Concept Of Systems Research Articles

Rhizosheath drought responsiveness is variety-specific and a key component of belowground plant adaptation.

Biophysicochemical rhizosheath properties play a vital role in plant drought adaptation. However, their integration into the framework of plant drought response is hampered by incomplete mechanistic understanding of their drought responsiveness and unknown linkage to intraspecific plant-soil drought reactions. Thirty-eight Zea mays varieties were grown under well-watered and drought conditions to assess the drought responsiveness of rhizosheath properties, such as soil aggregation, rhizosheath mass, net-rhizodeposition, and soil organic carbon distribution. Additionally, explanatory traits, including functional plant trait adaptations and changes in soil enzyme activities, were measured. Drought restricted soil structure formation in the rhizosheath and shifted plant-carbonfrom litter-derived organic matter in macroaggregates to microbially processed compounds in microaggregates. Variety-specific functional trait modifications determined variations in rhizosheath drought responsiveness. Drought responses of the plant-soil system ranged among varieties from maintaining plant-microbial interactions in the rhizosheath through accumulation of rhizodeposits, to preserving rhizosheath soil structure while increasing soil exploration through enhanced root elongation. Drought-induced alterations at the root-soil interface may hold crucial implications for ecosystem resilience in a changing climate. Our findings highlight that rhizosheath soil properties are an intrinsic component of plant drought response, emphasizing the need for a holistic concept of plant-soil systems in future research on plant drought adaptation.

The engine mission simulation system: coupled simulation of aircraft and engine in the mission

AbstractWhen designing future aircraft, the entire system including airframe, propulsion system, energy management and mission control must be considered in a coupled approach at an early design stage. To model and study this complex interaction, the Engine Mission Simulation System (EMSS) environment was created in cooperation with the Bundeswehr Technical Center for Aircraft and Aircraft Equipment. EMSS is intended to serve as a digital, flying test bed at the Institute of Jet Propulsion for the rapid and low-cost evaluation of new concepts for propulsion and power supply systems for new and legacy aircraft designs. This tool chain allows a detailed engine simulation under consideration of its flight condition while using an external propulsion and power control system. First, the software architecture of EMSS is discussed, which involves a propulsion simulation in NPSS® coupled with the X-Plane 11 flight simulator via MATLAB®/Simulink®. The aircraft itself is modeled as a six degrees of freedom simulation using the blade element theory, allowing both complex flight maneuvers and unusual aircraft to be easily simulated. The EMSS achieves real-time capability and enables user-friendly pre-design as well as quick trend detection through the ability to perform focused parametric studies. To evaluate the accuracy of the system’s results, the engine model used is validated against experimental data. Subsequently, the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft model are verified with a CFD simulation. Finally, a parametric study is used to demonstrate the mission as well as propulsion evaluation capabilities of the Engine Mission Simulation System.

Design and safety features of SALUS-100: A long fuel-cycled Sodium-cooled fast reactor

The paper introduces the innovative development of an SFR-based Small Modular Reactor (SMR) known as SALUS-100, with a 100 MWe electrical output, developed by KAERI. This innovative design, derived from the previous TRU transmutation burner SFR concept, represents a significant step forward in establishing a new model for SMRs and offers diverse applications, including on– and off-grid electricity generation, district heating, and industrial heat supply. The reactor features of SALUS-100 incorporate an integrated pool-type primary system configuration and a long fuel-cycle core concept with a metallic alloy nuclear fuel. Its design concept prioritizes preventing severe accidents by capitalizing on the inherent safety and reliability features achieved through emphasizing passive design characteristics. The paper describes the engineering design and safety analyses of SALUS-100, highlighting advanced design concepts in reactor core, fuel, materials, and systems. Additionally, the key research and development endeavors, focusing on vital areas such as enhancing system design capability, validating designs, demonstrating safety, and innovating in metal fuel technology, are briefly discussed, emphasizing the potential of SALUS-100 in revolutionizing the SMR market and utilizing efficient nuclear energy in the future.

