Self-organization Process Research Articles

Towards a configurational typology of informal settlements: A syntactic analysis of informal settlements in Nagpur

ABSTRACT Informal settlement serves as a critical means in the production of urban space in the Global South. Understanding the productive processes of self-organization and emergent morphological patterns is crucial not only in upgrading and integrating informal settlements but also in informing the practices of urban planning and design for shaping better urban places and public spaces. Contributing to the emerging literature on forms of informal settlement, this article presents a syntactic study of the configurational characteristics of 371 informal settlements in the city of Nagpur, India. The study identifies 18 different types based on four analytical variables generated using Space Syntax analysis—specifically, choice and integration at both local and global levels. The versatility and spread of these types indicate the flexibility of emergent informal settlements under a multitude of scenarios and conditions. The findings highlight the relations between formal and informal parts of the access network by showcasing the higher integration and choice values of the case studies when compared to the larger urban grid. The article contributes to the development of a typological framework for the classification of informal settlements based on their configurational characteristics.

Self-organization from organs to embryoids by activin in early amphibian development.

Embryonic development is a complex self-organizing process orchestrated by a series of regulatory events at the molecular and cellular levels, resulting in the formation of a fully functional organism. This review focuses on activin protein as a mesoderm-inducing factor and the self-organizing properties it confers. Activin has been detected in both unfertilized eggs and embryos, suggesting its involvement in early developmental processes. To explore its effects, animal cap cells-pluripotent cells from the animal pole of amphibian blastula-stage embryos-were treated with varying concentrations of activin. The results showed that activin induced mesodermal tissues, including blood, muscle, and notochord, in a dose-dependent manner. Co-treatment with activin and retinoic acid further promoted the development of kidney and pancreatic tissues, while activin alone stimulated the formation of beating cardiac tissue. In subsequent experiments, high concentrations of activin conferred an organizer-like activity on animal cap cells. The pretreatment duration affected outcomes: longer exposure induced anterior structures, such as eyes, while shorter exposure resulted in posterior structures, like tails. These findings reflect moderate self-assembly, where cells become increasingly organized. In another experiment, activin was used to create an artificial gradient. Explants cultured on this gradient developed into embryoids with well-defined anteroposterior, dorsoventral, and left-right axes, exemplifying higher-order self-organization. These results demonstrate that controlled activin gradients can drive the formation of nearly complete tadpole-like larvae, effectively recapitulating the processes of early embryogenesis. This system offers valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying axis formation and organogenesis, providing a promising platform for future research in developmental biology.

Self-organized and self-sustained ensemble activity patterns in simulation of mouse primary motor cortex.

The idea of self-organized signal processing in the cerebral cortex has become a focus of research since Beggs and Plentz1 reported avalanches in local field potential recordings from organotypic cultures and acute slices of rat somatosensory cortex. How the cortex intrinsically organizes signals remains unknown. A current hypothesis was proposed by the condensed matter physicists Bak, Tang, and Wiesenfeld2 when they conjectured that if neuronal avalanche activity followed inverse power law distributions, then brain activity may be set around phase transitions within self-organized signals. We asked if we would observe self-organized signals in an isolated slice of our data driven detailed simulation of the mouse primary motor cortex? If we did, would we observe avalanches with power-law distributions in size and duration and what would they look like? Our results demonstrate that a brief unstructured stimulus (100ms, 57μA current) to a small subset of neurons (about 181 of more than 10,000) in a simulated mouse primary motor cortex slice results in self-organized and self-sustained avalanches with power-law size and duration distributions and values similar to those reported from in vivo and in vitro experiments. We observed 4 cross-layer and cross-neuron population patterns, 3 of which displayed a dominant rhythmic component. Avalanches were each composed of one or more of the 4 population patterns.

