Where does regulation collide?

The cellular control of when a gene is switched on or off and how much of its product is made, so that a cell builds proteins only when they are needed. Jacob and Monod's 1961 Genetic regulatory mechanisms in the synthesis of proteins introduced the operon, in which a repressor protein binds an operator and blocks transcription until a signal releases it, giving the first mechanism for regulated gene activity. Here the referent is a molecular switch inside a cell, and it has nothing to do with a government rule over a market, a person managing their feelings, or a device holding a voltage steady.[1]

Unit

The on or off state and output level of a gene, per cell

Recovery means

The repressor rebinds when the inducing signal fades, returning the gene to its off state

Measured by

Assayed by the amount of messenger RNA or protein a gene produces under different conditions

The use of legal rules and public authority to constrain how firms and markets behave, covering prices, entry, safety, and disclosure. Stigler's 1971 The theory of economic regulation argued that regulation is often acquired by an industry and designed for its benefit, treating the rules as something interest groups demand and supply rather than a neutral public good. Here the referent is a body of law and policy that governs economic activity, and it is unrelated to a switch on a gene, a person calming an emotion, or a circuit fixing an output.[2]

Unit

A rule or regime governing a market or firm

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Studied through the rules on the books and their measured effects on prices, entry, and output

The processes by which people influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express them. Gross's 1998 The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review set out a process model that places these efforts at points from choosing a situation through reappraising its meaning to suppressing an outward response. This emotion strand is close in spirit to the site's separate pages on emotion regulation and self-regulation, which cover the broader control of thought and behavior, but here the referent is a person managing a feeling, not a gene, a market rule, or a voltage.[3]

Unit

An attempt to change an emotion's onset, strength, or expression

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Assessed by self-report questionnaires and by behavioral, physiological, and expressive responses in the lab

In control theory, regulation is the task of holding a system's output at a fixed target, or setpoint, despite disturbances, as a voltage regulator holds an output voltage steady when the load changes. Francis and Wonham's 1976 The internal model principle of control theory showed that to reject a class of disturbances and track a reference exactly, the controller must contain a model of that reference or disturbance. Here the referent is an engineered feedback loop keeping a measured quantity on target, and it is distinct from a gene switch, a law governing a market, or a person managing a feeling.[4]

Unit

The steady output of a controlled system relative to its setpoint

Recovery means

The feedback loop drives the output back toward the setpoint after a disturbance

Measured by

Quantified by the steady-state error and how well the output tracks the setpoint under disturbance