Amplifying the Significance of Systems Theory

Author(s):  
Mambo Mupepi

In system theory organizations are viewed as closed or open systems. An open system interacts with the environment for its sustainability. The closed system does not interact with its setting consequently its behavior depends largely on internal dynamics of its parts. The centricity of an open organizational structure is one created and empowered to learn and change very fast to successfully achieve desired goals. However open systems need to embrace change as follows: transform inputs of energy and information to produce the products demanded by the customers, transact with key stakeholders to access resources, regulate system behavior to achieve stable performance, and adapt to continuously changing high velocity competition to increase productivity.

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (S1) ◽  
pp. 23-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Kaufman ◽  
Margaret Mahoney

E-cigarettes, sometimes referred to as ENDS (Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems), include a broad range of products that deliver nicotine via heating and aerosolization of the drug. ENDS come in a variety of forms, but regardless of form generally consist of a solution containing humectant (e.g., propylene glycol or glycerol), flavorings, and usually nicotine (some solutions do not contain nicotine); a battery-powered coil that heats the solution into an aerosol (usually referred to as vapor) in an atomizing chamber; and a mouthpiece through which the user draws the vapor into the mouth and lungs. The devices may be closed systems containing prefilled cartridges, or open systems, where the user manually refills a 1-2 ml. tank with solution. What started as closed-system cigarette-shaped devices marketed as an adjunct for smoking cessation, has transitioned rapidly to literally thousands of hip and funky-designed open-system hookah pens, vape pens, and modifiable devices. For younger people, these forms are the “in” thing, while traditional cigarette-shaped devices are “out.”


1983 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 813-839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debasis Mitra ◽  
J. A. Morrison

We present new results based on novel techniques for the problem of characterizing the waiting-time distribution in a class of queueing networks. We give effective methods for computing, for each of possibly several job-classes, the second moment of the equilibrium waiting time for closed systems as well as for open systems. Both open and closed systems have a CPU operating under the processor-sharing (‘time-slicing') discipline in which service-time requirements may depend on job-class. The closed system also includes a bank of terminals grouped according to job-classes, with the class structure allowing distinctions in the user's behavior in the terminal. In the contrasting open system, the job streams submitted to the CPU are Poisson with rate parameters dependent on job-classes.Our results are exact for the open system and, for the closed system, in the form of an asymptotic series in inverse powers of a parameter N. In fact, the result for open networks is simply the first term in the asymptotic series. For larger closed systems, the parameter N is larger and thus fewer terms of the series need be computed to achieve a desired degree of accuracy. The complexity of the calculations for the asymptotic expansions is polynomial in number of classes and, importantly, independent of the class populations. Only the results on the single-class systems, closed and open, were previously known.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaohua Xian ◽  
Zheng Lu ◽  
Hailin Yao ◽  
Ran Fang ◽  
Jianbo She

The frost heave and thaw settlement caused by freeze-thaw cycles will seriously affect the engineering properties of soil. This paper attempts to comparatively investigate the deterioration effect of freeze-thaw cycles on the mechanical properties of compacted clay in closed and open systems. The specimens were frozen and thawed from the top to bottom in two systems. The moisture contents and deformations after freeze-thaw cycles were measured. Mechanical parameters of soil were examined through triaxial compression tests. Results show that the moisture content and deformation of soil change evidently with the increase of freeze-thaw cycles in the open system, while these parameters in the closed system change little. In the open system, the attenuation rate of failure strength, elastic modulus, and angle of internal friction of soil subjected to 7 freeze-thaw cycles are all about 2 times as large as that in the closed system and the attenuation rate of cohesion is even 4 times of that in the closed system. These differences reveal that the deterioration effect of freeze-thaw cycles on soil strength is aggravated after water supply. These findings indicate that soil structure damage and moisture content increase is the dominant factor affecting engineering properties of the soil in the open system.


1983 ◽  
Vol 15 (04) ◽  
pp. 813-839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debasis Mitra ◽  
J. A. Morrison

We present new results based on novel techniques for the problem of characterizing the waiting-time distribution in a class of queueing networks. We give effective methods for computing, for each of possibly several job-classes, the second moment of the equilibrium waiting time for closed systems as well as for open systems. Both open and closed systems have a CPU operating under the processor-sharing (‘time-slicing') discipline in which service-time requirements may depend on job-class. The closed system also includes a bank of terminals grouped according to job-classes, with the class structure allowing distinctions in the user's behavior in the terminal. In the contrasting open system, the job streams submitted to the CPU are Poisson with rate parameters dependent on job-classes. Our results are exact for the open system and, for the closed system, in the form of an asymptotic series in inverse powers of a parameter N. In fact, the result for open networks is simply the first term in the asymptotic series. For larger closed systems, the parameter N is larger and thus fewer terms of the series need be computed to achieve a desired degree of accuracy. The complexity of the calculations for the asymptotic expansions is polynomial in number of classes and, importantly, independent of the class populations. Only the results on the single-class systems, closed and open, were previously known.


