The Open System

Open systems science is the methodology employed to manage and solve the problems in systems whose operation involves interaction with the outside world, as opposed to being closed and complete within themselves. This new methodology was first announced at the 20th anniversary symposium of Sony CSL in 2008. Falling outside the direct scope of traditional science, an open system usually consists of multiple subsystems with varying numbers, relations and functions. Throughout the last decades, computer scientists, addressing the problems presented by globalization and the massive expansion in the application of new technologies, began to realize that open systems science could provide some of the solutions they were seeking with regard to complex and dependable systems. Starting with a chapter explaining the basic concept of open systems science, this book goes on to present the work of contributors from a variety of different disciplines, who explain how open systems science can be applied to their field. Including topics such as; biological robustness, the application of open systems methods to develop new drugs, the study of language and meaning, the interdisciplinary field of visual computing and user interfaces as the merger between the real and virtual world, this book explores the directions of science and technology in the 21st century and will be of interest to all those involved in the development and operation of complex interactive systems. IOS Press is an international science, technical and medical publisher of high-quality books for academics, scientists, and professionals in all fields. Some of the areas we publish in: -Biomedicine -Oncology -Artificial intelligence -Databases and information systems -Maritime engineering -Nanotechnology -Geoengineering -All aspects of physics -E-governance -E-commerce -The knowledge economy -Urban studies -Arms control -Understanding and responding to terrorism -Medical informatics -Computer Sciences

A call to action for school and community leaders to reframe educational institutions as open systems that are adaptable and responsive to the needs of students, families, and communities. Landon Mascareñaz and Doannie Tran propose that, even as events of this decade have exposed stress points in existing top-down, closed systems within education and other public institutions, they have also created prime opportunities to rethink and redesign those systems in ways that encourage civic participation and invigorate local democracy. In The Open System, Mascareñaz and Tran argue for a critical revitalization of public education centered in openness, an organization design concept in which an entity receives, considers, and acts on input from the community it serves. As they demonstrate, open education policy improves information flow, increasing opportunity, bolstering public trust, and making room for cocreation and coproduction driven by community partnerships and family engagement. Based on their groundbreaking work with educational coalitions such as the Kentucky Coalition for Advancing Education and Colorado’s Homegrown Talent Initiative, Mascareñaz and Tran introduce six key liberatory moves that can bring about open system transformation. They highlight real-life examples of the types of incremental, specific, and discrete projects that leaders can use to create openness in educational systems at the school, district, and state levels, providing a blueprint for changemaking.

This broad, balanced introduction to organizational studies enables the reader to compare and contrast different approaches to the study of organizations. This book is a valuable tool for the reader, as we are all intertwined with organizations in one form or another. Numerous other disciplines besides sociology are addressed in this book, including economics, political science, strategy and management theory. Topic areas discussed in this book are the importance of organizations; defining organizations; organizations as rational, natural, and open systems; environments, strategies, and structures of organizations; and organizations and society. For those employed in fields where knowledge of organizational theory is necessary, including sociology, anthropology, cognitive psychology, industrial engineering, managers in corporations and international business, and business strategists.

Let us begin by quoting from the Preface to the author's Statistical Physics (Moscow, Nauka 1982; also published in English by Harwood in 1986): '''My God! Yet another book on statistical physics! There's no room on my bookshelves left!' Such emotionsare quite understandable. Beforejumping to conclusions, however, it would be worthwhile to read the Introduction and look through the table of contents. Then the reader will find that this book is totally different from the existing courses, fundamental and concise. ... We do not use the conventional division into statistical theories ofequilibrium and nonequilibrium states. Rather than that, the theory ofnonequilibrium state is the basis and the backbone oftheentirecourse. ... This approach allows us to develop a unified method for statistical description ofa very broadclassofsystems. ... The author certainly does not wish to exaggerate the advantages of the book, considering it asjustthe first attemptto create a textbookofa new kind." The next step in this direction was the author's Turbulent Motion and the Structure of Chaos (Moscow, Nauka 1990; Kluwer Academic Publishers 1991). This book is subtitled A New Approach to the Statistical Theory of Open Systems. Naturally, the "new approach" is not meant to defy the consistent and efficient methods of the conventional statistical theory; itshould be regarded as auseful reinforcementofsuch methods.

