Search

In this paper, we explore a concept of exercise design within emergency management competence development. The paper presents recommendations for exercise design aspects that may be suitable for gaining collaboration skills and knowledge that responders need in unknown events of high complexity. This study explores the practice of tabletop exercises with complex scenarios that engage participants to discover organizational roles and responsibility division in collaborative action. Empirically, we base our analysis on maritime search and rescue nuclear preparedness exercises in the Arctic seas. We focus on elements that are essential for learners to increase their knowledge of operational complexity and collaborative performance, including understanding one's own and others' roles and responsibilities, formation of interagency teams, their boundaries and interaction between authorities and levels, mutual recognition of risks and learning about resource capacities and their limitations. The study draws conclusions on aspects that are critical for designing emergency management tabletop exercises, in particularly discussions in mixed groups for interpretative learning; own practice reflection for integrative learning; formulating general collaborative competence objectives, and complexity and realism of scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Aims Methods & Procedures Outcomes & Results Conclusions & Implications What this paper adds What is already known on the subject What this paper adds to existing knowledge What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Previous studies on language production in normal ageing have primarily focused on distinct dimensions of older adults’ spoken language performance, such as fluency and complexity. However, little attention has been paid to the complex, interconnected relations between these dimensions. Additionally, older adults have been treated as a homogeneous group, with little consideration for the differential characteristics of language performance across different stages of ageing.This study aims to investigate how increasing age impacts Chinese seniors’ oral language performance, focusing on fluency (articulation rate and dysfluency rate), complexity (lexical and syntactic) and the potential interactions between these dimensions.Spontaneous oral narratives were collected from 60 normally ageing individuals, who were categorised into three groups: young‐old (60–69 years old), middle‐old (70–79 years old) and old‐old (≥80 years old). Four measures for assessing language performance, namely, articulation rate, dysfluency rate, lexical complexity and syntactic complexity, were derived from the oral narratives. Dynamic systems techniques, including moving correlations, locally estimated scatterplot smoothing and Monte Carlo simulations, were employed for data analysis.This study revealed two major findings. First, across different age groups, the seniors’ oral narratives significantly differed in the aspect of articulation rate and syntactic complexity. Specifically, both the young‐old and the middle‐old groups exhibited significantly higher articulation rates than the old‐old group; the middle‐old group also demonstrated significantly higher syntactic complexity compared to the old‐old group. Second, the distinct subsystems (i.e., articulation rate, dysfluency rate, lexical and syntactic complexity) of seniors’ oral narratives demonstrated varying interactions across different stages of ageing. While these subsystems tended to coordinate with each other in young‐old individuals, they exhibited a greater tendency to compete in middle‐old and old‐old individuals.The findings reveal that subsystems of older adults’ oral narratives display varying interactions with the increase of age, indicating that focusing solely on one dimension of language performance may result in inaccurate or misleading conclusions. Therefore, a multi‐index comprehensive assessment should be employed for the enhancement of clinical evaluations of language performance in older adults. Additionally, it is vital to consider the interactional patterns (i.e., support or competition) between language subsystems when assessing language performance in normal ageing. Previous research on language production in normal ageing has primarily focused on distinct dimensions of older adults’ spoken language performance, such as fluency, vocabulary richness and grammatical complexity, overlooking the intricate interconnections between these dimensions. However, investigating these connections is significant for a thorough and in‐depth understanding of language production in late adulthood, which operates as a system comprising interconnected components. Furthermore, existing studies have predominantly treated older adults as a homogeneous group, comparing their language use to that of young people. This approach lacks justification, given the substantial variations in language use among seniors at different stages of ageing. The present findings illuminate the dynamic nature of language production in normal ageing. Not only do the distinct dimensions or subsystems of older adults’ oral narratives (e.g., articulation rate, dysfluency rate, syntactic complexity) change with age, but more important, the ways in which these subsystems interact with each other also evolve with age, resulting in changing states of spoken language production in the ageing process. More specifically, our study provides evidence that the interactions among subsystems of older adults’ oral narratives predominately transition from supportive relationships in earlier stages to competitive ones at later stages of ageing. The present study suggests the use of multiple linguistic indices related to various aspects of language performance to assess the spoken language production of older adults. This is highlighted by the observation that various dimensions of older adults’ oral narratives continuously interact with one another across different stages of ageing, and hence focusing solely on one dimension of language performance tends to lead to inaccurate or misleading results. Additionally, the patterns of interaction (i.e., support or competition) between different dimensions of language performance may reflect older adults’ capacity to coordinate and control attentional resources and therefore should be taken into consideration in clinical evaluations of language performance in older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an interdisciplinary approach aimed to bring into practice some novel Software Engineering theoretical paradigms. The premise of these news paradigms is based on the idea of "ecologies" as realities that take place in the environment of a Software product. These "ecologies" are understood as tight but flexible interactions between the human, social, and technical components involved, where Software is just another component. However, the theoretical paradigms discussed do not offer a viable way to make sense of these ecologies into the practice of Software design and development. Thus, as a more operationalized approach, this paper proposes a framework based on Networks of Activities, a concept derived from Activity Theory, as a resource to help in the design, development, and evolution of these new emergent complex socio‐technical ecologies. This framework has been conceived as a tool for the design, capture, and, especially, to analyze the evolution of these ecologies. The concepts and notations used by the proposed approach are illustrated through a proof of concept that shows the essential ideas and their use in real scenarios. In this way, the concepts discussed contribute to the improvement of related fields like Requirements Engineering, Human‐Computer Interaction, or Software Architecture, among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper contributes to the growing literature on the relationship between relatedness, complexity and regional diversification. It explores regional diversification in an emerging economy, focusing on diversification opportunities of regions with distinct levels of local capabilities. We investigate the importance of relatedness and economic complexity for sectoral and technological diversification in all regions of Brazil during the period 2006–2019. Regions tend to diversify in sectors/technologies requiring similar capabilities to those already available locally. In general, the higher the sector/technology complexity, the lower the probability of diversification. However, in high‐complex regions, complexity reverses into a positive force for diversification. Our analysis shows diversification prospects vary widely across different types of regions