Implementation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) in school and community gardens

Interest in school and community gardens has increased over the past decade as a method to connect students and communities with food production. Although data on gardens as a source for foodborne illness is scarce, growing practices and settings are similar to those in small-scale commercial production. The objectives of this study were to (1) create a set of evidence-based best practices for gardens based on established food safety guidance for fresh produce, (2) create an intervention for delivery, and (3) evaluate the effectiveness of the practices. The guidelines were designed to impact garden organizer and volunteer behavior as well as organizational infrastructure regarding site selection, soil testing, handwashing, water, composting, garden design and fencing, sanitation, and volunteer management. School and community gardens (n = SO, 10 of each] were visited twice, using a pre-post design, and a risk-based observation instrument was administered. Sixteen gardens (80%) improved their overall scores. While the findings demonstrated that handwashing behavior could be altered significantly (P < 0.01) through the provision of the designed intervention, they also suggest a suitable means to take steps toward a safer garden

Discourses on social software

Can computer scientists contribute to the solution of societal problems? Can logic help to model social interactions? Are there recipes for making groups with diverging preferences arrive at reasonable decisions? Why is common knowledge important for social interaction? Does the rational pursuit of individual interests put the public interest in danger, and if so, why? Discourses on Social Software sheds light on these and similar questions. This book offers the reader an ideal introduction to the exciting new field of social software. It shows in detail the many ways in which the seemingly abstract sciences of logic and computer science can be put to use to analyse and solve contemporary social problems. The unusual format of a series of discussions among a logician, a computer scientist, a philosopher and some researchers from other disciplines encourages the reader to develop his own point of view. The only requirements for reading this book are a nodding familiarity with logic, a curious mind, and a taste for spicy debate.Kunnen de computerwetenschappers bijdragen aan een oplossing van sociale problemen? Kan logica gebruikt worden om sociale interactie te modelleren? Zijn er regels op te stellen om groepen met afwijkende voorkeuren tot redelijke besluiten te laten komen? Discourses on Social Software biedt de lezer een ideale inleiding op (nog nieuwe) gebied van sociale software. Het toont in detail de vele manieren waarin de schijnbaar abstracte wetenschappen van logica en computerwetenschap aan het werk kunnen worden gezet om eigentijdse sociale problemen te analyseren en op te lossen. Door de ongebruikelijke aanpak in dit boek, namelijk door discussies tussen een logicus, een computerwetenschapper, een filosoof en onderzoekers uit andere disciplines, wordt de lezer aangemoedigd zijn eigen standpunt te ontwikkelen. De enige vereisten om dit boek te lezen zijn enige vertrouwdheid met de logica, een nieuwsgierige geest, en liefde voor een pittig debat

Creating Collective Intention through Dialogue

The process of cooperative problem solving can be divided into four stages. First, nding potential team members, then forming a team followed by constructing a plan for that team. Finally, the plan is executed by the team. Traditionally, very simple protocols like the Contract Net protocol are used for performing the rst two stages of the process. In an open environment however, there can be discussion among the agents in order to form a team that can achieve the collective intention of solving the problem. For these cases xed protocols like contract net do not suce. In this paper we present an alternative solution, using structured dialogues, with an emphasis on persuasion, that can be shown to lead to the required team formation. The dialogues are described formally using modal logics and speech acts

Creating Collective Intention through Dialogue

The process of cooperative problem solving can be divided into four stages. First, finding potential team members, then forming a team followed by constructing a plan for that team. Finally, the plan is executed by the team. Traditionally, very simple protocols like the Contract Net protocol are used for performing the first two stages of the process. In an open environment however, there can be discussion among the agents in order to form a team that can achieve the collective intention of solving the problem. For these cases fixed protocols like contract net do not su#ce. In this paper we present an alternative solution, using structured dialogues, with an emphasis on persuasion, that can be shown to lead to the required team formation. The dialogues are described formally using modal logics and speech acts