Complexity Digest 2002.35

02-Sep-2002

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Content

  1. 7th Experimental Chaos Conference, San Diego, Ca, 02/08/26-29, Video/Audio Report
  2. An Extremely Simple Game With (Mostly) Unattainable Fixed Points, Complexity
  3. The Origins of Human Cooperation, SFI Working Papers
    1. Genealogical Evidence For Epidemics Of Selfish Genes, PNAS
    2. Ancient Ways, Harsh Terrain and Many Bugs, NYTimes
  4. Cool Cats Lose Out in the Mane Event, Science
    1. Sexual Selection, Temperature, and the Lion's Mane, Science
  5. Disarming The Mustard Oil Bomb, PNAS
  6. New Alzheimer's Treatments That May Ease the Mind, Science
    1. Scientists Improve Memory in Mice, Yahoo/AP
    2. Autism Link To 'Geek Genes', BBC
  7. Radical Concept Nativism, Cognition
    1. Rule Learning by Cotton-top Tamarins, Cognition
    2. Out of the Mouths of Babes Come Real Words, Yahoo/Reuters
  8. Organizational Design, Information Transfer, And Rent-Producing Resources, Comp. & Math. Org. Theory
  9. Can There Be a Science of Simulation? Why Should We Care?, Modeling & Simulation Magazine
  10. All About Me: Left Brain May Shine Spotlight On Self, Science News
  11. The Age of Assisted Cognition, Wired
    1. Transitions Between Dynamical States Of Differing Stability In The Human Brain, PNAS
    2. Does Schmoozing Make Robots Clever?, CNET News
  12. On the Emergence of Rules in Neural Networks, Neural Comp
  13. Evolutionary Neural Network Method in Predicting Pollutant Levels, Neurocomputing
  14. Water and Ice, Science
    1. Structural Studies of Several Distinct Metastable Forms of Amorphous Ice, Science
    2. Drops: The Collapse Of Capillary Jets, PNAS
  15. Physical Oceanography: Inside Whitecaps, Nature
    1. Scale Dependence Of Bubble Creation Mechanisms In Breaking Waves, Nature
  16. Prince of Dendrites?, Science
    1. Binary Genetic Switch Between Single- and Multiple- Dendrite Neuron Morphology, Science
  17. A Fresh Take on Disorder, Or Disorderly Science?, Science
  18. Scientists Say Earth Formed Faster, Yahoo/AP
    1. Forecast for Future: Deluge and Drought, NYTimes
    2. Atmospheric Science: Lasing On A Cloudy Afternoon, Nature
  19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
    1. Homeland Insecurity, The Atlantic Monthly
    2. A Win for Open Trials,, NYTimes
    3. New Anthrax Cure Could End Resistant Biowar Threat, Yahoo/Reuters
    4. A Bacteriolytic Agent That Detects And Kills Bacillus anthracis, Nature
  20. Links & Snippets
    1. Other Publications
    2. Webcast Announcements

  1. 7th Experimental Chaos Conference, San Diego, Ca, 02/08/26-29, Video/Audio Report Next Article Bookmark and Share

    1. Interview: Prof. Harry Shul, UCSD, Banquet Speaker of the ECC7
    2. Interview: Prof. Boccaletti on Complexity and Chaos
    3. Chaotic Circuits Based On Dependent Switched Capacitors, Toshimichi Saito, Hidehiro Hakano
    4. Principal Curves And Chaos, Sandeep Rajput and Duane D. Bruns
    5. Anti-Bubbles, Alberto Tufaile and José Carlos Sartorelli
    6. Flamedoctor: Nonlinear Burner Diagonistic System, Ralph Bailey, Stuart Daw, Charles Finney, Tom Flynn, Tim Fuller
    7. Phase Synchronization In Populations Of Chaotic Electrochemical Oscillators, Istvan Z. Kiss, Yumei Zhai, and John L. Hudson
    8. Estimating Good Discrete Partitions From Observed Data: Symbolic False Nearest Neighbors, Matthew B. Kennel, Michael Buhl
    9. Searching For Non-Linearities In Natural Language, Kiril Ribarov and Otakar Smr
    10. A Very Simple And Fast Measure Of Synchronization And Delay Between Signals, R. Quian Quiroga, T. Kreuz, P. Grassberger
    11. Phase Synchronization Of Shil'nikov Chaos In Coupled Chua's Oscillators, Syamal Kumar Dana, Prodyot Kumar Roy

  2. An Extremely Simple Game With (Mostly) Unattainable Fixed Points, Complexity Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Abstract: Equilibrium analysis pervades mathematical social science. This paper calls into question the explanatory significance of equilibrium by offering an extremely simple game, most of whose equilibria are unattainable in principle from any of its initial conditions. Moreover, the number of computation steps required to reach those (few) equilibria that are attainable is shown to grow exponentially with the number of players - making long-run equilibrium a poor predictor of the game's observed state. The paper also poses a number of combinatorially challenging problems raised by the game.

