Consumers’experiences and preferences for plant-based meat food:Evidence from a choice experiment in four cities of China

This paper examined consumers’experiences in and preferences for plant-based meat(PBM)food and their respective correlates,based on data from an online survey of 579 consumers in four major cities in China in early 2021.We first described consumers’experiences in consuming and purchasing PBM food and their correlates,and then analyzed consumer preferences using hypothetical choice experiment.The experiment offered consumers various options to purchase burgers made from PBM or animal-based meat(ABM),combined with different countries of origin(COO),taste labels,and prices.Our data showed that respondents hold overall positive attitudes toward PBM food;85 and 82%of respondents reported experience in eating and purchasing PBM food,respectively.More than half of them ate PBM food because they wanted to try new food(58%),or were interested in healthy food(56%).Income,religion,and dietary restrictions were significantly correlated with consumers’experiences in PBM food consumption.Results from the Random Parameter Logit Model based on the hypothetical choice experiment data showed that 79%of respondents chose PBM burgers and were willing to pay an average of 88 CNY for a PBM burger.We also found that 99.8 and 83%of respondents are willing to buy burgers made in China and those with a taste label,with a willingness to pay(WTP)of 208 and 120 CNY,respectively.The heterogeneity test revealed that females and those with at least a bachelor’s degree,higher income,religious beliefs,and dietary restrictions are more likely to buy PBM burgers than their counterparts.

Agricultural Investment Project Decisions Based on an Interactive Preference Disaggregation Model Considering Inconsistency

Agricultural investment project selection is a complex multi-criteria decision-making problem,as agricultural projects are easily influenced by various risk factors,and the evaluation information provided by decisionmakers usually involves uncertainty and inconsistency.Existing literature primarily employed direct preference elicitation methods to address such issues,necessitating a great cognitive effort on the part of decision-makers during evaluation,specifically,determining the weights of criteria.In this study,we propose an indirect preference elicitation method,known as a preference disaggregation method,to learn decision-maker preference models fromdecision examples.To enhance evaluation ease,decision-makers merely need to compare pairs of alternatives with which they are familiar,also known as reference alternatives.Probabilistic linguistic preference relations are employed to account for the presence of incomplete and uncertain information in such pairwise comparisons.To address the inconsistency among a group of decision-makers,we develop a pair of 0-1mixed integer programming models that consider both the semantics of linguistic terms and the belief degrees of decision-makers.Finally,we conduct a case study and comparative analysis.Results reveal the effectiveness of the proposed model in solving agricultural investment project selection problems with uncertain and inconsistent decision information.

User Preference Aware Hierarchical Edge-User Cooperative Caching Strategy

The emergence of various new services has posed a huge challenge to the existing network architecture.To improve the network delay and backhaul pressure,caching popular contents at the edge of network has been considered as a feasible scheme.However,how to efficiently utilize the limited caching resources to cache diverse contents has been confirmed as a tough problem in the past decade.In this paper,considering the time-varying user requests and the heterogeneous content sizes,a user preference aware hierarchical cooperative caching strategy in edge-user caching architecture is proposed.We divide the caching strategy into three phases,that is,the content placement,the content delivery and the content update.In the content placement phase,a cooperative content placement algorithm for local content popularity is designed to cache contents proactively.In the content delivery phase,a cooperative delivery algorithm is proposed to deliver the cached contents.In the content update phase,a content update algorithm is proposed according to the popularity of the contents.Finally,the proposed caching strategy is validated using the MovieLens dataset,and the results reveal that the proposed strategy improves the delay performance by at least 35.3%compared with the other three benchmark strategies.

Deep Learning Social Network Access Control Model Based on User Preferences

A deep learning access controlmodel based on user preferences is proposed to address the issue of personal privacy leakage in social networks.Firstly,socialusers andsocialdata entities are extractedfromthe social networkandused to construct homogeneous and heterogeneous graphs.Secondly,a graph neural networkmodel is designed based on user daily social behavior and daily social data to simulate the dissemination and changes of user social preferences and user personal preferences in the social network.Then,high-order neighbor nodes,hidden neighbor nodes,displayed neighbor nodes,and social data nodes are used to update user nodes to expand the depth and breadth of user preferences.Finally,a multi-layer attention network is used to classify user nodes in the homogeneous graph into two classes:allow access and deny access.The fine-grained access control problem in social networks is transformed into a node classification problem in a graph neural network.The model is validated using a dataset and compared with other methods without losing generality.The model improved accuracy by 2.18%compared to the baseline method GraphSAGE,and improved F1 score by 1.45%compared to the baseline method,verifying the effectiveness of the model.

