Complexity Digest 2004.19 Archive: http://comdig.unam.mx "I think the next century will be the century of complexity." Stephen Hawking, 2000 _________________________________________________________________ 01. Life, a Nobel Story, Symposium Report 02. Is U.S. Science Dominance Fading?, Star-Telegram.com 02.01. A Look at the State of U.S. Science, NPR Audio 02.02. Losing Our Technical Dominance, NY Times 02.03. Toward a New Policy for Scientific and Technical Communication: the Case of Kyrgyz Republic, arXiv 03. Facing the Global Water Crisis, The Scientist 03.01. Super Organics, Wired 04. Economic Scene - How Much Does Information Technology Matter?, NY Times 04.01. Does Globalization Hurt The Poor?, Int. Econ. & Econ. Policy 04.02. The Case Against Intellectual Monopoly, Int. Econ. Rev. 05. Comparative Learning Dynamics, Int. Econ. Rev. 06. Bribes In A Supply Line, Economica 07. Information Theory in Molecular biology, arXiv 08. Where Art Studio Meets Science Lab, NY Times 09. How Did Natural Selection Shape Human Genes?, The Scientist 09.01. Landmarks of Human Variations, The Scientist 09.02. Evolutionary Teamwork, The Scientist 09.03. Illuminating the Evolutionary History of Chlamydiae, Science 10. Why a New Cancer Drug Works Well, In Some Patients, Science 10.01. Coffee, Spices, Wine, New Dietary Ammo Against Diabetes?, Science News 11. Mechanism That Enables Stem Cells To Track Migrating Brain Tumor Cells, ScienceDaily 12. Fractal Balls, Appl. Math. Modelling 13. Playing Old Records (No Needle Required), NY Times 14. Planetary Exploration: A Job For The Droids?, Nature 14.01. Injectable Medibots: Programmable DNA Could Diagnose And Treat Cancer, Science News 14.02. The Bionic Running Shoe, NY Times 15. The Myth of the Beginning of Time, Scientific American 15.01. Solar Flare Puzzler, Science Now 16. Neuroscience - Freud Returns, Scientific American 16.01. The Mysteries of Myelin Unwrapped, Science 17. Human Brain Works Heavy Statistics Learning Language, ScienceDaily 17.01. Mental Relaxation Improves Long-Term Incidental Visual Memory, Neurobiol. Learning & Mem. 18. Mistreatment of Prisoners Is Called Routine in U.S., NY Times 18.01. Iraq Abuse: US Policy or Anomaly?, BBC News 18.02. Mental Aspects of Abuse and War, NPR 18.03. My Life as a Guard, NY Times 18.04. US Powerless To Halt Iraq Net Images, BBC News 19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks 19.01. Islamic Terrorist Threats On The Rise Worldwide, Knight Ridder 19.02. A President Beyond the Law, NY Times 20. Links & Snippets 20.01. Other Publications 20.02. Webcast Announcements 20.03. Conference & Call for Papers Announcements _________________________________________________________________ 01. Life, a Nobel Story , Symposium Report The Symposium 'Life, a Nobel Story' was organized by the Biotech Section of the Royal Flemish Chemical Society Vivienne Parry moderated the symposium. The quality of the full talk audio recordings is low due to the size of the auditorium. We provide as well the audio of a round table where Ehud Shapiro, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Sidney Altman, Kary Mullis, and Richard Roberts gave summaries of their current research and answered few questions. Sidney Altman, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1989. Current Research Overview Video. Opinions on Proteomics and on Human Cloning, Video. Leroy Hood. "Systems Biology and the Genome: Changing Science, Industry, and Society". Video Summary. Kary Mullis, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1993. "Science is a Realm of the Senses". Full talk Audio. Current Research Overview Video. What should we really worry about, Video. Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Nobel Prize in Medicine, 1995. "On Genes and Embryos". Full talk Audio. On Embryos Video. Current Research Overview Video. Richard Roberts, Nobel Prize in Medicine, 1993. "The Promise of Life Science Research for the 21st Century". Full talk Audio. Current Research Overview Video. Ehud Shapiro. "Injecting Life with Computers". Full talk Audio, Presentation Slides, Full paper. Current Research Overview Video. Craig Venter. "Genomes and Life". Full talk Audio. Note: Audio files are in downloadable mp3 format for portable mp3 players or any mp3 software players. Video files are in asf format and can be played e.g. with windows media player. For the sound codec a (free) plugin might be required, but the download should be automatic. * Life, a Nobel Story. Brussels, Belgium, 2004-04-28 * AUDIO - Complexity Digest Virtual Conference Network * VIDEO - Complexity Digest Virtual Conference Network _________________________________________________________________ 02. Is U.S. Science Dominance Fading? , Star-Telegram.com Excerpts: The United States has started to lose its worldwide dominance in crucial areas of science and innovation, according to federal and private experts who point to evidence like prizes awarded to Americans and the number of papers in major professional journals. Foreign advances in basic science now often match or exceed America's, apparently with little public awareness of the trend or its implications for jobs, industry, national security and the vigor of U.S. intellectual and cultural life. "The rest of the world is catching up,"(...) * Is U.S. Science Dominance Fading?, William J. Broad , 04/05/03, Star-Telegram.com _________________________________________________________________ 02.01. A Look at the State of U.S. Science , NPR Audio Excerpts: Is the United States falling behind in science? * A Look at the State of U.S. Science, Neal Conan , William J. Broad , 04/05/07, NPR Audio _________________________________________________________________ 02.02. Losing Our Technical Dominance , NY Times Excerpts: The United States remains the pre-eminent scientific and technological power in the world, but there are signs that it is losing ground to foreign competitors. (...) Still, the situation in the United States is worrisome. Fewer and fewer young Americans seem interested in technical careers, and fewer young foreigners will be arriving to take their places. If this trend is not reversed, the pool of trained scientists and engineers in this country will shrink, and the shortfalls