Monday, December 30, 2019

An Introduction to Hydrophonics and Controlled Environment...

Introduction to Hydroponics and Controlled Environment Agriculture by Patricia A. Rorabaugh, Ph.D. University of Arizona Controlled Environment Agriculture Center 1951 E. Roger Road Tucson, AZ 85719 Revised December, 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: Controlled Environment Agriculture and Hydroponics: Past, Present and Future The Plant How to grow greenhouse crops Plant Protection: Insects and Diseases Basic Principals of Hydroponics Transplant Production Pollination, Fertilization and Bee Management Fruit Harvesting, Grading and Storage Plant Nutrition and Nutritional Disorders Fertigation Systems and Nutrient Solutions Greenhouse Site Selection Greenhouse Structures Greenhouse Control Systems Greenhouse Energy and Resource†¦show more content†¦*~300 A.D. Rome – Roses were forced to flower early by the addition of warm water into the irrigation ditches twice a day. This would warm the roots and stimulate growth. 1-1 THEREFORE, up to ~300 A.D., the ancients had perfected protected agriculture (terraced growing areas, mulches and compost heating), greenhouses, hot air and hot water heating systems and had experimented with plant nutrition, water culture and more. THEN: The Great Library in Alexandria Egypt was burned. Rome fell. Enter the Dark Ages! What was learned before was forgotten†¦ When people forget their â€Å"history† they are doomed or, in this case, required to repeat it! 1300’s 1400’s 1500’s – European Renaissance: revival of art, literature learning. DEVELOPMENT OF PROTECTED AGRICULTURE AND GREENHOUSES: People want to â€Å"grow out of season† (i.e., have tomatoes in Winter) or grow plants where they don’t normally grow (i.e., lettuce, a cold weather crop, in Tucson in the Summer!). Therefore, move the plant from the natural environment to an artificial one†¦ using protected agriculture and/or greenhouses. Modify or control the temperature, relative humidity, CO2, light, etc., to provide optimum conditions to grow any crop any time anywhere! What discoveries had to be made in order to develop the modern greenhouse? *1385 – The French built â€Å"glass pavilions† oriented toward the south to grow flowers (though mainly for the wealthy to

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Essay on The Failure of the War on Drugs - 1025 Words

