Complex Self-organizing Systems Research Articles

Self-reflective transformational-transformative co-ordinations of the psychological

I first reflect critically on various aspects of the hegemonic Psychology that are relevant to the discussions on pluralism. I then offer the Self-reflective transformational-transformative Worldview in order to find ways for the psychological. I outline only few inter-related notions of this seriously pluralistic radical (post)metaphysical and (post)metatheoretical orientation that is grounded in principle. For example, (i) I delineate the three inter-dependent and indispensible realms of the psychological that are highly differentiated in terms of their ontology–epistemology–semantics, intra-paradigmatic dialectical negotiations between their micro- and macro-poles in their own times, and other characteristics of their dialectically communicational and time-dependent self-organizing complex systems.(ii) I introduce the Triopus as a generic and contextually contingent metaphor of this conceptual matrix in place of the traditional ‘unit of analysis’. (iii) I suggest, against the ‘unity of knowledge’, further alternative hermeneutics such as Transformational Trialectics, Transformative Triangulation, and Reflexive Consilience to the dialogue on pluralism towards relational and coherently connected co-ordinations in psychological studies.

Prediction of traveling front behavior in a lattice-gas cellular automaton model for tumor invasion

Cancer invasion is the process of cells detaching from a primary tumor and infiltrating the healthy tissue. Cancer invasion has been recognized as a complex system, since a tumor’s invasive behavior emerges from the combined effect of tumor cell proliferation, tumor cell migration and cell–microenvironment interactions. Cellular automata (CA) provide simple models of self-organizing complex systems in which collective behavior can emerge out of an ensemble of many interacting “simple” components. Here, we introduce a lattice-gas cellular automaton (LGCA) model of tumor cell proliferation, necrosis and tumor cell migration. The impact of the tumor environment on tumor cells has been investigated in a previous study. Our analysis aims at predicting the velocity of the traveling invasion front, which depends upon fluctuations that arise from the motion of the discrete cells at the front. We find an excellent agreement between the velocities measured in simulations of the LGCA and an analytical estimate derived in the cut-off mean-field approximation via the discrete Lattice Boltzmann equation and its linearization. In particular, we predict the front velocity to scale with the square root of the product of probabilities for mitosis and the migration coefficient. Finally, we calculate the width of the traveling front which is found to be proportional to the front velocity.

BIOMIMETIC SYSTEMS SHED LIGHT ON ACTIN-BASED MOTILITY DOWN TO THE MOLECULAR SCALE

Cell motility, one of the modular activities of living cells, elicits the response of the cell to extra-cellular signals, to move directionally, feed, divide or transport materials. The combined actions of molecular motors and re-modeling of the cytoskeleton generate forces and movement. Here we describe mechanistic approaches of force and movement produced by site-directed assembly of actin filaments. The insight derived from a biochemical analysis of the protein machineries involved in "actin-based motile processes" like cell protrusions, invaginations, organelle propulsion, is used to build reconstituted assays that mimic cellular processes, using several protein machineries known to initiate filament assembly by different mechanisms. Reconstitution of complex self-organized systems presents a broad variety of interests. Reconstituting actin-based movement of a functionalized particle from a minimum number of pure proteins, first used to prove the general thermodynamic principles at work in motility, then was the basis for fully controlled physical measurements of forces produced by polymerization of actin against an obstacle and of the mechanical properties of the resulting polymer arrays. In addition, measurements at the mesoscopic scale (trajectories, velocity, polymer mechanics, fluorescence of specifically labeled components of the actin array, use of mutated proteins) can provide further insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying motility.

Complex fluctuations in neuronal oscillations: From a qualitative hallmark to disease-sensitive quantitative traits

Event Abstract Back to Event Complex fluctuations in neuronal oscillations: From a qualitative hallmark to disease-sensitive quantitative traits Klaus Linkenkaer-Hansen1* 1 VU University Amsterdam, Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), Netherlands Human brain oscillations fluctuate erratically in amplitude during rest and exhibit power-law decay of temporal correlations (Linkenkaer-Hansen et al., 2001). Recent progress in studying genetic (Linkenkaer-Hansen et al., 2007) and disease influences (Montez et al., 2009) of the complex temporal structure of ongoing oscillations, suggests that much information can be derived from time series analysis of ongoing activity, which is not detected with classical spectral methods. Some of the methods used to study the temporal structure are inspired by the statistical behavior of self-organizing complex systems near a critical state (Poil et al., 2008). In this talk, I will provide an introduction to the theoretical framework of critical dynamics in the context of spontaneous neuronal oscillations and give examples of how the quantitative tools developed on the back of this framework have helped us identify novel aspects of brain function in health and disease.