  3. The Origins of Human Cooperation, SFI Working Papers Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Abstract: Biological explanations of cooperation are based on kin altruism, reciprocal altruism, and mutualism, all of which apply to human and nonhuman species alike. But human cooperation is based in part on capacities that are unique to, or at least much more highly developed in, "Homo sapiens." We seek an explanation of cooperation that works for humans, but does not work for other species, or works substantially less well. Central to our explanation will be human cognitive, linguistic, and physical capacities that allow the formulation of general norms of social conduct, the emergence of social institutions regulating this conduct, the psychological capacity to internalize norms, and the basing of group membership on such non-kin characteristics as ethnicity and linguistic behavior, which facilitate highly costly conflicts among groups. We show that these could have coevolved with other human traits in a plausible representation of the relevant environments. (...)

    Editor's Note: For some reason the authors do not mention some other important papers on the origins of cooperation by other authors affilited with the same Santa Fe Institute (see below).


    1. Genealogical Evidence For Epidemics Of Selfish Genes, PNAS Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Some genetic elements spread infectiously in populations by increasing their rate of genetic transmission at the expense of other genes in the genome. These so-called selfish genetic elements comprise a substantial portion of eukaryotic genomes and have long been viewed as a potent evolutionary force. (...)We provide evidence that evolution of cytoplasmic male sterility has been characterized by frequent turnovers of mutations in natural populations, thus supporting an epidemic model for the evolution of selfish genes, where new mutations repeatedly arise and rapidly sweep through populations.

    2. Ancient Ways, Harsh Terrain and Many Bugs, NYTimes Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpt: The Chimane are living as our ancient forebears did, without market economies, health care or schools, and what we hope to learn from them is what happened to humans at the end of the Pleistocene - about 12,000 years ago, when they stopped living in small hunting bands and began living in villages and growing their own food. This was a big change in human demography, a major transition in human health.

      The anthropologists among us will be investigating what makes a good hunter or fisherman or farmer or weaver.


  4. Cool Cats Lose Out in the Mane Event, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpt: The image of a roaring male African lion with full flowing mane is for many people the very icon of wild nature. But precisely why lions have manes has never been nailed down. On page 1339, researchers provide evidence for the often-cited assumption that the mane is a signal advertising the animal's condition, which females use to choose mates and males use to assess rivals.

    In an apparent evolutionary tradeoff, however, manes also impose a cost on males by increasing their heat load.


    1. Sexual Selection, Temperature, and the Lion's Mane, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpt: The mane of the African lion (Panthera leo) is a highly variable trait that reflects male condition and ambient temperature. We examined the consequences of this variation in a long-term study of lions in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Mane darkness indicates nutrition and testosterone and influences both female choice and male-male competition. Mane length signals fighting success and only appears to influence male-male assessment. Dark-maned males enjoy longer reproductive life-spans and higher offspring survival, but they suffer higher surface temperatures, abnormal sperm, (...)


  5. Disarming The Mustard Oil Bomb, PNAS Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Abstract: Plants are attacked by a broad array of herbivores and pathogens. In response, plants deploy an arsenal of defensive traits. In Brassicaceae, the glucosinolate-myrosinase complex is a sophisticated two-component system to ward off opponents. However, this so-called "mustard oil bomb" is disarmed by a glucosinolate sulfatase of a crucifer specialist insect, diamondback moth, (...). Sulfatase activity of this enzyme largely prevents the formation of toxic hydrolysis products arising from this plant defense system. Importantly, the enzyme acts on all major classes of glucosinolates, thus enabling diamondback moths to use a broad range of cruciferous host plants.
    • Disarming The Mustard Oil Bomb, Andreas Ratzka, Heiko Vogel, Daniel J. Kliebenstein, Thomas Mitchell-, Olds, and Juergen Kroymann, PNAS 2002;99 11223-11228

  6. New Alzheimer's Treatments That May Ease the Mind, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Summary: Alzheimer's researchers gathered here last month with a sense of urgency and optimism about possible treatments--and perhaps preventions--for the mind-robbing disease. The 4000 attendees heard about progress on several fronts, including possible vaccines and treatments aimed at either blocking formation of b-amyloid, a small peptide thought to trigger the loss of brain neurons, or at dissolving the abnormal b-amyloid deposits that are a hallmark of the disease. This special focus also explores a debate over which drugs to test in a prevention trial.

