Strawberry (Fragaria spp.): Cultivation, Production, Consumption, and Marketing in Cameroon

Strawberry (Fragaria spp.) is one of the most important fruits classified as exotic fruits imported into Cameroon. To have an inventory of its cultivation in Cameroon, a survey study was carried out among eight farms of Fragaria spp. from January 2021 to February 2022. The plant was introduced in Cameroon in 2018. There are 13 varieties of Fragaria spp. currently cultivated. Among these 13 varieties, eleven are hybrids of Fragaria x ananassa (“Amiga”, “Amine”, “Camarosa”, “Chandler”, “Charlotte”, “Elsanta”, “Gariguette”, “Madame Moutot”, “Ostara”, “Ruby gem” and “San Andreas”), and two of the hybrids of Fragaria vesca (“Maestro” and “Mara des bois”). The cropping system, irrigation system, and type of fertilizers applied differ from one strawberry farm to another. Biofertilizers (such as mycorrhizal), inorganic and organic fertilizers are actually used to improve production. The potential annual production of strawberries from January 2021 to February 2022, estimated based on the survey data, was 21.216 tons for all growers. Among these eight production farms, the Lolodorf BIO Farm presents 6000 kg (six tons) of strawberries and 100,000 stolons (seedlings) produced, from seven varieties of Fragaria spp. cultivated, with 6 varieties which are hybrids variety Fragaria x ananassa (“Amiga”, “Amine”, “Chandler”, “Gariguette”, “Madame Moutot”, and “Ruby gem”), and one which is a hybrid of Fragaria vesca (“Mara des bois”). Certain diseases were also observed and recorded depending on the growing areas.

Crosstalk between degradation and bioenergetics: how autophagy and endolysosomal processes regulate energy production

Cells undergo metabolic reprogramming to adapt to changes in nutrient availability, cellular activity, and transitions in cell states. The balance between glycolysis and mitochondrial respiration is crucial for energy production, and metabolic reprogramming stipulates a shift in such balance to optimize both bioenergetic efficiency and anabolic requirements. Failure in switching bioenergetic dependence can lead to maladaptation and pathogenesis. While cellular degradation is known to recycle precursor molecules for anabolism, its potential role in regulating energy production remains less explored. The bioenergetic switch between glycolysis and mitochondrial respiration involves transcription factors and organelle homeostasis, which are both regulated by the cellular degradation pathways. A growing body of studies has demonstrated that both stem cells and differentiated cells exhibit bioenergetic switch upon perturbations of autophagic activity or endolysosomal processes. Here, we highlighted the current understanding of the interplay between degradation processes, specifically autophagy and endolysosomes, transcription factors, endolysosomal signaling, and mitochondrial homeostasis in shaping cellular bioenergetics. This review aims to summarize the relationship between degradation processes and bioenergetics, providing a foundation for future research to unveil deeper mechanistic insights into bioenergetic regulation.

Effects of Planting and Irrigation Patterns on Water Consumption Characteristics and Dry Matter Production in Winter Wheat

[Objective] This study aimed to investigate the effects of different planting and irrigation patterns on water consumption characteristics and dry matter produc- tion and allocation of winter wheat. [Method] With high-yield winter wheat cultivar Jimai 22 as the experimental material, field experiment was conducted during 2008- 2010. A total of 3 planting patterns were designed, uniform row, wide-narrow row and furrow. Under each planting pattern, total four irrigation patterns were designed, no irrigation （Wo）, irrigation at jointing state （Wl）, irrigation at jointing and anthesis stages （W2） and irrigation at jointing, anthesis and milking stages （W3）, and the irri- gation amount per treatment was all 60 mm. [Result] Under the three planting pat- terns, with the increased irrigation amount, the total water consumption of the exper- imental field increased; the proportion of irrigation in the total water consumption in- creased, and that of soil water consumption in the total water consumption de- creased significantly. Compared with W0 treatment, various irrigation treatments sig- nificantly increased the post-anthesis dry matter accumulation in wheat plants; with the increased irrigation amount, the grain yield under the three planting patterns all increased, while the water use efficiency （WUE） decreased. Under the same irriga- tion conditions, compared with other two planting patterns, furrow planting increased the total water consumption of the experimental field, increased the proportion of soil water consumption in the total water consumption, and improved the WUE and wheat grain yield. [Conclusion] Under the experimental conditions, considering both wheat grain yield and WUE, furrow planting with moderately deficit irrigation at joint- ing and anthesis stages is more suitable for the winter wheat production in North China Plain.

