los Alimentos; Argentina. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaFil: Latorre, Maria Emilia. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Departamento de Tecnologia y Calidad de los Alimentos; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil; ArgentinaFil: Cepeda, Rosana Esther. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto Multidisciplinario sobre Ecosistemas y Desarrollo Sustentable. Grupo de Ecología Matemática; Argentina. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaFil: Garitta, Lorena Garitta. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Dirección General de Cultura y Educación. Instituto Superior Experimental de Tecnología Alimentaria. Departamento de Evaluación Sensorial de Alimentos; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sosa, Miriam Patricia. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Dirección General de Cultura y Educación. Instituto Superior Experimental de Tecnología Alimentaria; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Purslow, Peter. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Departamento de Tecnologia y Calidad de los Alimentos; Argentin

Scientific measurement of sensory preferences using stimulus tetrads

This paper provides the evidence base to construct a professional standard for discriminative scaling of taints and optima. The measurement of suboptimal sensed characteristics of a product has logical and empirical requirements that specify a single overall rating of each sample in a tetrad. Those four pairs of response/stimulus data determine the discrimination distance of each sample from the comparison in memory used by the assessor, together with the position of that standard on the straight line specified by the two stimulus levels in the tetrad. The rating's reference anchor can be the match to a familiar version of the product or the personally most preferred level. Each sample can be assessed again for sensory and/or conceptual attributes, using vocabulary learned in life or by sensory training. Those data give the ideal or matching value of that verbal category and the individual's tolerance of deviations from that value