Examining the role of regional culture and geographical distances on the representation of unfamiliar foods in a continental-size country

This study provides an experimental-exploratory investigation about the role of regional culture and Euclidean distances on the consumers’ representation of edible insects in Brazil, a country with an extensive geographical surface. Seven hundred and eighty participants were recruited on the streets of eight cities from different Brazilian states: Manaus in Amazonas; Porto Velho in Rondônia; Macapá in Amapá; Cuiabá in Mato Grosso; Aracaju in Sergipe; Rio de Janeiro in Rio de Janeiro; Campinas in São Paulo; and Santa Maria in Rio Grande do Sul. These participating cities were considered from their cultural identity differences and geographical distances. Through a continual restricted word association task, participants were instructed to promptly verbalize the first five terms that came to their minds when stimulated with the expression “food made with edible insects”. Following, they had to score the valence of each term they produced. The dictionaries produced in each city were compared and classified into groups using the Ellegård’s index. Each group presented distinct ways of expression and attitude with respect to the inductive expression. Basically, Brazil was divided into two main groups according to their representation of edible insects: one consisted by the cities situated near the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, which present a cultural formation influenced by the European immigrants; and the other comprised the cities from the continental region that have strong cultural influence from the Amerindians. Thus, the cultural formation was more decisive to explain the similar representations among the cities than their geographical proximity. Given that, to effectively introduce a novel food in a country with varied regional culture, the marketing strategy should be focused on the values and beliefs of their culture subgroups instead of a single strategy for the whole country.     

Dynamics of a family of continued fraction maps

We explore the dynamics of a 1-parameter family of continued fraction maps of the unit interval. The family contains as special instances the Gauss continued fraction map and the Fibonacci map. We determine the transfer operators of these dynamical maps and prove that the Denjoy–Minkowski measure is a common invariant measure of the family. We show that their analytic invariant measures obey a common functional equation generalizing Lewis’ functional equation and we find a.c. invariant measures for some members of the family. We also discuss a certain involution of this family which sends the Gauss map to the Fibonacci map relating Riemann's zeta function to the so-called Fibonacci zeta function.     

危机矿山接替资源找矿勘查相关成矿理论与技术方法

简要叙述了与危机矿山接替资源深部和外围找矿有关的部分成矿理论和找矿方法技术研究进展。与危机矿山接替资源找矿勘查有关的成矿理论包括:绿岩带金矿新模式,浅成热液和斑岩铜矿的套叠模式,微细浸染型金矿深部找矿模式,铜镍硫化物深部找矿模式,金和铅锌矿共伴生模式等。相关的找矿技术包括时间域瞬变电磁法(TEM)、可控源音频大地电磁法(CSAMT)、金属矿地震方法、井中物探方法、深穿透地球化学方法、高精度磁法、高精度重力等。     

松软厚煤层开切眼围岩稳定性研究及其应用

针对松软厚煤层综放面开切眼断面大和围岩变形破坏强烈等特征,首先对顶板按似连续体梁理论进行稳定性分析,继而对两帮煤体破坏和整体失稳情况进行计算,最后对各锚网索支护方案进行数值模拟,优化支护参数,选定安全经济的支护方案。现场工业性试验表明,该支护方案满足工程要求,具有较好的经济和社会效益。     

局部高位转换在续改建工程中的应用

在高层建筑的续改建过程中,常常应用局部高位转换来满足使用功能改变的需要。根据实际情况,提出了若干局部高位转换的抗震设计原则和构造措施。工程实践和理论计算的结果表明,局部高位转换合理可行,可以达到安全、可靠、节约的目的。     

城市化生态与城市可持续发展

论述了城市化进程对城市生态环境带来的影响,介绍了城市生态系统的主要特点及存在的问题,并提出了以生态学为基础的城市可持续发展观,从而建立一个社会生态系统、经济生态系统和自然生态系统协调发展的可持续发展城市。     

尊村引黄八级站厂房续建方案论证

从厂房排架柱补强、厂房屋面结构施工配电间、检修间重新规划布置施工、机墩改造等方面,对尊村引黄八级厂房续建工程作了阐述,确保了工程质量,收到了良好的效果。     

Toxicity vs mutagenicity of some crude oils,distillates and their water soluble fractions

Ames tests conducted on a range of oils and oil products (Kuwait crude, Saran Gach crude, Diesel 25, Bunker C, used motor oil) confirmed the mutagenicity of used (crankcase) motor oil. The other oils, when tested whole, were either toxic or showed no significant mutagenicity. Water-soluble fractions (WSF) of all products, including WSF of used crankcase oil, also gave no significant indication of mutagenicity. However, in several tests (including both whole oils and WSF-preparations) MR values (ratio of induced revertants to spontaneous revertants) between 1.3 and 1.8 were obtained which, while not significantly indicative of mutagenicity, exceeded non-mutagenic background levels.In contrast to the non-mutagenicity of the whole Kuwait crude oil, parallel assays of chromatographically obtained fractions showed significant mutagenicity in the F4 (acetone or methanol) fraction (presumed to be a strongly polar, DMSO-soluble large molecular weight component of Kuwait crude). This mutagenicity was not enhanced by metabolic activation. None of the other fractions showed evidence of mutagenicity. However, marked toxicity was associated with the F1 (hexane) fraction of the oil.The data suggest that low mutagenicity scores of crude oils and oil products could result from the masking of mutagenic activity of some components by the toxicity of other components of these products.     

Long-term impact of anaerobic reaction time on the performance and granular characteristics of granular denitrifying biological phosphorus removal systems

Removal of nitrogen and phosphorus (P) from wastewater is successfully and widely practiced in systems employing both granular sludge technology and enhanced biological P removal (EBPR) processes; however, the key parameter, anaerobic reaction time (AnRT), has not been thoroughly investigated. Successful EBPR is highly dependent on an appropriate AnRT, which induces carbon and polyphosphate metabolism by phosphorus accumulating organisms (PAOs). Therefore, the long-term impact of AnRT on denitrifying P removal performance and granular characteristics was investigated in three identical granular sludge sequencing batch reactors with AnRTs of 90 (R1), 120 (R2) and 150 min (R3). The microbial community structures and anaerobic stoichiometric parameters related to various AnRTs were monitored over time. Free nitrite acid (FNA) accumulation (e.g., 0.0008–0.0016 mg HNO₂–N/L) occurred frequently owing to incomplete denitrification in the adaptation period, especially in R3, which influenced the anaerobic/anoxic intracellular intermediate metabolites and activities of intracellular enzymes negatively, resulting in lower levels of poly-P and reduced activity of polyphosphate kinase. As a result, the Accumulibacter-PAOs population decreased from 51 ± 2.5% to 43 ± 2.1% when AnRT was extended from 90 to 150 min, leading to decreased denitrifying P removal performance. Additionally, frequent exposure of microorganisms to the FNA accumulation and anaerobic endogenous conditions in excess AnRT cases (e.g., 150 min) stimulated increased extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) production by microorganisms, resulting in enhanced granular formation and larger granules (size of 0.6–1.2 mm), but decreasing anaerobic PHA synthesis and glycogen hydrolysis. Phosphorus removal capacity was mediated to some extent by EPS adsorption in granular sludge systems that possessed more EPS, longer AnRT and relatively higher GAOs.