Promoting sustainable consumption and circular economy:the intention of Vietnamese youth consumers to purchase products made from recycled plastics

Recycling is viewed as a key component in a circular economy and serves as an ideal solution for promoting sustainability.During the global plastic crisis,plastic recycling practices have been adopted worldwide,leading to the production of various products made from recycled plastics(PRP).Nevertheless,a gap persists between consumption and demand for such products,which is primarily attributed to a lack of comprehension from the consumer perspective.Given the pivotal role consumers play in the adoption of these products,this study explores consumers’intentions to purchase PRP.This is particularly significant in Vietnam,which is an emerging economy aspiring to achieve the objectives of a circular economy and sustainable development.Utilizing an integrated cognitive-emotional framework comprising the Valence Theory and the Norm Activation Model,data from 564 Vietnamese students were gathered and analyzed using structural equation modeling.The results show that awareness of consequences is a major driver of consumer purchase intentions,followed by perceived ease of application and monetary incentives.The results also indicate that health concerns have the strongest effect on purchase intention and in the negative side,meaning that the health-related risk is the primary concern for consumers during the decision-making process.This research holds substantial value for academics and managers,as it aids in the theoretical exploration and the formulation of strategies to improve consumer acceptance of PRP.

Spatial-Temporal Changes in Grain Production, Consumption and Driving Mechanism in China

The spatial-temporal patterns of grain production and consumption have an important influence on the effective national grain supply on condition of tight balance in the total grain amount in China. In this paper, we analyze the spatial-temporal pattems of grain production, consumption and the driving mechanism for their evolution processes in China. The results indicate that both gravity centers of grain production and consumption in China moved toward the northern and eastern regions, almost in the same direction. The coordination of grain production and consumption increased slightly from 1995 to 2007 but decreased from 2000 to 2007. There is a spatial difference between the major districts of output increase and the strong growth potential in grain consumption, which indicates an increasing difficulty in improving the regional coordination of grain production and consumption. The movement of the gravity center of grain production is significantly correlated with regional differences in grain production policy, different economic development models, and spatial disparity of land and water resource use. For grain consumption, the main driving factors include rapid urbanization, the upgrade of food consumption structure, and distribution of food industries.

An Updated Review on Chicken Eggs: Production, Consumption, Management Aspects and Nutritional Benefits to Human Health

Ancestors of the modern chicken were domesticated from members of the Gallus genus probably 7 to 8 thousand years ago in southeastern Asia. Subsequently, they spread globally for meat and egg production. In the chicken egg, there is a balance of numerous, high-quality nutrients, many of which are highly bioavailable. The egg confers a multitude of health benefits to consumers emphasizing its classification as a functional food. Current global per capita egg consumption estimates approach 9 kg annually but vary greatly on a regional basis. This review deals with global production, consumption, and management aspects such as hygiene, feeding, and housing. Management aspects play key roles in the composition, quality, food safety, and visual (consumer) appeal of the egg. Also the manipulation of egg nutrients and value for human health is discussed.

Methods for Integrating Energy Consumption and Environmental Impact Considerations into the Production Operation of Machining Processes

Energy consumption and environmental impact considerations of machining processes are viewed as important issues for the global trends towards sustainable manufacturing. The existing research of reducing energy consumption and environmental impacts of machining processes greatly focuses on design and planning activities, but is reasonably sparse for production operation activities. This paper explores a systematic methodology that incorporates energy consumption and environmental impact considerations into the production operation of machining processes. Firstly, the framework of the methodology is proposed to establish the generic procedures for integrating the above considerations in production operation activities. As the two key issues of the framework, the profile index value matrix is determined by valuing the individual quantity of energy consumption and environmental impacts of machining each job on each machine, and the multi-criteria models are constructed by the operational methods. Furthermore, with the guideline of the framework, the specific formulations are modeled by two sub-models for the parallel machine scheduling problem, in which makespan and energy consumption are the optimizing objectives as well as the constraints of environmental impact considerations. The specific formulations provide a practical method to integrate energy consumption and environmental impact considerations into the scheduling activity, and also can serve as a reference to other activities in the production operation. The case study for a batch of jobs, including seven kinds of gears in the machining shop floor, is presented to demonstrate the application of the specific formulations of the methodology. The proposed methodology provides potential opportunities for reducing energy consumption and environmental impacts in machining processes, and helps production managers in decision-making on the issues of energy consumption and environmental impacts in the production operation.

