Orchestrating global systems science and information technologies for policy modelling: The SYMPHONY approach

In our globalized world public policy making and society at large face challenges like climate change and financial crises that are global, shared worldwide and tightly connected with policies across different sectors. Solutions for addressing such highly interconnected challenges in a 'system of systems' world, tend to address only subsystems and so fail to achieve systemic change and anticipate impact and unintended consequences of public action. Pursuing the necessity of informing the policy decision process and proactively sensing possible problems concerning global matters we are proposing a novel computational platform called SYMPHONY that offers a solution for designing and testing policies and regulatory measures. Our aim is to offer policy modellers and policy makers tools that will support them to make decisions which will prevent and mitigate economic and financial crises as well as foster an economically and ecologically sustainable growth path

Phylogenetic insights into Andean plant diversification

<br/>Andean orogeny is considered as one of the most important events for the development<br/>of current plant diversity in South America. We compare available phylogenetic studies and<br/>divergence time estimates for plant lineages that may have diversified in response to Andean<br/>orogeny. The influence of the Andes on plant diversification is separated into four major groups:<br/>The Andes as source of new high-elevation habitats, as a vicariant barrier, as a North-South<br/>corridor and as generator of new environmental conditions outside the Andes. Biogeographical<br/>relationships between the Andes and other regions are also considered. Divergence time<br/>estimates indicate that high-elevation lineages originated and diversified during or after the major<br/>phases of Andean uplift (Mid-Miocene to Pliocene), although there are some exceptions. As<br/>expected, Andean mid-elevation lineages tend to be older than high-elevation groups. Most<br/>clades with disjunct distribution on both sides of the Andes diverged during Andean uplift.<br/>Inner-Andean clades also tend to have divergence time during or after Andean uplift. This is<br/>interpreted as evidence of vicariance. Dispersal along the Andes has been shown to occur in<br/>either direction, mostly dated after the Andean uplift. Divergence time estimates of plant groups<br/>outside the Andes encompass a wider range of ages, indicating that the Andes may not be<br/>necessarily the cause of these diversifications. The Andes are biogeographically related to all<br/>neighbouring areas, especially Central America, with floristic interchanges in both directions<br/>since Early Miocene times. Direct biogeographical relationships between the Andes and other<br/>disjunct regions have also been shown in phylogenetic studies, especially with the eastern<br/>Brazilian highlands and North America. The history of the Andean flora is complex and plant<br/>diversification has been driven by a variety of processes, including environmental change,<br/>adaptation, and biotic interactions<br/

Search for supersymmetric partners of electrons and muons in proton–proton collisions at s=13TeV

A search for direct production of the supersymmetric (SUSY) partners of electrons or muons is presented in final states with two opposite-charge, same-flavour leptons (electrons and muons), no jets, and large missing transverse momentum. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1 of proton–proton collisions at s=13TeV, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2016. The search uses the MT2 variable, which generalises the transverse mass for systems with two invisible objects and provides a discrimination against standard model backgrounds containing W bosons. The observed yields are consistent with the expectations from the standard model. The search is interpreted in the context of simplified SUSY models and probes slepton masses up to approximately 290, 400, and 450 GeV, assuming right-handed only, left-handed only, and both right- and left-handed sleptons (mass degenerate selectrons and smuons), and a massless lightest supersymmetric particle. Limits are also set on selectrons and smuons separately. These limits show an improvement on the existing limits of approximately 150 GeV.0info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe