Systems Theory Research Articles

The study of coevolution relationship among coastal marine economy, innovation, and ecology based on Chinese complex systems

Based on the complex system theory, this paper constructs a collaborative evolution model of marine economy, innovation and ecological protection. Findings show the MEIE orderliness shows an upward trend, and the adaptability of the system increase, however there are significant spatial difference. The synergistic relationship between economic development and innovation system is characterized by ‘bias’ and ‘mutual beneficial’. The Synergistics relationship between economic development-ecological protection system is ‘bias’. The Synergistics relationship between innovation-ecological protection system tend to be ‘bias’ or ‘inhibition’.

An Aboriginal-led, systemic solution to Aboriginal baby removals in Australia: Development of the Bringing Up Aboriginal Babies at Home program

The increasing rate of statutory Aboriginal infant removal in Australia, which has reached almost 10% of live births in the state of Victoria, is a crisis motivating radical change in child protection pathways. This paper describes the problem analysis and design phases of an Aboriginal-led systems change project intended to ensure Aboriginal infants are raised safe and strong in family, Community, and culture by creating a response capable of shifting underlying system factors. Dialogue and deliberation processes involving 27 practitioners working within Aboriginal health and social care programs in the Bayside Peninsula Area of metropolitan Melbourne, the traditional land of the Bunurong people, was the overarching method used to develop a shared understanding of the problem of Aboriginal infant removals and reach a consensus about what to do in the local system. The themes that emerged during problem analysis reflect a risk/bias theoretical perspective, and in the design phase, it was deemed necessary to reduce both child safety-related risk as well as bias in the child protection system that responds to risk. The ensuing Bringing Up Aboriginal Babies at Home program has a clear systems theory of change, and a service blueprint describing how it is going to be implemented. Bringing Up Aboriginal Babies at Home practice resonates with other programs that have evolved independently in Australia and in other western child protection jurisdictions to reduce infant removals, including building trust for engagement, inspiring hope, openness and transparency, activating extended networks of formal and informal supports, and close collaboration with antenatal and child protection services. Program evaluation will determine whether Bringing Up Aboriginal Babies at Home (BUABAH) can be implemented with fidelity, tackle identified system flaws, reduce the number of Aboriginal infants taken into statutory care and become sustainable.

The influence of linguistic profiling on perceived employability: a new application of the systems theory framework of career development

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to clarify the influence of linguistic profiling on perceived employability. In doing so, we recognize multiple factors that can contribute to this relationship. Using the systems theory framework (STF) of career development, we categorize these factors based on whether they primarily reside within the societal system, the organizational system, or the individual system. Subsequently, we construct and present an open systems model that depicts the influence of linguistic profiling on perceived employability in context with other societal, organizational and individual factors.Design/methodology/approachThe STF provides a theoretical perspective on how to contextualize linguistic profiling and perceived employability within the scope of career development. We employed an integrative literature review method to locate existing research studies that investigated the influences of linguistic profiling and perceived employability. The literature search process, coupled with inclusion and exclusion criteria, resulted in 46 publications retained for analysis.FindingsFindings provided evidence of language ideologies that contribute to linguistic profiling globally. Linguistic profiling usually results in reduced perceived employability. There was variation in the research findings based on the context of the research studies. The context consisted of the societal, organizational and individual systems in which the research study was conducted. Findings supported our construction of an open systems model of the influence of linguistic profiling on perceived employability, which is rooted in the STF.Originality/valueThis study highlights the negative influence of linguistic profiling on perceived employability. It also demonstrates how the STF can be used to contextualize the linguistic profiling problem within societal and organizational systems.