Dual sport career experiences of student-athletes studying in South Africa and the USA

Background: Institutions of higher education are hubs for student-athletes pursuing dual careers, in sports and higher education. The concepts of dual careers, transition models and support systems for student sports provide the conceptual framework for this study.Objectives: The study investigated the dual sports career experiences of South African track and field student-athletes who studied at universities in South Africa and the United States of America (USA). Objectives determined satisfaction in terms of student-athlete support systems in their chosen localities.Method: This qualitative study used a purposive sample of 12 participants from a general population of South African junior track and field athletes who pursued dual careers. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews.Results: The respondents found the US National Association Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sports system superior to the South African sports system. The dual-career student-athletes transitioning through the last two stages of the South African Long-Term Athlete Development model reported a lack of support that negatively impacted the success of their dual career balance.Conclusion: The South African context of student sport is not generally conducive to creating and enabling a dual sports–academic career environment because of insufficient contextual, processional and sports-specific factors. The participants perceived the NCAA system of student sport as holistic and supportive of their dual-career development.Contribution: This study adds to the limited pool of knowledge relating to the dual-career development of student-athletes, and provides a base line for future research studies.

Проблемы правового регулирования понятия и оценки эффективности государственных информационных систем

The article is devoted to the analysis of legal aspects of the concept of state information systems in Russian legislation. The author explores the actual problems of the functioning of state information systems and identifies gaps in legislation in the field of regulation of the evaluation of their effectiveness. It is noted that there is a need to introduce requirements for the availability of criteria (including quantitative ones) for evaluating the effectiveness of the results of the creation of state information systems at the legislative level.

Games and the Rise of Systems Thinking

This article examines the historical development of systems thinking to demonstrate the manifold applications of games in modeling new understandings of systems. Chess and go were deliberately reconfigured by competitors, theorists, and tournament organizers over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries into systematic totalities. This transformation profoundly influenced subsequent concepts of formal and symbolic systems developed in twentieth-century mathematics, AI research, cognitive science, and economics.

Stabilisation of multi-agent systems over finite fields based on high-order fully actuated system approaches

In this paper, the controllability of multi-agent systems over finite fields is studied based on the high-order fully actuated (HOFA) system approaches. The concept of HOFA systems over finite fields is introduced. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the controllability of linear systems over finite fields are established. It is proved that a leader–follower multi-agent system over finite fields is controllable if and only if it can be transformed into an HOFA system. Then the stabilisation control protocol is proposed based on the full-actuation property, and the upper bound of settling time for the system can be determined. The uncontrollable leader–follower multi-agent system over finite fields can be transformed into a controllable subsystem and an autonomous subsystem via structural decomposition, the conditions for the system to be stabilisable are provided. Finally, an illustrative example is shown to verify the validity of the main results of this paper.

Nanorobotic artificial blood components and its therapeutic applications: A minireview.

Numerous scientific and medical domains have been revolutionized by nanotechnology, opening up unprecedented opportunities for healthcare applications. Among these developments, the creation of nanorobots for artificial blood components is a novel field of research that seeks to overcome the constraints of conventional pharmacological therapy. This review article provides a comprehensive overview of the nanorobotic artificial blood components and their therapeutic uses. The article begins by outlining the core concepts of nanotechnology and nanorobotic systems, emphasizing their design and control methods. It then delves into various types of nanorobotic artificial blood components, such as oxygen transporters (artificial RBCs), clotting agents (artificial platelets), and immune modulators (artificial WBCs). It goes into detail about their properties, functioning, and capabilities, which allow them to replicate the physiological activities of actual blood components. The article also assesses the clinicaluses of artificial blood components in a variety of medical circumstances. It highlights their potential value in the management of certain blood-related diseases.

Bibliometric study of distribution system state estimation: advances and challenges

An active distribution network with a large amount of distributed energy resources (DER) requires knowledge of the operational status of the network. In this sense, state estimation is one of the most widely used techniques and a well-developed concept in transmission systems. DERs have some monitoring, protection, and control devices. But due to the large size of the network and the number of users, the massive installation of meters is not yet economically feasible. Therefore, it is necessary to generate artificial measurements to perform all stages of distribution system state estimation (DSSE). DSSE is currently the subject of active research, so this article performs a descriptive bibliometric study, which qualitatively and quantitatively analyzes the topics found in the specialized literature in the period from 2000 to 2022 and part of the 2023. It also identifies the advances, challenges, and proposals for future lines of research in DSSE.

Emergence and Causality in Complex Systems: A Survey of Causal Emergence and Related Quantitative Studies.

