Human Responses and Adaptation in a Changing Climate: A Framework Integrating Biological, Psychological, and Behavioural Aspects

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our times. Its impact on human populations is not yet completely understood. Many studies have focused on single aspects with contradictory observations. However, climate change is a complex phenomenon that cannot be adequately addressed from a single discipline’s perspective. Hence, we propose a comprehensive conceptual framework on the relationships between climate change and human responses. This framework includes biological, psychological, and behavioural aspects and provides a multidisciplinary overview and critical information for focused interventions. The role of tipping points and regime shifts is explored, and a historical perspective is presented to describe the relationship between climate evolution and socio-cultural crisis. Vulnerability, resilience, and adaptation are analysed from an individual and a community point of view. Finally, emergent behaviours and mass effect phenomena are examined that account for mental maladjustment and conflicts.

Human Responses and Adaptation in a Changing Climate: A Framework Integrating Biological, Psychological and Behavioural Aspects

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our times. Its impact on human populations is not yet completely understood. Many studies have focused on single aspects with contradictory observations. However, climate change is a complex phoenomenon that cannot be adequately addressed from a single discipline's perspective. Hence, we propose a comprehensive conceptual framework on the relationships between climate change and human responses. This framework includes biological, psychological and behavioural aspects, and provides a multidisciplinary overview and critical information for focused interventions. The role of tipping points and regime shifts is explored, and a historical perspective is presented to describe the relationship between climate evolution and socio-cultural crisis. Vulnerability, resilience and adaptation are analyzed from an individual and a community point of view. Finally, emergent behaviours and mass effect phenomena are examined that account for mental maladjustment and conflicts.

A Floating Mould Technique for the Programmed Assembly of Protocells into Protocellular Materials Capable of Non-Equilibrium Biochemical Sensing

Despite important breakthroughs in bottom-up synthetic biology have recently been achieved, a major challenge still remains the construction of free-standing, macroscopic and robust materials from protocell building blocks that are stable in water and capable of emergent behaviours. Herein we report a new floating mould technique for the fabrication of millimetre- to centimetre-sized protocellular materials (PCMs) of any shape that overcomes most of the current challenges in prototissue engineering. Significantly, this technique also allowed us to generate 2D periodic arrays of PCMs that displayed an emergent non-equilibrium spatiotemporal sensing behaviour. These arrays were capable of collectively translating the information provided by the external environment and encoded in the form of propagating reaction-diffusion fronts into a readable dynamic signal output. Overall, our methodology opens up a route to the fabrication of macroscopicand robust tissue-like materials with emergent behaviours, providing a new paradigm of bottom-up synthetic biology and biomimetic materials science.

A Floating Mould Technique for the Programmed Assembly of Protocells into Protocellular Materials Capable of Non-Equilibrium Biochemical Sensing

Despite important breakthroughs in bottom-up synthetic biology have recently been achieved, a major challenge still remains the construction of free-standing, macroscopic and robust materials from protocell building blocks that are stable in water and capable of emergent behaviours. Herein we report a new floating mould technique for the fabrication of millimetre- to centimetre-sized protocellular materials (PCMs) of any shape that overcomes most of the current challenges in prototissue engineering. Significantly, this technique also allowed us to generate 2D periodic arrays of PCMs that displayed an emergent non-equilibrium spatiotemporal sensing behaviour. These arrays were capable of collectively translating the information provided by the external environment and encoded in the form of propagating reaction-diffusion fronts into a readable dynamic signal output. Overall, our methodology opens up a route to the fabrication of macroscopicand robust tissue-like materials with emergent behaviours, providing a new paradigm of bottom-up synthetic biology and biomimetic materials science.

