Introduction to Complex Systems, Sustainability and Innovation

The technological innovations have always proved the impossible possible. Humans have all the time obliterated barriers and set records with astounding regularity. However, there are issues springing up in terms of complexity and sustainability in this context, which we were ignoring for long. Today, in every walk of life, we encounter complex systems, whether it is the Internet, communication systems, electrical power grids, or the financial markets. Due to its unpredictable behavior, any creative change in a complex system poses a threat of systemic risks. This is because an innovation is always introducing something new, introducing a change, possibly to solve an existing problem, the effect of which is nonlinear. Failure to predict the future states of the system due to the nonlinear nature makes any system unsustainable. This necessitates the need for any development to be sustainable by meeting the needs of people today without destroying the potential of future generations to meet their needs. This chapter, which studies systems that are complex due to intricateness in their connectivity, gives insights into their ways of emergence and the nonlinear cause and effects pattern the complex systems use to follow, effectively paving way for sustainable innovation

Galactic cosmic rays in the heliosphere

Simon R Thomas, Mathew J Owens and Mike Lockwood discuss how neutron monitor counts can help map space weather. This won the 2014 Rishbeth Prize for the best student talk at the Hot Spring MIST Meeting in Bath, April 2014

Galactic Archaeology with TESS: Prospects for Testing the Star Formation History in the Solar Neighbourhood

A period of quenching between the formation of the thick and thin disks of the Milky Way has been recently proposed to explain the observed age-[{\alpha}/Fe] distribution of stars in the solar neighbourhood. However, robust constraints on stellar ages are currently available for only a limited number of stars. The all-sky survey TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) will observe the brightest stars in the sky and thus can be used to investigate the age distributions of stars in these components of the Galaxy via asteroseismology, where previously this has been difficult using other techniques. The aim of this preliminary study was to determine whether TESS will be able to provide evidence for quenching periods during the star formation history of the Milky Way. Using a population synthesis code, we produced populations based on various stellar formation history models and limited the analysis to red-giant-branch stars. We investigated the mass-Galactic-disk-height distributions, where stellar mass was used as an age proxy, to test for whether periods of quenching can be observed by TESS. We found that even with the addition of 15% noise to the inferred masses, it will be possible for TESS to find evidence for/against quenching periods suggested in the literature (e.g. between 7 and 9 Gyr ago), therefore providing stringent constraints on the formation and evolution of the Milky Way.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, proceedings of "Seismology of the Sun and the Distant Stars 2016", Mario J. P. F. G. Monteiro, Margarida S. Cunha, Joao Miguel T. Ferreira editor

Multidimensional Tests of Thermal Protection Materials in the Arcjet Test Facility

Many thermal protection system materials used for spacecraft heatshields have anisotropic thermal properties, causing them to display significantly different thermal characteristics in different directions, when subjected to a heating environment during flight or arcjet tests. This paper investigates the effects of sidewall heating coupled with anisotropic thermal properties of thermal protection materials in the arcjet environment. Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) and LI-2200 materials (the insulation material of Shuttle tiles) were used for this study. First, conduction-based thermal response simulations were carried out, using the Marc.Mentat finite element solver, to study the effects of sidewall heating on PICA arcjet coupons. The simulation showed that sidewall heating plays a significant role in thermal response of these models. Arcjet tests at the Aerodynamic Heating Facility (AHF) at NASA Ames Research Center were performed later on instrumented coupons to obtain temperature history at sidewall and various radial locations. The details of instrumentation and experimental technique are the prime focus of this paper. The results obtained from testing confirmed that sidewall heating plays a significant role in thermal response of these models. The test results were later used to verify the two-dimensional ablation, thermal response, and sizing program, TITAN. The test data and model predictions were found to be in excellent agreemen

Loss of intranetwork and internetwork resting state functional connections with Alzheimer\u27s disease progression

Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia. Much is known concerning AD pathophysiology but our understanding of the disease at the systems level remains incomplete. Previous AD research has used resting-state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fcMRI) to assess the integrity of functional networks within the brain. Most studies have focused on the default-mode network (DMN), a primary locus of AD pathology. However, other brain regions are inevitably affected with disease progression. We studied rs-fcMRI in five functionally defined brain networks within a large cohort of human participants of either gender (n = 510) that ranged in AD severity from unaffected [clinical dementia rating (CDR) 0] to very mild (CDR 0.5) to mild (CDR 1). We observed loss of correlations within not only the DMN but other networks at CDR 0.5. Within the salience network (SAL), increases were seen between CDR 0 and CDR 0.5. However, at CDR 1, all networks, including SAL, exhibited reduced correlations. Specific networks were preferentially affected at certain CDR stages. In addition, cross-network relations were consistently lost with increasing AD severity. Our results demonstrate that AD is associated with widespread loss of both intranetwork and internetwork correlations. These results provide insight into AD pathophysiology and reinforce an integrative view of the brain\u27s functional organization

Cyclotriveratrylenes: Synthesis of a new C3-symmetric chiral amino alcohols

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Volumetric growth rates of meningioma and its correlation with histological diagnosis and clinical outcome: a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: Tumour growth has been used to successfully predict progression-free survival in low-grade glioma. This systematic review sought to establish the evidence base regarding the correlation of volumetric growth rates with histological diagnosis and potential to predict clinical outcome in patients with meningioma. METHODS: This systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. Databases were searched for full text English articles analysing volumetric growth rates in patients with a meningioma. RESULTS: Four retrospective cohort studies were accepted, demonstrating limited evidence of significantly different tumour doubling rates and shapes of growth curves between benign and atypical meningiomas. Heterogeneity of patient characteristics and timing of volumetric assessment, both pre- and post-operatively, limited pooled analysis of the data. No studies performed statistical analysis to demonstrate the clinical utility of growth rates in predicting clinical outcome. CONCLUSION: This systematic review provides limited evidence in support of the use of volumetric growth rates in meningioma to predict histological diagnosis and clinical outcome to guide future monitoring and treatment

Surface μ Heavy Chain Signals Down-Regulation of the V(D)J-Recombinase Machinery in the Absence of Surrogate Light Chain Components

Early B cell development is characterized by stepwise, ordered rearrangement of the immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy (HC) and light (LC) chain genes. Only one of the two alleles of these genes is used to produce a receptor, a phenomenon referred to as allelic exclusion. It has been suggested that pre–B cell receptor (pre-BCR) signals are responsible for down-regulation of the VDJH-recombinase machinery (Rag1, Rag2, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase [TdT]), thereby preventing further rearrangement on the second HC allele. Using a mouse model, we show that expression of an inducible μHC transgene in Rag2−/− pro–B cells induces down-regulation of the following: (a) TdT protein, (b) a transgenic green fluorescent protein reporter reflecting endogenous Rag2 expression, and (c) Rag1 primary transcripts. Similar effects were also observed in the absence of surrogate LC (SLC) components, but not in the absence of the signaling subunit Ig-α. Furthermore, in wild-type mice and in mice lacking either λ5, VpreB1/2, or the entire SLC, the TdT protein is down-regulated in μHC+LC− pre–B cells. Surprisingly, μHC without LC is expressed on the surface of pro–/pre–B cells from λ5−/−, VpreB1−/−VpreB2−/−, and SLC−/− mice. Thus, SLC or LC is not required for μHC cell surface expression and signaling in these cells. Therefore, these findings offer an explanation for the occurrence of HC allelic exclusion in mice lacking SLC components