Hierarchical Systems Theory Research Articles

Formation of a Paradigm for Designing Cyber-Physical Systems: Educational Perspective

The subject of the article is the process of forming a paradigm for designing cyber-physical systems. The object of the work is cyber-physical systems. the purpose of the work is to increase the efficiency of cyber-physical systems in the economy and society. To achieve this goal, the following tasks are solved: the formation of a paradigm for designing cyber-physical systems. descriptions of methodological provisions of the general theory of cyber-physical systems. descriptions of the factors generated by the general theory of cyber-physical systems to increase the effectiveness of such systems. General characteristics of methods of design and research of cyber-physical systems at all stages of their life cycle. description of the content of new academic disciplines in the field of design and research of cyber-physical systems. Methods of the article are philosophy and methodology of science, theory of hierarchical systems, theory modeling, historical and system analysis, and theory of technological structures. The scientific novelty of the article is associated with the formation of the design paradigm of cyber-physical systems and the creation of a general theory of cyber-physical systems.

Структура и социально-психологические особенности личной эффективности руководителей

The article considers the socio-psychological features of the personal effectiveness of the leader. The key role of the leader and the increase in the importance of this role in connection with the complication of living conditions are determined, as a result of which the requirements for the personality of the leader change. In this regard, the issues of personal effectiveness acquire both theoretical and practical significance. The theoretical review, compiled on the basis of a study of the works of domestic and foreign researchers, presents structural, theoretical-methodological, classification approaches, and also identifies directions for assessing the effectiveness of managers. The criteria for evaluating personal effectiveness are outlined within the framework of the mechanistic approach, the theory of human relations, the theory of hierarchical systems, competence and resource approaches. From the analysis of scientific literature, it is concluded that there is a difference in determining the personal effectiveness of different categories of employees. In the course of the study, the structure of the manager's personal effectiveness was determined (physiological, personal, socio-psychological, operational and meta levels were identified), its features were identified among managers of different levels of management and management experience, the relationship between the components of the efficiency structure was determined, with the identification of key characteristics that made up basis for the typology of leaders. The typology of managers was developed on the basis of cluster analysis. Four clusters were formed, the representatives of which do not differ in gender composition, management level, management experience and age. In each cluster, distinctive characteristics are defined for the considered and identified components of personal effectiveness. Based on the work done, key areas for improving the personal effectiveness of managers were formed: time management, goal-setting and self-presentation skills, highlighting key business tasks, and increasing the level of awareness of activities.

Systemic modeling of the free energy of soil water; adequacy with the Carnot cycle and Clausius inequality

In classical thermodynamics, entropy and temperature are two associated thermodynamic variables whose dimensional equations are unknown but whose product is, like heat, energy (ML2T-2). By taking the first thermodynamic concepts of the physicochemists who followed the Gibbs school and adapting them to the theory of hierarchical systems practiced in hydrostructural pedology, we finally resulted in the systemic modeling of the thermodynamics of the fluid phases of the natural environment and in particular of the soil water. By developing this systemic model hierarchically down to the molecular and atomic organization levels of the fluid phases of the pedostructure, we were able to recognize the dimensional identities of all the thermodynamic variables appearing at the different levels of soil organization with the water and air, including those 2 levels of molecular and atomic organization that had never been considered before. This leads us to reconsider the second law of thermodynamics at a more fundamental organizational level than it is currently applied, namely the level of molecular organization, both internal and external to the molecule (in the phase), where the first process of thermodynamic equilibrium occurs. With this new point of view, the Carnot cycle explicitly confirms the correspondence between the traditional thermodynamic terminology and the systemic variables and equations of the new thermodynamics model. However, a completely different interpretation of the Carnot cycle is highlighted here that no longer has anything to do with the notion of reversibility/irreversibility but instead with the notion of thermodynamic equilibrium and of stability of this equilibrium. New fields of research are opening up in perspective.

