Alternative Framework Research Articles

Bio-analog dissipative structures and principles of biological behavior

The place of living organisms in the natural world is a nearly perennial question in philosophy and the sciences; how can inanimate matter yield animate beings? A dominant answer for several centuries has been to treat organisms as sophisticated machines, studying them with the mechanistic physics and chemistry that have given rise to technology and complex machines. Since the early 20th century, many scholars have sought instead to naturalize biology through thermodynamics, recognizing the precarious far-from-equilibrium state of organisms. Erwin Bauer was an early progenitor of this perspective with ambitions of “general laws for the movement of living matter”. In addition to taking a thermodynamic perspective, Bauer recognized that organisms are fundamentally behaving systems, and that explaining the physics of life requires explaining the origins of intentionality, adaptability, and self-regulation. Bauer, like some later scholars, seems to advocate for a “new physics”, one that extends beyond mechanics and classical thermodynamic, one that would be inclusive of living systems. In this historical review piece, we explore some of Bauer's ideas and explain how similar concepts have been explored in modern non-equilibrium thermodynamics and dissipative structure theory. Non-living dissipative structures display end-directedness, self-maintenance, and adaptability analogous to organisms. These findings also point to an alternative framework for the life sciences, that treats organisms not as machines but as sophisticated dissipative structures. We evaluate the differences between mechanistic and thermodynamic perspectives on life, and what each theory entails for understanding the behavior of organisms.

Intimate Partner Abuse and Homicide During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Situational Action Theory Analysis

During the COVID-19 pandemic, stay-at-home restrictions significantly changed people’s daily lives around the world. Opportunity and strain theories predict this would lead to an increase in intimate partner abuse (IPA), including intimate partner homicide (IPH). This paper applies an alternative theoretical framework—situational action theory (SAT)—to explain mixed findings regarding changes in IPA and unexpected findings regarding (a lack of) changes in IPH. It is argued that SAT may contribute to explaining the impact of stay-at-home restrictions on IPA and IPH in three important ways: 1. by addressing the fact that motivation is necessary but not sufficient for explaining action and better specifying how motivation translates into IPA and IPH; 2. by addressing the fact that people perceive different alternatives for action and better specifying why some people come to see IPA and IPH as acceptable action alternatives; 3. by addressing the fact that exposure affects people differently and better specifying how stay-at-home restrictions shaped people’s activity fields and, in turn, their perceptions and action choices.

Amitav Ghosh’s The Calcutta Chromosome: A Pluriversal Narrative to Decolonise the Past and Confront Universal Eurocentrism

The Calcutta Chromosome takes readers on a convoluted journey through time and space. At once a work of science fiction, a medical mystery, and a history of malaria research, this hybrid novel sets into rivalry India’s old-time wisdom and spirituality against Western science and English colonial presumptuousness, thus advocating transmodernity and the pluriversality put forward by critics such as Rosa María Rodriguez Magda, Enrique Dussel and Walter Mignolo, among others. This paper will analyse the way in which this novel denies the existence of a universal scientific method by deconstructing the certainties of an exclusively rationalist discourse whose discoveries have often gone hand in hand with exploitation, unequal power relations and colonization. Jacques Derrida’s notion of différance and Emmanuel Levinas’s ideas about the ethics of silence and knowledge will also be used to analyse silence as an alternative epistemological framework through which the dominant discourse can be undermined and the subaltern heard, and as a means to make amends for the injustices of the past by reclaiming the histories written by those who were made ‘others’ by the English imperial power.

Global Perspectives on Climate Crisis in Postcolonial Literature: Decolonizing Ecological Narratives

This paper explores the intersection of postcolonial literature and global perspectives on the climate crisis, focusing on how literary narratives decolonize ecological discourse and advocate for environmental justice. Postcolonial literature, emerging from regions formerly colonized by Western powers, offers unique perspectives on environmental issues, challenging dominant Western narratives and proposing alternative frameworks rooted in cultural and historical contexts. Through a comparative and thematic analysis of selected texts, this research examines how postcolonial authors critique colonial legacies, highlight environmental degradation’s disproportionate impact on marginalized communities, and envision sustainable futures grounded in cultural resilience and ecological stewardship.