Comprehensive optimized GM(1,1) model and application for short term forecasting of Chinese energy consumption and production

In order to improve prediction accuracy of the grey prediction model and forecast China energy consumption and production in a short term, this paper proposes a novel com- prehensively optimized GM（1,1） model, also named COGM（1,1）, based on the grey modeling mechanism. First, the relationship of the background value formula and its whitenization equation is analyzed and a new method optimizing background values is proposed to eliminate systemic errors in the modeling process. Second, the solving process of the new model is derived. For parameter estimation, a set of auxiliary parameters are used to change grey equation＇s form. Then, original parameters are re- stored by an equations system. After solving the whitenization equation, initial value in time response function is established by least errors criteria. Finally, a numerical case and comparison with other grey prediction models are made to testify the new model＇s effectiveness, and the computational results show that the COGM（1,1） model has a better property and achieves higher precision. The new model is used to forecast China energy con- sumption and production, and the ability of energy self-sufficiency is further analyzed. Results indicate that gaps between consump- tion and production in future are predicted to decline.

Comparison of energy consumption and economic performance of organic and conventional soybean production——A case study from Jilin Province, China

Modern agriculture heavily depends on energy consumption, especially fossil energy, but intensive energy input increases the production cost for producers and results in environmental pollution.Organic agricultural production is considered a more sustainable system, but there is lack of scientific research on the energy consumption between organic and conventional systems in China.The analysis and comparison of energy use between the two systems would help decision-makers to establish economic, effective and efficient agricultural production.Thus, the objectives of the present study are to analyze energy inputs, outputs, energy efficiency, and economic benefits between organic and conventional soybean（Glycine max（L.） Merrill） production.A total of 24 organic farmers and 24 conventional farmers in Jilin Province, China, were chosen for investigation in 2010 production year.Total energy input was 71.55 GJ ha–1 and total energy output was 96.18 GJ ha–1 in the organic system, resulting in an energy efficiency（output/input） of 1.34.Total energy input was 9.37 GJ ha–1 and total energy output was 113.4 GJ ha–1 in the conventional system, resulting in the energy efficiency of 12.1.The huge discrepancy in energy inputs and respective efficiencies lies in the several times higher nutrient inputs in the organic compared to the conventional production system.Finally, the production costs ha–1 were 33% higher, and the net income ha–1 25% lower in the organic compared to the conventional soybean production system.It is recommended to improve fertilizer management in organic production to improve its energetic and economic performance.

Comparative evaluation of energy and resource consumption for vacuum carbothermal reduction and Pidgeon process used in magnesium production

With the fast development of the application of magnesium based alloys,the demand for primary magnesium is increasing dramatically all over the world.The Pidgeon process is the most widely used process for producing magnesium in China,but suffers from problems such as high energy,resource consumption and environmental pollution.While the process of vacuum carbothermal reduction to produce magnesium(VCTRM)has attracted more and more attention as its advantages,but it has not been well-practiced in industrial applications and there also is no comprehensive and quantitative analysis of this process.This study quantified the flows of resource and energy for the Pidgeon process and the VCTRM process,then compared and analyzed these two processes with each other from three aspects.The VCTRM process results in 63.14%and 69.16%lower of non-renewable mineral resources and energy consumptions when compared to the Pidgeon process,respectively.Moreover,the low energy consumption(2.675 tce vs.8.681 tce)and material to magnesium ratio(2.953:1 vs.6.429:1)of the VCTRM process,which lead to lower greenhouse gas(GHG)emissions(8.777 t vs.26.337 t)and solid waste generation(0.522 t vs.5.465 t)with a decrease of 66.67%and 90.45%,respectively.Results indicate that the VCTRM process is a more environmentally friendly process for magnesium production with high efficiency but low cost and low pollution,and it shows a good potential to be industrialized in the future after solving the bottleneck problem of the reverse reaction.

Modeling and Analysis on Production Yield and Energy Consumption of Pelleting Process

The existing studies on the pelleting process were reviewed, and then the forming process of pelleting was introduced. Furthermore, the models describing the production yield and energy consumption of pelleting were presented. Based on the models, the influence of the pelleting structure parameters, die speed on the production yield and energy consumption were discussed. The results showed that larger pellet mill was preferred and the proper speed of the die should be selected to increase the production yield and reduce the energy consumption.

