RESULTS OF A FARM AND MARKET SURVEY FOR HMONG SPECIALTY CROP FARMERS IN THE MINNEAPOLIS, ST. PAUL METRO AREA

This report is part of a larger project, "Risk Management Education and Farm Management Development Program for Hmong Specialty Crop Farmers in the Minneapolis, St. Paul Metro Area," funded by the Risk Management Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture. The project was designed to assist Hmong farmers in the Twin Cities area in improving their production and management practices so they are able to increase their economic viability and reduce their exposure to risk. As part of the overall project, 62 Hmong farmers and 69 customers at farmers markets were surveyed to determine the local specialty crop production and market conditions. The findings of these 2 surveys are contained in the report. The median size of the 62 farms surveyed farms was 3 acres. Forty-two percent of those farmers responding reported total farm product sales between $3,000 and$8,999. Few farmers indicated they were familiar with crop insurance programs. Sixty-eight percent of the 19 farmers responding (or 21% of the 62 surveyed) said they were familiar with multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI). Only 12% of the 50 farmers responding had bought crop insurance in 2002. The most frequently indicated needs for future education programs were production oriented: weed control, insect control, fertilization, and pesticide safety. All of the 69 customers surveyed regularly bought some kind of vegetables or herbs. Over half of the customers bought potatoes, snap beans, peppers, sweet corn, carrots, cucumbers, basil, and winter squash. Eighty-eight percent of customers indicated they typically spend between $10 and$29 on vegetables and herbs during each visit to a farmers' market.Crop Production/Industries,

An Optimized Runge-Kutta Method for the Numerical Solution of the Radial Schrödinger Equation

An optimized explicit modified Runge-Kutta (RK) method for the numerical integration of the radial Schrödinger equation is presented in this paper. This method has frequency-depending coefficients with vanishing dispersion, dissipation, and the first derivative of dispersion. Stability and phase analysis of the new method are examined. The numerical results in the integration of the radial Schrödinger equation with the Woods-Saxon potential are reported to show the high efficiency of the new method

Research on Ecological Assessment and Dynamic Optimization of Energy-saving and New Energy Vehicle Business Model Based on Full Life Cycle Theory

The rapid development of China's automobile industry has brought ever-increasing impact on resources, energy and environment, the energy-saving and new energy vehicles come into being accordingly. This article firstly systematically introduces the technical route of energy-saving and new energy vehicles of China, focusing on the key bottleneck problems arising from  the construction process of current assessment system of the technical route for energy-saving and new energy vehicles, establishes the energy-saving and new energy vehicle business model assessment index system afterward based on the comparative analysis on energy-saving and new energy vehicle business assessment model and the full life cycle theory, and finally makes prospects and forecasts on vital problems of system boundary, dynamic optimization, simulation system of full life cycle assessment of energy-saving and new energy vehicle

CiteSpace Visual Analysis of Community Pharmacy Services in China: Bridging Local Insights and Global Trends

Purpose: This research traces the history of pharmacy services research in Chinese pharmacies over the past twenty years and attempts to identify key trends and hotspots consistent with global practices. Methodology: From January 2002 to December 2022, we leveraged databases such as CNKI, VIP, and Wanfang and deployed CiteSpace 5.8.R3 to visualize publication trends, authorship, and institutional contributions within the field. Results: Our synthesis highlights critical developments in drug safety monitoring, prescription management, pharmacoeconomics, and public health education and highlights the leadership of respected researchers and institutions. Conclusion: The “Internet+” paradigm is identified as an important catalyst for pharmacy services innovation, with implications that extend beyond China and suggest models for international adaptation and strategy development

Development of a New Dual-Cylinder Rotary Compressor for VI System

On the vapor compression refrigeration system, Vapor injection (VI, the phase separator type injection or the internal heat exchanger type injection) compression cycle’s superiority over non-injection cycle has been well known. VI system produces the high heating/cooling capacity, and its power consumption is less than the non-injection system. But if a VI compression cycle uses a single rotary compressor, there is the problem that refrigerant injection increases the indicated power by mixture loss. If we use a two-stage rotary compressor, indicated power also increases because of its two times exhaust process. To solve these problems, we developed a new dual-cylinder rotary compressor for VI systems, one of the cylinders is used to compress the gas from the evaporator, and the other is used to compress the gas from the phase separator (flash-tank). Its design method is discussed and its performance under different conditions is analyzed

Abnormal strain changes observed by a borehole strainmeter at Guza Station before the Ms7 0 Lushan earthquake

Abstract:Several days before the Ms7.0 Lushan earthquake, the YRY-4- borehole Strainmeter at Guza Station recorded prominent abnormal changes. The strain anomalies are very striking on the smooth background of several years' recording after the Wenchuan earthquake. However, because construction in the town of Guza has been undergoing rapid development in recent years, many factors have interfered with observations at the station. Whether or not the observed strain changes before the Lushan earthquake were affected by any of the sources of interference becomes a question that must be answered. Among the likely sources of interference, apartment construction, sportsground reconstruction, and tunnel cutting can be excluded by analyzing the morphological characteristic of the anomalies. The two remaining most possible sources are road construction in front of the station and the water level change of the nearby Dadu River caused by water filling into and discharging from an upstream reservoir. Through field investigation, comparison of the correlation between the strain and the seismographic recordings, comparison of the correlation between the strain and the Dadu River flow recordings, and analysis of the strain anomaly characteristics, we conclude that the abnormal changes observed at Guza Station cannot be attributed to either of these two sources but should be related to the Lushan earthquake