复杂性文摘 NO：2003.12
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Complexity Digest 2003.12 March-23-2003
Archive: http://www.comdig.org,
European Mirror: http://www.comdig.de
Asian Mirror: http://www.phil.pku.edu.cn/resguide/comdig/
(Chinese GB-Code)
"I think the next century will be the century of complexity." Stephen
Hawking, 2000
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1. Toward a Molecular Architecture of Personality,
Behavioural
Brain Research
2. Detrimental Effects Of Sanctions On Human
Altruism, Nature
2.1. Behavioural Science:
Fair's Fair, Truman Bewley, Nature
2.2. Dyadic Processes Of
Disclosure And Reciprocity In
Bargaining With Communication, J. Behav. Decision Making
2.3. Open Economy And
Financial Burden Of Corruption: Theory
And Application To Asia, J. of Asian Econ
3. Cosmology Gets Real, Nature
4. Making Deforestation Pay Under the Kyoto Protocol?,
Science
4.1. Climate and the
Collapse of Maya Civilization, Science
5. Dressing The Mind Properly For The Game, Phil. Tran.
Biol.
Sc.
6. Smell, Emotion Processor In Brain May Be Altered In
Depressed
Patients, ScienceDaily
7. A Unifying Computational Framework For Motor Control
And
Social Interaction, Phil. Tran.
Biol. Sc.
7.1. What Imitation Tells
Us About Social Cognition, Phil.
Tran. Biol. Sc.
7.2. Computational
Approaches To Motor Learning By Imitation,
Phil. Tran. Biol. Sc.
7.3. Detecting Agents,
Phil. Tran. Biol. Sc.
8. Email As Spectroscopy: Automated Discovery Of
Community
Structure Within Organizations,
arXiv
8.1. E-mail Reveals Real
Leaders, Nature Science update,
8.2. Who Loves Ya, Baby?,
Discover
9. Reversed Echoes May Fight Disease And Foster
Communication,
Science News
10. The Challenge Of Molecular Medicine: Complexity Versus
Occam's
Razor, J. Clin. Invest.
11. Linguistic Analysis of the Human Heartbeat Using
Frequency and
Rank Order Statistics,Phys.
Rev. Lett.
12. Simple Networks For Spike-Timing-Based Computation, With
Application To Olfactory
Processing, Neuron
13. Taming Winfree Turbulence of Scroll Waves in Excitable
Media,
Science
14. How You Evaluate An Experience Depends On When You
Evaluate
It, J. Behav. Decision Making
15. Constellations in a Cellular Universe, Nature
16. To Test Evolution, Press the 'Undo' Button, NYTimes
17. Undercover Genes Slip Into the Brain, New Scientist
17.1. Genes Govern
Overeating, Health
18. The Grid: Computing without Bounds, Scientific American
18.1. Video Game
Experiences To Be Expanded By Grids,
gridtoday.com
18.2. IBM: Software Can
Regulate Grid, gridtoday.com
18.3. Ecology-Grid
Contributes To Taiwan's Outdoors,
gridtoday.com
19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
19.1. Anger on Iraq Seen
as New Qaeda Recruiting Tool, NYTimes
19.2. The Effects of
Nuclear Terrorism: Fizzles, arXiv
19.3. First Step Towards
Detecting Exposure To Biowarfare
Agents, ScienceDaily
20. Links & Snippets
20.1. Other Publications
20.2. Webcast
Announcements
20.2.1. New: Autonomous Agents, Stuart Kauffman
20.3. Conference
Announcements
20.3.1. Public Conference Calls
20.4. ComDig
Announcement: New ComDig Archive in Beta Test
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1. Toward a Molecular Architecture of Personality, Behavioural Brain Research
Abstract: Epidemiological studies provided a large body of evidence that
personality dimensions are influenced by genetic factors and that the
genetic component is highly complex, polygenic, and epistatic. However,
consistent findings on the genetic basis of personality have yet remained
sparse. In recent years, molecular genetics has begun to identify specific
genes coding in particular for components of the serotonergic and
dopaminergic neurotransmitter systems representing quantitative trait loci
(QTLs) for behavioral traits. The QTL concept suggests that complex traits
are not attributable to single genes. According to this polygenic model,
the genetic basis of personality and behavior and its pathological
variations thus results from additive or nonadditive interactions of
various genes. As the number of suitable candidate genes constantly
increases, the QTL model provides a reasonable explanation for the genetic
basis of personality and its disorders. In this review, the current
knowledge on the impact of a large number of candidate gene polymorphisms
(e.g. variations in serotonin and dopamine receptor and serotonin
transporter genes) on personality and temperament is summarized.