Quantitative evaluation of the green production and consumption policies in China

Dual control of energy consumption is an effective method proposed in China to launch and deepen the transition in energy use.It has obtained favorable results;however,the resource consumption and pollution emissions per unit of Gross Domestic Product(GDP)remain high.This article quantitatively studies the current policies’effects to promote the advancement of dual control of energy consumption and develop future policies.Green production and consumption policies promote the development of dual control of energy consumption;therefore,this paper examines these policies through text mining and a quantitative evaluation system.The results suggest strong state demand for developing green production and consumption and the necessity for scientific evaluation;however,the state’s focus on the relevant policy tools is imbalanced.Constraint policy tools have the highest proportion of restricting pollutant emissions but lack comprehensiveness.Incentive and guidance policy tools have the problems of poor targets and low volume.Additionally,by constructing policy modeling consistency(PMC)index models for evaluating green production and consumption policies,six selected policies indicate solid performance,but some still have problems regarding policy timeframe,policy function,and green process.Based on the conclusions,this paper provides some targeted recommendations.

An Analysis of Current Energy Consumption in China's Agricultural Production

Energy consumption is one of the important symbols of modern agriculture,and it is also an important input in modern agricultural production. The study on the agricultural energy consumption not only has a positive significance to agricultural energy saving,emission reduction and ecological environment protection,but also can greatly reduce the cost of agricultural production and improve the economic benefit of farmers. Through the analysis of the national statistical data about energy consumption for agriculture production from 2005 to 2012 year,the results show that the amount of energy consumption for agricultural production in China has increased year by year since 2005. Because of the continued growth of the total energy consumption in China,the proportion of energy consumption for agricultural production to the total energy consumption of China has declined slightly since 2005. At present,the energy consumption structure for agricultural production in China is diesel fuel,coal,electric power,gasoline,and indirect energy consumption. With the rapid development of the agricultural technology in recent years,the total agricultural output value in China has increased greatly,the direct and indirect agricultural energy consumption per unit of agricultural output value in China has decreased year by year,and the efficiency of energy consumption for agricultural production has increased consequently.

Analysis of Changes in Energy Consumption and Demand Trend in China's Agricultural Production

China's energy consumption for agricultural production has relied on petroleum and coal with relatively low input from power and other types of energy for a long time.Projections indicate that as China's existing development trend leads to substantial growth of energy demand for agricultural production,such a long term irrational energy consumption pattern would unlikely be able to meet the needs of the country's developing agricultural sector.As such,it is recommended that China's agricultural sector should follow the national energy development strategy guideline by gradually increasing the use of wind power,solar energy,biomass and other new energy sources while advancing technological innovations on traditional energy sources.Meanwhile,as the consumption structure of three major energy sources(i.e.petroleum,coal,and power)is optimized,development and application of biomass from agriculture as raw materials for alternative energy should be enhanced.Lastly,the development and application of wind power,solar energy,and hydropower in agricultural production should be increased in areas where appropriate.

Improved Cross Entropy Algorithm for Steelmaking Continuous Casting Production Scheduling with Minimum Power Consumption

A matrix encoding scheme for the steelmaking continuous casting( SCC) production scheduling( SCCPS) problem and the corresponding decoding method are proposed. Based on it,a cross entropy( CE) method is adopted and an improved cross entropy( ICE) algorithm is proposed to solve the SCCPS problem to minimize total power consumption. To describe the distribution of the solution space of the CE method,a probability model is built and used to generate individuals by sampling and a probability updating mechanism is introduced to trace the promising samples. For the ICE algorithm,some samples are generated by the heuristic rules for the shortest makespan due to the relation between the makespan and the total power consumption,which can reduce the search space greatly. The optimal sample in each iteration is retained through a retention mechanism to ensure that the historical optimal sample is not lost so as to improve the efficiency and global convergence. A local search procedure is carried out on a part of better samples so as to improve the local exploitation capability of the ICE algorithm and get a better result. The parameter setting is investigated by the Taguchi method of design-of-experiment. A number of simulation experiments are implemented to validate the effectiveness of the ICE algorithm in solving the SCCPS problem and also the superiority of the ICE algorithm is verified through the comparison with the standard cross entropy( SCE) algorithm.

Study on Formation Mechanism of Farmer Production Consumption Ecologization——Empirical Analysis Based on TPB Model

Ecological transformation of production consumption is an effective channel of establishing ecological agriculture mechanism. In this paper,based on TPB( Theory of Planed Behavior),using factor analysis and regression analysis,empirical test on formation mechanism of farmer production consumption ecologization behavior transformation is conducted. Research results show that behavior attitude,subjective norm and control cognition of farmer production consumption ecologization have significantly positive influences on behavior response of farmer production consumption ecologization. Among them,power of behavior attitude is farmer's economic rationality and ecological rationality; power of subjective norm is system norm,government guidance and social pressure; power of control cognition is policy judgment and ability perception. Finally,for the analyzed conclusions,policy suggestions are proposed from many aspects,which could provide reference effect for guiding farmer production consumption ecologization and establishing rural eco-civilization.

