42 research outputs found
Meat Consumption Patterns and Intentions for Change Among Finnish Consumers
No full textDuring the past few decades, meat has increasingly become a subject of controversies relating to health and safety, environment, and animal welfare. Even though these changes in perceptions of meat are not yet visible in aggregate consumption figures, they can be observed in individual consumption patterns and as intentions to change the consumption. In this study, we examine changes in meat consumption among the Finnish consumers taking into account both stated changes in the past and intended changes in the future. Based on these changes, we identify consumer segments and investigate in which ways these segments differ from each other socio-demographically and with respect to current meat consumption and the stated reasons for the change. The latent class analysis based on representative Internet survey data revealed nine consumer clusters that formed three cluster blocks. The results showed that a large number of people, over 40%, had stabile consumption patterns. A cluster block of 14% of consumers had already shifted their consumer patterns to contain more vegetables and less meat. One third of the consumers were identified to be in the middle of the change with a general tendency to decrease the use of meat and increase the use of vegetables. Although, environmental effects of meat and animal welfare issues were important reasons for change in some clusters, healthiness was the most salient stated reason for change in consumption habits.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries,
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Session B6: Hydraulic Research on Fish Passage Design at Lock & Weir Sites
No full textPresenting Author: Klaas Pieter VISSER is a hydraulic engineer with 7 years of experience in hydraulic research and consultancy. He has worked in civil engineering projects in the Netherlands, Singapore and Belgium. Since 2012 he is working at Flanders Hydraulics Research in Antwerp, Belgium. The main topics of his research are the hydrodynamics around and hydrodynamic forces on structures such as dikes, weirs and fish passages. Research is done through scale model tests, field measurements and literature study. Peter VIAENE has been working as a bio engineer at Flanders Hydraulics Research in Antwerp, Belgium since 1998. In cooperation with research institutes like the Institute for Nature and Forest Research (INBO) and different Flemish universities he has worked in several projects. Main focus has been on scale model based research on fish passage hydraulics and ecologically sound management of aquatic vegetation.Abstract: Both European and Belgian legislations aim at restoring and enhancing the ecological strength of the water systems. Besides improvement of water quality and protection through legislation, restoration of free fish migration on the rivers and main waterways. To solve the problem of the disruption of longitudinal habitat connectivity by manmade obstacles such as locks and weirs, fish passages are constructed. In close cooperation with the Institute for Nature and Forest Research (INBO) of the Flemish Government (hydraulic) research on fish passage design at weir-lock sites on Flemish rivers has been done since 1995 at Flanders Hydraulic Research (FHR). The research is done via scale model tests, field measurements and literature study. To determine the effectivity of a fish passage both passability and attractiveness are assessed. The passability requires limitations to the maximum velocity and minimal depth along the fish passage. The attractiveness is defined as the extent to which fish can find the entrance of the fish passage. To obtain maximum attractiveness an attraction flow at the passage entrance is applied. The presentation gives an overview of the FHR research. Regarding the passability current results and research questions relating both nature like fish passages as bypass channels and more technical solutions as V-shaped fish ladders and vertical slot passages are addressed. Also previous research on swimming and leaping capacities that has been done with living fish is presented. In recent years several scale model tests have been done regarding the attractiveness of fish passages downstream of weirs applying a perpendicular attraction flow. Current research focusses on the comparison of perpendicular with parallel attraction flows and on sharp bends in Vshaped fish ladders
Het gebruik van ekonomische instrumenten in het mestbeleid. RUG, in opdracht van De Mestbank, november 1993, 206 p.
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Socio-economische impact van de land- en tuinbouwsector in Gent. In opdracht van het College van Burgemeester en Schepenen van de Stad Gent. Universiteit Gent, Vakgroep Landbouweconomie, Afdeling Agro-Marketing, juni 1997, 60p. + bijlagen.