De-emergence: Experimental Approaches to Deactivate Processes of Emergence

The processes of self-organization and emergence have been intensively studied and modeled. The focus has been on their generative mechanisms and the need to preserve and sustain their continuously acquired coherence(s), for instance, in ecosystems and living systems. Rarely has the focus been on the reverse attitude, that is, to prevent and avoid their establishment or on approaches leading to their deactivation. This is probably because of their supposed fragility since they are considered easy to break down with perturbations. For instance, a flock may be destroyed by shooting inside it, or an ecosystem may be ruined by placing poisonous substances within it, such as the case of an anthill or weed killer onto a lawn. Here, we consider the occurrence of unwanted and dangerous cases of self-organization and emergence against which there are currently no effective approaches available and, thus, need to be appropriately modeled and implemented. For example, the establishment of tornadoes and hurricanes. The latter is known as Rayleigh-Bénard convection can easily be deactivated in laboratory conditions, but not once established in the atmosphere because of the power of the created forces, which generate destruction and devastation. We are interested both in the theoretical aspects of such eventual de-emergence approaches and in their actual technical implementability.

Waste-free self-organized process manufacturing transparent conductive mesh and microflakes in closed cycle for broadband electromagnetic shielding and heater application

Waste-free self-organized process manufacturing transparent conductive mesh and microflakes in closed cycle for broadband electromagnetic shielding and heater application

Self-Organization of Senior as a System-Forming Factor of Active Longevity

Introduction. The relevance of the study is determined by the importance of the process of self-organization in older age for maintaining activity, forming belonging, cohesion and community among the elderly. By older people, according to the current legislation of the Russian Federation, the authors mean people aged 55 and older. It clearly shows that opportunities for self-organization at the city level are being created for this group.Methodology and sources. The authors rely on the results of a survey of leaders of selforganized clubs of the Moscow Longevity Centers (sampling of 203 people, age of respondents from 55 to 88 years, date: January 2024). The purpose of the research is to study the ability of representatives of the older generation to independently organize free time, build new external and internal social connections in an independently organized homogeneous social system of active longevity, based on individual motivation. The research hypothesis is that “Moscow Longevity” is a system based on the self-organization of the elderly.Results and discussion. An extensive network of government institutions – Centers of Moscow Longevity (CML) – has all the conditions to satisfy the most diverse needs of older people in leisure and recreation. The novelty of the studied approach to self-organization of the elderly lies in the possibility of its interpretation as a way of constructing a new social reality/activity of older people, where state assistance involves abandoning the dependent scenario (“come and take what you can take”), providing opportunities for individual development patterns (“come and create it yourself as you like"). As such a social reality, the features of self-organization of the elderly are considered using the example of the “Moscow Longevity” ecosystem.Conclusion. The leadership potential of elders, accumulated throughout life, and the willingness to organize their leisure time independently on the basis of the Moscow Longevity Centers are shown, and the specifics of self-organization of the elderly in the active longevity system of Moscow are revealed. There was made an important conclusion about the desire of the respondents to be active, and the effectiveness and interest of seniors in self-organization on the basis of the CML was shown.

Study of the Effects of Different Factors on Crystal Growth from Solution: Data of Atomic Force Microscopy

In order to crystallographically reconstruct the growth processes of mineral crystals and to establish fundamental patterns in crystal growth at a nanoscale, the effects of various factors on the characteristics of layer-by-layer crystal growth from solution were modeled using atomic force microscopy (AFM). In an experiment on growth in the area of a scratch, it was shown, using an original method of AFM data processing, that the average rate diagrams indicate a situation of a self-organization process: stable auto-oscillations in the growth rate. Comparison of the results with data on the growth of similar uninfluenced hillocks leads to the conclusion that giant fluctuations and the phenomenon of simultaneous growth and dissolution in local areas are caused by nanoindentation, when the strain from artificially formed defects strongly influences the evolution of the surface. In an AFM experiment on the trapping of foreign solid particles by a growing crystal at the nanoscale, the process of formation of a screw dislocation initiated by a foreign inclusion particle was registered. To theoretically explain the process, a three-stage mechanism is proposed that involves strain relaxation around the inclusion particle by the formation of one or more dislocations prior to the sealing of the inclusion during the first stage, the attachment of edge dislocations to them during the time of overgrowing in the second stage, and the development of a resulting dislocation after the particle has been completely sealed during the third stage. In studying growth in a flow cell, the mechanism of nanoscale reorientation of the growth hillock in the direction of the flow was established at a nanoscale, and the phenomenon of a change in the dominant hillock was registered. The resulting dissolution patterns in the channel are a clear demonstration of Curie’s Symmetry Principle, according to which only those symmetry elements of a body in an environment can be preserved that are shared by the body and the environment.

Unexplored aspects of spiral wave dynamics in the Barkley model within an extended parameter range

The Barkley model has been widely used to simulate diverse reaction-diffusion systems exhibiting various self-organization processes, including creation of spiral waves. Depending on the given parameters, this model is capable of simulating monostable, bistable, or oscillatory dynamics that are often observed in nature. This study is concentrated on the general features of spiral wave dynamics in the extended parameter range of the Barkley model, including both monostable and bistable dynamics. The numerical data obtained and the results of analytical studies illustrate the existence and the interplay between spiral wave dynamics in these two different but closely related regimes. In particular, the symmetry between the spiral waves in monostable and bistable regions is demonstrated, analytical expressions for the boundaries of these regions are found, the existence of the hysteresis phenomenon in the dynamics of spiral waves is discovered, and an additional region of existence of spiral waves is found in the region of a low excitability. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Electroless Synthesis of Cobalt Nanowires in Magnetic Field and their Characterization by Resonant Magnetometry Methods

In this paper, a simple and effective low-temperature electroless chemical method that provides the synthesis of cobalt micro- and nanowires due to the processes of self-organization of magnetic cobalt nanoparticles under the influence of a magnetic field, using the technology of chemical synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles and nanowires is proposed. Cobalt nanoparticles have magnetic dipole moments. An external magnetic field forces them to be oriented parallel to it. Dipole-dipole interactions between magnetic nanoparticles lead to attraction between cobalt nanoparticles leading to their self-organization into nanowires, reducing their total energy. The resulting smaller nanoparticles fill the gaps between the ordered nanoparticles, leading to the formation of smooth cobalt nanowires. The magnetic and structural properties of the synthesized and commercial nanowires polarized by a magnetic field in the epoxy matrix were studied using the resonant radio-frequency magnetometry and electron microscopy methods. These methods are of interest for optimizing the coercive force of cobalt nanowires with a view to their possible use in creating permanent magnets that do not use rare earth elements, as well as in information processing devices and sensors.

Experimental verification for self-organization process on the spatial distribution and edifice size of rootless cone

Experimental verification for self-organization process on the spatial distribution and edifice size of rootless cone

The Evolution of Healthcare

The landscape of healthcare delivery and management is undergoing a transformative evolution, driven by the emergence of self-organizing processes, fractal scaling, and attractors within the industry. These concepts are redefining the way healthcare entities operate, collaborate, and adapt to changing patient needs and technological advancements. The landscape of healthcare delivery and management is undergoing a transformative evolution, driven by the emergence of self-organizing processes, fractal scaling, and attractors within the industry. These concepts are redefining the way healthcare entities operate, collaborate, and adapt to changing patient needs and technological advancements.

Particle spacing and stability of initially staggered deformable particle trains migrating in a channel

Abstract We investigated the inertial migration of deformable particles in a two-dimensional channel flow. This study analyzes the effects of the channel Reynolds number ($Re$), channel blockage ratio ($k$), particle number ($N_p$) and reduced bending modulus ($E_b$) on the formation of staggered particle trains. The results show that the stable normalized distance $d_{p_{eq}} / H$ between two staggered particles is influenced by $Re$, $k$ and $E_b$, where $H$ is the channel width. As $k$ increases or $E_b$ decreases, $d_{p_{eq}} / H$ decreases. The value of $d_{p_{eq}} / H$ initially increases and then decreases with the increase of $Re$; when $E_b$ is large and $k$ is small, $d_{p_{eq}} / H$ continuously increases with increasing $Re$. With the increase of $N_p$, the closely arranged staggered particle trains evolve into five distinct migration Regimes. We explain the conditions for the formation of each Regime and explore the mechanisms of their interconversion. The findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of the self-organization process of deformable particles in channel flow.

