FEASIBILITY OF AN OKLAHOMA FRESH GREENS AND COWPEAS PACKING COOPERATIVE

Oklahoma's green producers are not benefiting from a growing fresh market. In order to seize the opportunities offered by the growing fresh market for leafy greens, investment in packing facilities have been evaluated. To make use of these facilities during summer months, the addition of a cowpea shelling enterprise is considered. A business plan for a new generation cooperative is estimated using an updated version of "The Packing Simulation Model" (PACKSIM) The business associates PACKSIM with @RISK®, to incorporate risks in the financial analysis.Agribusiness,

Commercial production of fresh market tomatoes

The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311

Pepper production

The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311

Cole crop production (broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower)

The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311

Socioeconomic differences in mortality in the antiretroviral therapy era in Agincourt, rural South Africa, 2001–13: a population surveillance analysis

Background Understanding the effects of socioeconomic disparities in health outcomes is important to implement specific preventive actions. We assessed socioeconomic disparities in mortality indicators in a rural South African population over the period 2001–13. Methods We used data from 21 villages of the Agincourt Health and socio-Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS). We calculated the probabilities of death from birth to age 5 years and from age 15 to 60 years, life expectancy at birth, and cause-specific and age-specific mortality by sex (not in children <5 years), time period, and socioeconomic status (household wealth) quintile for HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, other communicable diseases (excluding HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis) and maternal, perinatal, and nutritional causes, non-communicable diseases, and injury. We also quantified differences with relative risk ratios and relative and slope indices of inequality. Findings Between 2001 and 2013, 10 414 deaths were registered over 1 058 538 person-years of follow-up, meaning the overall crude mortality was 9·8 deaths per 1000 person-years. We found significant socioecomonic status gradients for mortality and life expectancy at birth, with outcomes improving with increasing socioeconomic status. An inverse relation was seen for HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis mortality and socioeconomic status that persisted from 2001 to 2013. Deaths from non-communicable diseases increased over time in both sexes, and injury was an important cause of death in men and boys. Neither of these causes of death, however, showed consistent significant associations with household socioeconomic status. Interpretation The poorest people in the population continue to bear a high burden of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis mortality, despite free antiretroviral therapy being made available from public health facilities. Associations between socioeconomic status and increasing burden of mortality from non-communicable diseases is likely to become prominent. Integrated strategies are needed to improve access to and uptake of HIV testing, care, and treatment, and management of non-communicable diseases in the poorest populations

Sensitivity Analysis of Cirrus Cloud Properties from High-Resolution Infrared Spectra. Part I: Methodology and Synthetic Cirrus

A set of simulated high-resolution infrared (IR) emission spectra of synthetic cirrus clouds is used to perform a sensitivity analysis of top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiance to cloud parameters. Principal component analysis (PCA) is applied to assess the variability of radiance across the spectrum with respect to microphysical and bulk cloud quantities. These quantities include particle shape, effective radius (reff), ice water path (IWP), cloud height Zcld and thickness ΔZcld, and vertical profiles of temperature T(z) and water vapor mixing ratio w(z). It is shown that IWP variations in simulated cloud cover dominate TOA radiance variability. Cloud height and thickness, as well as T(z) variations, also contribute to considerable TOA radiance variability. The empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) of radiance variability show both similarities and differences in spectral shape and magnitude of variability when one physical quantity or another is being modified. In certain cases, it is possible to identify the EOF that represents variability with respect to one or more physical quantities. In other instances, similar EOFs result from different sets of physical quantities, emphasizing the need for multiple, independent data sources to retrieve cloud parameters. When analyzing a set of simulated spectra that include joint variations of IWP, reff, and w(z) across a realistic range of values, the first two EOFs capture approximately 92%–97% and 2%–6% of the total variance, respectively; they reflect the combined effect of IWP and reff. The third EOF accounts for only 1%–2% of the variance and resembles the EOF from analysis of spectra where only w(z) changes. Sensitivity with respect to particle size increases significantly for reff several tens of microns or less. For small-particle reff, the sensitivity with respect to the joint variation of IWP, reff, and w(z) is well approximated by the sum of the sensitivities with respect to variations in each of three quantities separately

