Towards real-world complexity: an introduction to multiplex networks

Many real-world complex systems are best modeled by multiplex networks of interacting network layers. The multiplex network study is one of the newest and hottest themes in the statistical physics of complex networks. Pioneering studies have proven that the multiplexity has broad impact on the system's structure and function. In this Colloquium paper, we present an organized review of the growing body of current literature on multiplex networks by categorizing existing studies broadly according to the type of layer coupling in the problem. Major recent advances in the field are surveyed and some outstanding open challenges and future perspectives will be proposed.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figure

The Mirroring Hypothesis: Theory, Evidence and Exceptions

The mirroring hypothesis predicts that the organizational patterns of a development project (e.g. communication links, geographic collocation, team and firm co-membership) will correspond to the technical patterns of dependency in the system under development. Scholars in a range of disciplines have argued that mirroring is either necessary or a highly desirable feature of development projects, but evidence pertaining to the hypothesis is widely scattered across fields, research sites, and methodologies. In this paper, we formally define the mirroring hypothesis and review 102 empirical studies spanning three levels of organization: within a single firm, across firms, and in open community-based development projects. The hypothesis was supported in 69% of the cases. Support for the hypothesis was strongest in the within-firm sample, less strong in the across-firm sample, and relatively weak in the open collaborative sample. Based on a detailed analysis of the cases in which the mirroring hypothesis was not supported, we introduce the concept of actionable transparency as a means of achieving coordination without mirroring. We present examples from practice and describe the more complex organizational patterns that emerge when actionable transparency allows designers to 'break the mirror.'Modularity, innovation, product and process development, organization design, design structure, organizational structure, organizational ties

Human Development Dynamics: An Agent Based Simulation of Macro Social Systems and Individual Heterogeneous Evolutionary Games

Purpose: In the context of modernization and development, a complex adaptive systems framework can help address the coupling of macro social constraint and opportunity with individual agency. Combining system dynamics and agent based modeling, we formalize a simulation approach of the Human Development (HD) perspective to explore the interactive effects of economics, culture, society and politics across multiple human scales. Methods: Based on a system of asymmetric, coupled nonlinear equations, we first capture the core qualitative logic of HD theory, empirically validated from World Values Survey (WVS) data. Using a simple evolutionary game approach, second we fuse endogenously derived individual socio-economic attribute changes with Prisoner’s Dilemma in an agent based model of the interactive political-cultural effects of heterogeneous, spatial intra-societal economic transactions. We then explore a new human development dynamics (HDD) model behavior via quasiglobal simulation methods to identify paths and pitfalls towards economic development, cultural plasticity, social and political change behavior. Results: Our preliminary results suggest strong nonlinear path dependence and complexity in three areas: adaptive development processes, co-evolutionary societal transactions and near equilibrium development trajectories, with significant implications for anticipating and managing positive development outcomes. Strong local epistatic interactions characterized by adaptive co-evolution, shape higher order global conditions and ultimately societal outcomes. Conclusions: Techno-social simulations such as this can provide scholars and policymakers alike insights into the nonlinear, complex adaptive effects of societal co-evolution. We believe complex adaptive or evolutionary systems approaches are necessary to understand both near and potentially catastrophic, far-from-equilibrium behavior and societal outcomes across all human scales of modernization

Power, concession and cooperation in freight distribution chains subject to distance-based user charges

Freight transport plays an important role within the functions of the road network, yet little is understood about the potential impacts of some travel demand management strategies on freight transport activity. This arises, in part, due to the interdependent nature of decision making within supply chains. To contribute to this shortcoming, this paper offers empirical results from a method designed to estimate attribute-specific measures of relative influence within decision making groups. A choice modelling framework is utilised to consider the relative concession decision makers are willing to make toward the preferences of other group members when attempting to reach group choice equilibrium. The estimated influence measures highlight the relative power each type of decision maker holds with respect to each attribute within the candidate alternatives from which to choose. The alternatives represent supply chain strategies for adjusting to a hypothetical distancebased road user charging system in Sydney, Australia. The measures can be utilised in subsequent transport distribution models to account for the impact each decision maker may have on the decisions made at the group (i.e., supply chain) level in response to a given policy. The results are also useful in gaining a greater normative understanding of the decision-making dynamics within transporter-shipper dyads

Human Development Dynamics: an Agent Based Simulation of Macro Social Systems and Individual Heterogeneous Evolutionary Games

This is the final version of the article. Available from Springer via the DOI in this record.Purpose In the context of modernization and development, a complex adaptive systems framework can help address the coupling of macro social constraint and opportunity with individual agency. Combining system dynamics and agent based modeling, we formalize a simulation approach of the Human Development (HD) perspective to explore the interactive effects of economics, culture, society and politics across multiple human scales. Methods Based on a system of asymmetric, coupled nonlinear equations, we first capture the core qualitative logic of HD theory, empirically validated from World Values Survey (WVS) data. Using a simple evolutionary game approach, second we fuse endogenously derived individual socio-economic attribute changes with Prisoner’s Dilemma in an agent based model of the interactive political-cultural effects of heterogeneous, spatial intra-societal economic transactions. We then explore a new human development dynamics (HDD) model behavior via quasi-global simulation methods to identify paths and pitfalls towards economic development, cultural plasticity, social and political change behavior. Results Our preliminary results suggest strong nonlinear path dependence and complexity in three areas: adaptive development processes, co-evolutionary societal transactions and near equilibrium development trajectories, with significant implications for anticipating and managing positive development outcomes. Strong local epistatic interactions characterized by adaptive co-evolution, shape higher order global conditions and ultimately societal outcomes. Conclusions Techno-social simulations such as this can provide scholars and policymakers alike insights into the nonlinear, complex adaptive effects of societal co-evolution. We believe complex adaptive or evolutionary systems approaches are necessary to understand both near and potentially catastrophic, far-from-equilibrium behavior and societal outcomes across all human scales of modernization