Pregnancy Preferences in Females of Reproductive Age with Sickle Cell Disease at Laquintinie Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Introduction: Females with sickle cell disease (SCD), despite having a delayed pubertal development, are subject to many worries relating to their abilities to conceive, their capacity to maintain a maternofetal-risk-free pregnancy till term and give birth to healthy children without sickle cell disease. Knowing that unplanned pregnancies are more likely to increase maternofetal morbidity and mortality, we sought out to explore the pregnancy preferences in female patients with sickle cell disease to promote healthy conception and childbirth in this vulnerable population. Methodology: We conducted a cross-sectional study involving female patients of child-bearing age with sickle cell disease followed at Laquintinie Hospital Douala or who were members of a local sickle cell association. Pregnancy preferences were determined using the Desire to Avoid Pregnancy (DAP) scale. Factors associated with pregnancy preferences were determined using multivariable linear regression model. Threshold for significance was set at p Results: Seventy-seven patients were included with a mean age of 24.71 ± 5.53 years. Forty patients (51.95%) had one sexual partner and thirteen women (32.5%) used contraceptive methods. Most patients (46.0%) responded “Strongly Agree” or “Agree” to the statement “it would be a good thing for me if I became pregnant in the next 3 months”. The mean DAP score was 1.63 ± 0.91 [1.28 ± 0.82 in those who had a sexual partner and 1.99 ± 0.86 in those who had no sexual partner]. Factors that were positively associated with DAP score were students (b = 0.32, 95% CI [0.21, 0.95], p = 0.003), monthly income ≥ 100,000 FCFA (b = 0.24, 95% CI [0.07, 0.81], p = 0.022), and not having a sexual partner (b = 0.26, 95% CI [0.11, 0.85], p = 0.012). Conclusion: Most female patients with SCD have a low desire to avoid pregnancy. This is especially true for patients who are not students, have a partner and have a low monthly income.

Species’ geographical range, environmental range and traits lead to specimen collection preference of dominant plant species of grasslands in Northern China

Many different factors,such as species traits,socio-economic factors,geographical and environmental factors,can lead to specimen collection preference.This study aims to determine whether grassland specimen collection in China is preferred by species traits(i.e.,plant height,flowering and fruiting period),environmental range(i.e.,the temperature and precipitation range)and geographical range(i.e.,distribution range and altitudinal range).Ordinary least squares models and phylogenetic generalized linear mixed models were used to analyze the relationships between specimen number and the explanatory variables.Random Forest models were then used to find the most parsimonious multivariate model.The results showed that interannual variation in specimen number between 1900 and 2020 was considerable.Specimen number of these species in southeast China was notably lower than that in northwest China.Environmental range and geographical range of species had significant positive correlations with specimen number.In addition,there were relatively weak but significant associations between specimen number and species trait(i.e.,plant height and flowering and fruiting period).Random Forest models indicated that distribution range was the most important variable,followed by flowering and fruiting period,and altitudinal range.These findings suggest that future floristic surveys should pay more attention to species with small geographical range,narrow environmental range,short plant height,and short flowering and fruiting period.The correction of specimen collection preference will also make the results of species distribution model,species evolution and other works based on specimen data more accurate.