In the early 1980s, policymakers and law enforcement officials stepped up efforts to combat the trafficking and use of illicit drugs. This was the popular â€Å"war on drugs,† hailed by conservatives and liberals alike as a means to restore order and hope to communities and families plagued by anti-social or self-destructive pathologies. By reducing illicit drug use, many claimed, the drug war would significantly reduce the rate of serious nondrug crimes - robbery, assault, rape, homicide and the like. Has the drug war succeeded in doing so? In Illicit Drugs and Crime, Bruce L. Benson and David W. Rasmussen (Professors of Economics, Florida State University, and Research Fellows, the Independent Institute), reply with a resounding no. Not†¦show more content†¦Certainly many violent and property criminals use drugs. But only a small percentage of drug users commit violent or property crimes. Drug offenders are far more likely to recidivate for a drug offense than for a violent offense or property crime. Is drug use to blame for the crimes drug users do commit? Benson and Rasmussen suggest that the reverse is closer to the mark: Many criminals who use drugs did not begin to do so until after they began committing nondrug crimes. A Bureau of Justice Statistics survey of prison inmates found that about half of the inmates who had used a major drug, and about 60 percent of those who used a major drug regularly, did not do so until after their first arrest for a nondrug crime. â€Å"Similarly,† Benson and Rasmussen note, â€Å"more than half of local jail inmates who reported they were regular drug users in the survey . . . said that their first arrest for a crime occurred an average of two years before their drug use. Once an individual has decided to turn to crime as a source of income, he or she may discover that drugs are more easily obtained within the criminal subculture and perhaps that the risks posed by the criminal justice system are not as great as initially anticipated. Furthermore, criminal activity generates income with which to buy goods that previously were not affordable, including drugs. Thus, crime leads to drug use, not vice versa.† Because relatively few illicit drug offenders commitShow MoreRelatedThe Failure of the War on Drugs Essay1529 Words   |  7 PagesThe War on Drugs in the United States has a profound influence on both the incarceration rates and activities of the criminal justice system. Many politicians and advocates of the policy claim that the War on Drugs is a necessary element to deter criminal behavior and reduce the crime rate. However, studies show that drug deterrent policies on possession and use have been inadequate and unsuccessful (Cole Gertz, 2013). Studies also show that the War on Drugs has not attained its objectives becauseRead More War on Drugs is a Dismal Failure Essay2868 Words   |  12 Pagesthe House recently approved a bill that included $1.7 billion to combat the drug cartels of Columbia with additional military aid.   In doing so, they perpetuated what could be one of the United States most misguided policies of recent history. At least some Republicans can give themselves a pat on the back for attempting to remove the Columbian aid from the $13 billion foreign aid bill.   Unfortunately, todays drug war is largely a Reagan-era Republican creation, so intoxicating that even theRead MoreThe War On Drugs Has Been A Well Intentioned Failure Essay1689 Words   |  7 PagesThe war on drugs has been a well-intentioned failure. The world’s desire was to keep people away from dangerous substances and to eliminate the violent practices of the drug producers and distributors. Instead of the war on drugs achieving its objectives of eliminating violent crime and reducing a number of people were taking drugs, the war has mainly just resulted in a dramatic increase prison population with little effect on the supply side of this illegal industry. Statistics collected by theRead MoreEssay about Success and Failure in the US-Mexico War on Drugs2866 Words   |  12 Pages Illegal narcotic drugs represen t a $60 billion market in the U.S., and this year alone the State and Federal governments will each spend roughly $20 billion in attempting to stifle this market. The amount of money involved in the drug trade, substantially inflated due to prohibition, makes both systemic corruption and violence inevitable. The illegal drug trade is a sophisticated international network, and while no nation’s involvement is limited to one economic function, one relationshipRead MoreAmerica s War On Drugs1539 Words   |  7 Pages On June 17th, 1971, President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse to be â€Å"America’s Public Enemy #1† in a press conference in which he called for an â€Å"all out offensive† against this enemy, an initiative that would later be known as America’s War on Drugs. By giving this speech, thus starting â€Å"The War on Drugs,† President Nixon created what would eventually become one of the most catastrophic failures in United State s political history. Analysis of the historical events surrounding Nixon’s declarationRead MoreHow Successful Is The War On Drugs? Essay1001 Words   |  5 PagesThe war on drugs has maintained an accumulation of prohibitions on illegal drugs and mandatory minimum sentencing strategies for drug offenders. Incarceration rates have also increased due to the increase of laws against illegal drugs. In Eugene Jarecki’s film, The House I Live In, Jarecki states that the penalties for crack users were harsher than penalties for regular cocaine users. This suggests that penalties are more of a double standard theory. The â€Å"War on Drugs† is more of a failure that placesRead MoreThe Flawed Drug Policy of America1691 Words   |  7 PagesAmericas Flawed Drug Policy Introduction: As a major policy issue in the United States, the War on Drugs has been one of the most monumental failures on modern record. At a cost of billions of taxpayer dollars, thousands of lives lost and many thousands of others ruined by untreated addiction or incarceration, Americas policy orientation concerning drug laws is due for reconsideration. Indeed, the very philosophical orientation of the War on Drugs and of the current drug policy in the UnitedRead MoreThe War On Drugs And Drugs1486 Words   |  6 PagesThe War on Drugs Despite an estimated $1 trillion spent by the United States on the â€Å"War on Drugs†, statistics from the US Department of Justice (2010) has confirmed that the usage of drugs has not changed over the past 10 years. Approximately $350 billion is spent per year on the â€Å"war on drugs†, only $7 billion is spent on prevention programs by the federal government. The war on drugs is more heavily focused on how to control crime, instead of how to prevent it. Not only is the war on drugs costlyRead MoreThe War on Drugs Essay1507 Words   |  7 PagesDespite an estimated $1 trillion spent by the United States on the â€Å"War on Drugs†, statistics from the US Department of Justice (2010) has confirmed that the usage of drugs has not changed over the past 10 years. Approximately $350 billion is spent per year on the â€Å"war on drugs†, only $7 billion is spent on prevention programs by the federal government. The war on drugs is more heavily focused on how t o fight crime, instead of how to prevent it. Crime prevention methods may not be immediate, butRead MoreThe House I Live By Eugene Jarecki989 Words   |  4 Pagesa 1971 press conference, which the press immediately designates the â€Å"war on drugs†. The House I Live In is a superb film detailing Eugene Jarecki’s journey on an in-depth and all-encompassing view of the war on drugs, and the immense destruction left in its wake. It is necessary to gain a better understanding of how the war on drugs is significant to a 40-year class based destruction, failure of existing drug policies and drug elimination, and the ways fear plays a starring role in the genesis of