Notes on Verbal Aspect in Three Vedic Prose Narratives

AbstractThis article summarises the synchronic system of verbal aspect manifest in three Middle Vedic prose narrative texts, investigating the use of various morphological categories with past reference (especially the imperfect, perfect and aorist). I show that the imperfect and perfect are both compatible with multiple aspectual readings (perfective, imperfective and anterior); in the terminology of Dahl (2010), both may have neutral aspect. The aorist is largely restricted to anterior readings but can be perfective. Additionally, I consider the diachronic context of this system, outlining differences from the earlier one visible in the Early Vedic of the Rigveda and discussing the probable diachronic trajectory connecting the two. After commenting on the possibility of characterising the synchronic system within the alternative framework of Altshuler (2014), which lacks the category of neutral aspect, I conclude with notes on the use of the sentential particles ha, nu and vai in the text samples. The first of these seems to be associated with perfective aspect, while the latter two are both associated with anterior aspect.

Separation of Multicomponent Micro-Doppler Signal with Missing Samples

The problem of separating multicomponent micro-Doppler (m-D) signals is common in the field of radar signal processing. In some implementations, it is necessary to separate the multicomponent m-D signal that contains missing samples. To address this issue, an optimization model has been developed to recover and decompose multicomponent m-D signals with missing samples. To solve the underlying optimization problem, a two-algorithm-based alternate iteration framework is proposed. This method uses three techniques—the null space property, ridge regression method, and matching pursuit principle—to estimate the individual component, complex-valued differential operator, and regularization parameter. Finally, as shown by both simulation and measured data processing results, the proposed method can accurately separate the multicomponent m-D signal from incomplete data.

Reevaluating Cosmic Origins: A Critical Analysis of Relic Radiation and Cosmometric Assumptions in Big Bang Cosmology

This article presents a critical examination of two key aspects of Big Bang cosmology: the nature and observability of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation and geometric inconsistencies or “cosmometric contradictions” within established approaches to cosmology. By dissecting the conventional interpretation of the CMB as relic radiation from a primordial fireball, we uncover that the standard model’s reliance on a spatially homogeneous fluid to represent radiation and matter underestimates the propagation of radiation and leads to the conclusion that the observability of the CMB contradicts its purported origins. Treating free radiation as if it expanded with the universe while disregarding that it escapes from its source at the speed of light is termed here as the “relic radiation blunder”. Furthermore, we delve into the cosmometric contradiction, highlighting how the calculated distances in standard cosmology imply a universe that exceeds the spatial limitations of its own foundational premise. This makes it evident that standard cosmology is not a unitary theory but involves models with conflicting spatial extensions. The analysis suggests a need for a revised understanding of redshift phenomena and cosmic expansion. It advocates for a reassessment of the underpinnings of cosmology, urging the scientific community to consider alternative frameworks that reconcile these critical inconsistencies. This work challenges the inviolable core of established cosmological theory, calling for a paradigm shift to foster foundational advances in our understanding of the universe.

Predicting nature recovery for river restoration planning and ecological assessment: A case study from England, 1991–2042

AbstractThe Global Biodiversity Framework established ambitious goals for nature recovery which governments must now incorporate into national legislation. In England, legally binding targets require authorities to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030 and reverse the decline by 2042. Riverine invertebrates represent a substantial proportion of the species contributing towards the targets. Thus, understanding the response of these species to potential river restoration actions is key to target delivery. We model counts for 188 riverine invertebrate taxa using zero‐inflated generalized Poisson models, applying the models to both inform river restoration planning and set expected values for use in ecological assessment. We identify catchment‐specific restoration strategies that combine one or more actions involving the removal of channel modifications, reductions in nitrate concentrations and reductions in total dissolved phosphorus concentrations as the most likely to deliver species abundance targets across three joint climate–socioeconomic scenarios. By hindcasting species abundances under alternative target frameworks, we also demonstrate a new approach to setting expected values in ecological assessment, accounting for changes in water temperature and hydrology that confound historical reference models presently used by regulators. Our findings represent the first systematic attempt to prioritise major actions to deliver species abundance targets in England, providing valuable insights for policymakers, river restoration practitioners and authorities responsible for monitoring river ecosystems.

