Research Interests:
This chapter frames one of the greatest challenges of our time: the invention of methods and technologies that harness the collective intelligence and wisdom of thousands of stakeholders working together on a complex societal systemic... more
This chapter frames one of the greatest challenges of our time: the invention of methods and technologies that harness the collective intelligence and wisdom of thousands of stakeholders working together on a complex societal systemic problem. The worldwide failures of democracy to respond to global challenges, especially in the domain of governance, call for such massive but still authentic and democratic participatory systems. The authors assert that the need to reinvent democracy is urgent and that it can be done using co-laboratories of democracy. It concludes with a presentation of key findings of co-laboratories that aim to reinvent democracy using structured dialogic design methodology applied in small group settings and an introduction into the challenges of scaling up this process to engage thousands.
Research Interests: Economics, Action Research, Design Methods, Cyprus Studies, Collaboration, and 15 moreDialogue, Design Research, Deliberative Democracy, Dialogue Studies, Democracy, Collaboration Technology, Design thinking, Intercultural dialogue, Community Based Participatory Research, Deliberation, City and Regional Planning, Futures Contract, Deliberative Democracy and Conflict, Governance and Democracy, and Collaborative Action Research Methodologies
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT The goal of this study is to compare the performance of currently available screw types and configurations for rigid sternal fixation. Bone fixation plates were attached to osteoporotic human sternum with cortical or cancellous... more
ABSTRACT The goal of this study is to compare the performance of currently available screw types and configurations for rigid sternal fixation. Bone fixation plates were attached to osteoporotic human sternum with cortical or cancellous screws in either a unicortical or bicortical manner. The plates were cyclically loaded transversely (0–50N at 2Hz) for 15,000 cycles; the resulting lateral screw displacement was measured continuously. Bicortical attachment allowed significantly lower initial displacement than unicortical (p = 0.015), whereas cortical screws allowed significantly lower displacement than cancellous screws after long term cycling (p = 0.039). These initial findings indicate that both screw type and cortical purchase are important parameters in the design of a rigid plating system for sternal closure. Cortical screws appear to be more applicable to the osteoporotic sternum, as the cortical shell regions support more screw purchase than the degenerated cancellous part, and bicortical screw purchase appears to decrease screw loosening.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT In this paper an attempt is made to develop a conceptual public policy estimation model at the county level employing the systems approach. A model that adheres to the notion of treating policy variables in the context of an... more
ABSTRACT In this paper an attempt is made to develop a conceptual public policy estimation model at the county level employing the systems approach. A model that adheres to the notion of treating policy variables in the context of an entire system depicts the essence of the systems approach. A problem situation can be depicted by the form W-f(Ii, Oi) W=the measure of the worth of a particular policy Ii=the input of policy variables Oi=the extraneous or non-policy variables. A systematic procedure for assessing the worth of alternative growth patterns of a county can be meaningfully developed by defining the goals operationally in spacial and temporal terms and taking into account the complex patterns of interaction among the various worth criteria imposed by human beings upon the known performance. A number of methods such as factor analysis and modified Delphi could prove useful in making these worth values concrete. Once an acceptable region is determined in the worth space, then an appropriate search scheme is needed to determine the values of the input vector mapping the corresponding alternatives within the acceptable region. The conceptual framework of a normative planning process as it can be applied at the county level is developed. It consists of three central “sectors” and four “subsectors”. The three central sectors are the “public sector” which incorporates the role of the county government; the “land allocation sector,” which allocates land uses over the geographic space; and the “trade-off analysis sector,” through which the analytical assessment of the alternative plans is performed and from which the policy implications are obtained. The four subsectors which provide the necessary information for decision-making, analysis and implementation are the “public policy subsector,” “the public finance subsector,” “the aggregate land demand subsector,” and, “the land use subsector.” The overall planning process, the role of the central sectors, and interrelationship and feedbacks of the main sectors, the subsectors, and their relationships and feedback mechanisms are examined in detail. In conclusion, it is suggested that county planners adopt a systematic procedure for continuous re-evaluation of policies in concert with the experience gained through an iterative search of the policy space. Such a framework will provide a dynamic and open system approach, whose processes reflect realistic operationality.
Research Interests:
The Structured Dialogic Design Process (SDDP) is applied in the context of a rich web-based communication environment. Using a combination of asynchronous and synchronous communication tools for engaging stakeholders at different places... more
The Structured Dialogic Design Process (SDDP) is applied in the context of a rich web-based communication environment. Using a combination of asynchronous and synchronous communication tools for engaging stakeholders at different places in a disciplined dialogue, the authors evaluate whether SDDP can deliver reasonably effective and useful results at a shorter time and at a lower cost to the participants and the sponsors of the dialogue. This new'technology of democracy'is based on experience acquired from four virtual co- ...