    1. Scientists Improve Memory in Mice, Yahoo/AP Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Scientists have boosted learning and memory in mice by blocking a brain enzyme, and they say the result could point to therapy for reducing forgetfulness in older people. They said the work implicates the enzyme, called PP1, as a key actor in the brain's system for erasing memories. Other scientists said it's unclear if the findings may lead to memory-enhancing therapies for older people, but they called the work important. (...) The enzyme was thought to play some role in erasing memories,(...)

    2. Autism Link To 'Geek Genes', BBC Next Article Bookmark and Share

      ExcerptsScientists strongly believe that autism is greatly influenced by genes.

      While children affected by it may lack key social skills, they often have remarkable abilities in other areas.

      Some doctors now think that workers who have the complex analytical skills needed to succeed in high-tech industry, and who are perhaps slightly awkward socially - the classic profile of the "computer geek" - may, while not fully autistic themselves, at least be carrying at least a few of the genes that contribute to it.


  7. Radical Concept Nativism, Cognition Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Contributing Editor's Note: Over the years, cognitive science has witnessed a debate on wether mechanisms used for language are innate or developed. The debate goes on.

    Abstract: Radical concept nativism is the thesis that virtually all lexical concepts are innate. Notoriously endorsed by Jerry Fodor, radical concept nativism has had few supporters. However, it has proven difficult to say exactly what's wrong with Fodor's argument. We show that previous responses are inadequate on a number of grounds. Chief among these is that they typically do not achieve sufficient distance from Fodor's dialectic, and, as a result, they do not illuminate the central question of how new primitive concepts are acquired. To achieve a fully satisfactory response to Fodor's argument, one has to juxtapose questions about conceptual content with questions about cognitive development. To this end, we formulate a general schema for thinking about how concepts are acquired and then present a detailed illustration.


    1. Rule Learning by Cotton-top Tamarins, Cognition Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Abstract: Previous work suggests that human infants are capable of rapidly generalizing patterns that have been characterized as abstract algebraic rules (...), a process that may play a pivotal role in language acquisition. Here we explore whether this capacity is uniquely human and evolved specifically for the computational problems associated with language, or whether this mechanism is shared with other species, and therefore evolved for problems other than language. We used the same materials and methods that were originally employed in tests of human infants to assess whether cotton-top tamarin monkeys can extract abstract algebraic rules. Specifically, we habituated subjects to sequences of consonant¯vowel syllables that followed one of two patterns, AAB (e.g. wi wi di) or ABB (le we we). Following habituation, we presented subjects with two novel test items, one with the same pattern as that presented during habituation and one with a different pattern. Like human infants, tamarins were more likely to dishabituate to the test item with a different pattern. We conclude that the capacity to generalize rule-like patterns, at least at the level demonstrated, did not evolve specifically for language acquisition, though it remains possible that infants might use such rules during language acquisition.


    2. Out of the Mouths of Babes Come Real Words, Yahoo/Reuters Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Baby babble is not a random exercise in mouth control, but a solid step toward speech, involving the left side of the brain where language originates, (...). Babies as young as five months old are engaging the left hemisphere of the brain, the researchers said. They can tell because the right side of the mouth deforms slightly when the babies babble -- a phenomenon well known in adult speech, (...)

      "When making vocalizations that are not babbling, it came out of the middle of the mouth. Smiles skewed to the left."


  8. Organizational Design, Information Transfer, And Rent-Producing Resources, Comp. & Math. Org. Theory Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Abstract: (...) a dynamic story has emerged in which the knowledge (...) influences the firm's ability to recognize the value of new resources and capabilities. This paper explores the possibility of firms to select organizational designs that increase the likelihood that they will recognize and value rent-producing resources and capabilities. A computational model is developed to study the tension between an organization's desire to explore its environment for new capabilities (...). In particular, evidence is provided that in uncertain environments, the ability to explore possible alternatives is critical while in more certain environments, the ability to transfer information internally is paramount.