Effect of Long-Term Exposure to Lower Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Beginning Early in Life on the Risk of Coronary Heart Disease A Mendelian Randomization Analysis

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to estimate the effect of long-term exposure to lower plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) on the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).BackgroundLDL-C is causally related to the risk of CHD. However, the association between long-term exposure to lower LDL-C beginning early in life and the risk of CHD has not been reliably quantified.MethodsWe conducted a series of meta-analyses to estimate the effect of long-term exposure to lower LDL-C on the risk of CHD mediated by 9 polymorphisms in 6 different genes. We then combined these Mendelian randomization studies in a meta-analysis to obtain a more precise estimate of the effect of long-term exposure to lower LDL-C and compared it with the clinical benefit associated with the same magnitude of LDL-C reduction during treatment with a statin.ResultsAll 9 polymorphisms were associated with a highly consistent reduction in the risk of CHD per unit lower LDL-C, with no evidence of heterogeneity of effect (I2 = 0.0%). In a meta-analysis combining nonoverlapping data from 312,321 participants, naturally random allocation to long-term exposure to lower LDL-C was associated with a 54.5% (95% confidence interval: 48.8% to 59.5%) reduction in the risk of CHD for each mmol/l (38.7 mg/dl) lower LDL-C. This represents a 3-fold greater reduction in the risk of CHD per unit lower LDL-C than that observed during treatment with a statin started later in life (p = 8.43 × 10−19).ConclusionsProlonged exposure to lower LDL-C beginning early in life is associated with a substantially greater reduction in the risk of CHD than the current practice of lowering LDL-C beginning later in life

Infrared sounding of the trade-wind boundary layer: AIRS and the RICO experiment

The new generation of remote sensors on board NASA's A-Train constellation offers the possibility of observing the atmospheric boundary layer in different regimes, with or without clouds. In this study we use data from the Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS) and of the Rain In Cumulus over the Ocean (RICO) campaign, to verify the accuracy and precision of the AIRS Version 5 Level 2 support product. This AIRS product has an improved vertical sampling that is necessary for the estimation of boundary layer properties. Good agreement is found between AIRS and RICO data, in a regime of oceanic shallow cumulus that is known to be difficult to analyze with other remote sensing data, and also shows a low sensitivity to cloud or land fraction. This suggests that AIRS data may be used for global boundary layer studies to support parameterization development in regions of difficult in-situ observation

Interplanting Floral Resource Plants with Vegetable Plants Enhances Beneficial Arthropod Abundance in a Home Garden

We examined whether interplanting vegetable and ornamental flowering plants reduces herbivory and enhances photosynthetic rate, plant growth, natural enemy abundance, and pollinator visitation relative to monoculture plantings. We found no evidence of physiological or growth costs due to growth in polyculture. Herbivore damage to plants did not differ with planting regime. Natural enemies occurred in greater abundance in polycultures compared to monocultures. Pollinator diversity was enhanced in some polyculture plots. We suggest that interplanting vegetable and flowering ornamental plants at small spatial scales may improve plant health and reproduction through natural pest control and a diversified pollinator pool

Assessing Changes in Household Socioeconomic Status in Rural South Africa, 2001-2013: A Distributional Analysis Using Household Asset Indicators.

Understanding the distribution of socioeconomic status (SES) and its temporal dynamics within a population is critical to ensure that policies and interventions adequately and equitably contribute to the well-being and life chances of all individuals. This study assesses the dynamics of SES in a typical rural South African setting over the period 2001-2013 using data on household assets from the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System. Three SES indices, an absolute index, principal component analysis index and multiple correspondence analysis index, are constructed from the household asset indicators. Relative distribution methods are then applied to the indices to assess changes over time in the distribution of SES with special focus on location and shape shifts. Results show that the proportion of households that own assets associated with greater modern wealth has substantially increased over time. In addition, relative distributions in all three indices show that the median SES index value has shifted up and the distribution has become less polarized and is converging towards the middle. However, the convergence is larger from the upper tail than from the lower tail, which suggests that the improvement in SES has been slower for poorer households. The results also show persistent ethnic differences in SES with households of former Mozambican refugees being at a disadvantage. From a methodological perspective, the study findings demonstrate the comparability of the easy-to-compute absolute index to other SES indices constructed using more advanced statistical techniques in assessing household SES