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Since it was inspired by Bernard and developed and named by Cannon, the concept of homeostasis has been invoked by many as the central theoretical framework for physiology. It has also been the target of numerous criticisms that have elicited the introduction of a plethora of alternative concepts. We argue that many of the criticisms actually target the more restrictive account of homeostasis advanced by the cyberneticists. What was crucial to Bernard and Cannon was a focus on the maintenance of the organism as the goal of physiological regulation. We analyse how Bernard's and Cannon's broad conception of what was required to maintain the organism was narrowed to negative feedback, characterized in terms of setpoints, by the cyberneticists and demonstrate how many of the alternative concepts challenge the role of setpoints – treating them as variable in light of circumstances or in anticipation of future circumstances, or as dispensable altogether. To support our analysis, we draw on the experimental and theoretical work on thermoregulation, a phenomenon that has been considered as a paradigmatic example of homeostasis and has been a common focus of those advancing alternative concepts. To integrate the insights advanced by the original proponents of homeostasis and the theorists proposing replacement notions we advance a framework in which regulation is viewed from the perspective of maintaining the organism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Widespread concern over threats that pose an existential risk to the entire human species has provoked increasing attention and commitment to religious views of digital technology. These apocalyptic expectations of a glorious new digital world draw on American Christianity and play a visible role in tech culture and public life. The reshaping of traditional religions into new, but parallel, technological religions is characterized by a triple transformation of humanity into machines, machines into gods, and the universe into a cosmic and cosmically meaningful computer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The animation-effect of the movement-image constitutes not only a form of life but also a machinic analogue for Husserl's and Kant's accounts of temporality, engendering what Bernard Stiegler calls 'a cinematography of consciousness'. If autonomous movement is the hallmark of the living being as well as the inanimate mechanism, the movement-image likewise subtends scenes of human and artificial intelligence. Pairing a cybernetic reading of Lacan's mirror stage essay with reflections on the self-recognition dance of Machina Speculatrix (an early example of a biomimetic robot), this essay considers how exosomatic feedback loops enable a kind of ipseity for machinic life as well as the human being as technical being. Despite adopting Derrida's ideas of originary prostheticity and automaticity, rendering living beings as always-already machinic life, Stiegler sets arche-cinema against arche-writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prostate cancer is awidespread and global disease which affects adultmales - it is said that key causes of the cancer include age, family history, and ethnicity. In this study, the Kaggle prostate cancer dataset, comprising of data from 100 patients with a mixture that both had cancer and did not have cancer, was used alongsidemachine learning predictionmodels for the design of unsupervised and automated intelligent systems for the prediction of prostate cancer. Two intelligent systems were designed and underpinned by unsupervised learning algorithms, namely fuzzy c-means and agglomerative hierarchical clustering, where the various intelligent systems were able to make a prostate cancer prediction with accuracies of over 80% for the various classification metrics, alongside being able to predict an associated stage of the prostate cancer. Both designed intelligent systems offer a complimentary alternative to each other, and their relative merits are discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study challenges the conventional Cold War narrative that portrays cybernetics as inherently opposed to communist authoritarianism and the perception of cybernetic control as a mechanism of liberal governmentality. It analyzes the introduction of cybernetics into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) during the Cold War. Previous studies about cybernetics in the socialist world have described how the discipline's emphasis on objectivity and decentralization clashed with orthodox political economists and Stalinist science and led to liberal reforms. Yet in the DPRK the introduction of cybernetics was followed by an increase in authoritarianism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses semiotic elements of ritual in human encounter. The notion of an essential ritual presence in the existential/communicative connection of persons has been established in the work of Langer, Gadamer, and Jakobson. Yet, as Richard Lanigan maintains, vital aspects of Jakobson's model of communication are typically missed in the application of his work, a consequence of which is that social science no longer differentiates between "communication" and "information". As such, everything perceived as meaningful is reducible to "message", and thus, effective communication means merely "finding the right message". The regression to our current cybernetic world, along with the intellectual paradigms enabling it, was never a foregone conclusion, but the entrenchment of social science in information theory makes it clear that an epistemological commitment to a semiotic phenomenology of communicative existence—and the visibility of ritual life—may well be our only way out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explains the widespread adoption of Quick Response (QR) codes from a media genealogy perspective. Understanding QR codes as more than the materiality of their machinic embodiments and rather as a method of systematically and repeatedly addressing emergent problems, I argue that the operative logic of QR code is that of convenient efficiency. Convenient efficiency captures three dynamics that drive QR codes' ubiquity: the potentiality of spontaneous system synergies (system/distributed convenience coupled with streamlined efficiency); the autonomy of the subjects involved as part of this cybernetic system (personal convenience coupled with stacked efficiency); and the relative independence of the networks/assemblages that these practices constitute (convenient efficiency). That the convergence between convenience and efficiency as driving forces in contemporary technological culture has origins in the shop floor is consequential to the way motion, time and the body become disciplined—as well as the epistemological practices that cohere around these forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Monatsschrift Kinderheilkunde is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In his contribution to Hommage à Jean Hyppolite, 'Life and the Theory of Life According to Jean Hyppolite', François Dagognet suggests that in order for philosophy to think the then-emerging cybernetic theory of life, it must transform from a 'Philosophy or the Metalogic of the Concept', into an 'Epistemology of Information'. But while Dagognet's position in the tradition of French epistemology is clear, Hyppolite's relation to the field of epistemology is not, and his death in 1968 left his reflections both on epistemology, and on the cybernetic theory of life, underdeveloped. In this essay, then, I contrast Dagognet and Hyppolite's respective concepts of and approaches to epistemology, offering an outline of the broader philosophical project of Dagognet, who to date remains largely unknown to Anglophone scholars. I argue that Dagognet pays homage to Hyppolite not in his (Dagognet's) thesis that the genetic code renders life universally intelligible, but rather in his recognition of Hyppolite's philosophical thought as operating in a field prior to any such thesis, in the field of the question, where philosophy seeks to bring the epistemological and the ontological together in dialogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If psychometrics has long concerned itself with validity, reliability, and fairness, then what could psychometrics learn from the cybernetic theories of AI? Through engagement with Burstein's (2023) Responsible AI Standards, this paper unpacks some paradigmatic differences between psychometrics and cybernetics, points to how recursivity and contingency are both a challenge and opportunity for psychometrics, and how this matters epistemologically, ethically and politically. Following these epistemological differences, the paper raises ethico-political concerns with the promise of the "human-in-the-loop". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problems without initial conditions for evolution equations and variational inequalities appear in the modeling of different non-stationary processes within many fields of science, such as ecology, economics, physics, cybernetics, etc., if these processes started a long time ago and initial conditions do not affect them in the actual time moment. Thus, we can assume that the initial time is minus infinity. In the case of linear and weakly nonlinear evolution equations and variational inequalities, standard initial conditions should be replaced with the behavior of the solution as the time variable goes to minus infinity. However, for some strongly nonlinear evolution equations and variational inequalities, this problem has a unique solution in the class of functions without behavior restriction as the time variable goes to minus infinity. In this study, the correctness of the problem without initial conditions for such types of variational inequalities from a new class, or more precisely, for sub-differential inclusions with functionals, is investigated. Moreover, estimates of solutions are obtained. The results are new and mostly theoretical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the concept of an extendable essay as a web resource for supporting lecture courses. It explains that an extendable essay is a web resource that summarizes the basic principles of a subject and allows users to request details, examples, and test questions. The essay can be useful for preliminary acquaintance with the subject, during lectures, and when preparing for exams. The article provides an analysis of an extendable essay on Laurent solutions of linear differential systems and discusses the structure and features of an extendable essay. It concludes by stating that an extendable essay can be a means of supporting lecture courses and can cover various topics beyond mathematics. [Extracted from the article]

The purpose of this study, which adopts a cybernetics systems approach, is to analyze the circular economy landscape in Romania. It investigates the role of circular economy practices in the country's endeavors to combat climate change and minimize its environmental footprint. Using data spanning from 2000 to 2022, we applied the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model to examine the interdependence between C O 2 emissions and key factors, such as GDP per capita, the recycling rate of municipal waste, and the generation of municipal waste per capita. Our findings suggest that the implementation of sustainable development strategies in Romania has successfully decoupled economic growth from environmental sustainability. This study introduces novelty by approaching the ARDL analysis through the integration of circular economy principles into a cybernetics system. This perspective contributes to informed decision making and the establishment of efficient tactical, operational, and strategic directions. Our results indicate that, in the long run, both the recycling rate of municipal waste and the generation of municipal waste per capita positively influence C O 2 emissions, while GDP per capita has a negative impact. Variance decomposition and impulse response functions were employed to assess