Quantum mechanics has shown unprecedented success as a physical theory, but it has forced a new view on the description of physical reality. In recent years, important progress has been achieved both in the theory of open quantum systems and in the experimental realization and control of such systems. A great deal of the new results is concerned with the characterization and quantification of quantum memory effects. From this perspective, the 684. WE-Heraeus-Seminar has brought together scientists from different communities, both theoretical and experimental, sharing expertise on open quantum systems, as well as the commitment to the understanding of quantum mechanics. This book consists of many contributions addressing the diversified physics community interested in foundations of quantum mechanics and its applications and it reports about recent results in open quantum systems and their connection with the most advanced experiments testing quantum mechanics.

First published in 1976. Economics has always been in a crisis since it broke away from social philosophy in the late eighteenth century. But from time to time this crisis has been particularly acute. Such was the case at the turn of the last century when the classical predictions proved less and less true and, in response, the marginalist schools emerged. Such also was the case at the beginning of the 1930s when the proof of the established harmony propounded in that theory was contradicted by the Great Depression, giving rise to the new macroeconomics pioneered by Keynes. doubt that contemporary economics is in a crisis, at least if crisis is defined as the inability to meet the challenge of the times. Problems like mass poverty, unbalanced affluence, increasing regional economic disparities, imbalances in population development, irrational disposition of non-renewable resources, and production and consumption processes ill-adjusted to the limited carrying capacity of the environment are among many pressing problems awaiting solution by economists. The purpose of this book is to bring together responses from leading economists to these problems. Given the vast subject matter, it is only to be expected that the specific emphasis given to various approaches differs among the authors.

Enterprise operation efficiency is seriously constrained by the inability to provide the right information, in the right place, at the right time. In spite of significant advances in technology it is still difficult to access information used or produced by different applications due to the hardware and software incompatibilities of manufacturing and information processing equipment. But it is this information and operational knowledge which makes up most of the business value of the enterprise and which enables it to compete in the marketplace. Therefore, sufficient and timely information access is a prerequisite for its efficient use in the operation of enterprises. It is the aim of the ESPRIT project AMICE to make this knowledge base available enterprise-wide. During several ESPRIT contracts the project has developed and validated CIMOSA: Open System Architecture for CIM. The CIMOSA concepts provide operation structuring based on cooperating processes. Enterprise operations are represented in terms of functionality and dynamic behaviour (control flow). Information needed and produced, as well as resources and organisational aspects relevant in the course of the operation are modelled in the process model. However, the different aspects may be viewed separately for additional structuring and detailing during the enterprise engineering process.

Open System LANs and Their Global Interconnection focuses on the OSI layer 1 to 4 standards (the OSI bearer service) and also introduces TCP/IP and some of the proprietary PC Local Area Network (LAN) standards. The publication first provides an introduction to Local Area Networks (LANs) and Wide Area Networks (WANs), Open Systems Interconnection (OSI), and LAN standards. Discussions focus on MAC bridging, token bus, slotted ring, MAC constraints and design considerations, OSI functional standards, OSI model, value of the transport model, benefits and origins of OSI, and significance of the transport. The manuscript then takes a look at Data Link Control Standards and Network Layer Control. Topics cover relaying, addressing, and routeing, use of the ISO 8473 Network Protocol in LANs, Connectionless-mode Network Protocol ISO 8473, connection-mode and connectionless-mode, High Level Data Link Control (HDLC), and data link control in WANs and LANs. The text examines structured building cabling, OSI management, functional standards and proprietary competitors, and transport control standards. Concerns include Connection-mode Transport Protocol, Network Connection Management Subprotocol (NCMS), OSI functional standards, management information model, LAN management, Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), and supporting LAN Standards. The publication is a vital reference for computer science experts and researchers interested in open system Local Area Networks.