State Of Chaos Research Articles

Medical training: chaos and unemployment

Were you one of the 12 000 who marched against Modernising Medical Careers and the Medical Training Application Service? Many thousands of doctors had had enough and displayed their displeasure by exercising a very ancient prerogative: the right to protest. For so many to march in March signifies that this was more than just a grievance. The system that was supposed to make selection fairer and easier has made it more difficult and less just. Indeed, almost weekly there is something new for doctors to be riled about—take the recent example of a 0% pay rise for GPs. Many doctors now believe that they are victims of an organized government campaign to strip them of power and peg back their pay. The very people who talk endlessly about clinician engagement and a clinician-led service simultaneously take great pleasure in reigning in the medical profession. What the government and its apparatchiks forget is that the public has always trusted doctors more than politicians. And this trust exists despite a whole catalogue of medical butchers and gropers, despite Bristol, and despite Harold Shipman. The damaging rhetoric about doctors being overpaid and under-worked will produce little change in public opinion. This public sympathy is one reason why the government acted so quickly to attempt to diffuse the crisis over the Medical Training Application Service. Ilora Finlay, the president of the Royal Society of Medicine and somebody who straddles both worlds in her role as a palliative care physician and a member of the House of Lords, argues passionately that the solution to chaos is not chaos (pp.160-161). Her view is that the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and the government have made useful steps in correcting a flawed process. But her central argument is that the new process needs to be improved and made watertight rather than abandoned at the first sign of trouble. There have been many flaws in the process. The online system crashed and froze, and the online short-listing system failed. Some forms were missed altogether, while some candidates employed ghost writers. ‘Some excellent doctors see their dreams in tatters;’ writes Finlay, ‘despite years of work and higher exams they have not had a single interview. They have no faith in the “system” and see unemployment looming.’ Many junior doctors, of course, believe that the concessions have not gone far enough. They want the whole system scrapped. The anger of young doctors (and their potential bosses) is understandable. What's the point of going through years of expensive medical training only to be penalized by an unfair selection system, and risk unemployment? Any headline that includes ‘unemployed doctors’ spells bad news for a government. Yet it is fascinating—and perhaps expected—that the many machinations and changes within the health service failed to rouse doctors, until one finally threatened their own livelihoods. Dermot Ward, from the Society of Clinical Psychiatrists, attacks the government more squarely, in his call for a moratorium on politically driven proposals (p.164): ‘Never before has the near-monopoly provider system of health care to the nation, the NHS, been so obviously unfit for purpose and in such a state of chaos as government piles change upon change with alarming acceleration and cost to the taxpayer.’ The new medical training system has begun with chaos and will soon create unemployment, neither of which seem useful contributions to patient care.

Quo vadis TAM?

The Technology Acceptance model (TAM) is one of the most influential theories in Information Systems. However, despite the model's significant contributions, the intense focus on TAM has diverted researchers’ attention away from other important research issues and has created an illusion of progress in knowledge accumulation. Furthermore, the independent attempts by several researchers to expand TAM in order to adapt it to the constantly changing IT environments has lead to a state of theoretical chaos and confusion in which it is not clear which version of the many iterations of TAM is the commonly accepted one. The present commentary discusses these concerns, speculates on the possible contributions to the current state of affairs, and makes several suggestions to alleviate the problems associated with TAM and to advance IT adoption research to the next stage.

'Here's One I Prepared Earlier': The Work of Scribe D on Oxford, Corpus Christi College, MS 198