Additionally, investigations of gene¡Vgene and gene¡Venvironment
interactions in humans and animals, which currently intensify the
identification of genes that underlie behavioral variations, are examined.
The findings converge on the notion that a probabilistic rather than
deterministic impact of genes on the expression of behavior will contribute
to the demystification of behavioral disorders.
Toward a Molecular Architecture of Personality, Andreas Reif, Klaus-Peter
Lesch, 2003-02-17, DOI: 10.1016/S0166-4328(02)00267-X, Behavioural Brain
Research 139(1-2):1-20
Contributed by Carlos Gershenson
2. Detrimental Effects Of Sanctions On Human Altruism, Nature
Excerpts: The existence of cooperation and social order among genetically
unrelated individuals is a fundamental problem in the behavioural sciences.
(¡K) Whether economic incentives are perceived as just or legitimate does
not matter in these theories. Fairness-based altruism is, however, a
powerful source of human cooperation. Here we show experimentally that the
prevailing self-interest approach has serious shortcomings because it
overlooks negative effects of sanctions on human altruism. Sanctions
revealing selfish or greedy intentions destroy altruistic cooperation
almost completely, whereas sanctions perceived as fair leave altruism intact.
Detrimental Effects Of Sanctions On Human Altruism, Ernst Fehr, Bettina
Rockenbach, Nature 422, 137 - 140 (2003); doi:10.1038/nature01474
Excerpts: (¡K) people are willing to make sacrifices to reciprocate
favours
or to take revenge. People tip waiters even though they will never see them
again, and insults can lead to dangerous fights. Experimental evidence that
supports these common-sense observations is accumulating.
A basic theory of behaviour holds that people act only in their own best
interests. But more complex motives are apparent in an experimental study
that shows that generosity is diminished by the unfairness of others.
Behavioural Science: Fair's Fair, Truman Bewley, Nature 422, 125 - 126
(2003); doi:10.1038/422125b
Abstract: We offer a study revealing the mechanisms through which
communication helps actual bargaining behavior outperform economic
predictions. The possibility of individually strategic behavior in the
presence of private information leads to game-theoretic predictions of less
than full efficiency. We present a one-stage, simultaneous offers
bargaining game in which buyers and sellers have independent, privately
held valuations for the item being. In three communication treatments,
parties are: (a) allowed face-to-face communication prior to submitting
offers; (b) allowed written communication prior to submitting offers; or
(c) allowed no-communication prior to submitting offers. When parties are
allowed pre-play communication, we find nearly full efficiency (98%).
Dyadic Processes Of Disclosure And Reciprocity In Bargaining With
Communication, K. L. McGinn , L. Thompson & M. H. Bazerman, J. Behav.
Decision Making, Vol. 16, Issue 1, pp:17-34, 2003, DOI:10.1002/bdm.430
Contributed by Pritha Das
Abstract: We discuss why corruption remains high and show that corruption
contributes to the Banking distress and to the rapid transmission across
international stock and currency markets. Undeveloped `derivative
securities' markets make the risk from stress-induced volatility difficult
to manage. Our theory predicts that capital flight controls will be many,
foreign direct investment (FDI) will be low and cost of capital will be
high in corrupt developing countries, which is supported by Asian data. We
include some policy recommendations regarding financial institutions and
markets.
Open Economy And Financial Burden Of Corruption: Theory And Application To
Asia, H. D. Vinod, J. of Asian Econ., Vol. 13, Issue 6, pp: 873-890, Jan.
2003, doi:10.1016/S1049-0078(02)00188-4
Contributed by Pritha Das
3. Cosmology Gets Real, Nature
Excerpts: With the addition of the latest data (¡K), our picture of the
Universe is now clearer than ever. Combined, the various CMB studies have
confirmed that the Universe is indeed flat. (¡K) composition of the
cosmos:
23% dark matter and 73% dark energy, leaving only 4% for galaxies, stars
and people. The Universe's age has also been nailed to within 1% of 13.7
billion years. And the total mass density matches that predicted by
inflation to within a 2% margin of error.