Biofilm and swarming emergent behaviours controlled through the aid of biophysical understanding and tools

Bacteria can organise themselves into communities in the forms of biofilms and swarms. Through chemical and physical interactions between cells, these communities exhibit emergent properties that individual cells alone do not have. While bacterial communities have been mainly studied in the context of biochemistry and molecular biology, recent years have seen rapid advancements in the biophysical understanding of emergent phenomena through physical interactions in biofilms and swarms. Moreover, new technologies to control bacterial emergent behaviours by physical means are emerging in synthetic biology. Such technologies are particularly promising for developing engineered living materials (ELM) and devices and controlling contamination and biofouling. In this minireview, we overview recent studies unveiling physical and mechanical cues that trigger and affect swarming and biofilm development. In particular, we focus on cell shape, motion and density as the key parameters for mechanical cell–cell interactions within a community. We then showcase recent studies that use physical stimuli for patterning bacterial communities, altering collective behaviours and preventing biofilm formation. Finally, we discuss the future potential extension of biophysical and bioengineering research on microbial communities through computational modelling and deeper investigation of mechano-electrophysiological coupling.

High Content Analysis uncovers functionally relevant metastable phenotypic states in human Endothelial Cells monolayers

SummaryEndothelial cells (EC) present distinct cell properties in different tissues. Heterogeneity within the same vascular bed has been proposed to underpin emergent behaviours in EC monolayers. Quantification and functional relevance of EC phenotypic variance are challenging to assess. Here we developed an EC profiling tool (ECPT) to uniquely enable single EC profiling within a monolayer providing spatial and relational information regarding cell proliferation, inter-endothelial Junctions and NOTCH activation. We used ECPT to characterise differential phenotypes in arterial, venous and microvascular EC populations. Our analysis highlighted extensive heterogeneity within individual monolayers and revealed VEGF-modulable metastability of NOTCH signalling which in turn regulates inter-endothelial junction’s stability. We suggest that accounting for adaptive emerging endothelial behaviours is necessary to develop revascularisation strategies for regenerative medicine and to design more effective EC-targeting drugs for cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

Information Sharing Behaviour of Complex and Extended Organisations

The information sharing behaviours observed in extended organisations involve the use of dedicated specialised teams and groups. This study presents theoretical evidence, drawing on Activity Theory as an analytical lens, linking specialised teams in such complex and extended organisations to conditions which may lead to information sharing failures. These failures are apparent through tensions and contradictions examined in the activity system which helped in identifying failures in the formal systems and emergent behaviours to (or “intending to”) resolve them. Results from this study show that information sharing behaviours in an extended organisation are driven in part at least by the team’s need and ability to share information with members of the team (formed to) dealing with an information sharing failure resulting in an organisational problem and aimed at achieving a common shared goal in the relationship. There is an established link showing that information sharing in the setting supports and enhances the exchange of ideas and information between partners due to the complementing needs of services thus helping in reducing extension problems and, thereby, providing a coping strategy for the central organisation. Amongst the importance of information sharing in the setting is the ability to forecast uncertainties as a result of better understanding of each partner’s capabilities and strength. Complexity was observed to be a factor that triggers information sharing failure in extended relationships and dependencies. This occurs when there is no congruence between information deliveries amongst all the collaborating partners.

A need to help: stories of emergent behaviour from the scene of accident

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how spontaneous volunteers make sense of their actions at the scene of accident. More specifically, this paper focusses on the moral aspects of this sense-making process in terms of how spontaneous volunteers justify their own and others actions at the scene of accident through moral positioning. Design/methodology/approach This is done through a narrative analysis of volunteers’ retrospective stories from the scene of accident. The empirical material consists of interviews with 12 witnesses to traffic accidents. Findings The narrative analysis identifies two central storylines: the interviewees frame their own and others’ actions through norms of how one should act, and the interviewees frame their own actions by presenting themselves as a person of a certain type, sometimes positioned against an real or imaginative “other”. Originality/value Disaster sociologists have long argued that emergent behaviours and norms are one of the phenomena distinguishing disasters from everyday emergencies. However, as this paper shows, emergent behaviours and norms are also present at everyday emergencies such as traffic accidents where spontaneous volunteers can play an important role by filling the void before the arrival of emergency services.