Complexity Heliophysics: A lived and living history of systems and complexity science in Heliophysics

In this piece we study complexity science in the context of Heliophysics, describing it not as a discipline, but as a paradigm. In the context of Heliophysics, complexity science is the study of a star, interplanetary environment, magnetosphere, upper and terrestrial atmospheres, and planetary surface as interacting subsystems. Complexity science studies entities in a system (e.g., electrons in an atom, planets in a solar system, individuals in a society) and their interactions, and is the nature of what emerges from these interactions. It is a paradigm that employs systems approaches and is inherently multi- and cross-scale. Heliophysics processes span at least 15 orders of magnitude in space and another 15 in time, and its reaches go well beyond our own solar system and Earth's space environment to touch planetary, exoplanetary, and astrophysical domains. It is an uncommon domain within which to explore complexity science. After first outlining the dimensions of complexity science, the review proceeds in three epochal parts: 1) A pivotal year in the Complexity Heliophysics paradigm: 1996; 2) The transitional years that established foundations of the paradigm (1996-2010); and 3) The emergent literature largely beyond 2010. This review article excavates the lived and living history of complexity science in Heliophysics. The intention is to provide inspiration, help researchers think more coherently about ideas of complexity science in Heliophysics, and guide future research. It will be instructive to Heliophysics researchers, but also to any reader interested in or hoping to advance the frontier of systems and complexity science

The Archaeology and Materiality of Mission in Southern Africa: Introduction

The period since the late 1980s has yielded a vast body of multidisciplinary literature on mission in southern Africa. Archaeology’s contribution to this scholarship, however, has been relatively muted. In introducing this special issue on the archaeology and materiality of mission, we seek to add archaeological voices to this conversation, illustrating where contributors offer novel sources, research themes, and ways of considering encounters with Christianity. Far from simply adding material to fill the gaps left in the historical record, we argue that archaeological perspectives are well-positioned to explore ruptures and continuities through time, the tensions between peoples’ imaginations and lived realities, and how Christianity may not always have been ‘believed’ but was always materialised. Our hope is to spur a more interdisciplinary dialogue that focuses on the intellectual trajectories that archaeologists of mission pursue as much as on the objects that they find

Linked Autonomous Interplanetary Satellite Orbit Navigation

A navigation technology known as LiAISON (Linked Autonomous Interplanetary Satellite Orbit Navigation) has been known to produce very impressive navigation results for scenarios involving two or more cooperative satellites near the Moon, such that at least one satellite must be in an orbit significantly perturbed by the Earth, such as a lunar halo orbit. The two (or more) satellites track each other using satellite-to-satellite range and/or range-rate measurements. These relative measurements yield absolute orbit navigation when one of the satellites is in a lunar halo orbit, or the like. The geometry between a lunar halo orbiter and a GEO satellite continuously changes, which dramatically improves the information content of a satellite-to-satellite tracking signal. The geometrical variations include significant out-of-plane shifts, as well as inplane shifts. Further, the GEO satellite is almost continuously in view of a lunar halo orbiter. High-fidelity simulations demonstrate that LiAISON technology improves the navigation of GEO orbiters by an order of magnitude, relative to standard ground tracking. If a GEO satellite is navigated using LiAISON- only tracking measurements, its position is typically known to better than 10 meters. If LiAISON measurements are combined with simple radiometric ground observations, then the satellite s position is typically known to better than 3 meters, which is substantially better than the current state of GEO navigation. There are two features of LiAISON that are novel and advantageous compared with conventional satellite navigation. First, ordinary satellite-to-satellite tracking data only provides relative navigation of each satellite. The novelty is the placement of one navigation satellite in an orbit that is significantly perturbed by both the Earth and the Moon. A navigation satellite can track other satellites elsewhere in the Earth-Moon system and acquire knowledge about both satellites absolute positions and velocities, as well as relative positions and velocities in space. The second novelty is that ordinarily one requires many satellites in order to achieve full navigation of any given customer s position and velocity over time. With LiAISON navigation, only a single navigation satellite is needed, provided that the satellite is significantly affected by the gravity of the Earth and the Moon. That single satellite can track another satellite elsewhere in the Earth- Moon system and obtain absolute knowledge of both satellites states

Heliophysics Discovery Tools for the 21st Century: Data Science and Machine Learning Structures and Recommendations for 2020-2050

Three main points: 1. Data Science (DS) will be increasingly important to heliophysics; 2. Methods of heliophysics science discovery will continually evolve, requiring the use of learning technologies [e.g., machine learning (ML)] that are applied rigorously and that are capable of supporting discovery; and 3. To grow with the pace of data, technology, and workforce changes, heliophysics requires a new approach to the representation of knowledge.Comment: 4 pages; Heliophysics 2050 White Pape

Cultivating a Culture of Inclusivity in Heliophysics

A large number of heliophysicists from across career levels, institution types, and job titles came together to support a poster at Heliophysics 2050 and the position papers for the 2024 Heliophysics decadal survey titled “Cultivating a Culture of Inclusivity in Heliophysics,” “The Importance of Policies: It’s not just a pipeline problem,” and “Mentorship within Heliophysics.” While writing these position papers, the number of people who privately shared disturbing stories and experiences of bullying and harassment was shocking. The number of people who privately expressed how burned out they were was staggering. The number of people who privately spoke about how they considered leaving the field for their and their family’s health was astounding. And for as much good there is in our community, it is still a toxic environment for many. If we fail to do something now, our field will continue to suffer. While acknowledging the ongoing growth that we as individuals must work toward, we call on our colleagues to join us in working on organizational, group, and personal levels toward a truly inclusive culture, for the wellbeing of our colleagues and the success of our field. This work includes policies, processes, and commitments to promote: accountability for bad actors; financial security through removing the constant anxiety about funding; prioritization of mental health and community through removing constant deadlines and constant last-minute requests; a collaborative culture rather than a hyper-competitive one; and a community where people can thrive as whole persons and do not have to give up a healthy or well-rounded life to succeed