Ageing as a price of cooperation and complexity: Self-organization of complex systems causes the ageing of constituent networks

AbstractThe analysis of network topology and dynamics is increasingly used for the description of the structure, function and evolution of complex systems. Here we summarize key aspects of the evolvability and robustness of the hierarchical network-set of macromolecules, cells, organisms, and ecosystems. Listing the costs and benefits of cooperation as a necessary behaviour to build this network hierarchy, we outline the major hypothesis of the paper: the emergence of hierarchical complexity needs cooperation leading to the ageing of the constituent networks. Local cooperation in a stable environment may lead to over-optimization developing an ‘always-old’ network, which ages slowly, and dies in an apoptosis-like process. Global cooperation by exploring a rapidly changing environment may cause an occasional over-perturbation exhausting system-resources, causing rapid degradation, ageing and death of an otherwise ‘forever-young’ network in a necrosis-like process. Giving a number of examples we explain how local and global cooperation can both evoke and help successful ageing. Finally, we show how various forms of cooperation and consequent ageing emerge as key elements in all major steps of evolution from the formation of protocells to the establishment of the globalized, modern human society. Thus, ageing emerges as a price of complexity, which is going hand-in-hand with cooperation enhancing each other in a successful community.

Production engineering for self-organizing complex systems

Today’s models in production engineering are mainly based on quasi-stationary design assumptions. With increasing dynamics, models reflecting the nonlinear characteristics of production are becoming increasingly relevant. Several approaches have been formulated to design self-organizing systems, leading to good results with regards to the efficiency in which dynamics are mastered by local interaction of a system’s entities. While in self-organization a system’s characteristics emerge bottom-up, effectiveness is designed into a system by an analytical, top-down design approach. The paper discusses how a target oriented analytical design approach can be combined with the concept of self-organization and shows its application and impact on practical examples.

Dynamical response to perturbation of critical Boolean networks

Boolean networks can be used as simple but general models for complex self-organizing systems. The freedom to choose different rules and structures of interactions makes this model applicable to a wide variety of complex phenomena. It is known that the damage dynamics in annealed Boolean systems should fall in the same universality class of the directed percolation model. In this work we present results about the behavior of this model at and near the critically ordered condition for both the annealed and the quenched versions of the model. Our study concentrates on the way the system responds to a small perturbation. We show that the characteristic correlation time, i.e., the time in which any memory of this perturbation is lost, diverges as one moves towards criticality. Exactly at the critical point, we observe that the time for returning to the natural state after the perturbation follows a power-law distribution. This indicates that most perturbations are quickly restored, while few events may have a global effect on the system, suggesting a mechanism that assures at the same time robustness and adaptability. The critical exponents obtained are in agreement with the values expected for the universality class of mean-field directed percolation both in the annealed and in the quenched Boolean network model. This gives further evidence that annealed Boolean networks may in certain conditions provide a good model for understanding the behavior of regulatory systems. Our results may give insight into the way real self-organizing systems respond to external stimuli, and why critically ordered systems are often observed in Nature.

THE PHYSICS OF BURNING PLASMAS IN TOROIDAL MAGNETIC FIELD DEVICES

Some of the crucial physics aspects of burning plasmas magnetically confined in toroidal systems are presented from the viewpoint of nonlinear dynamics. Most of the discussions specifically refer to tokamaks, but they can be readily extended to other toroidal confinement devices. Particular emphasis is devoted to fluctuation induced transport processes of mega electron volts energetic ions and charged fusion products as well as to energy and particle transports of the thermal plasma. Long time scale behaviors due to the interplay of fast ion induced collective effects and plasma turbulence are addressed in the framework of burning plasmas as complex self-organized systems. The crucial roles of mutual positive feedbacks between theory, numerical simulation and experiment are shown to be the necessary premise for reliable extrapolations from present day laboratory to burning plasmas. Examples of the broader applications of fundamental problems to other fields of plasma physics and beyond are also given.

