The Food Traceability System has been introduced in many countries to provide information on the entire food process from farm to Choe et al. Effect of the Food Traceability System for Building Trust 2We also found that mitigated uncertainty is due to reduced fear of seller opportunism originating from trust, and reduced information asymmetry originating from product diagnosticity, informativeness, and trust. The reduced fear of seller opportunism has a stronger impact than reduced information asymmetry on mitigated uncertainty.
Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based remote sensing has limitations in acquiring images before a forest fire, although burn severity can be analyzed by comparing images before and after a fire. Determining the burned surface area is a challenging class in the analysis of burn area severity because it looks unburned in images from aircraft or satellites. This study analyzes the availability of multispectral UAV images that can be used to classify burn severity, including the burned surface class. RedEdge multispectral UAV image was acquired after a forest fire, which was then processed into a mosaic reflectance image. Hundreds of samples were collected for each burn severity class, and they were used as training and validation samples for classification. Maximum likelihood (MLH), spectral angle mapper (SAM), and thresholding of a normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) were used as classifiers. In the results, all classifiers showed high overall accuracy. The classifiers also showed high accuracy for classification of the burned surface, even though there was some confusion among spectrally similar classes, unburned pine, and unburned deciduous. Therefore, multispectral UAV images can be used to analyze burn severity after a forest fire. Additionally, NDVI thresholding can also be an easy and accurate method, although thresholds should be generalized in the future.
Bacterial cell-to-cell communication, termed quorum sensing (QS), controls bacterial behavior by using various signal molecules. Despite the fact that the LuxS/autoinducer-2 (AI-2) QS system is necessary for normal expression of Salmonella pathogenicity island-1 (SPI-1), the mechanism remains unknown. Here, we report that the LsrR protein, a transcriptional regulator known to be involved in LuxS/AI-2-mediated QS, is also associated with the regulation of SPI-1-mediated Salmonella virulence. We determined that LsrR negatively controls SPI-1 and flagella gene expressions. As phosphorylated AI-2 binds to and inactivates LsrR, LsrR remains active and decreases expression of SPI-1 and flagella genes in the luxS mutant. The reduced expression of those genes resulted in impaired invasion of Salmonella into epithelial cells. Expression of SPI-1 and flagella genes was also reduced by overexpression of the LsrR regulator from a plasmid, but was relieved by exogenous AI-2, which binds to and inactivates LsrR. These results imply that LsrR plays an important role in selecting infectious niche of Salmonella in QS dependent mode.
Why do shoppers spend more money on unhealthy food when they make cashless payments? We propose that negative arousal elicited by monetary payment plays a role in such consumption. Cash payments increase this negative arousal, which increases attention to decision risks. In contrast, cashless payments reduce this negative arousal, and thus reduce attention to decision risks. By reducing attention to decision risks, cashless payments can increase risky consumption behaviors. Two experiments test this decision-risk inattention hypothesis in the context of vice food (i.e., hedonic food with health risks). Study 1 demonstrates that cashless payments reduce negative arousal measured through skin conductance, and increase purchase intentions of vice food. Study 2 shows that the effect of cashless payments is stronger for shoppers who are more sensitive to health risks.
Chronic inflammation is associated with the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes and diabetic complications, and palmitate has been nominated as a candidate for the molecular link between these disorders. Recently, a crucial role of ceramide in inflammation and metabolic diseases has been reported. Therefore, in this study, we investigated whether ceramide formation is involved in palmitate‑induced hepatic inflammation in vitro and in vivo. Ceramide can be generated either by the de novo pathway or by sphingomyelin degradation, and six different ceramide synthases (CerS) determine the specific acyl chain length of ceramide in mammals. We examined the roles of CerS and sphingomyelinases (SMases) in the secretion of inflammatory cytokines, such as tumour necrosis factor (TNF)‑α, interleukin (IL)‑1β, and IL‑6 in Hep3B cells. Among the six CerS, CerS6 overexpression uniquely elevated TNF‑α secretion via p38 mitogen‑activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation. In addition, the treatment of CerS6 overexpressing cells with palmitate synergistically increased cytokine secretion. However, neither palmitate treatment nor CerS6 overexpression altered lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cytokine secretion. Instead, the activation of acidic (A)‑SMase was involved in LPS‑induced cytokine secretion via the MAPK/NF‑κB pathway. Finally, the suppression of ceramide generation via A‑SMase inhibition or de novo ceramide synthesis decreased high‑fat diet‑induced hepatic cytokine production in vivo. On the whole, our results revealed that CerS6 played a role in TNF‑α secretion, and palmitate augmented inflammatory responses in pathophysiological conditions in which CerS6 is overexpressed. In addition, A‑SMase activation was shown to be involved in LPS‑induced inflammatory processes, suggesting that the modulation of CerS6 and A‑SMase may be a therapeutic target for controlling hepatic inflammation.
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