Surgeon preferences in the treatment of thumb carpometacarpal osteoarthritis

BACKGROUND Primary thumb carpometacarpal(CMC)osteoarthritis is one of the most common conditions encountered by hand surgeons.Of the vast number of operations that have been proposed,none have demonstrated results significantly superior to trapeziectomy alone.AIM The purpose of our study was to determine why surgeons opt for their technique in treating CMC arthritis.METHODS A cross-sectional survey of active members of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand was conducted to evaluate the reasons behind their preferred technique in the treatment of isolated thumb CMC arthritis.Surgeons were contacted by email once and provided with a link to a de-identified survey consisting of 5 treatment questions and 5 demographic questions.RESULTS Of 950 responses were received.40.5%of surgeons preferred trapeziectomy+ligament reconstruction tendon interposition(LRTI),followed by trapeziectomy+suspensionplasty(28.2%),suture button suspension(5.9%),trapeziectomy alone(4.6%),prosthetic arthroplasty(3.2%),arthrodesis(1.1%),and other(6.6%).Proponents of trapeziectomy+LRTI cited familiarity(73.2%),exposure during fellowship(48.8%)and less proximal migration(60%)to be the main reasons affecting their decision.Surgeons who preferred trapeziectomy+suspensionplasty most reported simplicity(74.9%),fewer complications(45.3%),less proximal migration(43.8%),and avoidance of autogenous tissue harvest(42.7%).Advocates of suture button suspension cited avoidance of autogenous tissue harvest(80.4%),shorter immobilization(76.8%),and quicker recovery(73.2%)with their technique.Advocates of trapeziectomy alone cited simplicity(97.7%),fewer complications(86.4%),and avoidance of autogenous tissue harvest(59.1%).In their comments,45%of surgeons choosing trapeziectomy alone cited evidence as an additional rationale.Advocates of prosthetic arthroplasty cited improved pinch strength(83.3%)and improved range of motion(63.3%),while those preferring arthrodesis cited better pinch strength(90%)and frequently in their comments,durability.Of the surgeons who preferred a technique other than LRTI,41.8%reported they had tried LRTI in the past,citing complexity of the procedure,flexor carpi radialis harvest,and longer operative time as reasons for moving on.CONCLUSION Our study provides an update on current treatment trends and offers new insight into the reasons behind surgeons'decision making in the management of thumb carpometacarpal osteoarthritis.Despite strong Level 1 evidence supporting the use of trapeziectomy alone,our findings demonstrate that most surgeons continue to supplement trapeziectomy with other techniques such as LRTI or suspensionplasty.Several factors including familiarity,personal experience(Level 4 evidence),and comfort may be more influential than Level 1 evidence in determining the techniques in a surgeon's armamentarium.Further prospective studies are needed to determine the optimal technique for surgical management of Eaton stages II-IV CMC arthritis and how these studies will affect surgeons’choice.

Consumers’ Perception and Knowledge of Food Additives in Senegal: A Pilot Study

Food safety has become a major concern for consumers, as well as a priority for regulatory authorities. Faced with the growing industrial and domestic use of food additives, many questions are being asked and concerns are being felt by consumers around the world. Consumer perception defines the acceptability or rejection of food products, and has an impact on consumption patterns and behavior. To assess the level of knowledge and perception of food additives, a pilot study was carried out on a sample of 200 people in Dakar and Saint-Louis. A questionnaire was used to assess the acceptance or rejection, use and impact of food additives by consumers in Senegal. The results revealed several aspects. On the whole, the people surveyed expressed great mistrust and even rejection of these substances added to food products. This consumer perception is shared throughout the world, as indicated in numerous surveys. It also emerges from this study that, although most consumers are aware of the existence of these additives and their uses in the home, they feel that the use of these substances in industrial production is too excessive. What’s more, consumers associate food additives with numerous pathologies such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, stroke and even sexual impotence. For some of these indexed pathologies, scientific studies have reached the same conclusions, although controversy still persists. On the other hand, for some of the other adverse effects mentioned, no cause-and-effect relationship has been scientifically demonstrated. In these latter cases, it seems that negative communication, misinformation and misconceptions have a major influence on consumer perception of food additives.

Study on the Influence of Food Packaging on the Psychology of Different Groups of Consumers

With the vigorous development of consumer culture in today’s society,various types of food packaging also appear in front of consumers in different forms.There are very big differences in food packaging in terms of shape,color,style and other aspects of information transmission,which have the most direct impact on the audience’s food consumption needs.Driven by the consumption-oriented society,food packaging has shown very obvious comprehensive characteristics,is significantly interdisciplinary,and has close connections with other disciplines.This article will analyze and sort out the impact of food packaging on consumer psychology from different perspectives.

