Role of the Hydrophobic Effect in the Transfer of Chirality from Molecules to Complex Systems: From Chiral Surfactants to Porphyrin/Surfactant Aggregates

2008 ◽  
Vol 130 (45) ◽  
pp. 15176-15184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoubir El-Hachemi ◽  
Giovanna Mancini ◽  
Josep M. Ribó ◽  
Alessandro Sorrenti
Keyword(s):  
Complex Systems ◽  
Hydrophobic Effect ◽  
Surfactant Aggregates ◽  
Chiral Surfactants

scholarly journals The Economics of the Climate

2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 1046-1063 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Heal
Keyword(s):  
Complex Systems ◽  
Integrated Assessment ◽  
Discount Rates ◽  
Risk And Uncertainty ◽  
Policy Choices ◽  
Integrated Assessment Models ◽  
Qualitative Understanding ◽  
Climate Problem

I review the economic characteristics of the climate problem, focusing on the choice of discount rates in the presence of a stock externality, risk and uncertainty/ambiguity, and the role of integrated assessment models (IAMs) in analyzing policy choices. I suggest that IAMs can play a role in providing qualitative understanding of how complex systems behave, but are not accurate enough to provide quantitative insights. Arguments in favor of action on climate issues have to be based on aversion to risk and ambiguity and the need to avoid a small but positive risk of a disastrous outcome. ( JEL D61, H43, Q48, Q54, Q58)

scholarly journals Emergence and Self-Organisation of Complex Systems: the role of energy flows and information a philosophical approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norbert Fenzl
Keyword(s):  
Complex Systems ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Open Systems ◽  
Structural Information ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Philosophical Approach ◽  
Energy Flows ◽  
Energy And Material Flows

How order emerges from noise? How higher complexity arises from lower complexity? For what reason a certain number of open systems start interacting in a coherent way, producing new structures, building up cohesion and new structural boundaries? To answer these questions we need to precise the concepts we use to describe open and complex systems and the basic driving forces of self-organization.   We assume that self-organization processes are related to the flow and throughput of Energy and Matter and the production of system-specific Information. These two processes are intimately linked together: Energy and Material flows are the fundamental carriers of signs, which are processed by the internal structure of the system to produce system-specific structural Information (Is). So far, the present theoretical reflections are focused on the emergence of open systems and on the role of Energy Flows and Information in a self-organizing process. Based on the assumption that Energy, Mass and Information are intrinsically linked together and are fundamental aspects of the Universe, we discuss how they might be related to each other and how they are able to produce the emergence of new structures and systems. 

scholarly journals The emergence of consensus: a primer

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 172189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Baronchelli
Keyword(s):  
Game Theory ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Complex Systems ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Short Review ◽  
Systems Science ◽  
Social Consensus ◽  
Population Scale ◽  
Complex Systems Science

The origin of population-scale coordination has puzzled philosophers and scientists for centuries. Recently, game theory, evolutionary approaches and complex systems science have provided quantitative insights on the mechanisms of social consensus. However, the literature is vast and widely scattered across fields, making it hard for the single researcher to navigate it. This short review aims to provide a compact overview of the main dimensions over which the debate has unfolded and to discuss some representative examples. It focuses on those situations in which consensus emerges ‘spontaneously’ in the absence of centralized institutions and covers topics that include the macroscopic consequences of the different microscopic rules of behavioural contagion, the role of social networks and the mechanisms that prevent the formation of a consensus or alter it after it has emerged. Special attention is devoted to the recent wave of experiments on the emergence of consensus in social systems.

On Thresholds and Trigger Mechanisms

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oran R. Young
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Complex Systems ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Tipping Points ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Socioecological Systems ◽  
Governance Systems ◽  
State Changes ◽  
Trigger Mechanisms

Complex systems are subject to changes that are nonlinear, commonly hard to anticipate, often abrupt, and sometimes transformative. In recent years, these phenomena have become a focus of considerable interest among natural scientists who speak about thresholds or boundaries (often characterized as tipping points), trigger mechanisms, and state changes. Similar phenomena occur in social systems involving shifts from peace to war and back, the collapse and replacement of political systems, and fluctuations between periods of economic growth and depression. In this context, it is helpful to differentiate among explosions, cascades, and inflections. The dynamics of such transitions are determined by the fragility of the relevant systems and the intensity of the trigger mechanisms. Building on analyses of tipping points and trigger mechanisms in biophysical systems and socioeconomic systems leads to a consideration of similar phenomena in socioecological systems of the sort that are central to the pursuit of sustainability in the Anthropocene. In considering the role of governance in such settings, it is important to bear in mind that governance systems, too, are complex and dynamic.

Post-Bureaucratic Organizations as Complex Systems

2017 ◽  
pp. 152-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrizio Maimone
Keyword(s):  
Complex Systems ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Cultural Factors ◽  
Ideal Type ◽  
Final Part ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Real ◽  
Real Nature ◽  
Practical Implications

The term “post-bureaucratic” defines such organizations characterized by the absence or the reduced role of traditional bureaucracy. This contribution is aimed to provide a theoretical framework to explain the real nature and the hidden dynamics of post-bureaucratic systems, adopting a complex (Stacey, 1996; Mitleton-Kelly, 2003), critical (Wilmott, 1992; Alvesson, Bridgman, & Willmott, 2009) and multi-paradigmatic perspective (Gioia & Pitre, 1990; Lowe, Magala, & Hwang, 2012; Patel, 2016), that considers also the influence of socio-psychological and socio-cultural factors. The findings of the research suggest it is opportune to go beyond the epistemological stance of the Weberian concept of ideal type, assuming that contemporary organizations may show hybrid (see Stark, 1992; Grandori, 1995) and multi-status configurations. The theoretical, methodological and practical implications of the adoption of this perspective are discussed in the final part of the chapter and are provided suggestions for present and future research.

A Project Structure Subsystem (PSS)

2020 ◽  
pp. 175-184
Author(s):  
Yuri G. Raydugin
Keyword(s):  
Complex Systems ◽  
Edge Of Chaos ◽  
Complex Projects ◽  
Project Deliverables ◽  
High Level ◽  
Project Structure

This chapter provides a high-level discussion on the project structure subsystem (PSS) through description of main typical ‘project parts’ and their interactions. Project deliverables, labour requirements, locations, technologies, interface points, and stakeholders are reviewed as ‘project parts’. A discussion on interactions in complex systems including risk interactions is reiterated to tell apart intra-risk interactions (internal risk amplifications) and cross-risk interactions (knock-on and compounding interactions). A role of interface points for propagation of cross-risk interactions is accentuated. High-level PSS description for simple, complicated, and complex projects is provided. Chaotic projects are considered complex projects that have been pushed to the edge of chaos and beyond due to overwhelming risk interactions.

Urban planning in the post-zoning era: From hierarchy to self-organisation in the reform of the Finnish Land Use and Building Act

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-335
Author(s):  
Annuska Rantanen ◽  
Juho Rajaniemi
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Urban Planning ◽  
Complex Systems ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Planning System ◽  
Post War ◽  
Administrative Structures ◽  
Intellectual Challenge

Encountering cities as complex systems has been pictured as both an intellectual challenge and an urge to reconceptualise planning practices accordingly. Statutory planning in Finland, like in many other European countries, is built on the principles of hierarchical three-level zoning and area reservation codes. The zoning system reflects two historical tasks: the industrialising society’s need to separate uses and the post-war desire for hierarchical administrative structures. Both these demands are rapidly losing their importance. The article focuses on current urban planning practices and planning rules, discussing their limitations to cope with urban complexity and self-organised dynamics, and aiming to develop new rules that could potentially turn complexity into an asset. Evolving digital technologies provide completely new opportunities for developing urban planning into a more transparent and interactive tool. In this framework, we set out to study the development potentials of planning rules in Finland, where the drafting of a new Land Use and Building Act is currently underway calling for a reassessment of the operative role of the planning system.

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