APPLYING SUSTAINABILITY FROM A SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE:

This paper makes an attempt at reviewing agricultural extension ideologies or perspectives and their influence on stakeholder’s world-view in relation to sustainable agriculture. Specifically, the paper brings together several perspectives that have been suggested to encourage farmers to do things differently in the interest of a sustainable agricultural industry. Judging from the amount of resources spent on agricultural extension by developing countries, one comes to the conclusion that it is considered to be very important. There have been numerous attempts to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of agricultural extension worldwide, hence the perspectives described and discussed in the paper are but a drop in the bucket full of perspectives. The common factor among all the extension perspectives is the desire to bring about a productive agriculture today and tomorrow, which in essence, is the writer’s simple definition of sustainable agriculture. The perspectives discussed embrace both hard and soft systems. The transfer of technology (TOT) and the earlier farming systems perspectives are discussed as examples of hard system perspectives. In the group of soft systems, the paper discusses the actor oriented perspective, the network perspective, the agricultural knowledge information perspective (AKIS) or simply the knowledge information system perspective (KIS) and the rapid appraisal of agricultural knowledge system (RAAKS) perspective (which is an offshoot of AKIS). The paper concludes by pointing out that this multiplicity of perspectives (ideologies) may bring confusion to the technology developer, disseminator and user. But so long as the perspectives increase understanding about how people develop their world views in the area of agricultural development, they are worth the effort. This is especially crucial to such an important theme as agricultural sustainability. How do we bring about rapid adoption by farmers and others, technologies that ensure the sustainability of the industry through the agency of agricultural extension? The perspectives described and discussed in the paper attempt to answer this precise question. The problems associated with ‘the tragedy of the commons’ (despite claims to the contrary) are all real to us all. Overgrazing, deforestation, forest and range fires, cultivation down steep slopes, disregard of laws protecting catchment areas, over-dependence on chemicals in agriculture, are some of the problems that have attracted a lot of scientific and political attention, for a long time. The results of agricultural extension and research are quite often not commensurate with the effort expended, when measured against various criteria of agricultural success including sustainability. Therefore, this paper’s small contribution is to get agricultural scientists, extension practitioners and other stakeholders thinking more deeply as to “why we continue to get low production and productivity responses from the majority of small farmers in developing countries despite considerable efforts on the part of technology producers and disseminators to improve the sector’s performance? Why do we continue to experience degradation of the land resource despite our efforts”? These are vexing questions that will continue to exercise our minds in the 21st century as they did in the 20th century.

This article focuses on rater severity and consistency and their relation to major changes in the rating system in a high-stakes testing context. The study is based on longitudinal data collected from 2009 to 2019 from the second language (L2) Finnish speaking subtest in the National Certificates of Language Proficiency in Finland. We investigated whether rater severity and consistency changed over that period and whether the changes could be explained by major changes in the rating system, such as the change of lead examiner, the modus of rating and training (on-site or remote), and the composition of the rater group. The data consisted of 45 rating sessions with 104 raters and 59,899 examinees and were analysed using the many-facet Rasch model and generalized linear mixed models. The analyses indicated that raters as a group became somewhat more lenient over time. In addition, the results showed that the rater community and its practices, the lead examiners, and the modus of rating and training can influence rating behaviour. Finally, we elaborate on implications for both research and practice.

BackgroundCoproduction is an inclusive approach for improving health and social care services, and coproduction research mostly focuses on participating stakeholders who are not researchers. Programme theories are important for designing, evaluating and disseminating change initiatives; however, few empirical studies on quality improvement initiatives or coproduction projects include explicit programme theories. This study addresses these knowledge gaps by describing new researchers’ initial implicit programme theories of coproduction from three different system perspectives.MethodsThis is a cross-sectional interview substudy that includes 12 respondents. The respondents are new researchers (doctoral students) in Samskapa, an international research programme. The respondents conduct their studies in their own national contexts: Western Europe and North America. The interviews focus on their thoughts and experiences of coproduction, and the data are analysed using directed content analysis based on central concepts of programme theory. Coded statements are additionally coded for the system perspective they refer to. To describe programme theories of coproduction from micro-, meso- and macrosystem perspectives, a latent interpretation of the data is carried out. The consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) checklist for qualitative studies was used to assure quality standards.ResultsA generic programme theory of coproduction is suggested: If microsystem actors collaborate, facilitated by mesosystem mediators and supported by macrosystem managements’ feedback and engagement, then coproduction will occur and health and welfare systems will improve.ConclusionsCoproduction projects are complex interventions that exhibit equifinality – a principle from open systems theory which posits that similar outcomes can be achieved through multiple, distinct pathways. Programme theories of coproduction from several system perspectives can be merged into a generic programme theory, which in turn can capture the interventions’ complexity.