in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To disentangle the concepts of primary health care and primary care as well as their conceptual and empirical ramifications for progressive transformation. Methods over 400 international and interdisciplinary abstracts and papers with 96 annotated bibliography abstracts of literature across multiple dimensions relating to the knowledge base around mechanisms in PHC development were reviewed. The text is confronted with the reality, as it exists in the field and makes the case for complexity perspectives to assess this phenomenon in its context. Conclusion PHC complexity is an important analytical tool to interrogate the ways in which this phenomenon is socially constructed as well as in the matrices in which it is embedded. It is also a potent analytical tool to assist in the deconstruction of prevalent linear thinking built around PHC as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have been observing a complexification of interpersonal relationships in contemporary societies. However, current theoretical perspectives on relationships fall short of comprehensively grasping increasingly diverse and fluid relationship types (e.g., friends with benefits, polyamory, living‐apart‐together, coparenting, etc.) and patterns of change. In an attempt to meet the need for more integrative and interdisciplinary theorizing, this paper introduces a first outline of relationship course theory to better comprehend the complexity of relationships. In contrast to previous theoretical perspectives that conceptualize relationships as a single trajectory, I posit that the course of a relationship is composed of multiple intertwined trajectories, each of which stemming from differentiated domains such as sexuality, friendship, love, family, domesticity, and occupation. These relationship domains constitute a metatypology from which to examine the multiple sets of meanings and temporalities that intertwine throughout the course of a relationship. I propose that relationships are defined based on the combination of relationship domains, with different iterations and permutations of these domains producing various relationship configurations. Furthermore, the theory defines three levels of relationship courses: Sociocultural (i.e., stories that circulate about relationships in given sociocultural contexts), interpersonal (i.e., stories that individuals co‐construct about the particular relationships they experience), and life courses (i.e., stories that individuals co‐construct about themselves as relational beings). This proposition will hopefully stimulate the theoretical conversation on the complexity of relationships and foster dialogue between researchers from different theoretical and disciplinary affiliations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies how innovation teams can be optimally configured to yield the best possible performance at different stages of a certain technology's life cycle, which correspond to different levels of environmental complexity. To conduct our analysis, we have employed computational simulations of communities searching NK landscapes at varying levels of complexity. We studied how the relative proportion of exploring agents to exploiting agents in a community impacts the evolution of scores over time, and conducted additional investigations into the role of specialization (i.e., the agents' propensity to take their preferred action) and density (i.e., the expected width of social groups within the community). We discover that majority‐explorer teams are to be preferred when complexity is high and over the long run, whereas majority‐exploiter teams are more effective in the short run and at low complexities. Furthermore, we show that higher levels of specialization yield better results at higher complexities, and that majority‐explorer teams benefit the most from higher levels of density. We conclude that different team compositions are to be preferred at different stages of maturity, and that selecting a time horizon for operations is of crucial importance when designing an innovation team. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to join the dots between psychoanalytic and post-psychoanalytic perspectives in relation to climate change and the ecological crisis and to begin a discussion on the role of joy in sustaining ourselves in the face of the global catastrophe. There is a vital expanding psychoanalytic literature addressing itself to the environmental crisis but a striking absence on joy and what stands in its way. This paper explores what psychoanalysis has to offer in the context of planetary emergency and also asks psychoanalysis to look beyond itself and reimagine what it can be. Joy involves a simultaneous affirmation of both our uniqueness and our togetherness, not only as humans but with all forms of life and the web of life itself. If we were to allow ourselves to actually enjoy our lives, we just might fight harder against our extinction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern product development often generates systems of high complexity that are prone to emergent behavior. The industry has a need to establish better practices to detect inherent emergent behavior when engineering such systems. Philosophers and researchers have debated emergence throughout history, tracing to the time of the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 B.C.) and current literature has both philosophical and practical examples of emergence in modern systems. In this review paper, we investigate the phenomenon of emergent behavior in engineered systems. Our aim is to describe emergence in engineered systems and propose methods to detect it, based on literature. Emergence is in general explained as dynamic behavior seen at macro level that cannot be traced back to the micro level. Emergence can be known or unknown in combination with positive or negative. We find that best practices to engineer complicated systems should contain a sensible suite of traditional approaches and methods, while best practices to engineer complex systems need extensions to this considering a new paradigm using incentives to guide system behavior rather than testing it up‐front. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study novel classes of solutions characterizing the role of complexity on static and spherically symmetric self‐gravitating systems proposed by L. Herrera (Phys Rev D 97: 044010, 2018) in the gravitational decoupling background. We start by considering the minimal geometric deformation approach as a ground‐breaking tool for generating new physically viable models for anisotropic matter distributions by exploiting the Buchdahl and Tolman models. In both models, all solutions show similar results with a slight change in their magnitude for a non‐vanishing complexity factor i.e., 0≤β<1$0\le \beta < 1$, where β is a decoupling constant. However, under vanishing complexity factor i.e., β=1$\beta = 1$, the minimally deformed anisotropic Buchdahl model yielded a constant density isotropic fluid distribution and anisotropic matter distribution becomes an isotropic fluid matter distribution without invoking any isotropy requirement. On the other hand, Tolman model possesses an increasing pressure when the complexity factor vanishes. Furthermore, we also extend our findings by calculating the mass‐complexity factor relationship for both presented models, revealing that the mass is larger for small values of the decoupling constant β and the complexity factor YTF$Y_{TF}$. In this paper, novel classes of solutions will be studied characterizing the role of complexity on static and spherically symmetric self‐gravitating systems proposed by L. Herrera ([10]) in the gravitational decoupling background. The authors start by considering the minimal geometric deformation approach as a ground‐breaking tool for generating new physically viable models for anisotropic matter distributions by exploiting the Buchdahl and Tolman models. In both models, all solutions show similar results with a slight change in their magnitude for a non‐vanishing complexity factor i.e., 0 ≤ β < 1. However, under vanishing complexity factor i.e., β = 1, the minimally deformed anisotropic Buchdahl model yielded a constant density isotropic fluid distribution and anistropic matter distribution becomes an isotropic fluid matter distribution without invoking any isotropy requirement. On the other hand, Tolman model possesses an increasing pressure when complexity factor vanishes. Furthermore, the findings are extended by calculating the mass‐complexity factor relationship for both presented models, revealing that the mass is larger for small values of the decoupling constant β and the complexity