Orchestrating Without Partiture

Crisis in and around Ukraine is becoming the first show-case in multilateral diplomacy, where Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) and other technologies are deployed to produce information for the diplomatic processes of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)and to public at the same time. This has taken place in a very rapid manner without time for descent planning and through learning by doing before and in the middle of the start and development of the crisis special monitoring mission based on the consensus of 57 member states. \ This paper approaches these multi-lateral diplomacy scenes by looking at the work done through two disciplines which “orchestrate”; Social Science and Information Systems. Abbot et al. orchestration theory application into OSCE and to its “Ukraine toolbox” needs more research, in which e.g. IS literature´s socio-technical modeling methods will be helpful in order to bridge recognized gaps from practice and literature. \ Information system researchers and developers are needed in more active roles as intermediaries to complement existing principal-agent e.g. OSCE-RPAS and other ICT vendor relationships. More theoretical and empirical research is needed to make the IGOs’ orchestration to meet what ICT can offer for future crisis diplomacy. \ Keywords: Inter-governmental Organizations (IGOs), orchestration theory, Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS), multilateral diplomacy, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), information system development, Ukraine Special Monitoring Mission (SMM)

Insider apology for microeconomic theorising?

This comment on 'Economic theories and their Dueling interpretations' questions the descriptive adequacy of the ‘sociology of economics' proposed by Gilboa, Postlewaite, Samuelson, and Schmeidler (GPSS) (2022). We ask whether economists still perceive the role of microeconomic theory as central as do GPSS. In particular, is present-day economics unified by the principles of maximising, subject to constraints and equilibrium analysis? We argue that this is not the case. GPSS’ appeal to the interpretative flexibility of economic theories appears apologetic, especially the suggestion that theories and models, which once were considered positive descriptions or predictive instruments, are now cast as analytical or methodological exercises. We conclude on a more constructive note, drawing from the recent philosophical discussion of modelling which, quite paradoxically, grants highly idealized and simplified models a more important role than GPSS appear to allow

Deidealization: No Easy Reversals

Deidealization as a topic in its own right has attracted remarkably little philosophical interest despite the extensive literature on idealization. One reason for this is the often implicit assumption that idealization and deidealization are, potentially at least, reversible processes. We question this assumption by analyzing the challenges of deidealization within a menu of four broad categories: deidealizing as recomposing, deidealizing as reformulating, deidealizing as concretizing, and deidealizing as situating. On closer inspection, models turn out much more inflexible than the reversal thesis would have us believe, and deidealization emerges as a creative part of modeling

Vacuum energy: quantum hydrodynamics vs quantum gravity

We compare quantum hydrodynamics and quantum gravity. They share many common features. In particular, both have quadratic divergences, and both lead to the problem of the vacuum energy, which in the quantum gravity transforms to the cosmological constant problem. We show that in quantum liquids the vacuum energy density is not determined by the quantum zero-point energy of the phonon modes. The energy density of the vacuum is much smaller and is determined by the classical macroscopic parameters of the liquid including the radius of the liquid droplet. In the same manner the cosmological constant is not determined by the zero-point energy of quantum fields. It is much smaller and is determined by the classical macroscopic parameters of the Universe dynamics: the Hubble radius, the Newton constant and the energy density of matter. The same may hold for the Higgs mass problem: the quadratically divergent quantum correction to the Higgs potential mass term is also cancelled by the microscopic (trans-Planckian) degrees of freedom due to thermodynamic stability of the whole quantum vacuum.Comment: 14 pages, no figures, added section on the problem of Higgs mass, version accepted for the special issue of JETP Letter

Observation of Apparently Zero-Conductance States in Corbino Samples

Using Corbino samples we have observed oscillatory conductance in a high-mobility two-dimensional electron system subjected to crossed microwave and magnetic fields. On the strongest of the oscillation minima the conductance is found to be vanishingly small, possibly indicating an insulating state associated with these minima.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, RevTex

Protocol to utilize fresh uncultured human lung tumor cells for personalized functional diagnostics

Peer reviewe

Functional diagnostics using fresh uncultured lung tumor cells to guide personalized treatments

Functional profiling of a cancer patient's tumor cells holds potential to tailor personalized cancer treatment. Here, we report the utility of fresh uncultured tumor-derived EpCAM(+) epithelial cells (FUTCs) for ex vivo drug response interrogation. Analysis of murine Kras mutant FUTCs demonstrates pharmacological and adaptive signaling profiles comparable to subtype-matched cultured cells. By applying FUTC profiling on non-small cell lung cancer patient samples, we report robust drug-response data in 19 of 20 cases, with cells exhibiting targeted drug sensitivities corresponding to their oncogenic drivers. In one of these cases, an EGFR mutant lung adenocarcinoma patient refractory to osimertinib, FUTC profiling is used to guide compassionate treatment. FUTC profiling identifies selective sensitivity to disulfiram and the combination of carboplatin plus etoposide, and the patient receives substantial clinical benefit from treatment with these agents. We conclude that FUTC profiling provides a robust, rapid, and actionable assessment of personalized cancer treatment options.Peer reviewe

Stop Making Sense(s) : Some late medieval and very late medieval views on faculty psychology

Peer reviewe

Nonlinear effects in microwave photoconductivity of two-dimensional electron systems

We present a model for microwave photoconductivity of two-dimensional electron systems in a magnetic field which describes the effects of strong microwave and steady-state electric fields. Using this model, we derive an analytical formula for the photoconductivity associated with photon- and multi-photon-assisted impurity scattering as a function of the frequency and power of microwave radiation. According to the developed model, the microwave conductivity is an oscillatory function of the frequency of microwave radiation and the cyclotron frequency which turns zero at the cyclotron resonance and its harmonics. It exhibits maxima and minima (with absolute negative conductivity) at the microwave frequencies somewhat different from the resonant frequencies. The calculated power dependence of the amplitude of the microwave photoconductivity oscillations exhibits pronounced sublinear behavior similar to a logarithmic function. The height of the microwave photoconductivity maxima and the depth of its minima are nonmonotonic functions of the electric field. It is pointed to the possibility of a strong widening of the maxima and minima due to a strong sensitivity of their parameters on the electric field and the presence of strong long-range electric-field fluctuations. The obtained dependences are consistent with the results of the experimental observations.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures Labeling of the curves in Fig.3 correcte

A System for Information Management in BioMedical Studies—SIMBioMS

Summary: SIMBioMS is a web-based open source software system for managing data and information in biomedical studies. It provides a solution for the collection, storage, management and retrieval of information about research subjects and biomedical samples, as well as experimental data obtained using a range of high-throughput technologies, including gene expression, genotyping, proteomics and metabonomics. The system can easily be customized and has proven to be successful in several large-scale multi-site collaborative projects. It is compatible with emerging functional genomics data standards and provides data import and export in accepted standard formats. Protocols for transferring data to durable archives at the European Bioinformatics Institute have been implemented