2004 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
VICTORIA CHICK

ABSTRACT To many, economics is seen as increasingly divorced from reality. I shall argue that one of the causes of this divorce is the attachment to closed-system theorising, and advocate instead the method of open systems with partial and temporary closures. Definitions of closed and open systems are examined. It is evident that there are many different criteria which may define open systems. Theorists differ in their emphasis on one or other criterion. There are also different dimensions of openness: openness to non-economic factors; the openness of economic theories themselves; the interplay of micro- and macro-economics; and the treatment of time. These are explored, using Keynes’s General Theory as a case study of an open system.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (03) ◽  
pp. 1850013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abderrahim Benmachiche ◽  
Derradji Bahloul ◽  
Gharib Subhi Mahmoud ◽  
Azeddine Messikh

Single quantum rotation gates can be perfectly implemented in a closed system using the controlled adiabatic evolutions process proposed by Itay Hen that may lead to build some quantum circuit blocks [Phys. Rev. A, 022309 (2015)]. These adiabatic evolutions yield to vanishing geometric phases. In this work, we extended Itay’s work by considering a more realistic model where the qubits are subjected to decoherence effects during the adiabatic evolution process. We demonstrate that, in the case of an open system, the decoherence leads to nonvanishing geometric phases and drastically reduces the performance of the quantum rotation gates bellow the fidelity target (0.999).


2021 ◽  
pp. tobaccocontrol-2021-056599
Author(s):  
Yong Yang ◽  
Eric N. Lindblom ◽  
Ramzi G. Salloum ◽  
Kenneth D. Ward

IntroductionTo understand the impact of e-cigarette devices, flavours, nicotine levels and prices on adult e-cigarette users’ choices among closed-system and open-system e-cigarettes, cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTPs).MethodsOnline discrete choice experiments were conducted among adult (≥18 years) e-cigarette users (n=2642) in August 2020. Conditional logit regressions were used to assess the relative impact of product attributes and the interactions between product attributes and user characteristics, with stratified analyses to examine differences by smoking status and primarily used e-cigarette device and flavour.ResultsOn average, participants preferred non-tobacco and non-menthol flavours most, preferred open-system over closed-system e-cigarettes and preferred regular nicotine level over low nicotine level. However, the preference varied by demographics, smoking status and the primarily used e-cigarette device and flavour. The differences in preference among products/devices were larger than the difference among flavours or nicotine levels. Participants who primarily used closed-system e-cigarettes exhibited similar preferences for closed-system and open-system e-cigarettes, but those who primarily used open-system e-cigarettes preferred much more open-system over closed-system e-cigarettes. HTP was the least preferred product, much lower than cigarettes in general, but participants living in states where IQOS is being sold had similar preferences to cigarettes and HTPs.ConclusionsPeople are unlikely to switch to another product/device because of the restriction of flavour or nicotine level. If non-tobacco and non-menthol flavours were banned from open-system e-cigarettes, users may switch to menthol flavour e-cigarettes. Intervention strategies should be tailored to specific groups.


2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (22) ◽  
pp. 1635-1654 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANGELO CAROLLO

The quantum jump method for the calculation of geometric phase is reviewed. This is an operational method to associate a geometric phase to the evolution of a quantum system subjected to decoherence in an open system. The method is general and can be applied to many different physical systems, within the Markovian approximation. As examples, two main source of decoherence are considered: dephasing and spontaneous decay. It is shown that the geometric phase is to very large extent insensitive to the former, i.e. it is independent of the number of jumps determined by the dephasing operator.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodolfo De la Rosa-Rodríguez ◽  
Alfredo Lara-Herrera ◽  
Libia Iris Trejo-Téllez ◽  
Luz Evelia Padilla-Bernal ◽  
Luis Octavio Solis-Sánchez ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The amount of water and fertilizers used in the production of vegetables, specifically tomatoes, is high. This study was carried out to determine water and fertilizers use efficiency in closed and open hydroponic systems for tomato production under greenhouse conditions. Two treatments with eight replications were assessed; each replication consisted of 67 pots with two plants each. One treatment was a closed hydroponic system (with nutrient solution recirculation), and the other was an open hydroponic system (with non-recirculating nutrient solution). We quantified the amounts of water and fertilizers applied, as well as the losses (drained nutrient solution), in the two treatments during the entire cycle of tomato. In the nutrient solution (NS) we also measured electric conductivity (EC), pH, volume applied, and volume drained, and total weight of fruits (25 pickings). There were no significant differences between the two treatments on fruit production. Water use efficiency was 59.53 kg/fruit/m3 for the closed system and 46.03 kg/fruit/m3 in the open system. In comparison to the open system, the closed system produced 13.50 kg more fruit per cubic meter of water, while 10.31 grams less fertilizers per kilogram of fruit produced were only applied. Water and fertilizers use efficiency were higher in the closed system, by 22.68% and 22.69%, respectively. More efficiency was obtained in the closed system, regarding the open system. We concluded that the closed system is a good alternative to produce tomato and preserve the resources involved in the process (like water and fertilizers), thus reducing pollution.


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