Chaucer died in 1400 leaving the Canterbury Tales unfinished. Despite acknowledgement of the unfinished nature of the poem, many scholars have found it difficult to accept that discrepancies in the text and order might precisely reflect the state of creative chaos presided over by an author whose ongoing process of reordering, rewriting and composing was abruptly terminated. The earliest extant manuscripts of Chaucer's poem, thought to have been copied in the years following Chaucer's death, reproduce exactly that state of creative chaos yet they are believed to be the product of scribes attempting the impossible, that is, the fashioning of a complete poem out of disparate parts without any direction. That is not what the manuscripts themselves tell us.The Hengwrt manuscript is generally accepted by scholars to be the earliest attempt to assemble the Tales, with Ellesmere perhaps a later, more accomplished attempt by the same scribe, probably the scrivener Adam Pinkhurst, identified by Linne Mooney. Two more important early manuscripts, Oxford, Corpus Christi College MS 198 [Corpus], and the British Library's Harley 7334 [Harley 4] also shared a scribe, the unidentified Scribe D. All four manuscripts are traditionally dated after the death of the poet, between 1400 and 1410.However, close examination of the codicology of these four manuscripts reveals exciting information, particularly so in the case of Corpus where the disbinding of the manuscript in 1987 uncovered a wealth of detail not noticed by Manly and Rickert. Distinct codicological irregularities at certain key points in each of the four manuscripts appear to be the result of two scribes in the process of refashioning, augmenting, inserting and recopying portions of the Canterbury Tales, at times synchronously, in a process of evolution which appears to be ongoing. Evidence in all four manuscripts also suggests that for some reason further development of the poem came to an abrupt halt.The physical state of Corpus is the key to correspondences between the manuscripts. Analysis of the vellum in that manuscript provides a starting point for comparison and could raise the question of an earlier collection of tales brought out of retirement to be refreshed and refurbished in a final burst of activity. Scribe D's work on Corpus appears closely linked with Adam's copying of Hengwrt, and Harley 4 and Ellesmere share codicological irregularities in some places which are difficult to account for unless each scribe was acquiring material and information at more or less the same time.It is perhaps time to allow the physical state of Corpus, one of the earliest manuscripts, to tell its own tale and inform us on the development of the Canterbury Tales.

Genes and Spleens: Property, Contract, or Privacy Rights in the Human Body?

This article compares three frameworks for legal regulation of the human body. Property law systematically favors those who use the body to create commercial products. Yet contract and privacy rights cannot compete with the property paradigm, which alone affords a complete bundle of rights enforceable against the whole world. In the face of researchers' property rights, the theoretical freedom to contract and the meager interest in privacy leave those who supply body parts vulnerable to exploitation.

Output time-delay feedback control of chaos in the voltage-mode BUCK converter

To realize the control of chaos in the voltage-mode BUCK converter, the output time-delayed feedback control (TDFC) is introduced into its control prototype. Based on the quantified analyses in the frequency domain, harmonic balance method is used to ascertain the regulating range of feedback control gain and delay time. Meanwhile the TDFC is equivalent to a kind of simple passive feedback control when the delay time is much smaller than the switch period. And the simulation results of these two methods are considered the same. In the end the experimental circuit of the voltage-mode BUCK converter with passive feedback control is set up. By this means the chaos state of BUCK converter can be quickly controlled into period state and the ripple of voltage and current will be decreased.

Detection of weak square wave signals based on the chaos suppression principle with nonresonant parametric drive

Based on the principle of chaos suppression with nonresonant parametric drive in autonomous chaotic systems, detection of weak square wave signals in strong noise is realized. Firstly a square wave signal whose frequency is far higher than the system characteristic frequency is introduced as the system internal drive signal. According to the parametric equivalent relation between the controlled system and the original system obtained by the averaging method, the critical value of the detection parameter is determined, which marks the sudden change from chaos state to periodic orbit of the system. Numerical simulations show that extremely low signal-to-noise ratio limit in detection can be attained by the proposed system. Compared with the known weak signal detection methods based on the parametric resonant perturbation principle, this method gives more accurate estimates of the detection parameter through strict theoretical analysis, which enables its generalization and application in related fields.