Research Interests:
... Figure 1) correspond to an iterative process of policy planning, using interpretive structural ... on the construction of a tentative conceptual framework that will make use of ... AD Hall, "A threedimensional morphology of... more
... Figure 1) correspond to an iterative process of policy planning, using interpretive structural ... on the construction of a tentative conceptual framework that will make use of ... AD Hall, "A threedimensional morphology of systems engineering", IEEE Transactions on Systems Science ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
For the emergence of a Demosensual [R]evolutionary Eutopia in the twenty-first century, we ought to transcend the totalitarian, elitist approaches of political, financial, and societal policies and the obsolete social design methods, with... more
For the emergence of a Demosensual [R]evolutionary Eutopia in the twenty-first century, we ought to transcend the totalitarian, elitist approaches of political, financial, and societal policies and the obsolete social design methods, with innovative democratic practices, that will enable citizens from all walks of life, in participating in meaningful, authentic, demosensual dialogue. This chapter is inspired by the foundation for a locally based, but globally connected capability that transcends the conventional approach of Systems Science and marks the emergence of a new epoch for engaging stakeholders in social design practices. Demoscopio Center of the Science of Dialogic Design, Innovation and Entrepreneurship has been officially approved and adopted by the City Council of the Municipality of Heraklion, which is the capital of the Greek island of Crete, and a historical and culturally sensitive center, since the Minoan era. It is the culmination of 50 years of work of visionary systems thinkers, such as Harold Lasswell, Hasan Ozbekhan, John N. Warfield, and Alexander N. Christakis. Demoscopio is the contemporary reenactment of the Ancient Athenian Agora of the fifth-century B.C, with advanced technological and methodological means. It represents an innovative way to talk the walk, and walk the talk! It is the [r]evolutionary scientific implementation of the complementarity among the “Three Phases of Science” for fostering cooperation, enhancing communication, and activating social networking among citizens, innovators, and entrepreneurs. It offers the opportunity for co-designing resolutions for complex issues, through evolutionary learning and applications of the Science of Dialogic Design. It is the innovation for innovations, entrepreneurial development, democratic eutopia, for thinking globally, [inter]acting locally and making an impact glocally.
Research Interests:
Churchman dedicated his career to sensitizing systems scientists and other inquirers to the existence of what he referred to as “enormous problems. ” In his view these are problems that cannot be addressed by a single discipline or a... more
Churchman dedicated his career to sensitizing systems scientists and other inquirers to the existence of what he referred to as “enormous problems. ” In his view these are problems that cannot be addressed by a single discipline or a single inquirer but by interdisciplinary teams of inquirers. This chapter tells the story of how a group of researchers, in the context of the Club of Rome (CoR) Prospectus on The Predicament of Mankind, proposed in the early 70s a very forward looking and innovative systems approach. It took over twenty years of research and development for the emergence of a paradigm of Structured Design Science (SDS) that has been tested in the arena of practice for the last fifteen years. The CoR prospectus introduced the concept of the Problematique as the “enormous problem ” of the 20th Century. In 1993, twenty-three years after the conceptualization of the Problematique, a small team composed of three of the original architects of the CoR proposal employed the SD...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
A National Forum for Nonindustrial Private Forest Landowners was convened by Secretary John B. Crowell, Jr. of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in St. Louis, Missouri from 31 October to 3 November 1983. Using the Interactive Management... more
A National Forum for Nonindustrial Private Forest Landowners was convened by Secretary John B. Crowell, Jr. of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in St. Louis, Missouri from 31 October to 3 November 1983. Using the Interactive Management approach, an Agenda was designed, whereby the Forum would be conducted with the specific intent to achieve consensus on a wide variety of issues, and to ensure ample opportunity for the Participants to make their views heard. In view of the fact that there were 160 Participants, of whom about 20 were designated as Active Participants, the achievements of this Forum, reported in this paper, were remarkable. The Active Participants were engaged directly in the identification, structuring, and resolution of public policy issues confronting the Forestry Community, while the Supportive Participants were able to observe the facilitated discourse by means of TV monitors dispersed throughout the conference room. Numerous caucuses were held, whereby Supportive Participants gave their views to the Active Participants. One of the most positive and productive outcomes of the Forum was the engagement, for the first time, of the various segments of the Forestry Community in collecting ideas on problems and opportunities, developing options for realizing those opportunities, and deciding who should act on those opportunities.
