The two-state-vector formalism presents a time-symmetric approach to the standard quantum mechanics, with particular importance in the description of experiments having pre- and post-selected ensembles. In this paper, using the correspondence limit of the quantum harmonic oscillator in the two-state-vector formalism, we produce harmonic oscillators that possess a classical behavior while having a complex-valued position and momentum. This allows us to discover novel effects that cannot be achieved otherwise. The proposed classical behavior does not describe the classical physics in (...) the usual sense since this behavior is subjected to the feature that only after the final measurement is performed, as a boundary condition, the complex-valued classical effects occur between the initial and the final boundary conditions. This classical behavior breaks down if one does not follow the decided boundary conditions during the experiment, since otherwise, one will contradict the impossibility of retrocausality. (shrink)

Does the contemporary built environment—the ensemble of our humanly created surroundings—make us happy? This question prompts a consideration of the psychological dimensions of economic value, and of Tibor Scitovsky's revisions of standard economic theory. With Scitovsky as a starting point, a model of value based on modern complexity theory and a Maslow‐like rendition of human needs can account for some of the more important exceptions to the law of diminished marginal utility, including those that may undermine the built environment in (...) a market economy. (shrink)

This paper focuses on the finite-time synchronization analysis for complex-valued recurrent neural networks with time delays. First, two kinds of common activation functions appearing in the existing references are combined together and more general assumptions are given. To achieve our aim, a nonlinear delayed controller with two independent parameters different from the existing ones is provided, which leads to great difficulty. To overcome it, a newly developed inequality is used. Then, via Lyapunov function approach, some criteria are derived to (...) guarantee the finite-time synchronization of the considered system, and the settling time for synchronization is also estimated. Finally, two numerical simulations are given to support the effectiveness and advantages of the obtained results. (shrink)

This work is devoted to studying the stochastic stabilization of a class of neutral-type complex-valued neural networks with partly unknown Markov jump. Firstly, in order to reduce the conservation of our stability conditions, two integral inequalities are generalized to the complex-valued domain. Secondly, a state-feedback controller is designed to investigate the stability of the neutral-type CVNNs with H ∞ performance, making the stability problem a further extension, and then, the stabilization of the CVNNs with H ∞ performance is (...) investigated through a sampling-based event-triggered control for the first time that the transmission event is not triggered except when it violates the event-triggered condition. Finally, two examples are given to illustrate the validity and correctness of our obtained theorems. (shrink)

In this paper, dynamic behavior analysis has been discussed for a class of switched complex-valued neural networks with interval parameter uncertainties and impulse disturbance. Sufficient conditions for guaranteeing the existence, uniqueness, and global robust exponential stability of the equilibrium point have been obtained by using the homomorphism mapping theorem, the scalar Lyapunov function method, the average dwell time method, and M-matrix theory. Since there is no result concerning the stability problem of switched neural networks defined in complex number (...) domain, the stability results we describe in this paper generalize the existing ones. The effectiveness of the proposed results is illustrated by a numerical example. (shrink)

This study addresses the problem of output quasisynchronization for coupled complex-valued memristive reaction-diffusion complex networks via the distributed event-triggered control scheme. First, by using the separate method, set value mapping, and intermediate value theorem, the complex-valued memristive reaction-diffusion complex networks can be transferred into two semi-uncertain real-valued reaction-diffusion complex networks. Second, a distributed output piecewise event-triggered control scheme with spatial sampled-data is first proposed including a spatial sampling event-triggered generator and spatiotemporal sampling state feedback controller. (...) Furthermore, this scheme can effectively save the measurement resources and lower the update rate of controllers in spatial and time domain. Third, the synchronization analysis is considered by utilizing an appropriate Lyapunov function, the Halanay inequality, and the improved Wirtinger inequality. Subsequently, several output event-triggered quasisynchronization criteria are derived. The relations among event trigger conditions, spatial sampling interval, convergence rate, and control gain are given by rigorous mathematical derivation. Finally, multiple simulations are compared to substantiate the validation of the OPETC scheme. (shrink)

