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Detecting ‘green shoots’ of agri-food systems transformation: a framework and insights from the spread of non-pesticide approaches in South India
Get PDFSystem innovation is a signature feature of agri-food system transformation. Such system innovation often occurs in niches. However, how the "green shoots" of transformation can be detected and appraised through time remains ambiguous. This paper proposes, applies and tests a framework that could be used as a ‘transformation assessment tool’ to evaluate the level of system innovation in a domain of change. The framework is tested against a case study of a Non-Pesticide Management initiative in South India. The framework helps to reveal how, over 20 years, the initiative triggered a number of system innovations that opened a new development pathway, more aligned to environmental sustainability, equity and social inclusion. A critical enabling factor identified for the expansionand "blossoming" of this green shoot was its capacity to flexibly respond and adapt to emergent and largely unknowable agri-food systems dynamics. In its conclusions, the paper sheds light on the ongoing tensions around the defining benchmarks or thresholds for assessing the ‘transformativeness’ of initiatives and change processes. Finding a way of combining qualitative assessments of system changes with quantitative measures of social, economic, and environmental impact could be a valuable vein of research to enhance our understanding of transformative processes and how to enable them
Mucoadhesive gellan gum/poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) films for ocular delivery of pilocarpine hydrochloride
Get PDFThe study aims to develop new prolonged delivery systems of pilocarpine hydrochloride (pilocarpine⸱HCl) for the therapy of glaucoma. Polymer films based on gellan gum (GG) and its mixtures with poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (POZ) at different ratios were prepared by casting. The films were found to be homogeneous, transparent, and sufficiently flexible. The GG:POZ mixtures were examined using spectroscopic, thermal and microscopic methods. Additionally, the mechanical and mucoadhesive properties of GG and GG:POZ films were studied. It was found that the greater content of gellan gum in the mixture enhances the mechanical strength and mucoadhesive properties of GG:POZ films. In vivo experiments in rabbits were conducted to evaluate the practical application of these films loaded with pilocarpine hydrochloride. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the polymeric films compared to traditional eye drops in terms of prolonged release of the miotic drug and extended therapeutic effect duration
Investigating consumers' views on foods from soilless farming systems: a review of the literature and discussion of implications and recommendations
Get PDFIncreasing consumer demand for sustainable, locally produced, and fresh vegetables has prompted the crop industry to adopt new soilless farming systems (SFSs) to supply higher-yield, fresher, and more sustainable foods. To address the anticipated increasing and complex consumer demand for SFSs foods, it is essential to better understand the factors affecting consumer preferences for these new products. The scope of this review is threefold: (i) to identify the main factors influencing consumers' views on SFSs foods (e.g., hydroponics, aquaponics, and vertical farming); (ii) to discuss implications and recommendations for food industries and policymakers; and (iii) to identify potential research gaps for future research avenues. Results from 56 consumer studies showed that consumers' views of SFSs and related foods were mainly affected by product characteristics, as well as socio-cultural and psychological factors. Specifically, sensory properties, sustainability, growing conditions of SFSs, income, education, consumer knowledge, technology neophobia, and affinity were most frequently identified factors. Food industry and policymakers should better educate consumers about the characteristics and advantages of SFSs, which might potentially enhance consumer purchase intention toward these new products. Finally, future research avenues are outlined and discussed
Artificial Intelligence-driven project portfolio optimization under deep uncertainty using adaptive reinforcement learning
Get PDFThis study proposes an adaptive reinforcement learning (ARL) framework for optimizing project portfolios under deep uncertainty. Unlike traditional static approaches, our method treats portfolio management as a dynamic learning problem. It integrates both explicit and tacit knowledge flows. The framework employs ensemble Q-learning with meta-learning capabilities and adaptive exploration–exploitation mechanisms. We validated our approach across 84 organizations in five industries. The results show significant improvements: 68% in resource allocation efficiency and 52% in strategic alignment (both p < 0.01). The ARL algorithm continuously adapts to emerging patterns while maintaining strategic coherence. Key contributions include (1) reconceptualizing portfolio optimization as learning rather than allocation, (2) integrating tacit knowledge through fuzzy linguistic variables, and (3) providing calibrated implementation protocols for diverse organizational contexts. This approach addresses fundamental limitations of existing methods in handling deep uncertainty, non-stationarity, and knowledge integration challenges
El futuro del agua del pasado: rehabilitando antiguas represas para su uso actual en los Andes peruanos
No full textActivating waitlists: identifying barriers and facilitators to pain self-management while waiting
Get PDFObjectives Waitlists for pain management services are often extensive, risking psychological and physical decline and patient non-engagement in treatment once accessed. Currently, for outpatient pain management, no standardised waiting list interventions exist, resulting in passive waiting. To arrest prospective wait-related decline(s), this study aimed to identify the barriers and facilitators to pain self-management while waiting, forming the foundation for a waitlist intervention development. Design An inductive qualitative approach was utilised to explore the barriers and drivers of pain self-management while waiting for chronic pain management. Method Semi-structured interviews, underpinned by the Theoretical Domains Framework and COM-B model, were conducted with people waiting for pain management services ( N = 38). Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed via reflexive thematic analysis. Results The analysis demonstrated four thematised barriers and one facilitator: (1) Shunted Around the System (barrier); (2) The Information Gap (barrier); (3) Resisting Adaptation ( barrier); (4) Losing Hope ( barrier); and (5) Help Yourself or Lose Yourself (facilitator). Conclusion This study demonstrates the severe emotional and motivational impact of waiting, increasing treatment disengagement. The waitlist represents a prime opportunity for prehabilitation to protect wellbeing and optimise self-management engagement. Infrastructural and interpersonal barriers of poor communication and healthcare professional pain invalidation must be addressed to improve emotional wellbeing and motivation to engage with planned treatment. Enhancing self-efficacy, pain acceptance, self-compassion, and internal HLOC are fundamental to increasing pain self-management. These can all be met within a prehabilitation framework. This study is foundational for the development of psychological prehabilitation in outpatient chronic pain management
Job characteristics for work engagement: autonomy, feedback, skill variety, task identity, and task significance
Get PDFThis paper investigates the factors influencing employees’ work engagement with focus on the experiences of employees in Slovenian and Malaysian organizations. Previous research has shown that the closer an employee's engagement is with an organization, the higher the employee's performance. To explore job characteristics that deliver employees’ work engagement, this study employs Hackman and Oldham's job characteristics model, focusing on the core elements of task identity, task significance, skill variety, feedback, and autonomy as a lens to investigate this phenomenon in two different countries. Data from organizations in Slovenia and Malaysia were gathered and analyzed using quantitative methodology. The findings highlight the fact that employees’ work engagement is not necessarily employee engagement; whereas the former examines engagement at the psychological level with an individual employee, the latter takes a broader approach in looking at factors that are also organizational. We find that work engagement is affected by job characteristics—task identity, task significance, skill variety, feedback, and autonomy—but these differ according to context, which we have shown can be in relation to the cultural setting of the organization. While in Slovenia, employees’ work engagement is influenced by skill variety and feedback (structure), in Malaysia, work engagement is affected by employees’ task identity and autonomy. These findings speak to a culture of direct communication in Slovenia as opposed to high‐power distance that is often argued in Malaysian organizations. In practice, context must be considered when designing jobs and policies for managing human resources as employees find meaning in work through different job characteristics
Oxidation by ozone of linoleic acid monolayers at the air–water interface in multi-component films at 21 °C and 3 °C
Get PDFAqueous aerosols are often covered in thin films of surface-active species, such as fatty acids which are prominent components of both sea spray and cooking emissions. The focus of our study is one-molecule thin layers of linoleic acid (LOA) and their behaviours when exposed to ozone in multi-component films at the air–water interface. LOA’s two double bonds allow for ozone-initiated autoxidation, a radical self-oxidation process, as well as traditional ozonolysis. Neutron reflectometry was employed as a highly sensitive technique to follow the kinetics of these films in real time in a temperature-controlled environment. We oxidised deuterated LOA (d-LOA) as a monolayer, and in mixed two-component films with either oleic acid (h-OA) or its methyl ester, methyl oleate (h-MO), at room temperature and atmospherically more realistic temperatures of 3 ± 1 °C. We found that the temperature change did not notably affect the reaction rate (ranging from 1.9 to 2.5 × 10−10 cm2 s−1) which was similar to that of pure OA. We also measured the rate coefficient for d-OA/h-LOA to be 2.0 ± 0.4 × 10−10 cm2 s−1. Kinetic multi-layer modelling using our Multilayer-Py package was subsequently carried out for further insight. Neither the change in temperature nor the introduction of co-deposited film components alongside d-LOA consistently affected the oxidation rates, but the deviation from a single process decay behaviour (indicative of autoxidation) at 98 ppb is clearest for pure d-LOA, weaker for h-MO mixtures and weakest for h-OA mixtures. As atmospheric surfactants will be present in complex, multi-component mixtures, it is important to understand the reasons for these different behaviours even in two-component mixtures of closely related species. The rates we found were fast compared to those reported earlier. Our work demonstrates clearly that it is essential to employ atmospherically realistic ozone levels as well as multi-component mixtures especially to understand LOA behaviour at low O3 in the atmosphere. While the temperature change did not play a crucial role for the kinetics, residue formation may be affected, potentially impacting on the persistence of the organic character at the surface of aqueous droplets with a wide range of atmospheric implications
The influence of 3D canopy structure on modelled photosynthesis
Get PDFVegetation is one of the largest terrestrial sinks of atmospheric carbon dioxide, driven by the balance between photosynthesis and respiration. Understanding the processes behind this net flux is critical, as it influences the global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and hence climate change. A key factor determining the carbon flux into the land surface is the absorption of light by vegetation, used to drive photosynthesis. However, climate models commonly represent vegetation canopies as homogenous slabs of randomly positioned leaves. By contrast, real forests generally exhibit large amounts of 3-dimensional heterogeneity.
We examine the impact of including measured 3D vegetation canopy structure on modelled gross primary productivity (GPP) by looking at how leaf area is distributed. We introduce a methodology to calculate GPP using output from the explicit Discrete Anisotropic Radiative Transfer (DART) model, following the approach commonly used in land surface schemes. The sensitivity of modelled GPP to canopy structure assumptions in Earth system models is explored, using 3D structural information derived from six forest plots using Terrestrial Lidar Scanning (TLS) data. Here, we use the spatial resolution as a proxy for the canopy structure, with the very coarsest simulations containing no spatial variability in leaf location, with variability introduced as the resolution of the simulations becomes finer. In almost all cases, the simulated GPP is reduced, and with the finest resolution this is up to 25%. This contrasts with recent studies showing the opposite effect. In the few cases where the GPP increased, this was only marginal (< 2.5%). These results suggest that not accounting for the impact of 3-dimensional canopy structure could lead to significant biases in land surface models, particularly in forest’s contribution to the global carbon budget. We suggest that vegetation structure is considered, explicitly or through a correction factor, alongside a comparison to existing clumping approaches