Biosocial Systems Research Articles

Affective and cognitive impact of social overinclusion: a meta-analytic review of cyberball studies

ABSTRACT Belongingness is a central biopsychosocial system. Challenges to belongingness (i.e. exclusion/ostracism) engender robust negative effects on affect and cognitions. Whether overinclusion – getting more than one’s fair share of social attention – favourably impacts affect and cognitions remains an open question. This pre-registered meta-analysis includes twenty-two studies (N = 2757) examining overinclusion in the context of the Cyberball task. We found that the estimated overall effect size of overinclusion on positive affect was small but robust, and the effect on fundamental needs cognitions (belongingness, self-esteem, meaningful existence and control) was moderate in size and positive in direction. Notably, the effect sizes of overinclusion were smaller than the corresponding effects of exclusion. Finally, the effects of overinclusion on positive affect were greater for high, as compared to low, socially anxious individuals. Exploring the sequelae of the full range of inclusion experiences – from exclusion to overinclusion – may enrich our understanding of the functioning of the belongingness system as well as its interaction with another central biosocial system – the social status system.

Bloodwork: Circulatory Disorders, Immunity, and the Scarring of Systems

AbstractIn June 2021, laboratory analysis of my blood indicated dangerously low levels of iron. This article chronicles my subsequent diagnosis of uterine fibroids, the hysterectomy that followed, and the scarring that came afterward. In doing so, the article tells the story of how blood circulates—or not—through biosocial systems. It shows how the properties of blood are frequently connected to conditions of exploitation to advance the argument that paying attention to how blood works, or “bloodwork,” can illuminate systemic inequality and alternative systems. In conversation with social reproduction theory, I consider capitalism’s powerful extractivist orderings of immunity in which my iron comes at another’s expense, alongside logics of immunity based on different circulatory visions. I hold on to the possibility of growing stronger without weakening others—so long as we can attend to history and its scars.

Anthropocene challenges for youth research: understanding agency and change through complex, adaptive systems

ABSTRACT The Anthropocene has come to signify human dominance over the more-than-human world with all its negative consequences for this planet’s human and nonhuman inhabitants. As young people have started to express their feelings of concern and frustration with the inertia of the political elites, youth research, too, is called upon to reconsider and broaden its perspective. In particular, we argue, that the Anthropocene challenges anthropocentrism, dualisms, and traditional notions of agency in youth research, and must be critiqued through multi-disciplinary investigation. A transgression of the mainstream paradigm in youth research through the perspective of Complex Adaptive Systems Theory (CAS) could provide much needed analyses of a broad range of issues at the intersection of youth and ecological concerns. This article will therefore outline Complex Adaptive Systems Theory (CAS) as a multi-disciplinary tool, and apply it to two examples: the biosocial system of the Elwha River waterscape, and the #Fridays for Future strikes that are both motivated by environmental concerns. Finally, it discusses the possible contributions of a CAS approach in youth research to a better understanding of agency and change in ecologically turbulent times.

Heterogeneity in isogenic bacteria populations and modern technologies of cell phenotyping

In the framework of the modern microbiological paradigm, colonies of genetically identical microorganisms are considered as biosocial systems consisting of several heterogeneous clonal cell clusters (bacterial phenotypes) that respond differently to changes in the environment. Phenotypic heterogeneity was found in recent decades in all isogenic populations of pathogenic bacteria. Such heterogeneity provides a selective advantage of cellular phenotypes with changes in the physicochemical parameters of the environment and competitive interaction with other microorganisms. Heterogeneity in bacterial communities is of great importance for the survival of pathogenic bacteria in the host organism, the progression and persistence of infections, as well as the decrease in the effectiveness of antibiotic therapy. The modern spectrum of analytical tools for studying cellular phenotyping is presented both by optical imaging methods and qualitative structural characteristics of single cells, and by omix technologies of quantitative analysis and monitoring of molecular intracellular processes. These diverse tools make it possible not only to identify and modulate phenotypic heterogeneity in isogenic bacterial populations, but also to evaluate the functional significance of cellular phenotypes in the development of the infectious process. The aim of the review is the integration of modern concepts of heterogeneity in isogenic bacterial populations, with an emphasis on the presentation of modern analytical technologies for assessing and monitoring phenotypic typing of single cells.