At the verge of unthinkable anxiety: On the relevance of a neurophysiologically informed relational perspective on meaning-making in psychosis

This article examines the relevance of relationally oriented psychoanalytic phenomenology as a frame of reference for understanding psychotic states in schizophrenia. The etiology and structural characteristics of such states are examined from both a neurophysiological, and a relational and interpersonal point of view. Many findings indicate organic abnormalities in schizophrenia, acquired through an exposure to physical risk factors and genetic predisposition, but relational traumas also seem to have an impact on the form and content of psychotic states. This may happen through interruptions in the “use-dependent” maturation of the brain in a relational milieu. In addition, at the level of meaning-making, we find that the emotional and relational contexts—both past and present—give the substance or “raw material” for hallucinations and delusions. In a psychotic state, the person also tries to handle basic affects and relational needs, and to make meaning in states of overwhelming chaos and anxiety. Donald W. Winnicott's theory of “a holding environment”, Stephen Mitchell's theory of the relational matrix, and Stolorow, Atwood, and Orange's concepts of a “shattered world” and annihilation anxiety are used as a framework in the analysis of the phenomenology of psychosis. Two case illustrations, one from child psychotherapy and one from therapy with an adult patient, are used to illuminate the theoretical points of view.

An application of Chen system for secure chaotic communication based on extended Kalman filter and multi-shift cipher algorithm

In recent years chaotic secure communication and chaos synchronization have received ever increasing attention. In this paper a chaotic communication method using extended Kalman filter is presented. The chaotic synchronization is implemented by EKF design in the presence of channel additive noise and processing noise. Encoding chaotic communication is used to achieve a satisfactory, typical secure communication scheme. In the proposed system, a multi-shift cipher algorithm is also used to enhance the security and the key cipher is chosen as one of the chaos states. The key estimate is employed to recover the primary data. To illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme, a numerical example based on Chen dynamical system is presented and the results are compared to two other chaotic systems.

Characterization of the domain chaos convection state by the largest Lyapunov exponent

Using numerical integrations of the Boussinesq equations in rotating cylindrical domains with realistic boundary conditions, we have computed the value of the largest Lyapunov exponent lambda1 for a variety of aspect ratios and driving strengths. We study in particular the domain chaos state, which bifurcates supercritically from the conducting fluid state and involves extended propagating fronts as well as point defects. We compare our results with those from Egolf, [Nature 404, 733 (2000)], who suggested that the value of lambda1 for the spiral defect chaos state of a convecting fluid was determined primarily by bursts of instability arising from short-lived, spatially localized dislocation nucleation events. We also show that the quantity lambda1 is not intensive for aspect ratios Gamma over the range 20<Gamma<40 and that the scaling exponent of lambda1 near onset is consistent with the value predicted by the amplitude equation formalism.

Living in Chaos and Striving for Control: How adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder deal with their disorder

This article reports a Grounded Theory of “Living in Chaos and Striving for Control” developed in response to the central research question of how adults diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) deal with their disorder. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 10 males diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood. “Chaos” emerged as the basic social–psychological problem facing these participants. The basic social–psychological process employed by them to deal with the problem was identified as “The Double Life”. This process became the core category around which the theory was developed. The theory demonstrates that adults with ADHD live in a state of chaos (Category 1), while striving for control (Category 2). When the state of control is achieved (Category 3) it is never permanent, and loss of control (Category 4) is inevitable. The lives of these adults are constantly cycling through chaos and control, and this results in their leading a “double life” (Category 5).

Radiologists Adjusting to Revolution in CT

CHICAGO—The emergence of 64-slice computed tomography (CT) is shaping up to be more than simply the next stage in the evolution of noninvasive diagnostic imaging. Radiologists are viewing it as a revolution, opening the possibilities of images neither they nor referring physicians have yet considered. However, revolutions overturn the status quo and create states of chaos. For the imaging community, that means that many radiologists may not be up to speed with the capabilities of 64slice CT and therefore may be missing diagnostic opportunities. The 64-slice CT, approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2004, offers faster scan times, thinner CT sections, improved temporal resolution, and the opportunity for volume imaging. The shorter scan times enable CT scanners to capture high-quality “motion-free” images of the beating heart and coronary arteries, which in the past was not possible due to the longer scan times of older CT scanners (Leschka S et al. Eur Heart J. 2005;26:14821487). Thinner slicing (0.5-mm) and improved spatial resolution should lead to better “virtual colonoscopy,” which will detect smaller polyps. The technology also opens other parts of the body to noninvasive examination.