the explanatory variables' influence on C O 2 emissions and their effectiveness in explaining temporal fluctuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates numerical solutions of pseudomontone variational inequality problems in real Hilbert spaces. Two new algorithms based on the celebrated extragradient method are introduced. Under suitable conditions, it is proved that the two algorithms achieve weak convergence and linear convergence rates. The results extend and improve upon related works in the literature on the associated extragradient algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurement estimation skills are relevant for our everyday life and should be addressed in the mathematics classroom. This study explores the measurement estimation strategies used by primary school pre-service teachers in length, area, volume, and capacity. The study participants consisted of 120 pre-service teachers who had not yet received formal university training on these concepts. While more than 80% demonstrated the ability to indicate a strategy and provide acceptable estimates for length measurements, significant difficulties were observed in estimating area, volume, and capacity, with many participants relying heavily on formulas. A series of activities were designed and implemented to improve pre-service teachers' capacity for estimation. Results indicate a notable improvement in estimation skills following completion of the designed tasks. This study highlights the importance of addressing challenges in measurement estimation among pre-service teachers and offers insights for improving their proficiency in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The text introduces a translation of Ilyenkov's famous text "On the State of Philosophy," which was meant as a letter to the Central Committee of the CPSU and expressed his exasperation with the development of Soviet philosophy. In our introduction, we describe the historical context of the emergence of the letter, including the main changes in Soviet philosophy in the 1960s (esp. rise in popularity of cybernetics), and the institutional details of Ilyenkov's biography. We point to the contemporary relevance of the letter by emphasizing how Ilyenkov's dialectical account of science can enrich contemporary discussions in the sociology of science and STS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This short interview explores the influence of Evald Ilyenkov's work on contemporary philosopher, art theorist, and writer Keti Chukhrov. The interview focuses on Evald Ilyenkov's contributions to Soviet culture, dialectics, and epistemology. She reflects on the distinct intellectual milieu of Soviet thinkers like Ilyenkov, Vygotsky, Davidov, and Lifshitz, who established connections between Marx and the broader world culture. The interview also addresses Žižek's interpretation of Ilyenkov's cosmology, emphasizing the ethical dimension of Ilyenkov's communist spirit. Furthermore, Chukhrov touches on Ilyenkov's critique of cybernetics and its relevance in contemporary discussions about AI and philosophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Parents' high academic expectations are positively associated with young children's mathematical abilities. However, minimal attention has been devoted to whether, and how, different ways of conveying the performance targets would result in different outcomes. Aims: The current study investigated whether and how parents' perfectionistic strivings and concerns were associated with young children's mathematical abilities through home mathematical activities, children's approach motivation to learn mathematics, and children's avoidance motivation to learn mathematics. Sample: Participants included 211 kindergarteners in Hong Kong and their parents. Methods: Data were collected through individual child tests and parent questionnaires. Results: Structural equation modelling revealed that parents' perfectionistic strivings had a direct positive link with children's mathematical abilities, an indirect link via approach motivation to learn mathematics, and an indirect link via home mathematical activities, and then approach motivation. Parents' perfectionistic concerns had a direct negative link with children's mathematical abilities, an indirect link via approach motivation to learn mathematics, and an indirect link via avoidance motivation to learn mathematics. Conclusions: Early childhood practitioners are recommended to raise parents' awareness of how to communicate high‐performance targets to children in a constructive manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The system‐property or 'cybernetic' theory of goals and goal‐directedness became popular in the twentieth century. It is a theory that has reductionist and behaviourist roots. There are reasons to think that the system‐property theory needs to be formulated in terms of counterfactuals. However, it proves to be difficult to formulate a counterfactual analysis of goal‐directedness that is counterexample‐free, non‐circular, and non‐trivial. These difficulties closely mirror those facing reductionists about dispositions, though the parallels between the two debates have been overlooked in the literature. After outlining those parallels, the paper considers what goal theorists might learn from the dispositions debate. In particular, the paper discusses the need for a realist, non‐reductionist account of goal‐directedness, and explores the idea that properties of goal‐directedness are themselves dispositions or 'powers' of a certain sort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Devising an approach to deterministically position organisms can impact various fields such as bioimaging, cybernetics, cryopreservation, and organism‐integrated devices. This requires continuously assessing the locations of randomly distributed organisms to collect and transfer them to target spaces without harm. Here, an aspiration‐assisted adaptive printing system is developed that tracks, harvests, and relocates living and moving organisms on target spaces via