Comportamiento de compra de alimentos orgánicos en la ciudad de Quito desde la perspectiva del modelo de comportamiento del consumidor final de Philip Kotler

Esta investigación de carácter cualitativo presenta al lector una mirada profunda hacia las influencias y motivaciones que perfilan el comportamiento de compra de productos orgánicos en la ciudad de Quito tomando en cuenta como referencia el modelo de comportamiento de compra del consumidor final propuesto por Philip Kotler. Gracias a la investigación se determinó que el público objetivo de esta categoría, en su mayoría mujeres, no posee influencias externas relacionadas con estrategias de marketing que motiven la compra, son sus propias madres y hermanas las que motivan la búsqueda y en menor grado médicos y profesionales conocedores de agricultura orgánica. Los compradores hombres son influenciados por sus parejas mujeres o por una búsqueda personal de alternativas que sean coherentes con ideales de ecología urbana. Las motivaciones básicas de compra identificadas son la salud y buen sabor y aquellas motivaciones intrínsecas están relacionadas a la necesidad de control, pertenencia y distinción las mismas que se satisfacen mediante la rutina de compra y consumo de esta categoría en familia o con otros. El proceso de compra actual denota oportunidades de mejora principalmente en la construcción de una imagen clara y positiva, información, disponibilidad y procesos de venta responsables con el ambiente.

A case study of the radiative forcing of persistent contrails evolving into contrail-induced cirrus

The radiative forcing due to a distinct pattern of persistent contrails that form into contrail-induced cirrus near and over the UK is investigated in detail for a single case study during March 2009. The development of the contrail-induced cirrus is tracked using a number of high-resolution polar orbiting and lower-resolution geostationary satellite instruments and is found to persist for a period of around 18 h, and at its peak, it covers over 50,000 km2. The shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) radiative forcing of the contrail-induced cirrus is estimated using a combination of geostationary satellite instruments, numerical weather prediction models, and surface observation sites. As expected, the net radiative effect is a relatively small residual of the much stronger but opposing SW and LW effects, locally totaling around 10 W m−2 during daylight hours and 30 W m−2 during nighttime. A simple estimate indicates that this single localized event may have generated a global-mean radiative forcing of around 7% of recent estimates of the persistent contrail radiative forcing due to the entire global aircraft fleet on a diurnally averaged basis. A single aircraft operating in conditions favorable for persistent contrail formation appears to exert a contrail-induced radiative forcing some 5000 times greater (in W m−2 km−1) than recent estimates of the average persistent contrail radiative forcing from the entire civil aviation fleet. This study emphasizes the need to establish whether similar events are common or highly unusual for a confident assessment of the total climate effect of aviation to be made.

Habitat associations and breeding bird community composition within the city of Bristol, UK

Capsule: Different urban breeding bird communities are associated with different habitat types, but, although community species diversity varies significantly, total bird density does not. Aims: To investigate the association between breeding bird communities and habitats within Bristol, UK and how these communities vary in terms of species diversity and total bird abundance. Methods: Breeding density data for 70 species in the metropolitan area of Bristol, UK were subjected to de-trended correspondence analysis to identify the number of different communities present and their indicator species. These data were then used to identify patterns of habitat association with each community and differences in species richness and total bird density. Results: Three communities were identified: a rural community associated with woodland, managed grassland and inland water; a suburban community associated with buildings and residential gardens; and an intermediate community that shared some of these habitat characteristics. Species richness, but not total bird abundance, was lowest in the suburban community. Conclusion: The diversity of species in urban areas appears to be most dependent upon the availability of patches of natural and semi-natural habitats. Residential gardens support fewer species, but those species that are present may be found at high densities.

A cluster computing implementation of a Monte Carlo simulation of a particle growth mechanism

Clusters of computers can be used together to provide a powerful computing resource. Large Monte Carlo simulations, such as those used to model particle growth, are computationally intensive and take considerable time to execute on conventional workstations. By spreading the work of the simulation across a cluster of computers, the elapsed execution time can be greatly reduced. Thus a user has apparently the performance of a supercomputer by using the spare cycles on other workstations.