This paper is concerned with the outer exponential synchronization of the drive-response complex dynamical networks subject to time-varying delays. The dynamics of nodes is complex valued, the interactions among of the nodes are directed, and the two coupling matrices in the drive system and the response system are also different. The intermittent pinning control is proposed to achieve outer exponential synchronization in the aperiodical way. Some novel sufficient conditions are derived to guarantee outer exponential synchronization of the considered (...) complex-valued complex networks by using the Lyapunov functional method. Finally, two numerical examples are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control protocols. (shrink)

Discussing the crucifix case, Beata Polanowska-Sygulska concludes that the decision on appeal fits with Berlinian value pluralism, while the initial judgement was ethically monist. Her assumption is that pluralism favours cultural diversity against uniform law. This assumption is too simple and needs to be qualified by several considerations. First, we should be clear that, under pluralism, a moral question may have ‘one right answer’ if this is contextual. Second, so far as pluralism connects with cultural diversity, this has multiple dimensions, (...) applying not just among societies but within them as well. Third, pluralists ought to be concerned primarily with promoting a diversity of values rather than cultures. When these matters are properly taken into account, it can be seen that a uniform law may be more pluralist than a multiplicity of local laws, depending on the circumstances. (shrink)

Research on self-determination theory and clinical models such as acceptance and commitment therapy has shown that behaving in line with our values is key to maintaining healthy well-being. Combining work on values and experimental studies on moral hypocrisy and well-being, we experimentally tested how behaving incongruently with values affects well-being. We hypothesized that discrepancies between how one thinks one should have behaved and how one reported one did behave would be more detrimental to well-being when the behaviors (...) were value-expressive and motivationally coherent compared to a control condition; greater perceived gaps between how participants feel they should have acted and how they report they did act would be associated with more negative well-being outcomes; the relationship between value manipulation and well-being would be mediated by perceived behavioral gap; and that personal values would interact with value manipulation to produce differential effects on well-being. One-hundred and fifty-eight first-year psychology students participated in an experiment designed to highlight discrepancies between how participants have behaved in accordance with a certain value and how they think they should have behaved, before reporting their well-being. As hypothesized, greater discrepancies between reported past behavior and how participants thought they should have behaved was associated with negative affect and decreased reports of positive well-being. We found no evidence for differential effects of manipulated value-expressive behaviors on well-being, or for our hypotheses that personal values and manipulated value-expressive behaviors interact. Nevertheless, value content mattered in terms of inducing perceived behavioral gaps. Our study suggests that perceived discrepancies between any value and reported past behavior can have a negative impact on some aspects of well-being. We discuss how the application of our methodology can be used in further studies to disentangle the value-behavior nexus. (shrink)

ABSTRACT: How can we think about a universal ethics that could be adopted by any intelligent being, including the rising population of cyborgs, intelligent machines, intelligent algorithms or even potential extraterrestrial life? We generally give value to complex structures, to objects resulting from a long work, to systems with many elements and with many links finely adjusted. These include living beings, books, works of art or scientific theories. Intuitively, we want to keep, multiply, and share such structures, as well (...) as prevent their destruction. Such objects have value not because more information would simply mean more value. Instead, they have value because they require a long computational history, numerous interactions for their construction that we can assimilate to a computation, and they display what we call organized complexity. To propose the foundations of a universal ethics based on the intrinsic value of organized complexity, we first discuss conceptions of complexity, and argue that Charles Bennett’s logical depth is certainly a first approximation of what we are looking for. We then put forward three fundamental imperatives: to preserve, augment and recursively promote organized complexity. We show a broad range of applications with human, non-human and non-living examples. Finally, we discuss some specific issues of our framework such as the distribution of complexity, of managing copies and erasures, and how our universal ethics tackles classical ethical issues. In sum, we propose a clear, homogenous and consistent ethical foundation that can integrate many universal ethics desiderata. (shrink)

