Conditions Of High Complexity Research Articles

Beyond evidence: experimental policy-making in uncertain times

ABSTRACT Evidence-based policy-making (EBP) is widely seen as a key instrument for good policy-making. Yet in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the debate on the relation of science and policy-making gained new momentum. The premises of EBP, its narrow understanding of what kind of knowledge counts and how to make decisions, appeared inapt to provide a sound foundation for policy-making under conditions of high complexity and uncertainty. This paper addresses the major shortcomings of EBP and argues for revising its evidentialist framework. First, the idea of evidence itself has to be extended and pluralized by including alternative forms of knowledge. Second, uncertainty has to be taken seriously as a fundamental epistemic condition. To arrive at a more apt model of policy-making, this paper suggests to adopt a pragmatist perspective on the relation of politics, science and the public. This leads to an experimentalist account in the meliorist spirit. Such an account highlights the role of experience, participatory processes and collective learning. Furthermore, and in contrast to scientistic models, it underlines political responsibility and demands to cultivate sensitivity for possible failures and tragic constellations. Finally, a non-evidentialist model of policy advice is outlined.

Project Activity as a Consensus Management Tool in the Modern Library

Project activity is a tool for diversifying the management of modern library in the conditions of high complexity and uncertainty; it is a way to complete and strengthen the power vertical by horizontal ties of self-organizing peer groups. Participation in project activities allows building a space of trust between the administration and the library staff, forming shared goals and values, and contributes to strengthening consensus.Project activities contribute to the effective solution of complex tasks facing the modern library: embedding libraries in the knowledge economy, working in the format of social hub, implementing the agenda of creative industries. By helping to build partnerships with representatives of different communities, the project activities contribute to the development of material and technical resources of library, as well as the creation of new services, products and services. In addition, project activity is an important tool for developing the creative and organizational potential of library specialists.The article discusses the experience of the Irkutsk Regional Universal Scientific Library named after I.I. Molchanov-Sibirskiy on the systematic implementation of project activities in the central regional library and the network of libraries of the Angara region. The author analyses the main tools of project activity: the Regulations on project activity of the Irkutsk Regional Universal Scientific Library, the Project Council, strategic sessions and innovative project “descents”. The paper describes the concept of the regional network socially oriented project “Library for government, society, individual”. The author gives statistics of the implemented projects, as well as determines the areas of effective application of process and project management in the library.

CHAPTER 7: Reflecting on Four South African Case Studies of Experiential Learning in Spatial Planning to Inform Curriculum Transformation in Higher Education.

Reflections on the application of experiential learning cases in South African spatial planning programs remain rare in existing scholarship and warrant further research. Critical thinking and experiential learning are prerequisites to accredit South African curricula of spatial planning education by its professional body, the South African Council for Planners. In African contexts, approaches to spatial planning education have been highly influenced by the logic, systems, and skills of colonial-era town planning. The main argument in this chapter is that students studying in the field of spatial planning may benefit from learning through experiences with real-life situations (case studies), as these generate context-specific forms of knowledge, providing possible strategies of action and intervention in conditions of high complexity, which invariably characterise urban development problems in Africa. The concept ‘learning’ in this chapter is viewed from a critical social constructivist perspective as it is a social epistemology that is important for the socio-cultural context of knowledge construction, especially evident in our country. This chapter follows a collaborative reflection methodology where four cases of experiential learning (2018-2020) in spatial planning education have been reflected upon during a reflective lecturer’s retreat in August 2021. The reflection was conducted in four stages, namely clarification, exploration, focalisation and interpretation. The cases include four spatial planning modules from three different year levels, focussing on different socio-spatial South African higher education contexts. The main findings that have emerged from the collaborative reflection, include that the application of experiential learning in the education of students studying spatial planning is not only beneficial to the students, but also contribute immensely towards the development of the lecturers, planning the curriculum and eventually the practice of interpreting planning practice for the purposes of teaching and learning. The study illustrates the potential of experiential learning to promote a reflective approach to learning, while fostering skill development in complex problem-solving with contemporary relevance in the field of spatial planning.