СТРУКТУРА И ИЕРАРХИИ ИНФОКОММУНИКАЦИОННЫХ СИСТЕМ В СИСТЕМАХ ПОМОЩИ ВОДИТЕЛЮ КАК ШАБЛОНЫ ПРОЕКТИРОВАНИЯ ПОДСИСТЕМ БЕСПИЛОТНЫХ ТРАНСПОРТНЫХ СРЕДСТВ

The article presents the structure of infocommunication systems of unmanned transport systems developed by the author, which combines the main information subsystems of the control loop in Advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and shows their interaction. The analysis of the architecture of the ADAS system as a complex system from the point of view of the application of Mesarovich's theory of hierarchical multilevel systems is given (also known as stratification process) - as a result of which ADAS infocommunication systems are presented in the form of a hierarchy of the strata-layers-echelons type. Such a representation has scientific novelty as the application of stratification methods to the description of ADAS infocommunication systems and practical value in the design of the ADAS architecture and the creation of templates for the design of unmanned transport systems infocommunication subsystems.

Methodological basis of simulation and cognitive modelling technology of socio-economic systems

The results of the study are presented in the article, the purpose of which is to provide a methodology for modeling studies and forecasting the development of social and economic systems (SES) based on fuzzy hierarchical cognitive approach. The task of developing methods of SES formalization is being solved. Basic methods: system analysis, hierarchical multilevel system theory, control and decision-making theory, graph theory, fuzzy set and fuzzy logic theory, simulation modeling. The subject of the study is a generalized model of the socio-economic system. The paper describes the theoretical foundations of the original simulation-cognitive modeling technology developed to model socio-economic systems. The technology combines crisp and fuzzy cognitive models. The theoretical-multiple metamodel of the complex system under study is disclosed, the identification model of which is based on the metamatrix developed by the author. There is presented an integrated diagram of the methodology of application simulation-cognitive methodologies of SES, its stages are indicated. The practical application of the methodology will make it possible to develop science-based management solutions to ensure the safe and sustainable development of SES and to take into account the human risk factor.

Estimating the Overhead of Flow Control in Hierarchical Software-Defined Networks

Software-defined networks of a large dimension have a complex and branched structure; they are inherent in them by continuous expansion and dynamic characteristics, which significantly limits the application of known methods for their modelling and optimization. Consequently, the problems of the analysis of next-generation networks at the system level and the study of their new features, mainly due to large size and complex geometry (topology), are relevant. The tasks of constructing optimal structures of complex networks are solved by means of the theory of hierarchical systems, which is widely used to describe network structures, in particular, flow control networks. The work is devoted to the load balancing in SDN depending on their topological hierarchical structure and type of traffic (vertical, horizontal, and hybrid).

Environmental neuroscience.

Environmental neuroscience is an emerging field devoted to the scientific study of brain-mediated, bidirectional relationships between organisms and their social and physical environments. A key feature of environmental neuroscience is the rigorous quantification of environmental features that affect the brain and subsequent behavior. In addition, environmental neuroscience considers factors that vary across multiple temporal and spatial scales that interact to produce behavior (e.g., synapses, neural circuits, cognition, local social interactions, citywide social interactions, citywide physical structures). Environmental neuroscientists then measure the spatial and temporal dynamics of the interactions between different levels of analysis. For example, we demonstrate through hierarchical systems theory and mathematical modeling how interacting with urban greenspace may reduce psychopathology via improvements in neurocognitive functioning, which, in turn, may increase social interactions. This example illustrates how different levels of analysis (e.g., neurocognitive factors, the physical environment, and the social environment) may be combined to understand behavior in novel ways. In addition, we advocate for the collection of data across these scales and measuring their interactions, which will generate rich data sets that will continue to yield insights as new ways to model these complex multilevel systems are developed. We believe that examining all of these levels of analysis at different temporal and spatial scales in addition to modeling their relationships will lead to advances in understanding behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Theoretical aspects of normative and methodological basis formation for flat building common property overhaul