Cosmology Gets Real, Geoff Brumfiel, Nature 422, 108 - 110 (2003);
doi:10.1038/422108a
4. Making Deforestation Pay Under the Kyoto Protocol?, Science
Excerpt: In a climate of changing rules, particularly relating to the
reforestation time limit, one of the underlying principles of the Kyoto
Protocol--that of preserving pristine forests--would be severely
compromised. Prevention of deforestation should be clearly established
within the context of the Kyoto Protocol implementation. It would be
paradoxical for climate change mitigation if the Kyoto Protocol mechanisms
had the effect of paying for the destruction of pristine forests, which are
one of the few genuine actors in climate change mitigation
Making Deforestation Pay Under the Kyoto Protocol?, Ernst-Detlef Schulze,
Danilo Mollicone, Frederic Achard, Giorgio Matteucci, Sandro Federici, Hugh
D. Eva, and Riccardo Valentini, Science Mar 14 2003: 1669
Excerpt: A seasonally resolved record of titanium shows that the collapse
of Maya civilization in the Terminal Classic Period occurred during an
extended regional dry period, punctuated by more intense multiyear droughts
centered at approximately 810, 860, and 910 A.D. These new data suggest
that a century-scale decline in rainfall put a general strain on resources
in the region, which was then exacerbated by abrupt drought events,
contributing to the social stresses that led to the Maya demise.
Climate and the Collapse of Maya Civilization, Gerald H. Haug, Detlef
Gunther, Larry C. Peterson, Daniel M. Sigman, Konrad A. Hughen, Beat
Aeschlimann, Science Mar 14 2003: 1731-1735
5. Dressing The Mind Properly For The Game, Phil. Tran. Biol. Sc.
Abstract: Game theory as a theoretical and empirical approach to
interaction has spread from economics to psychology, political science,
sociology and biology. Numerous social interactions - foraging, talking,
trusting, coordinating, competing - can be formally represented in a game
with specific rules and strategies. Recent analyses of this variable
response have yielded a No. of insights into the mental approach of human
players: we often mentalize, but not always; we are endowed with social
preferences; we distinguish among various types of opponents; we manifest
different personalities; we are often guided by security concerns; and our
strategic sophistication is usually modest.
Dressing The Mind Properly For The Game, D. Sally, Phil. Tran. Biol. Sc.,
Vol. 358, No.1431, pp:583-592, Mar. 2003, DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2002.1246
Contributed by Atin Das
6. Smell, Emotion Processor In Brain May Be Altered In Depressed Patients,
ScienceDaily
Excerpts: A portion of the brain that helps us respond to odors and process
emotions may be malfunctioning in severely depressed individuals, say
researchers who measured the brain activity of individuals presented with
smells like roses and rotten butter. Because odors and emotions are
processed in similar brain structures, study of the olfactory system may
increase our understanding of the physiological underpinnings of
depression, according to the study.
"The presentation of odors as emotional stimuli, by contrast, is powerfully
direct, and odors seem to be powerful emotional stimuli." The brains of the
depressed patients were less responsive to the smells and the visual
stimuli (¡K).
Smell, Emotion Processor In Brain May Be Altered In Depressed Patients,
ScienceDaily, 2003/03/13
Contributed by Atin Das
7. A Unifying Computational Framework For Motor Control And Social
Interaction, Phil. Tran. Biol. Sc.
Abstract: Recent empirical studies have implicated the use of the motor
system during action observation, imitation and social interaction. In this
paper, we explore the computational parallels between the processes that
occur in motor control and in action observation, imitation, social
interaction and theory of mind. In particular, we examine the extent to
which motor commands acting on the body can be equated with communicative
signals acting on other people and suggest that computational solutions for
motor control may have been extended to the domain of social interaction.
A Unifying Computational Framework For Motor Control And Social
Interaction, D. M. Wolpert, K. Doya & M. Kawato, Phil. Tran. Biol. Sc.,
Vol. 358, No.1431, pp:593-602, Mar. 2003, DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2002.1238
Contributed by Atin Das
Abstract: (¡K) suggest a common coding between perceived and generated
actions. This shared representational network is innately wired in humans.
We suggest that the mechanisms involved in infant imitation provide the
foundation for understanding that others are 'like me' and underlie the
development of theory of mind and empathy for others. We marshal evidence
that imitation recruits not only shared neural representations between the
self and the other but also cortical regions in the parietal cortex (¡K).
Imitation is doubly revealing: it is used by infants to learn about adults,
and by scientists to understand the organization and functioning of the brain.
What Imitation Tells Us About Social Cognition: A Rapprochement Between
Developmental Psychology And Cognitive Neuroscience, A. N. Meltzoff , J.