Kajian Arah Tegasan dan Nilai RQD Berdasarkan Analisis Statistik Data Struktur Kekar

The research location is in Gorontalo City. The location is an area that has geological structural conditions of high complexity. The study used statistical analysis of the robustness data to determine the direction of the firmness and the RQD (rock quality designation) value. The research objectives consist of two, namely knowing the direction of the stress (the main force of tectonic formation) and knowing the RQD value based on the analysis of joint data. To achieve these two objectives, it is carried out with a research method in the form of an inductive method. This method combines the results of a literature review, previous research and field data, all of which are comprehensively studied, analyzed, and synthesized. Statistical analysis (fan diagram) on joint data on granite rocks in Gorontalo City. The results and discussion resulted in the direction of maximum stress (τ1) = N 15 o E and the direction of minimum stress (τ3) = N 75 o W. The rock RQD value is 40.60% so that the rock quality in this research area is classified as moderate. The results of the measurement of the joint spacing at this station are obtained from a distance of (5-10) cm, so it is included in the weak scale so that the joint space strongly supports the occurrence of landslides.

Framing strategy under high complexity: Processes and practices of ongoing reframing in the becoming of strategy

Framing is a key concept in research on how strategists legitimize and win support for strategic change by establishing a frame of reference for that change. This article advances research on strategy framing by showing how, under conditions of high complexity and uncertainty, strategists continuously reframe strategy in relation to shifting constellations of stakeholders. It presents the findings of an ethnographic study of strategizing in the highly complex context of the digital transformation journey of a global manufacturing firm. It shows how (re)framing practices are combined to iteratively shape strategy formation in ways that sustain strategic influence in the face of constant threats to legitimacy. By accounting for how (re)framing practices reach back and forth in time, the ethnographic findings refine the conventional understanding of how framing resources of past strategizing enter and reworked in present strategy work. Finally, the article contributes empirical insights into how information systems specialists, often marginalized as strategic actors, frame and pitch strategic projects to gain and exert influence in strategy formation processes.

Does habitat complexity and prior residency influence aggression between invasive and native freshwater crayfish?

AbstractAggressive encounters between invasive and native species are considered a key threat associated with the spread of invasive species. Extrinsic factors such as habitat complexity can profoundly influence the outcome of aggressive interactions between conspecifics, and this may also be the case in invasive‐native species interactions. This study used invasive and native freshwater crayfish species in Australia as a model system to investigate the influence of habitat complexity on aggression in both intraspecific and interspecific contests. Paired contests between the native Euastacus spinifer and the invasive Cherax destructor were conducted in the laboratory under high and low habitat complexity conditions. Furthermore, the influence of prior residency was examined, with one individual assigned the resident and the other as the intruder. In intraspecific contests, the number of interactions and aggression score were significantly reduced under high complexity conditions; however, complexity had no effect on the time spent interacting and contest outcome. Instead, the two crayfish species differed in terms of time spent interacting. In interspecific contests, complexity had no effect on any of the aggression metrics. Alarmingly, however, we demonstrate that when C. destructor was a resident the likelihood that E. spinifer won a contest fell to a mere 8% compared to 31% when E. spinifer was resident. This study suggests that while habitat complexity plays a role in shaping aggressive behaviour in intraspecific interactions, invasive species are competitively dominant if they are already established i.e. resident in a location and even as intruders. Therefore, preserving habitat complexity in freshwater systems may not be sufficient to sustain populations of native species, and other measures that mitigate the potential for range overlap between the species would also be needed to prevent the further spread of invasive species such as C. destructor within freshwater ecosystems.

Proadrenomedullin in Sepsis and Septic Shock: A Role in the Emergency Department.

