scholarly journals Modelling ecological systems in a changing world

2012 ◽  
Vol 367 (1586) ◽  
pp. 181-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew R. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Mathematical Models ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Ecological Modelling ◽  
Causal Relationships ◽  
Future State ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Way

The world is changing at an unprecedented rate. In such a situation, we need to understand the nature of the change and to make predictions about the way in which it might affect systems of interest; often we may also wish to understand what might be done to mitigate the predicted effects. In ecology, we usually make such predictions (or forecasts) by making use of mathematical models that describe the system and projecting them into the future, under changed conditions. Approaches emphasizing the desirability of simple models with analytical tractability and those that use assumed causal relationships derived statistically from data currently dominate ecological modelling. Although such models are excellent at describing the way in which a system has behaved, they are poor at predicting its future state, especially in novel conditions. In order to address questions about the impact of environmental change, and to understand what, if any, action might be taken to ameliorate it, ecologists need to develop the ability to project models into novel, future conditions. This will require the development of models based on understanding the processes that result in a system behaving the way it does, rather than relying on a description of the system, as a whole, remaining valid indefinitely.

scholarly journals Predictive ecology: systems approaches

2012 ◽  
Vol 367 (1586) ◽  
pp. 163-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew R. Evans ◽  
Ken J. Norris ◽  
Tim G. Benton
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Ecological Modelling ◽  
Molecular Systems ◽  
The World ◽  
Biological World ◽  
Brute Force Approach ◽  
Tools And Techniques ◽  
Process Based Models

The world is experiencing significant, largely anthropogenically induced, environmental change. This will impact on the biological world and we need to be able to forecast its effects. In order to produce such forecasts, ecology needs to become more predictive—to develop the ability to understand how ecological systems will behave in future, changed, conditions. Further development of process-based models is required to allow such predictions to be made. Critical to the development of such models will be achieving a balance between the brute-force approach that naively attempts to include everything, and over simplification that throws out important heterogeneities at various levels. Central to this will be the recognition that individuals are the elementary particles of all ecological systems. As such it will be necessary to understand the effect of evolution on ecological systems, particularly when exposed to environmental change. However, insights from evolutionary biology will help the development of models even when data may be sparse. Process-based models are more common, and are used for forecasting, in other disciplines, e.g. climatology and molecular systems biology. Tools and techniques developed in these endeavours can be appropriated into ecological modelling, but it will also be necessary to develop the science of ecoinformatics along with approaches specific to ecological problems. The impetus for this effort should come from the demand coming from society to understand the effects of environmental change on the world and what might be performed to mitigate or adapt to them.

scholarly journals University as a platform: an evolutionary process towards an open educational ecosystem in Europe

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gonzalo León ◽  
Alberto Tejero ◽  
Natalia Dévora ◽  
Iván Pau
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Knowledge Society ◽  
Knowledge Generation ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Education Value ◽  
Higher Educational ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Way

Universities are very stable institutions where their basic role in society is still alive after centuries; nevertheless, the way to provide it has deeply changed due to the generation of knowledge, evolution of technology, and evolution in internal and external governance and funding schemes. Even if those changes were successfully surfed and universities are still recognised in society as key actors for education and knowledge generation, new challenges are on the way and the smooth adaptation approach used in the past could be not valid anymore in front of disruptive societal changes. In fact, traditional higher-education value-chain is being challenged with the introduction of new actors in the higher education process and the emergence of IT-based disruptive learning models, which impact on university performance and governance. The main goal of this paper is to analyse how public universities’ structures should efficiently evolve in that context while preserving their role in society. We are aware that many of the findings could be also applied to private universities although regulatory contexts are different.The article offers a global view on public university governance challenges motivated by the digitisation of society and how Western universities should address them in order to keep a prominent role in the future knowledge society, where more complex educational ecosystems will be in place. The objective is to analyse the relative importance and interaction of a set of drivers for transforming universities’ structures in the context of a digital economy and how the (fragmented) answers provided today by universities over the world should evolve in the future towards a consistent policy and organisational mix by using concepts borrowed from digital platforms and collaborative economy. The article is mainly focused on the situation in the European Union (EU) linked to policy actions launched by the European Commission and EU Member States, although some action lines could be shared in broader geographical contexts.The analysis presented in the paper is focused on the applicability of the concept of (digital) higher educational platforms and how they can modify the provision of higher education services within an open education ecosystem in close cooperation with other actors. The impact in the higher-education value chain implies that several public and private actors will occupy positions formerly exclusively linked to universities; this evolution and their consequence are presented in the article through a number of potential trajectories. Finally, the article discusses a much more disruptive perspective by considering the future role of universities as “specialised learning platforms” for providing higher educational services over the world with weaker links to territory, and its derived consequences for new or pre-existent universities.