PERMANENT LEGAL STRENGTH (INKRACHT VAN GEWEIJSDE) PKPU PEACE IN BANKRUPTCY LAW

The decision to ratify PKPU peace (homologation) based on its regulations has permanent legal force (inkracht van geweijsde). The nature of permanent legal force is related to whether it can be executed or implemented immediately, so that this decision requires legal certainty by stating that the decision must have permanent legal force. Bankruptcy law regulates differently regarding the permanent legal force in PKPU decisions, the difference being that the permanent legal force does not apply to the entire substance of the case but only to the peace agreement agreement, which can be called limited permanent legal force. Regarding this specificity, the researcher wants to analyze it under the title "permanent legal force (inkracht van geweijsde) of PKPU peace in bankruptcy law". This research uses normative juridical research methods, with the analysis of peace theory, legal system theory and theory of legal objectives with a statutory approach, conceptual approach and case approach and which is expected to have prescriptive value in the future in accordance with its axiology, namely the aim of law is justice

Autonomous distributed braking and driving force control architecture based on broadcast control for vehicles with in-wheel motors on four wheels

In this paper, we investigate an architecture for autonomous distributed control of braking and driving force on each wheel of a vehicle equipped with in-wheel motors on four wheels. Specifically, in a scenario where the driving force of some wheels is reduced due to low-friction road or motor failure during going straight ahead, the remaining wheels that can generate driving force autonomously control the yaw rate caused by the unbalanced driving force and driving force reduction to maintain the vehicle behavior. To realize autonomous distributed control, we focus on broadcast control from the control theory of multi-agent systems, which deals with the control of systems composed of many elements. We verify by simulation that the proposed architecture performs as desired for the assumed scenario.

Analyzing physical activity impact based on ubiquitous nonlinear dynamics and electroencephalography data.

Understanding complex systems is made easier with the tools provided by the theory of nonlinear dynamic systems. It provides novel ideas, algorithms, and techniques for signal processing, analysis, and classification. Presently, these ideas are being applied to the investigation of how physiological signals evolve. The study applies nonlinear dynamics theory to electroencephalogram (EEG) signals to better comprehend the range of alcoholic mental states. One of the main contributions of this paper is an algorithm for automatically distinguishing between sober and drunken EEG signals based on their salient features. The study utilized various entropy-based features, including ApEn, SampEn, Shannon and Renyi entropies, PE, TS, FE, WE, and KSE, to extract information from EEG signals. To identify the most relevant features, the study employed ranking methods like T-test, Wilcoxon, and Bhattacharyya, and trained SVM classifiers with the selected features. The Bhattacharyya ranking method was found to be the most effective in achieving high classification accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. Classification accuracy of 95.89%, the sensitivity of 94.43%, and specificity of 96.67% are achieved by the SVM classifier with radial basis function (RBF) for polynomial Kernel using the Bhattacharyya ranking method. From the result, it is clear that the model serves as a cost-effective and accurate decision-support tool for doctors in diagnosing alcoholism and for rehabilitation centres to monitor the effectiveness of interventions aimed at mitigating or reversing brain damage caused by alcoholism.

Measurement insights and error analysis of electronic parameters for ultrasonic transducers

Abstract Piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers with the function of energy conversation, as well as their numerous advantages, such as high-power density, quick response, flexible design, and service reliability, are involved in wide applications of industrial processing, precision driving, smart sensing, and medical services. The electromechanical equivalent circuit and Kirchhoff’s law indicate that mechatronics parameters are essential for performance evaluation, reliability analysis, and fault diagnosis of ultrasonic transducers. Importantly, the ultrasonic transducer is a time variant system, data of one single parameter collected from a certain test can’t match with the data of another single parameter acquired from a different test. So, a synchronous and precise online measurement of electronic parameters is encouraged for performance evaluation and optimization design of ultrasonic transducers. With the combination of virtual instrument technology, an asynchronous measurement system of electrical excitation parameters for the ultrasonic transducers of linear driving motors was established in this study. Furthermore, the systematic measurement methods and error theory, including the calculation methods and measuring circuits of electric signals, were illustrated. Experimental results proved that the proposed system and methods for measuring the input electronic power of ultrasonic transducer (e.g., effective value method for voltage and current, energy moment method for frequency, and spectrum analysis method for phase difference) are highly precise, quick responsive, robust, and reliable for ultrasonic transducers. The findings of this study provide valuable references and suggestions for efficient, accurate, and online performance evaluation of ultrasonic transducers, particularly for piezoelectric transducers utilizing ultrasonic high-voltage exciting signals.