Oviposition Site Preference and Its Effects on Subsequent Development of Variegated Grasshopper (Zonocerus variegatus L.) under Laboratory Conditions

Female grasshoppers can affect the fitness of their offspring through their selection of oviposition site. Knowledge of soil type on oviposition, and its effects on subsequent development can provide guidelines for habitat manipulations that reduce the harmful effects of these pests on farmers fields. The influence of soil types on the oviposition site preference of variegated grasshopper (Zonocerus variegatus L.) reared some cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) varieties, was investigated in a cage trial carried out at the Bio factory laboratory, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, Njala University, Sierra Leone during 2022/2023. The treatments comprised three soil types (Sandy, Loamy and Clay), each with three replications laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) in wooden cages. Data were collected on the following development parameters including, Net reproductive growth ratio (R0), Generation time (Tc), Intrinsic rate of increase (rm), Finite rate of increase (), Doubling time (Dt), and overall survivorship. Findings revealed that, Z. variegatus L. preferred sandy soil in which, on average, most eggs were deposited (338, 6.62 4.40), followed by loamy soil, 286 (5.53 3.96), and then, clayey soil, 200 (3.91 3.85);though, the differences were not significant. This study established that Z. variegatus deposited more eggs in sandy soil > loamy soil > clayey soil, respectively;and subsequent survivorship of the immature unto mature adult insect, revealed a similar order. This indicates that the sandy soil is the most preferred substrate for oviposition and subsequent development into adult insects.

Consumer confidence and consumers’ preferences for infant formulas in China

A series of safety incidents related to domestically-produced infant formulas(DIFs) almost destroyed Chinese consumer confidence in domestic dairy products. Understanding consumer confidence and its effect on consumption behavior is important to restore consumer confidence and enhance the competitiveness of domestic dairy industry. This article first measures Chinese consumer confidence in DIFs safety using a two-dimension scale(optimism and pessimism) and then investigates its effect on consumers’ preferences for DIFs through a choice experiment. Involving 450 consumers residing in Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang, the experiment elicited information on their preferences for DIFs with six attributes(organic raw milk, farm-to-table traceability, region of origin, quality certification, animal welfare, and price). Our analysis yields four findings. First, Chinese consumers still lack confidence in DIFs safety. Second, quality certification is the most preferred product characteristic, followed by organic raw milk and farm-to-table traceability. Third, serving as a signal of high quality, price exerts a positive impact on choices of DIFs for pessimistic consumers. Finally, consumer preferences for farm-to-table traceability and region of origin are significantly influenced by consumer confidence.

Preference and Willingness of Consumers to Pay for Value-added Poultry Products in Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

There has been a steady growth in demand for convenience and ready-cooked food has influenced the interest of poultry processors in developing value-added chicken products that meet consumers＇ demand/choice. A conjoint analysis was done in this study on the survey of 975 chicken consumers in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria, between March and September, 2014 to valuate consumers, preferences and willingness to pay （WTP） for various chicken attributed parts, production method, processing method, storage method, the presence of flavor and cooking method. The estimates of consumers, WTP premium prices for various mixtures of value-added characteristics were ascertained. The consumers preferred chicken products refrigerated, from chicken produced under free-range management, chicken breast, chicken product that was addictive and flavor free, which could be oven-heated or pan heated. One half of the entire respondents were willing to pay about 25% more for value-added chicken product over the price for conventional products. On the whole, a premium for value-added chicken products was more likely to be paid for by young consumers, consumers who patronized farmers＇ markets and preferred free-range or organic chicken products. WTP by consumers was negatively affected by price of products. The poultry industry could utilize combined knowledge of consumers＇ WTP for value-added chicken product price as a guide of develop innovative value-added chicken products.

Chinese Consumers' Awareness,Preferences and Purchasing Behavior on Korean Food

Based on the survey and research of awareness,preferences and purchasing behavior of residents about Korean food and agricultural products in Beijing,Shanghai,Shenyang,Qingdao and Chongqing in 2014,this paper makes a statistical analysis of the influence of consumers' personal characteristics,awareness,buying habits and income on Chinese consumers' identification and purchase of Korean food and agricultural products,and performs an empirical analysis on the purchasing behavior using Tobit model. The results show that consumers' personal characteristics have no significant influence on the purchase of Korean food; consumers' income levels have a significant positive effect on the purchasing amount of Korean food; consumers' location has a significant effect on the purchasing amount; consumers' recognition has a positive effect on consumers' purchasing behavior,but it is not significant.

