Insect Management for Onions, Leek, and Garlic

Sweet varieties of bulbing onions, which make bulbs under short day conditions and do not store well, are by far the most common onions grown in Florida. They are generally grown on small acreages in the winter for local and farmers markets. In Hillsborough County and in the Suwannee Valley, strawberry growers are the major producers of onions, many of which are harvested green. This 2-page fact sheet written by Xavier Martini and Susan Webb and published by the UF/IFAS Entomology and Nematology Department reviews the management of the two major onion pests in Florida: thrips and seedcorn maggot. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig153 Previous versions: Webb, Susan. 2002. “Insect Management for Onions, Leek, and Garlic”. EDIS 2002 (1). https://doi.org/10.32473/edis-ig153-2002. Webb, S. 2005. “Insect Management for Onions, Leek, and Garlic”. EDIS 2005 (15). https://doi.org/10.32473/edis-ig153-2005.

Exploring Stakeholder and Parent Perspectives of a County Response to Adolescent Vaping and E-Cigarette Use

In the United States, regular cigarette use has steadily declined over the years; however, it has been met with an increase in vaping and e-cigarette use. In Tampa, Florida, this trend has been found especially prevalent among school-aged youth. To combat issues of substance use among youth and prevent criminalization for nonviolent crimes, school-age youth cited for use and possession of tobacco products in Hillsborough County were mandated to attend the Youth Tobacco Awareness Course (YTAC). The aim of this study was to investigate YTAC for its perceived effectiveness and usefulness in mitigating adolescent e-cigarette use. Classroom observations, parent focus groups, and program stakeholder interviews were conducted to comprehensively evaluate this program. Findings from this evaluation led to a deeper understanding of the barriers and facilitators to an effective course, the needs and perceptions of program stakeholders, as well as recommendations for improved future interventions.

COVID-19 - Hillsborough Fire Rescue Department

In early January of 2020, the world became aware of a new coronavirus, now named COVID-19, rapidly spreading throughout Wuhan China. As the events of this deadly virus in China played out on the evening news, conversations started about the impending Chinese New Year. As a tradition, China shuts down all nonessential work for several weeks to celebrate the Chinese New Year, which gives families in China time to vacation around the world. The combination of COVID-19 and the Chinese New Year helped quickly spread the virus around the world to create a deadly pandemic. Europe was first to feel the fatal effects of COVID-19, then by late February, the virus had entered the United States. The fatal consequences of COVID-19 caught all nations off guard and quickly overwhelmed the medical system. While Hillsborough County Fire Rescue trains daily for both known and unknown emergency, is Hillsborough County Emergency Management team prepared for a pandemic as deadly as COVID-19?

Emergency Communications Deficiency Locator

The Bi-Directional Amplifier (BDA) is the newest edition to Life Safety in the state of Florida. The Florida Fire Prevention Code (NFPA 1) section 11.10.1 states that “In all new and existing buildings, minimum radio signal strength for fire department communications shall be maintained at a level determined by the authority having jurisdiction (Committee NFPA 1: Fire Code 2018). That authority having jurisdiction for our local Tampa Bay area is the Hillsborough County Fire Rescue department and they have posted their own requirements along with the Florida Senate for emergency communication standards. All existing “Hi-rise” buildings, 75 feet tall or more, must comply by Jan. 1st 2022, all existing apartment complexes must comply by 2025, and all existing buildings that do not comply with the Hillsborough County Fire Rescue department standards were supposed to have applied for permit by December of 2019 (Senate Florida Legislature) . Several building owners are unaware of the aforementioned changes and it is extremely important to efficiently identify the buildings that do not comply with the latest regulations. To begin determining the best fix for soft spots in public safety radio transmissions I considered three separate FCC callsigns that cover the emergency radio channels around Hillsborough County. Next, I recorded the amount of Watts each tower is using to then convert to decibel gain (dB) that each tower produces. I determined that greater the power (Watts) that you push through a tower has a decreasing rate of decibels produced per watt and therefore not an option to solve the problem at hand. Then I derived an expression for “Free Space Path Loss (FSPL) in dB” that shows the dissipation of radio signal over a given distance. Using this formula, I realized I may not be able to provide an overall solution for the lack of radio signal, but I would be able to locate areas that will require the installation of a radio amplification system. Therefore, using derivative and integration techniques, I have designed a precise method for mapping areas of radio propagation around Hillsborough County, which in turn, show areas that do not receive the minimal -95dB radio strength and must have a BDA installed.

Opening the Door to Nature: Accounting for People’s Constraints to Nature-based Recreation

Although millions of people recreate in parks, forests, and other conservation areas in the United States every year, research shows that some are left out; not everyone takes advantage of natural areas for the numerous benefits nature-based recreation provides. Results show that many people who do not participate in nature-based recreation feel constrained by their quality of time, not the quantity of time. In other words, they're saying, "Prove to me that it's worth my time to go out in nature. Show me something cool!" Based on research conducted in Hillsborough County, Florida and similar studies, this 6-page fact sheet written by Margaret E. Gullion and Taylor Stein and published by the UF/IFAS School of Forest Resources and Conservation addresses identifies strategies to improve the opportunities natural areas can provide a diverse public. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fr415