  9. Can There Be a Science of Simulation? Why Should We Care?, Modeling & Simulation Magazine Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpt: To any traditional scientist, the mention of a "science" of simulation at best appears misinformed and at worst grates on the scientific sensibility worse than fingernails dragging across a chalkboard. Many have misappropriated the term science, even to the point of blaspheming its lofty ideals. Is a "science of simulation" not just such a case? But, a true scientist must examine every proposition, regardless of how absurd, scientifically. Let me begin this process by stating the hypothesis as "A science of simulation could exist," and proceed by trying to find any contradictions contained in that statement. 

     


  10. All About Me: Left Brain May Shine Spotlight On Self, Science News Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Plenty of evidence indicates that the recognition of familiar faces depends largely on structures on the right side of the brain's outer layer, or cortex. However, the brain appears to take a sharp left turn in fostering the ability to identify one's own face.

    That, at least, is the implication of experiments conducted with a so-called split-brain patient. (...)

    If confirmed in studies of people with intact brains, the new investigation indicates that left-brain networks assume primary responsibility for memories and knowledge about oneself, including the key visual distinction between "me" and "others,"


  11. The Age of Assisted Cognition, Wired Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Pervasive computing's earliest adapters will be old people, according to medical experts and AI gurus at a conference here hosted by Intel Research.

    Speakers at "Computing, Cognition and Caring for Future Elders" discussed infrared badges that track patients, mirrors that spot suspicious moles, accelerometers that detect falls, and computers that remind the incontinent to visit the toilet at regular intervals. (...)

    "The goal is not to have Spielberg's A.I. pop out the other end of this, but something that can learn, suggest, help and assist."


    1. Transitions Between Dynamical States Of Differing Stability In The Human Brain, PNAS Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: What mechanisms underlie the flexible formation, adaptation, synchronization, and dissolution of large-scale neural assemblies from the 1010 densely interconnected, continuously active neurons of the human brain? Nonlinear dynamics provides a unifying perspective on self-organization. It shows that the emergence of patterns in open, nonequilibrium systems is governed by their stability in response to small disturbances and predicts macroscopic transitions between patterns of differing stability. Here, we directly demonstrate that such transitions can be elicited in the human brain by interference at the neural level.

    2. Does Schmoozing Make Robots Clever?, CNET News Next Article Bookmark and Share

      (...) breakthrough that will take robots beyond the Aibo stage will come from allowing them to express themselves--through interaction and through forming their own languages and even "cultures"--rather than from focusing strictly on how individual machines behave. (...)

      Today, development tends to focus on machines that have increasingly complex behaviors and can learn new behaviors. In contrast, Steels sees robots progressing by learning to form concepts they can swap with other robots, thereby developing their own "minds," just as humans do.

        


  12. On the Emergence of Rules in Neural Networks, Neural Comp Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: A simple associationist neural network learns to factor abstract rules (i.e., grammars) from sequences of arbitrary input symbols by inventing abstract representations that accommodate unseen symbol sets as well as unseen but similar grammars. (...) Generalization to new symbol sets or grammars arises from the spatial nature of the internal representations used by the network, allowing new symbol sets to be encoded close to symbol sets that have already been learned in the hidden unit space of the network.

  13. Evolutionary Neural Network Method in Predicting Pollutant Levels, Neurocomputing Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Abstract: Air pollution emerges as an imminent issue in metropolitan cities like Hong Kong, and attracts much attention in recent years. Prediction of pollutant levels and their tendency is an important topic in environmental science today. To achieve such prediction tasks, the use of neural network (NN), in particular, the multi-layer perceptron, is regarded as a cost-effective technique superior to traditional statistical methods. But the training of the multi-layer perceptron, normally featured with back-propagation (BP) algorithm or other gradient algorithms, still faces certain drawbacks, e.g., very slow convergence, easily getting stuck in a local minimum, etc. In this paper, a newly developed method, particle swarm optimization (PSO) model, is adopted to train the perceptron and to predict the pollutant levels. As a result, a new neural network model, PSO-based approach, is established and completed. The approach is proved to be feasible and effective by applying to some real air-quality problems and by comparing with the simple BP algorithm.