Friday, December 13, 2019

Points About a Crafting Business Free Essays

1. Why does crafting strategy have a strongly entrepreneurial character? Courtney (2) notes that in a rapidly changing environment, this year’s indicators are not a good measure of what will happen in the future. Instead, there is a need to develop foresight. We will write a custom essay sample on Points About a Crafting Business or any similar topic only for you Order Now This involved looking to the future and spotting potential opportunities and potential threats before they are actually present. This is entrepreneurial in the sense that it involves looking to the future and seeing things before they are actually present. Crafting strategy also involves a new approach to business where the focus is on managing and risk and choosing the best kind of action, while there remains a level of certainty. These aspects of crafting strategy have a strong entrepreneurial character. Finally, crafting strategy requires vision and creativity. It differs from traditional management strategies because there are no certainties. Organizations cannot simply accept the environment as it is and aim to preserve the status quo. Organizations have to accept continual change, expect continual problems and challenges, and be innovative and creative in addressing these challenges. This need for innovation and creativity also has a strong entrepreneurial character. 2. What managerial purpose does the establishment of long-term objectives have? Long-term objectives are necessary to ensure that the organization is aware of what it wants to achieve. They focus the organization on its goals and provide a means of defining the desired outcome. Long-term objectives are also important because they are used to measure current and possible actions against. For example, the decision of whether or not to take a certain action can be based on whether or not it will help the organization achieve its goals. One of the other important points regarding long-term objectives is that they define the desired end-point, but do not define how that end-point is achieved. This means that the organization knows where it is going, but has the flexibility to adapt to the environment to determine how to get there. In this way, long-term objectives are important because they are a fixed point that guides the organizations toward its goals. 3. Competitive markets are economic battlefields. True or False. Explain. Competitive markets are economic battlefields. Thompson and Strickland note that in competitive markets, organizations constantly compete against each other in an attempt to gain advantages. One reason this is considered a battlefield is simply due to the competing. Another reason this is considered a battlefield is that organizations are competing to win the same thing, namely the consumer dollar. The third reason this is considered a battlefield is that a win by one organization means a loss for another. That is, for every consumer dollar that an organization wins, that is one less dollar going to a competitor. The next consideration is why it is considered an economic battlefield. The basic answer could be that organizations are competing to gain money, but there is more to it than this. It is also an economic battlefield because organizations win by improving economically. For example, if a manufacturing organization can find a way to produce a product for less money, they can pass this saving onto the consumer, and gain more consumers by having a lower price. Even if the price remains the same, organizations can benefit another way by producing the product for less, because they can invest that money into improving the product. The improved product then becomes the method by which they win the consumer dollar. Another important point is that winning economically often has future benefits. An organization that is winning the battle to win consumers will have more profits and these can be used to improve processes or products to provide even more future gains. Gains are also often made because their volume of trade increases. For manufacturers, they gain via economies of scale, where the more products that are made, the lower the cost becomes per product. The volume of trade can also give organizations more ability to negotiate with suppliers, partners, and retailers. The end result is that an organization winning the economic battle will often gain benefits that will allow it to improve economically even more. Returning to the battlefield idea, this can be considered as one army losing soldiers and become weaker, while the other army gains them and becomes even stronger. As the balance swings, the stronger side continues to increase in strength, forcing the weaker side out. How to cite Points About a Crafting Business, Essay examples

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Review of Victorian Public and Wellbeing Plan- myassignmenthelp