RE-AIM for rural health innovations: perceptions of (mis) alignment between the RE-AIM framework and evaluation reporting in the Department of Veterans Affairs Enterprise-Wide Initiatives program.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Rural Health (ORH) supports national VA program offices' efforts to expand health care to rural Veterans through its Enterprise-Wide Initiatives (EWIs) program. In 2017, ORH selected Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM), an implementation science framework, to structure the EWI evaluation and reporting process. As part of its mandate to improve EWI program evaluation, the Center for the Evaluation of Enterprise-Wide Initiatives conducted a qualitative evaluation to better understand EWI team' perceptions of, and barriers and facilitators to, the EWI evaluation process. We conducted 43 semi-structured interviews with 48 team members (e.g., evaluators, program office leads, and field-based leads) representing 21 EWIs from April-December 2020. Questions focused on participants' experiences using strategies targeting each RE-AIM dimension. Interviews were inductively analyzed in MAXQDA. We also systematically reviewed 51 FY19-FY20 EWI annual reports to identify trends in misapplications of RE-AIM. Participants had differing levels of experience with RE-AIM. While participants understood ORH's rationale for selecting a common framework to structure evaluations, the perceived misalignment between RE-AIM and EWIs' work emerged as an important theme. Concerns centered around 3 sub-themes: (1) (Mis)Alignment with RE-AIM Dimensions, (2) (Mis)Alignment between RE-AIM and the EWI, and (3) (Mis)Alignment with RE-AIM vs. other Theories, Models, or Frameworks. Participants described challenges differentiating between and operationalizing dimensions in unique contexts. Participants also had misconceptions about RE-AIM and its relevance to their work, e.g., that it was meant for established programs and did not capture aspects of initiative planning, adaptations, or sustainability. Less commonly, participants shared alternative models or frameworks to RE-AIM. Despite criticisms, many participants found RE-AIM useful, cited training as important to understanding its application, and identified additional training as a future need. The selection of a shared implementation science framework can be beneficial, but also challenging when applied to diverse initiatives or contexts. Our findings suggest that establishing a common understanding, operationalizing framework dimensions for specific programs, and assessing training needs may better equip partners to integrate a shared framework into their evaluations.

Scaling approaches and macroecology provide a foundation for assessing ecological resilience in the Anthropocene.

In the Anthropocene, intensifying ecological disturbances pose significant challenges to our predictive capabilities for ecosystem responses. Macroecology-which focuses on emergent statistical patterns in ecological systems-unveils consistent regularities in the organization of biodiversity and ecosystems. These regularities appear in terms of abundance, body size, geographical range, species interaction networks, or the flux of matter and energy. This paper argues for moving beyond qualitative resilience metaphors, such as the 'ball and cup', towards a more quantitative macroecological framework. We suggest a conceptual and theoretical basis for ecological resilience that integrates macroecology with a stochastic diffusion approximation constrained by principles of biological symmetry. This approach provides an alternative novel framework for studying ecological resilience in the Anthropocene. We demonstrate how our framework can effectively quantify the impacts of major disturbances and their extensive ecological ramifications. We further show how biological scaling insights can help quantify the consequences of major disturbances, emphasizing their cascading ecological impacts. The nature of these impacts prompts a re-evaluation of our understanding of resilience. Emphasis on regularities of ecological assemblages can help illuminate resilience dynamics and offer a novel basis to predict and manage the impacts of disturbance in the Anthropocene more efficiently. This article is part of the theme issue 'Ecological novelty and planetary stewardship: biodiversity dynamics in a transforming biosphere'.

A Plausible Framework Reveals Potential Similarities in the Regulation of Immunity against Some Cancers and Some Infectious Agents: Implications for Prevention and Treatment.