Emergence and causality are two fundamental concepts for understanding complex systems. They are interconnected. On one hand, emergence refers to the phenomenon where macroscopic properties cannot be solely attributed to the cause of individual properties. On the other hand, causality can exhibit emergence, meaning that new causal laws may arise as we increase the level of abstraction. Causal emergence (CE) theory aims to bridge these two concepts and even employs measures of causality to quantify emergence. This paper provides a comprehensive review of recent advancements in quantitative theories and applications of CE. It focuses on two primary challenges: quantifying CE and identifying it from data. The latter task requires the integration of machine learning and neural network techniques, establishing a significant link between causal emergence and machine learning. We highlight two problem categories: CE with machine learning and CE for machine learning, both of which emphasize the crucial role of effective information (EI) as a measure of causal emergence. The final section of this review explores potential applications and provides insights into future perspectives.

A Deep-Reinforcement-Learning-Based Digital Twin for Manufacturing Process Optimization

In the context of Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing, production factories are increasingly focusing on process optimization, high product customization, quality improvement, cost reduction, and energy saving by implementing a new type of digital solutions that are mainly driven by Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, big data, and cloud computing. By the adoption of the cyber–physical systems (CPSs) concept, today’s factories are gaining in synergy between the physical and the cyber worlds. As a fast-spreading concept, a digital twin is considered today as a robust solution for decision-making support and optimization. Alongside these benefits, sectors are still working to adopt this technology because of the complexity of modeling manufacturing operations as digital twins. In addition, attempting to use a digital twin for fully automatic decision-making adds yet another layer of complexity. This paper presents our framework for the implementation of a full-duplex (data and decisions) specific-purpose digital twin system for autonomous process control, with plastic injection molding as a practical use-case. Our approach is based on a combination of supervised learning and deep reinforcement learning models that allows for an automated updating of the virtual representation of the system, in addition to an intelligent decision-making process for operational metrics optimization. The suggested method allows for improvements in the product quality while lowering costs. The outcomes demonstrate how the suggested structure can produce high-quality output with the least amount of human involvement. This study shows how the digital twin technology can improve the productivity and effectiveness of production processes and advances the use of the technology in the industrial sector.

Investigating the Effect of Living Walls on Cooling Energy Consumption in Various Urban Microclimates, Building Heights, and Greenery Coverage Areas

With the aim of addressing the significant contribution of buildings to global energy consumption and the growing need to establish a more harmonious connection between humans and nature in urban environments, the concept of green vertical systems has garnered considerable attention. These systems possess the potential to enhance the energy efficiency and environmental sustainability of buildings. This study seeks to explore the impact of living walls on the energy performance of buildings, specifically investigating the influence of a living-walled urban block on the ambient air temperature and its subsequent effect on building energy consumption. By comparing the cooling energy consumption of two typical buildings situated in Shiraz, southern Iran, with varying levels of greenery in different microclimates, we further ascertain the effectiveness of living walls in reducing energy consumption. To conduct this analysis, we employed coupled simulations utilizing EnergyPlus and Envi-met, which incorporated both the outdoor microclimate and the cooling energy consumption of the buildings. The urban block under consideration consisted of 48 three-story buildings (Case A) and five-story buildings (Case B) within a site measuring 120 m × 150 m. Our findings substantiate that the implementation of a living wall system can lower the ambient air temperature by a significant extent, with an average decrease of 1.35 °C and a maximum decrease of 2.25 °C. Consequently, living walls can effectively mitigate the urban heat island phenomenon by decreasing the temperatures of the surrounding buildings. Additionally, our investigations revealed a maximum energy saving of 15%, with microclimate exerting a 4.3% influence on these savings.

A review of recent control techniques of drooped inverter‐based AC microgrids

AbstractAs the penetration of distributed generation (DG) systems in the grid is increasing, the challenge of combining large numbers of DGs in the power systems has to be carefully clarified and managed. The control strategy and management concept of the interconnected systems should be flexible and reliable to handle the various types of DGs. This can be suitably met by microgrids. This paper introduces the microgrid structure and elements and states the main objectives that should be achieved by the microgrid controllers and each DG controller in both operation modes (grid‐connected and island mode). It also presents the challenges of having multiple DG units in a microgrid in terms of accurate power control/sharing, voltage and frequency regulation, power management between DGs, different renewable energy sources integration and deployment, seamless mode transfer, and the modeling issues. The centralized and decentralized control techniques as potential solutions have been discussed and compared by highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each. Furthermore, the recent control techniques for drooped alternating current microgrids and the main proposed solutions and contributions in the literature have been exposed to finally overcome the droop control limitations and obtain a flexible and smart distributed power system.