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT Ongoing research in generic design science has provided evidence regarding its capacity to make valuable contributions towards the resolution of the global problématique. This paper defines and clarifies a role for systems... more
ABSTRACT Ongoing research in generic design science has provided evidence regarding its capacity to make valuable contributions towards the resolution of the global problématique. This paper defines and clarifies a role for systems scientists in the context of these contributions. The results of an actual generic design session exploring this role in the context of a global problématique is presented for discussion to further work towards implementing generic design science in the systems science community.We have heard our age described as the age of systems, the information age, and the post-industrial age. While it may be all of these things, it is surely an age of design. Design is the manifestation of our knowledge and feelings, as translated into the great variety of artifacts that modify our way of life. Design is a process of creating alternatives to augment those provided by nature.Warfield [12, p. 725]
Research Interests:
Abstract: THE PROBLEMS OF OUR AGING URBAN AREAS ARE EXAMINED BY USING RECENTLY DEVELOPED METHODS FOR UNDERSTANDING COMPLEX SOCIAL SYSTEMS. THE PLIGHT OF OUR OLDER CITIES IS TODAY THE SOCIAL PROBLEM OF ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The HeartWare HVAD (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN) is a continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (LVAD) approved by the FDA in 2012 as a bridge to transplant in patients with end-stage left ventricular heart failure. The current inflow... more
The HeartWare HVAD (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN) is a continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (LVAD) approved by the FDA in 2012 as a bridge to transplant in patients with end-stage left ventricular heart failure. The current inflow cannula has a smooth outer surface near the inflow edge and a sintered collar of titanium microspheres near the pump. A previous case series of HVAD patients bridged to transplant revealed thrombus on the outer surface of the inflow cannula in 8 of 8 patients, predominantly at the smooth-sintered interface, that was associated with a clinical stroke rate of 12.5%. Cases of HVAD devices removed at the time of heart transplant were identified in the surgical pathology database. The gross and microscopic findings were reviewed along with clinical data. A total of 22 patients with 24 HVAD implants diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy (13 patients), ischemic heart disease (4 patients), lymphocytic myocarditis (2 patients), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (2 patients), and congenital valvular disease (1 patient) were included. Two patients received two HVADs to provide biventricular support. All patients received post-implantation anti-coagulation with an INR goal of 2 to 3. Gross pathologic examination revealed thrombi on the outer aspect of the HVAD inflow cannula in 23 of 24 devices (96%). The inflow cannula of the one device that did not develop thrombus was positioned such that the smooth-sintered interface was buried in the ventricular myocardium and not in contact with blood in the ventricular chamber. Complications during the period of device support included 9 thromboembolic events (41%) including 6 ischemic strokes (27%), 2 intracoronary thromboembolic events and 1 splenic infarct. Patients suffered strokes 4 to 174 days (mean 82) after HVAD placement and had thrombus on the inflow cannula ranging in size from 0.1-2.5 cm (axial), 0.4-4.5 cm (circumferential) and 0.1-0.5 cm (thickness). Histologic evaluation revealed bland, partially organized thrombi without evidence of infection. Other complications included driveline infections (9%), non-driveline related bacteremia (9%) and hemorrhage (5%). We report here an extension of our original study to a total of 22 patients with 24 HVAD implants who were all successfully bridged to transplant. We validate the very high prevalence of thrombus around the HVAD inflow cannula, associated with a clinical thromboembolic event in over a third of the patients, the majority of which were strokes. The nidus for thrombus formation appears to be the smooth-sintered interface of the HVAD inflow cannula.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... QUESTION #1: “Suppose that in conducting a group dialogue we were able to practice: APPRECIATION OF THE DIVERSITY OF THE PERSPECTIVES OF OBSERVERS IS ESSENTIAL IN MANAGING COMPLEX SITUATIONS. ...
... 19X8: Warfield. 1999). The context of the next stage of dialogue shifts to “How ('(I~I \c'r do wlurt 1t.c' .should do?” The participants generate and clarify options for addressing tht: pattern of challenges.... more
... 19X8: Warfield. 1999). The context of the next stage of dialogue shifts to “How ('(I~I \c'r do wlurt 1t.c' .should do?” The participants generate and clarify options for addressing tht: pattern of challenges. Participants develop affinity clusters by exploring the Page 11. ...
The contents are as follows: Appendix A - Questionnaires; Appendix B - Forecasts; Appendix C - Assessments; Appendix D - Miscellaneous materials.
