Vegetables have low taste intensities, which might contribute to low acceptance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of taste (sweetness, sourness, bitterness, umami, and saltiness) and fattiness enhancement on consumer acceptance of cucumber and green capsicum purees. Three concentrations of sugar, citric acid, caffeine, mono-sodium glutamate, NaCl, and sunflower oil were added to pureed cucumber and green capsicum. Subjects (n = 66,35.6 ± 17.7 y) rated taste and fattiness intensity. Different subjects (n = 100, 33.2 ± 16.5 years) evaluated acceptance of all pureed vegetables. Taste intensities of vegetable purees were significantly different (P < 0.05) between the three tastant concentrations except for umami in both vegetable purees, sourness in green capsicum puree, and fattiness in cucumber puree. Only enhancement of sweetness significantly (P < 0.05) increased acceptance of both vegetable purees compared to unmodified purees. In cucumber purees, relatively small amounts of added sucrose (2%) increased acceptance already significantly, whereas in green capsicum acceptance increased significantly only with addition of 5% sucrose. Enhancement of other taste modalities did not significantly increase acceptance of both vegetable purees. Enhancing saltiness and bitterness significantly decreased acceptance of both vegetable purees. We conclude that the effect of taste enhancement on acceptance of vegetable purees differs between tastants and depends on tastant concentration and vegetable type. With the exception of sweetness, taste enhancement of taste modalities such as sourness, bitterness, umami, and saltiness was insufficient to increase acceptance of vegetable purees. We suggest that more complex taste, flavor, or texture modifications are required to enhance acceptance of vegetables.
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For children it is important to consume enough vegetables to establish healthy dietary patterns. Taste acceptance is an important factor contributing to food choice and consumption. Sweetness and sourness enhancement can increase acceptance of specific foods in children. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of sweetness and sourness enhancement on acceptance of cucumber and green capsicum purees in 5-6-year-old children. Three concentrations of sucrose (2, 5 and 10%) and citric acid (0.05, 0.08 and 0.15%) were added to cucumber and green capsicum purees. Children (n = 70, 5.7 ± 0.5 yrs) assessed acceptance of the vegetable purees using a 5-point hedonic facial scale. Sweetness enhancement significantly increased acceptance of cucumber purees (5 and 10% sucrose) and green capsicum purees (2 and 10% sucrose) compared to unmodified purees. Sourness enhancement (0.05, 0.08 and 0.15% citric acid) did not significantly influence acceptance of cucumber and green capsicum purees compared to unmodified purees. Children differed in acceptance of vegetable purees with added sucrose and citric acid. Sweetness likers (cucumber 77.1%, green capsicum 58.6%) accepted sucrose concentrations better than sweetness non-likers in both vegetables. Sourness likers (cucumber 50.0%, green capsicum 44.3%) accepted medium and high concentrations of citric acid better than sourness non-likers in cucumber and all citric acid concentrations in green capsicum. We conclude that enhancement of sweetness increases acceptance of cucumber and green capsicum purees in most children whereas enhancement of sourness is better accepted by only a few children. This study highlights the challenge to get children to better accept vegetables, since only sweetness enhancement improved acceptance while addition of sucrose is undesirable. For a small subset of children enhancing sourness might be an alternative strategy to increase acceptance of vegetables
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Human capital and social capital are crucial in shaping entrepreneurial decisions, yet their combined effects on entrepreneurship entry remain insufficiently explored. This study uses data from the China Household Tracking Survey (2010–2018) to examine how the coupling of human and social capital influences entrepreneurship entry. By defining human-social capital coupling as the interdependence between these two forms of capital, we estimated its nonlinear impact using generalized propensity score matching and analyzed variations across gender and region. The results revealed that human capital-social capital coupling mediated the relationship between these capitals and entrepreneurship entry, following a significant N-shaped trend with identified thresholds. The impact of this coupling was also influenced by gender and regional variations. The study contributes to the literature by introducing a novel perspective on capital coupling, assessing its threshold effects, and highlighting gender and regional disparities. Individuals should understand and use the human capital-social capital coupling to guide their actions; policymakers are encouraged to consider and enhance the coupling between human and social capital in their entrepreneurship support strategies.
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The importance of specific professions for human rights realization is increasingly recognized. Journalists, teachers, and civil servants are all considered to play a role because their work affects individual rights. This is also the case for social workers. The connection between social work and human rights is evident in the large amount of literature explaining how human rights relate to social work. At the same time there is more attention for human rights localization. These fields of knowledge are related: social workers are local professionals and if they start applying human rights in their work this may influence human rights localization. This article contributes to existing debates on human rights localization by reflecting on the potential role of social workers in local human rights efforts in the Netherlands. Since human rights localization in general and human rights application in social work are recent phenomena in the Netherlands this provides a useful case study for a qualitative analysis on whether and how social workers can be regarded as actors in human rights localization. By connecting different actors that are said to play a role in human rights localization to proposed forms of human rights application by social workers this article identifies three possible roles for social workers in human rights localization: as human rights translators, as human rights advocates, and as human rights practitioners.