Introduction. The federal-level approval of the long-term programme of flat building common property overhaul is aimed at the radical improvement of housing technical conditions. One of the significant problems on the way of its implementation is the absence of an actual normative basis of systematically integrated documents. Formation of the normative basis of the building and installation overhaul is implemented at various levels: intersectoral (at the level of a federal legislative authority), sectoral (at the level of authorized federal executive authority, i.e. the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation), organization group (self-regulating organizations) and specific organization.
 Materials and methods. To develop methodological approaches to the formation of a normative basis of the flat building common property overhaul, the methodology of multilevel hierarchical systems theory based on function-system, probabilistic, statistical, and simulation methods were used as the theoretical ground.
 Results. A normative and methodological basis of the flat building common property overhaul can be described as a two-level hierarchical system where a federal legislative authority is the superior managerial subsystem, federal executive authority is the inferior managerial subsystem, while the flat building common property overhaul is the managed process. A result of the efficient functioning of the system is the execution of the needed housing overhaul volumes with required quality and rational consumption of material, technical, labour, and financial resources.
 Conclusions. Applicability of multilevel hierarchical system methodology using function-system, probabilistic, statistical, and simulation methods is substantiated for developing methodological approaches to forming a normative basis of the flat building common property overhaul. It is shown that the main advantages of application of the multilevel hierarchical system theory for the purposes of this research are possibility of rigorous mathematical formulating of the principles and results of functioning of the normative and methodological overhaul support system for the flat building common property and availability of conditions for studying different aspects of the system functioning using mathematical methods.

Automation of Obtaining Parts Parameters for Tasks of Design-Technological Parametrization

Introduction. Automation of obtaining design parameters of the part is the most important step in the integration of the design, process planning and manufacturing. The aim of this work is to obtain part parameters, the numerical values of which can be used in parametric calculations. Materials and Methods. The work is the development of the concept of end-to-end design and technological parametrization in Computer-Aided Manufacturing. The theoretical research is based on the formal theory of data representation and processing, the set theory, and the theory of hierarchical multilevel systems. The software implementation was carried out in the Visual Studio C++ environment using KOMPAS-3D application program interface and the C3D geometric kernel application program interface. Results. A method has been developed for obtaining the initial part parameters during the transfer of information from the design engineering Computer-Aided Manufacturing systems to the technological preparation of production. A logical data structure in a relational form was developed, which made it possible to eliminate redundancy and ensure the consistency of the presentation of part parameters, taking into account the priorities of the sources of design information. The software method is implemented as part of the commercial Computer-Aided Manufacturing system for the KOMPAS- 3D platform. Source parameters (metadata, material properties, annotation parameters, parametric variables) are extracted from the 3D-model using application program interface. Integration with the KOMPAS-3D materials directory has been implemented to obtain material properties. Discussion and Conclusion. The obtaining of initial information about the part is the first step in the implementation of the end-to-end design and technological parameterization in the field of Computer-Aided Manufacturing. Due to the design and technological parameterization and associativity of the toolpath, a through technological project can be built when changes made by the designer to the part will be automatically transferred to the technological model and to the control program for the CNC machine. End-to-end parametrization is most efficiently used for parametrized parts that have several dimensional modifications. Further development of the technological parameterization is expected to focus on the tasks of the automatic workpiece selection, cutting tools and devices.

Application of a Systems Approach to Studying Global Socio-Economic Inequality

Ideas drawn from broadly-defined systems thinking, including complex systems studies, have already been used to describe and explain social and economic inequality at various levels of the societal hierarchy, beginning with individuals and ending on the global scale. Bearing in mind the studies on economic and social inequality, the following research question can be asked: What are the universal, systemic characteristics of socio-economic inequality on the global scale? How could a systems approach, including complex systems studies, be helpful in studying socio-economic inequality on the global scale? As a point of departure in the literature survey, two conjectures are formulated and discussed. First, socio-economic inequality constitutes an inherent part of developed societies on the global scale and affects regions, countries, social groups, and individuals. Second, a systems approach, and complex systems studies in particular, can be helpful in analyses of socio-economic inequality by helping to identify causal relations. This concerns, in particular, the theory of hierarchical systems and the Power Law.

Assessment of ecosystem in giant panda distribution area based on entropy method and coefficient of variation

The areas of the habitat and bamboo forest, and the size of the giant panda wild population have greatly increased, while habitat fragmentation and local population isolation have also intensified in recent years. Accurate evaluation of ecosystem status of the panda in the giant panda distribution area is important for giant panda conservation. The ecosystems of the distribution area and six mountain ranges were subdivided into habitat and population subsystems based on the hie-rarchical system theory. Using the panda distribution area as the study area and the three national surveys as the time node, the evolution laws of ecosystems were studied using the entropy method, coefficient of variation, and correlation analysis. We found that with continuous improvement, some differences existed in the evolution and present situation of the ecosystems of six mountain ranges could be divided into three groups. Ecosystems classified into the same group showed many commonalities, and difference between the groups was considerable. Problems of habitat fragmentation and local population isolation became more serious, resulting in ecosystem degradation. Individuali-zed ecological protection measures should be formulated and implemented in accordance with the conditions in each mountain system to achieve the best results.