Cultivating a culture of inclusivity in heliophysics

A large number of heliophysicists from across career levels, institution types, and job titles came together to support a poster at Heliophysics 2050 and the position papers for the 2024 Heliophysics decadal survey titled “Cultivating a Culture of Inclusivity in Heliophysics,” “The Importance of Policies: It’s not just a pipeline problem,” and “Mentorship within Heliophysics.” While writing these position papers, the number of people who privately shared disturbing stories and experiences of bullying and harassment was shocking. The number of people who privately expressed how burned out they were was staggering. The number of people who privately spoke about how they considered leaving the field for their and their family’s health was astounding. And for as much good there is in our community, it is still a toxic environment for many. If we fail to do something now, our field will continue to suffer. While acknowledging the ongoing growth that we as individuals must work toward, we call on our colleagues to join us in working on organizational, group, and personal levels toward a truly inclusive culture, for the wellbeing of our colleagues and the success of our field. This work includes policies, processes, and commitments to promote: accountability for bad actors; financial security through removing the constant anxiety about funding; prioritization of mental health and community through removing constant deadlines and constant last-minute requests; a collaborative culture rather than a hyper-competitive one; and a community where people can thrive as whole persons and do not have to give up a healthy or well-rounded life to succeed

Evaluating the potential for the environmentally sustainable control of foot and mouth disease in Sub-Saharan Africa

Strategies to control transboundary diseases have in the past generated unintended negative consequences for both the environment and local human populations. Integrating perspectives from across disciplines, including livestock, veterinary and conservation sectors, is necessary for identifying disease control strategies that optimise environmental goods and services at the wildlife-livestock interface. Prompted by the recent development of a global strategy for the control and elimination of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), this paper seeks insight into the consequences of, and rational options for potential FMD control measures in relation to environmental, conservation and human poverty considerations in Africa. We suggest a more environmentally nuanced process of FMD control that safe-guards the integrity of wild populations and the ecosystem dynamics on which human livelihoods depend while simultaneously improving socio-economic conditions of rural people. In particular, we outline five major issues that need to be considered: 1) improved understanding of the different FMD viral strains and how they circulate between domestic and wildlife populations; 2) an appreciation for the economic value of wildlife for many African countries whose presence might preclude the country from ever achieving an FMD-free status; 3) exploring ways in which livestock production can be improved without compromising wildlife such as implementing commodity-based trading schemes; 4) introducing a participatory approach involving local farmers and the national veterinary services in the control of FMD; and 5) finally the possibility that transfrontier conservation might offer new hope of integrating decision-making at the wildlife-livestock interface

Integrated system for traction and battery charging of electric vehicles with universal interface to the power grid

This paper proposes an integrated system for traction and battery charging of electric vehicles (EVs) with universal interface to the power grid. In the proposed system, the power electronics converters comprising the traction drive system are also used for the battery charging system, reducing the required hardware, meaning the integrated characteristic of the system. Besides, this interface is universal, since it can be performed with the three main types of power grids, namely: (1) Single-phase AC power grids; (2) Three-phase AC power grids; (3) DC power grids. In these three types of interfaces with the power grid, as well as in the traction drive operation mode, bidirectional operation is possible, framing the integration of this system into an EV in the context of smart grids. Moreover, the proposed system endows an EV with an on-board fast battery charger, whose operation allows either fast or slow battery charging. The main contributes of the proposed system are detailed in the paper, and simulation results are presented in order to attain the feasibility of the proposed system.This work has been supported by COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043 and FCT -Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2013. This work has been supported by FCT within the Project Scope DAIPESEV - Development of Advanced Integrated Power Electronic Systems for Electric Vehicles: PTDC/EEI-EEE/30382/2017. Mr. Tiago Sousa is supported by the doctoral scholarship SFRH/BD/134353/2017 granted by the Portuguese FCT agency. This work is part of the FCT project 0302836 NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-030283

Lipid metabolite biomarkers in cardiovascular disease: discovery and biomechanism translation from human studies

Lipids represent a valuable target for metabolomic studies since altered lipid metabolism is known to drive the pathological changes in cardiovascular disease (CVD). Metabolomic technologies give us the ability to measure thousands of metabolites providing us with a metabolic fingerprint of individual patients. Metabolomic studies in humans have supported previous findings into the pathomechanisms of CVD, namely atherosclerosis, apoptosis, inflammation, oxidative stress, and insulin resistance. The most widely studied classes of lipid metabolite biomarkers in CVD are phospholipids, sphingolipids/ceramides, glycolipids, cholesterol esters, fatty acids, and acylcarnitines. Technological advancements have enabled novel strategies to discover individual biomarkers or panels that may aid in the diagnosis and prognosis of CVD, with sphingolipids/ceramides as the most promising class of biomarkers thus far. In this review, application of metabolomic profiling for biomarker discovery to aid in the diagnosis and prognosis of CVD as well as metabolic abnormalities in CVD will be discussed with particular emphasis on lipid metabolites