Birth and succession of a current of learning in Korean medicine: the supporting yang current of learning

Gynecology teaching frameworks in Canada amid the transition to competence by design

To prevent wide-area disturbances, and enhance power system reliability, various forms of system protection scheme (SPS) have been designed and implemented by utilities. One of the main concerns in SPS deployment is to ensure that the system will fit with the reliability requirement specification in terms of dependability, and security. After major changes in system operating practices, or physical changes of the protected system, a refinement of the SPS decision process may be required. This paper uses a currently operational SPS as an example to demonstrate a refinement study. By incorporating an interval theory, a risk reduction worth importance concept, and a probabilistic risk-based index, the proposed procedure conducts parameter uncertainty analysis, identifies critical factors in the reliability model, performs risk assessments, and determines a better option for the refinement of the studied SPS decision process logic module.

Defining and Measuring Value System Sustainability: Initial Concepts and Blueprints

The burgeoning importance of offshore wind farms (OWFs) in the transition to sustainable energy systems underscores the need for effective Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) strategies. While the current PHM framework demonstrates its prowess in enhancing the reliability and operational efficiency of OWFs, this paper contends that its potential remains largely untapped due to certain inherent limitations. This study casts a comprehensive spotlight on the limitations and untapped opportunities within the PHM framework for OWFs from a Socio-Technical-Ecological Systems (SETS) perspective.
 The limitations, as identified, are threefold. First, the existing framework exhibits an over-reliance on technical factors, thus prioritizing maximization of Remaining Useful Life and cost minimization. This emphasis disregards crucial Non-Technological Factors (such as community impacts, stakeholder engagement, Human and Organization Factors (HOFs)) and uncertainty arising from them, which can exert significant influences on OWF’s health and performance. Second, the PHM approach often adopts a component-centric view, with focus on dominant degradation modes, thus undermining the intricate interdependencies among diverse components and failure modes. This lack of a System Level Perspective (SLP) and Multi-Modal Degradation (MMD) hampers a comprehensive understanding of how component degradation cascades through the entire system. Third, the current framework largely ignores the ecological considerations, despite compelling evidence that the current monitoring, assessment, and maintenance activities has significant ecological consequences.
 By addressing the identified limitations and leveraging the opportunities together with AI, the PHM framework for OWFs can evolve into a more comprehensive, inclusive, and resilient approach. The proposed paradigm shift resonates deeply with the contemporary drive towards sustainability, not only in terms of technical efficacy but also in terms of social acceptance and ecological compatibility.

Collaborative business process management allows for the automated coordination of processes involving human and computer actors. In modern economies, it is increasingly needed for this coordination to be not only within organizations but also to cross organizational boundaries. The dependence on the performance of other organizations should, however, be limited, and the control over the own processes is required from a competitiveness perspective. The main objective of this work is to propose an evaluation model for measuring a resilience of a service-oriented architecture (SOA) collaborative process management system. In this paper, we have proposed resilience analysis perspectives of SOA collaborative process systems, i.e., overall system perspective, individual process model perspective, individual process instance perspective, service perspective, and resource perspective. A collaborative incident and maintenance notification process system is reviewed for illustrating our resilience analysis. This research contributes to extend SOA collaborative business process management systems with resilience support, not only looking at quantification and identification of resilience factors, but also considering ways of improving the resilience of SOA collaborative process systems through measures at design and runtime.

As an afterword to the special issue of JMEMS “Performance beyond Drama,” this essay reflects on the complex ways that premodern performances and their embodied actors are captured in, mediated by, or dependent on the texts that we use to study them, and on the special importance of examining this process across a temporal framework—the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries—that challenges the periodizing schema of modernity. In particular, three major systemic changes impacted European performance practices and their documentation during this era: the more widespread availability and manufacture of paper, which made writing easier and reading cheaper, coupled with the introduction of print technology after 1455; the upheaval of the Protestant Reformation and its Catholic counterpart, and the bloody aftermath of religious wars, persecutions, and witch hunts that (re)shaped performance traditions; and the commodification and policing of entertainment through enclosure and regulation. Taken together, this special issue's contributions reveal fascinating convergences and continuities in performance across the medieval/modern frontier, while also showing how some medieval practices were made to conform with postmedieval political and religious projects, thereby obscuring or blurring the evidence for those earlier practices.

ObjectiveTo describe the characteristics of emergency department (ED) visits for motor vehicle injuries in Utah using 2016 syndromic surveillance data.IntroductionMotor vehicle injury is the leading cause of death in injury category in the United States. In 2016, motor vehicle crashes were one of the main causes of death resulting from injury (8.8 per 100,000 population) in Utah. Motor vehicle crashes can lead to physical and economic consequences that impact the lives of individuals and their families. In addition, the treatment of injuries places an enormous burden on hospital Emergency Departments (EDs). Currently; there are no data sources other than syndromic data in the Utah Department of Health to monitor ED visits due to motor vehicle injuries in real time.MethodsUtah participates in the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) to which all hospitals in the state submit ED visit data via the Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics (ESSENCE). ESSENCE was used to analyze 2016 ED visit data. Total population data were obtained from Utah population estimates. Data from 2017 was not included due to major system changes at a major healthcare system that interrupted data feeds resulting in lower than expected data volume.Motor vehicle injury is defined by existing subsyndrome definition in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ESSENCE system. All ED visit data were analyzed by querying key terms in the chief complaint field including any mention of: vehicle, wheeler, motorcycle, motor scooter, motor cycle, motor cross, truck, motorbike etc. Exclusion terms included any mention of: car dealership, hit head and car door. Ages were divided into seven groups for data distribution and comparison: 0–17, 18–24, 25–34, 35–44, 45–54, 55–64 and ≥ 65 years.ResultsIn 2016, a total of 28,472 ED visits (2% of total visits) were identified using the motor vehicle injury query. The ED visit rate for motor vehicle injuries was highest among persons aged 18–24 years (1,682 per 100,000 population). Rates continued to decline with increasing age after 18–24 years. The rate of females visiting the ED was higher than males (1,040 versus 826 per 100,000 population respectively; p < 0.01) (Figure 1). The majority of injuries (11722(52%)) were reported between 10:00 a.m. and 5:59 p.m. Injuries were highest August-September (5913(22%)).ConclusionsSyndromic data is a robust source of data for analyzing ED visits due to motor vehicle injuries in real time, and providing information to injury prevention programs for targeting interventions. Our data suggest an increased risk of visiting an ED due to motor vehicle injuries by age group (18-24 year olds), sex (females), month (August-September), and time (10:00 a.m. to 5:59 p.m.). These results do not include visits with incomplete or incorrectly coded chief complaints or discharge codes, patients of motor vehicle injuries who do not present to the ED, or not classified as ‘emergency’ patient class.

This chapter addresses the general readership of this book, not only the specialist in comparative systems and socialist economies; therefore, it cannot avoid including information known to the experts. It focuses on phenomena that prevailed throughout the 1968–1985 period and characterize the present state of affairs, with only occasional backward glances. The Hungarian economy has undergone major systemic changes in the past thirty years. The impact of the reform is felt by every Hungarian citizen. The influence of the Hungarian experience, however, does not stop at the borders of this small Eastern European country. Reform is a notion used widely by many parties and political movements all over the world. The modernization of a highly bureaucratic regulation of the economy with the aid of computers is not “reform.”

: This report describes the design of the Impulse architecture and shows how an Impulse memory system can be used in a variety of ways to improve the performance of data-intensive applications. The Impulse design does not require any modification to processor, cache, or bus designs - all novel hardware functionality resides at the memory controller. As a result, Impulse optimizations can be adopted in conventional systems without major system changes. Impulse can be used to: (1) dynamically create superpages cheaply, (2) dynamically recolor physical pages, to perform strided fetches, (3) perform gathers and scatters through indirection vectors, and (4) dynamically gather cache lines from randomly dispersed data. Impulse improved the performance of six DARPA Data Intensive System (DIS) program Stressmarks from 1 .25X to 16X (or 470X in the case of in-place CornerTurn, which was unusually well-suited for Impulse). Impulse sped up the twenty-two programs in the benchmark suite by a geometric mean of 2.4X on 2002-class hardware, and 3.3X on 2007-class hardware. In addition to its applicability for data-intensive applications, Impulse can also be used by the OS for dynamic superpage creation, which is useful for arbitrary applications.

Looking back on the experience of transition, based on the case study of Slovenia, this article argues that the transformation of the labour market was a major area of transition. It therefore focuses on the topic of the relationship between output, employment, unemployment and inactivity of labour in a transition country. The transition period is from 1980 to 2006. The averages for the whole period 1980–2006 conceal too much. The whole transition period is divided into two sub-periods: the period of the transition crisis and the period of transitional rehabilitation. The thesis is that there were important differences between the two sub-periods as far as the labour market is concerned. Okun's relationships about the responses of employment and unemployment to output changes are valid during both sub-periods. Empirical estimates of the Beveridge relationship and job-matching function do not differ significantly for the first period compared with the second. The conclusion would be that the labour market responded normally during the transition and that the official statistical data do not reflect major systemic changes that the labour market has supposedly experienced during transition.

If the consonants of Older Scots present us with a relatively uncomplicated orthographic system, the Older Scots vowels are a different matter. The geographical and chronological variations we find among different accents of Scots are largely a matter of differing vowel sounds: vowels change more than consonants do, over space and time. In this chapter, we consider why vowels are generally less stable than consonants, sketch out the major systemic changes in the vowel system over the Older Scots period, and explore how the variable and changing systems of pronunciation mapped onto the Older Scots vowel graphemes. The most thorough discussion of this topic is in Aitken and Macafee (2002), and this chapter largely offers a synopsis of the much more extensive descriptions found there. A briefer account is given in Smith (2012: 29–33). Other relevant studies that have informed the content of this chapter include Aitken (1977), Johnston (1997a), Lass (1999) and Macafee and Aitken (consonant