A systematic review of the biological mediators of fat taste and smell.

Taste and smell play a key role in our ability to perceive foods. Overconsumption of highly palatable energy-dense foods can lead to increased caloric intake and obesity. Thus there is growing interest in the study of the biological mediators of fat taste and associated olfaction as potential targets for pharmacologic and nutritional interventions in the context of obesity and health. The number of studies examining mechanisms underlying fat taste and smell has grown rapidly in the last 5 years. Therefore, the purpose of this systematic review is to summarize emerging evidence examining the biological mechanisms of fat taste and smell. A literature search was conducted of studies published in English between 2014 and 2021 in adult humans and animal models. Database searches were conducted using PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, and Web of Science for key terms including fat/lipid, taste, and olfaction. Initially, 4,062 articles were identified through database searches, and a total of 84 relevant articles met inclusion and exclusion criteria and are included in this review. Existing literature suggests that there are several proteins integral to fat chemosensation, including cluster of differentiation 36 (CD36) and G protein-coupled receptor 120 (GPR120). This systematic review will discuss these proteins and the signal transduction pathways involved in fat detection. We also review neural circuits, key brain regions, ingestive cues, postingestive signals, and genetic polymorphism that play a role in fat perception and consumption. Finally, we discuss the role of fat taste and smell in the context of eating behavior and obesity.

Chemosensory Alterations and Impact on Quality of Life in Persistent Alcohol Drinkers.

BACKGROUND: Heavy alcohol consumption-associated chemosensory dysfunction is understudied, and early detection can help predict disease-associated comorbidities, especially those related to four quality of life (QOL) domains (physical, psychological, social and environment). We examined self-reports of chemosensory ability of individuals with different alcohol drinking behaviors and their association with changes in QOL domains. METHODS: Participants (n = 466) were recruited between June 2020 and September 2021 into the NIAAA COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Alcohol study. Group-based trajectory modeling was used to categorize participants without any known COVID-19 infection into three groups (non-drinkers, moderate drinkers and heavy drinkers) based on their Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test consumption scores at four different time points (at enrollment, week 4, week 8 and week 12). Linear mixed models were used to examine chemosensory differences between these groups. The associations between chemosensory abilities and QOL were determined in each group. RESULTS: We observed significant impairment in self-reported smell ability of heavy drinking individuals compared to non-drinkers. In contrast, taste ability showed marginal impairment between these groups. There were no significant differences in smell and taste abilities between the moderate and non-drinking groups. Heavy drinkers' impairment in smell and taste abilities was significantly associated with deterioration in their physical, psychological, social and environmental QOL. CONCLUSION: Persistent heavy drinking was associated with lower chemosensory ability. Heavy drinkers' reduced smell and taste function and association with poorer QOL indicate that early assessment of chemosensory changes may be crucial in identifying poorer well-being outcomes in heavy drinkers at risk for alcohol use disorder.

Preparing for the next pandemic via transfer learning from existing diseases with hierarchical multi-modal BERT: a study on COVID-19 outcome prediction.

Developing prediction models for emerging infectious diseases from relatively small numbers of cases is a critical need for improving pandemic preparedness. Using COVID-19 as an exemplar, we propose a transfer learning methodology for developing predictive models from multi-modal electronic healthcare records by leveraging information from more prevalent diseases with shared clinical characteristics. Our novel hierarchical, multi-modal model ([Formula: see text]) integrates baseline risk factors from the natural language processing of clinical notes at admission, time-series measurements of biomarkers obtained from laboratory tests, and discrete diagnostic, procedure and drug codes. We demonstrate the alignment of [Formula: see text]'s predictions with well-established clinical knowledge about COVID-19 through univariate and multivariate risk factor driven sub-cohort analysis. [Formula: see text]'s superior performance over state-of-the-art methods shows that leveraging patient data across modalities and transferring prior knowledge from similar disorders is critical for accurate prediction of patient outcomes, and this approach may serve as an important tool in the early response to future pandemics.

Ownership based Ethnocentrism Tendencies: its Antecedents and Impact on Domestic- owned/Foreign-owned Product Purchase of Indian Consumers

Consumer ethnocentrism studies are grounded on either country of manufacture (COM) or country of origin (COO). In the current multinational context, a product is attributed to several countries. So, deriving the degree of ethnocentric tendencies, focussed on either COM or COO, restricts the robustness of the after-effects of consumer ethnocentrism studies. Therefore, this research proposes a lens for socio-economic sustainable development by adding a new dimension: country of ownership to the field of consumer ethnocentrism studies. In the light of ownership-based ethnocentric tendencies (OCET), the paper studies the antecedents of cosmopolitanism and demographic variables. It also tests OCET with relation to the final purchase of foreign and domestic-owned brands for hair care and skincare products (shampoo, hair oil, hair colour, soap, cream, and face-wash). This research then measures the accuracy of knowledge of brand ownership (BOWRECA). The results are processed by using AMOS and SPSS. The findings support an inverse relationship between OCET and cosmopolitanism. The relationship between demographic antecedents and the role of OCET in final product purchase varies considerably. The research is of utmost importance for marketers, policymakers, and consumers. The suggested new dimension, if used judicially, will lead to socioeconomic sustainable development, as due to COVID-19, countries are forced to be self-reliant and re-invent the power of domestic production.

Domestic products in Swadeshi-Global entrepreneurship for sustainable socioeconomic growth

The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of Country of Ownership on a nation's economy and distinguish between the cumulative effect of Country of Brand Origin (CoB), Country of Manufacture (CoM) and Country of Ownership (CoO), on products in a Transnational Economy. This paper proposes a lens for indigenous entrepreneurship, labelled as Swadeshi-Global Entrepreneurship aiming at sustainable socioeconomic growth. The findings lead to the development of a new model 'Product categorisation in the Transnational Economy' and an equation explaining the conceptual definition of domestic product in globalised world along with the relative importance of each type of product on the domestic economy of a nation. The framework suggested in the paper if executed rationally ensures to bring social and economic sustainable development of the country involved. Although the paper focuses on indigenous entrepreneurship, its findings are relevant for other types of entrepreneurship too given the emergency situation in which many economies currently are due to COVID-19. Countries are pushed to re-invent the power of domestic production.