How do ethnically congruent music and meal drive food choices?

Playing ethnic music in restaurants increases consumer experience. Studies show, furthermore, that ethnic congruence of music and food affects food selection but not the liking of customers. An eye-tracking study was completed with 104 participants to uncover if there is an effect of ethnic music on selecting ethnic foods. German, Hungarian, Italian, and Spanish ethnic music was played while participants choose congruent starters, main dishes, and desserts. Results show that visual attention decreased when any background music was played. However, when played, the highest visual attention was recorded during Spanish music. Similarly, the most visual attention was recorded on Spanish dishes. Food choice frequencies showed no differences among the four nations. However, after aggregating German-Hungarian and Italian-Spanish music and dishes, it turned out that participants chose congruent music and food. Choice predictions were also completed on data with and without ethnic music. The performance of prediction models significantly increased when music was played. These findings highlight a clear link between music and food choices, and that music helped participants complete their choices and decide faster.

Epidemiology and Clinical Manifestation of West Nile Virus Infections of Equines in Hungary, 2007-2020.

West Nile virus (WNV) is an emerging pathogen in Hungary, causing severe outbreaks in equines and humans since 2007. The aim of our study was to provide a comprehensive report on the clinical signs of West Nile neuroinvasive disease (WNND) in horses in Hungary. Clinical details of 124 confirmed equine WNND cases were collected between 2007 and 2019. Data about the seasonal and geographical presentation, demographic data, clinical signs, treatment protocols, and disease progression were evaluated. Starting from an initial case originating from the area of possible virus introduction by migratory birds, the whole country became endemic with WNV over the subsequent 12 years. The transmission season did not expand significantly during the data collection period, but vaccination protocols should be always reviewed according to the recent observations. There was not any considerable relationship between the occurrence of WNND and age, breed, or gender. Ataxia was by far the most common neurologic sign related to the disease, but weakness, behavioral changes, and muscle fasciculation appeared frequently. Apart from recumbency combined with inappetence, no other clinical sign or treatment regime correlated with survival. The survival rate showed a moderate increase throughout the years, possibly due to the increased awareness of practitioners.

Rapid discovery of optimal messages for behavioral intervention: the case of Hungary and Covid-19.

The right messaging plays an important role in the fight against the spread of COVID-19. The present study aims at uncovering the way people think about governmental measures against COVID-19. Two hundred and sixteen Hungarians participated in this on-line study. A conjoint-based experimental design was used to reveal the power of messages as drivers of voluntary social distancing based on the perceived risk of COVID-19, the ways to practice social distancing and to assure it, and preferences regarding the communicator of the social distancing policy. Results revealed three major mindsets: Pandemic observers, Order-followers, and Health-conscious. Members of each mindset respond differently to messages. To enhance compliance with social distancing and contain the virus, we suggest using the prediction tool we developed to identify the belonging of people or groups in the population to mindsets in the sample and address people using effective mindset-tailored messaging.

Historical Evolution and Food Control Achievements of Near Infrared Spectroscopy, Electronic Nose, and Electronic Tongue-Critical Overview.

Amid today's stringent regulations and rising consumer awareness, failing to meet quality standards often results in health and financial compromises. In the lookout for solutions, the food industry has seen a surge in high-performing systems all along the production chain. By virtue of their wide-range designs, speed, and real-time data processing, the electronic tongue (E-tongue), electronic nose (E-nose), and near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy have been at the forefront of quality control technologies. The instruments have been used to fingerprint food properties and to control food production from farm-to-fork. Coupled with advanced chemometric tools, these high-throughput yet cost-effective tools have shifted the focus away from lengthy and laborious conventional methods. This special issue paper focuses on the historical overview of the instruments and their role in food quality measurements based on defined food matrices from the Codex General Standards. The instruments have been used to detect, classify, and predict adulteration of dairy products, sweeteners, beverages, fruits and vegetables, meat, and fish products. Multiple physico-chemical and sensory parameters of these foods have also been predicted with the instruments in combination with chemometrics. Their inherent potential for speedy, affordable, and reliable measurements makes them a perfect choice for food control. The high sensitivity of the instruments can sometimes be generally challenging due to the influence of environmental conditions, but mathematical correction techniques exist to combat these challenges.

Characterisation of the cerebrospinal fluid of horses with West Nile virus neuroinvasive disease.

West Nile virus (WNV) is a zoonotic arbovirus transmitted by mosquitoes between wild birds (natural hosts) and other vertebrates. Horses and humans are incidental, dead-end hosts, but can develop severe neurological disorders. Owing to the close contact of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) with the extracellular fluid of the brain, the analysis of CSF composition can reflect central nervous system (CNS) impairments enabling the diagnosis and understanding of various neurodegenerative CNS disorders. Our objective was to compare the findings from the CSF samples of horses with neuroinvasive WNV infection with those of healthy controls. We compared findings from fifteen CSF samples of 13 horses with acute WNV encephalomyelitis with those of 20 healthy controls. Protein, particular enzymes and ions, glucose and lactate showed abnormal levels in a significant number of WNV cases. None of the six horses with elevated glucose concentrations survived. Rather neutrophilic than mononuclear pleocytosis was identified with WNV infection. Neutrophils probably play a role in the development of inflammatory response and brain damage. Although elevated glucose levels reliably predicted the outcome, they might be the consequence of increased plasma levels and reflect general stress rather than CNS pathophysiology. The CSF findings of WNV encephalomyelitis patients are non-specific and variable but facilitate the differential diagnosis.