Трансформация оленеводства Арктики в условиях рыночной экономики (на примере Ямала)

The authors investigate the economic transformation of reindeer farming in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District. The region is unique for having the largest number of domesticated reindeer and nomadic indigenous peoples in the world. The conceptual basis of the research is the idea of reindeer farming as a unique biosocial system, including the triad “man-reindeer-pasture”. The study analyzes the historical, social and economic transformations of reindeer farming in the region, where at least 60% of the private livestock of domesticated reindeer in the Arctic zone of Russia have always grazed. An increase in the number of reindeer was observed in private farms even during the years of economic crisis, reforms and industrial development of the territory. Private reindeer farmers belong to former sovkhozs (post-state farms), communities and unassociated “private” owners. Only half of the reindeer farming communities are registered in the state register and receive subsidies for the sale of products. Post-state farms have government subsidies that are significantly higher than reindeer farming communities, which increases the cost of their production two to three times. “Private traders” do not receive subsidies to increase the number of reindeer and the products they sell. The liberalization of the economy lifted restrictions on private reindeer farms, and their quantitative growth exceeded the norms permissible for pastures. At the same time, private reindeer farms produce almost 70% of marketable products, primarily meat, dags and antlers. Only 36% of personal subsidiary plots are included in legal entities, which makes it difficult to organize the regulated use of pastureland in the region. The administration of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, together with scientific and public organizations, has developed a conceptual plan for the reorganization of private reindeer farms into peasant (farmer) enterprises. A register of producers is being created to allocate state and municipal subsidies. It is planned to speed up the cooperation of private farms in order to improve their manageability. There is a process of reducing the number of post-state farms in order to focus reindeer farming mainly on preserving the traditional way of life and reproducing the ethno-culture of the Arctic indigenous peoples.

From socio-technical systems to biosocial technical systems: New themes and new guidance for the field of technology in society

In this note, the editors update and add to the framing of Technology in Society. Specifically, we highlight the increasing influence of biology on interactions between technology and society. In doing so, we aim to broaden perspectives for new research into technologies situated in biosocial systems, which have a wide variety of cultural, philosophical, political and economic dimensions. We provide authors with several new research themes to consider. In addition, structured guidance is set-out for the preparation of manuscripts. Overall, we encourage authors to explore and analyze new phenomena within biosocial-technical contexts that shape new human experiences.

APPLICATION OF SYSTEM-INTEGRATED METHOD FOR ANALYSIS OF BIOSOCIAL SYSTEMS

Usage of system-integrated method in consideration of biosocial groups (human social society, social biocommunities of animals) is the most promising approach in the study of these associations, both in the "personalized" study of human society (or animal biocommunities) and in the comparative analysis of the latter between them. The aim of the article is to consider the possibility of applying system-holistic analysis in the study of biosocial systems, which are represented by both human society and social formations characteristic of animal communities. To achieve our goal, we set the following tasks: 1) identification of main methodological characteristics of biosystems; 2) to describe structural organization of biosystems. Summarizing the aforesaid material, the following should be noted: Firstly, real biocommunities have the main attribute of the system - a hierarchical structure. In other words, they are structured systems, which allows us to speak of them as integral entities. Secondly, the structure of biological communities is inextricably linked to its function. Considering the biosystem, it is necessary to distinguish between static, dynamic and genetic structure. The first one reflects the structural interaction of the elements, and the second one the scheme of their relations in the active functioning of the system. Genetic structure indicates the degree of relatedness (similarity) of the elements of the system. Based on this, we can offer a number of methodological approaches to the study of biosocial structure, namely: 1. fixing a number of functional levels and a number of individuals-elements in each of them; 2. description of functional interaction between "static levels" in the interaction. Without knowledge of functional unity it is impossible to understand the "expediency" of certain elements of the system. Thus, system-holistic analysis can be used to describe biosocial formations (human society and biosocial groups of animals). Consideration of these associations as system-structural units is an informative method of their study.

Graphical dynamical systems and their applications to bio-social systems

In this review paper, we discuss graphical dynamical systems (GDSs) and their applications to biological and social systems (bio-social systems). Traditionally, differential equation-based models have been central in modeling bio-social systems. GDSs provide an alternate modeling framework. This framework explicitly represents individual components of the system and captures the interactions among them via a network. The purpose of this review is to enable modelers to obtain an understanding of this basic mathematical and computational framework so that it can be used to study specific bio-social applications. The work covers the range from computational theory to simulation-based analysis. We also provide some directions for future work.

Learning With Children, Trees, and Art: For a Compositionist Visual Art-Based Research

In this article, I discuss the concept of compositionism as an onto-epistemology of being and knowing that questions human exceptionalism. Compositionism suggests that humans exist in interdependence with complex bio-social systems that need to be assembled together with an ethics of response-ability toward threatened places and beings. I propose compositionism as a concept to inform the field of art education. I do this by devising correspondences between compositionist theory, childhood studies, and visual art‐based research. I direct the implications of this discussion into selected passages of data from a study developed in collaboration with two classes of 5th-graders attending public school in a large city from the American Midwest. In this study, children used visual art-based methods, including drawing, video, print, and narrative to develop attentiveness and intimacy with a group of trees and tall grasses on the school block.