may harm economic growth and the technical underpinnings of national security. * Losing Our Technical Dominance, 04/05/07, NYTimes _________________________________________________________________ 02.03. Toward a New Policy for Scientific and Technical Communication: the Case of Kyrgyz Republic , arXiv Abstract: The objective of this policy paper is to formulate a new policy in the field of scientific and technical information (STI) in Kyrgyz Republic in the light of emergence and rapid development of electronic scientific communication. The major problem with communication in science in the Republic is lack of adequate access to information by scientists. An equally serious problem is poor visibility of research conducted in Kyrgyzstan and, as consequence, negligible research impact on academic society globally. The paper proposes an integrated approach to formulation of a new STI policy based on a number of policy components: telecommunication networks, computerization, STI systems, legislation & standards, and education & trainings. Two alternatives were considered: electronic vs. paper-based scientific communication and development of the national STI system vs. cross-national virtual collaboration. The study results in suggesting a number of policy recommendations for identified stakeholders. * Toward a New Policy for Scientific and Technical Communication: the Case of Kyrgyz Republic, Nurlan Djenchuraev , 2004-05-01, DOI: cs.CY/0405001, arXiv _________________________________________________________________ 03. Facing the Global Water Crisis , The Scientist Excerpts: DRY EARTH: A woman sits on the ancient steps that once led down to Lake Rajsamand near Udaipur, India. The lake dried up in 2000 due to drainage of its feeder rivers for agricultural purposes and drought. Photo by Roger Lemoyne/Liaison As water becomes more scarce, it fuels international conflicts. Twenty-two countries depend upon water that flows through river systems that begin in other countries. Many of these are located in flashpoint regions such as the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa. (...) Global warming adds another layer of complexity to the equation. If the world's temperature rises, ice caps holding more than half of the world's fresh water will melt, making estuaries flood and rainfall patterns more erratic. * Facing the Global Water Crisis, Sam Jaffe , 04/05/10, The Scientist _________________________________________________________________ 03.01. Super Organics , Wired Excerpts: Forget Frankenfruit - the new-and-improved flavor of gene science is Earth-friendly and all-natural. Welcome to the golden age of smart breeding. (...) By crossbreeding beefsteak tomatoes, Kedar had arrived at a savory, high-yield fruit that would ripen on the vine and remain firm in transit. (...) The vine-ripened hybrid, now grown and sold worldwide under several brand names, owes its existence to Kedar's knowledge of the tomato genome. He didn't use genetic engineering. His fruit emerged from a process that's both more sophisticated and far less controversial. * Super Organics, Richard Manning , 04/05, Wired _________________________________________________________________ 04. Economic Scene - How Much Does Information Technology Matter? , NY Times Excerpts: In 2003, the Harvard Business Review published an article titled "IT Doesn't Matter." The debate still rages. Associated Press According to Nicholas G. Carr, knowing how to use information technology now is like knowing how to run an assembly line, whether building a Model T or a computer. At one time, information technology was so expensive and so difficult to manage that companies could make large amounts of money simply by being able to make systems work. (Think I.B.M.) Companies that lacked the skills to manage information technology effectively suffered compared with competitors that had mastered those skills. But over the years, as information technology has become cheaper and more manageable, this source of competitive advantage has been reduced and perhaps eliminated.(...) Nowadays anybody can set up a Web server, or an accounting system, (...). * Economic Scene - How Much Does Information Technology Matter?, Hal R. Varian , 04/05/06, NYTimes _________________________________________________________________ 04.01. Does Globalization Hurt The Poor? , Int. Econ. & Econ. Policy Abstract: This paper examines analytically and empirically the extent to which globalization affects the poor in developing countries. I begin with a description of various channels through which trade openness and financial integration may have an adverse effect on poverty. I also stress the possible non-linearities involved (...) seldom recognized in the existing literature. I then present cross-country regressions that relate measures of real and financial integration to poverty. The results suggest the existence of an inverted U-shape relationship between globalization and poverty. At low levels, globalization appears to hurt the poor; but beyond a certain threshold, it seems to reduce poverty (...). * Does Globalization Hurt The Poor?, P.-R. Agénor pagenor@worldbank.org , Mar. 2004, DOI: 10.1007/s10368-003-0004-3, International Economics and Economic Policy * Contributed by Atin Das - dasatinyahoo.co.in _________________________________________________________________ 04.02. The Case Against Intellectual Monopoly , Int. Econ. Rev. Abstract: In the modern theory of growth, monopoly plays a crucial role both as a cause and an effect of innovation. Innovative firms, it is argued, would have insufficient incentive to innovate should the prospect of monopoly power not be present. This theme of monopoly runs throughout the theory of growth, international trade, and industrial organization. We argue that monopoly is neither needed for, nor a necessary consequence of innovation. In particular, intellectual property is not necessary for, and may hurt more than help, innovation and growth. We argue that, as a practical matter, it is more likely to hurt. * The Case Against Intellectual Monopoly, M. Boldrin , D. K. Levine , May 2004, International Economic Review * Contributed by Pritha Das - prithadas01yahoo.com _________________________________________________________________ 