factor YTF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the author explores some of the issues raised by the practice of online analysis. In particular, he emphasizes the difference between the setting and the frame and proposes a theoretical approach of the latter as emerging within the transferential dynamic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quantum information measures and complexity of the modified Mobius squared plus Eckart (MMSE) potential are presented in this paper. First, the energy eigenvalues and wave function of the system are obtained from the approximate solutions of the Schrödinger equation via the parametric Nikiforov‐Uvarov (pNU) method. Using the wave function, the Shannon entropy, Onicescu information energy and Fisher information of the system are examined for two low‐lying states along with the modified Lopez‐Ruiz‐Mancini‐Calbet (LMC) complexity and Heisenberg uncertainty relation. The results of the work point to the fact that the radial (momentum) probability density peak shifts to lower (higher) values with increase in the screening parameter. Furthermore, the Bialynicki‐Birula and Mycielski (BBM) inequality, the lower bound of the modified LMC complexity, the Fisher information sum inequality and the Stam‐Cramer‐Rao inequality are verified for the system. Also, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle is verified for the MMSE potential and the existence of squeezed states is observed for both position and momentum states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let Ln8,4 represent a linear octagonal‐quadrilateral network, consisting of n eight‐member rings and n four‐member rings. Such a graph contains a unique pair of opposite edges. The Möbius graph Qn(8, 4) is constructed by reverse identifying these opposite edges, whereas the cylinder graph Qn′(8, 4) identifies the opposite edges in the natural manner. In this paper, the explicit formulas for the Kirchhoff index and complexity of Qn(8, 4) and Qn′(8, 4) are deduced from Laplacian characteristic polynomials using to decomposition theorem and Vieta's theorem. A consequence is the surprising fact that the Kirchhoff index of Qn(8, 4) (resp. Qn′(8, 4)) is approximately a third (resp. half) of its Wiener index as n→∞. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing methods in social [oral] epidemiology primarily utilize statistical models that assume static characteristics of individuals and environments. While useful, an over reliance on these methods in the social and behavioural sciences can unnecessarily limit perspective and progress as even the most advanced statistical methods cannot capture complex behaviour over time given that systems evolve, environments respond, and behaviours and beliefs crystalize or deteriorate based on a variety of social, environmental and access variables. The recent consensus statement on Future Directions for the Behavioral and Social Sciences in Oral Health acknowledges that dental, oral and craniofacial health emerge from the complex interplay of multiple factors at multiple levels over time and highlights the need for the incorporation of new and underutilized methodologies. Complex Systems Science offers a suite of tools and methodologies that are responsive to the generative mechanisms and processes that underlie population distributions of oral health and disease. Specifically, they assume intricate, dynamic interactions between individuals and groups, they facilitate the study and synthesis of interconnections between people (e.g. patients, healthcare providers and policy makers), how these change over time, any differences across settings, and provide an opportunity to guide future longitudinal data collection and intervention science more effectively. This paper aims to provide an introduction to foundational principles of complex systems, complex systems thinking, and methods found in complex systems science, including social network analysis, system dynamics models and agent‐based models, and offers perspectives on the challenges faced and opportunities afforded in the incorporation of these methods into the population oral health sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale, aims and objectives: Generalists manage a broad range of biomedical and biographical knowledge as part of each clinical encounter, often in multiple encounters over time. The sophistication of this broad integrative work is often misunderstood by those schooled in reductionist or constructivist approaches to evidence. There is a need to describe the practical and philosophically robust ways that understanding about the whole person is formed. In this paper we describe first principles of generalist approaches to knowledge formation in clinical practice. We name the Craft of Generalism. Methods: The newly described methodology of Transdisciplinary Generalism is examined by skilled generalist clinicians and translated into skills and attitudes useful for everyday generalist person‐centred practice and research. Results: The Craft of Generalism defines the required scope, process, priorities, and knowledge management skills of all generalists seeking to care for the whole person. These principles are Whole Person Scope, Relational Process, Healing Orientation, and Integrative Wisdom. These skills and attitudes are required for whole person care. If any element of these first principles is left out, the resultant knowledge is incomplete and philosophically incoherent. Conclusions: Naming the Craft of Generalism defines the generalist gaze and protects generalism from the colonization of a narrowed medical gaze that excludes all but reductionist evidence or constructivist experience. Defining the Craft of Generalism enables clear teaching of the sophisticated skills and attitudes of the generalist clinician. These philosophically robust principles encourage and defend the use of generalist approaches to knowledge in settings across the community – including health policy, education, and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, based on the Adomian decomposition method (ADM) semi analytical solution algorithm, dynamics and complexity of the conformable fractional‐order two‐machine interconnected power system are investigated numerically by the bifurcation diagram, Lyapunov exponents (LEs), chaos diagram, and modified multiscale sample entropy (MM‐SampEn) algorithm separately. The results show that the system has rich dynamics. The angular instability is found and its frequency of occurrence can be judged by the number of scrolls of the chaotic attractor. The coexisting attractors are observed by changing the initial value and the reason is discussed. The high‐complexity region is determined, and MM‐SampEn complexity can indicate different coexisting attractors of the system. The research results in this paper lay a theoretical basis for the application of the conformable fractional‐order two‐machine interconnected power system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The smart specialisation (SS) concept requires a thorough assessment of regional capabilities and strengths to be able to define region‐specific policies to reach innovation‐led growth. The present study proposes a framework that is based on regional workplace knowledge and skills which are good proxies of regional capabilities. In this regard, it evaluates the SS priorities of regions with respect to their industry spaces built upon regional skill bases characterised by skill relatedness and skill complexity measures. By doing so, it analyses to what extent SS strategies are built on regional capabilities and strengths. It shows that regional heterogeneity plays an important role in the SS policy design. High‐income regions tend to prioritise industries in which they have enough capabilities, while low‐income regions opt for new production paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Massive multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) systems improve spectral efficiency and link reliability. Linear minimum mean‐squared error (MMSE) detectors can achieve optimal performance in massive MIMO detection but require large dimension matrix inversion, which is computationally intensive. Therefore, low complexity iterative detection schemes are proposed in the literature as an alternative to the exact MMSE method. However, the performance of these schemes is greatly influenced by the choice of the initial solution. Therefore, to improve the detection performance in this paper, we proposed three hybrid detection schemes, which are Newton–Schultz–Richardson (NS‐RI), Newton–Schultz–Chebyshev (NS‐Cheby), and Newton–Schultz–Gauss–Seidel (NS‐GS). The proposed hybrid schemes show significant