Different frameworks, which are currently employed to understand how immune responses are regulated, can account for different observations reported in the classical literature. I have argued that the predominant frameworks, employed over the last two/three decades to analyze the circumstances that determine whether an immune response is generated or this potential is ablated, and that determine the class of immunity an antigen induces, are inconsistent with diverse classical observations. These observations are "paradoxical" within the context of these frameworks and, consequently, tend to be ignored by most contemporary researchers. One such observation is that low and high doses of diverse types of antigen result, respectively, in cell-mediated and IgG antibody responses. I suggest these paradoxes render these frameworks implausible. An alternative framework, The Threshold Hypothesis, accounts for the paradoxical observations. Some frameworks are judged more plausible when found to be valuable in understanding findings in fields beyond their original compass. I explore here how the Threshold Hypothesis, initially based on studies with chemically well-defined and "simple antigens", most often a purified protein, can nevertheless shed light on diverse classical and more recent observations in the fields of immunity against cancer and against infectious agents, thus revealing common, immune mechanisms. Most cancers and some pathogens are best contained by cell-mediated immunity. The success of the Threshold Hypothesis has encouraged me to employ it as a basis for proposing strategies to prevent and to treat cancer and those infectious diseases caused by pathogens best contained by a cell-mediated attack.

“EMPLACED” WASTE: A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF FOOD WASTE HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS

ABSTRACT Waste materials are ontologically inseparable from the context of their production. While much early food waste research has focused on quantification and consumer psychology, researchers in a range of disciplines would now benefit from alternate frameworks in which to spatialize the chimerical matter of food waste. To suggest generative paths for the future of food waste research, this study investigates spatial concepts already engaged in “emplaced” household food waste surveys published between 2012 and 2022. Surveys administered within defined geographic areas are considered emplaced. Sixty-eight relevant papers were identified in a systematic literature review. Resulting themes, including regional memberships, questions of scale and synecdoche, qualities of place, food cultures resulting from specific socio-spatial arrangements, and temporal consequences for organic matter, were structured according to Massey’s 2005 spatial provocations and propose fruitful directions for geographers to continue advancing the study of food waste.

Ignorance As Political Instrument? Integration Discourses on Migrant Welfare Recipients in Switzerland

ABSTRACT Agnotology, the study of doubt and ignorance in areas where knowledge can be possessed, altered, hidden, and reclaimed, offers multiple insights into the working of states. This article explores the role of ‘ignoring’ as an active strategy of ignorance; a practice used by local governments to disregard certain knowledge and the production of alternative framings. Studying the intersection of welfare and migration policy based on an example of policy making and implementation in Switzerland, this work shows how resistance can be built by not paying attention, thus ignoring certain rules and policies, while actively shaping alternative frameworks to increase migrants’ rights. The cases build on the newly introduced Federal Act on Foreign Nationals and Integration, in which integration requirements exclude social assistance reception for foreign nationals in case they intend to retain or stabilise their residence status. Any financial dependence will thus cause a potential loss of residence or settlement permit. Focusing on the deficit of migrants individually and as a collective, therefore allows governments to exclude them, making ‘knowledge production’ and ‘ignoring’ fruitful concepts to explore such bordering processes. Yet, two city initiatives contested these restrictions, developing alternative financial support for foreign nationals, even if one of them was ruled unlawful. The examples show how authorities create sanctuary policies and choose to circumvent laws through an active ignoring of national policy intentions, reframing them on the local level. Linking ignorance to such local scales and their sanctuary support provides an asset in understanding local and practical endeavours of municipalities to secure political autonomy and increase resistance strategies. Hence, a restrictive understanding of integration at the national level foregrounds a one-sided view of non-citizens as costly and potential abusers of allegedly generous welfare support. Migration and social policy laws support such a one-sided perspective by allowing assessments to consider mainly economic integration, thereby excluding those who are not active in the labour market. However, local responses can challenge this one-sidedness by choosing to ignore an overly restrictive framework and try out potentials to resist.

Implementation of a realistic artificial data generator for crash data generation

In this paper, a framework is outlined to generate realistic artificial data (RAD) as a tool for comparing different models developed for safety analysis. The primary focus of transportation safety analysis is on identifying and quantifying the influence of factors contributing to traffic crash occurrence and its consequences. The current framework of comparing model structures using only observed data has limitations. With observed data, it is not possible to know how well the models mimic the true relationship between the dependent and independent variables. Further, real datasets do not allow researchers to evaluate the model performance for different levels of complexity of the dataset. RAD offers an innovative framework to address these limitations. Hence, we propose a RAD generation framework embedded with heterogeneous causal structures that generates crash data by considering crash occurrence as a trip level event impacted by trip level factors, demographics, roadway and vehicle attributes. Within our RAD generator we employ three specific modules: (a) disaggregate trip information generation, (b) crash data generation and (c) crash data aggregation. For disaggregate trip information generation, we employ a daily activity-travel realization for an urban region generated from an established activity-based model for the Chicago region. We use this data of more than 2 million daily trips to generate a subset of trips with crash data. For trips with crashes crash location, crash type, driver/vehicle characteristics, and crash severity. The daily RAD generation process is repeated for generating crash records at yearly or multi-year resolution. The crash databases generated can be employed to compare frequency models, severity models, crash type and various other dimensions by facility type – possibly establishing a universal benchmarking system for alternative model frameworks in safety literature.

Rise of China and Its Impact on World Order

China's economic rise and military modernization are fundamentally altering the global order (HAROLD BROWN, , JOSEPH W. PRUEHER, & ADAM SEGAL, 2003). This paper investigates the multifaceted impact of China's ascension. It analyzes its economic transformation, from a closed economy to a manufacturing powerhouse, and the impact of initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative on global trade. The paper then examines China's significant investments in military modernization and its implications for regional and global security. It further explores how China's growing power is reshaping the international order, including its engagement with established institutions and the creation of alternative frameworks. Finally, the paper analyzes the emergence of alliances like the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue as a potential counterweight to China's growing influence. By examining these developments, this paper aims to provide a nuanced understanding of the challenges and opportunities that China's rise presents for the international community.

Virus inactivation in low ozone exposure water reuse applications

In drinking water applications, an ozone exposure (Ct) based framework has been historically used to validate ozone disinfection. However, significant viral inactivation can be achieved with little to no measurable ozone exposure. Additionally, ozone exposure depends on multiple water quality variables as well as the calculation/ozone measurement method used. In this study, we evaluated alternative ozone monitoring frameworks as well as the impact of water quality variables on ozone decay kinetics and virus/coliform inactivation. Here we show that both change in UV254 absorbance and applied O3:TOC were well correlated with viral inactivation and these frameworks were resilient to changes in water quality. Both increasing temperature (12–30 ⁰C) and pH (5.5–8.4) was shown to significantly increase the ozone decay rate and decreased the resulting ozone exposure by as much as ∼90% in the case of pH. However, due to the increased reaction rate of ozone with viruses at elevated temperature and pH, there was only a minor impact (∼20% in the case of pH) in overall disinfection performance for a given O3:TOC. These frameworks were also considered for variable source water with TOC (5–11 mg/L) and TSS (1.2–5.8 mg/L). Change in UV254 absorbance or applied ozone dose (mg/L) were the strongest indicators of disinfection performance for source waters of variable TOC, however site-specific testing may be needed to apply this framework. Challenge testing with influent nitrite indicated that ozone disinfection performance is significantly impacted (>50% reduction in inactivation) in the presence of nitrite thus enforcing the importance of accounting for this value in the applied ozone dose. Multi-point ozone dissolution was investigated as an alternative ozone application method that may present a benefit with respect to overall disinfection performance especially if nitrite was present. Developing and validating these alternative monitoring frameworks and ozone application methods is imperative in water reuse applications where unnecessary elevated ozone exposure may lead to harmful byproduct formation.

