scholarly journals Rethinking Climate-Smart Agriculture Adoption for Resilience-Building Among Smallholder Farmers: Gender-Sensitive Adoption Framework

2021 ◽  
pp. 677-698
Author(s):  
Sizwile Khoza ◽  
Dewald van Niekerk ◽  
Livhuwani Nemakonde
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Implementation Strategies ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Enabling Factors ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Smart Agriculture ◽  
And Control

AbstractThis study identifies the need for holistic understanding of gender-differentiated climate-smart agriculture (CSA) adoption by smallholder farmers who are at the frontline of climate-related hazards and disasters in Africa. CSA adoption is predominantly informed by a parochial linear approach to farmers’ decision-making processes. Resilience-building and adaptation, which forms the second pillar of CSA and can enhance understanding of the CSA adoption nuances at farmer level, often receives less attention in adoption investigations. To appreciate CSA adoption from a resilience perspective, this study focused on resilience-building based on the interlinkage between CSA and disaster risk reduction and applied a resilience perspective in a gendered approach to CSA adoption by smallholder farmers. Through primary data collected in an exploratory sequential mixed method design, the study presents a proposed normative gender-sensitive CSA adoption framework to guide CSA implementation strategies and policies. The framework is anchored in resilience thinking, and some of its key components include gender-sensitive CSA technology development, risk-informed decision-making by heterogeneous smallholder farmers, gender-sensitive enabling factors, resilience strategies, gender equitable and equal ownership, and control of and access to resilience capitals. The proposed framework can be used to improve CSA adoption by smallholder farmers by addressing gendered vulnerability and inequality that influence low adoption.

scholarly journals FACTORS IMPACTING THE COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL OF TECHNOLOGIES: EXPERT APPROACH

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 410-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vaida ZEMLICKIENĖ ◽  
Alminas MAČIULIS ◽  
Manuela TVARONAVIČIENĖ
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Mathematical Statistics ◽  
Development Model ◽  
Commercial Potential ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
Expert Opinions ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Recommended Guidelines ◽  
Advanced Tool

In order to ensure the harmonious activity of the institutions engaged in R&D and to reduce the uncertainty of the commercialization of technologies, an advanced tool for verifying decisions on technology development at early stages of commercialization, i.e. an instrument for assessing the commercial potential of technology, is needed. The article is aimed at defining the importance of factors in the commercial potential of technologies with the help of expert research. To achieve the goal, the following tasks have been approached: (1) on the basis of the created system for factors in the commercial potential of technologies, to conduct expert research aimed at collecting information on the importance of factors in technologies; (2) to apply the methods of mathematical statistics in order to determine the compatibility level of expert opinions and the significance of factors. The system of factors in the commercial potential of technologies and the identified significance of factors can be used as recommended guidelines for technology developers, investors and potential owners in the decision-making processes of commercialization, investment or purchase of technology as well as at the next stage of research on the development model for assessing the commercial potential of technologies.

Evacuation Planning and Spatial Decision Making

2011 ◽  
pp. 358-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. N. de Silva ◽  
R. W. Eglese ◽  
M. Pidd
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Emergency Planning ◽  
Evacuation Planning ◽  
Prototype System ◽  
Gis Technology ◽  
Decision Systems ◽  
Spatial Decision Making ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Evacuee Behavior

Issues concerning the development of Spatial Decision Systems for evacuation planning include realistic modelling of evacuee behavior, decision-making processes that take place during an evacuation, logistics, generating realistic scenarios, validation, technology development and trends for the future. These issues are discussed with reference to the development of a prototype system called CEMPS, which integrates simulation and GIS technology for emergency planning.

scholarly journals Dynamics of Smallholder Farmers’ Livelihood Adaptation Decision-Making in Central Ethiopia

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4526
Author(s):  
Dula Etana ◽  
Denyse J. R. M. Snelder ◽  
Cornelia F. A. van Wesenbeeck ◽  
Tjard de Cock Buning
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Path Dependence ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Probit Model ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Factual Knowledge ◽  
Related Risk ◽  
Adaptation Decision ◽  
Adaptation Action

In previous studies mainly focusing on determinants of adaptation, evidence of the dynamic process of adaptation decision-making is negligible. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of socio-cultural factors, changes in household characteristics, and climate variables on the transition from non-use to use of adaptation strategies. The study integrated primary data collected from households with secondary rainfall and temperature data. The quantitative and qualitative data were analysed using a dynamic random-effects probit model and a thematic approach, respectively. The result shows strong evidence of path dependence in which use of a strategy during the previous year significantly increases its current use. Climate-related risk perception and factual knowledge may not necessarily prompt adaptation action, whereas access to financial resources and farming-related trainings were consistent positive predictors of farmers’ adaptation decisions. The findings entail that economic capacity and the associated intrinsic motivation help few farmers to utilise robust and contesting adaptation strategies. For most households, economic problems and the consequent fatalistic attitude and risk-avoidance behaviour induce either non-use or use of responsive and accommodating strategies aimed at ensuring survival. Path dependence in non-use of adaptation strategies and sub-optimal adaptation actions demand effective institutional supports to address the behavioural and economic barriers of these households in order to build overall community resilience.

scholarly journals A Novel Framework for Synchrophasor Based Online Recognition and Efficient Post-Mortem Analysis of Disturbances in Power Systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (15) ◽  
pp. 5209
Author(s):  
Andre Kummerow ◽  
Cristian Monsalve ◽  
Christoph Brosinsky ◽  
Steffen Nicolai ◽  
Dirk Westermann
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Power Systems ◽  
System Operation ◽  
Critical System ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
System States ◽  
Transient System ◽  
And Control

Synchrophasor based applications become more and more popular in today’s control centers to monitor and control transient system events. This can ensure secure system operation when dealing with bidirectional power flows, diminishing reserves and an increased number of active grid components. Today’s synchrophasor applications provide a lot of additional information about the dynamic system behavior but without significant improvement of the system operation due to the lack of interpretable and condensed results as well as missing integration into existing decision-making processes. This study presents a holistic framework for novel machine learning based applications analyzing both historical as well as online synchrophasor data streams. Different methods from dimension reduction, anomaly detection as well as time series classification are used to automatically detect disturbances combined with a web-based online visualization tool. This enables automated decision-making processes in control centers to mitigate critical system states and to ensure secure system operations (e.g., by activating curate actions). Measurement and simulation-based results are presented to evaluate the proposed synchrophasor application modules for different use cases at the transmission and distribution level.

Identifying Decision Complexity Factors in Ambulance Command and Control

2005 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 234-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Hayes ◽  
A. Moore ◽  
G. Benwell ◽  
B. L. W. Wong
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Interface Design ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Command And Control ◽  
View Point ◽  
Decision Method ◽  
Work Factors ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
And Control ◽  
Decision Complexity

To understand the decision making processes of fourteen ambulance command and control (C2) operators, interviews employing the critical decision method were conducted in two ambulance C2 centres. An emergent themes analysis of the interview transcripts resulted in the identification of the strategies used by the operators when making dispatch decisions. To complement this work, factors that were considered to contribute to the complexity of the decision making task were identified and then rated by the operators to determine the extent of this contribution. As a result the researchers obtained quantitative data regarding the factors that were considered to contribute the greatest to the complexity of the dispatch task from the view point of the operators. The benefits of this approach include the identification of cognitive 'choke points' in the dispatch process that can be addressed during interface design.

Operational and Control Decision Making in Aluminium Smelters

2011 ◽  
Vol 201-203 ◽  
pp. 1632-1641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ya Shuang Gao ◽  
Mark P. Taylor ◽  
John J.J. Chen ◽  
Michael J. Hautus
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Smelting Process ◽  
Interactive Approach ◽  
Naturalistic Decision Making ◽  
Support Tools ◽  
Advanced Control ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Control Decision ◽  
Rich Information ◽  
And Control

In aluminium smelters, the operational staffs constantly face decision making situations for operation and process control and these decisions can have significant impact on the process. The smelting process involves highly complex mechanisms and has rich information but low observability. In this environment, without support tools, systematic information management, or robust control models, decision making is challenging. This paper discusses different types of decision making processes and demonstrates that naturalistic decision making models (Recognition-Primed Decision Making, ie RPD) are more suitable to describe the situations in smelters. A model which combines an advanced control model, a system and human interactive approach and the thinking process in RPD is proposed to improve the quality of decisions for the operational staffs in smelters, hence the efficiency and productivity of the process.

scholarly journals Smart Simulation for Decision Support at Headquarters

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 81-90
Author(s):  
Ariane Bitoun ◽  
Hans ten Bergen ◽  
Yann Prudent
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Situation Awareness ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
Operations Planning ◽  
Support Tools ◽  
First Results ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
And Control ◽  
Command And Control System

Abstract While serious games are being widely adopted by NATO and partner nations, their use is currently limited to training and operations planning. In this paper, we explore new methods that use simulations for decision support during the execution of military operations. During this phase, the commander makes decisions based on knowledge of the situation and the primary objectives. We propose here to take a simulation containing smart and autonomous units, and use it to create new kinds of decision support tools capable of improving situation awareness, and consequently the quality of decisions. The breakthrough behind this initiative is the realization that we can provide HQ decision makers with access to a version of the information that smart simulated units use to make decisions. To ensure the approach was sound we first studied decision-making processes, and analyzed how situation awareness improves decision-making. After analysis of the decision-making processes at various headquarters, and the types of decision criteria employed, we are able to produce innovative information, computed by the simulation, and fed by the command and control system. We then propose a prerequisite architecture and describe the first results of our proof of concept work based on the SWORD (Simulation War gaming for Operational Research and Doctrine) simulation.

scholarly journals Exploratory Honors Students: Academic Major and Career Decision Making

2011 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessie Carduner ◽  
Gary M. Padak ◽  
Jamie Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Career Decision ◽  
Honors Students ◽  
Academic Major ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Career Decision Making ◽  
Freshman Year ◽  
Honors College ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Decision Making Processes

In this qualitative study, we investigated the academic major and career decision-making processes of honors college students who were declared as “exploratory” students in their freshman year at a large, public, midwestern university. We used semistandardized interviews and document analysis as primary data collection methods to answer four research questions. Results indicated that the 17 participants used aspects of rational choice and alternate models in making decisions. They perceived both advantages and disadvantages of their multipotentiality and developed strategies, such as selecting broad or multiple majors, to offset the disadvantages. Students consulted college academic advisors less than expected when making decisions, and they expressed more concern about happiness than either job availability or earnings than did students in other studies.

scholarly journals Synthetic neural-like computing in microbial consortia for pattern recognition

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ximing Li ◽  
Luna Rizik ◽  
Ramez Daniel
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Gradient Descent ◽  
Biological Systems ◽  
Logic Gates ◽  
Structural Similarity ◽  
Microbial Consortia ◽  
Promoter Strength ◽  
Chemical Inducers ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
And Control

Abstract Complex biological systems in nature comprise of cells that act collectively to solve sophisticated tasks. Synthetic biological systems, in contrast, are designed for specific tasks, largely following computational principles including logic gates, analog design, and control theory. Yet such approaches cannot be easily adapted for multiple tasks in biological contexts. Alternatively, artificial neural networks (ANN), comprised of flexible interactions for processing and decision-making, are widely adopted for numerous applications and support adaptive designs. Motivated by the structural similarity between ANNs and cellular networks, here we implemented ANN-like computing in bacteria consortia for recognizing patterns. In cellular ANNs, receiver bacteria collectively interact through quorum sensing (QS) with sender bacteria for decision-making processes. Input patterns formed by chemical inducers, activate sender circuits to produce QS signaling molecules with varying levels. These levels are programmed by tuning the promoter strength acting as weights. We also developed an algorithm based on gradient descent, which is well-accepted in artificial intelligence, to optimize weights and experimentally examined them using 3x3-bit patterns.

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