Space station advanced automation

In the development of a safe, productive and maintainable space station, Automation and Robotics (A and R) has been identified as an enabling technology which will allow efficient operation at a reasonable cost. The Space Station Freedom's (SSF) systems are very complex, and interdependent. The usage of Advanced Automation (AA) will help restructure, and integrate system status so that station and ground personnel can operate more efficiently. To use AA technology for the augmentation of system management functions requires a development model which consists of well defined phases of: evaluation, development, integration, and maintenance. The evaluation phase will consider system management functions against traditional solutions, implementation techniques and requirements; the end result of this phase should be a well developed concept along with a feasibility analysis. In the development phase the AA system will be developed in accordance with a traditional Life Cycle Model (LCM) modified for Knowledge Based System (KBS) applications. A way by which both knowledge bases and reasoning techniques can be reused to control costs is explained. During the integration phase the KBS software must be integrated with conventional software, and verified and validated. The Verification and Validation (V and V) techniques applicable to these KBS are based on the ideas of consistency, minimal competency, and graph theory. The maintenance phase will be aided by having well designed and documented KBS software

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING MEASUREMENT: INSTRUMENTATION AND CALIBRATION

In its Conceptual Framework (CF), the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has not identified the observable phenomena and was not able to identify a single measurement property in financial accounting. While identifying aspects of the observable phenomena in financial accounting, the FASB has indicated that there are five measurement attributes which are used in financial accounting and the result is a mixed-attributes model. Lacking a critical underlying theory, the FASB’s Conceptual Framework is feeble at best in providing guidance for accounting measurement. Devoid of the critical theory, the FASB focuses on prediction rather than explanation and, thereby, has adopted an ‘information perspective’ as opposed to a ‘measurement perspective’ for financial accounting standards. This condition has induced a very serious concern for legislative action on the part of the US Congress. In this paper, investments constitute the observable phenomena in financial accounting and recoverable cost, which is grounded in measurement and not prediction, is the measurement property. This measurement property, which is linked to investments and explicated by the capital budgeting model, provides the logical explanation of the apparent diverse rules in financial accounting and establishes a single attribute model.Conceptual framework; transaction costs; organizational activity; measurement attribute; present value; realizable value; lower of cost and market value; organizational efficiency; bank-centric financial system;

Anthropometry of Love - Height and Gender Asymmetries in Interethnic Marriages

Both in the UK and in the US, we observe puzzling gender asymmetries in the propensity to outmarry: Black men are more likely to have white spouses than Black women, but the opposite is true for Chinese: Chinese men are half less likely to be married to a White person than Chinese women. We argue that differences in height distributions, combined with a simple preference for a taller husband, can partly explain these ethnic-specific gender asymmetries. Blacks are taller than Asians, and we argue that this significantly affects their marriage prospects with whites. We provide empirical support for this hypothesis using data from the Millenium Cohort Study, which contains valuable and unique information on heights of married couples.intermarriage, gender, height

Distress in couples coping with cancer: A meta-analysis and critical review of role and gender effects

Research concerning distress in couples coping with cancer was integrated using meta-analysis and narrative critical appraisal. Individual levels of distress were determined more by gender than by the role of being the person with cancer versus that person's partner. That is, women reported consistently more distress than men regardless of their role (standardized mean difference = 0.31). The association between patient and partner distress within couples was only moderate (r = .29) but is sufficient to warrant further consideration of the notion that these couples react as an emotional system rather than as individuals. It is noteworthy that this association is not moderated by gender. With a general lack of comparison groups, the question of how much distress can be ascribed to the cancer experience cannot be answered decisively; elevations in distress are probably modest. We critically discuss these results, identify important unanswered questions, and indicate directions for future research. Attention needs to be directed toward factors other than cancer as direct influences of distress in these couples and to mediators and moderators of the cancer experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

ON FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING MEASUREMENT: A RECONSIDERATION OF SFAC 5 BY THE FASB IS NEEDED

This paper attempts to reinforce by means of social theory the procedure and property (attribute) of financial accounting measurement advanced by Salvary [1985,1989,1992]. The procedure entails estimating the amount of cash flows derivable from existing investment projects; and the measurement property (attribute) is identified as recoverable cost. The 'cash-in and cash-out' principle establishes financial capital maintenance as the appropriate capital maintenance concept to be followed in the measurement of periodic income. An analogy between a bank savings account and an equity security is used to identify the measurement property (attribute) and validate the additivity of financial accounting numbers. Problems with the monetarist model were used to demonstrate the appropriateness (stability) of the measurement scale (monetary unit). The logical analysis developed in this paper makes a compelling case for a reconsideration of Statement of Financial Accounting Concept No. 5 by the FASB.capital maintenance; 'cash-in and cash-out' principle; organizing of economic activities; cost efficient means of transacting; uncertain purchasing power; price mechanism; intertemporal transfer of risks; Replacement of non-monetary assets; a venture approach; intersavers' transfer of risks; storage of financial capital;savings account; effectiveness and efficiency in cash management; Hicksian consumption model.