performance improvement and a higher convergence rate compared to their original counterpart. The performance of the proposed detectors is further improved by the likelihood ascent search (LAS) stage, which corrects the detected symbols obtained from iterative MMSE methods through a neighborhood search. However, the complexity of the LAS algorithm primarily depends on the initialization step. In this work, we introduce an efficient Gram matrix computation in the real domain. Additionally, we have applied a band approximation of the Gram matrix for the LAS initialization, which reduces the order of computational complexity of the Gram matrix from O(NT2NR) to O(ωNTNR) where ω < <2NT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitative systems pharmacology (QSP) is a relatively new discipline within modelling and simulation that has gained wide attention over the past few years. The application of QSP models spans drug‐target identification and validation, through all drug development phases as well as clinical applications. Due to their detailed mechanistic nature, QSP models are capable of extrapolating knowledge to predict outcomes in scenarios that have not been tested experimentally, making them an important resource in experimental and clinical pharmacology. However, these models are complicated to work with due to their size and inherent complexity. This makes many applications of QSP models for simulation, parameter estimation and trial design computationally intractable. A number of techniques have been developed to simplify QSP models into smaller models that are more amenable to further analyses while retaining their accurate predictive capabilities. Different simplification techniques have different strengths and weaknesses and hence different utilities. Understanding the utilities of different methods is essential for selection of the best method for a particular situation. In this paper, we have created an overall framework for model simplification techniques that allows a natural categorisation of methods based on their utility. We provide a brief description of the concept underpinning the different methods and example applications. A summary of the utilities of methods is intended to provide a guide to modellers in their model endeavours to simplify these complicated models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The capability approach (CA) is a framework for understanding, assessing, and promoting the quality of human lives and social justice. It focuses on capabilities – people's freedoms and opportunities to live in valuable ways. Although its proponents readily acknowledge that capabilities can depend on personal, social and environmental factors, little attention has been paid to the ontology of capabilities (what they are and how they are caused and constituted) and the inherent relationality of the approach is often not well followed through in research and practice. This, we suggest, leaves the CA vulnerable to misinterpretation and misappropriation. In this paper we draw on the complementary lenses of critical realism, hermeneutics and complexity theory to develop an explicitly relational ontology of capabilities that explains how capabilities, as potential for ways of being or forms of doing, are generated by both personal agency and material and social structures. We demonstrate how these lenses can illuminate the relational constitution of particular capabilities through reference to a composite case involving a man called Bert and his healthcare team. We outline how our relational ontology of capabilities can demand and support more theoretically coherent and socially just approaches to CA informed practice, research and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines why a move towards a complex adaptive systems model of behaviour is required if the goal is to generate better understanding of how individuals and groups interact with their environment in a disaster setting. To accomplish this objective, a bridge must be built between the broader social sciences and behavioural economics to incorporate discipline‐specific insights that are needed to move towards complexity. This is only possible through a deeper understanding of behaviour and how the environment in which they occur can influence actions. It is then that one can counteract the poor behavioural predictions, flawed policies based on myth, inefficient design, and suboptimal outcomes that have flourished in the absence of a complex adaptive systems model. This paper provides a conceptual framework that draws on concepts from across the natural and social sciences, such as behavioural economics, endocrinology, psychology, sociobiology, and sociology in order to build an interactive theory of disaster behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From climate change to potentially disruptive technologies to the COVID‐19 pandemic, our era is characterised by unprecedented complexity and uncertainty. Philosophy has always been a promising tool for facing puzzling scenarios. Yet, contemporary philosophy may not be able to successfully face our era's unprecedented complexity and uncertainty. On the one hand, contemporary philosophy results from a kind of hypertrophisation of logos restricting the forms of rationality legitimately usable. On the other hand, our era's unprecedented complexity and uncertainty seem to require not only restricted forms of rationality, such as logic and computation, but also other forms of rationality underdeveloped in our philosophical tradition, such as wisdom. This paper proposes reasons why increasing our focus on wisdom may help us face our unprecedentedly complex and uncertain era in four respects as philosophers: when educating our students; when publishing our work; when talking to civil society; and when acting in our technological era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: To design new revolutionary wireless communication systems, orthogonal frequency‐division multiplexing (OFDM)‐based massive multiuser (MU) multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) has been shown to be the most promising technology to significantly enhance the spectral, energy, and hardware efficiencies. However, massive MU‐MIMO‐OFDM transmitters exhibit signal with high peak‐to‐average power ratio (PAPR). Accordingly, the nonlinearity of the radio frequency (RF) power amplifier (PA), which causes the most severe hardware impairment, is expected to be a low‐cost and energy‐efficient component to enable cost‐ and energy‐efficient massive MU‐MIMO‐OFDM BS deployments, generating harmful in‐band distortion and out‐of‐band (OOB) emissions. In this paper, we develop a PAPR‐aware downlink transmission scheme in an OFDM‐based large‐scale MU‐MIMO. Linear precoding of data and peak‐canceling signals (PCSs) are employed to reduce the PAPRs of the transmitted signals by exploiting the excess degrees of freedom (DoFs) provided by equipping the base station (BS) by a large number of transmit antennas. Specifically, we design PCSs to be added to the frequency‐domain precoded data signals, with the goal of reducing the PAPRs of their time‐domain counterpart signals. Most importantly, the added PCSs have to lie in the null spaces of their associated MIMO channel matrices such that they do not cause any MU interference (MUI) and OOB radiation. In this regard, an efficient algorithm is developed, which is based on different data and PCSs precoders, and the corresponding achievable PAPR reduction and bit error rate (BER) performance are analyzed. Moreover, to optimize a tradeoff between performance and complexity, linear precoders based on matrix polynomials (M‐POLYs) and gradient‐iterative approaches are studied for both data and PCSs precoding. Simulation results reveal that these latter provide similar performance as the regularized zero‐forcing (RZF) and orthogonal projection null space (OPNS)‐based data and PCSs precoders, while they need much lower computational complexity. The substantial PAPR reduction provided by the proposed algorithm offers interesting insights for the design of energy‐efficient massive MU‐MIMO‐OFDM systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates perception of complexity in a novel explanatory model that relates product performance and engineering effort. Complexity is an intermediate factor with two facets: it enables desired product performance but also requires effort to achieve. Three causal mechanisms explain how exponential growth bias, excess complexity, and differential perception lead to effort overruns. Secondary data from a human subject experiment validates the existence of perception of complexity as a context‐dependent factor that influences required