05. Comparative Learning Dynamics , Int. Econ. Rev. Abstract: We study economic environments in which agents make choices on the basis of relative performance criteria and call the associated class of dynamic adjustment rules comparative dynamics. We distinguish two classes of learning behavior: learning from the population experience (imitative dynamics) and learning only from one's own experience (introspective dynamics). Paradoxically, for a broad class of models, comparing stochastically stable states across dynamics, agent payoffs are lower for imitative than introspective dynamics-mimicking best practice in the population is counterproductive. * Comparative Learning Dynamics, J. Bergin , D. Bernhardt , May 2004, International Economic Review * Contributed by Pritha Das - prithadas01yahoo.com _________________________________________________________________ 06. Bribes In A Supply Line , Economica Abstract: The paper models the practice of charging bribes for faster delivery of essential services. It then examines the possibility of curbing corruption by supervision and by introducing competition among delivery agents. It is argued that a supervisory solution eludes the problem because no hard evidence of the reduction of corruption can be established for this type of offence. It is then shown that using more than one supplier reduces the bribe rate and the waiting period for both bribe-payers and others; and the aggregate gain of consumers exceeds the cost of hiring additional suppliers. * Bribes In A Supply Line, A. Sanyal , Feb. 2004, Economica * Contributed by Pritha Das - prithadas01yahoo.com _________________________________________________________________ 07. Information Theory in Molecular biology , arXiv Abstract: This article introduces the physics of information in the context of molecular biology and genomics. Entropy and information, the two central concepts of Shannon's theory of information and communication, are often confused with each other but play transparent roles when applied to statistical ensembles (i.e., identically prepared sets) of symbolic sequences. Such an approach can distinguish between entropy and information in genes, predict the secondary structure of ribozymes, and detect the covariation between residues in folded proteins. We also review applications to molecular sequence and structure analysis, and introduce new tools in the characterization of resistance mutations, and in drug design. * Information Theory in Molecular biology, Christoph Adami , 2004-05-05, DOI: q-bio.BM/0405004, arXiv _________________________________________________________________ 08. Where Art Studio Meets Science Lab , NY Times Excerpts: Sandy Skoglund/New York Academy of Sciences Sandy Skoglund's "Maybe Babies" (1983), with its color-coded infants, hints at the implications of sex selection. It is among the artists' pieces in the exhibition "Reprotech: Building Better Babies?," at the New York Academy of Sciences' Gallery of Art and Science, through June 18. The exhibition, on display until June 18, is called "Reprotech: Building Better Babies?" It uses visual imagery to illustrate (...) some of the most controversial topics in biology today: genetically engineered "designer babies," otherworldly pre-embryos, donor eggs as commodities (...). This isn't science explained in layman's terms; this is science looked at in a way that, strictly speaking, doesn't involve terms at all. Unlike the language we usually use to explore scientific topics, visual images reach people through a pathway having little to do with cognition, * Where Art Studio Meets Science Lab, Robin Marantz Henig , 04/05/08, NYTimes _________________________________________________________________ 09. How Did Natural Selection Shape Human Genes? , The Scientist Excerpts: A paper proposes that climate favored certain mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms, Many selective forces must have influenced human evolution, but the only one that all population geneticists seem to agree upon is malaria. Time and again, studies have identified certain DNA polymorphisms--most famously, the ß-globin variant underlying red-cell sickling--that helped people resist this mosquito- borne disease. The reproductive success of such individuals spread these polymorphisms throughout regions where malaria is endemic. Geneticists have been much more reluctant, in contrast, to conclude that other selective forces favored or dis-favored particular polymorphisms. * How Did Natural Selection Shape Human Genes?, 04/05/10, The Scientist _________________________________________________________________ 09.01. Landmarks of Human Variations , The Scientist Excerpts: Surveys of human haplotypes lend support to a sometimes criticized international effort The myriad medical breakthroughs predicted to come from the sequencing of the human genome have yet to pour freely. The idea that genes related to common diseases and unique drug responses can be uncovered through careful scrutiny of genetic variation is an inspiring one, but searching for variability remains expensive and time-consuming. A project that would map variants common in most human populations might ease that search. In July 2001, (...), the National Institutes of Health started planning such a project, now known as the International HapMap Consortium. * Landmarks of Human Variations, 04/05/10, The Scientist _________________________________________________________________ 09.02. Evolutionary Teamwork , The Scientist Excerpts: Constructing eukaryotes through endosymbiosis The endosymbiotic theory, which posits that organelles such as chloroplasts and mitochondria descended from formerly independent cells, has received wide acceptance in the last third of the 20th century. But recent findings suggest that endosymbiotic processes may have contributed still more cellular components, chloroplasts and mitochondria being simply the most easily identified examples. (...) These findings raise questions as to whether still other structures in eukaryotic cells, now lacking their own DNA, might also have originated through endosymbiosis. * Evolutionary Teamwork, 04/05/10, The Scientist _________________________________________________________________ 