Global Ecology and Geography of Gender Equality.

Proximal socio-economic drivers of gender equality tend to obscure its remote ecological origins. General systems theory predicts that the greater annual variability in daylength, temperature, and daily precipitation at higher latitudes requires greater psychosocial flexibility. We extend this prediction to gender equality as a likely consequence. Accordingly, for 87 pre-industrial societies after 1500 CE, we find more gender equality in more variable habitats, and that this link is mediated by greater subsistence flexibility-foraging rather than raising plants and animals. Mutatis mutandis, these ecological predictors of global gender equality replicate in 175 modern countries after 2000 CE. Gender equality was, and still is, lowest around the Equator, higher toward the North and South Poles, and invariant in east-west direction. The geographical positioning of gender equality in pre-industrial times can predict over 40% of the opposite north-south gradients of gender equality in the opposite Northern and Southern Hemispheres today.

Religious coping and delinquent behaviors: Moderated mediation roles of religion affiliation and prosocial moral reasoning.

Religion has been shown to have a positive impact for developing adolescents; however, the processes underlying this relation are not well known. In his almighty prosocial theory, Anazonwu (Conceptualizing and testing almighty prosociality theory for a more peaceful world, SCOA Heritage Nigeria, 2017) proposed that the activation of learnt prosocial moral reasoning through religion enabled performance of prosocial peace behavior that will benefit society. Thus, religion coping enhances the development of prosocial reasoning which in turn propagate prosocial acts while reducing delinquent behaviors. Similarly, developmental system theory (Lerner, Developmental science, developmental systems, and contemporary theories of human development, John Wiley & Sons, 2006) assumed that in every individual three mechanisms: plasticity (potential to change), context (environment), and developmental regulation (learnable principles) interact to describe the direction of the transactions between individuals and their various embedded sociocultural context of development which will also determine other developmental outcomes. Based on these two theoretical assumptions, the present study examined whether prosocial moral reasoning (developmental regulation) was the mechanism in the negative correlation between religious coping (plasticity) and delinquent behaviors (outcome), and if religious affiliation(context) (Christianity and Islam) moderated these paths. We hypothesized that the link from prosocial moral reasoning to lower delinquent behaviors would be stronger for Muslim compared with Christian youth. These questions were tested among Nigerian adolescence, an important sample because of high interreligious and interethnic tension among youth in the country. 298 adolescents (Mean age = 15.03 years, SD = 1.76; male = 176, female = 122; 46.3% Muslim, 53.7% Christian) were sampled using questionnaires in senior secondary schools in Nigeria. Moderated mediation result shows that greater religious coping was linked with higher prosocial moral reasoning, which in turn predicted fewer delinquent behaviors. Religious coping interacted with religion affiliation to influence delinquent behavior; there was a stronger link between these two constructs for Muslim compared to Christian youth. Thus, interventions aiming to reduce youth delinquent behaviors should consider promoting prosocial moral reasoning, particularly among the various religions (i.e., Christian/Muslim) communities.

Why English? Exploring Chinese early career returnee academics’ motivations for writing and publishing in English

To improve their research performance in international league tables, many universities in non-English language dominant settings recruit academic returnees in the hope that they will increase the quantity and quality of articles published in English-medium internationally indexed journals. This study explores Chinese early career returnee academics’ motivations for writing and publishing in English. Utilising ecological systems theory, the findings show that the microsystem is reflected in the early career returnee academics’ interaction with collaborators, while national policies constitute the exosystem. The academic culture has a noteworthy impact at the macrosystem level. This study contributes to the understanding of early career returnee academics’ motivations to write and publish in English which will assist policymakers and university administrators to create a more beneficial environment to promote the accomplishments of academic returnees.