Research Interests:
An agenda for technology assessment in the field of materials was developed through a process of dialogue among experts by use of a procedure known as a 'science forum'. The science forum is intended to promote consensus through a... more
An agenda for technology assessment in the field of materials was developed through a process of dialogue among experts by use of a procedure known as a 'science forum'. The science forum is intended to promote consensus through a dialectic that synthesizes the views from differing perspectives. In this project two science forums were conducted. In the first, the views
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT The chapter is based on a forthcoming book titled Dialogue for the Information Age Democracy. It focuses on the critical role of dialogue in the evolutionary guidance of social systems. It presents findings from grounded... more
ABSTRACT The chapter is based on a forthcoming book titled Dialogue for the Information Age Democracy. It focuses on the critical role of dialogue in the evolutionary guidance of social systems. It presents findings from grounded theoretical research starting with the Club of Rome prospectus on The Predicament of Mankind in 1970 (http://www.cwaltd.com/pdf/clubrome.pdf). This research led to the discovery of a disciplined dialogue paradigm called Structured Design Process (SDP). The SDP is suitable for engaging stakeholders in designing their social systems in the context of the escalating complexity of the Information Age. The paradigm is founded on a new geometry for languaging, called Archanesian, which postulates three axioms: (a) the escalating complexity of social systems designing, (b) the cognitive limitations of the observer in processing too many observations simultaneously, and (c) the difficulty in determining the relative saliency of observations. These three axioms become the foundation for the construction of terminology, methodology, and architecture for the SDP. In this chapter I will focus primarily on the architecture, which is composed of 35 components, six of which are laws discovered by systems thinkers of the 20th century. The six laws and their interactions in the context of structured dialogue for the production of meaning and community wisdom (DEMOSOPHIA) are presented in the chapter. The SDP has been applied for the last twenty years to address national, international, and inter-organizational design challenges. The results have been extraordinarily satisfactory to the practitioners and participants of these projects. A brief story from the design arena will also be presented.
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT
Research Interests:
The goal of this study was to compare the performance of cancellous and cortical screws for plate and screw fixation of the sternum. Pelvic bone plates were fixated to osteoporotic sternum in both unicortical and bicortical configurations... more
The goal of this study was to compare the performance of cancellous and cortical screws for plate and screw fixation of the sternum. Pelvic bone plates were fixated to osteoporotic sternum in both unicortical and bicortical configurations and then loaded transversely (0-50N at 2Hz) for 15,000 cycles. The resulting plate displacement was measured continuously. In the first 10 cycles bicortical
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... The 'Lexus' represents the latest advances in technology for high-quality automated car production by the Japanese auto industry. ... evolution and should enable all the civilizations of planet earth to engage in a dialogue... more
... The 'Lexus' represents the latest advances in technology for high-quality automated car production by the Japanese auto industry. ... evolution and should enable all the civilizations of planet earth to engage in a dialogue among civilizations as defined by Herman Lopez-Garay ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This paper was delivered as the Presidential address for the 47th International Society for the Systems Sciences Annual Conference in Crete, Greece. It builds and elaborates on the theme of the conference, which was ‘Conscious Evolution... more
This paper was delivered as the Presidential address for the 47th International Society for the Systems Sciences Annual Conference in Crete, Greece. It builds and elaborates on the theme of the conference, which was ‘Conscious Evolution of Humanity: Using Systems Thinking to Construct Agoras of the Global Village’. The role of true dialogue in the context of the trends towards globalization, and the predicament of indigenous people to sustain democracy and cultural dignity and autonomy, are discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Research Interests: Globalization, Meaning, Autonomy, Multidisciplinary, Learning, and 3 moreParsimony, Variety, and Saliency
Forty Indigenous leaders from the Americas and New Zealand and several non-Indigenous participants sitting in the traditional Comanche Tribe circle began the forum by sharing their ‘medicine’—inner strength or personal power. They evoked... more
Forty Indigenous leaders from the Americas and New Zealand and several non-Indigenous participants sitting in the traditional Comanche Tribe circle began the forum by sharing their ‘medicine’—inner strength or personal power. They evoked in various ways a common deep spirituality based on a respect for the earth, ancestors, family, and peaceful coexistence. The purpose of the forum was to create, through true dialogue, a shared understanding of the barriers that will need to be addressed in the enhancement of liberating transnational interactions among emerging Indigenous leaders in the context of globalization. Finding patterns of effective interactions was the primary task of the forum participants. The fact that the participants are searching for ‘patterns of meaning’ implies that what they strive for is to integrate the intangible of traditional core cultural values into a contemporary reality. In the forum, the group identified effective, practical means that embody Indigeneity. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.