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Entropy
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Probability, Entropy, Information, and Semiosis in Living Systems
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Probability, Entropy, Information, and Semiosis in Living Systems

A special issue of Entropy (ISSN 1099-4300). This special issue belongs to the section "Information Theory, Probability and Statistics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2023) | Viewed by 3586

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Toshiyuki Nakajima

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biology, Ehime University, Matsuyama, Ehime 790-8577, Japan
Interests: probability; entropy; information; semiosis; brain; consciousness; adaptation; evolution; fundamental principles of living systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The core properties of living systems, such as cells and organisms, are the capability of (i) self-making, (ii) adaptation to the environment, (iii) reproduction, and (iv) evolution. Concepts of probability, entropy, and information are essential to explore the general principles underlying these properties and integrate various disciplines in biology.

Probability represents the subjective degree of certainty or the objective relative frequency (or propensity) of an event. Entropy represents the subjective uncertainty of event distribution or the objective disorder of material states. Information represents subjective cognition that reduces uncertainty or the material interactions transmitting the order. However, these concepts are intertwined and complicated. They involve subjective and objective notions, causing controversial issues depending on their different interpretations under the same mathematical formalism.

Furthermore, the meaning aspects of information, such as codes, signals, and signs, are essential to understand living systems because they are teleonomic (goal-directed). Such a “qualitative (or relational)” process producing meaning, i.e., semiosis, has yet to be integrated with the “quantitative” information described by Shannon’s theory.

We, therefore, need synthetic theoretical foundations to understand life effectively. This Special Issue aims to provide a forum for exchanging ideas on probability, entropy, information, and semiosis to create a new stage of the synthetic framework of living systems. Specifically, potential contributions may include, but are not restricted to, information-theoretic studies focusing on particular systems or processes, including living cells, organisms, and brains; signal transduction; embryonic development; consciousness; semiosis; animal or plant intelligence; evolution; or the origin of life.

Prof. Dr. Toshiyuki Nakajima
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Entropy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • living systems
  • information
  • (un)certainty
  • order
  • meaning
  • code
  • signal
  • sign
  • adaptation
  • intelligence

Published Papers (3 papers)

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25 pages, 3454 KiB  
Article
Biodiversity and Constrained Information Dynamics in Ecosystems: A Framework for Living Systems
by Kazufumi Hosoda, Shigeto Seno, Rikuto Kamiura, Naomi Murakami and Michio Kondoh
Entropy 2023, 25(12), 1624; https://doi.org/10.3390/e25121624 - 05 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1052
Abstract
The increase in ecosystem biodiversity can be perceived as one of the universal processes converting energy into information across a wide range of living systems. This study delves into the dynamics of living systems, highlighting the distinction between ex post adaptation, typically associated [...] Read more.
The increase in ecosystem biodiversity can be perceived as one of the universal processes converting energy into information across a wide range of living systems. This study delves into the dynamics of living systems, highlighting the distinction between ex post adaptation, typically associated with natural selection, and its proactive counterpart, ex ante adaptability. Through coalescence experiments using synthetic ecosystems, we (i) quantified ecosystem stability, (ii) identified correlations between some biodiversity indexes and the stability, (iii) proposed a mechanism for increasing biodiversity through moderate inter-ecosystem interactions, and (iv) inferred that the information carrier of ecosystems is species composition, or merged genomic information. Additionally, it was suggested that (v) changes in ecosystems are constrained to a low-dimensional state space, with three distinct alteration trajectories—fluctuations, rapid environmental responses, and long-term changes—converging into this state space in common. These findings suggest that daily fluctuations may predict broader ecosystem changes. Our experimental insights, coupled with an exploration of living systems’ information dynamics from an ecosystem perspective, enhance our predictive capabilities for natural ecosystem behavior, providing a universal framework for understanding a broad spectrum of living systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Probability, Entropy, Information, and Semiosis in Living Systems)
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10 pages, 221 KiB  
Article
Semiosis as a Source of Providing Empirical Phenomena with a New Type of Cohesion
by Koichiro Matsuno
Entropy 2023, 25(8), 1173; https://doi.org/10.3390/e25081173 - 07 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 714
Abstract
Embodying the indexical signs is vital to semiosis as a cohesive material agency mediating between consequents and antecedents. One unique factor of biology compared with standard physics and chemistry is the cohesion enabling the biological components, codes and organizations to accommodate themselves with [...] Read more.
Embodying the indexical signs is vital to semiosis as a cohesive material agency mediating between consequents and antecedents. One unique factor of biology compared with standard physics and chemistry is the cohesion enabling the biological components, codes and organizations to accommodate themselves with a specific material embodiment. Every individual body is uniquely biological and requires a specific cohesion of material origin for its own sake that could not be found in the non-living material world. The relevant cohesion comes from the exchange interaction of the atomic quantum particles, such as the carbon atoms, which is far greater than the electrons as a common exchange mediator adopted for the spatial cohesion ubiquitous in physics and chemistry. What is specific to the temporal cohesion latent in the atomic exchange is the immutable identity of the individual quantum particle surviving only over a limited time, while being constantly alternated with the new ones of the same kinds in a successive manner. Semiosis is supported by the underlying teleonomic cohesion, such that the preceding temporal cohesion may constantly induce the succeeding similar one ad infinitum. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Probability, Entropy, Information, and Semiosis in Living Systems)

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16 pages, 305 KiB  
Perspective
Toward the Relational Formulation of Biological Thermodynamics
by Abir U. Igamberdiev
Entropy 2024, 26(1), 43; https://doi.org/10.3390/e26010043 - 31 Dec 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1189
Abstract
Classical thermodynamics employs the state of thermodynamic equilibrium, characterized by maximal disorder of the constituent particles, as the reference frame from which the Second Law is formulated and the definition of entropy is derived. Non-equilibrium thermodynamics analyzes the fluxes of matter and energy [...] Read more.
Classical thermodynamics employs the state of thermodynamic equilibrium, characterized by maximal disorder of the constituent particles, as the reference frame from which the Second Law is formulated and the definition of entropy is derived. Non-equilibrium thermodynamics analyzes the fluxes of matter and energy that are generated in the course of the general tendency to achieve equilibrium. The systems described by classical and non-equilibrium thermodynamics may be heuristically useful within certain limits, but epistemologically, they have fundamental problems in the application to autopoietic living systems. We discuss here the paradigm defined as a relational biological thermodynamics. The standard to which this refers relates to the biological function operating within the context of particular environment and not to the abstract state of thermodynamic equilibrium. This is defined as the stable non-equilibrium state, following Ervin Bauer. Similar to physics, where abandoning the absolute space-time resulted in the application of non-Euclidean geometry, relational biological thermodynamics leads to revealing the basic iterative structures that are formed as a consequence of the search for an optimal coordinate system by living organisms to maintain stable non-equilibrium. Through this search, the developing system achieves the condition of maximization of its power via synergistic effects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Probability, Entropy, Information, and Semiosis in Living Systems)
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