Decety, Phil. Tran. Biol. Sc., Vol. 358, No.1431, pp:491-500, Mar. 2003,
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2002.1261
Contributed by Atin Das
Abstract: Movement imitation requires a complex set of mechanisms that map
an observed movement of a teacher onto one's own movement apparatus.
Relevant problems include movement recognition, pose estimation, pose
tracking, body correspondence, coordinate transformation from external to
egocentric space, matching of observed against previously learned movement,
(¡K) modularization of motor control, etc. As a strategy to untangle the
complexity of imitation, this paper will examine imitation purely from a
computational point of view, i.e. we will review statistical and
mathematical approaches that have been suggested for tackling parts of the
imitation problem, and discuss their merits, disadvantages and underlying
principles.
Computational Approaches To Motor Learning By Imitation, S. Schaal, A.
Ijspeert, A. Billard, Phil. Tran. Biol. Sc., Vol. 358, No.1431, pp:537-547,
Mar. 2003, DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2002.1258
Contributed by Atin Das
Abstract: This paper reviews a recent set of behavioural studies that
examine the scope and nature of the representational system underlying
theory-of-mind development. Studies with typically developing infants,
adults and children with autism all converge on the claim that there is a
specialized input system that uses not only morphological cues, but also
behavioural cues to categorize novel objects as agents. Evidence is
reviewed in which 12- to 15-month-old infants treat certain non-human
objects as if they have perceptual/attentional abilities, communicative
abilities and goal-directed behaviour. They also seem to use a novel
object's environmentally directed behaviour to determine its
perceptual/attentional orientation (¡K).
Detecting Agents, S. C. Johnson, Phil. Tran. Biol. Sc., Vol. 358, No.1431,
pp:549-559, Mar. 2003, DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2002.1237
Contributed by Atin Das
8. Email As Spectroscopy: Automated Discovery Of Community Structure Within
Organizations, arXiv
Excerpts: We describe a methodology for the automatic identification of
communities of practice from email logs within an organization. We use a
betweeness centrality algorithm that can rapidly find communities within a
graph representing information flows. We apply this algorithm to an email
corpus of nearly one million messages collected over a two-month span, and
show that the method is effective at identifying true communities, both
formal and informal, within these scale-free graphs. This approach also
enables the identification of leadership roles within the communities.
These studies are complemented by a qualitative evaluation of the results
in the field.
Email As Spectroscopy: Automated Discovery Of Community Structure Within
Organizations, R. Tyler, Dennis M. Wilkinson, Bernardo A. Huberman, arXiv,
03/03/14
Excerpts: It has long been recognized that big institutions tend to divide
organically into informal collaborative networks, called communities of
practice.
(¡K) communications graph in which lines - each denoting a direct e-mail
exchange - link nodes that correspond to individuals. Next the researchers
use a computer to search for links with high 'betweenness'. These are the
few connections between groups of highly connected nodes. Removing them
decomposes the graph into a collection of isolated clusters of nodes, which
correspond to the communities.
E-Mail Reveals Real Leaders, Network Analysis Maps Companies' Informal
Structure, Philip Ball, Nature Science update, 03/03/20
Excerpts: "The maps show how ideas happen, how decision making happens, who
the real experts are that everybody goes to," Krebs says. They show the
karass buried inside the granfalloon.(¡K)
Assuming you have a significant amount of e-mail traffic, the software will
create a remarkably sophisticated assessment of your various social groups,
showing you not only their relative size but also the interactions between
different groups. If your college buddies have grown close to members of
your family, you'll see those two groups overlap on the screen, like two
crowds huddled next to each other.
Editor's Note: Of course no career conscious granfalloons will make sure to
send lots of e-mail messages to the most recognized karass to make sure
they will be counted to belong to their network.
Who Loves Ya, Baby?,Pass Your E-Mail Through Some New Software And The
Answer Will Become Obvious, Steven Johnson, Discover Vol. 24 No. 4 (April
2003)
9. Reversed Echoes May Fight Disease And Foster Communication, Science News
Excerpts: Acoustics specialists build a time-reversal mirror using an array
of piezoelectric transducers. Those devices can act both as microphones,
which convert sounds' pressure fluctuations into electric signals, and as
loudspeakers, which convert electric signals into vibrations that people
hear as sounds.
