Some resonances between Eastern thought and Integral Biomathics in the framework of the WLIMES formalism for modelling living systems

Forty-two years ago, Capra published “The Tao of Physics” (Capra, 1975). In this book (page 17) he writes: “The exploration of the atomic and subatomic world in the twentieth century has …. necessitated a radical revision of many of our basic concepts” and that, unlike ‘classical’ physics, the sub-atomic and quantum “modern physics” shows resonances with Eastern thoughts and “leads us to a view of the world which is very similar to the views held by mystics of all ages and traditions.“ This article stresses an analogous situation in biology with respect to a new theoretical approach for studying living systems, Integral Biomathics (IB), which also exhibits some resonances with Eastern thought. Stepping on earlier research in cybernetics1 and theoretical biology,2 IB has been developed since 2011 by over 100 scientists from a number of disciplines who have been exploring a substantial set of theoretical frameworks. From that effort, the need for a robust core model utilizing advanced mathematics and computation adequate for understanding the behavior of organisms as dynamic wholes was identified. At this end, the authors of this article have proposed WLIMES (Ehresmann and Simeonov, 2012), a formal theory for modeling living systems integrating both the Memory Evolutive Systems (Ehresmann and Vanbremeersch, 2007) and the Wandering Logic Intelligence (Simeonov, 2002b). Its principles will be recalled here with respect to their resonances to Eastern thought

Launch of the initiative Enhancing National Climate Services (ENACTS) in Mali Bamako, Mali, November 3rd 2016

The amount and quality of station climate data has been declining all over Africa. Despite a noteworthy legacy in the provision of agro-meteorological extension to farmers (Mason, 2015; Dinku, 2016) , the large landlocked country of Mali is no exception: there, a security crisis in the northern half of the country since 2012 has further aggravated the provision of data from an already sparse weather station network. This greatly hinders local decision-making processes that may benefit from the use of climate data, and affects the ability of vulnerable communities to sustain their resilience capacity in a changing environment characterized by population growth, increasing externalization of risk and expected rise in the frequency of extreme events. Restoring the availability and accessibility of quality climate data over space and time is the aim of the ENACTS (Enhancing National Climate Services) initiative, promoted by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI, at Columbia University). On November 3, 2016, ICRISAT, Mali-Meteo and IRI launched the ENACTS initiative in Mali during a national workshop to i) introduce stakeholders to Mali Meteo’s new data and web interface (Mali Meteo Data Library) and; ii) solicit feedbacks and recommendations from the national community of users. This workshop was a result of collaboration between the CCAFS-funded CASCAID project (Capacitating African Smallholder with Climate Services and Insurance Development) led by ICRISAT and ICRAF, and the USAID-funded project Building Mali Meteo’s Capacity to Deliver Improved Climate Services, led by IRI. During the workshop, participants showed high interest in the new tools and requested additional capacitation through a dedicated follow-up event targeting sectorial applications of the data library and maprooms

Blueprint for Planning a Successful Program

Discusses program planning for librarians whose experience in this area is limited. How to plan and coordinate the program; Dealing with details; What to do on the day of the event; Ways to follow up; The program packet and what to include

Measurement matters: Higher waist-to-hip ratio but not body mass index is associated with deficits in executive functions and episodic memory

Background The current study aimed to reconcile the inconsistent findings between obesity, executive functions, and episodic memory by addressing major limitations of previous studies, including overreliance on body mass index (BMI), small sample sizes, and failure to control for confounds. Methods Participants consisted of 3,712 midlife adults from the Cognitive Project of the National Survey of Midlife Development. Executive functions and episodic memory were measured by a battery of cognitive function tests. Results We found that higher waist-to-hip ratio was associated with deficits in both executive functions and episodic memory, above and beyond the influence of demographics, comorbid health issues, health behaviors, personality traits, and self-perceived obesity. However, higher BMI was not associated with deficits in executive functions and episodic memory. More importantly, these differential associations were robust and stable across adulthood. Discussion Our findings confirm the association between obesity and episodic memory while highlighting the need for better measures of obesity when examining its associations with individual differences in cognitive functions

The discovery and comparative expression analysis of three distinct type I interferons in the perciform fish, meagre (Argyrosomus regius)

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration (KBBE-2013-07 single stage, GA 603121, DIVERSIFY.Peer reviewedPostprintPostprin