A State of Chaos

A State of Chaos

The chaotic nature of temper in humans: A long short-term memory recurrent neural network model

In mathematics and physics, chaos theory deals with the behavior of certain nonlinear dynamical systems that under certain conditions exhibit a phenomenon known as chaos, which is characterised by a sensitivity to initial conditions. Mathematicians paradoxically call such states of order chaos and distinguish them from randomness. New models for describing and predicting different aspects of behavior are being created which once seemed unpredictable. This is done by focusing on the overall patterns of behavior, showing how stable or unstable they are and identifying the circumstances that make them change. In this paper, we indicate why human temper and mood changes have a chaotic nature. Then, we develop a chaotic model based on a long short-term memory recurrent neural network with irregular embeddings derived by the gamma test to model temper tantrum. We finally use a feedback delay controller to stabilize its chaotic behavior, because it is a plausible method for stabilizing biological neural systems. A lot of aspects of this model are analogous to the human counterpart. The model might suggest, for example, that if a particular person had stronger ego defenses, and attended a little less vigilantly to the external world, he or she might find a stable attractor amidst of a broader landscape of chaotic attractors. A therapist or self-control would be analogous to the delayed feedback controller, by specifically encouraging those changes, he might help the person reach a stable behavior. Finally, some comments are proposed to facilitate the normal behavior.

Chaotic Breathers in Delayed Electro-Optical Systems

We show that in integro-differential delayed dynamical systems, a hybrid state of simultaneous fast-scale chaos and slow-scale periodicity can emerge subsequently to a sequence of Hopf bifurcations. The resulting time trace thereby consists in chaotic oscillations "breathing" periodically at a significantly lower frequency. Experimental evidence of this type of dynamics in delayed dynamical systems is achieved with a Mach-Zehnder modulator optically fed by a semiconductor laser and is subjected to a delayed nonlinear electro-optical feedback. We also propose a theoretical understanding of the phenomenon.

Observation of spiral pattern and spiral defect chaos in dielectric barrier discharge in argon/air at atmospheric pressure

A rich variety of spiral patterns such as single-armed spiral, dipole spirals, target pattern, multiarmed spiral, and spiral defect chaos state have been observed in ac-driven atmospheric pressure gas discharge. The confined and free boundary conditions are defined by means of whether there is a sidewall in the discharge domain or not, respectively. In the free boundary condition, the spiral pattern arises when the stripe pattern undergoes core instability or notching instability. In the confined boundary condition, the spiral pattern is formed by sidewall forcing. The spiral drifts upward in the free boundary condition and meanders in the confined boundary condition. The topological charge of the spiral pattern can be changed when the spiral interacts with the dislocations. The spiral wavelength (average distance between two consecutive rolls) is a function of gas composition and decreases rapidly with increase of air concentration in discharge gas.

Collective chaos induced by structures of complex networks

Mapping a complex network of N coupled identical oscillators to a quantum system, the nearest neighbor level spacing (NNLS) distribution is used to identify collective chaos in the corresponding classical dynamics on the complex network. The classical dynamics on an Erdos–Renyi network with the wiring probability p ER ⩽ 1 / N is in the state of collective order, while that on an Erdos–Renyi network with p ER > 1 / N in the state of collective chaos. The dynamics on a WS Small-world complex network evolves from collective order to collective chaos rapidly in the region of the rewiring probability p r ∈ [ 0.0 , 0.1 ] , and then keeps chaotic up to p r = 1.0 . The dynamics on a Growing Random Network (GRN) is in a special state deviates from order significantly in a way opposite to that on WS small-world networks. Each network can be measured by a couple values of two parameters ( β , η ) .