  14. Water and Ice, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    The water phase diagram is extraordinarily complex. In addition to numerous solid phases of ice, studies have pointed to the existence of distinct amorphous phases. It has even been proposed that there may be a liquid-liquid critical point, where two different liquid phases coexist. (...) Tulk et al., whose results provide evidence against distinct amorphous phases. These phases were believed to be the low-temperature manifestations of the two liquid forms of water. The work raises doubts about the idea that there is a liquid-liquid phase separation in low-temperature water.
    • Water and Ice, Alan K. Soper, Science 2002 August 23; 297(5585): p. 1288-1289

     


    1. Structural Studies of Several Distinct Metastable Forms of Amorphous Ice, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Structural changes during annealing of high-density amorphous ice were studied with both neutron and x-ray diffraction. The first diffraction peak was followed from the high- to the low-density amorphous form. Changes were observed to occur through a series of intermediate forms that appear to be metastable at each anneal temperature. (...) Radial distribution functions indicate that the structure evolves systematically between 4 and 8 angstroms. The phase transformations in low-temperature liquid water may be much more complex than currently understood.


    2. Drops: The Collapse Of Capillary Jets, PNAS Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: The appearance of fluid filaments during the evolution of a viscous fluid jet is a commonly observed phenomenon. It is shown here that the break-up of such a jet subject to capillary forces is impossible through the collapse of a uniform filament.

      The formation of thinning filaments is commonly observed previously to the break-up of a viscous jet.

      (...)subject has recently gained considerable momentum. (...) due to the technological importance of controlling the drops generation mechanism, which is relevant, for example, to the modern ink-jet printing systems.

       


  15. Physical Oceanography: Inside Whitecaps, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpt: Innovative experiments have provided new insights into how bubbles are created by breaking waves. These findings might ultimately lead to more accurate models of global climate.

    When ocean waves break, air and sea water mix to form whitecaps. Beneath the surface of the whitecap, a mixture of air and sea water form a violent turbulent flow known as a bubble plume. The plumes generated by typical breaking waves evolve rapidly for approximately 10 seconds as large bubbles rise quickly back to the surface.


    1. Scale Dependence Of Bubble Creation Mechanisms In Breaking Waves, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Breaking ocean waves entrain air bubbles that enhance air-sea gas flux, produce aerosols, generate ambient noise and scavenge biological surfactants. (...)For bubbles larger than about 1 mm, turbulent fragmentation determines bubble size distribution, resulting in a bubble density proportional to the bubble radius to the power of -10/3. Smaller bubbles are created by jet and drop impact on the wave face, with a -3/2 power-law scaling. The length scale separating these processes is the scale where turbulent fragmentation ceases, also known as the Hinze scale.

       


  16. Prince of Dendrites?, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpt: Neurons obtain signaling information through their dendrites, which may range in structure from simple thin extensions of the cell body to complex branched outreaches. Studying the ventral pore sensory organs of fruit fly, Moore et al. (p. 1355) find that the complexity of the dendritic arbor is regulated by a single gene, hamlet. Genetic manipulations that raised or decreased hamlet protein expression from its normal levels caused the local progenitor cell to produce neurons with single dendrites or with complex dendritic arbors during the early stages of neuronal development.

    1. Binary Genetic Switch Between Single- and Multiple- Dendrite Neuron Morphology, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Summary: Neurons obtain signaling information through their dendrites, which may range in structure from simple thin extensions of the cell body to complex branched outreaches. Studying the ventral pore sensory organs of fruit fly, Moore et al. (p. 1355) find that the complexity of the dendritic arbor is regulated by a single gene, hamlet. Genetic manipulations that raised or decreased hamlet protein expression from its normal levels caused the local progenitor cell to produce neurons with single dendrites or with complex dendritic arbors during the early stages of neuronal development. Analyses of the gene sequence and subcellular localization suggest that hamlet might encode a transcription factor.


  17. A Fresh Take on Disorder, Or Disorderly Science?, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: A maverick physicist has proposed a new definition of entropy, and his idea has split the small and already contentious community of statistical physicists like a cue ball opening a game of pool. Supporters say the new definition extends the reach of statistical mechanics to important new classes of problems. Skeptics counter that the new theory amounts to little more than fiddling with a fudge factor.

    The new definition gives insight into the myriad physical systems that verge on a kind of not-quite-random unpredictability called "chaos,"(...)


  18. Scientists Say Earth Formed Faster, Yahoo/AP Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Scientists have found evidence that Earth made its final step to planet status about 30 million years earlier than previous research had suggested.

    Working independently, two groups of scientists analyzed meteorites that contain telltale clues about planetary formation and compared them to rocks from Earth.

    (...) Earth's metallic core formed about 30 million years after the solar system's birth.

    The findings contrast with 1995 research that suggested Earth's core formed about 60 million years after the sun condensed at the center of a swirling disc of gas and dust.