Mobile Photography and Social Networks： Production, Consumption, Socialization and Copyright Practices Among University Students

The following study shall analyse results of an exploration into production, consumption, socialization, privacy and copyright practices among Mexican university students who take photography through mobile devices in social networks. This work focuses on an analysis of how digital natives carry out image capture, how much time is spent on this activity and what types of images are consumed in different types of social networks. It also examines what type of images are captured and what is done with these images in social networks. The study is applied to a specific sample of 93 university students who have full access to mobile devices, applications and social networks in their daily lives. It provides information as to their behavior within a changing techno-social scene which sees the emergence of new mobile devices, specialized applications and social networks dedicated to photography along with other nascent forms and styles of digital production and socialization. This shall be compared to a previous study carded out in 2010.

Sustainable Consumption and Production in the Baltic Sea Region

Economic activity always has an impact on the environment, but the potential degree of this impact depends on consumption and production pattems. The aim of this paper is to analyse the environmental and well being impacts of consumption and production systems in Baltic Sea Region and draw conclusions about transferring of best practises in Latvia. This study is based on indicator analyses, focusing on data of environmental impacts from consumption and production in the region, and analyses drivers behind these impacts. The paper concludes two trends--Scandinavian countries and Germany which have more advanced economies demonstrate much higher ecoefficiency and environmental management practices compared to the new EU member states. The example of the Baltic Sea region shows that high income levels and a stable development path in the old EU member states provide grounds for technology advancement to reduce the environmental impact of production. However Baltic States and Poland on average demonstrate much more sustainable consumption patterns. But the trends in these countries are negative--they try to copy lifestyles and consumption patterns of more advanced economies with higher ecological footprint. Challenge for Latvia is to improve its ecoefficiency but at the same time develop more sustainable consumption patterns.

Effect of Antibiotic Consumption on Resistance of <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>Isolated from Lebanese Patients with Emphasis on MBL Production

The relationship between antibiotic consumption and resistance has been widely evaluated. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most important opportunistic pathogens in the nosocomial setting, and its resistance to antibiotics is increaseing. Production of metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) is currently the most fearful resistance mechanism due to the potential of dissemination. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between antibiotic consumption (expressed in DDD/100 bed days) and resistance (expressed in % of isolates and patients) in different time periods for P. aeruginosa between 2006 and 2009 at Saint George Hospital University Medical Center (SGH-UMC), Beirut. Pearson correlation coefficients (r) were calculated and linear regression was performed. Detection of MBL-producing Imipenem resistant P. aeruginosa (IRPA) isolates between 2008 and 2009 was performed using three MBL screening methods: MBL Etest?, Imipenem/EDTA combined disk test and EDTA disk potentiation with four cephalosporins. The modified Hodge test was also performed. From 2006 till 2009, there was a trend of increasing resistance of P. aeruginosa to all antibiotics, and the highest % of resistance was for Ofloxacin. Concerning resistance expressed by isolates, high correlation coefficients resulted among Imipenem, Ciprofloxacin and Tazobactam consumption and resistance to these agents in the same year correlation;Ceftazidime and Ofloxacin consumption and resistance in the next year correlation;Gentamicin and Ofloxacin consumption and the change in resistance (ΔR). Concerning resistance expressed by patients, results were similar except for Ceftazidime and Ofloxacin correlation in the next year correlation. In MBL screening, three isolates gave accordance among 4 methods which showed a positive result. The correlation between antibiotic consumption and resistance is highly dependent on the kind of antibiotic, the organism and the time of correlation. Various MBL screening phenotypic methods on one isolate can increase accuracy and eliminate false positive and negative results.

Energy consumption hierarchical analysis based on interpretative structural model for ethylene production

Interpretative structural model(ISM) can transform a multivariate problem into several sub-variable problems to analyze a complex industrial structure in a more efficient way by building a multi-level hierarchical structure model. To build an ISM of a production system, the partial correlation coefficient method is proposed to obtain the adjacency matrix, which can be transformed to ISM. According to estimation of correlation coefficient, the result can give actual variable correlations and eliminate effects of intermediate variables. Furthermore, this paper proposes an effective approach using ISM to analyze the main factors and basic mechanisms that affect the energy consumption in an ethylene production system. The case study shows that the proposed energy consumption analysis method is valid and efficient in improvement of energy efficiency in ethylene production.