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Increasing students’ motivation in higher education by designing a specific curriculum has always been a challenging but very complex process. The Department of Business, Finance and Marketing (BFM) of The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS) initiated a redesign of the curricula with the major goals of increasing flexibility of learning opportunities and offering students a more motivating, inspiring and richer diversity of learning experiences. In the literature of learning in higher education this has often been labeled as ‘offering extracurricular learning opportunities’. The redesign of the curriculum implies that the new one will result in an enhancement of the flexibility of the curriculum, by offering learning opportunities beyond the borders of specific programs like marketing, finance or entrepreneurship and retail management. The richness and diversity should create flexible platforms, offering students the possibility to enrich their career choices to design their own personalised career path, hopefully maximizing the possibilities for their talent development. However, very little is known about the relationship between the students’ satisfaction with extracurricular learning opportunities, aiming at the personalisation of students’ career choices, and their motivation. In this chapter we describe our research into this relationship between student motivation and learning environments. Designing a network curriculum by increasing the possibility of extracurricular learning opportunities in higher education could have a positive impact on students’ motivation when it is combined with activities to increase goal students’ commitment. This depends on teachers’ qualities to communicate the valence and instrumentality of the learning possibilities offered for the prospective work environment. This is a complex issue however. Teachers from different educational programs, even in the same domain, have a different orientation on existing learning opportunities within one specific program. Excellent coaching skills by tutors are important. These coaching skills are necessary to support students in the process of envisioning extracurricular learning opportunities when important career choices have to be made.
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As the fourth industrial revolution unfolds and the use of digital humans becomes more commonplace, understanding digital humans' potential to replace real human interaction or enhance it, particularly in storytelling marketing contexts, is becoming evermore important. To promote interaction and increase the entertainment value of technology-enhanced storytelling marketing, brands have begun to explore the use of augmented digital humans as storytelling agents. In this article, we examine the effectiveness of leveraging advanced technologies and delivering messages via digital humans in storytelling advertisements. In Study 1, we investigate the effectiveness of narrative transportation on behavioral responses after exposure to an interactive augmented reality mobile advertisement with a digital human storyteller. In Study 2, we compare how consumers respond to augmented digital human versus real human storytelling advertisements after conducting an exploratory neurophysiological electroencephalography study. The findings show that both types of agents promote narrative transportation when the story fits the product well. Moreover, a digital human perceived as more human-like elicits stronger positive consumer responses, suggesting an effective new approach to storytelling marketing.
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Dit onderzoek richt zich op de vraag wat de effecten zijn van een niet-hiërarchische werkomgeving op leiderschap. Onderzocht wordt of niet-hiërarchisch leiderschap (in een matrix-, project- en netwerkorganisatie, of bij zelfsturende teams zoals bij projectmanagement) leiderschapskwaliteiten aantrekt, selecteert en behoudt. Het onderzoek toont aan, dat niet-hiërarchisch leidinggevenden hoger scoren op het persoonlijkheidskenmerk neuroticisme, vooral bij de subschalen angsten/nervositeit, ergernis, depressie, kritiekgevoeligheid en stressgevoeligheid, en lager scoren op extraversie, vooral bij de subschalen hartelijkheid, sociabiliteit en dominantie/assertiviteit. De belangrijkste conclusie van dit onderzoek is dat leiderschapskwaliteiten die samenhangen met neuroticisme en extraversie ondervertegenwoordigd lijken te zijn in een matrix-, project- en netwerk georiënteerde werkomgevingen, als ook bij innovatieprojecten en projectmanagement in het algemeen. Deze twee persoonlijkheidskenmerken hangen sterk samen met transformationeel leiderschap. De volgende kwaliteiten lijken bij niet-hiërarchisch leiderschap minder sterk ontwikkeld te zijn dan bij hiërarchisch leidinggevenden: inspirerend en enthousiasmerend vermogen, leiderschapscharisma, effectieve conflicthantering, het geven van feedback, assertiviteit, het vermogen tot het versterken van groepscohesie, bevorderen van een groeps- of teamontwikkeling richting meer autonomie en sterkere performance, initiatief met betrekking tot ondernemerschap, synergie tussen teamleden op het gebied van innovatie, kennisproductiviteit en reflectieve vaardigheden, als ook 'performance' in het algemeen in werkomgevingen met veel sociale interactie. Aanbevelingen worden gedaan met betrekking tot werving en selectie, als ook voor het opleiden en ontwikkelen van niet-hiërarchisch leidinggevenden. ABSTRACT This paper is devoted to answer the question whether nonhierarchical leadership (in a matrix, process, network structure, or in a project based work environment) attracts, selects and attains leadership qualities related to transformational (charismatic, inspiring & empowering) leadership. More in particular, we would expect leaders with lower scores concerning neuroticism, and with higher scores concerning extraversion and agreeableness. Enhancement of innovational capacities and knowledge productivity are the main motives for applying the structuring principles of a matrix, process, network organization, or of project management. The indicated personality traits are closely related to transformational leadership. Transformational leadership is needed to effectuate innovational and adaptive capacities, as well as for the enhancement of knowledge productivity in organizations. We analyzed whether significant differences could be found when personality traits of non-hierarchical (project) leaders and hierarchical operating managers are compared. Our study revealed, that non-hierarchical (project) leaders had indeed higher averages concerning neuroticism, and lower averages concerning extraversion. Neuroticism is negatively related to leadership charisma. Neuroticism, extraversion and agreeableness are related to transformational leadership in general. The overall conclusion of this study is that leadership qualities related to neuroticism and extraversion, tend to be underrepresented in the group of nonhierarchical leaders in a matrix, process or network structure, or in a project based work environment. Analyzing significant differences of the sub scales of neuroticism and extraversion revealed that these leadership qualities are specifically related to learning/adaptive capacities, feedback and conflict solving processes, knowledge productivity in teams, enhancement of group cohesion and coping with stressful situations. Furthermore, these qualities are closely related to several dimensions of transformational leadership: idealized influence, inspirational motivation and intellectual stimulation. Implications for training and development, and for selection processes are discussed. Also, some recommendations are put forward, related to the enhancement of the effectiveness of applying the structuring principles of a matrix, process, network or project based work environment.