Phenomenology of modern education quality

The national priority question of education quality is considered in the article at the level of an in-depth – existential – function of the educational system, where the former arises. In that case, education appears not only as a social organism, but a fundamental form of understanding existence and self-realization of a person as a self-organized space and biosocial system in terms of an integral educational result. The mechanisms and effects of formal development logic become clear from such research perspective namely, that changes into philosophy of education in the shape of a single-dimensional methodological imperative and provides for an inconsistency of educational practice, achievement of some pedagogical aims at the expense and to the disadvantage of others. The limited nature of pedagogical thinking is not simply fixed in the paradoxes of human development as an individual and organism, but is considered as the main obstacle in the way of evolution of the Human-Nature-Society global system. The phenomenological comprehension of education problems supposes coming into the space of a spiritual idea, funding the process of searching for quality at different levels of human life and activities from within, which characterizes the topicality of the given article. The aim of the scientific research is to analyze factors limiting the process of modern human development, and to ground the necessity of the fundamental updating of the education model in the noospheric scientific paradigm. Theoretical methods of research are used in the paper: analysis of scientific literature, system analysis, analogy, systematization, and generalization. The research results are represented in the categories of education philosophy and focus the reader’s attention mainly on its critical-reflexive function. Elimination of the subject of education is considered as a logical result of phenomenological reduction of thinking that loses a higher level of the Universal, divides the single living space into the “autonomous” spheres of life and at the same time hides the natural code of stability (health) of a person. The article contains the description of splitting of consciousness process, of a deep inversion of personality in the system of biological and social determination of development, analysis of the human’s two-headed problem (psychological-physiological and psychospiritual) and the limit of pedagogical thinking operating in modern practice of the students’ personality socialization. System insufficiency and functional danger of the traditional binary model of development is formed in the absence of clear ideas in pedagogics of the ontological structure of the subject and a complete concept of the individual, accumulation of the negative quality of individual and public lifestyles. Therefore, it is possible to suppose that formation of an individual, a person – the object of the space, social and natural system must become the aim and result of the modern educational mainstream. In such a case, Müller-Haeckel’s biogenetic law regulating traditional education must lose its methodological force. The proposed methodology of managing quality of education implies higher subjectness of development of the educational process participants, restoration of their personality unity based on noospheric pedagogical philosophy and requires expanding the regulatory principle of modeling educational practice up to the anthropocosmic one.

BIOADEQUATE TEACHING TOOLS

The analysis of bioadequate educational tools as attempts to implement a system of nature-oriented views on human consciousness, thinking, memory in learning different subjects. Introduction scientificand-pedagogical principles for the use of associations and creativity in the educational material determines the harmony and balance of developing biosocial systems. It is shown that the perception of information at the same time on all sensory channels significantly increases the efficiency of the educational process.

Типы научной рациональности в аспекте трёх парадигм

Since the release of the well-known work of W. Weaver «Science and Complexity» (1948) only V.S. Stepin had taken some significant efforts to develop the doctrine of the three types of systems in nature. In this case, the main achievements of V.S. Stepin in postnonclassic reduced to two fundamental results: violation of the basic principle of T. Kuhn´s contradictions when changing paradigms (V.S. Stepin shows the effect of «investments», when complex systems operate classical and nonclassical rationality simultaneously) and repeated emphasis on the possibility of «change ... the probability of emerging of other (the system) conditions». At the same time, V.S. Stepin in his last works (monographs) identified a particular role of self-organization and self-development in case of complex biosocial systems. All this in theory of chaos and self-organization form 5 basic principles of functioning of complexity (or systems of the third type - STT). In fact, V.S. Stepin laid the foundation for the future (new) philosophy and developed now theory of chaos and self-organization in which humanity moved into the area of uncertainty of living (social in particular) systems completely. However, the rationality of the third type (postnonclassic) requires corrections and additions, as shown in a number of monographs of V.S. Stepin.