09.03. Illuminating the Evolutionary History of Chlamydiae , Science Excerpts: Chlamydiae are the major cause of preventable blindness and sexually transmitted disease. Genome analysis of a chlamydia-related symbiont of free-living amoebae revealed that it is twice as large as any of the pathogenic chlamydiae and had few signs of recent lateral gene acquisition. We showed that about 700 million years ago the last common ancestor of pathogenic and symbiotic chlamydiae was already adapted to intracellular survival in early eukaryotes and contained many virulence factors found in modern pathogenic chlamydiae, (...). Ancient chlamydiae appear to be the originators of mechanisms for the exploitation of eukaryotic cells. * Illuminating the Evolutionary History of Chlamydiae, Matthias Horn , Astrid Collingro , Stephan Schmitz-Esser , Cora L. Beier , Ulrike Purkhold , Berthold Fartmann , Petra Brandt , Gerald J. Nyakatura , Marcus Droege , Dmitrij Frishman , Thomas Rattei , Hans-Werner Mewes , Michael Wagner , 04/04/30, Science : 728-730. _________________________________________________________________ 10. Why a New Cancer Drug Works Well, In Some Patients , Science Excerpts: tumors of patients who respond to Iressa carry mutations in one of their proteins, the receptor through which epidermal growth factor (EGF) sparks cell growth. (...). The work suggests that the mutations drive lung cancer growth and that Iressa--which inhibits EGF receptor activity--can kill cancer cells bearing the mutations. Cancer experts are hailing the results. Clinicians should now be able to screen lung cancer patients to see if their tumors carry the EGF receptor mutations and are thus good candidates for Iressa therapy. * Why a New Cancer Drug Works Well, In Some Patients, Jean Marx , 04/04/30, Science : 658-659 _________________________________________________________________ 10.01. Coffee, Spices, Wine, New Dietary Ammo Against Diabetes? , Science News Excerpts: * Coffee, Spices, Wine, New Dietary Ammo Against Diabetes?, Janet Raloff , 04/05/01, Science News * AUDIO - Audible Format _________________________________________________________________ 11. Mechanism That Enables Stem Cells To Track Migrating Brain Tumor Cells , ScienceDaily Excerpts: Because they target and track deadly brain tumor cells - even those that migrate within the brain - neural stem cells appear to be effective "delivery systems" to transport cancer-killing gene and immune products. But not all neural stem cells take on this tracking role. Now researchers (...) using mouse and human cells, have defined a subset of neural stem cells that have this tumor-tracking potential. They also have identified a biochemical mechanism that appears to govern the homing behavior. "With this knowledge, we hope to expedite the translation of this powerful and novel strategy for the clinical benefit of patients (...)." * Researchers Define Mechanism That Enables Stem Cells To Track Migrating Brain Tumor Cells, 2004/05/07, ScienceDaily & Cedars-Sinai Medical Center * Contributed by Atin Das - dasatinyahoo.co.in _________________________________________________________________ 12. Fractal Balls , Appl. Math. Modelling Abstract: This paper presents a theory that could be classified as a geometric theory of folded media (...) a law that establishes the relationship between the geometry of the folded media and other variables (...). It is shown that both the geometry of the folded sheet and the plastic work density can be used as self-similarity tests. If self-similarity is obtained for a ball set resulting from crumpling thin plates or sheets, it is possible to define two variables, the packing capacity and the slenderness ratio, that are related according to a power law. That is, the balls have a fractal representation. * Fractal Balls, L. Bevilacqua bevi@lncc.br , Online 2004/02/03, DOI: 10.1016/j.apm.2003.10.017, Applied Mathematical Modelling * Contributed by Atin Das - dasatinyahoo.co.in _________________________________________________________________ 13. Playing Old Records (No Needle Required) , NY Times Excerpts: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory top; STIL NONCONTACT - Scientists are able to reconstruct old recordings by analyzing high-resolution images like those of a 78-r.p.m. shellac disc, top, and a wax cylinder. The traditional way to preserve old sound recordings is to play them, typically with a stylus, and then convert the sound into a file that can be stored digitally. But two physicists (...) have developed a new way to preserve the contents of old discs and wax cylinders: they take pictures of the groove instead of dropping a needle into it. The team shoots thousands of precise sequential images of the groove (...), measuring the shape of each undulation and calculating the route a stylus would take along the path. * Playing Old Records (No Needle Required), Anne Eisenberg , 04/05/06, NYTimes * AUDIO - Sound Reproduction R & D Home Page _________________________________________________________________ 14. Planetary Exploration: A Job For The Droids? , Nature Excerpts: If NASA wants to build a Moon base or put human footprints on Mars, its astronauts are going to need a lot of help from robots.(...) The next generation of space robots will draw on mainstream robotics research under way in the United States, Japan and Europe. Commercial robots are getting more impressive every day, (...). Sony's most recent version of its AIBO robot dog, for example, uses advanced algorithms for visual-pattern recognition to locate its battery recharger, even in unfamiliar settings — a key step towards autonomous operation. * Planetary Exploration: A Job For The Droids?, Tony Reichhardt , 04/04/29, DOI: 10.1038/428888a, Nature 428, 888 - 890 _________________________________________________________________ 14.01. Injectable Medibots: Programmable DNA Could Diagnose And Treat Cancer , Science News Excerpts: The researchers programmed their computer for two types of cancer, prostate cancer and a form of lung cancer. (...) targeted four genes that become either overactive or underactive in people with the disease. To detect changes in gene activity, the researchers designed their computer to have three components. The first consists of short strands of DNA, called transition molecules, that bind to a segment of the messenger RNA that each cancer gene produces. (...) The second component is a computation module made up of a long DNA strand. * Injectable Medibots: Programmable DNA Could Diagnose And Treat Cancer, Alexandra Goho , 04/05/01, Science News * AUDIO - Audible Format _________________________________________________________________ 14.02. The Bionic Running Shoe , NY Times Excerpts: Julie Kay Keefe for The New York Times IN DEVELOPMENT - Mark A. Oleson, left, and Christian DiBenedetto, the core of a group that developed the Adidas 1 shoe. SHOES have long been sensible. Now some are getting smart. Smart enough, that is, to sense their environment electronically, calculate how best to perform in it, and then instantly alter their physical properties to adapt to that environment. (...) Each second, a sensor in the heel can take up to 20,000 readings and the embedded electronic brain can make 10,000 calculations, directing a tiny electric motor to change the shoe. The goal is to make the shoe adjust to changing conditions and the runner's particular style while in use. * The Bionic Running Shoe, Michel Marriott , 04/05/06, NYTimes _________________________________________________________________ 15. The Myth of the Beginning of Time , Scientific American Excerpts: String theory suggests that the big bang was not the origin of the universe but simply the outcome of a preexisting state Image: SAMUEL VELASCO Sidebar: Two Views of the Beginning Was the big bang really the beginning of time? Or did the universe exist before then? Such a question seemed almost blasphemous only a decade ago. Most cosmologists insisted that it simply made no sense--that to contemplate a time before the big bang was like asking for directions to a place north of the North Pole. But developments in theoretical physics, especially the rise of string theory, have changed their perspective. The pre-bang universe has become the latest frontier of cosmology. * The Myth of the Beginning of Time, Gabriele Veneziano , 04/04/26, Scientific American _________________________________________________________________ 15.01. Solar Flare Puzzler , Science Now Excerpts: Burning questions. Recent gamma ray observations raise new questions about solar flares. CREDIT: ESA/NASA Most scientists believe that solar flares, huge explosions on the sun, occur when the sun's magnetic field lines snap and then reconnect. The magnetic fields accelerate charged particles--electrons and ions--in the solar atmosphere and slam them back into the surface of the sun. The process sends torrents of gamma rays and x-rays shooting out into space. The 2-year-old Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) satellite is designed to spot those gamma and x-rays, which reveal how charged particles in a flare behave. * Solar Flare Puzzler, 04/05/07, Science Now _________________________________________________________________ 16. Neuroscience - Freud Returns , Scientific American Excerpts: Neuroscientists are finding that their biological descriptions of the brain may fit together best when integrated by psychological theories Freud sketched a century ago. For the first half of the 1900s, he ideas of Sigmund Freud dominated explanations of how the human mind works. His basic proposition was that our motivations remain largely hidden in our unconscious minds. Moreover, they are actively withheld from consciousness by a repressive force. The executive apparatus of the mind (the ego) rejects any unconscious drives (the id) that might prompt behavior that would be incompatible with our civilized conception of ourselves. This repression is necessary because the drives express themselves in unconstrained passions, childish fantasies, and sexual and aggressive urges. Mental illness, Freud said until his death in 1939, results when repression fails. Phobias, panic attacks and obsessions are caused by intrusions of the hidden drives into voluntary behavior. * Neuroscience - Freud Returns, Mark Solms , 04/05, Scientific American _________________________________________________________________ 16.01. The Mysteries of Myelin Unwrapped , Science Excerpts: Myelination, the process by which glial cells ensheath the axons of neurons in layers of myelin, ensures the rapid conduction of electrical impulses in the nervous system. The formation of myelin sheaths is one of the most spectacular examples of cell-cell interaction and coordination in nature. Myelin sheaths are formed by the vast membranous extensions of glial cells: (...) The axon is wrapped many times (like a Swiss roll) by these sheetlike membrane extensions to form the final myelin sheath or internode (...). * The Mysteries of Myelin Unwrapped, Charles ffrench-Constant , Holly Colognato , Robin J. M. Franklin , 04/04/30, Science : 688-689 _________________________________________________________________ 17. Human Brain Works Heavy Statistics Learning Language , ScienceDaily Excerpts: A team (...) has found that the human brain makes much more extensive use of highly complex statistics when learning a language than scientists ever realized. The research (...) shows that the human brain is wired to quickly grasp certain relationships between spoken sounds even though those relationships may be so complicated they're beyond our ability to consciously comprehend. "We're starting to learn just how intuitively our minds are able to analyze amazingly complex information without our even being aware of it. There is a powerful correlation between what our brains are able to do and what language demands of us." * Human Brain Works Heavy Statistics Learning Language, 2004/05/05, ScienceDaily & University Of Rochester * Contributed by Atin Das - dasatinyahoo.co.in _________________________________________________________________ 17.01. Mental Relaxation Improves Long-Term Incidental Visual Memory , Neurobiol. Learning & Mem. Abstract: Experimental evidence has linked increased arousal to enhanced memory retention. There is also evidence that procedures reducing arousal, i.e., mental relaxation, might improve memory, but conflicting results have been reported. To clarify this issue, we studied the effects of a single session of relaxation training on incidental visual long-term memory. Our data demonstrate a favorable influence of relaxation on at least this aspect of learning. Our data also extend previous knowledge on the beneficial effects of ascending parasympathetic stimulation on memory retention in that enhanced long-term memory consolidation may also occur in the presence of central and descending parasympathetic activation (...). * Mental Relaxation Improves Long-Term Incidental Visual Memory, E. Nava , D. Landau , S. Brody , L. Linder , H. Schächinger Hartmut.Schaechinger@unibas.ch , Online 2004/03/10, DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2004.02.001, Neurobiology of Learning and Memory * Contributed by Atin Das - dasatinyahoo.co.in _________________________________________________________________ 18. Mistreatment of Prisoners Is Called Routine in U.S. , NY Times Excerpts: (...) some of the worst abuses have occurred in Texas, (...) during much of the time President Bush was governor (...). (...) guards were allowing inmate gang leaders to buy and sell other inmates as slaves for sex. (...) man who directed the reopening of the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq last year and trained the guards there resigned under pressure as director of the Utah Department of Corrections in 1997 after an inmate died while shackled to a restraining chair for 16 hours. * Mistreatment of Prisoners Is Called Routine in U.S., Fox Butterfield , 04/05/08, NYTimes _________________________________________________________________ 18.01. Iraq Abuse: US Policy or Anomaly? , BBC News Excerpts: A key question which remains unresolved after the furore over the photos of alleged Iraqi prisoner abuse is to what extent the breaking of prisoner morale is still part of American policy. The man brought in to run the Abu Ghraib prison is Maj Gen Geoffrey Miller, the man who ran the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He told reporters who were shown the prison near Baghdad that sensory deprivation methods would now be used only after a general had "signed off" on them. * Iraq Abuse: US Policy or Anomaly?, Paul Reynolds , 04/05/09, BBC News Online _________________________________________________________________ 18.02. Mental Aspects of Abuse and War , NPR Excerpts: NPR's Liane Hansen speaks with Robert Jay Lifton, a visiting professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, about the factors that lead individuals to commit atrocities in a military environment. Lifton has studied the effect of stress on group dynamics, and notes similarities between the prisoner abuse in Iraq and situations in Vietnam, World War II and American penal institutions. * Mental Aspects of Abuse and War, 04/05/09, NPR Weekend Edition _________________________________________________________________ 18.03. My Life as a Guard , NY Times Excerpts: What we do know about the treatment of prisoners in this "war on terror" (of which Iraq, we are told, is a part), is that the Geneva Conventions don't always apply — the prison at Guantánamo Bay, filled with hundreds of "enemy combatants" (who are not afforded the protections of P.O.W.'s) being Exhibit No. 1. Is Guantánamo different from Abu Ghraib? The administration would say yes. Then again, the new head of Abu Ghraib, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, was in charge of the interrogations at Guantánamo until just recently. * My Life as a Guard, Ted Conover , 04/05/07, NYTimes _________________________________________________________________ 18.04. US Powerless To Halt Iraq Net Images , BBC News Excerpts: Mr Rumsfeld was indignant at the publication of such images: "We're functioning with peacetime constraints, with legal requirements, in a wartime situation in the Information Age, where people are running around with digital cameras and taking these unbelievable photographs and then passing them off, against the law, to the media, to our surprise." (...) not realized the seriousness of the allegations until the pictures were leaked to the media. The internet has been acting as an unofficial clearing-house for all sorts of unapproved images of conflict in Iraq. * US Powerless To Halt Iraq Net Images, Robert Plummer , 04/05/08, BBC News Online _________________________________________________________________ 19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks _________________________________________________________________ 19.01. Islamic Terrorist Threats On The Rise Worldwide , Knight Ridder Excerpts: TODD MAISEL / New York Daily News Firefighters and rescue personnel search through rubble of World Trade Center aft A series of recent developments in the war on terrorism, barely noticed in the United States, suggests that global Islamic extremism is spreading. On Monday, Turkish authorities charged nine people, believed to be part of an al-Qaida-linked group, in connection with planning to bomb next month's NATO summit in Istanbul, which President Bush is scheduled to attend. That followed the April 26 televised confessions of suspects allegedly caught trying to build a chemical bomb, which authorities said could have killed tens of thousands in Jordan's capital, Amman. * Islamic Terrorist Threats On The Rise Worldwide, Ken Dilanian , 04/05/09, Knight Ridder _________________________________________________________________ 19.02. A President Beyond the Law , NY Times Excerpts: One clear example is the treatment of the prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The Third Geneva Convention requires that any dispute about a prisoner's status be decided by a "competent tribunal." American forces provided many such tribunals for prisoners taken in the Persian Gulf war in 1991. But Mr. Bush has refused to comply with the Geneva Convention. He decided that all the Guantánamo prisoners were "unlawful combatants" — that is, not regular soldiers but spies, terrorists or the like. * A President Beyond the Law, Anthony Lewis , 04/05/07, NYTimes _________________________________________________________________ 20. Links & Snippets _________________________________________________________________ 20.01. Other Publications - Time Of Day Modulation Of