Sepsis and septic shock represent a leading cause of mortality in the Emergency Department (ED) and in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). For these life-threating conditions, different diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers have been studied. Proadrenomedullin (MR-proADM) is a biomarker that can predict organ damage and the risk of imminent death in patients with septic shock, as shown by a large amount of data in the literature. The aim of our narrative review is to evaluate the role of MR-proADM in the context of Emergency Medicine and to summarize the current knowledge of MR-proADM as a serum indicator that is useful in the Emergency Department (ED) to determine an early diagnosis and to predict the long-term mortality of patients with sepsis and septic shock. We performed an electronic literature review to investigate the role of MR-proADM in sepsis and septic shock in the context of ED. We searched papers on PubMed®, Cochrane®, UptoDate®, and Web of Science® that had been published in the last 10 years. Data extracted from this literature review are not conclusive, but they show that MR-proADM may be helpful as a prognostic biomarker to stratify the mortality risk in cases of sepsis and septic shock with different degrees of organ damage, guiding emergency physicians in the diagnosis and the succeeding therapeutic workup. Sepsis and septic shock are conditions of high complexity and have a high risk of mortality. In the ED, early diagnosis is crucial in order to provide an early treatment and to improve patient survival. Diagnosis and prognosis are often the result of a combination of several tests. In our opinion, testing for MR-proADM directly in the ED could contribute to improving the prognostic assessment of patients, facilitating the subsequent clinical management and intensive treatment by the emergency physicians, but more studies are needed to confirm these results.

Los hospitales en la Covid-19: retos y oportunidades para la transformación

Short, medium and long term changes made in hospitals for delivery of care, teaching and training, and research during the crisis arising from the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic are analyzed. The transformation has implications both for patients with covid19 and for patients free of the disease but who require urgent, semi-urgent or scheduled care for medium or high complexity conditions.

The user-knowledge crowdsourcing task allocation integrated decision model and genetic matrix factorization algorithm

Given the pattern matching problem between the knowledge in the Expert Knowledge Recommendation System (EKRS) established by the author of this article and user’s expertise knowledge, based on the full consideration of some constraint conditions such as user characteristics, task characteristics and matching eigenvalues, the user-knowledge integrated decision-making mathematical model (UKID) is established by using the crowdsourcing task allocation method and matrix decomposition algorithm. Aiming at the characteristics of slow convergence speed and inaccurate user-knowledge (task) matching of the UKID model in a high-dimensional space, the improved genetic matrix factorization algorithm (GMF) is designed. The genetic matrix algorithm is used to map the high-dimensional spatial data to the low-dimensional characteristic space which can improve the accuracy of task assignment. Through analysis to ‘hereditary property’ under high complexity condition, with the maximum preserved crossover operator and adaptive crossover mutation, GMF not only furthest retains the excellent characteristics of parents and improves the algorithm ‘premature properties’, but also builds up the quality of the simple genetic algorithm’s optimization capabilities and enhances the solution’s accuracy. Finally, the algorithm was experimentally verified with Amazon Public dataset and the real data extracted with EKRS. The experimental results showed that the UKID model and algorithm were applicable and could provide the decision-making guidance for the knowledge crowdsourcing task assignment.

Damselfish face climate change: Impact of temperature and habitat structure on agonistic behavior.

Oceans absorb a huge part of the atmospheric heat, leading to the rise in water temperature. Reefs are among the most affected ecosystems, where the complex behavioral repertoire of fishes is usually an indicator of environmental impacts. Here, we examined whether temperature (28 and 34°C) and habitat complexity (high and low) interact to affect the agonistic behavior (mirror test) of the dusky damselfish (Stegastes fuscus), a key species in Brazilian reefs because of its gardening capacity and territorial behavior. Higher temperatures altered basal behavior in both high and low-complexity conditions. Fish kept at 28°C under the high-complexity condition were more aggressive than those at a higher temperature (34°C) and in a low-complexity condition, which also exhibited lower dispersion. Our data show that changes in behavior of coral reef fish is associated to fluctuations in environmental conditions. Thus, it is important to implement management or conservation strategies that could mitigate global change effects.