design effort. A two‐level mixed effects regression model quantifies differences in perception among 40 design groups. Results summarize how perception of complexity may contribute to effort overruns and outline future work to further validate the explanatory model and causal mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: One of the effective peak‐to‐average power ratio (PAPR) reduction methods in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems is the partial transmit sequence (PTS) method in which the input data stream is divided into disjoint subblocks and the subcarriers in each subblock multiplied by predefined phase factors. Consecutive data symbols corresponding to a source/user are often more correlated, so when the corresponding subcarriers are weighted by the same phase factor, a sufficient reduction in PAPR cannot be attained by the PTS algorithm in common subblocks. To solve this problem, in this paper, we propose a new systematic PAPR reduction method based on a two‐dimensional subcarrier mapping. Specifically, we scramble/interleave each OFDM symbol based on T‐transform to obtain a new set of subblocks which will be multiplied by predefined phase factors. In the proposed method, each one‐dimensional symbol sequence is converted to a two‐dimensional matrix, and the partitions are formed starting from the main diagonal diameters in the matrix. We present the permutation matrix and reformulate the T‐transform technique based on the permutation matrix. Through numerical experimentations, it is shown that the proposed PAPR reduction technique outperforms the previous counterparts. Also, we analyzed our proposed results by aperiodic autocorrelation function (ACF); reducing of ACF side lobes shows that our proposed method cause considerable PAPR parameter reduction respected to other methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is the result of our increasing interest in the experience of illness in families and the concomitant reflections on how best to therapeutically support these families through this process. This interest led us to reflect on the nuanced way in which language establishes a play with the experience of illness, a play that can amplify or reduce its effects. Such an interplay in turn led us to consider the valuable role that family therapists have in helping families and treating practitioners to create a safe space for conversation about illness. Further questions are also explored in relation to whether there is a role for family therapists in facilitating the interface between our clinical practice with clients and the wider treating medical community. And, if so, what shape would such an interface take? Considerations at this level would include the anticipation of psychological reactions to diagnosis of chronic and life‐threatening illnesses, in particular the importance of ‘normalisation’ of the psychological reactions to such chronic and/or life threatening diagnoses; the complex dynamics emerging from the interface between the effects of illness in the subjectivity of the ill person and the grief experienced by the other family members; different family members’ narratives of the illness; relevant community contexts; and, lastly, ways to help the family members and/or the ill person navigate the medical system including the use of second opinions, cyberspace information, and other systems in their ecology, such as the spiritual dimension. Some aspects of children's narratives of illness are also identified. The paper has been organised around the dialogue that the authors had around one of their clinical cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Performance and success for many sociotechnical systems depend on the way the social and the technical parts interact and coevolve with each other. Such dynamic interactions are increasingly becoming an essential part of design and governance of many emerging systems such as sharing economy platforms and critical infrastructures. This paper makes a case for an agent‐based approach to support the design and governance of sociotechnical systems and asserts that agent‐based modeling (ABM) and simulation, with certain suggested revisions, can be a powerful methodology in this domain. This paper addresses three goals: The first is to make a case for using ABM in the analysis, design, and governance of sociotechnical systems due to systemic trends that increase the relevance of ABM. The second goal is to point to a crucial difference between the application of ABM to natural, social, and physical systems, where most of the ABM literature resides and its application to sociotechnical systems. As a part of this goal, we will focus on using ABM as a design tool to guide the behavior of sociotechnical systems at higher levels of abstraction by changing parameters at lower levels. The third goal is to provide a perspective on the often controversial topic of model validation for ABM and discuss various levels of expectations and flavors of validation for ABM. To this end, and building on the framework proposed under the second goal, we present a process that we call quasi‐validation as a suggested high‐level framework to gain confidence in using agent‐based models for intervention‐based scenario studies. Finally, we discuss a set of future research directions in ABM for design and governance of sociotechnical systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically discusses the utility of using qualitative comparative analysis ( QCA) in geographical research following the 'complexity turn'. Although QCA methodology has increasingly been applied in other social science disciplines, it is not widely used by geographers. The major benefit of QCA is that it can handle complexity by exploring different pathways that generate the same outcome, which applies to much spatial research. Significantly, QCA is case - rather than variable - oriented, which is hugely important when considering the significance of context. In this paper we illustrate how QCA can be applied in the discipline of geography through a case study of area-level health resilience. We argue that QCA can be usefully applied to such geographical questions as it aids our understanding of the complex processes that lead to spatial variations in health. Moreover, QCA enables geographical research to bridge the quantitative-qualitative divide. We conclude that QCA has great potential for exploring the complex, spatial factors that influence area-level health resilience by being context-sensitive and case-oriented. We make the case for applying this methodology in future geographical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Network analysis in psychology has ushered in a potentially revolutionary way of analyzing clinical data. One novel methodology is in the construction of temporal networks, models that examine directionality between symptoms over time. This paper provides context for how these models are applied to clinically‐relevant longitudinal data. Methods: We provide a survey of statistical and methodological issues involved in temporal network analysis, providing a description of available estimation tools and applications for conducting such analyses. Further, we provide supplemental R code and discuss simulations examining temporal networks that vary in sample size, number of variables, and number of time points. Results: The following packages and software are reviewed: graphicalVAR, mlVAR, gimme, SparseTSCGM, mgm, psychonetrics, and the Mplus dynamic structural equation modeling module. We discuss the utility each procedure has for specific design considerations. Conclusion: We conclude with notes on resources for estimating these models, emphasizing how temporal networks best approximate network theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic and real‐time adaptive configuration of Cyber‐Physical Systems (CPSs) results in increased complexity due to a variety of heterogeneous and interdependent variables and creates unique challenges. For example, (a) Emergent Behavior: How do we ensure that system constituents dynamically and adaptively collaborate to produce a consistent repeatable functionality while supporting the capability to upgrade the individual entities through technology infusion; (b) Scale: How do we ensure scalability of these systems by managing complexity; and (c) Risk Management: How do we evaluate and manage the risks associated with the connection and interdependencies of heterogenous systems. Design and development of this new generation of CPSs can be viewed through the lens of System‐of‐Systems (SoS) methodology which is designed to analyze and assess the evolving topologies created by interactions within a large complex