Cycle equivalence classes, orthogonal Weingarten calculus, and the mean field theory of memristive systems

It has been recently noted that for a class of dynamical systems with explicit conservation laws represented via projector operators, the dynamics can be understood in terms of lower dimensional equations. This is the case, for instance, of memristive circuits. Memristive systems are important classes of devices with wide-ranging applications in electronic circuits, artificial neural networks, and memory storage. We show that such mean-field theories can emerge from averages over the group of orthogonal matrices, interpreted as cycle-preserving transformations applied to the projector operator describing Kirchhoff’s laws. Our results provide insights into the fundamental principles underlying the behavior of resistive and memristive circuits and highlight the importance of conservation laws for their mean-field theories. In addition, we argue that our results shed light on the nature of the critical avalanches observed in quasi-two-dimensional nanowires as boundary phenomena.

Leaders’ experiences of successfully implementing health and welfare technology in sparsely populated Nordic areas

Purpose This study examines the effective implementation of health and welfare technology (HWT) in sparsely populated Nordic regions within healthcare and social care settings. Materials and methods Through re-analysing 12 semi-structured interviews conducted in 2020 across three successfully implementing Nordic regions, the research utilised inductive thematic analysis with a reflexive approach to uncover key experiences. Results It identifies five critical success factors: Positive attitudes towards and understanding of digital transformation, Consensus on changing care delivery through HWT, Leadership and organisational readiness for change, Effective feedback mechanisms, and Trust and engagement in the learning process. Highlighting the significance of positive mindsets, leadership, collaboration, and adaptability, the findings underscore the theoretical underpinnings of Weiner’s organisational readiness for change and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system theory for planning and understanding HWT implementation. Addressing challenges of adapting to HWT necessitates a comprehensive approach, including tailored training, robust support systems, strategic user engagement, feedback integration, and fostering open communication, ultimately ensuring technology serves the user’s needs effectively. Conclusion In conclusion, successful HWT adoption in these areas hinges on fostering a culture of learning, strong leadership, and collaborative efforts. It suggests further research with a larger cohort to validate these insights, offering vital considerations for organisations navigating digital transformation in healthcare and social services.

Catalyzing change: A framework for equitable health among MSM—insights from South Africa for developing nations

AbstractThis research paper seeks to close health disparities among MSM in developing countries by presenting a holistic framework that will ensure equal access to healthcare services. Conducted in South Africa with 25 MSM participants, employing qualitative methods and Nvivo software for analysis, the framework integrates WHO's social health determinants and systems theory principles into three dimensions: Input, process, and output. The main components are sensitization training, community engagement, MSM empowerment, health promotion coupled with the look at finances, human resources, and infrastructure. The study underlines the importance of collective action by MSM and other stakeholders for achieving health equity and offers valuable lessons for policy makers and healthcare professionals in terms of inclusiveness and equal health service delivery. It highlights the critical role of inter‐disciplinary strategy comprising of community participation and resource allocation to erase the health inequality among MSM in developing countries.

Family dynamics in the context of elder family financial exploitation: Application of qualitative genogram analysis

AbstractObjectiveThis study examined family dynamics that are common in families experiencing elder family financial exploitation (EFFE) using an innovative analytical protocol, qualitative genogram analysis.BackgroundEFFE is a form of elder abuse that affects many older adults and their families. Individual factors associated with EFFE have been examined, but what is missing is a greater focus on the complex family dynamics that contribute to this violation of older family members.MethodUsing qualitative genogram analysis (QGA), a three‐step analytical protocol using family systems theory as a foundation, this study identified key relationship patterns commonly found in families where exploitation had occurred. Family genograms generated from 20 interviewees representing 20 families that reportedly experienced EFFE were used to identify common family dynamic themes.ResultsUsing QGA, we identified four relational dynamic themes across families: distance and closeness, triangulation, power and dominance, and partner influence.ConclusionThese themes illustrate that families experiencing EFFE have several similar relational dynamics, which may have contributed to creating contexts that made older family members more vulnerable to financial exploitation.ImplicationsThe findings of this study provide important indicators for practitioners (e.g., family therapists, family life educators, family attorneys) and policymakers in supporting older family members in making better financial decisions later in life.

Influence of Principals’ Promotion of Professional Development of Teachers on Learners’ Academic Performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education in Kisii County, Kenya

Effective professional development should take cognisance of the needs of teachers, learners and school context. It has been established by research studies that divergent and overlapping policies as well as dysfunctional schooling cultures have frustrated impact of professional development of teachers on good quality learning outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the Influence of Principals’ promotion of teachers’ professional development on learners’ academic performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (K.C.S.E.) in Public Schools in Kisii County, Kenya The objective of this study was to: explore the influence of Principals’ promotion of professional development of teachers on learners’ academic performance in K.C.S.E.in Kisii County. This study was anchored on Karl Ludwig von Bertalanffy General Systems Theory. Mixed method research design of explanatory sequential type with a prioritized quantitative approach in phase one followed by qualitative approach in phase two was applied in the study. The target population was 4,691 participants which included: 340 Principals, 1360 Heads of Departments (H.O.Ds) and 2,991 teachers. A sample of 451 respondents participated in the study. The researcher used proportionate stratified random sampling technique to select 85 schools, 114 H.O.Ds and 252 teachers. Census sampling to select national and special schools while 85 Principals of the selected schools were purposefully sampled. Questionnaires and interview guides were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data respectively. Content validity, Criterion validity, Construct validity and Face validity, of the research instruments were ensured through evaluation by the University supervisors and other experts while internal consistency reliability was estimated by using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient formula which yielded alpha coefficient of over 0.7 which was considered adequate. Quantitative data were analysed using Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 29 while qualitative data were analysed thematically and presented using word verbatim from the respondents and integrated with the findings of phase one. Descriptive statistics were presented in tables and graphs while inferential statistics were presented in terms of Pearson’s correlation coefficients, Anova and Regression coefficients. The study found out a weak positive insignificant influence between promotion of professional development of teachers (r=.011, p≤.05; 2 tailed) and learners’ academic performance in K.C.S.E. Therefore, the null hypothesis were upheld. These results were supported by Principals’ interviews which indicated that professional development programmes are not context specific. It is hoped that the findings of this study would provide information that would form a base for corrective measures towards the unexpected low academic performance in the study locale. The study recommended that further research should be done on influence of principals’ leadership skills development on academic performance in K.C.S.E.

Balancing work and family when family is work: a reconceptualization of work–family integration, burnout and detachment in family business

PurposeBuilding from calls for greater interdisciplinary research in interpreting family business phenomena, we integrate research on work–family conflict, detachment and burnout from both organizational and family studies. Using the characteristic work–family integration of family business settings as a backdrop we develop theoretical arguments that emphasize the reconciliatory role of interdisciplinary perspectives to explain the ostensibly contradictory findings in extant research. The diminishing barriers separating work and life spheres occurring in most global industries illustrate the importance of conceiving the study of work–life phenomena through recursive, rather than linear, logics and emphasizing the relevance of family business research in providing a contextual foundation for interdisciplinary discussions.Design/methodology/approachThis theoretical paper integrates perspectives from the literatures on organizational behavior and family systems theory to form six propositions on the relationship between work–life integration and the antecedents and consequences of burnout and psychological detachment.FindingsThis paper explores the nuances that overlapping work and family roles might be a source of both harmony and discord in family firms. In doing so, our research contributes to the growing relationship between family systems theory and family business research, and creates the foundation for future empirical studies on the psychological dynamics that underlie work–family integration.Originality/valueThis research advances a novel perspective on the interactions between work–family integration and burnout and detachment, and does so by noting that the way the family business literature treats work–family integration may apply to any employee that experiences tension between these different spheres of their identity.

Nursing intervention and quality feedback guided by stress system theory in neurological function recovery and post-traumatic growth of patients with acute primary cerebral hemorrhage

Objective: To explore the effect of nursing intervention and quality feedback guided by stress system theory on neurological function recovery and post-traumatic growth in patients with cerebral hemorrhage. Methods: 120 patients with cerebral hemorrhage admitted to our hospital from October 2022 to November 2023 were selected, 47 patients in the control group received routine medical care, and 73 patients in the observation group were added nursing intervention measures under the guidance of stress system theory on this basis. The effects of the intervention were evaluated by Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), Barthel index (BI) and Chinese scale of clinical neurological impairment in stroke patients (CSS). Results: After intervention, the PTGI score in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). The SAS and SDS scores were significantly lower than those of the control group (P < 0.001), indicating that the nursing intervention effectively alleviated the anxiety and depression of patients. At the same time, the BI index of the observation group was significantly increased, and the CSS score was significantly decreased (P < 0.001), indicating that the patients' self-care ability of daily life and the recovery level of neurological function were significantly improved. Conclusion: Nursing intervention and quality feedback strategy under the guidance of stress system theory can effectively improve the neurological recovery ability and post-traumatic growth level of patients with cerebral hemorrhage, and has a significant effect on improving the psychological state and quality of life of patients.