Question: Write about theReview of Victorian Public Health and Wellbeing Plan. Answer: Victorian Public Health and Wellbeing Plan (VPHWP) (2015-2019) is one of the path-breaking plans that is framed in order to promote health and well-being among the population residing in Australia. The following assignment will focus on the review of this health plan in doing this; the assignment will first provide an overview of the VPHWP. The assignment will then give detail of the main priority area highlighted in the plan followed by the two prone risk group of population. The following at-risk group and three determinants of health will be then critically analyzed towards the end of the assignment. Outline plan and determinants of health The main outline of Victorian Public Health And Wellbeing Plan (VPHWP) (20152019) is to make Victoria free of the avoidable burden of injury and disease so that all the residents of Victoria are enjoy optimal attainable standards of health, wellbeing along with active participation at every stage of their life (VPHWP, 2015). VPHWP is the second public health and wellbeing plan that aims to establish new standards for the population residing in Victoria. This plan is consistent with the vision and objective of Public Health and Wellbeing Act of 2008 that aims towards improving health and social outcomes in Victoria via reducing inequalities (VPHWP, 2015). The principal aim of the plan is to understand the concept of health and wellbeing of the population residing in Victoria. The plan also aims to provide strategic directions towards the overall improvement of the quality of life at every stage and thereby promoting health (VPHWP, 2015). The main achievement of these aims is to reduce inequalities in health and well-being in Australia via proper identification of the social determinants of health (VPHWP, 2015). The main risk group discussed in this plan is the aboriginals and non-aboriginal Victorians. According to Bleichet al. (2012), the main target of health inequalities in Australia, Victoria is the aboriginals, mainly the Torres Strait Islanders. These inequalities in the health outcome can be defined by the social determinants of health (VPHWP, 2015). According to Braveman and Gottlieb (2014), the main social determinants of health include economic stability, physical environment and neighbourhood, education, food, social and community context and health care system. Priority Area and Risk Groups One of the main priority area highlighted in the VPHWP (2015) include tobacco free lining. It is a priority because nearly 12% of the adult Victorian population smokes on a daily basis (Department of Health Australia 2014). This smoking affects the disadvantaged groups of population disproportionately because smoking rate is higher among the aboriginal people. This high rate of smoking among the aboriginal people is one of the leading causes behind their high level of psychological distress and ill-birth rates (smoking among the pregnant women) (Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity 2014; . Moreover the incidence of tobacco smoking is also increasing the risk of cardiovascular disorder among Victorian population (Collins Lapsley, 2011). The actions outlined to address these issues by VPHWP (2015) include reduction in the rate of smoking via providing support at the community level (hospitals and community level services) along with special smoking cessation program for the groups who has high disproportionally high smoking rates, particularly the Aboriginals. Two Main risk groups identified are the aboriginal people (adults) and adolescents. According to the Australian Department of Health (2013), 12% of the young population who are 16 years old and 16% of the young population who are 17 years old and are residing in Victorian smoke cigarette. As a consequence of this they suffer from psychological distress, lower level of education. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2015), 41% of Aboriginal people daily smokes cigarette. As a consequence of this they are more prone towards developing cardiovascular anomalies other psychological complication (Collins Lapsley, 2011). This increase in the disease prevalence increases the cost to health care along with decrease in the annually productivity and increase in mortality (Collins Lasley). All these effects cumulate into financial burden and thereby increasing health inequalities. This risk group will be targeted via legislative and non-legislative approaches towards tobacco refor ms like smoking cessation support that will help to reduce the proportion of people in Victoria who smoke tobacco (VPHWP, 2015). Three relevant determinants of health The social determinants of health that is responsible for the high level of smoking among the aboriginal or indigenous population on Victoria is lack of economic stability. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2015), lack of economic stability creates psychological distress. AIHW (2015) has further opined that indigenous people who are suffering from high or very high level of psychological distress are likely to smoke cigarettes. At least 30% of the indigenous people smokes cigarettes as evaluated the 2012-2013 survey of AIHW. Moreover, they also undertook a comparative study which revealed that 16% of the indigenous people who are employed smokes cigarette in comparison to 24% of unemployed people and 33% of the labour force people. This sharp difference in the percentage clearly represents that the lack of economic stability is an important social factor behind the increasing the risk of tobacco smoking among the indigenous people of Victoria. The biological determinant of health that is responsible for the high level of smoking among the aboriginal or indigenous people in Victoria is poor health. According to VPHWP (2015), poor health is an amplifier towards increase in the rate of smoking among the disadvantaged people residing in Victoria (aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders). According