a pick‐and‐place mechanism that continuously adapts to updated visual and spatial information about the organisms and target spaces. These adaptive printing strategies successfully positioned a single static organism, multiple organisms in droplets, and a single moving organism on target spaces. Their capabilities are exemplified by printing vitrification‐ready organisms in cryoprotectant droplets, sorting live organisms from dead ones, positioning organisms on curved surfaces, organizing organism‐powered displays, and integrating organisms with materials and devices in customizable shapes. These printing strategies can ultimately lead to autonomous biomanufacturing methods to evaluate and assemble organisms for a variety of single and multi‐organism‐based applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Machine metaphors abound in life sciences: animals as automata, mitochondria as engines, brains as computers. Philosophers have criticized machine metaphors for implying that life functions mechanically, misleading research. This approach misses a crucial point in applying machine metaphors to biological phenomena: their reciprocity. Analogical modeling of machines and biological entities is not a one-way street where our understanding of biology must obey a mechanical conception of machines. While our understanding of biological phenomena undoubtedly has been shaped by machine metaphors, the resulting insights have likewise altered our understanding of what machines are and what they can do. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objective of this paper is to review the notions of Umwelt and Functional Cycle from semiophilosophical and cybersemiotic perspectives and to propose new ways of reading these concepts. We consider that Umwelt theory is framed within "cryptosemiotics" as a field of knowledge, since it establishes an explanatory field capable of putting new paths for research on the table while allowing the elaboration of theoretical foundations for the understanding of semiosis. In addition, it is possible to establish a cybernetic view on the idea of the functional cycle as a pre-requisite for meaning and communication, which entails a cybersemiotics point of view of meaning emergence. Then, in this paper, we propose a philosophical, cybernetic, and cybersemiotics reading of von Uexküll's Umwelt theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The embedding of a torus into an inner form of PGL2 defines an adelic toric period. A general version of Duke's theorem states that this period equidistributes as the discriminant of the splitting field tends to infinity. In this paper we consider a torus embedded diagonally into two distinct inner forms of PGL2. Assuming the Generalized Riemann Hypothesis (and some additional technical assumptions), we show simultaneous equidistribution as the discriminant tends to infinity, with an effective logarithmic rate. Our proof is based on a probabilistic approach to estimating fractional moments of L-functions twisted by extended class group characters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates the existence and uniqueness of solutions to homogeneous linear equations in supertropical algebra. We analyze the structure of supertropical matrices to identify the conditions in which nontrivial solutions exist for the system of equations A...x ... ε, where A is a matrix over a supertropical semiring and x is a vector. By applying determinant-based criteria, we demonstrate how tropical and supertropical values influence the solution space. The research applies theorems that determine the presence of trivial and nontrivial solutions and uses examples to illustrate practical methods for solving homogeneous matrix systems. This highlights the distinct characteristics of supertropical algebra compared to classical linear algebra. Our findings provide a deeper insight into solution behaviors in supertropical systems, paving the way for further research in tropical mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A neutrosophic set (NS) is a new computing technology that accesses ambiguous data through three memberships. A soft expert set (SES) is based on the concept of a "soft set" with an expert system. Now, this technique has been applied in different domains namely measurement theory, intelligent systems, game theory, probability theory, cybernetics, etc. Customer Churn prediction implies identifying which consumers are expected to cancel a subscription to a service or leave a service. It is a crucial forecast for several businesses because obtaining new users frequently costs more than holding existing ones. The Churn prediction modeling methods try to understand the accurate customer attributes and behaviors that signal the risk and timing of customers leaving. This manuscript offers the design of an AI-based Multi-Dimensional Customer Churn Prediction for Corporate Performance Assessment (AIMD-CCPCPA) technique. The AIMD-CCPCPA technique mainly aims to detect the presence of customer churns and non-churns. It involves a two-stage process. At the initial stage, the AIMD-CCPCPA technique exploits the COPRAS Neutrosophic Method for prediction purposes. Secondly, the AIMD-CCPCPA technique involves parameter selection using a butterfly optimization algorithm (BOA). The experimental analysis of the AIMD-CCPCPA model is examined using a benchmark dataset. The acquired outcomes stated the supremacy of the AIMD-CCPCPA technique equated to other models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Eurasian Journal of International Law is the property of L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper dwells on the problem of regulatory and legal support for the processes of knowledge and information systems management, which take place in the conditions of the digital economy. Specific features and theoretical foundations of the regulation of digital knowledge, technologies, and information systems are considered, and their complexity and dynamic character, which require a high level of flexibility and adaptability from the legal