Olfactory display devices have become a recent demand and trend in human computer interaction, providing a new member in the human computer interaction peripheral devices family. These devices enrich the olfactory sense for the user stimulating him/her by means of scent stimuli in correspondence to an object or an event shown on the visual display. Some researches have been done to cover the de...

To trace the fate of individual pollen grains through pollination processes, we determined genotypes of single pollen grains deposited on Hemerocallis stigmas in an experimental mixed-species array. Hemerocallis fulva, pollinated by butterflies, has diurnal, reddish and unscented flowers, and H. citrina, pollinated by hawkmoths, has nocturnal, yellowish and sweet scent flowers. We observed poll...

This study describes a presentation technique of scent designed for users to recognize multiple scents during a very short time period. We measured the olfactory characteristics of subjects when two kinds of scents were presented in a single breath. We defined and measured the minimum ejection interval in which subjects could discriminate the two individually emitted pulses of scent, which we t...

Can consumer knowledge that a scent is 100% composed of natural ingredients influence sensory perception of the fragrance? In the present study, 112 participants were asked to test and evaluate a floral fragrance. Prior to the test and the evaluation of the scent, half of the consumers were informed of the 100% natural origin of its components, while the other half were not provided with that i...

Computer-controlled scent output technologies have a history dating back nearly 50 years. However, it’s only in the last few years that such systems have become easy to use and readily available, fueled by the emphasis on multimedia technologies from the internet and dot.com boom and by the increasing prominence of fragrance in everyday life. The key advantage of computer-controlled output, in ...

1. The evolution of flowering plants has undoubtedly been influenced by a pollinator's ability to learn to associate floral signals with food. Here, we address the question of 'why' flowers produce scent by examining the ways in which olfactory learning by insect pollinators could influence how floral scent emission evolves in plant populations. 2. Being provided with a floral scent signal allo...

Those male Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) that as fetuses resided in uterine locations adjacent to no females, when adult, scent marked more frequently, mounted estrous females with shorter latencies, and ejaculated after fewer intromissions than did those male gerbils that as fetuses resided in uterine locations adjacent to two females. Both the scent-marking frequencies and copulat...

Symbiotic microbes can benefit their animal hosts by enhancing the diversity of communication signals available to them. The fermentation hypothesis for chemical recognition posits that 1) fermentative bacteria in specialized mammalian scent glands generate odorants that mammals co-opt to communicate with one another, and 2) that variation in scent gland odors is due to underlying variation in ...

Numerous behavioral studies have shown that animals use olfactory cues as inbreeding avoidance or kin avoidance mechanisms, implying that scent is unique to families. However, few studies have analyzed the chemical profile of a scent and ascertained the messages that are conveyed in scent secretions. Owl monkeys (Aotus nancymaae) are socially monogamous primates that utilize scent when interact...

Aromatase cytochrome P450 (P450arom) is an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of androgen to estrogen. Expression of P450arom in extra-gonadal sites and locally-synthesized estrogen play an important role in physiological conditions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the cellular immunolocalization of androgen receptor (AR), P450arom, estrogen receptor alpha (ERa) and estrogen rece...