Sustainable consumption in Brazil: Identification of preliminary requirements to guide product development and the definition of public policies

Sustainable product development is closely related to sustainable consumption. The understanding of consumers' purchase, use and discard behaviours may facilitate the identification of requirements to guide manufacturers in the development of sustainable goods and services. The aim of this paper is to investigate consumers' perception about factors that motivate or discourage the consumption of sustainable products to identify demands and convert them into requirements. South Brazilian green and traditional consumers were asked to complete an exploratory qualitative questionnaire. Their answers were organized and compared to identify differences and similarities between the demands of these two groups. Furthermore, demands were converted into requirements for packages, products, manufactures, stores planning and discard systems. The interpretation of factors that motivate or discourage the purchase of sustainable products given by interviewees led to the creation of a list of possible public policies or programmes, aiming to support sustainable consumption. The results demonstrate the necessity of further quantitative investigation between consumer groups, for validation purposes.     

Bridging the gap between green behavioral intentions and employee green behavior: The role of green psychological climate

How do employees' perceptions and interpretations of organizational policies, practices, and procedures affect the enactment of their behavioral intentions? In a daily diary study, we examined the between‐persons relationship of corporate environmental strategy and pro‐environmental or “green” psychological climate; and whether green psychological climate moderates the within‐person relationship of employees' daily green behavioral intentions and their green behavior on the following day. To test our hypotheses, we collected survey data from 74 employees across 10 workdays. Results showed that corporate environmental strategy is positively related to green psychological climate that, in turn, moderates the relationship between green behavioral intentions and next‐day employee green behavior. Specifically, we found the relationship to be positive only when employees perceive a positive green psychological climate. We discuss implications of our findings for future research on employee green behavior and for organizations interested in encouraging employee green behavior. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

绿色大学评价指标体系设计初探

绿色大学的建设是贯彻环境保护基本国策和实施可持续发展战略的重要举措之一。建立一套系统全面且便于操作的指标体系对绿色大学建设具有指导意叉。“绿色大学”建设围绕教育的核心，将可持续发展和环境保护的指导思想落实到大学的各项活动中、融入到大学教育的全过程。按目标层、准则层和指标层的思路构建绿色大学的评价指标体系。准则层由绿色教育、绿色校园、绿色科研、绿色实践和绿色办学构成，反映的是绿色校园建设所应包括的5大部分。指标层包括指标和主要参数，反映准则层的具体内容。     

Value of information in product recovery decisions: a Bayesian approach

There is a widespread recognition of the need for better information sharing and provision to improve the viability of end-of-life (EOL) product recovery operations. The emergence of automated data capture and sharing technologies such as RFID, sensors and networked databases has enhanced the ability to make product information; available to recoverers, which will help them make better decisions regarding the choice of recovery option for EOL products. However, these technologies come with a cost attached to it, and hence the question ‘what is its value?’ is critical. This paper presents a probabilistic approach to model product recovery decisions and extends the concept of Bayes' factor for quantifying the impact of product information on the effectiveness of these decisions. Further, we provide a quantitative examination of the factors that influence the value of product information, this value depends on three factors: (i) penalties for Type I and Type II errors of judgement regarding product quality; (ii) prevalent uncertainty regarding product quality and (iii) the strength of the information to support/contradict the belief. Furthermore, we show that information is not valuable under all circumstances and derive conditions for achieving a positive value of information.     

中国生态农业与绿色食品

本文从农业环境问题和食品安全性出发，阐述了中国生态农业的兴起及特点，绿色食品生产的要求，生态农业与绿色食品的关系。介绍了几种可用于开发绿色食品的优化生态模式。     

A user evaluation of biodegradable cutlery

This paper summarizes a study evaluating the acceptance and perceived performance of disposable cutlery made from starch-based biodegradable resins relative to nondegradable polystyrene cutlery. Two hundred forty-three sailors onboard three U.S. Navy vessels ate their lunch using either biodegradable cutlery made with resins manufactured by one of two commercial companies or polystyrene cutlery. The cutlery was rated on several sensory and performance dimensions as well as for overall acceptability. Results indicated that sailors rated both the biodegradable and the polystyrene utensils as easy to hold. There were also no differences in the perceived ease of using each of the spoons. However, compared to the polystyrene utensils, both types of biodegradable utensils were viewed as less sturdy, as having a less attractive color, and as being less acceptable overall. The biodegradable forks and knives were also rated as more difficult to use for piercing and cutting food than the polystyrene ones. In addition, several significant differences emerged between the two types of biodegradable cutlery. The results are discussed in terms of the need for continued consumer testing of products developed from biodegradable polymeric materials.     

玉.玉文化.旅游

开发旅游新产品，是促进我国旅游业不断迈上新台阶需要研究解决的问题之一。本文通过作者实施踏勘和检索有关文献，阐述了玉的种类及其主要产地的状况，并揭示它新蕴涵的文化内容。     

浅谈成都绿色小区建设

绿色小区是21世纪人类与自然和谐共存的理想居住模式之一，并已成为房地产开发的热点。本文分析了成都市小区的建设现状，介绍了绿色小区建设的几项原则及绿色小区建设的主要内容，希望能对成都市绿色小区的建设起到抛砖引玉的作用。     

SOIL SALINITY PREDICTION USING ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS1

ABSTRACT: This study explores the applicability of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) for predicting salt build‐up in the crop root zone. ANN models were developed with salinity data from field lysimeters subirrigated with brackish water. Different ANN architectures were explored by varying the number of processing elements (PEs) (from 1 to 30) for replicate data from a 0.4 m water table, 0.8 m water table, and both 0.4 and 0.8 m water table lysimeters. Different ANN models were developed by using individual replicate treatment values as well as the mean value for each treatment. For replicate data, the models with twenty, seven, and six PEs were found to be the best for the water tables at 0.4 m, 0.8 m and both water tables combined, respectively. The correlation coefficients between observed salinity and ANN predicted salinity of the test data with these models were 0.89, 0.91, and 0.89, respectively. The performance of the ANNs developed using mean salinity values of the replicates was found to be similar to those with replicate data. Not only was there agreement between observed and ANN predicted salinity values, the results clearly indicated the potential use of ANN models for predicting salt build‐up in soil profile at a specific site.