Machine Learning in Microbiology: Finding the Signal in the Noise

Electronic health records (EHRs) capture data that is common to healthcare organizations to document the care they provide to their patients. EHR data are discrete or structured data that include laboratory values and diagnosis codes. Other examples include unstructured data like physician notes, nursing notes, and dictations. As access to EHR data expands, significant opportunities arise for clinical laboratories to combine EHR data with data internal to the laboratory to answer questions about laboratory impact. For example, microbiology laboratories can collect clinical, financial and operational data variables to document downstream improvements to survival, stewardship, test utilization after the implementation of a diagnostic intervention or a clinical decision tree that requires results of a laboratory test [1]. As clinical decision trees are adopted, data can be used to risk-stratify patients and to guide care for patients with high-complexity conditions and develop diagnostic or clinical pathways that improve care. For new diagnostic pathways to occur, the applications of computational techniques, such as machine learning (ML) fit well with data mining the EHR. ML is a branch of artificial intelligence and is defined as an analytic model that can handle large complex data sets and “learn” from the data at hand to identify and predict patterns with minimal human intervention. Application of ML has the potential to transform patient risk stratification, which could then transform care. In this review, the basics of ML and examples of relevant ML applications are described. Finally, relevant factors for the design and implementation of ML in microbiology are discussed.

The Effect of Cognitive Load and Task Complexity on Automation Bias in Electronic Prescribing.

Determine the relationship between cognitive load (CL) and automation bias (AB). Clinical decision support (CDS) for electronic prescribing can improve safety but introduces the risk of AB, where reliance on CDS replaces vigilance in information seeking and processing. We hypothesized high CL generated by high task complexity would increase AB errors. One hundred twenty medical students prescribed medicines for clinical scenarios using a simulated e-prescribing system in a randomized controlled experiment. Quality of CDS (correct, incorrect, and no CDS) and task complexity (low and high) were varied. CL, omission errors (failure to detect prescribing errors), and commission errors (acceptance of false positive alerts) were measured. Increasing complexity from low to high significantly increased CL, F(1, 118) = 71.6, p < .001. CDS reduced CL in high-complexity conditions compared to no CDS, F(2, 117) = 4.72, p = .015. Participants who made omission errors in incorrect and no CDS conditions exhibited lower CL compared to those who did not, F(1, 636.49) = 3.79, p = .023. Results challenge the notion that AB is triggered by increasing task complexity and associated increases in CL. Omission errors were associated with lower CL, suggesting errors may stem from an insufficient allocation of cognitive resources. This is the first research to examine the relationship between CL and AB. Findings suggest designers and users of CDS systems need to be aware of the risks of AB. Interventions that increase user vigilance and engagement may be beneficial and deserve further investigation.

Efficient Redundancy? How Socio-Cognitive Structures Impact Innovation under Complex Conditions

Building on the knowledge-based view of the firm and organizational design perspective we explore how socio-cognitive structures within organizations impact the success of recombinant innovation. We introduce the efficiency- redundancy paradox – knowledge creation requires efficient internal organization, but environmental dynamics require multiple organizational elements capable of performing similar functions. To resolve this paradox we explain how the impact of intraorganizational socio-cognitive redundancy on patent value depends on the technological domain complexity faced by organizations. We propose that by problem-solving in parallel and acting as a fail-safe system, redundant teams of inventors within organizations will generate impactful innovations under high-complexity conditions. Drawing on a sample of 89,083 patents generated by 65 global semiconductor companies, we find support for our predictions. We rely on a novel network- based methodology to capture and combine the collaborative and knowledge networks defined by the interactions among inventors and knowledge elements within organizations. This study sheds new light on how internal organizational design should fit environmental characteristics, with implications for technology strategy, adaptive capability and firm competitiveness.

Jurors’ perceptions of scientific testimony: The role of gender and testimony complexity in trials involving DNA evidence

AbstractWith continuous advancements in forensic science, expert testimony has become more common in criminal proceedings. This study (N = 170) sought to examine the combined influence of mock juror gender, expert gender, and testimony complexity in a case involving DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) evidence. Findings revealed that testimony complexity interacted with expert gender to influence verdict judgments. Participants were unaffected by testimony complexity when the expert was a man, but were more likely to convict when complex testimony was presented by a woman. In support of the heuristic-systematic model, expert gender elicited an effect only in high-complexity conditions—interestingly, this was exclusively the case for male mock jurors. Understanding how jurors cognitively process legal and extra-legal information may help legal actors (e.g., evidence experts, lawyers) communicate evidence and its legal relevance more effectively.

Sometimes More Is Better, and Sometimes Less Is Better: Task Complexity Moderates the Response Time Accuracy Correlation

This study addresses the relationship between item response time and item accuracy (i.e., the response time accuracy correlation, RTAC) in figural matrices tests. The dual processing account of response time effects predicts negative RTACs in tasks that allow for relatively automatic processing and positive RTACs in tasks that require controlled processing. Contrary to these predictions, several studies found negative RTACs for reasoning tests. Nevertheless, it was demonstrated that the RTAC is moderated by task complexity (i.e., the interaction between person ability and item difficulty) and that under conditions of high complexity (i.e., low ability and high difficulty) the RTAC was even slightly positive. The goal of this study was to demonstrate that with respect to task complexity the direction of the RTAC (positive vs. negative) can change substantially even within a single task paradigm (i.e., figural matrices). These predictions were tested using a figural matrices test that employs a constructed response format and has a broad range of item difficulties in a sample with a broad range of ability. Confirming predictions, strongly negative RTACs were observed when task complexity was low (i.e., fast responses tended to be correct). With increasing task complexity, the RTAC flipped to be strongly positive (i.e., slow responses tended to be correct). This flip occurred earlier for people with lower ability, and later for people with higher ability. Cognitive load of the items is suggested as an explanation for this phenomenon.

Case Study of a Complex Informing System: Joint Interagency Field Experimentation (JIFX)

The Joint Interagency Field Experimentation (JIFX) event, organized by the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), is conducted 3-4 times a year at various locations. The four day event can be characterized as an informing system specifically designed to facilitate structured and unstructured communications between a variety of parties—e.g., software developers, inventors, military and civilian users of various technologies, academics, and agencies responsible for identifying and procuring technology solutions—that frequently are constrained in their informing activities in more restrictive venues. Over the course of the event, participants may observe technology demonstrations, obtain feedback from potential users, acquire new ideas about their technologies might be employed and, perhaps most significantly, engage in ad hoc collaborations with other participants. The present paper describes an exploratory case research study that was conducted over a one year period and involved both direct observation of the event and follow-up interviews with 49 past participants in the event. The goal of the research was to assess the nature of participant-impact resulting from attending JIFX and to consider the consistency of the findings with the predictions of various theoretical frameworks used in informing science. The results suggest that participants perceived that the event provided significant value from three principal sources: discovery, interaction with potential clients (users) of the technologies involved, and networking with other participants. These findings were largely consistent with what could be expected from informing under conditions of high complexity; because value generally derives from combinations of attributes rather than from the sum of individual attributes, we would expect that overall value from informing activities will be perceived even though estimates of the incremental value of that informing cannot be made.