Hyperspectral estimation model of soil organic matter content based on principal gradient grey information

PurposeIn order to explore a new estimation approach of hyperspectral estimation, this paper aims to establish a hyperspectral estimation model of soil organic matter content with the principal gradient grey information based on the grey information theory.Design/methodology/approachFirstly, the estimation factors are selected by transforming the spectral data. The eigenvalue matrix of the modelling samples is converted into grey information matrix by using the method of increasing information and taking large, and the principal gradient grey information of modelling samples is calculated by using the method of pro-information interpolation and straight-line interpolation, respectively, and the hyperspectral estimation model of soil organic matter content is established. Then, the positive and inverse grey relational degree are used to identify the principal gradient information quantity of the test samples corresponding to the known patterns, and the cubic polynomial method is used to optimize the principal gradient information quantity for improving estimation accuracy. Finally, the established model is used to estimate the soil organic matter content of Zhangqiu and Jiyang District of Jinan City, Shandong Province.FindingsThe results show that the model has the higher estimation accuracy, among the average relative error of 23 test samples is 5.7524%, and the determination coefficient is 0.9002. Compared with the commonly used methods such as multiple linear regression, support vector machine and BP neural network, the hyperspectral estimation accuracy of soil organic matter content is significantly improved. The application example shows that the estimation model proposed in this paper is feasible and effective.Practical implicationsThe estimation model in this paper not only fully excavates and utilizes the internal grey information of known samples with “insufficient and incomplete information”, but also effectively overcomes the randomness and grey uncertainty in the spectral estimation. The research results not only enrich the grey system theory and methods, but also provide a new approach for hyperspectral estimation of soil properties such as soil organic matter content, water content and so on.Originality/valueThe paper succeeds in realizing both a new hyperspectral estimation model of soil organic matter content based on the principal gradient grey information and effectively dealing with the randomness and grey uncertainty in spectral estimation.

Post-colonial contexts, the state, and education reform: a framework for understanding the ethos of privatization

The central argument of this article is that post-colonial states operate—and have always operated, due to their roots in colonialism and capitalism—according to an “ethos of privatization,” through which state agents derive private benefit from positions ostensibly responsible for providing public services. The article offers a framework for understanding the ethos of privatization as central to state behavior that is based on insights from literatures in four areas: global education policy, political economy, world systems theory, and post-colonial studies. The article demonstrates the theoretical and methodological value of this framework for producing critical public policy knowledge by applying it to the case of educational privatization in Honduras. The article concludes with a discussion of the benefits of this framework, particularly vis-à-vis more established approaches rooted in the policy sociology literature.

Iterative algorithm to the generalized coupled Sylvester‐transpose matrix equations with application in robust and minimum norm observer design of linear systems

AbstractThis article consider a class of generalized coupled Sylvester‐transpose matrix equations which play an important role in control and systems theory. Based on the Jacobi iterative algorithm, the full‐row rank accelerated Jacobi gradient based iterative (RRAJGI) algorithm and the full‐column rank accelerated Jacobi gradient based iterative (CRAJGI) algorithm are proposed. By using the Frobenius norm of matrix and the trace function of matrix, the convergence of the algorithms are proved. The results show that the new algorithms are convergent for arbitrary initial matrices under the convergence number satisfies appropriate conditions. Numerical examples show that RRAJGI algorithm and CRAJGI algorithm have the advantages of faster convergence speed and higher convergence accuracy than other existing algorithms. Finally, an application example for robust and minimum norm observer design of linear systems is given.