In the modern scientific literature, there are many reports about the successful application of neural network technologies for solving complex applied problems, in particular, for modeling the urban real estate market. There are neural network models that can perform mass assessment of real estate objects taking into account their construction and operational characteristics. However, these models are static because they do not take into account the changing economic situation over time. Therefore, they quickly become outdated and need frequent updates. (...) In addition, if they are designed for a specific city, they are not suitable for other cities. On the other hand, there are several dynamic models taking into account the overall state of the economy and designed to predict and study the overall price situation in real estate markets. Such dynamic models are not intended for mass real estate appraisals. The aim of this article is to develop a methodology and create a complex model that has the properties of both static and dynamic models. Moreover, our comprehensive model should be suitable for evaluating real estate in many cities at once. This aim is achieved since our model is based on a neural network trained on examples considering both construction and operational characteristics, as well as geographical and environmental characteristics, along with time-changing macroeconomic parameters that describe the economic state of a specific region, country, and the world. A set of examples for training and testing the neural network were formed on the basis of statistical data of real estate markets in a number of Russian cities for the period from 2006 to 2020. Thus, many examples included the data relating to the periods of the economic calm for Russia, along with the periods of crisis, recovery, and growth of the Russian and global economy. Due to this, the model remains relevant with the changes of the international economic situation and it takes into account the specifics of regions. The model proved to be suitable for solving the following tasks: industrial economic analysis, company strategic and operational management, analytical and consulting support of investment, and construction activities of professional market participants. The model can also be used by government agencies authorized to conduct public cadastral assessment for calculating property taxes. (shrink)

We investigate to what extent it is possible to determine a reasonable default pragmatic value of complex sentences in a compositional manner, and --when combined with a Boolean semantics --to see under which conditions it gives rise to reasonable predictions. We discuss several notions of pragmatic value, or relevance, and compare their behavior over complex sentences. Although the goal-oriented notions of relevance give rise to the same ordering relations between propositions,the conditions under which they behave 'compositionally' vary significantly.

All projects take place within a context of uncertainty. That is especially noticeable in complex hydroelectric power generation projects, which are affected by factors such as the large number of multidisciplinary tasks to be performed in parallel, long execution times, or the risks inherent in various fields like geology, hydrology, and structural, electrical, and mechanical engineering, among others. Such factors often lead to cost overruns and delays in projects of this type. This paper analyzes the efficiency of the Earned (...) Value Management technique and its Earned Schedule extension, as means of forecasting costs and deadlines when applied to complex hydroelectric power production projects. It is worth noting that this analysis was based on simulation models applied to real-life projects. The results showed that cost forecasting becomes very accurate over time, whereas duration forecasting is not reliably accurate. (shrink)

This case study was undertaken to explore the way postgraduate management students relate their personal values to their current education and future career aspirations. The research primarily focused on the per ceptions of students enrolled in an elective course offered by the Management Centre for Human Values, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. Students' attitudes towards Western postgraduate man agement programme were elicited through interviews and group discussions. Their diverse attitudes are analysed under the themes of gender; personal identity; (...) age and status; ethics, religion and spirituality; profit and wealth; as well as consumerism and environmentalism. The opinions of the students are quoted directly to illustrate their experience of tension and ambiguity, as they anticipated movingfrom an academic to a business role. (shrink)

Disabled women were absent for many years from the discipline that has become known as women and gender studies. This field of study had its origins in the late 1970s following the second wave of feminism. In the latter decades of the twentieth century, disabled women and their allies introduced the necessary task of exploring disabled women's embodiment to the wider feminist community. A wealth of research now exists that incorporates disabled women's bodies into a range of disciplines: from literature, (...) film, art, social sciences, geography, and the environment to many other areas of scholarship. Indeed, many of the themes covered in this special issue have been addressed in different contexts in the disciplines .. (shrink)

A widely held view concerning the justification of associative duties is the so-called relationships view, according to which associative duties within personal relationships arise because of the value of those relationships. Against this view, it has been argued that there can be cases of undemanding friendships, that is, genuine friendships with no associative duties. In this article, I argue that undemanding friendships do not show that associative duties are not grounded in the value of the relationship that gives rise to (...) them by providing an interpretivist account of the normativity of friendships. I argue that friendships are complex values that need to be interpreted in order to determine which response to them would be appropriate, and that understanding one's friendship as undemanding is one valid interpretation of the value of friendship. Subsequently, I demonstrate that this solution is not ad hoc, because friendship is not the only complex value that needs to be interpreted. (shrink)

ABSTRACT In his book The End of Life James Rachels argues that in a situation of forced choice if we must choose between a more and a less complex human being we have good reason to choose in favour of the normal human. He argues also that since some humans have less complex mental abilities than some animals it will sometimes be right to choose a non‐human animal in preference to a human being. I do not consider Rachels’belief (...) that sometimes non‐human animals are to be preferred to retarded humans; I focus rather on the seemingly less contentious belief that in situations of forced choice, we should choose human beings with more rather than less complex lives. I reject this contention both because Rachels does not seem to have offered a worthwhile argument in its favour and also because I find his cavalier approach to the lives of people with intellectual disabilities morally offensive. En route I argue against his simplistic separation of human lives into the categories ‘simple’and ‘complex’on the basis of whether the individuals in question fall into what he seems to take as given—the clear cut categories ‘mentally retarded’and ‘normal’[1] [2]. (shrink)

A novel conceptual framework is introduced for the Complexity Levels Theory in a Categorical Ontology of Space and Time. This conceptual and formal construction is intended for ontological studies of Emergent Biosystems, Super-complex Dynamics, Evolution and Human Consciousness. A claim is defended concerning the universal representation of an item’s essence in categorical terms. As an essential example, relational structures of living organisms are well represented by applying the important categorical concept of natural transformations to biomolecular reactions and relational structures (...) that emerge from the latter in living systems. Thus, several relational theories of living systems can be represented by natural transformations of organismic, relational structures. The ascent of man and other living organisms through adaptation, is viewed in novel categorical terms, such as variable biogroupoid representations of evolving species. Such precise but flexible evolutionary concepts will allow the further development of the unifying theme of local-to-global approaches to highly complex systems in order to represent novel patterns of relations that emerge in super- and ultra-complex systems in terms of compositions of local procedures. Solutions to such local-to-global problems in highly complex systems with ‘broken symmetry’ might be possible to be reached with the help of higher homotopy theorems in algebraic topology such as the generalized van Kampen theorems (HHvKT). Categories of many-valued, Łukasiewicz-Moisil (LM) logic algebras provide useful concepts for representing the intrinsic dynamic ‘asymmetry’ of genetic networks in organismic development and evolution, as well as to derive novel results for (non-commutative) Quantum Logics. Furthermore, as recently pointed out by Baianu and Poli (Theory and applications of ontology, vol 1. Springer, Berlin, in press), LM-logic algebras may also provide the appropriate framework for future developments of the ontological theory of levels with its complex/entangled/intertwined ramifications in psychology, sociology and ecology. As shown in the preceding two papers in this issue, a paradigm shift towards non-commutative, or non-Abelian, theories of highly complex dynamics—which is presently unfolding in physics, mathematics, life and cognitive sciences—may be implemented through realizations of higher dimensional algebras in neurosciences and psychology, as well as in human genomics, bioinformatics and interactomics. (shrink)

Those masterful images because complete Grew in pure mind, but out of what began? A mound of refuse or the sweepings of a street, Old kettles, old bottles, and a broken can, Old iron, old bones, old rags, that raving slut Who keeps the till. Now that my ladder's gone, I must lie down where all the ladders start In the foul rag and bone shop of the heart.

Domination is a structural complexity of chemical molecular graphs. A dominating set in a graphG=V,Eis a subsetS⊆Vsuch that each vertex inV\Sis adjacent to at least one vertex inS. The domination numberγGof a graphGis the minimum size of a dominating set inG. In this paper, computer-aided approaches for obtaining bounds for domination number on torus graphs are here considered, and many new exact values and bounds are obtained.

Many of the formalisms used in Attribute Value grammar are notational variants of languages of propositional modal logic, and testing whether two Attribute Value Structures unify amounts to testing for modal satisfiability. In this paper we put this observation to work. We study the complexity of the satisfiability problem for nine modal languages which mirror different aspects of AVS description formalisms, including the ability to express re-entrancy, the ability to express generalisations, and the ability to express recursive constraints. Two main (...) techniques are used: either Kripke models with desirable properties are constructed, or modalities are used to simulate fragments of Propositional Dynamic Logic. Further possibilities for the application of modal logic in computational linguistics are noted. (shrink)