Non-consummatory Motivations: Extropy and “Life wish” in the Self-organization of Emotion

On the “enactive” view of the affective life, emotions are barometers of success for organismically initiated efferent action schemas, and not merely afferent (interoceptive)reactions. This active-passive distinction is grounded in self-organizational theory. One implication of this dynamical enaction approach is that complex systems seek to maintain the complexity of their patterns of activity, and avoid lapsing into lower-energy and less complex patterns. Thus non-consummatory motivations such as exploration, play and nurturance can be seen as resulting from what I call an “extropic” dimension of complex dynamical organisms, and are not as easily explainable as are consummatory motives purely in terms of energy-efficient homeostasis. In consummatory satiation, chemical needs such as in hunger or thirst are the driving forces, pushing toward consumption of chemical resources needed for homeostasis. But homeostasis can be achieved at both higher and lower energy levels. “Extropy” is the tendency of some complex self-organizing systems to prefer higher- over lower-energy basins of attraction. The latter, however, can be convenient paths to energyefficient homeostasis within component subsystems, which is the driving force of consummatory needs. Extropic motives differ from the purely homeostatic ones — i.e., those which seek a maximally energy-efficient homeostasis — in that the extropic ones resist the complacence that would follow from consummatory satiation if energy efficient chemical balance were the only ultimate aim. Non- consummatory motives, while maintaining homeostasis, can fundamentally conflict with consummatory ones by pushing toward higherenergy attractors in the interest of maintaining complex structural patterns for the overall system. Thus it is argued that extropy is an independent demand alongside homeostasis. This analysis yields an analysis of a number of relatively independent emotional-motivational categories around three main types of needs: Extropic, homeostatic, and boundary-protection needs, conceptualized around the basic dimensions of complex dynamical systems.

Synergetics and architecture

A series of phenomena pertaining to economics, quantum physics, language, literary criticism, and especially architecture is studied from the standpoint of synergetics (the study of self-organizing complex systems). It turns out that a whole series of concrete formulas describing these phenomena is identical in these different situations. This is the case of formulas relating to the Bose-Einstein distribution of particles and the distribution of words from a frequency dictionary. This also allows to apply a “quantized” from of the Zipf law to the problem of the authorship of Quiet Flows the Don and to the “blending in” of new architectural structures in an existing environment.

Planning rules for a self-planned city

Planning theory, laws, and systems are essentially procedural in that they focus on the process of planning and decision-making but do not deal with the substance of the decisions nor their impact on cities. They emphasize the role of the many (f)actors that shape the built environment rather than the resultant properties of the built environment itself. This is true both for the rational comprehensive theory of the 1960s and the 1990s postmodern theory of communicative planning theory. In this article we claim that current planning weaknesses, on the one hand, and viewing cities as complex self-organizing systems, on the other, require re-linking planning theory, law, and administration to the substantive qualitative relations between the various urban elements. We then introduce, first, an example for theorizing such an `Urban Code' that turns the spatial relations into a planning rule and, second, a suggestion for a planning system that is responsive to these qualitative relations and is capable of updating them.

Complex systems analysis of series of blackouts: Cascading failure, critical points, and self-organization

We give an overview of a complex systems approach to large blackouts of electric power transmission systems caused by cascading failure. Instead of looking at the details of particular blackouts, we study the statistics and dynamics of series of blackouts with approximate global models. Blackout data from several countries suggest that the frequency of large blackouts is governed by a power law. The power law makes the risk of large blackouts consequential and is consistent with the power system being a complex system designed and operated near a critical point. Power system overall loading or stress relative to operating limits is a key factor affecting the risk of cascading failure. Power system blackout models and abstract models of cascading failure show critical points with power law behavior as load is increased. To explain why the power system is operated near these critical points and inspired by concepts from self-organized criticality, we suggest that power system operating margins evolve slowly to near a critical point and confirm this idea using a power system model. The slow evolution of the power system is driven by a steady increase in electric loading, economic pressures to maximize the use of the grid, and the engineering responses to blackouts that upgrade the system. Mitigation of blackout risk should account for dynamical effects in complex self-organized critical systems. For example, some methods of suppressing small blackouts could ultimately increase the risk of large blackouts.