Operational strategy of reconfigurable membrane process for bio-based amino acid production

Reconfigurable manufacturing systems can rapidly and economically transform production facilities, allowing for the simultaneous realization of diverse customized product manufacturing and high productivity. In this study, the concept of reconfigurable manufacturing systems was introduced to the counter-current diafiltration membrane process for bio-based amino acid production. A superstructure model adaptable to any counter-current diafiltration cascade configuration was developed. This superstructure model optimizes the objective cost function, minimizing fluctuation costs associated with yield and utility. Case studies such as the production of L-lysine, L-arginine, and L-tryptophan were considered. Sensitivity analysis indicated that when membrane capacity becomes limited due to increased overall feed flow rates and decreased permeate flux, the role of the counter-current diafiltration step grows in importance. Circumstances caused by diverse product manufacturing, natural disturbance in bioprocesses, and shifts in productivity and cost priorities based on market dynamics indicate the promising economic potential of reconfigurable membrane systems. Since scalability, diagnosability, customization, modularity, and integrability are high, the reconfigurable membrane system has proven its capability to flexibly adapt to continuously changing conditions. All superstructure modeling and simulations in this study were executed using in-house graphical user interface software.

Unveiling the Seismic Performance of Concentrically Braced Steel Frames: A Comprehensive Review

Steel braced frames resist earthquake ground motion by undergoing several cycles of inelastic deformation. These deformations include elongation under tension and buckling in compression. To facilitate an understanding of the inelastic response of concentrically braced steel members under cyclic loading, several experimental, numerical, and analytical studies have been carried out by various researchers around the world. To overcome buckling, one of the primary failure mechanisms in Concentrically Braced Frames (CBFs), different bracing systems with recently developed mechanisms were implemented to tackle this phenomenon. The main features of these systems are to dissipate the earthquake-induced energy effectively, with minimum damage to buildings and infrastructure. Such systems still have some drawbacks, such as weight, price and specific performance issues. This work comprehensively studies CBFs, including concept, design, seismic behavior and performance for conventional, modern, and self-centering bracing systems. It summarizes 27 test programs for conventional CBFs, highlighting the different alternatives and approaches used by various researchers. Several additional studies incorporating self-centering bracing systems are also emphasized. The work finally highlights the advancements and challenges in achieving more sustainable solutions for the built environment.

Systems and Ecosystems in the Circular Economy: What’s the Difference?

‘Systems’ and ‘ecosystems’ are buzz concepts in the circular economy literature. However, the differences between these concepts remain ambiguous. Systems and ecosystems are often used interchangeably and at times confusingly. While conceptual ambiguity offers possibilities for broad interpretations and engagement, it can undermine the relevance of these concepts as analytical lenses to disrupt the linear economy. In this perspective article, I examine whether systems and ecosystems are distinct concepts and how they complement each other. To do so, I analysed these concepts and applied them to a case of biomethane for transportation using scientific literature. Systems and ecosystems are not mutually exclusive; rather, they offer nuanced perspectives to describe, analyse, and facilitate complex interactions among entities and their external environment. They signify the complexity, interdependency, and co-evolutionary nature of the circular economy. Ecosystems are a subcategory of systems. Differences between the concepts of systems and ecosystems partially arise from their origins, evolution, and the research communities using them. The article shows how systems and ecosystems perspectives can enrich each other and calls for better integration between the two concepts in the circular economy discourse.

Photodynamic therapy using polymeric micelles containing photosensitizers

In recent years, photodynamic therapy (PDT) has emerged as a promising cancer treatment due to its minimal risk of harming normal cells and non-invasive nature, alleviating the burden on patients. PDT utilizes light and photosensitizers to exploit photochemical reactions for therapeutic purposes. However, a challenge arises post-PDT treatment, where residual photosensitizers in the body can induce phototoxicity upon exposure to sunlight.To address this issue, the concept of drug delivery systems (DDS) has garnered attention. DDS aims to control drug distribution in the body, maximizing therapeutic effects while minimizing side effects. In this study, we explore the use of polymeric micelles as nanocarriers for DDS, leveraging their advantages such as tumor-specific accumulation and low toxicity.The synthesis of photosensitizer-containing block copolymers was conducted, followed by evaluation of micellization using NMR and assessment of phototoxicity utilizing HeLa cells. The obtained results revealed a critical micelle concentration (CMC) of 0.16 mg/mL. Notably, significant cell toxicity was observed at the CMC concentration in the phototoxicity assay, highlighting the potential of these polymeric micelles as an effective nanocarrier system for enhanced photodynamic therapy.