Формирование механизма адаптации человека как биосоциальной системы: образовательно-философская интерпретация

This paper discusses problems affecting philosophical and
 educational aspects of the formation of adaptation mechanism of
 a human considered as a biosocial system. In the core of
 authors’reflections lies a belief that education and training is a
 process of continuous improvementof a human. Authors substantiate
 the idea according to which the continued growth and development
 of the individual are attributive characteristics of the adaptation
 process as a set of components of a productive in teraction
 between the individual and the environment, self-actualization,
 self-development and self-organization of people in a particular
 social setting. From the standpoint of Philosophy authors treat
 adaptation as a social phenomenon, a form of interaction between
 the individual and the social group with the environment in which
 the coordinated and consistent requirements and expectations of
 its members. Authors emphasize that the system of education and
 training, inparticular in philosophical aspect, is intended to form
 a new identity as well as another, different from the present, image
 of worldorder. Emphasis is put that a modern man, especially an
 individual of the new generation, is not a passive contemplative,
 but an activeactor of political change, a form of expression which
 is a course on the development of a progressive institution of social
 life, which is an association of free and equal individuals, the rate
 of development of civil society. Authors conclude that education
 and training are closely interrelated processes of continuous improvement
 of man, in other words – improvement of bio-social
 skills of an individual, and, respectively, of human populations.

Comparison of Old and New Methodology in Human Development and Poverty Indexes: A Case of the Least Developed Countries

The most common indicators for measuring the countrieseconomic level are the macroeconomic aggregates such as the per capita Gross National Product or Gross National Income. Though they reflect the creation of added value, their drawback is that they do not include aspects such as the social, political, cultural or environmental side. It is therefore necessary to create and use alternatives for measuring ongoing economic development. These alternatives can be indicators that reflect socio-economic development and the degree of economic deprivation, and include the Human Development Index and Human Poverty Index, or Multidimensional Index of Poverty. As the world economy changes, such as bio-social system, the structure of these two indices are also changing in order to better reflect the conditions and state of economies. This paper deals with the development of both human development and poverty indexes in general and, secondly, their empirical research focusing on the poorest part of the world - the Least Developed Countries. A two-sided comparison of traditional and new formulations of these indices found significant differences in achieved levels. The analysis shows that using the new methodology, human development index worsened values of individual economies, with the exception of three countries. The results of a new methodology of poverty indexes are not so clear, but more satisfactory, since nearly half of economies did not change the values and eight countries improved their situation in relation to poverty.

DEPENDENCE OF THE REPRODUCTIVE FUNCTION OF SCHOOLGIRLS AGED 12–15 YEARS FROM THEIR LIFESTYLE PECULIARITIES

Judging upon the results of recent studies we can state that over the past years there is a negative tendency in reproductive health of schoolgirls aged 12–15. Study objective was to evaluate dependency of reproductive function of schoolgirls from their lifestyle. A hypothesis has been stated upon presence of causal relations in the biosocial system «Health–Lifestyle» and upon necessity of healthy lifestyle motivation to preserve girl’s reproductive health. 128 girls took part in the study from 5–7 forms from 2 Moscow schools. Results of the study stand for well-timed correction of the girl’s lifestyles in order to prevent disorders of reproductive system. m.

Integrating economic gain in biosocial systems

AbstractThe concept of gain and profit is introduced into ecology as a way of summarizing strategies of biological and social structures. High gain systems can be predicted by flux as they take in fuel at a rate. Low gain systems must refine low‐quality materials in order to acquire fuel. Low gain systems are predictable from their plans and coded behaviour. Changes from high to low gain mode and vice versa represent a reordering of a hierarchy over time. We use a catastrophe pleat as a way to model high gain collapse. Collapse is avoided in low gain by planning. At first, planning enlarges the system through economies of scale, but eventually resources are of such low quality that gathering and refining begins to limit size. We also model shifts from high to low gain with a response surface of resource used against adaptation. There are peaks of high and low gain adaptation with which we analyse termite evolution. Positioning systems on the surface is complicated by valid alternative interpretations of system behaviour. Each low gain phase starts with a burst of high gain so it is possible to reinterpret successive moves to the lower gain as fractal shifts that link successive response surfaces. We propose mathematical protocols for capturing the response surfaces. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Confronting economic profit with hierarchy theory: The concept of gain in ecology