Diagnosis of stressed states in the lithosphere of the Baikal Rift System

The results of investigation of the structure and dynamics of stresses at the modern (instrumental) stage of the evolution of the lithosphere in the Baikal Rift System (BRS) are presented. The application of the theoretical methods of nonlinear dynamic systems for diagnosis of the stressed states allowed us to formulate the concept of the complex stressed state of the BRS lithosphere. In this concept, the time distribution of large earthquakes is explained by bifurcations (catastrophes) of stresses. The analysis of the results obtained points to possibilities of a catastrophe of stresses in the BRS lithosphere in the next few years and the consequent realization of large earthquakes with magnitude M ≈ 7 . A model of triple equilibrium bifurcation is suggested for the evolution of stresses in the BRS lithosphere. Rapid processes of stress rearrangement in the BRS lithosphere are consistent with the behavior of complex self-organizing unstable thermodynamic systems [1]. Since they are observed synchronously in three zones of the maxima of structural force inhomogeneities, we classify the BRS as a spatiotemporal open self-organized nonlinear dissipative system [2]. A complex system is considered self-organized if it maintains its instability at a level sufficient for effective resistance to the variations in the active medium, thus saving itself from collapse. We understand self-organization as an antientropic process of buildup, interaction, and maintenance of coherence between the elements of the system with increase of its complexity and formation of the attractor structure. Complex synergetic phenomena are exemplified in the literature as different processes of self-organization in physicochemical and biological systems. Their analysis allows us to establish the general features, which are characteristic of complex phenomena, and formulate the main principles irrespective of the specific nature of the system. Each of such processes has unique features. The role of nonlinearity, fluctuations, oscillations, bifurcations, and the attractor is manifested very clearly in these examples. Therefore, when modeling the behavior of geophysical systems, one should use the advantage of new perspectives discovered by science during the investigation of complex behavior of nonlinear dynamic systems. This is especially important in light of the modern tendencies of forecasting and controlling the seismic process, since forecast and control imply knowledge of the properties and peculiarities of the system under control. They begin with gathering of information about the state of the system, its links, and the logic of its functioning.

The web from a complex adaptive systems perspective

The web continues to grow at a phenomenal rate, and the amount of information on the web is overwhelming. Finding the relevant information remains a big challenge. Due to its wide distribution, its openness and high dynamics, the web is a complex system, for which we have to imagine mechanisms of content maintaining, filtering and organizing that are able to deal with its evolving dynamics and distribution. Integrating mechanisms of self-organization of the web content is an attractive perspective, to match with these requirements. Self-organized complex systems can be programmed using situated multi-agent systems with a coupling between the agents' social organization and spatial organization. This paper explores the web from a complex adaptive system (CAS) perspective. It reviews some characteristic behaviors of CASs and shows how the web exhibits similar behaviors. We propose a model and a prototype of a system that addresses the dynamic web content organization, adopting the CAS vision and using the multi-agent paradigm.

Probability and Evolution. Why the Probability Argument of Creationists is Wrong

Evolution is a time process. It proceeds in steps of definite length. The probability of each step is relatively high, so self organization of complex systems will be possible in finite time. Prerequisite for such a process is a selection rule, which certainly exists in evolution. Therefore, it would be wrong to calculate the probability of the formation of a complex system solely on the basis of the number of its components and as a momentary event.

Renyi entropy and power-law distributions in natural and human sciences

Traditional Boltzmann‐Gibbs statistic thermodynamics does not provide power-law distributions characterizing complex self-organizing systems [1]. In this work, we propose using a more general approach involving Renyi entropy that makes it possible to adequately describe complex self-organizing systems. Power-law distributions are observed in various fields of natural sciences and in the social and economic activity of mankind [2] and are known as Zipf’s law in linguistics; the Pareto law in economics and sociology of science; the Gutenberg‐Richter law in geophysics; and power-law distributions for critical phenomena, for the intensity of avalanches in a granulated medium, for fragment masses upon impact fragmentation, for the energy spectrum of particles in the atmospheric cascades of cosmic rays, for users of Web sites, etc. On the other hand, the maximum of the Gibbs‐Shannon entropy

The uniqueness of biological self-organization: challenging the Darwinian paradigm