The CEO/CFO Duo: An Empirical Assessment of Their Effect on Firm Performance

A growing body of research investigates co-leadership structures at the top of firms. In this study, we focus on the CEO/CFO duo. Specifically, we argue that given their close relationship the demographic fit of the CEO/CFO duo affects their cooperation and thus firm performance. However, the extent to which the demographic fit matters strongly depends upon the complexity of the CEO’s job as under conditions of high complexity the CEO is likely to delegate a significant part of his or her leadership role to the CFO as co-leader. Hence, increased interactions between CEO and CFO are necessary leading to a more pronounced effect of demographic differences. We separately assess the effect of objective and perceived complexity to test our propositions. Using a panel data set including large German corporations for the period 2006 – 2011, results show that demographic differences of the CEO/CFO duo matter for the firm. However, the extent to which demographic differences affect firm performance is strongly contingent upon the CEO’s perception of complexity. With this, we show that the decision of the CEO to delegate leadership functions to a co-leader primarily depends on his or her professional abilities rather than organizational conditions.

Variations in recollection: The effects of complexity on source recognition.

Whether recollection is a threshold or signal detection process is highly controversial, and the controversy has centered in part on the shape of receiver operating characteristics (ROCs) and z-transformed ROCs (zROCs). U-shaped zROCs observed in tests thought to rely heavily on recollection, such as source memory tests, have provided evidence in favor of the threshold assumption, but zROCs are not always as U-shaped as threshold theory predicts. Source zROCs have been shown to become more linear when the contribution of familiarity to source discriminations is increased, and this may account for the existing results. However, another way in which source zROCs may become more linear is if the recollection threshold begins to break down and recollection becomes more graded and Gaussian. We tested the "graded recollection" account in the current study. We found that increasing stimulus complexity (i.e., changing from single words to sentences) or increasing source complexity (i.e., changing the sources from audio to videos of speakers) resulted in flatter source zROCs. In addition, conditions expected to reduce recollection (i.e., divided attention and amnesia) had comparable effects on source memory in simple and complex conditions, suggesting that differences between simple and complex conditions were due to differences in the nature of recollection, rather than differences in the utility of familiarity. The results suggest that under conditions of high complexity, recollection can appear more graded, and it can produce curved ROCs. The results have implications for measurement models and for current theories of recognition memory.

Aging, Task Complexity, and Efficiency Modes: The Influence of Working Memory Involvement on Age Differences in Response Times for Verbal and Visuospatial Tasks

ABSTRACT We examined the information-processing functions (response-time × load) of younger and older adults for two verbal and one visuo-spatial task; each task was implemented in a baseline and a high-complexity condition. Heightened complexity transformed the baseline functions in either an additive or a multiplicative fashion. The processing efficiency of older adults was defined as the old-young ratio of the slopes of the load functions. Three levels of efficiency could be distinguished. The first level, with an age-related slowing factor of about 1.2, consisted of low-complexity verbal processing and additive-complexity verbal processing. The second level, associated with a slowing factor of about 1.6, consisted of a mixture of verbal-high-multiplicative-complexity processing and visuo-spatial-low-complexity processing. The third level, with a slowing factor of about 4, consisted of visuo-spatial processing of high multiplicative complexity. The results go against any common factor theory of aging. Instead, they suggest that a shift from a higher to a lower mode of efficiency is triggered by a greater degree of working memory involvement.

Redundancy gain in discrimination of colored lights: effects of complexity and eccentricity.

The present study investigated the redundancy gain in discrimination of colored lights. Subjects were requested to discriminate a target from 34 nontarget lights differing from the target in luminance, hue, or both, and RTs were recorded. Experimental variables were the complexity of stimulus pattern and the eccentricity of the target in visual angle. The 35 lights were arranged regularly on an imaginary grid in the low-complexity condition and were arranged randomly in the high-complexity condition. The eccentricity of target was varied from 0 degree to 16 degrees. Only when the stimulus pattern was highly complex and eccentricity was large, the combination of luminance and hue made the subject's discrimination faster than when luminance or hue individually operated as a cue for discrimination. That is, a redundant target effect was found only for a highly complex stimulus pattern and in peripheral vision.