system, are determined. Different levels and elements of the legal environment and regulatory support of the studied processes are analysed, and spheres of the normative and legal regulation and examples of their support, adopted in the European Union as one of the leaders in digital transformation, are considered. The research methodology is based on the dialectic and system approaches, which combine processes peculiar to law, management, state regulation, economics, cybernetics, technical sciences, etc. Focus is made on philosophical and ethical principles of regulating the opportunities for using digital technologies in the modern world. The methodological tools of the research include specific historical method, analysis, synthesis, observation, generalisation, and observation. The value of this research consists in the generalisation and structuring of the conditions and processes of the legal regulation of knowledge and information systems management in the context of the digital economy and the use of digital solutions. This is manifested through a selection of the key spheres of legal regulation and a description of the complex character of the legal environment of the studied processes, which covers not only imperative legal acts but also dispositive norms, as well as the individual responsibility of developers and users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Safety & Security Sciences Review / Biztonságtudományi Szemle is the property of Obuda University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This note aims to establish the influence of a system's political identity on its viability. Using an argumentative analysis of evolutionary theory, organisational cybernetics and other systems traditions, this paper demonstrates the importance of identity to the adaptability of viable systems. It demonstrates how the environment shapes viable systems and how natural selection makes certain political identities viable in systems. The conclusion of the paper presents some ideas for adaptation in viable systems and asserts that these ideas are anarchist in origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the scientific community has increasingly recognized the complex multi-scale competency architecture (MCA) of biology, comprising nested layers of active homeostatic agents, each forming the self-orchestrated substrate for the layer above, and, in turn, relying on the structural and functional plasticity of the layer(s) below. The question of how natural selection could give rise to this MCA has been the focus of intense research. Here, we instead investigate the effects of such decision-making competencies of MCA agential components on the process of evolution itself, using in silico neuroevolution experiments of simulated, minimal developmental biology. We specifically model the process of morphogenesis with neural cellular automata (NCAs) and utilize an evolutionary algorithm to optimize the corresponding model parameters with the objective of collectively self-assembling a two-dimensional spatial target pattern (reliable morphogenesis). Furthermore, we systematically vary the accuracy with which the uni-cellular agents of an NCA can regulate their cell states (simulating stochastic processes and noise during development). This allows us to continuously scale the agents' competency levels from a direct encoding scheme (no competency) to an MCA (with perfect reliability in cell decision executions). We demonstrate that an evolutionary process proceeds much more rapidly when evolving the functional parameters of an MCA compared to evolving the target pattern directly. Moreover, the evolved MCAs generalize well toward system parameter changes and even modified objective functions of the evolutionary process. Thus, the adaptive problem-solving competencies of the agential parts in our NCA-based in silico morphogenesis model strongly affect the evolutionary process, suggesting significant functional implications of the near-ubiquitous competency seen in living matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel examination of the SAFe® (Scaled Agile Framework®) through the theoretical framework of Stafford Beer's Viable System Model (VSM). By applying the principles of VSM, renowned for its systemic and cybernetic approach to organizational management, we offer a unique perspective on the structural and functional aspects of SAFe® in its various configurations: Essential, Large Solution, Portfolio, and Full. The study employs functional modeling to delineate the congruencies and divergences between VSM and SAFe®, aiming to illuminate how VSM's systemic insights can enhance the implementation and efficacy of SAFe® practices. This interdisciplinary approach not only contributes to a deeper understanding of SAFe's® capabilities and limitations but also demonstrates the practical applicability of VSM in contemporary agile environments. The findings propose actionable insights for organizations seeking to optimize their agile practices through a more structured, systemic lens, thus bridging a crucial gap in agile and systems thinking literature. This paper is poised to benefit practitioners and theorists alike, offering a fresh perspective in the agile systems domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Foco (Interdisciplinary Studies Journal) is the property of Revista Foco and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The purpose of this study is to develop new iterative oscillation criteria for second‐order half‐linear advanced dynamic equations. These findings improve and extend recently established criteria for the same equation by several authors as well as encompass the existing classical criteria for associated ordinary dynamic equations. Some examples are given to show that the outcomes are accurate, practical, and adaptable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the critique of cybernetics as central to the history of one of the twentieth century's most infamous avant-garde movements: the Situationist International (SI). Bringing together and analysing a series of seemingly marginal events in the build-up to May '68, this article shows how the SI's portrait of cybernetics as an emerging form of social power and control foreshadows later developments in French radical thought. This little-noted trajectory in the situationist movement also highlights the ways in which aesthetics, theory, and politics are inextricably tied together in the events of May '68. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Projekt-Management Aktuell is the property of Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH & Co.KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Governance theory in political science and international relations has to adapt to the onset of an increasingly digital society. However, until now, technological advancements and the increasing convergence of technologies outpace regulatory efforts and frustrate any efforts to apply ethical and legal frameworks to these domains. This is due to the convergence of multiple, sometimes incompatible governance frameworks that accompany the integration of technologies on different platforms. This theoretical claim will be illustrated by examples such as the integration of technologies on the “human platform” as it is referred to in the case of enhanced soldiers. Hence, successful governance might require new approaches borrowed from a distant relative, namely cybernetics. Insights gained from cybernetics for governance theories might be able to give guidance for a more efficient and adaptive governance approach that is able to deal with increasing complexity caused by technology and governance convergence. While cybernetics itself might be considered a governance approach, it has had surprisingly little reception in the wider field of governance within the area of social and political sciences. This article will develop cybernetic governance as a set of expandable governance principles that are applicable to an increasingly complex digital and smart society. It thereby tries to further galvanise what could be termed cybernetic governance theory as a subject of worthwhile insights from the combination of otherwise largely the disjoined fields of cybernetics and governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent technological advances have made it possible to produce tiny robots equipped with simple sensors and effectors. Micro-robots are particularly suitable for scenarios such as exploration of hostile environments, and emergency intervention, e.g., in areas subject to earthquakes or fires. A crucial desirable feature of such a robot is the capability of adapting to the specific environment in which it has to operate. Given the limited computational capabilities of a micro-robot, this property cannot be achieved by complicated software but it rather should come from the flexibility of simple control mechanisms, such as the sensory–motor loop. In this work, we explore the possibility of equipping simple robots controlled by Boolean networks with the capability of modulating their sensory–motor loop such that their behavior adapts to the incumbent environmental conditions. This study builds upon the cybernetic concept of homeostasis, which is the property of maintaining essential parameters inside vital ranges, and analyzes the performance of adaptive mechanisms intervening in the sensory–motor loop. In particular, we focus on the possibility of maneuvering the robot's effectors such that both their connections to network nodes and environmental features can be adapted. As the actions the robot takes have a feedback effect to its sensors mediated by the environment, this mechanism makes it possible to tune the sensory–motor loop, which, in turn, determines the robot's behavior. We study this general setting in simulation and assess to what extent this mechanism can sustain the homeostasis of the robot. Our results show that controllers made of random Boolean networks in critical and chaotic regimes can be tuned such that their homeostasis in different environments is kept. This outcome is a step towards the design and deployment of controllers for micro-robots able to adapt to different environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interplay between extraterrestrial, atmospheric, aqueous, interfacial, and hydrothermal processes is crucial for Earth's prebiotic chemistry. Volcanic terrains contain polyoxometalates (POMs). Some polyoxocuprates were identified as building blocks of fumarole minerals produced from high‐temperature gases. The existence of polyoxovanadate anions in acidified reducing volcanic aquifers cannot be excluded. At present, it can only be speculated whether life arose around natural POM deposits and/or around their aqueous phase chemistry through acid‐base and/or redox reactions. This Commentary spans different fields of sciences in nature cybernetic loop to provide impetus to explore gas‐phase chemical reactions of multiply charged POM ions, catalysis by POM‐containing mineral phases, the behavior of POMs under plasma‐initiated ultraviolet photolysis, interactions of POMs with microorganisms, bioorthogonal chemistry of POMs, and engineering POM‐based bionic functions inspired by living organisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching music often focuses on developing musical concepts, through comparisons and discriminations. This paper contributes to the discussion on concept development in music through recognition of common elements in a situation and a shift from a local to a general level, considering theoretical approaches to mathematical generalisation. It sets to explore preschool children's understanding of tempo and its use in new musical situations. The research involved a musical intervention in six preschool classrooms. Critical incidences from focus group discussions and non-participant observation recorded children's understanding of tempo from their musical actions, drawings, responses and reflection to teacher questions. The findings highlight that children could go beyond the specific content of the activities and focus on the basic