A novel conceptual framework is introduced for the Complexity Levels Theory in a Categorical Ontology of Space and Time. This conceptual and formal construction is intended for ontological studies of Emergent Biosystems, Super-complex Dynamics, Evolution and Human Consciousness. A claim is defended concerning the universal representation of an item’s essence in categorical terms. As an essential example, relational structures of living organisms are well represented by applying the important categorical concept of natural transformations to biomolecular reactions and relational structures (...) that emerge from the latter in living systems. Thus, several relational theories of living systems can be represented by natural transformations of organismic, relational structures. The ascent of man and other living organisms through adaptation, is viewed in novel categorical terms, such as variable biogroupoid representations of evolving species. Such precise but flexible evolutionary concepts will allow the further development of the unifying theme of local-to-global approaches to highly complex systems in order to represent novel patterns of relations that emerge in super- and ultra-complex systems in terms of compositions of local procedures. Solutions to such local-to-global problems in highly complex systems with ‘broken symmetry’ might be possible to be reached with the help of higher homotopy theorems in algebraic topology such as the generalized van Kampen theorems (HHvKT). Categories of many-valued, Łukasiewicz-Moisil (LM) logic algebras provide useful concepts for representing the intrinsic dynamic ‘asymmetry’ of genetic networks in organismic development and evolution, as well as to derive novel results for (non-commutative) Quantum Logics. Furthermore, as recently pointed out by Baianu and Poli (Theory and applications of ontology, vol 1. Springer, Berlin, in press), LM-logic algebras may also provide the appropriate framework for future developments of the ontological theory of levels with its complex/entangled/intertwined ramifications in psychology, sociology and ecology. As shown in the preceding two papers in this issue, a paradigm shift towards non-commutative, or non-Abelian, theories of highly complex dynamics—which is presently unfolding in physics, mathematics, life and cognitive sciences—may be implemented through realizations of higher dimensional algebras in neurosciences and psychology, as well as in human genomics, bioinformatics and interactomics. (shrink)

This case study was undertaken to explore the way in which postgraduate management students relate their personal values to their current education and future career aspirations. The research primarily focused on the perceptions of students taking an elective offered by the Management Centre for Human Values at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. Students' attitudes toward western postgraduate manage ment programme were elicited using interviews and group discussions. Part A of the paper had presented the aiverse range of (...) attitudes analysed under the themes ofgender; personal identity; age and status; ethics, religion and spirituality; profit and wealth: as well as consumerism and environmentalism. Part B extends this exploration by direct quotes from students to illustrate their experience of tension and ambiguity, as they anticipated moving from an academic to a business role. (shrink)

Urban rail transit can improve a city’s accessibility. However, high construction and operation costs restrict the development of urban rail transit. Value capture recoups the additional value that the investments of urban rail transit confer to local land and is considered to be an effective measure to alleviate this financial problem. Understanding the land value uplift effects of urban rail transit is essential for understanding value capture. This study applied a Space-P model of urban rail transit network based on (...) class='Hi'>complex network theory and demonstrated the influence of urban rail transit network characteristics on residential and commercial land prices. The model was tested with eight metropolises in China, using the 2003 to 2022 timeframe as the context. The results showed a significant positive correlation between the number of nodes and the land prices, the average clustering coefficient was highly positively correlated with the land prices, and there was a significant negative correlation between the average path length and the land prices. This study provides theoretical support for value capture, is beneficial for urban rail transit planning, and supports improvements in the development quality of urban rail transit networks. (shrink)

The complexity is interpreted by the author as one of the properties of postnonclassical science. The idea of ‘complexity‘ is studied in the context of contemporary science; the main stages of its genesis are also identified. The author believes that the concept of A. I. Uyemov is a good tool for the theoretical interpretation of the phenomenon of complexity that is so typical for contemporary culture . Base forming factor is the concept of the system, which, on the one hand, (...) expresses the sense of the system , and on the other hand, expresses the intention of human activity. This is not nothing but a systematic representation of modern innovative technologies that realize the unity of values and intentions of human. Systemness acts as a property of reality generated by the creative activity of a human in the implementation of its plans. Hence, the complexity of the systems as a characteristic does not apply to nature or to society per se, but to the human action, activity. Activities can be subdivided into theoretical research and practical technological process. In the first case, we are dealing with postnonclassical science of nature, and the second - with a specific occupation - the science and art of management. In the article, the questions of genesis of a sense and idea of the complexity are studied and an attempt to determine what is the complexity as well as the result of this attempt in modern conditions are given. (shrink)