Decryption characteristics in message modulation type chaos secure communication system using optical fiber ring resonators

Message modulation type chaos secure communication system using optical fiber ring resonators is analyzed numerically. It is found that the decryption characteristics degrades monotonically as the differences in parameters which are not included in the linear phase term becomes large, while they degrade periodically with a period of 2π as the differences in parameters included in the linear phase term increase. When a noise is added in the input light, the error dispersion in the message demodulation is determined by the noise level in the small parameter difference region, while the parameter differences it dominates in the large parameter difference region. Best decryption characteristics are always obtained at the minimum input power for the chaos generation, i.e., at the lowest Lyapnov exponent in chaos state in the message modulation type chaos secure communication system using optical fiber ring resonators.

The Role of Noise-Induced Nonequilibrium Phase Transitions in the Structurization of Hydrodynamic Turbulence

The aim of this paper is to develop a continual theory of developed structurized turbulence in shear flows in a compressible fluid modeled by a superposition of two mutually penetrating continuums, where the first continuum refers to the averaged field of turbulent motion, and the second, to the turbulent spacetime chaos associated with the fine-grained fluctuation motion. Incorporating into the thermohydrodynamic description of the subsystem of turbulent chaos a set of internal stochastic coordinates q k (like the locally averaged rate of turbulent energy dissipation), which characterize the structure and temporal evolution of the vorticity of the pulsational hydrodynamic field, has made it possible to use methods of statistical nonequilibrium thermodynamics to derive stochastic differential equations for these parameters and the corresponding Fokker-Planck-Kolmogorov equations for the probability density of transition. In accordance with the modified Kolmogorov similarity theory, positive fluctuating parameters q k are believed to obey the lognormal distribution in the stationary state of chaos. The Gaussian white noise with zero memory, which provides an idealized description of the real noise of vortex chaos with a very short but still finite memory, is used to model the force effect of the noise of chaos (whose fluctuations are due to the cumulative effect of numerous factors determining the state of the turbulized medium). A general concept of the birth of coherent structures in the thermodynamically open subsystem of turbulent chaos is formulated, which attributes the formation of such structures to the phenomenon of nonequilibrium phase transitions induced by the multiplicative noise of chaos during an increase of supercriticality. The interrelation between such transitions and the process of self-organization—the development of ordered “multimolecular” formations with lower symmetry as compared to that of the initial state—is discussed. The ultimate aim of this study is to refine a number of representative hydrodynamic models of natural space environments, including the formation of galaxies and galactic clusters; the birth of stars from the diffuse medium of gas and dust clouds; the formation of accretion disks and subsequent accumulation of planetary systems, and the formation of gaseous envelopes (atmospheres) of planets; variously scaled flows in the atmospheres and in the circumplanetary plasma, etc. The study continues the stochastically thermodynamic approach to the synergetic description of structurized turbulence in astrogeophysical systems that the author has been developing in a series of previous papers (Kolesnichenko, 2002, 2003, 2004).

Emotion is from preparatory brain chaos; irrational action is from premature closure

EEG evidence supports the view that each cerebral hemisphere maintains a scale-free network that generates and maintains a global state of chaos. By its own evolution, and under environmental impacts, this hemispheric chaos can rise to heights that may either escape containment and engender incontinent action or be constrained by predictive control and yield creative action of great power and beauty.

Enhanced tracer transport by the spiral defect chaos state of a convecting fluid

To understand how spatiotemporal chaos may modify material transport, we use direct numerical simulations of the three-dimensional Boussinesq equations and of an advection-diffusion equation to study the transport of a passive tracer by the spiral defect chaos state of a convecting fluid. The simulations show that the transport is diffusive and is enhanced by the spatiotemporal chaos. The enhancement in tracer diffusivity follows two regimes. For large Péclet numbers (that is, small molecular diffusivities of the tracer), we find that the enhancement is proportional to the Péclet number. For small Péclet numbers, the enhancement is proportional to the square root of the Péclet number. We explain the presence of these two regimes in terms of how the local transport depends on the local wave numbers of the convection rolls. For large Péclet numbers, we further find that defects cause the tracer diffusivity to be enhanced locally in the direction orthogonal to the local wave vector but suppressed in the direction of the local wave vector.