An estimation approach for dividable multiattribute utility of housing via questionnaires of consumers’ ordinal multicriteria preferences

Compared with ordinary commercial products, housing has many special characteristics including the multi-function characteristic. How to evaluate the multi-functional nature of housing is very useful in both theory and in application, yet it is often ignored in China. This paper introduces an approach to estimate the multicriteria function of housing using multiattribute utility theory (MAUT) based on consumers’ ordinal multicriteria preferences as determined via questionnaires. When compared with the classic framework in which MAUT is applied, this approach needs less prior information and subjective comparisons and thus can allay many of the operational difficulties involved in assessment. Some potential applications to the China housing market are also discussed.

Response of Distribution Range Against Climate Change and Habitat Preference of Four National Protected Diploderma Species in Tibetan Plateau

Understanding the spatial distribution and habitat preference for rare and endangered species are essential for effective conservation practice.We examined the spatial distribution and habitat preference of four Diploderma species(Diploderma drukdaypo,D.laeviventre,D.batangense,and D.vela),which are endemic to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and are currently under state protection.We used the ensembles of small models(ESM)approach and predicted potential distribution ranges of the species in current and two future climate scenarios(SSP126 and SSP585).The degree of overlap between the predicted distribution ranges and existing natural reserves was further analyzed.Habitat preference was examined using a paired quadrat method.Our results predicted that D.drukdaypo has a current distribution range of 600 km^(2),which would decrease to 50 km^(2)and 55 km^(2)under the SSP126 and SSP585 respectively.For D.laeviventre,the current distribution range is 817 km^(2),with minimum changes in the two future climate scenarios(774 km^(2)and 902 km^(2)).For D.batangense,the current distribution range is 875 km^(2),which would expand to 1522 km^(2)and 3340 km^(2)in the two future climate scenarios.Similarly for D.vela,the current distribution range is 1369 km^(2),which would change to 1825 km^(2)and 2043 km^(2)respectively under the two future climate scenarios.The effect of protection of current nature reserves are likely low for those species;we found no overlap(D.drukdaypo,D.laeviventre)or little overlap(D.batangense 2.04%–3.56%,D.vela 15.52%–16.87%)between the currently designated protection area and distribution range under current and future climate scenarios.For habitat preference,stones appear to be the critical habitat element for those species although different species had different stone requirements.Taken together,we provided critical information on potential distribution ranges and habitat preference for four endangered Diploderma species,and confirmed the inadequacy of current nature reserves.The establishment of new or expansion of existing nature reserves is urgent for the conservation of those species.

Improve access to the EU market by identifying French consumer preference for fresh fruit from China

Most previous studies have investigated country-of-origin effect for agricultural products from the economically developed country, but few have focused on the impact of country-of-origin on agricultural products from economically developing countries. Using a national online survey in France, we determine French consumers＇ perceptions and preferences for fresh fruit from China. Results of ordered logit models show that fresh fruit from China was perceived as low quality and unsafe. Respondents who care about country-of-origin were less likely to purchase fresh fruit from China, while those who care about brand were more likely to buy Chinese fresh fruit. Risk perception and quality perception both had a significant impact on the purchase of Chinese fresh fruit. Results of latent class models obtained with key consumer demographics show that heterogeneous preferences exist among different consumer groups. The results provide critical information to both China and other economically developing countries in their efforts to improve market penetration in economically developed countries.