system operating in dynamic and uncertain environment. In this paper, we propose the use of several SoS tools and techniques for the analysis and design of next‐generation CPSs. Our SoS methodologies address features such as diversity of component systems, complex hierarchical structures, dynamic and emergent behavior, and interactions between components. Therefore, they are suitable to treat some of the challenging features of CPSs. However, it is necessary to modify these methodologies to address specific aspects of CPSs. Constraints and metrics from SoS methodology, applied to the design space, will support decision on component systems and the topology of their connections, and provide a set of "good designs," with desired characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last decades of developments in animal breeding, genetics, genomics and data recording technologies have allowed the evaluation of larger numbers of animal and animal traits than ever before. This should help make animal breeding choices more informed, but it also makes them far more complex. This complexity may be overwhelming farmers, thus compromising realization of potential genetic gain in livestock industries. However, the effect of complexity of animal breeding choices on farmers' selection of animals has received very little theoretical consideration to date. This paper reviews the theoretical principles of complex decisions, contextualizes the findings to the field of animal breeding, and analyses how farmers and the animal breeding industry are currently dealing with complexity. According to the findings of the analyses of complex decisions in other fields, the complexity of animal breeding choices is likely to lead to farmers using conscious or unconscious simplifying strategies (heuristics) to handle such complexity. When these heuristics are ineffective, poor selection decisions and a potential loss of genetic progress can be expected. Further, studies using survey experiments to understand farmer behaviour and selection preferences may be compromised by the complexity of the survey´s choice tasks. Thus, while many animal breeding industries recognize the complexity of animal breeding choices for farmers and attempts are made to assist farmers in their choice making, the effectiveness of these attempts is not well quantified and understood. We discuss three areas of research that could be key to disentangling how, and by how much, animal breeding choice complexity affects farmers' decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Something important is happening in applied, interdisciplinary research, particularly in the field of applied health research. The vast array of papers in this edition are evidence of a broad change in thinking across an impressive range of practice and academic areas. The problems of complexity, the rise of chronic conditions, overdiagnosis, co‐morbidity, and multi‐morbidity are serious and challenging, but we are rising to that challenge. Key conceptions regarding science, evidence, disease, clinical judgement, and health and social care are being revised and their relationships reconsidered: Boundaries are indeed being redrawn; reasoning is being made “fit for practice.” Ideas like “person‐centred care” are no longer phrases with potential to be helpful in some yet‐to‐be‐clarified way: Theorists and practitioners are working in collaboration to give them substantive import and application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a qualitative study of child protection in the UK. The research involved children's practitioners from a range of agencies, including social care, education, health and youth offending, who were asked about working together on complex child protection cases. The aim was to explore how participants talked about complexity in these cases, in order to deconstruct influential perspectives on interprofessional working. Interview transcripts were analysed using critical discourse analysis, a qualitative method that examines patterns of language use in relation to social structures of power and control. The findings identified three overall perspectives: clinical, expert system and relation‐centred approaches, which practitioners combined in various ways. These perspectives have a bearing on how the ‘team around the child’ is conceptualized in discourse about child protection. The paper links these findings to the assumptions of predictability and control currently embedded in policy and practice guidance, and explores their implications for social workers and other children's practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on doctoral research carried out in the UK into the experience of complexity in child protection work. The study explored what complexity meant for practitioners, and examined its significance for interprofessional working. A qualitative, case-based approach was adopted, drawing on the experiences of 17 practitioners working on two separate child protection cases. Participants were from a range of agencies, including children's social care, education, youth offending and child/adolescent mental health. Two rounds of semi-structured interviews were carried out over a period of four months. Interview transcripts were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis, a research methodology derived from qualitative psychology. The findings revealed complexity to be a multifaceted phenomenon, driven by the dynamics of cause and effect in open social systems. Practitioners' perception of unpredictability and volatility in these cases fed into various aspects of collaborative work: the experience of relationships, the process of assessment, efforts at intervention and concerns about risk. The paper concludes by exploring some implications for policy and practice in terms of how interprofessional networks are set up to manage the needs of vulnerable children and families. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Messages Complexity makes it hard for practitioners to understand cause and effect, predict outcomes and control the course of events., To manage complexity, the team around the child may need to operate as a strategic unit rather than a collection of tactical interventions., When complex cases become 'stuck', professional networks may need additional support and consultation from specialist agencies., 'Complexity makes it hard for practitioners to understand cause and effect, predict outcomes and control the course of events' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The factors that make a society sustainable, or vulnerable to collapse, can rarely be discerned within a human lifetime. Sustainability challenges develop over periods of decades, generations, or centuries. Sustainability must therefore be a historical science. A major challenge of the IHOPE program is how to draw valid comparisons among different kinds of societies, existing at different times, that can clarify our contemporary problems of sustainability. This paper develops and illustrates a theory for understanding sustainability and collapse that has cross-cultural applicability. Illustrating the theory by the collapse of the Western Roman Empire yields new insights into what it means to be a sustainable society. Comparison to the Maya reveals that, despite many differences, the Roman Empire and Maya polities underwent similar patterns of cultural evolution, and developed similar vulnerabilities. Comparison of both historical cases to the sustainability challenges of today demonstrates that contemporary industrial societies face evolutionary processes similar to those experienced by the Romans and the Maya. This analysis yields several points that are worthwhile for policy makers to understand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale, aims and objectives The purpose of medical education is to produce competent and capable professional practitioners who can combine the art and science of medicine. Moreover, this process must prepare individuals to practise in a field in which knowledge is increasing and the contexts in which that knowledge is applied are changing in unpredictable ways. The 'basic sciences' are important in the training of a physician. The goal of basic science training is to learn it in a way that the material can be applied in practice. Much effort has been expended to integrate basic science and clinical training, while adding many other topics to the medical curriculum. This effort has been challenging. The aims of the paper are (1) to propose a unifying conceptual framework that facilitates knowledge integration among all levels of living systems from cell to society and (2) illustrate the organizing principles with two examples of