Academic literature on the topic 'Spoof effects'

When deciding on a product’s quality, we often pick it up to gauge its weight. If it’s heavy enough, we tend to think that it is good quality. We have recently shown that the weight of a dish can affect the taste and quality perception of the food it contains. Here, we varied the weight of spoons in order to determine whether the weight or size of the cutlery might influence taste perception. Teaspoons and tablespoons were tested, with one of each spoon-size artificially weighted with lead hidden into the handle (teaspoons: 2.35 and 5.67 g, and tablespoons: 3.73 and 10.84 g). Participants tasted yoghurt from each spoon and rated the yoghurt’s perceived density, price, sweetness, and pleasantness. Four within-participant ANOVAs were used to test the effects of spoon size and spoon weight on each attribute. The perceived density of the yoghurt was affected by the spoon’s weight, with yoghurt from light spoons being perceived as thicker than yoghurt sampled from a heavy spoon. The perceived price of the yoghurt also varied with spoon weight such that lighter spoons made the yoghurt taste more expensive. The most reliable effect was an interaction between spoon weight and spoon size on sweetness perception: heavy teaspoons and light tablespoons made the yoghurt appear sweeter. These data support the growing body of research demonstrating that tableware (and silverware) can affect the consumer’s judgements without their being aware.

Cohort effects can be a major source of heterogeneity and play an important role in population dynamics. Silver-spoon effects, when environmental quality at birth improves future performance regardless of the adult environment, can induce strong lagged responses on population growth. Alternatively, the external predictive adaptive response (PAR) hypothesis predicts that organisms will adjust their developmental trajectory and physiology during early life in anticipation of expected adult conditions but has rarely been assessed in wild species. We used over 40 years of detailed individual monitoring of bighorn ewes ( Ovis canadensis ) to quantify long-term cohort effects on survival and reproduction. We then tested both the silver-spoon and the PAR hypotheses. Cohort effects involved a strong interaction between birth and current environments: reproduction and survival were lowest for ewes that were born and lived at high population densities. This interaction, however, does not support the PAR hypothesis because individuals with matching high-density birth and adult environments had reduced fitness. Instead, individuals born at high density had overall lower lifetime fitness suggesting a silver-spoon effect. Early-life conditions can induce long-term changes in fitness components, and their effects on cohort fitness vary according to adult environment.

SummaryThe Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaeus is one of the most threatened migratory shorebirds in the world, breeding in Russia and wintering in Asia. The global population is declining rapidly and is projected to be extinct within a few decades without intervention. Here, we present the results of shorebird surveys in previously unrecognised site in Bangladesh along the Meghna Estuary, identified for the first time by using species distribution models. Counts and habitat preference of Spoon-billed Sandpipers and other endangered shorebirds are described here with notes on the global importance of the newly discovered site. The sum of the peak counts for each shorebird species across the two surveys was 25,993 including a minimum of 48 Spoon-billed Sandpipers. The majority of the Spoon-billed Sandpipers were observed during low tide while foraging (66.6%) and logistic regression testing for effects on the presence of foraging Spoon-billed Sandpiper indicate that they mainly preferred to forage on shallow mud. We summarise the threats to Spoon-billed Sandpipers and other birds in the new site that is currently not recognized as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention, although it fulfils several Ramsar Criteria. We also propose conservation and monitoring measures for long-term protection of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper and its habitat.

The two-dimensional pressure control valve is a piloted control valve which functions by using both linear and rotary motions of a single spool. A groove on the spool land, incorporating a sensing channel, forms the pilot stage to control the pressure of a spool chamber, while the load pressure is fed to the other spool chamber. To sustain the balance of the force across the spool, the load pressure must follow the change of pressure variation along the groove while the spool is in rotary motion. The geometric parameters of the groove and the spool-to-sleeve clearance have significant effects on both the static and dynamic characteristics of the valve. Increasing the sectional size of the groove results in a large Reynolds number and the static property of the valve thus changes from that of linearity owing to the entrance effect. The linearity of the static property is also affected by the leakage through the spool-to-sleeve clearance. The dynamic characteristics of the valve are dependent upon both the structural parameters and the tune constant of the load. The stability and dynamic response were investigated under different structural parameters and time constants of the load using both linear theory and simulation methods. Experiments were designed to obtain the static and dynamic characteristics of the valve and the leakage through the pilot. A balance should be made between the linearity of the static property and the response speed; it was found that both fairly linear static and desired dynamic characteristics could be simultaneously maintained for the two-dimensional pressure control valve.