AbstractContemporary problems are often complicated by values intruding into the arena of material systems. But there have always been values in biology and social science because they are required to assess how biosocial structures have models embodying purpose as an issue separate from the models of the scientists. Values are addressed seriously in economic discourses, and other discussions will benefit from paying attention to how the dismal science does that. Economic notions of profit have values embedded in them in a way that generally does not occur in ecology and the other natural sciences. Here we generalize profit as gain in settings beyond strict economics in a way that encourages placing values properly in biological and historical social systems. Complications of elaborate control quickly enter the scene at this point and in this paper we invoke hierarchy theory to keep levels of analysis straight. Hierarchy theory often invokes dualities and a mix of process and structure that is fluid under changes in level of analysis. Beyond this, the things the hierarchy represents changes over time, so we must extend discourse of level of analysis to include how time forces the use of new levels of analysis as hierarchies change over time. Notions of gain and profit are recursive as the system uses resources and must change strategies to deal with scarcity. This in turn forces increases in efficiency in yet a new round of change. The transition from abundant resources used carelessly to scarce resources used efficiently changes controls in biosocial systems. Such changes over time amount to hierarchical restructuring, which in turn requires of the observer meticulous application of new levels of analysis as the system is redefined. The system bounded at a new hierarchical level encounters dualities embedded in the hierarchical concept of the holon. The holon offers a precision of definition of the new system as it exists as an autonomous whole while still being part of some larger system. We introduce these shifts and dualities using examples from nuclear energy, colonial insects and changes in complex societies such as the Roman Empire and the EU. In the end both ideas of profit and hierarchy theory are clarified in a two‐way exchange that moves forward our understanding of biosocial systems. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Uncertainty in descriptions of biosocial phenomena and the schism between preventionists and moralists

Biosocial systems are dual-natured phenomena. A relationship between social and biological parameters of any biosocial system may be described by an uncertainty principle: it is not possible to measure both types of parameters exactly and simultaneously. A full description of dual-natured phenomenon requires two mutually exclusive (complementary) concepts. Preventionists and moralists use complementary descriptions of HIV/AIDS epidemic, sexual behavior and drug addiction. That is why they do not understand each other. The "compromise" may be defined as taking into consideration both types of descriptions. The compromise determines approximate values of complementary sets of parameters somewhere between their extreme alternative or complementary descriptions. A compromise is reached within the framework of the complex interplay of complementary descriptions and currently existing norms and generates new social norms and new intersectoral partnerships. The existing schism between preventionists and moralists concerning HIV/AIDS and similar issues is a result of uncertainty of complementary descriptions of complex biosocial systems and should be resolved through compromises which may vary in different countries.

Challenging the Dualistic Assumptions of Academic Writing: Representing Ph.D. Research As Embodied Practice

This article will address the tensions between dualistic traditions of our culture (cf. WERTHEIM, 1999) and new ways of understanding how people come to know what they know through embodied practice within biological and social ecosystems (e.g., DAMASIO, 1994; LEAR, 1998; LEMKE, 1995; MATURANA & VARELA, 1992). It will also raise implications of a biosocial system model for research methodology and academic writing. In my Ph.D. thesis in education I demonstrated that a significant role was played in the construction of my knowledge by my body[-mind], much of it initially outside my awareness. However, I found that theses were still expected to support the myth that learning which will advance knowledge about education is almost exclusively the product of abstract and systematic logical processes, of a disembodied spirit.

Theoretical Underpinnings of Rangeland Monitoring

Monitoring of rangelands has evolved from traditional focus on plant communities and their successional status, taken from a few selected subsamples, to much broader perspectives. Rangelands, being complex biosocial systems, offer a near infinite array of possibilities for choice of variables and how to collect and interpret the data. Past monitoring approaches have inadequately considered objectives, critical definitions, and appropriate sequencing of steps taken. While management objectives should ideally have primacy in choice of variables used in inventory and monitoring, there are some countervailing advantages in employing some commonalities in monitoring protocols among tracts of rangelands. Inventories should come before monitoring. Assessment should follow collection of an adequately long time series of data which is the essence of monitoring. Trends involve judging whether the monitoring data show increases, decreases, or stable trajectories. Assessment involves an always at least partially subjective judgement of condition in relation to appropriate standards and objectives. We are no longer limited to just plant community data collected annually in a few conveniently and subjectively chosen quadrats. Geomatics (remote sensing, GIS, and GPS)opens the possibility of frequent, synoptic (everywhere, instantaneously) landscape coverage via satellite imagery. Indisputable evidence of cause(s) requires concurrent data on these influences along with similar trends from similar circumstances (replications) and controls [reference areas lacking the putative cause(s)]. Three alternatives that could replace plant succession as the underlying, dominant theory of rangeland monitoring are: risk assessment, sustainability, and desertification. Risk assessment is well proven where biophysical indicators can be employed. Politically neutral incorporation of socioeconomic considerations have yet to be demonstrated, however. Sustainability is such a broad and diffuse concept that anyone can read into it whatever he or she wishes. Desertification is the preferred macroconcept to guide us into the future, because its use can more objectively encompass both biophysical and socioeconomic features, at any scale in time and space.