Validity and Reliability of the Preference for and Tolerance of the Intensity of Exercise Questionnaire among Chinese College Students

The rising prevalence of physical inactivity is in all age groups(e.g.,in college students)a major public health issue as not meeting the recommended minimum amount of regular physical activity is linked to adverse health events.Vice versa,there is mounting evidence that achieving the recommended amount of regular physical activity is a vital element to prevent chronic diseases,but there is often an insufficient adherence to planned and structured forms of physical activity(i.e.,physical exercises).In this context,there is a large body of evidence indicating that exercise adherence is,among other factors,influenced by exercise-related affective responses.The Preference for and Tolerance of the Intensity of Exer-cise Questionnaire(PRETIE-Q)has been developed to measure these affective responses(e.g.,to specific exercise inten-sities).So far,no validated Chinese version of the PRETIE-Q has been available in the literature.To address this gap in literature,the present study developed and validated a Chinese version of the PRETIE-Q in a large sample of Chinese college students.Data from a total of 1117 college students were collected for analyses concerning factorial validity and construct validity.The re-test reliability was established using a sample of 150 randomly selected participants.In addition,the level of regular physical activity(PA),cardiorespiratoryfitness(CRF),and resilience were used to examine possible links with two domains(preference and tolerance)of the PRETIE-Q.Our results showed that a Chinese version of the PRETIE-Q has a goodfit and reliability(Cronbach’sαof 0.72 to 0.85 for preference and tolerance,respectively;ICC:r=0.72 of preference and r=0.67 of tolerance;fit indices:χ^(2)=21.612,df=19,p>0.05,TLI=0.997,CFI=0.998,RMSEA=0.016,SRMR=0.024).Secondly,positive associations of intensity-tolerance with PA,CRF,and resilience were observed.In summary,this study indicates that the Chinese version of the PRETIE-Q has sound psychometric properties and can be used in Chinese college students.The adapted version of the PRETIE-Q paves the way for further research on exer-cise-related affective responses in Chinese-speaking samples,although the generalizability of ourfindings needs to be established for other cohorts such as adolescents and older people with and without chronic diseases.

Hypoxia tolerance in fish depends on catabolic preference between lipids and carbohydrates

Hypoxia is a common environmental stress factor in aquatic organisms,which varies among fish species.However,the mechanisms underlying the ability of fish species to tolerate hypoxia are not well known.Here,we showed that hypoxia response in different fish species was affected by lipid catabolism and preference for lipid or carbohydrate energy sources.Activation of biochemical lipid catabolism through peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha(Pparα)or increasing mitochondrial fat oxidation in tilapia decreased tolerance to acute hypoxia by increasing oxygen consumption and oxidative damage and reducing carbohydrate catabolism as an energy source.Conversely,lipid catabolism inhibition by suppressing entry of lipids into mitochondria in tilapia or individually knocking out three key genes of lipid catabolism in zebrafish increased tolerance to acute hypoxia by decreasing oxygen consumption and oxidative damage and promoting carbohydrate catabolism.However,anaerobic glycolysis suppression eliminated lipid catabolism inhibition-promoted hypoxia tolerance in adipose triglyceride lipase(atgl)mutant zebrafish.Using 14 fish species with different trophic levels and taxonomic status,the fish preferentially using lipids for energy were more intolerant to acute hypoxia than those preferentially using carbohydrates.Our study shows that hypoxia tolerance in fish depends on catabolic preference for lipids or carbohydrates,which can be modified by regulating lipid catabolism.

The role of time preferences in contract breach:Evidence from Chinese poultry farmers participating in contract farming

Farmers’contract breach behavior is cited as one of the major stumbling blocks in the sustainable expansion of contract farming in many developing countries.This paper examines farmers’contract breach decisions from the perspective of time preferences.The empirical analysis is based on a household survey and economic field experiments of poultry households participating in contract farming conducted in Jiangsu Province,China.A discounted utility model and a maximum likelihood technique are applied to estimate farmers’time preferences and the effect of time preferences on contract breach in the production and sales phases are explored with a bivariate probit model.The results show that,on average,the poultry farmers in the sample are generally present biased and impatient regarding future utility.The regression results show that farmers with a higher preference for the present and a higher discount rate are more likely to breach contracts,and time preferences play a greater role in the production phase than in the sales phase.When considering heterogeneity,specific investments and transaction costs promote contract stability only for farmers with a low degree of impatience.Moreover,compared with large-scale farmers,small-scale farmers’contract breach decisions are more significantly affected by their time preferences.These results have implications for contract stability policies and other issues that are impacted by the linking of behavioral preferences to agricultural decisions.