characteristics of tempo, integrating them into their song creations. A teaching approach oriented to generalisation through concept development can assist teachers to elaborate musical content and realise students' level of understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arthur Bispo do Rosário created separate realities inspired by the objects of his surroundings. He intended to summon up everything and report to God. The objects he found or got from other inmates were waste of the Juliano Moreira Colony where he lived in seclusion because the lords of order categorised him as mentally ill. Bispo began by unravelling the uniforms of his seafaring days and Colony clothing and with the threads he wove maps and banners. He collected old shoes, empty milk bags, gears, tools, toys, cutlery, bottles, mugs to shape into powerful amalgams of odd aesthetic narrative. As pieces of the Colony waste were given to Bispo by other inmates and as he turned the scraps into art, his creative strength was offered to the hospital's population and now to museums and art galleries. The observation of this cycle of stunning wonder between Bispo and his fellow inmates suggests the view of unravelling second-order cybernetic processes. Simple things of the world turned into art got new significance in the eyes of the observers. Their poor world became thrilled in delight. As an inmate of a psychiatric ward in Rio de Janeiro, he never stopped his intense and endless work building an inventory of embroidery, assemblages and objects deemed to present the Lord. His work captured the aesthetic sensibility of the Colony population who started viewing the common things of the world redeemed by Bispo as sacred uncaged tokens with divine destination. A virtuous unending cycle of human sensibility and creativity. As observers, we make the distinction of evolving processes in the realm of second-order cybernetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces an emulator developed to assess the operational characteristics of variable refrigerant flow (VRF) for the second World Championship in Cybernetic Building Optimization (WCCBO). The emulator utilizes BACnet communication and provides a realistic simulation for evaluating energy conservation and comfort in buildings with VRF systems. Herein, we discuss the building specifications for calculation, operation of the emulator, calculation method for the vertical temperature distribution, dissatisfactory rate calculation, and consideration of championship rules. Notably, a thermal preference model was developed for predicting the thermal sensation of occupants and adjusting the dissatisfaction rate based on their ability to control the indoor environment. In addition, we developed a method for calculating the total scores during the WCCBO and devised a suitable network structure for score registration. The results of this study highlight the importance of personal control and impact of drafts on thermal comfort. This paper presents a meta-level methodology to determine the best operation for each specific VRF system for a future world championship, whose planning is underway and will be conducted to accumulate information on optimal operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Cybernetic Border: Drones, Technology, and Intrusion" by Iván Chaar López explores the evolution and purpose of the border as a techno-political machine for surveillance and management of subjects in the U.S. empire-nation. The text delves into the use of drones, sensors, and information systems to control and classify "intruders," primarily focusing on unauthorized Mexican immigrants. It also discusses the intersection of technology, politics, and racial formations in border enforcement, shedding light on the complexities of border management. The book is praised for its research and analysis, although some readers may find it overly reliant on buzzwords and wish for more concrete examples of how the cybernetic border operates. [Extracted from the article]

Many philosophers have puzzled over the nature of the logically simple objects, the "substance" of the world, in Wittgenstein's Tractatus logico-philosophicus (TLP). Such questions are misplaced because TLP is committed to the view that talk of such metaphysically problematical entities is part of the "ladder" that must be "thrown away" after one has climbed it. Further, TLP's demotion of its logically simple objects to mere logical subjects requires an increased emphasis on the relations between these alleged objects. TLP's account of its logically simple objects is an application of Russell's relational view of mathematical objects from his Principles of Mathematics applied to "reality". Carnap develops an analogous relational or "structural" view of reality in The Logical Structure of the World. Despite important differences between them, these three philosophers can profitably be seen as replacing the traditional emphasis on substances with a relational model of reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the nature of advances in artificial intelligence (AI), as well as the nature of the emergence of ethical, legal and regulatory responses adopted at the domestic and international levels. Topics discussed include the debate on the benefit and risk of AI, the difference between robotics and cybernetics, and the rise of the number of companies entering the AI industry.

This conceptual paper explores the surprising impact exerted by third elements on the escalation and de‐escalation of conflicts in business families. To this end, we draw on core concepts of Batesonian cybernetic theory to perform a reconceptualisation of pertinent literature on changing conflict dynamics gathered in family business research and consultancy. Based on this reconceptualisation, we identify explanations and key mechanisms for the impact of third elements on conflict dynamics. Our study thus contributes to research at the interface of family business research, conflict research and cybernetic theory development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]