The communication of meaning in social systems

The sociological domain is different from the psychological one insofar as meaning can be communicated at the supra-individual level (Schutz, 1932; Luhmann, 1984). The computation of anticipatory systems enables us to distinguish between these domains in terms of weakly and strongly anticipatory systems with a structural coupling between them (Maturana, 1978). Anticipatory systems have been defined as systems which entertain models of themselves (Rosen, 1985). The model provides meaning to the modeled system from the perspective of hindsight, that is, by advancing along the time axis towards possible future states. Strongly anticipatory systems construct their own future states (Dubois, 1998a and b). The dynamics of weak and strong anticipations can be simulated as incursion and hyper-incursion, respectively. Hyper-incursion generates "horizons of meaning" (Husserl, 1929) among which choices have to be made by incursive agency

Cosmic-ray transport in the galactic magnetosphere

It is advantageous to regard cosmic rays as the constitutent particles of the Galactic radiation belts and cosmic ray energization as a consequence of inward radial diffusion in the quasi-dipolar Galactic magnetosphere. This process occurs in addition to Fermi acceleration. The purpose of this work is to explore a magnetospheric explanation for the elevation of Galactic charged particles to cosmic ray energies. The magnetosphere that is of interest in this context is not a planetary magnetosphere but a galactic magnetosphere entirely analogous to those inferred from radio observations of distant galaxies. It is the magnetosphere of the Milky Way. Cosmic rays are (by this interpretation) the charged particles that constitute the radiation belts of the Galactic magnetosphere. Thus, the mechanism by which charged particles attain cosmic-ray energies is presumable the mechanism by which radiation-belt particles attain high energies in more familiar magnetosphere, i.e., the radial diffusion associated with magnetic disturbances that contain spectral power resonant with the azimuthal drift of the particles

Expenditure on Environmentally Sensitive Goods and Services: Household Spending in Europe

Expenditure on environmentally sensitive goods and services has been analysed for the member states of the EEC, using the EUROSTAT Family Budgets data based on surveys carried out in 1988. Some data are also available from Germany, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. The groups with low average expenditures spend a higher proportion of their budget on energy than those with high expenditures, but a lower proportion on transport, especially vehicle purchases. However, all groups spend a much higher proportion of expenditure on transport than on energy, although purchased (i.e. non-private motoring and public) transport is a small proportion of transport spending, even for low expenditure groups. Pensioners spend a relatively high proportion of their budgets on package tours, especially compared to the other 'at risk' groups

Trust, regulatory processes and NICE decision-making: Appraising cost-effectiveness models through appraising people and systems.

This article presents an ethnographic study of regulatory decision-making regarding the cost-effectiveness of expensive medicines at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in England. We explored trust as one important mechanism by which problems of complexity and uncertainty were resolved. Existing studies note the salience of trust for regulatory decisions, by which the appraisal of people becomes a proxy for appraising technologies themselves. Although such (dis)trust in manufacturers was one important influence, we describe a more intricate web of (dis)trust relations also involving various expert advisors, fellow committee members and committee Chairs. Within these complex chains of relations, we found examples of both more blind-acquiescent and more critical-investigative forms of trust as well as, at times, pronounced distrust. Difficulties in overcoming uncertainty through other means obliged trust in some contexts, although not in others. (Dis)trust was constructed through inferences involving abstract systems alongside actors’ oral and written presentations-of-self. Systemic features and ‘forced options’ to trust indicate potential insidious processes of regulatory capture

Weak, Quiet Magnetic Fields Seen in the Venus Atmosphere.

The existence of a strong internal magnetic field allows probing of the interior through both long term changes of and short period fluctuations in that magnetic field. Venus, while Earth's twin in many ways, lacks such a strong intrinsic magnetic field, but perhaps short period fluctuations can still be used to probe the electrical conductivity of the interior. Toward the end of the Venus Express mission, an aerobraking campaign took the spacecraft below the ionosphere into the very weakly electrically conducting atmosphere. As the spacecraft descended from 150 to 140 km altitude, the magnetic field became weaker on average and less noisy. Below 140 km, the median field strength became steady but the short period fluctuations continued to weaken. The weakness of the fluctuations indicates they might not be useful for electromagnetic sounding of the atmosphere from a high altitude platform such as a plane or balloon, but possibly could be attempted on a lander

Propagation of the 2012 March Coronal Mass Ejections from the Sun to Heliopause

In 2012 March the Sun exhibited extraordinary activities. In particular, the active region NOAA AR 11429 emitted a series of large coronal mass ejections (CMEs) which were imaged by STEREO as it rotated with the Sun from the east to west. These sustained eruptions are expected to generate a global shell of disturbed material sweeping through the heliosphere. A cluster of shocks and interplanetary CMEs (ICMEs) were observed near the Earth, and are propagated outward from 1 AU using an MHD model. The transient streams interact with each other, which erases memory of the source and results in a large merged interaction region (MIR) with a preceding shock. The MHD model predicts that the shock and MIR would reach 120 AU around 2013 April 22, which agrees well with the period of radio emissions and the time of a transient disturbance in galactic cosmic rays detected by Voyager 1. These results are important for understanding the "fate" of CMEs in the outer heliosphere and provide confidence that the heliopause is located around 120 AU from the Sun.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter