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General Expectations (general + expectation)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Chemistry	40%
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	40%

Selected Abstracts

Confirmation/disconfirmation of consumers' expectations about fresh and processed tropical fruit products

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, Issue 3 2009
Sara Sabbe
Summary This study investigates tropical fruit acceptance in terms of confirmation or disconfirmation of consumers' general expectations. Consumers evaluated multiple product attributes before and after tasting five fresh and five processed tropical fruit products. Consumers' general expectations were confirmed after tasting persimmon (Diospyros kaki L.) and cashew apple juice (Anacardium occidentale L.). Positive disconfirmation occurred after the consumption of cherimoya (Annona cherimola Mill.) and berrycactus jam (Myrtillocactus spp.) whereas expectations were negatively disconfirmed after consuming dragon fruit (Hylocereus spp.), mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.), tree tomato (Solanum betaceum Cav.), açaí juice (Euterpe oleracea Mart.), baobob juice (Adansonia digitata L.) and tamarind jam (Tamarindus indica L.). Sensory experiences are demonstrated to greatly influence the acceptance and purchasing intention of tropical fruits and their products, as well as to affect consumers' perceptions about the product's health and nutritional benefits, in particular in cases where negative taste disconfirmation occurred. [source]

Climate change and the outbreak ranges of two North American bark beetles

AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 2 2002
David W. Williams
Abstract 1,One expected effect of global climate change on insect populations is a shift in geographical distributions toward higher latitudes and higher elevations. Southern pine beetle Dendroctonus frontalis and mountain pine beetle Dendroctonus ponderosae undergo regional outbreaks that result in large-scale disturbances to pine forests in the south-eastern and western United States, respectively. 2,Our objective was to investigate potential range shifts under climate change of outbreak areas for both bark beetle species and the areas of occurrence of the forest types susceptible to them. 3,To project range changes, we used discriminant function models that incorporated climatic variables. Models to project bark beetle ranges employed changed forest distributions as well as changes in climatic variables. 4,Projected outbreak areas for southern pine beetle increased with higher temperatures and generally shifted northward, as did the distributions of the southern pine forests. 5,Projected outbreak areas for mountain pine beetle decreased with increasing temperature and shifted toward higher elevation. That trend was mirrored in the projected distributions of pine forests in the region of the western U.S. encompassed by the study. 6,Projected outbreak areas for the two bark beetle species and the area of occurrence of western pine forests increased with more precipitation and decreased with less precipitation, whereas the area of occurrence of southern pine forests decreased slightly with increasing precipitation. 7,Predicted shifts of outbreak ranges for both bark beetle species followed general expectations for the effects of global climate change and reflected the underlying long-term distributional shifts of their host forests. [source]

Differences in perceived barriers to volunteering to formal organizations: Lack of time versus lack of interest

NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP, Issue 3 2007
Richard A. Sundeen
This article reports the findings of a study of perceived barriers to volunteering to formal organizations by nonvolunteers. We examine the types of barriers, their frequencies, and their relationships with individual-level sociodemographic characteristics of nonvolunteers. Data from a 2001,2002 national survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics are analyzed using multiple regression techniques. Contrary to general expectations, only three barriers,lack of time, lack of interest, and ill health,are fairly common. Furthermore, as expected, different social class groups identify different types of barriers. The article concludes with a discussion of the theoretical implications of the findings (for example, how indicators of social and cultural capital affect access to volunteer opportunities) and practical implications concerning recruitment of volunteers. [source]

A Short Note About Energy-Efficiency Performance of Thermally Coupled Distillation Sequences