Meta-pragmatic investigation of passive strategies from ‘UHI– climatology’ nexus perspective with digital twin as assessment mechanism

A global phenomenon identified 200 years ago as Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect gained popularity as the sheer contributor to the precipitous temperature gradient between rural and urban interface, instigating excess heat gain and associated ill effects on the urban dwellers. UHI is a function of many interrelated geographical, ecological, and economic parameters that require differential treatment in determining the antecedent impacts. This transdisciplinary review assessed the passive strategies (vegetation, cool roofs, cool pavements, and green roofs) from 83 studies that employed a numerical simulation approach to combat UHI. On average, vegetation and cool/green roofs can reduce ambient temperature by 3–5 ​°C, while cool pavements help to reduce surface temperature by 5 ​°C. All passive strategies also reveal it can reduce buildings' energy demand by 4–10%. However, the current methodological framework for evaluating UHI is quite fragmented, using multiple software and estimates only Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI), ignoring Canopy Urban Heat Island (CUHI), Boundary Urban Heat Island (BUHI), and the nexus of ‘UHI-Climatology,’ which is linked to regional and global climate change, failing to model UHI and its complex connection to climate change accurately. The review found that the efficacy of passive strategies is a function of factors ranging from location, cloud cover, and soil type to simulation accuracy; hence, while these passive strategies alleviate outdoor temperature in one place, they can cause counterproductive impacts in another region. Therefore, as a postlude, the paper explores an alternative methodological framework for evaluating the nexus of UHI-Climatology using digital twin technology, thus espousing better mitigation strategies.

Wasserstein Differential Privacy

Differential privacy (DP) has achieved remarkable results in the field of privacy-preserving machine learning. However, existing DP frameworks do not satisfy all the conditions for becoming metrics, which prevents them from deriving better basic private properties and leads to exaggerated values on privacy budgets. We propose Wasserstein differential privacy (WDP), an alternative DP framework to measure the risk of privacy leakage, which satisfies the properties of symmetry and triangle inequality. We show and prove that WDP has 13 excellent properties, which can be theoretical supports for the better performance of WDP than other DP frameworks. In addition, we derive a general privacy accounting method called Wasserstein accountant, which enables WDP to be applied in stochastic gradient descent (SGD) scenarios containing subsampling. Experiments on basic mechanisms, compositions and deep learning show that the privacy budgets obtained by Wasserstein accountant are relatively stable and less influenced by order. Moreover, the overestimation on privacy budgets can be effectively alleviated. The code is available at https://github.com/Hifipsysta/WDP.

Deep learning in the classification and recognition of cardiac activity patterns

Electrocardiography is an examination performed frequently in patients experiencing symptoms of heart disease. Upon a detailed analysis, it has shown potential to detect and identify various activities. In this article, we present a deep learning approach that can be used to analyze ECG signals. Our research shows promising results in recognizing activity and disease patterns with nearly 90% accuracy. In this paper, we present the early results of our analysis, indicating the potential of using deep learning algorithms in the analysis of both onedimensional and two–dimensional data. The methodology we present can be utilized for ECG data classification and can be extended to wearable devices. Conclusions of our study pave the way for exploring live data analysis through wearable devices in order to not only predict specific cardiac conditions, but also a possibility of using them in alternative and augmented communication frameworks.

Penalizing Shirking in Discovering Unsuitability

Abstract We study the optimal penalty scheme for an expert firm and a layman client against shirking in their costly interaction that helps the firm discover the unsuitable transaction, i.e. one that yields a loss for the client. The market solution to the bilateral hidden action problem fails to incentivize sufficient effort and leads to an inefficient outcome, which creates scope for government action. By contrast, private contracts obtain efficiency in an alternative framework with just the firm’s unilateral effort, highlighting the role of the client’s effort in rationalizing legal intervention. Under the unique first-best policy, the firm not only refunds the client but also pays the client’s loss to the government if the firm fails to stop a transaction that ends up being unsuitable. The client receives the refund but submits the firm’s production cost to the government. The optimal punitive penalty is their total contingent loss and is robust to private contracts. The optimal penalty generalizes to a multi-agent team by making each agent internalize all others’ contingent losses.