Here we discuss the challenge posed by self-organization to the Darwinian conception of evolution. As we point out, natural selection can only be the major creative agency in evolution if all or most of the adaptive complexity manifest in living organisms is built up over many generations by the cumulative selection of naturally occurring small, random mutations or variants, i.e., additive, incremental steps over an extended period of time. Biological self-organization—witnessed classically in the folding of a protein, or in the formation of the cell membrane—is a fundamentally different means of generating complexity. We agree that self-organizing systems may be fine-tuned by selection and that self-organization may be therefore considered a complementary mechanism to natural selection as a causal agency in the evolution of life. But we argue that if self-organization proves to be a common mechanism for the generation of adaptive order from the molecular to the organismic level, then this will greatly undermine the Darwinian claim that natural selection is the major creative agency in evolution. We also point out that although complex self-organizing systems are easy to create in the electronic realm of cellular automata, to date translating in silico simulations into real material structures that self-organize into complex forms from local interactions between their constituents has not proved easy. This suggests that self-organizing systems analogous to those utilized by biological systems are at least rare and may indeed represent, as pre-Darwinists believed, a unique ascending hierarchy of natural forms. Such a unique adaptive hierarchy would pose another major challenge to the current Darwinian view of evolution, as it would mean the basic forms of life are necessary features of the order of nature and that the major pathways of evolution are determined by physical law, or more specifically by the self-organizing properties of biomatter, rather than natural selection.

Urban spatial pattern as self-organizing system: An empirical evaluation of firm location decisions in Cleveland–Akron PMSA, Ohio

Economic models of urban spatial patterns have largely ignored complexity as an attribute of urban systems. Complexity theorists on the other hand have not made sufficiently serious and sustained attempts to verify empirically the relevance of complex systems models for urban spatial patterns. This research bridges this gap by simulating the evolution of an urban employment pattern as a self-organizing complex system and seeking its empirical validation. It estimates the model’s parameters by using firm data aggregated to the level of municipalities in Cleveland-Akron Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area in Ohio. The interaction among four parameters, forces of attraction and dispersion and their respective rates of dissipation with distance, are modeled as a two-dimensional complex system. The research compares the states of the modeled system with empirical data to present viable methods for verification, calibration and validation of such models.

Physics of burning plasmas in toroidal magnetic confinement devices

Some of the crucial physics aspects of burning plasmas magnetically confined in toroidal systems are presented from the viewpoint of nonlinear dynamics. Most of the discussions specifically refer to tokamaks, but they can be readily extended to other toroidal confinement devices. Particular emphasis is devoted to fluctuation induced transport processes of mega electron volts energetic ions and charged fusion products as well as to energy and particle transports of the thermal plasma. Long time scale behaviours due to the interplay of fast ion induced collective effects and plasma turbulence are addressed in the framework of burning plasmas as complex self-organized systems. The crucial roles of mutual positive feedbacks between theory, numerical simulation and experiment are shown to be the necessary premise for reliable extrapolations from present day laboratory to burning plasmas. Examples of the broader applications of fundamental problems to other fields of plasma physics and beyond are also given.

Identifying patterns in squash contests using dynamical analysis and human perception.

This report examines the space-time patterns of squash players as they move around the squash court in the context of a dynamical system. The phase relations that describe the squash dyad (i.e., where one player is in relation to the other player) demonstrated a strong tendency towards an anti-phase (180°) relation, as expected. When the data from a number of squash rallies (N = 47) were combined a second stable phase relation of 135° emerged, thus indicating the existence of a previously undetected lead-lag phase relation within the squash dyad. The lead phase relation belonged to the server of the rally in each instance. Further inspections of individual squash rallies demonstrated other properties consistent with a dynamical system description, namely the existence of phase fluctuations (i.e., increased variability in the phase relations), phase transitions (i.e., a switch between stable phase relations), and phase slippages as a result of a missing, or extra, phase cycle for one of the two players. Together, these results indicate that the space-time interactions of squash players might usefully be described in the context of dynamical principles of self-organizing (complex) systems. These findings furthermore suggest that the dynamical properties of the squash dyad may contain important information for identifying the squash patterns that we think we see using visual inspection. To examine this supposition we used the point-light method to represent the movements of the two squash players within a rally as contrasted against a distracter set of varying complexities. Interestingly, humans retained the ability to identify the squash dyad beyond chance even when the distracter set contained squash-like properties. Whether a dynamical analysis of these data is likewise discriminatory in its ability to detect squash behaviours from squash-like behaviours remains to be determined in future research.