In this article codes over lattice valued intuitionistic fuzzy set type-3 are defined. Binary block codes and linear codes are constructed over LIFS-3. Hamming distance and related properties of these newly established codes are examined. The research findings are applied to genetic codes. The set L of sixty-four codons is converted into a lattice and then codes are created over the set S of twenty amino acids by defining membership and nonmembership functions from the set of twenty amino acids to (...) the sixty-four codon set. Comparison of codes over L -fuzzy set and LIFS-3 conducted in terms of hamming distance for codon system that ensures the efficiency of newly established codes. (shrink)

According to Peirce, the value of the idea of freedom arises only to oppose the idea of necessity. Freedom emerges as a working value, a primary esthetic principle, in response to that which is perceived as fixed, determined, necessary, absolute. The idea of Freedom materializes, assumes a million appearances, wears its ten million masks......Freedom as the Freedom-to-Focus is a Peircean esthetic process that becomes realized through the three stages of Fragment/Fractal, Fact, Form. This triadic process corresponds to the semiotic functions (...) of Icon, Index, Symbol. Freedom's course is nonlineal, self-corrective, dynamic, open: Freedom is the occasion for Chaos, and Chaos is the locus of Form. (shrink)

Judgements concerning proper or appropriate educational endeavour, methods of investigation and philosophising about education necessarily implicate perspectives, values, assumptions and beliefs. In recent years ideas from the complexity sciences have been utilised in many domains including psychology, economics, architecture, social science and education. This paper addresses questions concerning the appropriateness of utilising complexity science in educational research as well as issues relating to the ways in which complexity might be engaged. I suggest that, just like all human endeavour, approaches (...) to research emerge out of discursive communities and can be understood as self‐organising, dynamic and emergent over time. In this formulation, complexity represents one such newly emergent approach. I argue that it is important that researchers partake in critical and reflective discourse about the nature of education and conceptual frameworks, as well as about impacts and legacies of utilising complexity, so as to participate in and influence the ongoing emergence of educational endeavour. I conclude by suggesting a series of caveats for researchers considering using complexity in educational research. (shrink)

Spinoza’s limited words on the subject of art has led many to claim that his philosophy is incompatible and even hostile to a theory of art. Such a critique begins by confusing modern aesthetic standards with Spinoza’s actual words on art and its objects. Beginning with this confusion, this paper will argue that Spinoza’s philosophy naturalises the work of art and conceives of things such as paintings and temples through his theory of complex bodies.Turning to the two places that (...) Spinoza discuss art—IIIP2Schol and IVP45Schol—this paper will argue that Spinoza understood works of art to be particularly complex and hence powerful extended bodies with a use value relative to the striving of the human individual. Accordingly it will be argued that because Spinoza conceived works of art to be external bodies–artistic bodies–, we should therefore begin to study art and its objects through Spinoza’s relational theory of the individual. (shrink)

This paper argues that geography has a prominent, though at present underdeveloped, role to play in the moral education of young people. The need for geography teachers at all levels to engage students effectively with matters, themes and issues associated with ‘supercomplex’ environmental processes of various kinds, in a global context, requires the application of morally careful teaching. This is the case with respect to both the way selected content is handled in the classroom and the curriculum context in which (...) it is placed. These are arguments which reassert the prime importance of identifying the educational goals of geography programmes. The paper goes on to recommend the rediscovery by geography teachers of ‘values education’ strategies to allow students to engage in the dialectic between universals and relativities simultaneously. There are particular reasons why at school level the moral dimension of geography has been marginalised over recent years, and these are discussed in the paper. The paper also takes care to distinguish the promotion of environmental values and such like from educational values which require students to make judgements through the careful reading of information, argument and a propensity to reconsider what is right. The paper as a whole therefore considers the question of what geography is for. (shrink)

A categorical, higher dimensional algebra and generalized topos framework for Łukasiewicz–Moisil Algebraic–Logic models of non-linear dynamics in complex functional genomes and cell interactomes is proposed. Łukasiewicz–Moisil Algebraic–Logic models of neural, genetic and neoplastic cell networks, as well as signaling pathways in cells are formulated in terms of non-linear dynamic systems with n-state components that allow for the generalization of previous logical models of both genetic activities and neural networks. An algebraic formulation of variable ‘next-state functions’ is extended to a (...) Łukasiewicz–Moisil Topos with an n-valued Łukasiewicz–Moisil Algebraic Logic subobject classifier description that represents non-random and non-linear network activities as well as their transformations in developmental processes and carcinogenesis. The unification of the theories of organismic sets, molecular sets and Robert Rosen’s (M,R)-systems is also considered here in terms of natural transformations of organismal structures which generate higher dimensional algebras based on consistent axioms, thus avoiding well known logical paradoxes occurring with sets. Quantum bionetworks, such as quantum neural nets and quantum genetic networks, are also discussed and their underlying, non-commutative quantum logics are considered in the context of an emerging Quantum Relational Biology. (shrink)