No full textFactors Associated to Purchase of Quality-Labelled Beef
No full textThe aim of the present study is to identify the factors associated to purchase of quality-labelled beef. For this purpose a total of 364 surveys were carried out on buyers of beef in three Spanish cities. The sample was divided into three groups of buyers according to the beef purchasing habits with a quality label. A logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the differences between groups. The results show the importance of the production region as a quality aspect. Income level, association of quality-labelled beef with “guarantee and tradition” aspects, purchasing frequency, place of purchase, production systems and lifestyles are all variables that enabled us to establish differences between groups.beef quality, quality label, consumer perception, Demand and Price Analysis,
Exploring metamaterial horizons: New concepts and geometrical tools for the description of advanced electromagnetic phenomena
No full textEinstein’s theory of general relativity has dramatically changed our world view, by describing gravity as an intrinsic deformation of space and time. About fifteen years ago, John Pendry and Ulf Leonhardt had the intriguing idea to emulate the behaviour of light in a deformed space by making use of carefully designed artificial metamaterials. Metamaterials consist of elements that are very small with respect to the characteristic length of light waves. By optimizing the shape, the density, and the size of these elements, metamaterials can control the trajectory of light rays in a very precise way that allows them to reproduce light trajectories inside a deformed space. The equivalence between a deformed space and specific metamaterial properties lies at the heart of the technique known as transformation optics and allows for a very intuitive understanding of the behaviour of light inside advanced metamaterials. For example, transformation optics has been used to design invisibility devices that hide an object by smoothly guiding light rays around it. In recent years, rapidly advancing fabrication methods have resulted in metamaterial designs that are not yet understood in an intuitive way, such as reconfigurable, two-dimensional, or quantum metamaterials. In this work, the author introduces new concepts to describe advanced metamaterial designs in an intuitive way, so that they can be used in future light-based applications. The author starts by reviewing the fields of metamaterials and transformation optics. Based on three hallmark elements, i.e., thin wires, split-ring resonators, and helices, the first chapter discusses the unusual behaviour of light inside negative-index, hyperbolic, and chiral metamaterials as well as their relevance to photonic applications. Subsequently, in the second chapter, transformation optics is shown to be a powerful design tool that naturally extends the principle of Fermat from simple dielectrics to the realm of metamaterials. In the following chapters, the author introduces several concepts to describe advanced metamaterial designs such as materials that implement vector potentials for photons, reconfigurable metasurfaces with fundamental speed limits, two-dimensional metamaterial waveguides that emulate a deformation of their surface, and metamaterial black holes
Exploring metamaterial horizons: New concepts and geometrical tools for the description of advanced electromagnetic phenomena
No full textEinstein’s theory of general relativity has dramatically changed our world view, by describing gravity as an intrinsic deformation of space and time. About fifteen years ago, John Pendry and Ulf Leonhardt had the intriguing idea to emulate the behaviour of light in a deformed space by making use of carefully designed artificial metamaterials. Metamaterials consist of elements that are very small with respect to the characteristic length of light waves. By optimizing the shape, the density, and the size of these elements, metamaterials can control the trajectory of light rays in a very precise way that allows them to reproduce light trajectories inside a deformed space. The equivalence between a deformed space and specific metamaterial properties lies at the heart of the technique known as transformation optics and allows for a very intuitive understanding of the behaviour of light inside advanced metamaterials. For example, transformation optics has been used to design invisibility devices that hide an object by smoothly guiding light rays around it. In recent years, rapidly advancing fabrication methods have resulted in metamaterial designs that are not yet understood in an intuitive way, such as reconfigurable, two-dimensional, or quantum metamaterials. In this work, the author introduces new concepts to describe advanced metamaterial designs in an intuitive way, so that they can be used in future light-based applications.The author starts by reviewing the fields of metamaterials and transformation optics. Based on three hallmark elements, i.e., thin wires, split-ring resonators, and helices, the first chapter discusses the unusual behaviour of light inside negative-index, hyperbolic, and chiral metamaterials as well as their relevance to photonic applications. Subsequently, in the second chapter, transformation optics is shown to be a powerful design tool that naturally extends the principle of Fermat from simple dielectrics to the realm of metamaterials. In the following chapters, the author introduces several concepts to describe advanced metamaterial designs such as materials that implement vector potentials for photons, reconfigurable metasurfaces with fundamental speed limits, two-dimensional metamaterial waveguides that emulate a deformation of their surface, and metamaterial black holes
Consumer Perception of Bread Quality
No full textBread contains a wide range of important nutritional components which provide a positive effect on human health. However, the consumption of bread in Belgium is declining during the last decades. This is due to factors such as changing eating patterns and a increasing choice of substitutes like breakfast cereals and fast foods. The aim of this study is to investigate consumer’s quality perception of bread towards sensory, health and nutrition attributes. Consumer’s quality perception of bread seams to be determined by sensory and health attributes. Three clusters of consumers are identified based on these attributes. In the first cluster, consumers’ quality perception of bread is not dependent on the health attributes it embraces, but to some extent on sensory attributes. For the second cluster, both health and sensory attributes appear to influence quality perception. In the third cluster only sensory attributes appear to be important in determining quality perception, though in a negative direction. The results of this study will possibly help health professionals and policy makers to systematically inform the consumers about the positive effects of bread and its components. Furthermore, firms can use the result to build up a tailor-made marketing strategy.Consumer, Quality perception, Bread, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,
