Bacterial diseases are a constant threat to crop production globally. Current management strategies rely on an array of tactics, including improved cultural practices; application of bactericides, ...plant activators, and biocontrol agents; and use of resistant varieties when available. However, effective management remains a challenge, as the longevity of deployed tactics is threatened by constantly changing bacterial populations. Increased scrutiny of the impact of pesticides on human and environmental health underscores the need for alternative solutions that are durable, sustainable, accessible to farmers, and environmentally friendly. In this review, we discuss the strengths and shortcomings of existing practices and dissect recent advances that may shape the future of bacterial disease management. We conclude that disease resistance through genome modification may be the most effective arsenal against bacterial diseases. Nonetheless, more research is necessary for developing novel bacterial disease management tactics to meet the food demand of a growing global population.
Key challenges for Indonesia to 2050 are to reduce its dependency on fossil-based fuels and to decarbonize its energy system. This article adopts a systems approach to investigate future pathways, ...positing a shift from oil combustion to electricity to energize cooking stoves and vehicles. Today, electricity is predominantly generated using gas and coal. The cost-competitiveness of renewables is central to any sectoral adjustment in the nation's total primary energy supply (TPES). To study variables within the energy system, causal loop diagrams (CLDs) are constructed acknowledging three underlying elements: constraints (the energy trilemma); resource availability, oriented to physical elements and human resources (stakeholders); and the mode of regulation. Indonesia's energy market is characterized by state enterprise and price subsidies to retail consumers. We analyze the capability of private companies to drive competition among providers of renewable energy and facilitate more competitive pricing. Our results suggest that, irrespective of the composition of the TPES over the next 30 years, fossil sources will remain significant, necessitating carbon capture storage (CCS) technology as a complement to renewable energy promotion.
•Fossil energy will remain dominant in the Indonesian economy in 2050.•Renewables could, however, substitute for gas and coal, meeting an expanded demand for electricity.•A market-led system could be required to accelerate acceptance of renewables.•An emerging need for carbon capture and storage to cope with emissions from fossil-based power plant and industry.
The systems approach, or systems thinking, has been intimately connected with the development of OR and management science initially through the work of founders such as Churchman and Ackoff and ...latterly through innovations such as soft systems. In this paper we have undertaken a review of the contribution that systems thinking has been making more recently, especially to the practice of OR. Systems thinking is a discipline in its own right, with many theoretical and methodological developments, but it is also applicable to almost any problem area because of its generality, and so such a review must always be selective. We have looked at the literature from both a theoretical and an applications orientation. In the first part we consider the main systems theories and methodologies in terms of their recent developments and also their applications. This covers: the systems approach, complexity theory, cybernetics, system dynamics, soft OR and PSMs, critical systems and multimethodology. In the second part we review the main domains of application: strategy, information systems, organisations, production and operations, ecology and agriculture, and medicine and health. Our overall conclusion is that while systems may not be well established institutionally, in terms of academic departments, it is incredibly healthy in terms of the quantity and variety of its applications.
Social relationships are adaptive and crucial for survival. This review presents existing evidence indicating that our social connections to others have powerful influences on health and longevity ...and that lacking social connection qualifies as a risk factor for premature mortality. A systems perspective is presented as a framework by which to move social connection into the realm of public health. Individuals, and health-relevant biological processes, exist within larger social contexts including the family, neighborhood and community, and society and culture. Applying the social ecological model, this review highlights the interrelationships of individuals within groups in terms of understanding both the causal mechanisms by which social connection influences physical health and the ways in which this influence can inform potential intervention strategies. A systems approach also helps identify gaps in our current understanding that may guide future research.
Lateral ankle sprains (LASs) are among the most common injuries incurred during participation in sport and physical activity, and it is estimated that up to 40% of individuals who experience a ...first-time LAS will develop chronic ankle instability (CAI). Chronic ankle instability is characterized by a patient's being more than 12 months removed from the initial LAS and exhibiting a propensity for recurrent ankle sprains, frequent episodes or perceptions of the ankle giving way, and persistent symptoms such as pain, swelling, limited motion, weakness, and diminished self-reported function. We present an updated model of CAI that aims to synthesize the current understanding of its causes and serves as a framework for the clinical assessment and rehabilitation of patients with LASs or CAI. Our goal was to describe how primary injury to the lateral ankle ligaments from an acute LAS may lead to a collection of interrelated pathomechanical, sensory-perceptual, and motor-behavioral impairments that influence a patient's clinical outcome. With an underpinning of the biopsychosocial model, the concepts of self-organization and perception-action cycles derived from dynamic systems theory and a patient-specific neurosignature, stemming from the Melzack neuromatrix of pain theory, are used to describe these interrelationships.
Transient phenomena in ecology Hastings, Alan; Abbott, Karen C; Cuddington, Kim ...
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
09/2018, Volume:
361, Issue:
6406
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The importance of transient dynamics in ecological systems and in the models that describe them has become increasingly recognized. However, previous work has typically treated each instance of these ...dynamics separately. We review both empirical examples and model systems, and outline a classification of transient dynamics based on ideas and concepts from dynamical systems theory. This classification provides ways to understand the likelihood of transients for particular systems, and to guide investigations to determine the timing of sudden switches in dynamics and other characteristics of transients. Implications for both management and underlying ecological theories emerge.
Abstract
Human-centered design is about understanding human needs and how design can respond to these needs. With its systemic humane approach and creativity, human-centered design can play an ...essential role in dealing with today’s care challenges. ‘Design’ refers to both the process of designing and the outcome of that process, which includes physical products, services, procedures, strategies and policies. In this article, we address the three key characteristics of human-centered design, focusing on its implementation in health care: (1) developing an understanding of people and their needs; (2) engaging stakeholders from early on and throughout the design process; (3) adopting a systems approach by systematically addressing interactions between the micro-, meso- and macro-levels of sociotechnical care systems, and the transition from individual interests to collective interests.
In the present paper, we offer an integrative approach to personality that combines within-person and between-person differences. By drawing on the principles of dynamic systems theory, we present ...Personality Dynamics model – a novel framework that captures people's typical pattern of changes in personality states using three model parameters: baseline personality, reflecting the stable set point around which one's states fluctuate, personality variability, or the extent to which one's personality states fluctuate across time and situations, and personality attractor force, pertaining to the swiftness with which deviations of one's baseline are pulled back to the baseline. We argue that the dynamic approach to personality represented in the PersDyn model has the potential to integrate different perspectives on individual differences. We also demonstrate that the dynamic approach to personality offers a consensual paradigm of personality with the potential to advance our understanding and knowledge of individual differences, by detailing the factors and processes included in the model, as well as links to existing theories and applications in various research lines.
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