Learning Agent for a Service-Oriented Context-Aware Recommender System in Heterogeneous Environment

Traditional recommender systems provide users with customized recommendations of products or services. They employ various technologies and algorithms in order to search and select the best options available while taking into account the user's context. Increasingly often, such systems run on devices in heterogeneous environments (including mobile devices) making use of their functionalities: various sensors (e.g. movement, light), wireless data transmission technologies and positioning systems (e.g. GPS) among others. In this paper, we propose an innovative recommender system that determines the best service (including photo and movie conversion) and simultaneously accommodates the context of the device in a heterogeneous environment. The system allows the choice between various service providers that make their resources available using cloud computing as well as having the services performed locally. In order to determine the best possible recommendation for users, we employ the concept of learning agents, which has not been thoroughly researched in connection with recommender systems so far

Policies for promoting agricultural development. Report of a Conference on Productivity and Innovation in Agriculture in the Underdeveloped Countries / David Hapgood, Editor ; Max F. Millikan, Conference Chairman

Conference held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Endicott House, Dedham, Massachusetts, June 29 through August 7, 1964Conference financed by A.E.D"1514"--handwritten on cove

Integrated pest management : farmer field schools generate sustainable practices : a case study in Central Java evaluating IPM training

An evaluation study of the National Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Programme in Indonesia was conducted in one Central-Javanese district looking into processes and effects occurring at the village level when sustainable practices in rice cultivation, which contrast in many respects with the prevailing high-external- input technology, are introduced through nonformal farmer training in conditions created by policy measures. The IPM training contents consisted of a set of principles, instead of preset recommendation, providing the farmers with a tool for decision making. Training processes were field-oriented and based on experiential learning. Main objective was that farmers become independent decision makers and managers of their farms. Trainers performed as facilitators of the learning process. As a result of training, farmers took better-informed pest management decisions, pesticide use and expenditures on pest control decreased, yields increased, and yield variability became smaller. Horizontal communication on IPM was hampered by the non-representativeness of trained farmers in the farming communities.The nonformal training approach appeared to be consistent with the ecological approach of IPM. The experience of the Indonesian IPM Programme showed interesting perspectives for extension supporting sustainable agriculture

Evaluating the sustainability of urban agriculture projects

Evaluating the sustainability of urban agriculture projects. 5. International Symposium for Farming Systems Design (AGRO2015

Reorientating social learning: an ethnographic exploration of metacognition and critical discourse in farmer discussion groups

This PhD project explored whether, how and why social learning was promoted through the peer-to-peer interactions of seven farmer discussion groups (FDGs) throughout South West England. Social learning theory provided the conceptual frame for the study, building on Bandura’s original theory focused on cognitive development and self-regulation through interaction with one’s environment (in the form of behaviour modelling by role models) to incorporate metacognitive outcomes through self-reflexivity. The role of the facilitator was also explored within the context of the groups. Conducted using an ethnographic methodology, participant observation was carried out at each group’s monthly or quarterly meetings as well as semi-structured interviews with the five facilitators / coordinators and nineteen farmer participants (as well as familial partners in the business where possible). All FDGs were found to exhibit behaviour modelling in the course of their interactions and participant engagement in observational learning. This related to the element of role modelling, which was important throughout the groups as well in terms of who was modelling the behaviours and the impact that had on the observers’ attention, motivation and self-efficacy to learn (cognitively process, retain and potentially produce the behaviour) from her or him. The extent to which the various groups’ interactions promoted self-reflexivity by the participants differed, however, due to their varying engagement in critical discourse. That element was found to be highly influential in promoting metacognition, but its emergence was dependent on the different groups’ ecologies for collaborative learning supporting those norms for interaction, highlighting nuances in trust amongst groups with strong bonding social capital. The facilitators of those learning processes were found to play a vital role in supporting the groups’ ecologies to incorporate critical discourse, social learning and metacognition. The findings therefore suggest that certain elements should be present if collaborative learning processes intend to promote social learning

Adult education programmes for women in rural Thailand : with special reference to the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of the Interior and the National Council of Women

This research investigates adult education programmes for women in rural Thailand, provided by the Ministries of Education, and the Interior, and the National Council of Women.Chapter I presents findings which show that there is a higher percentage of women than men illiterates: that more men than women enrol in elementary and secondary education, but that almost equal numbers enrol in universities. The evidence shows that women's traditional occupations determine their choice of subjects of study.Chapter II discusses the development of adult education, describing its aims and philosophy, the 1940 Act of Compulsory Literacy, the structure of the Adult Education Division and the establishment of adult education centres.Chapter III analyzes the special educational needs of rural women against the socio-economic backgrounds. Village women are interested in improving the quality of their own and their families' lives; and their ability to earn. Their special learning needs are for dressmaking, livestock product, arable farming, small business activities, domestic skills and general adult education.Chapters IV, V and VI discuss the information obtained from field surveys of educational programmes for rural women in the North and the Northeast. It is shown that the Adult Education Division provides general adult education, functional literacy and family life planning programmes, newspaper reading centres, leadership training and mobile vocational training. The Ministry of the Interior stresses training for leadership, for small trades and co-operatives in home economics, weaving, child care and arable farming. The National Council of Women concentrates on vocational skill and leadership training.Chapter VII discusses the place of the mass media in adult education, including educational radio programmes. It shows that rural women are very interested in music, drama, current news and family improvement.Chapter VIII summarizes the research and suggests that educational programmes for Thai rural women could be improved by drawing on the experience of other countries with similar problems

How participatory is participatory development? : a review of the Philippine experience

About two-thirds of the Philippine population reside in the rural areas, earning an average family income of only half of their urban counterparts. It is, therefore, not surprising that much interest has been expressed in the progress of rural development strategies,the impact they have had on rural communities, the means by which they can be made more effective, and the various alternatives that exist. This timely book by Gelia Castillo deals with a number of contemporary and, to some extent, controversial issues regarding Philippine rural development. More specifically, it looks into two important aspects of rural development, namely: rural institutions and people's participation. The former is about institutional changes in the rural areas : changes in the way things are being done, as well as changes in social organization and in the relationships among the actors in that setting.Whether these changes are deliberately designed and created, e.g., Samahang Nayon, Masagana99, compact farms, etc., or result spontaneously from social, economic and political changesthat take place over time, e.g., the relationships between farmer and hired farm labor, and between landlord and tenant, they nonetheless form part and parcel of the Philippine rural setting. Thus, to fully understand rural development in the country, one must appreciate these institutional changes. The other aspect of rural development which Castillo examines is that of people's participation. Who should participate? Who are "the people"? Are they interested in participating? What constitutes participation? Does participation make a difference? What experience have we had in the practice of people's participation? These are some of the questions that the author grapples with in her work. The coverage alone, as well as the complexity of the issues involved, suggests how courageous the author had been in venturing into this study. Her work demanded that she personally sieve through volumes upon volumes of research reports,,evaluative studies, surveys, graduate theses, etc., organize their findings into an integrated, readable form, and derive insights from many otherwise apparently innocent observations. Through this book, the author has done for us a great service. Not only do we now have access to the results of scattered studies on important aspects of rural development in the country. We can also appreciate them from the vantage point the author has taken, as well as enjoy her fluid, thought-provoking and insightful style. Gelia Castillo has, indeed, made another valuable contribution to our better understanding of Philippine rural society

Sustainable Land Use and Rural Development in Southeast Asia: Innovations and Policies for Mountainous Areas

Sustainable Development; Landscape/Regional and Urban Planning; Agricultur