Economic Potential of Using High Tunnel Hoop Houses to Produce Fruits and Vegetables

Abstract Hoop house plasticulture has been promoted as a production technology that allows fruit and vegetable crops to be grown in the cool season months in early spring and late fall. At this time little information regarding the economics of hoop house plasticulture is available. Two fruit and vegetable production systems were developed for growing conditions in south-central Oklahoma. The first system has a spinach crop followed by field tomato, and the second system has annually produced strawberry followed by yellow and zucchini squash. Crop production data were collected in a three-year randomized and replicated experiment. The objectives were (1) to determine the expected cost of production for each crop and systems, (2) to determine the breakeven price for each crop in each system, and (3) to determine how robust breakeven prices are to a number of yield, expense and marketing scenarios. The expected total cost of production were $1,968 and$1,652 per house for spinach and tomato crops, respectively, and $2,749,$359 and $353 per house for yellow and zucchini squash crops, respectively. Breakeven prices for spinach and tomato were$3.32 and $0.83 per pound, respectively, and$6.16, $0.92, and$1.40 per pound for strawberry and yellow and zucchini squash, respectively. Breakeven prices for spinach and strawberry crops were most sensitive to assumptions about quantity of marketable yield sold and/or quantity of yield consumed by grower household.breakeven prices, economics, fruits and vegetables, hoop houses, plasticulture, Agribusiness, Farm Management, Labor and Human Capital, Marketing, Production Economics,

Economic Feasibility of Small Scale Vegetable Production and Retailing in Rural Communities

Economic information about the feasibility of producing and retailing vegetables in rural communities is limited. The objectives were to determine actual net return from producing and retailing a mix of produce in a rural community, and to determine if consumers were willing to pay differentiated prices for the locally-grown vegetables.Crop Production/Industries,

Centrifugally Spun PHBV Micro and Nanofibres

This paper reports the first study on centrifugal spinning of PHBV fibres. Fibres were spun from solution using a range of polymer concentrations, spin speeds and spinneret to collector distances. A PHBV polymer concentration of 25% w/v spun at 9000 r min⁻¹ produced the highest quality fibres, with fibre diameters predominantly in the 0.5-3 μm range. The rate at which fibre could be produced at the 9000 r min‾¹ spin speed and with a spinneret to collector distance of 39.2 cm was equivalent to 11 km of fibre per minute per needle. Average fibre strengths of 3 MPa were achieved, together with average moduli of 100 MPa, indicating that the fibres had higher strength but lower stiffness than electrospun PHBV. The productivity and mechanical properties achieved, together with the excellent biocompatibility of PHBV, means that these fibres have potential for application in a range of biomedical applications

Deficient calcium, zinc, and iron intake on absorption of cadmium from diet

Background/Aim: In vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that deficient calcium, zinc, and iron dietary intake upregulates metal ion transporters to increase intestinal absorption. However, these gut transporters are not specific and bind to other metals, including cadmium. Few human studies have investigated whether deficient calcium, zinc, and iron intake increases intestinal absorption of dietary cadmium. Methods: We used enrollment data (2010-2012) from the Study of Environment, Lifestyle & Fibroids, a cohort of 1693 African American women ages 23-35 who reside in the Detroit, Michigan area. Whole blood cadmium concentrations (proxy for cadmium absorption) were measured in 1548 participants. Dietary and supplemental calcium, zinc, and iron intake was estimated using Block 2005 Food Frequency Questionnaire data; deficient intake was defined as <80% of the recommended daily allowance. Daily dietary intake of total grains was used as the proxy for dietary cadmium intake as grains are a major source of cadmium exposure in U.S. diet. We estimated the percent difference in blood cadmium concentrations per median daily intake of total grains (4.55 ounce equivalents) using multivariable linear regression, stratified by deficient and sufficient calcium, zinc, and/or iron intake. We restricted the analyses to never smokers with plausible values for total energy intake (>400 and <5000 kcal/day) (n=1087). We adjusted for age at enrollment, total energy intake, body mass index, height, education, and natural log-transformed blood lead concentrations. Results: The observed percent difference in blood cadmium concentrations in relation to intake of total grains was stronger among those with deficient intake of calcium, zinc, and/or iron (28%, 95% CI; 6, 53%) than among those with sufficient intake of all 3 essential nutrients (5%, 95% CI: -7, 19%). Conclusions: Our preliminary findings suggest that women with deficient calcium, zinc, and/or iron intake have increased absorption of cadmium from the diet

