Types Of Smells Research Articles

Sensing of Scent, Fragrance, Smell, and Odor Emissions from Biota Sources

People encounter enormous numbers of chemicals present in the outdoor atmosphere and/or in the various facilities they use daily. Despite such diversity, not many of them have necessarily the potential to draw human’s nasal attraction if their perception thresholds are in general not sufficiently low enough, regardless of abundance. In this sense, many types of scents, musks, fragrances, smells, odors, and pheromones are unique enough to draw a great deal of attention mainly by their presence at or near threshold levels which are far lower than those of common chemicals with poor odorant characteristics. It is known that most of the diverse characters of odor-related ingredients or expressions are commonly produced from various biota sources present in the biosphere, e.g., fauna, flora, bacteria, fruits, flowers, trees, meats, fresh/decaying foods, etc. [...]

Public perception of odour and environmental pollution attributed to MSW treatment and disposal facilities: A case study

If residents’ perceptions, concerns and attitudes towards waste management facilities are either not well understood or underestimated, people can produce strong opposition that may include protest demonstrations and violent conflicts such as those experienced in the Campania Region of Italy. The aim of this study was to verify the effects of the closure of solid waste treatment and disposal facilities (two landfills and one RDF production plant) on public perception of odour and environmental pollution. The study took place in four villages in Southern Italy. Identical questionnaires were administered to residents during 2003 and after the closure of the facilities occurred in 2008. The residents’ perception of odour nuisance considerably diminished between 2003 and 2009 for the nearest villages, with odour perception showing an association with distance from the facilities. Post closure, residents had difficulty in identifying the type of smell due to the decrease in odour level. During both surveys, older residents reported most concern about the potentially adverse health impacts of long-term exposure to odours from MSW facilities. However, although awareness of MSW facilities and concern about potentially adverse health impacts varied according to the characteristics of residents in 2003, substantial media coverage produced an equalisation effect and increased knowledge about the type of facilities and how they operated. It is possible that residents of the village nearest to the facilities reported lower awareness of and concern about odour and environmental pollution because the municipality received economic compensation for their presence.

“Mints”, smells and traditional uses in Thessaloniki (Greece) and other Mediterranean countries

The herbs of the “mint” group traded in the herbal market of Thessaloniki include eight taxa, members of two genera, Acinos (two species) and Mentha (four species and two hybrids). The essential oil content of 72 samples examined ranged from traces up to 1.69 ml/100 g of dry weight. Besides three almost scentless samples, the different “mints” are distinguished according to their prominent smell differences, i.e. samples with a pungent, musty and sweet type of smell. As a result, the commercial names attributed to them correspond to a particular type of smell and not to a particular taxon. A number of 29 medicinal uses were recorded in total. In most cases uses were not associated with particular taxa but were rather determined by plant smells. A literature survey has shown that the “mints” traded in Thessaloniki are also used as herbal medicines all over the Mediterranean area, with 67 different therapeutic uses. Among them the 22 uses, already mentioned by Dioscurides, show that the utilization of “mints” as herbal medicines in the Mediterranean countries has a long tradition.

The dirty smith: smell as a social frontier among the Kapsiki/Higi of north Cameroon and north-eastern Nigeria

AbstractAmong the Kapsiki/Higi of the Mandara mountains the division between black-smith and non-smith pervades society. Blacksmiths dominate technical and ritual specialisations—including the forge—and through their association with death are considered dirty. One way in which this opposition is expressed is through the definition of smell.Using ideophones, the Kapsiki distinguish fourteen types of smell, each associated with specific ‘smelly’ objects, animals or persons (i.e. blacksmiths). The definition of smells by blacksmiths, however, is different from that of non-smiths; also the women of both ‘castes’ define smell differently from the men. Whereas men use the definition of smell to accentuate the gap between smith and non-smith, the women tend to mediate the division.In Kapsiki culture smell is not associated with notions of evil or witchcraft. It is, however, tied in with burial, which in Kapsiki culture entails protracted exposure to a decomposing corpse. The connection smith-corpse may be one reason for the smelly definition of the smith. Another may be the notion of ambivalence and the tendency to draw strict dividing lines between social groups. Smell in Kapsiki seems to stress borderline situations and the mutual dependence of opposing groups.

Olfactory Search Images in Striped Skunks

AbstractStriped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) which had been raised in captivity can increase their reaction distance to the smell of a given food. This reaction distance decreases after they find other types of foods, using either sound or smell. This decrease could be a result of skunks increasing preference for specific food, or shifting attention onto the smell of specific food. However, other experiments showed that skunks do not change prey preference. Therefore the decrease in reaction distance is likely due to skunks shifting attention to the smell of specific food. I suggest that this is the olfactory analogue to visual search images-i.e. olfactory search images.

The Ritual Use of Jhakro in Magar Community

Human- plant relation is tightly attached on life of human beings. From the beginning of civilization, people used many plants and their products for different purpose to adopt with their environment. The essential and valuable materials including plant species are gathered, used, saved and always remain hunger for knowledge yet now. They developed different kinds of ceremonies and rituals and include valuable materials and plants within it to protect and remains as indigenous knowledge in particular communities and groups. In this context, I want to raise the issue of material culture to search why people used plants in their rituals with reference to a plant species the Jhakro the Magars inhabitant of Baglung district, western Nepal. The research was carried out by using descriptive and exploratory research design. Observation, interview and group discussion were used in the field for primary data collection. The Magars are rich in their rituals among them death and kul pujane rituals are significant for cohesive and solidarity of the group; within these rituals a shrub plant species with special type of smell remains in central position for purity and soul. They believed that in death ritual all the polluted activities are purified and in kul pujane Jhakro acts as purity as well as help to join their ancestors with them. Unfortunately, they are unknown of the materialistic meaning of it due to lack of transferring knowledge. In etic aspect, this plant has important medicinal properties and the Magar preserved by keeping it in important rituals within their community. Keywords: Ritual; Jhakro; the Magars; ethno-botany; ancestors DOI: 10.3126/dsaj.v4i0.4522 Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology Vol.4 2010 pp.223-234