The characteristics of agricultural products are influenced by the ecosystem, from the perspective of biotic and abiotic factors, which produce in the plant physiological responses and in turn in the fruit unique physicochemical properties, which are the basis for designations of origin and strategies to add value to the product in the current market. In the present work, ten cocoa materials (Theobroma cacao L.) were selected for their outstanding productivity (FSV41, FLE3, FEAR5, FSA12, FEC2, SCC23, SCC80, SCC55, ICS95 and CCN51), which were established in the departments of Santander (931 m a.s.l.), Huila (931 m a.s.l.), Huila (931 m a.s.l.), Huila (931 m a.s.l.), Huila (931 m a.s.l.), Huila (931 m a.s.l.) and Huila (931 m a.s.l.). These were established in the departments of Santander (931 m a.s.l.), Huila (885 m a.s.l.) and Arauca (204 m a.s.l.), the main cocoa-producing areas in Colombia. For the evaluation of the physical characteristics of the collected materials, 21 quantitative descriptors were used to determine the physical variability of the fruit according to clone and place of collection. The data collected were analyzed by means of Pearson’s correlation matrix and principal component analysis, it was possible to identify those descriptors that contribute most to the variability among materials (ear index, diameter length ratio, seed weight and diameter, and fruit weight and length). In addition, it was possible to verify the effect of the place of harvest on the physical characteristics of the materials, high-lighting the importance of the adaptation study prior to the planting of the cocoa material, with the objective of guaranteeing a premium, productive and quality cocoa crop for the industry, which is competitive in the market.

With fresh bitter melon and green tea as main ingredients, xylitol, sucrose and citric acid as auxiliary ingredients, a new cool health tea beverage was developed. The optimum formula of low sugar bitter melon green tea compound beverage was developed by single factor experiment and orthogonal test based on sensory evaluation. The results showed that the optimum formula was as follows: Bitter melon juice was added at 7%, green tea extract was added at 20%, total xylitol and sucrose was 6% (mass ratio 1:1), citric acid was added at 0.2%, and the volume was fixed to 100% with deionized water. The product has light green color, harmonious aroma, moderate acidity and sweetness, and clear texture. The aftertaste is long, with tea polyphenol content of 342 mg/kg, soluble solids of 5.2% and pH 5.8.

The heat collection evaporator was modeled based on equilibrium homogeneous theory, and the Runge-Kutta calculation method was used to analyze and solve the flow in the heat collection evaporator. The influence of environmental factors such as solar irradiance, ambient temperature and wind speed on the variation of refrigerant pressure in two kinds of heat collecting evaporator was analyzed under the set working conditions. The results show that the solar energy irradiance has a great influence on the pressure drop in the tube of serpentine heat collecting evaporator, and the maximum pressure drop of the refrigerant in the tube is 16.3%, minimum pressure drop is 7.8%. However, it has little influence on the pressure drop of the tube sheet evaporator. The maximum pressure drop in the refrigerant tube of the tube sheet evaporator is 4.8%, minimum pressure drop is 1.8%. When the irradiance reaches 800 W/m², the refrigerant in the serpentine-tube evaporator has been completely vaporized at 6 m, it’s completely vaporized at 3 m.

Flash flood is one of the major natural hazards in China. It seriously threatens the lives of people and property in mountainous areas. Various methods have been developed for flash flood study, but most of them focused on the past few decades. As one of the effective methods of historical flash flood events reconstruction, dendrogeomorphology has been used worldwide. It can provide hazard information with long temporal scale and high temporal resolution, sometimes at the seasonal level. By comparing tree ring width and other growth characteristics between disturbed and undisturbed trees, growth disturbance signals can be found in the disturbed trees. Using the growth disturbance in tree rings, flash flood events can be dated, and then the frequency, size, and spatial distribution characteristics of flash floods that have no or little documentary records can be reconstructed. The discharge of flash flood can be reconstructed quantitatively according to the height of scars or by using hydraulic models. With the development of dendrogeomorphology, research tends to probe into the meteorological driving mechanism of flash floods and the pattern of flash floods on a larger spatial scale. In the practical application of dendrogeomorphology, more instrumental data and historical records are applied in the studies. This makes the method increasingly more widely used around the world. But work based on dendrogeomorphology has not been reported in China. In this article, we reviewed the development of the study on flash floods based on tree ring, briefly summarized the research progress, and discussed the advantages, limitations, and potential of this approach, so as to provide some reference information for relevant work in China.

In this research, we employed multivariate statistical methods to investigate the perspectives of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) concerning the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulation and their apprehensions related to EPR compliance. The EPR regulation, which places the responsibility of waste management on producers, has significant financial and administrative implications, particularly for SMEs. A sample of 114 businesses was randomly selected, and the collected data underwent comprehensive analysis. Our findings highlight that a notable proportion of businesses (44.7%) possess knowledge of the EPR regulation’s provisions, whereas only a marginal fraction (1.8%) lacks sufficient familiarity. We also explored the interplay between opinions on the EPR regulation and concerns regarding its financial and administrative implications. Our results establish a significant correlation between EPR regulation opinions and concerns, with adverse opinions prominently influencing concerns, particularly regarding financial burdens and administrative workloads. These outcomes, derived from the application of multivariate statistical techniques, provide valuable insights for enhancing the synergy between environmental regulations and business practices. EPR regulation significantly affects SMEs in terms of financial, administrative, and legal obligations, thus our study highlights that policymakers may need to consider additional support mechanisms to alleviate the regulatory burden on SMEs, fostering a more effective and sustainable implementation of the EPR regulation.