Classical Yang–Baxter Equation, Lagrangian Multiforms and Ultralocal Integrable Hierarchies

We cast the classical Yang–Baxter equation (CYBE) in a variational context for the first time, by relating it to the theory of Lagrangian multiforms, a framework designed to capture integrability in a variational fashion. This provides a significant connection between Lagrangian multiforms and the CYBE, one of the most fundamental concepts of integrable systems. This is achieved by introducing a generating Lagrangian multiform which depends on a skew-symmetric classical r-matrix with spectral parameters. The multiform Euler–Lagrange equations produce a generating Lax equation which yields a generating zero curvature equation. The CYBE plays a role at three levels: (1) it ensures the commutativity of the flows of the generating Lax equation; (2) it ensures that the generating zero curvature equation holds; (3) it implies the closure relation for the generating Lagrangian multiform. The specification of an integrable hierarchy is achieved by fixing certain data: a finite set S⊂CP1\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$S\\subset \\mathbb {C}P^1$$\\end{document}, a Lie algebra g\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\mathfrak {g}$$\\end{document}, a g\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\mathfrak {g}$$\\end{document}-valued rational function with poles in S and an r-matrix. We show how our framework is able to generate a large class of ultralocal integrable hierarchies by providing several known and new examples pertaining to the rational or trigonometric class. These include the Ablowitz–Kaup–Newell–Segur hierarchy, the sine-Gordon (sG) hierarchy and various hierarchies related to Zakharov–Mikhailov type models which contain the Faddeev–Reshetikhin (FR) model and recently introduced deformed Gross–Neveu models as particular cases. The versatility of our method is illustrated by showing how to couple integrable hierarchies together to create new examples of integrable field theories and their hierarchies. We provide two examples: the coupling of the nonlinear Schrödinger system to the FR model and the coupling of sG with the anisotropic FR model.

ТЕОРЕТИЧНІ ЗАСАДИ ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ ЯКОСТІ ПРАЦІ НА ПІДПРИЄМСТВАХ В УМОВАХ ПОВОЄННОГО ВІДРОДЖЕННЯ НАЦІОНАЛЬНОЇ ЕКОНОМІКИ

It is noted that in the context of the reconstruction of the economy of Ukraine and its transformation on a market basis, attention is being paid to the formation of new organizational and economic relations in the field of labor. It has been proven that the issues of ensuring the quality of work, which affect the improvement of the efficiency of personnel management and the competitiveness of enterprises, allow not only to reduce the turnover of personnel, but also to face the problem of shortage of labor resources. It is noted that the current stage of development of the concepts of the quality of working life and decent work requires the use of an interdisciplinary approach and is characterized by the interpenetration of various concepts, the main one of which is the organization of work. It is emphasized that the quality of work at the enterprise is a multifaceted variable and the main criteria of the quality of work of the personnel at the enterprise are defined, namely: decent wages, effective employment, effective social partnership, social protection system, realization of individual values. It is substantiated that the main result of the analysis of the quality of work is the introduction of an effective set of measures to improve the organization of work in the company. The main indicators of the economic efficiency of the set of measures to ensure the quality of work at the enterprise are determined: the growth of labor productivity and the annual economic effect. It has been proven that the system of labor quality indicators should be aimed at solving tasks: ensuring objective measurement of labor efficiency indicators and reflecting the management system's ability to use internal opportunities for its improvement. The criteria for indicators of the quality of work of personnel at the enterprise and the division of the system of indicators for ensuring the quality of work into indicators-results of work efficiency and indicators-possibility of improving the quality of work are substantiated. It has been proven that the development and implementation of the concept of total quality management (TQM) and labor quality management systems adapted to specific conditions into the practice of enterprises will increase the competitiveness of Ukrainian enterprises and promote their effective integration into the European space.

Development of Morphology to Support the Conception of Cognitive Assistance Systems for Quality Assurance in Product Audits

During a product audit, auditors choose which areas they examine more thoroughly, thus creating the problem of person-dependent audits. Assistance systems could avoid these problems. During the design process, Morphologies help to derive a solution in a structured way. Thus, this paper presents a morphology for product audit assistance systems. We based our solution on existing morphologies for manufacturing tasks. Through an analysis of the product audit process, we specialized it and derived fixed expressions specified by the process and variable expressions requiring a specific use case. Finally, we present concrete assistance functions useful for a product audit and show which variable expressions they define.