    1. Forecast for Future: Deluge and Drought, NYTimes Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpt: It has been a summer of extremes. Rains have deluged Europe and Asia, swamping cities and villages and killing some 2,000 people, while drought and heat have seared the American West and Eastern cities. What is going on?

      The floods and droughts could simply be flickers in the inherently chaotic weather system, some experts say. But many warn that such extremes will be increasingly common as the world grows warmer.

      Such a shift could pose big problems in places where water is already a strained resource, they say.


    2. Atmospheric Science: Lasing On A Cloudy Afternoon, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Brief, high-intensity laser pulses can cause water droplets to emit white light. The technique can potentially be used to analyse the composition of clouds and shed light on how clouds may be affecting climate.

      Understanding the role of clouds is one of the major obstacles to successfully modelling Earth's climate. Clouds in the troposphere, the lowest region of Earth's atmosphere, contain water droplets and ice particles ranging in diameter from a few micrometres to tens of millimetres.

       


  19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpt: Schneier is hardly against technology-he's the sort of person who immediately cases public areas for outlets to recharge the batteries in his laptop, phone, and other electronic prostheses. "But if you think technology can solve your security problems," he says, "then you don't understand the problems and you don't understand the technology." Indeed, he regards the national push for a high-tech salve for security anxieties as a reprise of his own early and erroneous beliefs about the transforming power of strong crypto.
    • Homeland Insecurity, A top expert says America's approach to protecting itself will only make matters worse. Forget "foolproof" technology-we need systems designed to fail smartly, Charles C. Mann, The Atlantic Monthly | September 2002

    1. Homeland Insecurity, The Atlantic Monthly Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Declaring that "democracies die behind closed doors," a federal appeals court in Cincinnati ruled on Monday that the government cannot hold secret deportation hearings for people suspected of ties to terrorism. The decision is the most powerful rebuke yet to the Bush administration's policy of flouting the Bill of Rights in the name of national security.

      The ruling, from a unanimous three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, came in the case of Rabih Haddad. (...) who overstayed his visa (...).


    2. A Win for Open Trials,, NYTimes Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: The scientists, investigating the biowarfare agent anthrax, say they have found a form of treatment that may make it virtually impossible for anthrax germs to mutate into a resistant strain.

      Similar methods could be used to fight a host of other infections, opening a new approach to the treatment of disease, (...).

      It was the first time scientists had treated bacteria with the proteins used by bacteria-killing viruses, which the team said could provide "an enormous untapped pool" of new treatments for bacterial diseases of all kinds.


    3. New Anthrax Cure Could End Resistant Biowar Threat, Yahoo/Reuters Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: We exploited the inherent binding specificity and lytic action of bacteriophage enzymes called lysins for the rapid detection and killing of B. anthracis. Here we show that the PlyG lysine, (...) specifically kills B. anthracis (...). Both vegetative cells and germinating spores are susceptible. The lytic specificity of PlyG was also exploited as part of a rapid method for the identification of B. anthracis. We conclude that PlyG is a tool for the treatment and detection of B. anthracis.

       