THE CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 1 2006
Juan Gabriel Segovia-Hernández
Abstract In this work, we present a comparative study of the energy-efficiency performance between conventional distillation sequences and thermally coupled distillation arrangements (TCDS) for the separation of ternary mixtures of hydrocarbons under the action of feedback control loops. The influence of the relative ease of separation of the feed mixture and its composition was analyzed. The feedback analysis was conducted through servo tests with individual changes in the set points for each of the three product streams. Standard PI controllers were used for each loop. The results show an apparent trend regarding the sequence with a better dynamic performance. Generally, TCDS options performed better for the control of the extreme components of the ternary mixture (A and C), while the conventional sequences offered a better dynamic behaviour for the control of the intermediate component (B). The only case in which there was a dominant structure for all control loops was when the feed contained low amounts of the intermediate component and the mixture had similar relative volatilities. The Petlyuk column provided the optimal choice in such case, which contradicts the general expectations regarding its control behaviour. In addition, the energy demands during the dynamic responses were significantly lower than those observed for the other distillation sequences. TCDS options, therefore, are not only more energy efficient than the conventional sequences, but there are cases in which they also offer better feedback control properties. On présente dans ce travail une étude comparative de la performance d'efficacité d'énergétique entre les séquences de distillation conventionnelles et les configurations de distillation couplées thermiquement (TCDS) pour la séparation de mélanges ternaires d'hydrocarbures sous l'action de boucles de contrôle d'asservissement. L'influence de la facilité relative de séparation du mélange d'alimentation et de sa composition est analysée. L'analyse de rétroalimentation est réalisée grâce à des tests d'asservissement avec des changements individuels dans les points de consigne pour chacun des trois courants de produits. Des contrôleurs PI standards ont été utilisés pour chaque boucle. Les résultats montrent une tendance apparente pour la séquence ayant une meilleure performance dynamique. Généralement, les options TCDS sont meilleures pour le contrôle des composantes extrêmes du mélange ternaire (A et C), tandis que les séquences conventionnelles offrent un meilleur contrôle dynamique pour le contrôle de la composante intermédiaire (B). Le seul cas où il y a une structure dominante pour toutes les boucles de contrôle, c'est lorsque l'alimentation contenant de faibles quantités de la composante intermédiaire et le mélange ont la même volatilité relative. La colonne Petlyuk est le choix optimal dans un tel cas, ce qui contredit les attentes générales concernant son comportement de contrôle. En outre, les demandes d'énergie pendant les réponses dynamiques sont significativement plus faibles que celles observées pour les autres séquences de distillation. Ainsi, non seulement les options TCDS sont plus efficaces que les séquences conventionnelles, mais il y a des cas où elles offrent également de meilleures propriétés de contrôle d'asservissement. [source]

Organizational Flexibility in Western and Asian Firms: An Examination of Control and Safeguard Rules in Five Countries

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES, Issue 1 2001
Ignace Ng
This paper examines the influence of family and government ownerships and of labour unions on the adoption of control and safeguard rules in Asian (Hong Kong, Korea, and Malaysia) and Western (Australia and Canada) organizations. Following Ng and Dastmalchian (1998), control rules are those rules applied to employees and their behaviour at work, whereas safeguard rules are designed to address managerial discretion. Using data from 119 organizations, of which 58 are from Asia and the remaining 61 from the West, the results show that, contrary to general expectations, government organizations from both regions are no more rules-oriented than their non-government counterparts. Another unexpected finding is that unionized Asian organizations have fewer safeguard rules, not only in comparison with nonunion Asian firms but also relative to unionized Western organizations. The results also show that Asian family organizations have fewer safeguard rules in comparison with both other Asian firms and other family firms in the West. Résumé Cette étude évalue l'influence que peuvent avoir les syn-dicats, les sociétés d'état et les grandes firmes familiales sur l'adoption de règies de conduite et de précaution dans un nombre de sociétés en Asie (Hong Hong, Corée du Sud, la Malaisie) et en Occident (au Canada et en Australie). Conformément aux précisions formulées dans Ng and Dastmalchian (1998), nous entendons par règies de conduites celles qui gouvernent le comporte-ment des employés au travail, tandis que par règies de précaution nous désignons celles qui ont pour objet la marge de manoeuvre des gestionnaires. En basant nos données sur 119 sociétés, dont 58 en Asie et 61 au Canada et en Australie, nos résultats démontrent que, con-trairement aux attentes générates, les sociétés d'état dans ces deux aires géographiques ne sont pas plus lourdement réglementées que leurs homologues non-gouvernementaux. Autre surprise: les sociétés en Asie dont la main d'oeuvre n'est pas syndiquée ont moins de régies de précaution, non settlement par rapport avec les organismes non-syndiqués en Asie, mais aussi en com-paraison des sociétés syndiqués au Canada et Australie. Enfin, les résultats démontrent aussi que les grandes firmes familiales en Asie ont moins de règies de précaution que les autres sociétés d'Asie et que les firmes familiales au Canada et en Australie. [source]