Becoming Politicized

2017 ◽  
Vol 225 (4) ◽  
pp. 324-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Barkas ◽  
Xenia Chryssochoou
Keyword(s):  
Collective Identity ◽  
Political Socialization ◽  
Greek Society ◽  
Economic Vulnerability ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Identity Model ◽  
Beliefs About The Future ◽  
Of Greece ◽  
The Way

Abstract. This research took place just after the end of the protests following the killing of a 16-year-old boy by a policeman in Greece in December 2008. Participants (N = 224) were 16-year-olds in different schools in Attiki. Informed by the Politicized Collective Identity Model ( Simon & Klandermans, 2001 ), a questionnaire measuring grievances, adversarial attributions, emotions, vulnerability, identifications with students and activists, and questions about justice and Greek society in the future, as well as about youngsters’ participation in different actions, was completed. Four profiles of the participants emerged from a cluster analysis using representations of the conflict, emotions, and identifications with activists and students. These profiles differed on beliefs about the future of Greece, participants’ economic vulnerability, and forms of participation. Importantly, the clusters corresponded to students from schools of different socioeconomic areas. The results indicate that the way young people interpret the events and the context, their levels of identification, and the way they represent society are important factors of their political socialization that impacts on their forms of participation. Political socialization seems to be related to youngsters’ position in society which probably constitutes an important anchoring point of their interpretation of the world.

Profilometry. Using Corneo-scleral topography for scleral lens fitting

The Eye ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (128) ◽  
pp. 19-22
Author(s):  
Gregory DeNaeyer
Keyword(s):  
Ocular Surface ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Contact Lenses ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Way

The world-wide use of scleral contact lenses has dramatically increased over the past 10 year and has changed the way that we manage patients with corneal irregularity. Successfully fitting them can be challenging especially for eyes that have significant asymmetries of the cornea or sclera. The future of scleral lens fitting is utilizing corneo-scleral topography to accurately measure the anterior ocular surface and then using software to design lenses that identically match the scleral surface and evenly vault the cornea. This process allows the practitioner to efficiently fit a customized scleral lens that successfully provides the patient with comfortable wear and improved vision.

Redesigning Life

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Parrington
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Engineering ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Synthetic Organisms ◽  
The Way

We can now edit genomes. The technique, which involves cutting and pasting DNA code into the genome, is faster and cheaper than traditional genetic engineering and can be used on almost any animal or plant. What will this technology mean for the future? It may pave the way to banishing many diseases, and help feed the burgeoning population of the world. Woolly mammoths may again roam the tundra. But are there also risks? Might a nightmarish world of bioterrorism and rogue synthetic organisms await? John Parrington reports on the astonishing revolution underway in genetic engineering and why it matters to us all.

Law Librarianship and Legal Information Provision in the 21st Century

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-10 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Legal Education ◽  
Legal Profession ◽  
Information Provision ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Legal Information ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIn this analysis of the future of our profession, Barbara Tearle starts by looking at the past to see how much the world of legal information has evolved and changed. She considers the nature of the profession today and then identifies key factors which she believes will be of importance in the future, including the impact of globalisation; the potential changes to the legal profession; technology; developments in legal education; increasing commercialisation and changes to the law itself.