With the rapid development of the economy, the land use/cover change in the Greater Bay Area has undergone tremendous changes, which have had directly negative effects on ecosystem functions and services. The development of sustainable land use strategies to quantitatively evaluate ecosystem services is required. Based on multitemporal land use data, the equivalent coefficients table method was used to assess the ecosystem service values, and the impact of LUCC on ecosystem services was analyzed. A future land use simulation model (...) and multiscenario simulations were employed to predict land use change in 2030. Our results indicated that the loss of ESVs decreased by 14.29 billion yuan from 2005 to 2020. The spatial distribution of the high-value ecosystem services was concentrated around the peripheral area of the northern regions in the GBA, and those areas had less land use development and human activity. Compared with those in 2020, the total ESVs of the business-as-usual scenario, socioeconomic development scenario, and cultivated protection priority scenario in 2030 decreased, while they increased in the ecological protection priority scenario. In the CPP scenario, regulating, supporting, provisioning, and cultural services increased slightly, but they decreased in the other scenarios. The patterns of LUCC were the main reasons for the decrease in ESVs, such as the loss of land with high ecological value. Additionally, a four-quadrant analysis is introduced to determine which land use simulation will be expected to be adopted by the government. The findings of this study provide valuable information for decision-making and policy development in the coastal zones and for the sustainable management of ecosystems. (shrink)

Value analysis establishes a way to practice functional analysis which enables to think all matter as sets of functions. The study of the correlations between the phases of activation of these functions leads to consider the aggregation of correlated activation functions as an attractor in a configuration space. This point of view allows figuring out general behaviors reducing the conceptual gap between microeconomics and macroeconomics. Then, based on a characterization of complex adaptive systems in terms of functional attractors, the (...) theory links together value and physical magnitudes, like work or energy and action. The evolution of these systems is studied from the viewpoints of learning or of voluntary and involuntary interactions with others described in the ultimate way by the strategies, or operators, of which they make use. Three kinds of uncertainties are emphasized among which the uncertainty between the structure and the business outlook of a system is recreated through an analogy between physics and economics. The rationality of the complex functional systems economics is based on value and on market or environment awareness. Equilibria establish potential of agents or players whose profiles are built through the equivalence between a time-dependent payoff at equilibrium and the regular value of the corresponding attractor. The law of supply and demand is naturally founded on unbiased profiles of agents and can be a means of uncertainty reduction and of growth. Freedoms are opportunities to grow, when they result in confidence, and to bear risks in decision-making through an innovative process. (shrink)

While the debate on values in science focuses on normative questions on the level of the individual (e.g. should researchers try to make their work as value free as possible?), comparatively little attention has been paid to the institutional and professional norms that researchers are expected to follow. To address this knowledge gap, we conduct a content analysis of leading national codes of conduct for research integrity of European countries, and structure our analysis around the question: do these documents (...) allow for researchers to be influenced by “non-epistemic” (moral, cultural, commercial, political, etc.) values or do they prohibit such influence in compliance with the value-free ideal (VFI) of science? Our results return a complex picture. On the one hand, codes of conduct consider many non-epistemic values to be a legitimate influence on the decision-making of researchers. On the other, most of these documents include what we call _VFI-like positions_: passages claiming that researchers should be free and independent from any external influence. This shows that while many research integrity documents do not fully endorse the VFI, they do not reject it and continue to be implicitly influenced by it. This results in internal tensions and underdetermined guidance on non-epistemic values that may limit some of the uses of research integrity codes, especially for purposes of ethical self-regulation. While codes of conduct cannot be expected to decide how researchers should act in every instance, we do suggest that they acknowledge the challenges of how to integrate non-epistemic values in research in a more explicit fashion. (shrink)

Discussion of the possibilities of comparing values of radically different kinds, and values that are essentially constituted by other simpler values.