    4. A Bacteriolytic Agent That Detects And Kills Bacillus anthracis, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

  20. Links & Snippets Next Article Bookmark and Share

    1. The Effect of Viscosity on the Perception of Flavour, T.A. Hollowood, R.S.T. Linforth, A.J. Taylor, Chem. Senses 2002 September 1; 27(7): p. 583-591
    2. Period-Doubling Bifurcations From Breaking The Spherical Symmetry In Sonoluminescence: Experimental Verification, Dam JS, Levinsen MT, Skogstad M, Phys Rev Lett 2002 Aug 19 89(8): p. 084303
    3. Optical Barcoding Of Colloidal Suspensions: Applications In Genomics, Proteomics And Drug Discovery, Battersby BJ, Lawrie GA, Johnston AP, Trau M, Chem Commun (Camb) 2002 Jul 21 (14): p. 1435-41
    4. Inactivation of CMP-N-Acetylneuraminic Acid Hydroxylase Occurred Prior To Brain Expansion During Human Evolution, Hsun-Hua Chou, Toshiyuki Hayakawa, Sandra Diaz, Matthias Krings, Etty, Indriati, Meave Leakey, Svante Paabo, Yoko Satta, Naoyuki Takahata, Ajit Varki, PNAS published 21 August 2002, 10.1073/pnas.182257399
    5. Dissecting the Genetic Complexity of the Association between Human Leukocyte Antigens and Rheumatoid Arthritis, Jawaheer D, Li W, Graham RR, Chen W, Damle A, Xiao X, Monteiro J, Khalili H, Lee A, Lundsten R, Begovich A, Bugawan T, Erlich H, Elder, JT, Criswell LA, Seldin MF, Amos CI, Behrens TW, and Gregersen PK, Am J Hum Genet 2002 Sep 71(3): p. 585-94
    6. Structure of the Golgi and Distribution of Reporter Molecules at 20 degrees, C Reveals the Complexity of the Exit Compartments, Ladinsky MS, Wu CC, McIntosh S, McIntosh JR, Howell KE, Mol Biol Cell 2002 Aug 13(8): p. 2810-25
    7. Extinction Rates Under Nonrandom Patterns Of Habitat Loss, Eric W. Seabloom, Andy P. Dobson, David M. Stoms, PNAS 2002;99 11229-11234
    8. Massive Cross-Modal Cortical Plasticity And The Emergence Of A New Cortical Area In Developmentally Blind Mammals, Dianna M. Kahn, Leah Krubitzer, PNAS 2002;99 11429-11434
    9. Dissociable Prefrontal Brain Systems For Attention And Emotion, Hiroshi Yamasaki, Kevin S. LaBar, and Gregory McCarthy, PNAS 2002;99 11447-11451, The prefrontal cortex has been implicated in a variety of attentional, executive, and mnemonic mental operations, yet its functional organization is still highly debated.
    10. Neural Processing Of Emotional Faces Requires Attention, L. Pessoa, M. McKenna, E. Gutierrez, L. G. Ungerleider, PNAS 2002;99 11458-11463, Attention gates the processing of stimuli relatively early in visual cortex. Yet, existing data suggest that emotional stimuli activate brain regions automatically, largely immune from attentional control.
    11. The Complexity Of Multiple Variables, Clin Nurs Res 2002 Aug 11(3): p. 239-41
    12. Ecological Effects of Climate Fluctuations, Nils Chr. Stenseth, Atle Mysterud, Geir Ottersen, James W. Hurrell, Kung-Sik Chan, Mauricio Lima, Science Aug 23 2002: 1292-1296
    13. Design Of Trend-Identification Algorithms With Learning (Algebraic Approach), Comp. Math. And Modeling, K. V. Rudakov, Yu. V. Chekhovich, Comp. Math. and Modeling, 13 (3): 281-293, July-September, 2002
    14. Assessing The Level Of Compromise In Real Choice Models, V. S. Levchenkov, L. G. Levchenkova, Comp. Math. and Modeling, 13 (3): 263-280, July-September, 2002
    15. Capturing And Tuning Nonlinear Characteristics Of Economic Stabilization Systems By Fuzzy Control Techniques, V. Georgescu, Comp. Economics, 19 (3): 247-271, June 2002
    16. Generalized Winner-Relaxing Kohonen Self-Organizing Feature Maps , Jens Christian Claussen, arXiv Paper ID: cond-mat/0208414. 21-Aug-2002.
    17. Coloring Random Graphs. R. Mulet, A. Pagnani, M. Weigt, R. Zecchina, arXiv.
    18. Aging in a Chaotic System. Eli Barkai, arXiv.
    19. A New Test for Chaos, Georg A. Gottwald, Ian Melbourne, arXiv Paper ID: nlin.CD/0208033. 27-Aug-2002
    20. Cooperative Supervised and Unsupervised Learning Algorithm for Phoneme Recognition in Continuous Speech and Speaker-independent Context, Najet Arous and Noureddine Ellouze, Neurocomputing, In Press

     

    Santa Fe Institute Working Papers

    1. Eigenvalue Spacings for Quantized Cat Maps, Alex Gamburd, John Lafferty, and Dan Rockmore, SFI WP 02-08-042
    2. How the Global Structure of Protein Interaction Networks Evolves, Andreas Wagner, SFI WP 02-08-041
    3. The Large-Scale Structure of Metabolic Networks: A Glimpse at Life's Origin?, Andreas Wagner, SFI WP 02-08-040
    4. Molecular Evolution in Large Genetic Networks: Connectivity Does not Equal Importance, Matthew W. Hahn, Gavin C. Conant, and Andreas Wagner, SFI WP 02-08-039
    5. GenomeHistory: A Software Tool and its Application to Fully Sequenced Genomes, Gavin C. Conant and Andreas Wagner, SFI WP 02-08-038
    6. Fragmentation of Clones: How Does it Influence Dispersal and Competitive Ability?, Beáta Oborny and Adám Kun, SFI WP 02-08-037
    7. Emergence from Local Evaluation Function, Han Jing and Cai Qingsheng, SFI WP 02-08-036
    8. The Origins of Human Cooperation, Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, SFI WP 02-08-035
    9. On the Evolution of Primitive Genetic Codes, Günter Weberndorfer, Ivo L. Hofacker, and Peter F. Stadler, SFI WP 02-08-034
    10. Wealth Inequality and Overexploitation of the Commons: Field Experiments in Colombia, Juan-Camilo Cardenas, SFI WP 02-08-033
    11. Economic and Social Exchange in Renaissance Florence, John F. Padgett and Paul D. McLean, SFI WP 02-07-032
    12. Symbolic Dynamics for Discrete Adaptive Games, Cosma Rohilla Shalizi and David J. Albers, SFI WP 02-07-031