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De laatste decennia is tijd een strategische concurrentiefactor geworden in de maakindustrie (Demeter, 2013; Godinho Filho et al., 2017a; Gromova, 2020). Naast tijdige levering verwacht de klant ook keuze, maatwerk, hoge kwaliteit en een lage prijs (Siong et al., 2018; Suri, 2020). Om de door de klant gewenste korte doorlooptijd te kunnen realiseren en daarbij ook te voldoen aan zijn andere eisen, zijn flexibiliteit en aanpassingsvermogen essentieel geworden (Godinho Filho et al., 2017b; Siong et al., 2018). Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) heeft als doel de doorlooptijd te verkorten in productieomgevingen die gekenmerkt worden door een hoge variëteit in producten en maatwerk (Suri, 2020; Siong et al., 2018). QRM kent zijn oorsprong begin jaren negentig van de vorige eeuw (Suri, 2020) en vertoont sterke gelijkenis met lean manufacturing. Het verschil met lean manufacturing is echter dat QRM zich richt op bedrijven in een omgeving met veel productvariatie. Daarnaast heeft QRM nieuwe elementen toegevoegd, zoals Paired-cell Overlapping Loops of Cards with Authorization (POLCA) en Manufacturing Critical Path Time’ (MCT)’ (Godinho Filho et al., 2017b).
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The Fontys University of professional Education, department of Mechanical Engineering, has started development of a new curriculum during the year 2000-2001, Human Mechanical Engineering (HME). Next to immersion of our students in actual technology practices, we aim to include for our students new topics in the field of Mechanical Engineering. We aim to include methods and an approach towards a career as an intermediary between the market and the company. We also include a well developed valuesystem, compatible with the working of Society, a sense of responsibility and a capacity for independent thought. Skills such as entrepeneurship and following market developments are combined with management of product-creation processes and some depth in selected mechanical engineering topics. The curriculum will be designed with 14 so-called competences as educational targets (See also Dick van Schenk Brill & Peter Boots 2001). Knowledge as well as skills and attitudes are combined in a competence in such a way that it meets a standard of behaviour for an excellent engineer. Also the individual career expectations will be used to arrive at optimal choices for papers, assignments and traineeships for every given student. At this moment recruitment is at full speed. During the season 2001-2002 further developments will be undertaken from a general baseline within the department of Mechanical Engineering. Furthermore work will be done on implementing interdisciplinary (Hans van Zonneveld & Hay Geraedts 1997) as well as international collaboration and communication (Peter van Kollenburg & Hay Geraedts 2001) and further developments into topics like sustainability and ethics.
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Microencapsulation of cells is a promising approach to prevent rejection in the absence of immunosuppression. Clinical application, however, is hampered by insufficient insight in factors influencing biocompatibility of the capsules in humans. In the present study we exposed alginate-based capsules prepared of different types of alginate to human peritoneal fluid. Subsequently we studied the physicochemical changes of the capsule's surface by applying micro-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. We did test alginate-beads and alginate-poly-L-lysine capsules prepared of different types of alginate. In all tested capsule formulations we found adsorption of components from human peritoneal fluid and clear physicochemical changes of the surface. These changes were alginate-dependent. The adsorption had no significant effects on the permselective properties of the capsule but we found a strong increase of TNFα production by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells when exposed to alginate-beads treated with human peritoneal fluid. This elevated responsiveness was not observed with alginate-PLL capsules. The results show that alginate-based capsule surfaces always undergo physicochemical changes of the surface when exposed to human peritoneal fluid. This adsorption may lead to enhancement of the inflammatory responses against the microcapsules. Our result implicate that biocompatibility measurements should not only been done with freshly prepared capsules but also with capsules that have been exposed to fluid from the implantation site in order to predict the in vivo responses. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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