to the reports published by the Australian Human Rights Commission (2017), the present health condition among the Australians Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders is extremely poor in comparison to the rest of the Australian population. The factors highlighted by Australian Human Rights Commission (2017) for this poor health backup among the Australian Aboriginals include lack of safe drinking water, lack of effective sewage system, rubbish collection and healthy housing. According to Steptoe, Deaton and Stone (2015), poor health affects the capacity of a person to work and this in turn negatively affects the health and well-being of the person and thereby affects the financial income and lack of social contact. This lack of income and social contact increases a sense of depression, anxiety and a social isolation. These negative feelings together cumulatively increase the urge of smoking. According to Leventhal and Zvolensky (2015), smoking provides a pseudo effect of decrease in depression but the actual scenario of different as smoking actually increases the level of mental health complications and thus creating health inequality. According to Steptoe, Deaton and Stone (2015), poor health thus not only cause physical pain and suffering to the individual but also increases the level of mental pain and pressure creating a huge barrier in optimal social and economic participation and health equality. The environmental determinant of health that is responsible for the high level of smoking among the aboriginal or indigenous people in Victoria is residing in remote areas. According to the data published by AIHW (2015), indigenous people who reside in remote areas are more likely to smoke cigarettes (50%) in comparison to the population, which resides in non-remote areas (39%). AIHW (2015) however, is of the opinion that the rate of tobacco smoking among the indigenous adults have decline during the year of 2012-2014 (this is a significant decrease of 8%) but still then the rate is astonishingly high in comparison to the population residing in non-remote areas. AIHW also highlighted the reason responsible for this high disparity in percentage. According to their report, indigenous people who reside in remote areas are treated unfairly by the health care professionals and thus they avoid seeking help in the domain of substance abuse or indulge in the intoxication of tobacco smoking. Moreover, tack of support from the healthcare professionals in the remote areas has lead to decrease in awareness in the domain of smoking related ill-effects and thereby further increasing the disparity among the remote and non-remote areas. Thus from the above discussion it can be concluded that one of the main priority areas that has been highlighted by VPHWP (2015) is tobacco free living. The two main population group that is the principle target for this priority area is adult population and adolescents. Of them, the main prioritized group should be the aboriginal adults. The social, biological and environmental determinants that increase their susceptibility of this group of population from getting affected with the health threats of tobacco smoking include economic instability, poor health and living in remote areas respectively. References Australian Bureau of Statistics (2015), Customised report: Australian Health Survey: nutrition first results - foods and nutrients, 201112, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra Australian Human Rights Commission (2017). Social determinants and the health of Indigenous peoples in Australia a human rights based approach. Access date: 10th April. Retrieved from: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/news/speeches/social-determinants-and-health-indigenous-peoples-australia-human-rights-based Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2015)., The health and welfare of Australias Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples: 2015. Access date: 10th April. Retrieved from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/indigenous-health-welfare/indigenous-health-welfare-2015/contents/determinants-of-health-key-points Bleich, S. N., Jarlenski, M. P., Bell, C. N., LaVeist, T. A. (2012). Health inequalities: trends, progress, and policy.Annual review of public health,33, 7-40. Braveman, P., Gottlieb, L. (2014). The social determinants of health: it's time to consider the causes of the causes.Public health reports,129(1_suppl2), 19-31. Collins D, Lapsley H (2011), The social costs of smoking in Victoria in 2008/09 and the social benefits of public policy measures to reduce smoking prevalence, Quit Victoria and the VicHealth Centre for Tobacco Control and Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne. Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity (2014). Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity. Access date: 10th April. Retrieved from: https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/hospitals-and-health-services/quality-safety-service/consultative-councils/council-obstetric-paediatric-mortality Department of Health (2014), Victorian Population Health Survey 201112, survey findings, State Government of Victoria, Melbourne. Access date: 10th April. Retrieved from: https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/public-health/population-health-systems/health-status-of-victorians/survey-data-and-reports/victorian-population-health-survey/victorian-population-health-survey-2011-12 Leventhal, A. M., Zvolensky, M. J. (2015). Anxiety, depression, and cigarette smoking: A transdiagnostic vulnerability framework to understanding emotionsmoking comorbidity.Psychological bulletin,141(1), 176. Steptoe, A., Deaton, A., Stone, A. A. (2015). Subjective wellbeing, health, and ageing.The Lancet,385(9968), 640-648. Victoria State Government. (2015). Victorian public health and wellbeing plan (20152019). Access date: 10th April. Retrieved from: https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/about/health-strategies/public-health-wellbeing-plan