12,793 research outputs found
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Why don’t pesticide applicators protect themselves? Exploring the use of personal protective equipment among Colombian smallholders
The misuse of personal protective equipment (PPE)
during pesticide application was investigated among
smallholders in Colombia. The integrative agent-centered
(IAC) framework and a logistic regression
approach were adopted. The results suggest that the
descriptive social norm was significantly influencing
PPE use. The following were also important: (1) having
experienced pesticide-related health problems; (2)
age; (3) the share of pesticide application carried out;
and (4) the perception of PPE hindering work. Interestingly,
the influence of these factors differed for different
pieces of PPE. Since conformity to the social
norm is a source of rigidity in the system, behavioral
change may take the form of a discontinuous transition.
In conclusion, five suggestions for triggering a
transition towards more sustainable PPE use are formulated:
(1) diversifying targets/tools; (2) addressing
structural aspects; (3) sustaining interventions in the
long-term; (4) targeting farmers’ learning-by-experience;
and (5) targeting PPE use on a collective level
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Normative, systemic and procedural aspects: a review of indicator‐based sustainability assessments in agriculture
Several methods for assessing the sustainability of agricultural systems have been developed. These methods do not fully: (i) take into account the multi‐functionality of agriculture; (ii) include multidimensionality; (iii) utilize and implement the assessment knowledge; and (iv) identify conflicting goals and trade‐offs. This paper reviews seven recently developed multidisciplinary indicator‐based assessment methods with respect to their contribution to these shortcomings. All approaches include (1) normative aspects such as goal setting, (2) systemic aspects such as a specification of scale of analysis, (3) a reproducible structure of the approach. The approaches can be categorized into three typologies. The top‐down farm assessments focus on field or farm assessment. They have a clear procedure for measuring the indicators and assessing the sustainability of the system, which allows for benchmarking across farms. The degree of participation is low, potentially affecting the implementation of the results negatively. The top‐down regional assessment assesses the on‐farm and the regional effects. They include some participation to increase acceptance of the results. However, they miss the analysis of potential trade‐offs. The bottom‐up, integrated participatory or transdisciplinary approaches focus on a regional scale. Stakeholders are included throughout the whole process assuring the acceptance of the results and increasing the probability of implementation of developed measures. As they include the interaction between the indicators in their system representation, they allow for performing a trade‐off analysis. The bottom‐up, integrated participatory or transdisciplinary approaches seem to better overcome the four shortcomings mentioned above
Normative, systemic and procedural aspects: a review of indicator‐based sustainability assessments in agriculture
Several methods for assessing the sustainability of agricultural systems have been developed. These methods do not fully: (i) take into account the multi‐functionality of agriculture; (ii) include multidimensionality; (iii) utilize and implement the assessment knowledge; and (iv) identify conflicting goals and trade‐offs. This paper reviews seven recently developed multidisciplinary indicator‐based assessment methods with respect to their contribution to these shortcomings. All approaches include (1) normative aspects such as goal setting, (2) systemic aspects such as a specification of scale of analysis, (3) a reproducible structure of the approach. The approaches can be categorized into three typologies. The top‐down farm assessments focus on field or farm assessment. They have a clear procedure for measuring the indicators and assessing the sustainability of the system, which allows for benchmarking across farms. The degree of participation is low, potentially affecting the implementation of the results negatively. The top‐down regional assessment assesses the on‐farm and the regional effects. They include some participation to increase acceptance of the results. However, they miss the analysis of potential trade‐offs. The bottom‐up, integrated participatory or transdisciplinary approaches focus on a regional scale. Stakeholders are included throughout the whole process assuring the acceptance of the results and increasing the probability of implementation of developed measures. As they include the interaction between the indicators in their system representation, they allow for performing a trade‐off analysis. The bottom‐up, integrated participatory or transdisciplinary approaches seem to better overcome the four shortcomings mentioned above.sustainability assessment, indicator, agriculture, sustainability solution space, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, International Development, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,
Electron-spin beat susceptibility of excitons in semiconductor quantum wells
Recent time-resolved differential transmission and Faraday rotation
measurements of long-lived electron spin coherence in quantum wells displayed
intriguing parametric dependencies. For their understanding we formulate a
microscopic theory of the optical response of a gas of optically incoherent
excitons whose constituent electrons retain spin coherence, under a weak
magnetic field applied in the quantum well's plane. We define a spin beat
susceptibility and evaluate it in linear order of the exciton density. Our
results explain the many-body physics underlying the basic features observed in
the experimental measurements
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Identifying barriers and opportunities for transitions towards more sustainable agriculture through system analysis: the case of Vereda La Hoya, Colombia
The paper presents the results of studies which investigated farmers’ reasoning and behaviour with
regards to the mis‐use of personal protective equipment and pesticide among smallholders in Colombia. First,
the research approach is described. In particular, the structured mental models approach and the integrative
agent‐centred framework are presented. These approaches permit to understand the farmers’ reasoning and
behaviour in a system perspective. Second, the results are summarized. The methods adopted allowed not only
for identifying the factors, but also the social dynamics influencing farmers. Finally, suggestions for
interventions are provided, which are not limited to a technical fix, but address the underlying social causes of
the problem
Self-organizing, two-temperature Ising model describing human segregation
A two-temperature Ising-Schelling model is introduced and studied for
describing human segregation. The self-organized Ising model with Glauber
kinetics simulated by M\"uller et al. exhibits a phase transition between
segregated and mixed phases mimicking the change of tolerance (local
temperature) of individuals. The effect of external noise is considered here as
a second temperature added to the decision of individuals who consider change
of accommodation. A numerical evidence is presented for a discontinuous phase
transition of the magnetization.Comment: 5 pages, 4 page
Testing environmental and health pesticide use risk indicators. The case of potato production in Boyacá, Colombia
Tropentag 2010 ETH Zurich, September 14 - 16, 2010 Conference on International Research on Food Security, Natural Resource Management and Rural Developmentpesticide risk, indicators, sustainability, health, environment, Colombia, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Health Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Risk and Uncertainty,
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