Construction of kill webs with heterogeneous UAV swarms in dynamic contested environments

With the concept of "mosaic warfare," a novel combat style that involves constructing "kill webs" with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarms has emerged. However, little research has focused on this specific task scenario, particularly concerning the self-organization and adaptive collaboration of heterogeneous combat units in dynamic contested environments. Considering the scales and highly dynamic natures of such swarms, an adaptive communication network mechanism is developed based on the Molloy-Reed criterion. In contrast with common offline/noncombat task scenarios, the self-organization process is refined through agent-based modeling, and a combat effectiveness evaluation is introduced to provide enhanced task execution incentives. The proposed dynamic consensus-based coalition algorithm (DCBCA) addresses UAV intelligence defects such as "confusion," "forgetfulness," and "recklessness" during the dynamic target selection process, enabling effective bottom-up kill webs construction. Extensive simulation results demonstrate that the algorithmic system outlined in this paper can support the efficient and resilient operations of large-scale heterogeneous UAV swarms. The DCBCA outperforms the dynamically improved consensus-based grouping algorithm (CBGA) and the consensus-based timetable algorithm (CBTA) in terms of performance and convergence speed.

Mechanical positional information guides the self-organized development of a polygonal network of creases in the skin of mammalian noses

The glabrous skin of the rhinarium (naked nose) of many mammalian species exhibits a polygonal pattern of grooves that retain physiological fluid, thereby keeping their nose wet and, among other effects, facilitating the collection of chemosensory molecules. Here, we perform volumetric imaging of whole-mount rhinaria from sequences of embryonic and juvenile cows, dogs, and ferrets. We demonstrate that rhinarial polygonal domains are not placode-derived skin appendages but arise through a self-organized mechanical process consisting of the constrained growth and buckling of the epidermal basal layer, followed by the formation of sharp epidermal creases exactly facing an underlying network of stiff blood vessels. Our numerical simulations show that the mechanical stress generated by excessive epidermal growth concentrates at the positions of vessels that form rigid base points, causing the epidermal layers to move outward and shape domes-akin to arches rising against stiff pillars. Remarkably, this gives rise to a larger length scale (the distance between the vessels) in the surface folding pattern than would otherwise occur in the absence of vessels. These results hint at a concept of "mechanical positional information" by which material properties of anatomical elements can impose local constraints on an otherwise globally self-organized mechanical pattern. In addition, our analyses of the rhinarial patterns in cow clones highlight a substantial level of stochasticity in the pre-pattern of vessels, while our numerical simulations also recapitulate the disruption of the folding pattern in cows affected by a hereditary disorder that causes hyperextensibility of the skin.

Anomalous Directed Percolation on a Dynamic Network Using Rydberg Facilitation.

The facilitation of Rydberg excitations in a gas of atoms provides an ideal model system to study epidemic evolution on (dynamic) networks and self-organization of complex systems to the critical point of a nonequilibrium phase transition. Using MonteCarlo simulations and a machine learning algorithm we show that the universality class of this phase transition can be tuned but is robust against decay inherent to the self-organization process. The classes include directed percolation (DP), the most common class in short-range spreading models, and mean-field (MF) behavior, but also different types of anomalous directed percolation (ADP), characterized by rare long-range excitation processes. In a frozen gas, ground state atoms that can facilitate each other form a static network, for which we predict DP universality. With atomic motion the network becomes dynamic by long-range (Lévy-flight type) excitations. This leads to continuously varying critical exponents, varying smoothly between DP and MF values, corresponding to the ADP universality class. These findings also explain the recently observed critical exponent of Rydberg facilitation in an ultracold gas experiment [Helmrich etal., Nature (London) 577, 481 (2020)NATUAS0028-083610.1038/s41586-019-1908-6], which was in between DP and MF values.

Phase behavior and crystal nucleation of hard triangular prisms.

The interplay between densification and positional ordering during the process of crystal nucleation is a greatly investigated topic. Even for the simplest colloidal model-hard spheres-there has been much debate regarding the potential foreshadowing of nucleation by significant fluctuations in either local density or local structure. Considering anisotropic particles instead of spheres adds a third degree of freedom to the self-organization process of crystal nucleation: orientational ordering. Here, we investigate the crystal nucleation of hard triangular prisms. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we first carefully determine the crystal-fluid coexistence values and calculate the nucleation barriers for two degrees of supersaturation. Next, we use brute force simulations to obtain a large set of spontaneous nucleation events. By studying the time evolution of the local density, positional ordering, and orientational ordering in the region in which the nucleus first arises, we demonstrate that all local order parameters increase simultaneously from the very start of the nucleation process. We thus conclude that we observe no precursor for the crystal nucleation of hard triangular prisms.

The essence and content of educational self-organization of students of pedagogical specialties of the college

The article presents the essence and content of educational self-organization of college pedagogical specialties students. Modern education today is focused on creating conditions conducive to self-expression and self-realization of the individual, awareness of one’s significance and potential, and the desire for personal and individual-professional development. Entering the profession and reaching professional maturity, a young specialist is faced with the need to constantly improve his activities. Modernization of educational content and technologies is aimed at various processes of self-development, including the process of educational self-organization of the individual, which is considered key to human development. Practice shows that students do not have enough skills in self-organization, and their knowledge of educational self-organization is fragmentary.

A disrupted learning mechanism in standard quantum systems followed by their self-organizing process

Recently, the fusion between quantum mechanics and machine learning has gained much attention, where classical machine learning algorithms are adapted for quantum computers to significantly amplify data analysis by leveraging the unique effects of quantum reality. In this short paper, by focusing on the quantum trajectories of particles, we find that under general requirements, quantum systems follow a disrupted version of the gradient descent model, a basic machine learning algorithm, where the learning is distorted due to the self-organizing process of the quantum system. Such a learning process is possible only when we assume dissipation, i.e., that the quantum system is open. The friction parameter determines the nonlinearity of the quantum system. We then provide an empirical demonstration of the proposed model.

The concept of territorial and spatial organization of regional networks of architectural and urban heritage focuses in the territory of Ukraine

The article proposes a structural-logical and territorial-spatial model as part of the concept of formation and sustainable development of a network of focuses and areas’ of architectural and urban heritage, which are located in small provincial cities in 12 ethnic regions of Ukraine. Separate cells, united in the shortest way into areas and regions, are the structural elements of these models. They form a single network on the territory of Ukraine due to corporate inter-unit connections, communication connections between areas, cooperative perimeter connections of areas within the ethnic region, and switching inter-regional connections. In this network, there are points in villages mostly without historical heritage focuses, where information and tourist offices, small hotels and summer campuses, local libraries, and museums can be located to serve the area. The number of motels, roadside cafes, car service stations, parking lots, and other public service facilities can be increased in communication and switching focuses through which connections between areas and regions are made. The inclusion of historical sites in the creative economy of the region should also be based on the organization of traditional festive events, such as fairs in Velikie Sorochyntsi, derun festivals in Korosten, vyshyvanka, and borscht in Borshchev, etc. An important addition to the concept should be the formation of research focuses, holding master classes and art events, similar to Opishne in Poltava region, as well as in open-air museums. The concept involves the use of these network models in the study and stimulation of the processes of self-organization, sustainable development, and creative economy at the level of individual focuses, their areas, and ethnic regions. The processes of self-organization orient the sustainable development of the network towards the restoration of the historical environment of provincial cities, their inclusion in the tourism industry, in the museum, exhibition, and fair business, in the restoration of local craft production and, ultimately, in the revival of national culture and its self-identity in ethnic regions of Ukraine.

Hierarchical Self-Organization and Disorganization of Helical Supramolecular Columns Mediated by H-Bonding and Shape Complementarity.

H-bonding, shape complementarity, and quasi-equivalence are widely accepted as some of the most influential molecular recognition events mediating biological and synthetic self-organizations. H-bonds are weaker than ionic but stronger than van der Waals forces. However, the directionality of H-bonds makes them the most powerful among all nonbonding interactions. Here, we selected two taper-shaped self-assembling dendrons, one flexible and one rigid, and equipped them with -CO2CH3, -CH2OH, and -COOH at their apex. They demonstrated the hierarchical way in which shape-complementarity in the presence of -CO2CH3 mediated highly ordered helical self-organization for the case of the rigid building block and less ordered helical arrays for the flexible one. Weak H-bonding by -CH2OH unwound the helix from the rigid dendron, yielding a porous column. Due to its quasi-equivalence, the flexible dendron tolerated better the H-bonding by -CH2OH self-organizing a different helical column. The rigid and the flexible dendrons yielded only disorganized nonhelical columns in the presence of -COOH at the apex. This balance between rigidity, flexibility, and tolerance or lack of it to diverse H-bonding architectures indicates that mechanistic elucidation of the self-organization process helps endow it with the same building block, both helical organizations approaching biological precision, and disorganized nonhelical arrangements.