Records of the World Tourism Conference (English version)

1985 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Modern Society ◽  
Working Time ◽  
Free Time ◽  
English Version ◽  
Human Community ◽  
Tourism Sector ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Travel Industry ◽  
The Way

The World Tourism Conference, held in Manila from 27 September to 10 October 1980, proved that the human community is still able to think generously and clearly, and to hold a courageous vision of the future. The Conference was convened to examine a subject which would lead to modification of outmoded concepts and practices, and would induce governments as well as the travel industry to reconsider all of their activities in the tourism sector. The Manila conference was able to show the way to build for the future in a field – that of free time and leisure – which is becoming one of the important responsibilities of governments, as non-working time increases in relation to working time because of the transformations that modern society is undergoing.

scholarly journals Genomic Biomarkers of Meningioma: A Focused Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (19) ◽  
pp. 10222
Author(s):  
Jacob A. Pawloski ◽  
Hassan A. Fadel ◽  
Yi-Wen Huang ◽  
Ian Y. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Targeted Therapies ◽  
Recurrence Risk ◽  
Tumor Location ◽  
Genetic Mutations ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Diverse Group ◽  
The Future ◽  
Genetic Landscape ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Way

Meningiomas represent a phenotypically and genetically diverse group of tumors which often behave in ways that are not simply explained by their pathologic grade. The genetic landscape of meningiomas has become a target of investigation as tumor genomics have been found to impact tumor location, recurrence risk, and malignant potential. Additionally, targeted therapies are being developed that in the future may provide patients with personalized chemotherapy based on the genetic aberrations within their tumor. This review focuses on the most common genetic mutations found in meningiomas of all grades, with an emphasis on the impact on tumor location and clinically relevant tumor characteristics. NF-2 and the non-NF-2 family of genetic mutations are summarized in the context of low-grade and high-grade tumors, followed by a comprehensive discussion regarding the genetic and embryologic basis for meningioma location and phenotypic heterogeneity. Finally, targeted therapies based on tumor genomics currently in use and under investigation are reviewed and future avenues for research are suggested. The field of meningioma genomics has broad implications on the way meningiomas will be treated in the future, and is gradually shifting the way clinicians approach this diverse group of tumors.

scholarly journals EXPLORING CULTURAL LANDSCAPES OF KAZAKHSTAN IN A SEMIOTIC WAY

Adam alemi ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 90 (4) ◽  
pp. 11-20
Author(s):  
R.T. Khassenova ◽  
◽  
M. S. Sarkulova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Cultural Landscapes ◽  
National Program ◽  
Umberto Eco ◽  
Philosophy Of Culture ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Spiritual Legacy ◽  
The Way

The article considers the project “Tugan Zher” (“Homeland”) of the Kazakhstani national program “Course towards the future: modernization of Kazakhstan’s identity” and the possibility to resort to the works and ideas of the well-known Italian philosopher and semiotician, recognized expert in Middle ages Umberto Eco while implementing the program, as in his numerous works the Italian scientist reflects much on the meaning of such notions like signification, reconstruction and memory. His philosophy of culture is the study of signs and languages and belief that understanding of the world requests understanding how we interpret it through the language and signs we use, constant mediation that stands in the way between us and the world. The poetics of openness, advocated much by Eco, is especially actual under the current realities. The present research proves the semiotic concept of U. Eco to be effective in exploring cultural landscapes, which being regarded as signs, carriers of some valuable information, add much to the spiritual legacy of the nation.

Disruptions of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

2021 ◽  
pp. 189-199
Author(s):  
Idris Olayiwola Ganiyu ◽  
Ola Olusegun Oyedele ◽  
Evelyn Derera
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Technological Innovations ◽  
Fourth Industrial Revolution ◽  
Skill Gaps ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact ◽  
And Robotics

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has resulted in the disruption of the world of work whereby technological innovation such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. These disruptions may be creative in that as some jobs are lost due to the development of artificial intelligence, new ones are created. This chapter explored the impact of disruptive technological innovations on the future of work. The skill gaps brought about by the emergence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution was also explored in this chapter.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document