the framework in action - cybernetic systems (with feedback) and distributed robustness. Methods Literature related to hierarchical and holarchical frameworks was reviewed. Results An organizing framework derived from living systems theory and spanning the range from molecular biology to health systems management was developed. The application of cybernetic systems to three levels (regulation of pancreatic beta cell production of insulin, physician adjustment of medication for glycaemic control and development and action of performance measures for diabetes care) was illustrated. Similarly distributed robustness was illustrated by the DNA damage response system and principles underlying patient safety. Conclusions Each of the illustrated organizing principles offers a means to facilitate the weaving of basic science and clinical medicine throughout the course of study. The use of such an approach may promote systems thinking, which is a core competency for effective and capable medical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses health policy and systems research in complex and rapidly changing contexts. It focuses on ethical issues at stake for researchers working with government policy makers to provide evidence to inform major health systems change at scale, particularly when the dynamic nature of the context and ongoing challenges to the health system can result in unpredictable outcomes. We focus on situations where 'country ownership' of HSR is relatively well established and where there is significant involvement of local researchers and close ties and relationships with policy makers are often present. We frame our discussion around two country case studies with which we are familiar, namely China and South Africa and discuss the implications for conducting 'embedded' research. We suggest that reflexivity is an important concept for health system researchers who need to think carefully about positionality and their normative stance and to use such reflection to ensure that they can negotiate to retain autonomy, whilst also contributing evidence for health system change. A research process informed by the notion of reflexive practice and iterative learning will require a longitudinal review at key points in the research timeline. Such review should include the convening of a deliberative process and should involve a range of stakeholders, including those most likely to be affected by the intended and unintended consequences of change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of complexity is a popular and contentious topic. Just what is complexity? What does it mean to ‘think complexly’? This paper addresses both of these issues. Complexity thinking is impossible to define with any precision as it deals not only with change, dynamic change, evergoing, but with transformative change. Definitions require stability, the very element complexity neither has nor aspires to have. Instead complexity asks us to see, to deal with a world in continual flux; but a world that does have patterns to it, patterns that bind and structure through their interplay. In short, complexity seeing/thinking asks us to envision our world and events within that world in terms, not of ‘things’ but of process. In so doing, we are moving from a science that studies particles to the new sciences of chaos and complexity that study the interactive relations between and among particles, events, happenings. After distinguishing the similarities and contrasts between chaos and complexity, and showing the characteristics of each, along with looking at systems closed and open, frames modern and post-modern, this paper enumerates practical aspects of thinking complexly: accepting ambiguity, allowing humility to permeate one's being, and seeking out and utilizing difference and diversity. The health care profession by its very nature of dealing with that which is dynamically living deals with the complex daily. Its routines and rules, though, are too often caught in a modernist trap. This paper challenges all health care professionals to break free from that trap, and suggests ways to do so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zinkin's lucid challenge to Jung makes perfect sense. Indeed, it is the implications of this ‘making sense’ that this paper addresses. For Zinkin's characterization of the ‘self’ takes it as a ‘concept’ requiring coherence; a variety of abstract non-contextual knowledge that itself has a mythical heritage. Moreover, Zinkin's refinement of Jung seeks to make his work fit for the scientific paradigm of modernity. In turn, modernity's paradigm owes much to Newton's notion of knowledge via reductionism. Here knowledge or investigation is divided up into the smallest possible units with the aim of eventually putting it all together into ‘one’ picture of scientific truth. Unfortunately, ‘reductionism’ does not do justice to the resonant possibilities of Jung's writing. These look forward to a new scientific paradigm of the twenty-first century, of the interactive ‘field’, emergence and complexity theory. The paper works paradoxically by discovering Zinkin's ‘intersubjective self’ after all, in two undervalued narratives by Jung, his doctoral thesis and a short late ghost story. However, in the ambivalences and radical fictional experimentation of these fascinating texts can be discerned an-Other self, one both created and found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theories of natural language syntax often characterize grammatical knowledge as a form of abstract computation. This paper argues that such a characterization is correct, and that fundamental properties of grammar can and should be understood in terms of restrictions on the complexity of possible grammatical computation, when defined in terms of generative capacity. More specifically, the paper demonstrates that the computational restrictiveness imposed by Tree Adjoining Grammar provides important insights into the nature of human grammatical knowledge. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Recent years have seen an increasing interest in the study of continuous-time computational models. However, not so much has been done with respect to setting up a complexity theoretic framework for such models. The present paper intends to go a step into this direction. We consider problems over the real numbers which we try to relate to Lyapunov theory for dynamical systems: The global minimizers of particular energy functions are supposed to give solutions of the problem. The structure of such energy functions leads to the introduction of problem classes U and NU; for the systems we are considering they parallel the classical complexity classes P and NP. We then introduce a notion of reducibility among problems and show existence of complete problems for NU and for PU, a polynomial hierarchy of continuous-time problems. For previous work on the computational capabilities of continuous-time systems see the surveys by Cris Moore [9] and by Pekka Orponen [10]. Our paper presents a step into the direction of creating a general framework for a complexity theory of continuous-time systems as outlined in [10]. It is closely related to work done by A. Ben-Hur, H. Siegelmann, and S. Fishman [12, 11]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relatedness has become a key concept for studying the diversification of firms, regions and countries. However, studies tend to treat relatedness as being time‐invariant or, alternatively, consider its evolution as exogenously given. This study argues that relatedness is inherently dynamic and endogenous to technological and economic developments. Using patent data, we test the extent to which relatedness between technologies developed along co‐location and differences in technological complexity in 1980–2010. Our results show that co‐located technologies are more likely to become related over time. Moreover, our results suggest that co‐location and complexity of technologies are conducive to the intensification of relatedness over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The city is a growing centre of humanitarian concern. Yet, aid agencies, governments and donors are only beginning to comprehend the scale and, importantly, the complexity of the humanitarian challenge in urban areas. Using the case study of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, this paper examines the analytical utility of recent research on complex urban systems in strengthening scholarly understanding of urban disaster risk management, and outlines its operational relevance to disaster preparedness. Drawing on a literature review and 26 interviews with actors from across the Government of