CONTROL BODY COORDINATION MODEL IN THE PROCESS OF RESPONSE TO LARGE-SCALE EMERGENCIES

Purpose. The article is devoted to developing the control body coordination model in the process of response to large-scale emergencies. Methodology. Research methods include a mathematical apparatus of the theory of hierarchical multi-level systems, predicate logic, as well as the principles of centralized management, which imply the existence of a single coordination control center in the case of occurrence of large-scale emergencies, which would determine basic rules of cooperation between control bodies, as well as the manpower and resources of the Civil Defense of Ukraine when implementing tactical action plans for the localization and recovery of emergency consequences. Findings. Based on the devised model, we propose an approach to solving the task of coordination between control bodies in the process of response to large-scale emergencies under conditions of uncertainty and incomplete information, as well as time constraints for making managerial decisions. The specifics of the model is in the use of mathematical apparatus of the theory of hierarchical multi-level systems and predicate logic in order to implement the procedures of coordination of three types of objectives, formally described by three types of tasks: 1) a global task whose solution is aimed at achieving a common global objective of the system, specifically, to minimize the consequences of emergencies; 2) a task of coordinating control body, the solving of which achieves a coordinated functioning of specialized rescue units and squads during implementation of a set of measures to liquidate consequences in the area of emergencies; 3) local tasks for control bodies over the response to emergencies, solving which aims at achieving a common global objective of the system. Originality. We proposed for the first time a structure of the hierarchical multi-level system for coordination between control bodies in the process of response to large-scale emergencies. The levels of system management are determined. The approach is proposed to solving a task of the coordination between control bodies under conditions of uncertainty and incomplete information. Coordination is ensured through the procedures of coordinating goals and tasks solved at different levels in the hierarchy of the considered system, under conditions of centralized management and the originality of emerging management situations. Practical value. Results of the present work might be applied in the tasks of coordinating management and decision-making in hierarchical multi-level systems of civil protection of population and territories from emergencies.

Adaptive trajectory tracking controller for quadrotor systems subject to parametric uncertainties

This paper investigates the trajectory tracking problem of quadrotor systems in the presence of uncertain inertial parameters. The controller is based on the hierarchical control strategy. The main features of this research include: (i) the command control of the position loop is synthesized with a saturation scheme, and a novel immersion & invariance (I&I) adaptation methodology is designed such that the mass estimation converges asymptotically to its real value; (ii) as an intermediate step, the command rotation matrix is extracted from the command control without the singularity; (iii) in terms of the rotation matrix property, the applied torque with appropriate control parameters and initial conditions is exploited for the attitude loop; and (iv) the projection algorithm is used to guarantee the inertial matrix estimation evolving within a prescribed range. It is proven based on the hierarchical system theory that, the developed controller enables the quadrotor system to track the reference trajectory asymptotically. Simulations are provided to support the proposed theoretical results.

Representation of the Hierarchical Multilayer Routing Systems in a Set-Theoretic Base

In the article the option of application of provisions of the theory of sets and the theory of hierarchical systems for the formal description of elements of the open systems realizing interdependent multi-level processes of routing is offered. Infrastructure facilities, in which distribution of the material resources, energy or information with the use of hierarchically nested functions of control of flows and/or routings is realized, can serve as real prototypes of such open systems.

The Use of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps for the Analysis of Structure of Social and Economic System for the Purpose of Its Sustainable Development

The paper aimed to consideration of a problem of modeling of complex systems. The use of fuzzy cognitive maps for modeling and the analysis of functioning of complex systems is offered. Features of difficult system on the example of social and economic system are analyzed to work The author seeks to track process of change of views and approaches on modeling of a sustainable development of social and economic systems. The problem is formulated on the basis of synthesis of concepts of the theory of systems and the theory of decision-making, the theory of fuzzy graphs and the theory of hierarchical multilevel systems that expands possibilities of the accounting of uncertainty various nature, including risk of a human factor. The idea locates and the concept of an fuzzy cognitive map as fuzzy directed graph unlike known examples of fuzzy cognitive maps is entered. In this work the concept of fuzzy bases of the fuzzy first way focused the column is used, approach to their application for the analysis of fuzzy cognitive maps is considered. The special attention is paid to the description of an example illustrating possibilities of modeling of a trajectory of a sustainable development of social and economic systems by means of fuzzy cognitive maps in the form of fuzzy directed graph. The example of work of the Matrix program developed earlier realizing known algorithms of stay is given: fuzzy ways between concepts; approachibility matrixes; definitions of a set of fuzzy bases, connectivity in this article. This all is important for forecasting of sustainable developing social and economic system. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n3s5p113

Coordination in multilevel network-centric control systems of regional security: approach and formal model

The paper deals with development of methods and tools for mathematical and computer modeling of the multilevel network-centric control systems of regional security. This research is carried out under development strategy implementation of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation and national safeguarding for the period before 2020 in the Murmansk region territory. Creation of unified interdepartmental multilevel computer-aided system is proposed intended for decision-making information support and socio-economic security monitoring of the Arctic regions of Russia. The distinctive features of the investigated system class are openness, self-organization, decentralization of management functions and decision-making, weak hierarchy in the decision-making circuit and goal generation capability inside itself. Research techniques include functional-target approach, mathematical apparatus of multilevel hierarchical system theory and principles of network-centric control of distributed systems with pro-active components and variable structure. The work considers network-centric management local decisions coordination problem-solving within the multilevel distributed systems intended for information support of regional security. The coordination problem-solving approach and problem formalization in the multilevel network-centric control systems of regional security have been proposed based on developed multilevel recurrent hierarchical model of regional socio-economic system complex security. The model provides coordination of regional security indexes, optimized by the different elements of multilevel control systems, subject to decentralized decision-making. The model specificity consists in application of functional-target technology and mathematical apparatus of multilevel hierarchical system theory for coordination procedures implementation of the network-centric management local decisions. The work-out and research results can find further application both within the coordination problem-solving of managerial decision-making in the multilevel network-centric control systems used for different subject domains, and within the analysis and synthesis problem-solving of integral complex security index of the regional socio-economic system, represented as regional security index matrix.

Hierarchy and Organization – Towards a General Theory of Hierarchical Social SystemsHierarchy and Organization – Towards a General Theory of Hierarchical Social Systems

Hierarchy and Organization – Towards a General Theory of Hierarchical Social SystemsHierarchy and Organization – Towards a General Theory of Hierarchical Social Systems

Entropy paradigm in the theory of hierarchical active systems. Elements of conflict theory

Entropy paradigm in the theory of hierarchical active systems. Elements of conflict theory

Coordinability and Consistency in Accident Causation and Prevention: Formal System Theoretic Concepts for Safety in Multilevel Systems

Although a "system approach" to accidents in sociotechnical systems has been frequently advocated, formal system theoretic concepts remain absent in the literature on accident analysis and system safety. To address this gap, we introduce the notions of coordinability and consistency from the hierarchical and multilevel systems theory literature. We then investigate the applicability and the importance of these concepts to accident causation and safety. Using illustrative examples, including the worst disaster in aviation history, and recent incidents in the United States of aircraft clipping each other on the tarmac, we propose that the lack of coordinability is a fundamental failure mechanism causing or contributing to accidents in multilevel systems. We make a similar case for the lack of consistency. Coordinability and consistency become ingredients for accident prevention, and their absence fundamental failure mechanisms that can lead to system accidents. Finally, using the concepts introduced in this work, we identify several venues for further research, including the development of a theory of coordination in multilevel systems, the investigation of potential synergies between coordinability, consistency, and the high reliability organizations paradigm, and the possibility of reframing the view that "sloppy management is the root cause of many industrial accidents" as one of lack of coordinability and/or consistency between management and operations. By introducing and expanding on the concepts of coordinability and consistency, we hope to contribute to the thinking about, and the to language of, accident causation, and prevention and to add to the intellectual toolkit of safety professionals and academics.

Open system of distance learning: soft system approach to information system analysis

One of the more important factors of human civilisation is proper organisation of education system. The system-based approach allows to interpret the open and distance learning phenomenon as a complex information system. The authors perform a soft system analysis based on the theory of hierarchical multilevel systems, which allows developing a model of the open system of distance learning. The proposed model plays a role of a meta information system for knowledge management for open and distance learning. As a conclusion of the analysis hierarchical structure and functional scheme of open system of distance learning are proposed.