Conditioned Place Preference In Rats Depends On The Strain Of Rat Used, S. W. Cain swcain@hotmail.com , C. H. Ko , J. A. Chalmers , M. R. Ralph , Online 2004/03/20, Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2004.02.003 - The Age As A Diagnostic Of The Dynamics Of Marine Ecosystem Models, É. J.M. Delhez E.Delhez@Ulg.ac.be , G. Lacroix , É. Deleersnijder , May 2004, Ocean Dynamics, DOI: 10.1007/s10236-003-0075-2 - The Investment Acceleration Principle Revisited By Means Of A Neural Network, G. Fioretti fioretti@cs.unibo.it , online 2004/03/05, Neural Computing & Applications, DOI: 10.1007/s00521-004-0398-z - Audiovisual Speech Gating: Examining Information And Information Processing, S. K. de la Vaux massaro@fuzzy.ucsc.edu , D. W. Massaro , online 2004/04/23, Cognitive Processing, DOI: 10.1007/s10339-004-0014-2 - Global Patterns Of Introduction Effort And Establishment Success In Birds, P. B. Cassey , T. M. Blackburn , D. Sol , R. Duncan , J. Lockwood , 2004/05/04, Alphagalileo & Biology Letters - Western Sandpipers Have Altered Migration Tactics As Peregrine Falcon Populations Have Recovered, R. C. Ydenberg , R. W. Butler , D. B. Lank , B. D. Smith , J. Ireland , 2004/05/04, Alphagalileo & Proceedings Biological Sciences - The Evolution Of Non-Reciprocal Nuclear Exchange In Mushrooms As A Consequence Of Genomic Conflict, D. K. Aanen , T. W. Kuyper , A. J. M. Debets , R. F. Hoekstra , 2004/05/04, Alphagalileo & Proceedings Biological Sciences - Protein Networks, Pleiotropy And The Evolution Of Senescence, D. E. L. Promislow , 2004/05/04, Alphagalileo & Proceedings Biological Sciences - Network Aims to Dispose of 'Throwaway Society', J. Reck jane.reck@epsrc.ac.uk , 2004/05/04, Alphagalileo - Readers' Memories Of Crime Stories Influenced By Racial Stereotypes, 2004/05/06, ScienceDaily & Penn State - Personality May Be Key To 'Psyching' Oneself Up For Exercise, 2004/05/05, ScienceDaily & University Of Florida - Specific Factors, Learning, And The Dynamics Of Trade, C. Bajona , May 2004, International Economic Review - Leaving State Sector Employment In Russia, J. Turunen , Mar. 2004, The Economics of Transition - Education Choice, Endogenous Growth And Income Distribution, B. A. Cardak , Feb. 2004, Economica - Quantum Computers, Archil Avaliani , 2004-05-03, arXiv, DOI: cs.AI/0405004 - Intelligent Systems: Architectures and Perspectives, Ajith Abraham , 2004-04-21, arXiv, DOI: cs.AI/0405009 - The Internet's Wilder Side, Seth Schiesel , With much of the Internet beginning to resemble a pleasant, well-policed suburb, a little-known neighborhood known as Internet Relay Chat remains the Wild West. - Mr. Rumsfeld's Responsibility , 04/05/06, washingtonpost.com - Stability of Macroscopic Entanglement under Decoherence, W. Dür , H.-J. Briegel , 04/05/07, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 180403 (2004) - Electric Sense Sharper Than Thought, 04/05/05, Science Now, Weakly electric fish can identify shapes without using sight or touch - Getting Warmer, However You Measure It, 04/05/05, Science Now, Thermometers and satellites reconcile their readings - Dark Matter Still Elusive, 04/05/04, Science Now, Most sensitive measurements yet fail to find the most prominent stuff in the universe - Bouncing Neutrons Shore Up R-Squared Law, 04/05/04, Science Now, The law of gravity holds up for masses only nanometers apart - Progress in Prime Progressions, 04/05/03, Science Now, Mathematicians hail a new proof in prime-number theory - Spiraling Into Form, 04/05/03, Science Now, Laws of physics force plants' spirals into predictable patterns - The Military Archipelago, 04/05/07, NYTimes - When Liberators Become Tyrants, Antoine Audouard , 04/05/07, NYTimes - Stone Age Combustion: Fire Use Proposed At Ancient Israeli Site, 04/05/01, Science News, A Stone Age site in Israel contains the oldest evidence of controlled fire use in Asia or Europe, from around 750,000 years ago, a research team reports. - Mouse Mourned: Yoda dies at age 4, 04/05/01, Science News, An age-defying laboratory mouse known as Yoda died peacefully in his cage in Ann Arbor, Mich., on April 22, at the age of 4 years and 12 days. - The Electron's Other Charge: Workhorse of electricity shows its weak side, 04/05/01, Science News, Although electrons are nonnuclear particles, they exert a feeble nuclear force on each other when they snuggle up close, a new experiment shows. - Hurricanes Churn Up Life-Nurturing Brews, 04/05/01, Science News, Images of the North Atlantic taken from orbit suggest that hurricanes churn the ocean's surface enough to bring cool, nutrient-rich waters to the surface, thereby stimulating algal blooms that can last for weeks. - Body's Sweet Move Can Protect Heart, 04/05/01, Science News, Animal studies suggest that the body attempts to protect itself from heart attacks during brief periods of oxygen deprivation by temporarily modifying heart-muscle proteins. - Proteins Mark ALS, 04/05/01, Science News, Scientists reported finding what appears to be the first diagnostic test for Lou Gehrig's disease, potentially shaving a year off of when targeted treatment for the disease can begin. - SIDS Trigger? It's Too Darn Hot, 04/05/01, Science News, Overheating, as might occur if a baby were swaddled in a warm room, might predispose some babies to prolonged breathing lapses and sudden infant death syndrome, animal experiments indicate. - Exercise Boosts Sugar's Taste, 04/05/01, Science News, Studies in runners and in animals indicate that exercise increases an individual's sensitivity to sweetness. _________________________________________________________________ 20.02. Webcast Announcements Nonlinear Dynamics And Chaos: Lab Demonstrations, Strogatz, Steven H., Internet-First University Press, 1994 World Economic Forum 2004, Davos, Switzerland Riding the Next Democratic Wave, Al-Thani, Khan, Vike-Freiberga, Wade, Soros, Zakaria, World Economic Forum, 04/01/25 The Future of Global Interdependence, Kharrazi, Held, Owens, Shourie, Annan, Martin, Schwab, World Economic Forum, 04/01/25 Why Victory Against Terrorism Demands Shared Values The Process of Curricular Review: Redefining a World-Class Education, Benedict Gross, Thomas Bender, Harvard@home, 04/01/21, Dean of Harvard College Benedict