Nepal, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, non-governmental organisations, United Nations agencies, and at-risk communities, the study argues that complexity can be seen as a defining feature of urban systems and the risks that confront them. To manage risk in these systems effectively, preparedness efforts must be based on adaptive and agile approaches, incorporating the use of network analysis, partnerships, and new technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Enterprises are essential to the sustainment of our modern society. However, they rarely receive the level of attention and rigor that technical systems do. Treating enterprises as systems is a promising approach, but enterprises depend on a substantial social component. The inherent complexity of social systems introduces epistemic limitations that inhibit our ability to model social systems and predict their behavior. Consequently, traditional engineering approaches that rely on prediction and control can be ineffective or misleading when applied to enterprises. In this paper we explore the implications of these epistemic limitations on the engineering of enterprises. We conclude that it is necessary to apply dynamic strategies to mitigate these limitations and adapt enterprise modeling efforts accordingly. The goal with enterprises, in contrast to traditional technical systems, is to influence rather than control. We outline an interdisciplinary research agenda to progress toward this goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A review is presented of the relation between information and entropy, focusing on two main issues: the similarity of the formal definitions of physical entropy, according to statistical mechanics, and of information, according to information theory; and the possible subjectivity of entropy considered as missing information. The paper updates the 1983 analysis of Shaw and Davis. The difference in the interpretations of information given respectively by Shannon and by Wiener, significant for the information sciences, receives particular consideration. Analysis of a range of material, from literary theory to thermodynamics, is used to draw out the issues. Emphasis is placed on recourse to the original sources, and on direct quotation, to attempt to overcome some of the misunderstandings and oversimplifications that have occurred with these topics. Although it is strongly related to entropy, information is neither identical with it, nor its opposite. Information is related to order and pattern, but also to disorder and randomness. The relations between information and the 'interesting complexity,' which embodies both patterns and randomness, are worthy of attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complexity of a quantum state may be closely related to the usefulness of the state for quantum computation. We discuss this link using the tree size of a multiqubit state, a complexity measure that has two noticeable (and, so far, unique) features: it is in principle computable, and non-trivial lower bounds can be obtained, hence identifying truly complex states. In this paper, we first review the definition of tree size, together with known results on the most complex three and four qubits states. Moving to the multiqubit case, we revisit a mathematical theorem for proving a lower bound on tree size that scales superpolynomially in the number of qubits. Next, states with superpolynomial tree size, the Immanant states, the Deutsch-Jozsa states, the Shor's states and the subgroup states, are described. We showed that the universal resource state for measurement based quantum computation, the 2D cluster state, has superpolynomial tree size. Moreover, we showed how the complexity of subgroup states and the 2D cluster state can be verified efficiently. The question of how tree size is related to the speed up achieved in quantum computation is also addressed. We show that superpolynomial tree size of the resource state is essential for measurement based quantum computation. The necessary role of large tree size in the circuit model of quantum computation is still a conjecture; and we prove a weaker version of the conjecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transboundary governance of Pacific salmon fisheries requires interactions between institutions that can enable collective action, collaboration, and continuous learning. However, relatively little is known concerning how civil servants in different institutions and jurisdictions interact with each other within transboundary policy settings. In this paper, we explore the interactions of civil servants from agencies in five jurisdictions: United States (federal), Canada (federal), British Columbia, Yukon, and Alaska, to assess the extent to which they interact within the Pacific salmon policy network and also the social capital (i.e., formal and informal communication and trust) present among these working relationships. Our results reveal patchy patterns of interagency communication, and relatively low levels of interagency trust between jurisdictions, suggesting the potential for improved collaboration on Pacific salmon governance. Our analysis also revealed that the binational Pacific Salmon Commission had the highest levels of trust within the network, suggesting it is likely well placed to foster collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resilience is one of the dominant tropes in contemporary policy, practice and academic debate. This paper situates resilience within historical and contemporary approaches to international intervention, governance and analysis. It contains three related arguments suggesting that resilience reflects and seeks to offer a positive alternative to the loss of modern frameworks. First, it is argued that resilience emerged in international intervention as a response to the limits of liberal internationalism in the 1990s. Second, that resilience has emerged as a post-liberal episteme that reflects and seeks to engage the 'reality' of complex life as an alternative to modernist frameworks of analysis. Today, rather than being seen as a limit, complexity is positively foregrounded under resilience frameworks as an active force that has moved beyond the limitations of modern frameworks. Third, this emergence of resilience as a post-liberal episteme that actively responds to complex life can be usefully explained through reflecting on recent work that engages Foucault's notions of biopower and biopolitics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Causal layered analysis (CLA) is an emerging qualitative methodology adopted in the discipline of planning as an approach to deconstruct complex social issues. With psychologists increasingly confronted with complex, and 'wicked' social and community issues, we argue that the discipline of psychology would benefit from adopting CLA as an analytical method. Until now, the application of CLA for data interpretation has generally been poorly defined and overwhelming for the novice. In this paper we propose an approach to CLA that provides a method for the deconstruction and analysis of complex social psychological issues. We introduce CLA as a qualitative methodology well suited for psychology, introduce the epistemological foundations of CLA, define a space for it adoption within the discipline, and, outline the steps for conducting a CLA using an applied example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life is a relationship among various kinds of agents interacting at different scales in ways that are multifarious, complex, and emergent. Life is always a part of an ecological embedding in communities of interaction, which in turn structure and influence how life evolves. Evolution is essential for understanding life and biodiversity. Henri Bergson's Creative Evolution suggests a way of examining 'tendencies' without 'teleology.' In this paper I reexamine that work in light of recent concepts in evolutionary ecology, and explore how agential aspects of life are essential for understanding how emergence provides a basis for a process-based metaphysics of life. In support of this project, I will explore how the major transitions of life on Earth have proceeded through increasing levels of cooperation among agents (e.g., mitochondria in animal cells forming a mutualistic relationship), which have allowed further emergences and complexity to evolve. This complexity always, however, emerges in the context of ecological relationships and a nonteleological evolutionary process. Yet, while nonteleological, the progression of life thus far on this planet seems to hold the promise of certain tendencies that seem inherent in life itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]