    1. Other Publications Next Article Bookmark and Share

      1. Seventh International Conference on the Simulation of Adaptive Behavior, Edinburgh, UK, 02/08/04-11, Video/Audio Reports
      2. Audio Files Available From Smallpox Vaccination Forum, The National Academies' Institute of Medicine, 02/08/08
      3. Brookings Report Urges Congress to Revise President Bush's Homeland Security Proposal, A Brookings Press Briefing, 02/07/15, Event Video
      4. International Conference on Complex Systems (ICCS2002), Nashua, NH, 02/06/09-14 (video + mp3 downloadable audio)
      5. Understanding Complex Systems: Symposium Complexity in Physical and Biological Structures, Medicine & Ecology, Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 02/05/13-15
      6. ROBOT: The Future of Flesh and Machine, Rodney A. Brooks, MIT AI Lab, Talk given at the School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences of the University of Sussex, May 14th, 2002.
      7. Dean LeBaron's Archive of Daily Video Commentary, Ongoing Since February 1998

    2. Webcast Announcements Bookmark and Share

      1. Self-Organisation and Evolution of Social Behaviour, Monte Verità, Switzerland, 02/09/08-13
      2. Complex Systems (CS02) Complexity with Agent-Based Modeling, Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan, 02/09/10-12
      3. 3rd Intl NAISO Symposium on Engineering Of Intelligent Systems (EIS 20020), Malaga, Spain, 02/09/24-27
      4. Seminar on Non-equilibrium Phenomena and Phase Transitions in Complex Systems, Avila, Spain, 02/09/24-28.
      5. ACRI 2002, 5th Intl Conf on Cellular Automata for Research and Industry, Geneva, Switzerland, 02/10/09-11 
      6. Healthy Organizations & Leadership: What We Can Learn From Complexity Science, Flemington, NJ, 02/09/ 27-28
      7. Dynamical Systems Methods for Advanced Diagnosis and Prognosis, 39th Annual Technical Meeting of the Society of Engineering Science, University Park, Pennsylvania, 02/10/13-16
      8. Artificial Worlds, Camden, ME, 02/10/18-20
      9. 4th Asia-Pacific Conference on Simulated Evolution And Learning (SEAL'02), 9th International Conference on Neural Information Processing (ICONIP'02), International Conference on Fuzzy Systems and Knowledge Discovery (FSKD'02), Singapore, 02/11/18-22
      10. Dynamical Neuroscience X: From Experiments and Models to Brain Theory, Orlando, Florida, 02/11/01-02
      11. International Conference on Systems, Development and Self-Organization (ICSDS'2002 ),Beijing, 02/11/30-12/01
      12. Managing the Complex IV, Naples , FL, 02/12/07-10
      13. 23rd Army Science Conference (ASC): "Transformational Science & Technology for the Army....a race for speed and precision.", Orlando Fl, 02/12/02-05
      14. Artificial Life VIII, UNSW, Sydney, Australia, 02/12/09-13
        1. 1st Workshop on the Modelling of Dynamical Hierarchies in Alife (WDH 2002)
      15. Hawaii International Conference On System Sciences (HICSS-36), Big Island, Hawaii, 03/01/06-09
      16. INSC 2003, International Nonlinear Sciences Conference Research and Applications in the Life Sciences,Vienna, Austria, 03/02/07-09
      17. 21st ICDE World Conference on Open Learning and Distance Education, Hong Kong, 03/06/01-05
      18. 2003 Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO-2003), Chicago, IL,03/07/12-16
      19. 2003 AAAI Spring Symposium Series, Computational Synthesis: From Basic Building Blocks To High Level Functionality, Stanford, 03/03/24-27

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