Gross discusses Harvard's first comprehensive review of the undergraduate curriculum in almost 3 decades. This program introduces the process of curricular review by presenting two segmented lectures. The first, by Dean Gross, outlines the approach and considerations in undertaking the current review. The second lecture, presented by NYU Professor Thomas Bender, presents a historical perspective on academic culture. Cancer Biology , NPR Talk of the Nation, 04/01/16, How the spread of cancer is like wound healing gone awry. Tracking Ebola , NPR Talk of the Nation, 04/01/16, A new study might help scientists predict where Ebola may! strike next. CODIS 2004, International Conference On Communications, Devices And Intelligent Systems, 2004 Calcutta, India, 04/01/09-10 EVOLVABILITY & INTERACTION: Evolutionary Substrates of Communication, Signaling, and Perception in the Dynamics of Social Complexity, London, UK, 03/10/08-10 The Semantic Web and Language Technology - Its Po tential and Practicalities, Bucharest, Romania, 03/07/28-08/08 ECAL 2003, 7th European Conference on Artificial Life, Dortmund, Germany, 03/09/14-17 New Santa Fe Institute President About His Vision for SFI's Future Role, (Video, Santa Fe, NM, 03/06/04) SPIE's 1st Intl Symp on Fluctuations and Noise, Santa Fe, NM, 2003/06/01-04 NAS Sackler Colloquium on Mapping Knowledge Domains, Video/Audio Report, 03/05/11 13th Ann Intl Conf, Soc f Chaos Theory in Psych & Life Sciences, Boston, MA, USA, 2003/08/08-10 CERN Webcast Service, Streamed videos of Archived Lectures and Live Events Dean LeBaron's Archive of Daily Video Commentary, Ongoing Since February 1998 Edge Videos _________________________________________________________________ 20.03. Conference & Call for Papers Announcements Strategic Thinking in a Complex World, Smithsonian Resident Associates Program, 04/05/01-22 International Conference on the Ontology of Spacetime, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 04/05/11-14 5th International Conference on Complex Systems (ICCS2004), Boston, MA, USA, 04/05/16-21 Understanding Complex Systems: Networks, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, 04/05/17-20 3rd Intl Conf on Systems Thinking in Management (ICSTM 2004) "Transforming Organizations to Achieve Sustainable Success", Philadelphia, Pa, USA, 04/05/19-21 4th Intl Conf on Fractals And Dynamic Systems In Geoscience, München, Germany, 04/05/19-22 9th Annual Workshop on Economics and Heterogeneous Interaction Agents (WEHIA04), Kyoto, Japan, 2004/05/27-29 13th International Symposium on HIV & Emerging Infectious Diseases, Toulon, France, 04/06/03-05! ECC8 Experimental Chaos Conference, Florence, Italy, 04/06/14-17 An Intl Tribute to Francisco Varela, Paris,04/06/18-20 7th Intl Conf on Linking Systems Thinking, Innovation,Quality, Entrepreneurship and Environment (STIQE), MARIBOR, SLOVENIA, 04/06/24-26 Biannual Meeting Society for Research on Biological Rhythms, Whistler, BC, 04/06/24-26 NAACSOS 2004, North American Association for Computational Social and Organizational Science, Pittsburgh PA, 04/06/27-29 Statphys - Kolkata V An International Conference on Complex Networks: Structure, Function and Processes , Kolkata, India, 04/06/27-30 ICAD 2004 10th International Conference on Auditory Display, Sydney, Australia, 04/07/06-09 3rd Intl School Topics in Nonlinear Dynamics Discrete Dynamical Systems and Applications , Urbino (Italy), 04/07/07-09 `Perspectives on Nonlinear Dynamics 2004 (PNLD-2004), Chen! nai, India, 04/07/12-15 From Animals To Animats 8, 8th Intl Conf On The Simulation Of Adaptive Behavior (SAB'04), Los Angeles, USA, 04/07/13-17 14th Annual International Conference The Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology & Life Sciences , Milwaukee, WI, USA, 04/07/15-18 Facing Complexity, Wellington, NZ, 04/07/15-17 Interdisciplinary Colloquium, Security Bytes, Security/Life/Terror , Lancaster, 04/07/17-19 Gordon Research Conference on "Oscillations & Dynamic Instabilities In Chemical Systems", Lewiston, ME, 04/07/18-23 3rd Intl Conf Autonomous Agents & Multi-Agent Systems Conference (AAMAS 2004), New York City, 04/07/19-23 7th Intl Workshop on: Trust in Agent Societies , New York City, 04/07/19-20 8th World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, Orlando, Florida, USA, 04/07/18-21 The 4 th International Workshop on Meta-Synthesis and Complex Systems (MCS'2004) , Beijing, 04/07/22-23 2004 Summer Simulation MultiConference (SummerSim'04), San Jose Hyatt, San Jose, California, 04/07/25-29 SME 2004 Symposium on Modeling and Control of Economic Systems , University in Redlands, CA, 04/07/28-31 6th International Mathematica Symposium (IMS 2004), Banff, Canada, 04/08/02-06 Fractals and Natural Hazards at 32nd Intl Geological Congress (IGC), Florence, Italy, 04/08/20-28 ICCC 2004, IEEE International Conference on Computational Cybernetics, , Vienna, Austria, 04/08/30-09/01 ANTS 2004, 4th International Workshop on Ant Colony Optimization and Swarm Intelligence, Brussels, Belgium, 04/09/05-08 Dynamic Ontology, An Inquiry into Systems, Emergence, Levels of Reality, and Forms of Causality, Trento, Italy, 04/09/08-11 9th Intl Conf on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems (ALIFE9), Boston, Massachusetts, 04/09/12-15 Neuroeconomics 2004, Charleston, SC, 04/09/16-19 TNew Economic Windows 2004: Complexity Hints for Economic Policy, Salerno, Italy, 04/09/16-18 The Verhulst 200 on Chaos, Brussels, BELGIUM, 04/09/16-18 The 8th Intl Conf on Parallel Problem Solving from Nature (PPSN VIII), Birmingham, UK, 04/09/18-22 XVII Brazilian Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Sao Luis, Maranhao - Brazil, 04/09/22-24 TEDMED Conference , Charleston SC, 04/10/12-15 Wolfram Technology Conference, Champaign, Illinois, 04/10/21-23 6th Intl Conf on Electronic Commerce ICEC'2004: Towards A New Services Landscape, Delft, The Netherlands, 04/10/25-27 Complexity and Philosophy Workshop - 2-Day Conference , Rio de Janeiro, 04/11 _________________________________________________________________ Complexity Digest is an independent publication available to organizations that may wish to repost ComDig (http://comdig.unam.mx/) to their own mailing lists. 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