Promoting Sustainability through Regional Food and Wine Pairing

Sustainable development has been growingly recognized as important in the scope of tourism and hospitality industry practices. Gastronomic tourism associated with regional food-and wine pairing helps the emerging of higher quality services and contributes to the sustainability of tourist destinations. This study presents a pairing model based on three Real-Time Delphi (RTD) questionnaires to allow experts to select and pair regional wines with regional foods. In the first questionnaire, the experts were asked to choose, by category, the most representative regional dishes from the Algarve region (Portugal). In the second questionnaire, for each dish, experts voted on the best regional wines for the dish. In the third questionnaire, experts made quantitative and qualitative analyses for each of the three most voted wines for each dish. The resulting pairing model of regional food and wines will be communicated to tourism professionals and the general public. By promoting the consumption of these pairings, we promote an efficient, socially fair, and ecologically sustainable local economy. At the same time, we stimulate the circular economy in tourism.

np-Pair Correlations in the Isovector Pairing Model

A diagonalization scheme for the shell model mean-field plus isovector pairing Hamiltonian in the O(5) tensor product basis of the quasi-spin SUΛ(2) ⊗ SUI(2) chain is proposed. The advantage of the diagonalization scheme lies in the fact that not only can the isospin-conserved, charge-independent isovector pairing interaction be analyzed, but also the isospin symmetry breaking cases. More importantly, the number operator of the np-pairs can be realized in this neutron and proton quasi-spin basis, with which the np-pair occupation number and its fluctuation at the J = 0+ ground state of the model can be evaluated. As examples of the application, binding energies and low-lying J = 0+ excited states of the even–even and odd–odd N∼Z ds-shell nuclei are fit in the model with the charge-independent approximation, from which the neutron–proton pairing contribution to the binding energy in the ds-shell nuclei is estimated. It is observed that the decrease in the double binding-energy difference for the odd–odd nuclei is mainly due to the symmetry energy and Wigner energy contribution to the binding energy that alter the pairing staggering patten. The np-pair amplitudes in the np-pair stripping or picking-up process of these N = Z nuclei are also calculated.

Quantum phase crossover in the spherical mean-field plus quadrupole–quadrupole and pairing model with two j-orbits

The shape phase crossover in the mean-field plus the geometric quadrupole–quadrupole and pairing model within two [Formula: see text]-orbits is analyzed, for which a simple description of [Formula: see text]Sn confined in the lowest [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] orbits above the [Formula: see text]Sn core is demonstrated to reveal the crossover behavior of the model. It is shown that [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] in this case may serve as effective order parameters for even–even and odd-A systems, respectively, from which the shape phase crossover from the rotation-like phase to the superconducting-like phase can be observed with variation of the number of valence neutrons.