Test Data Sets for Evaluating Data Visualization Techniques

In this paper we take a step toward addressing a pressing general problem in the development of data visualization systems — how to measure their effectiveness. The step we take is to define a model for specifying the generation of test data that can be em-ployed for standardized and quantitative testing of a system’s per-formance. These test data sets, in conjunction with appropriate testing procedures, can provide a basis for certifying the effective-ness of a visualization system and for conducting comparative studies to steer system development

Routine activities and proactive police activity: a macro-scale analysis of police searches in London and New York City

This paper explored how city-level changes in routine activities were associated with changes in frequencies of police searches using six years of police records from the London Metropolitan Police Service and the New York City Police Department. Routine activities were operationalised through selecting events that potentially impacted on (a) the street population, (b) the frequency of crime or (c) the level of police activity. OLS regression results indicated that routine activity variables (e.g. day of the week, periods of high demand for police service) can explain a large proportion of the variance in search frequency throughout the year. A complex set of results emerged, revealing cross-national dissimilarities and the differential impact of certain activities (e.g. public holidays). Importantly, temporal frequencies in searches are not reducible to associations between searches and recorded street crime, nor changes in on-street population. Based on the routine activity approach, a theoretical police-action model is proposed

Modelled agroforestry outputs at field and farm scale to support biophysical and environmental assessments

This report, comprising Deliverable 6.17, in the AGFORWARD project brings together examples of modelled outputs at field and farm scale to support the biophysical, social, and environmental assessment of the innovations selected from work-packages 2 to 5.N/

(In)formalization and the civilizing process : applying the work of Norbert Elias to housing-based anti-social behaviour interventions in the UK

This paper uses Norbert Elias's theory of the civilizing process to examine trends in social conduct in the UK and to identify how problematic “anti‐social” behaviour is conceptualized and governed through housing‐based mechanisms of intervention. The paper describes how Elias's concepts of the formalization and informalization of conduct and the construction of established and outsider groups provide an analytical framework for understanding social relations. It continues by discussing how de‐civilizing processes are also evident in contemporary society, and are applied to current policy discourse around Respect and anti‐social behaviour. The paper uses the governance of “anti‐social” conduct through housing mechanisms in the UK to critique the work of Elias and concludes by arguing that a revised concept of the civilizing process provides a useful analytical framework for future studies

The English City Riots of 2011, "Broken Britain" and the retreat into the present

The responses to the English city riots of 2011 bear a remarkable resemblance to those of historical urban disorders in terms of the way in which they are framed by concerns over "moral decline", "social malaise" and a "lack of self-restraint" among certain sections of the population. In this paper we draw on the work of Norbert Elias and take a long-term perspective in exploring historical precedents and parallels relating to urban disorder and anti-social behaviour. We reject the notion of "Broken Britain" and argue that a more "detached" perspective is necessary in order to appreciate that perceived crises of civilisation are ubiquitous to the urban condition. Through this historical analysis, framed by Elias' theory of involvement and detachment, we present three key arguments. Firstly, that a 'retreat into the present' is evident among both policy discourse and social science in responding to contemporary urban disorder, giving rise to ahistorical accounts and the romanticisation of previous eras; secondly, that particular moral panics have always arisen, specifically focused upon young and working class populations and urban disorder; and, thirdly, that previous techniques of governance to control these populations were often far more similar to contemporary mechanisms than many commentaries suggest. We conclude by advocating a long-term, detached perspective in discerning historical precedents and their direct linkages to the present; and in identifying what is particular about today's concerns and responses relating to urban disorder