Serum neutralising antibody titres against a lineage 2 neuroinvasive West Nile Virus strain in response to vaccination with an inactivated lineage 1 vaccine in a European endemic area.

In the last decade in Hungary and the neighbouring countries, West Nile Neuroinvasive Disease (WNND) has been caused in dramatically increasing numbers by lineage 2 West Nile Virus (WNV) strains both in horses and in humans. The disease in this geographical region is seasonal, so vaccination of horses should be carefully scheduled to maintain the highest antibody titres during outbreak periods. The objective of this study was to characterise the serum neutralising (SN) antibody titres against a lineage 2 WNV strain in response to vaccination with an inactivated lineage 1 vaccine (Equip® WNV). Thirty-two seronegative horses were enrolled in the study, 22 horses were allocated to the vaccinated group and 10 retained as unvaccinated controls. Horses were vaccinated according to the product's vaccination guidelines. A primary vaccination of two doses administered 28 days apart was initiated approximately 5 months before the WNV outbreak season, followed by a booster vaccination one year later. Blood samples were collected during a 2-year period to monitor production of SN antibodies against lineage 1 and the enzootic lineage 2 WNV strain. Mean antibody titres against lineage 1 WNV were significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05) in the vaccinated group compared to the control group at all-time points after the primary dose of vaccination. Similarly, mean antibody titres against lineage 2 WNV were significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05) in the vaccinated group compared to the control group at all time-points except at 6 months after the primary vaccination. SN antibody titres were significantly higher against lineage 1 than lineage 2 at all-time points. According to the results, vaccination with an inactivated lineage 1 vaccine induces antibodies against both WNV lineages 1 and 2 strains up to 2 years after booster vaccination, but in those geographical regions where lineage 2 strains are responsible for seasonal outbreaks, a booster vaccination should be considered earlier than 12 months after primary vaccination.

Multi-Approach Investigation Regarding the West Nile Virus Situation in Hungary, 2018.

The West Nile virus is endemic in multiple European countries and responsible for several epidemics throughout the European region. Its evolution into local or even widespread epidemics is driven by multiple factors from genetic diversification of the virus to environmental conditions. The year of 2018 was characterized by an extraordinary increase in human and animal cases in the Central-Eastern European region, including Hungary. In a collaborative effort, we summarized and analyzed the genetic and serologic data of WNV infections from multiple Hungarian public health institutions, universities, and private organizations. We compared human and veterinary serologic data, along with NS5 and NS3 gene sequence data through 2018. Wild birds were excellent indicator species for WNV circulation in each year. Our efforts resulted in documenting the presence of multiple phylogenetic subclades with Balkans and Western-European progenitor sequences of WNV circulating among human and animal populations in Hungary prior to and during the 2018 epidemic. Supported by our sequence and phylogenetic data, the epidemic of 2018 was not caused by recently introduced WNV strains. Unfortunately, Hungary has no country-wide integrated surveillance system which would enable the analysis of related conditions and provide a comprehensive epidemiological picture. The One Health approach, involving multiple institutions and experts, should be implemented in order to fully understand ecological background factors driving the evolution of future epidemics.

Comparison of assays for the detection of West Nile virus antibodies in equine serum after natural infection or vaccination.

West Nile virus (WNV) mainly infects birds, horses and humans. Outcomes of the infection range from mild uncharacteristic signs to fatal neurologic disease. The main objectives of the present study were to measure serum IgG and IgM antibodies in naturally exposed and vaccinated horses and to compare results of haemagglutination inhibition test (HIT), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and plaque reduction neutralisation test (PRNT). Altogether 224 animals were tested by HIT for WNV antibodies and 41 horses were simultaneously examined by ELISA and PRNT. After primary screening for WNV antibodies, horses were vaccinated. Samples were taken immediately before and 3-5 weeks after each vaccination. McNemar's chi-squared and percent agreement tests were used to detect concordance between HIT, ELISA and PRNT. Analyses by HIT confirmed the presence of WNV antibodies in 27/105 (26%) naturally exposed horses. Sera from 57/66 (86%) vaccinated animals were positive before the first booster and from 11/11 (100%) before the second booster. HIT was less sensitive for detecting IgG antibodies. We could detect postvaccination IgM in 13 cases with IgM antibody capture ELISA (MAC-ELISA) and in 7 cases with HIT. WNV is endemic in Hungary and regularly causes natural infections. Protective antibodies could not be measured in some of the cases 12 months after primary vaccinations; protection is more reliable after the first yearly booster. Based on our findings it was not possible to differentiate infected from recently vaccinated horses using MAC-ELISA. HIT cannot be used as a substitute for ELISA or PRNT when detecting IgG, but it proved to be a useful tool in this study to gain statistical information about the tendencies within a fixed population of horses.