Time-reversing sound requires yet more from these transducers-they also
must be able to capture, process, and store sounds. Some of the gridlike
arrays used for medical applications are the size of dinner plates; some
underwater versions can be taller than a 20-story building.
Reversed Echoes May Fight Disease And Foster Communication, Peter Weiss,
Science News, Vol. 163, No. 11, 03/03/15
Also available in Audible format
10. The Challenge Of Molecular Medicine: Complexity Versus Occam's Razor,
J. Clin. Invest.
Excerpt: In the spirit of the recent elucidation of the human genome and
the current scientific epoch of bioinformatics, a brute-force therapeutic
strategy would theoretically be a perfect remedy for any disease. The
essential idea is both comprehensive and unsubtle; the strategy only
requires that the therapy fix what was broken. While that sounds simple and
possible in this era of rapidly advancing medicine, proteomics, genomics,
and targeted pharmacology, it is not. The problem is that the level of
complexity of most diseases is great (...).
The Challenge Of Molecular Medicine: Complexity Versus Occam's Razor, Eric
A. Sobie, Silvia Guatimosim, Long-Sheng Song, W.J. Lederer, J. Clin.
Invest. 2003 March 15; 111(6): p. 801-803
11. Linguistic Analysis of the Human Heartbeat Using Frequency and Rank
Order Statistics,Phys. Rev. Lett.
Abstract: Complex physiologic signals may carry unique dynamical signatures
that are related to their underlying mechanisms. We present a method based
on rank order statistics of symbolic sequences to investigate the profile
of different types of physiologic dynamics.We apply this method to heart
rate fluctuations, the output of a central physiologic control system. The
method robustly discriminates patterns generated from healthy and
pathologic states, as well as aging. Furthermore, we observe increased
randomness in the heartbeat time series with physiologic aging and
pathologic states and also uncover nonrandom patterns in the ventricular
response to atrial fibrillation.
Linguistic Analysis of the Human Heartbeat Using Frequency and Rank Order
Statistics, Albert C.-C. Yang, Shu-Shya Hseu, Huey-Wen Yien, Ary L.
Goldberger, C.-K. Peng, Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 108103 (2003)
12. Simple Networks For Spike-Timing-Based Computation, With Application To
Olfactory Processing, Neuron
Abstract: Spike synchronization across neurons can be selective for the
situation where neurons are driven at similar firing rates, a "many are
equal" computation. This can be achieved in the absence of synaptic
interactions between neurons, through phase locking to a common underlying
oscillatory potential. Based on this principle, we instantiate an algorithm
for robust odor recognition into a model network of spiking neurons whose
main features are taken from known properties of biological olfactory
systems. Here, recognition of odors is signaled by spike synchronization of
specific subsets of "mitral cells." This synchronization is highly
odor
selective (¡K).
Simple Networks For Spike-Timing-Based Computation, With Application To
Olfactory Processing, C. D. Brody, J. J. Hopfield, Neuron, Vol. 37, Issue
5, pp:843-852, 2003/03/07
Contributed by Pritha Das
13. Taming Winfree Turbulence of Scroll Waves in Excitable Media, Science
Excerpt: Winfree turbulence of scroll waves is a special kind of
spatiotemporal chaos that exists exclusively in three-dimensional excitable
media and is currently considered one of the principal mechanisms of
cardiac fibrillation. A chaotic wave pattern develops through the
negative-tension instability of vortex filaments, which tend to
spontaneously stretch, bend, loop, and produce an expanding tangle that
fills up the volume. (¡K) such turbulence can readily be controlled by
weak
nonresonant modulation of the medium excitability. Depending on the forcing
frequency, either suppression or induction of turbulence can be achieved.
Taming Winfree Turbulence of Scroll Waves in Excitable Media, Sergio
Alonso, Francesc Sagues, a Alexander S. Mikhailov, Science Mar 14 2003:
1722-1725.
14. How You Evaluate An Experience Depends On When You Evaluate It, J.
Behav. Decision Making
Abstract: Prior research has shown that obstacles and periods of low
progress in an experience reduce the evaluation of that experience. In this
research, we propose that the temporal distance between the obstacle and
the time of making the evaluation moderates the effect of the obstacle.
Consequently, an early (late) obstacle reduces prospective (retrospective)
evaluation more significantly than a late (early) obstacle. In two
experiments, we find support for this temporal proximity hypothesis.
Further, differences between prospective and retrospective evaluations
disappeared when the data were analyzed in terms of temporal distance (¡K).
Prospective And Retrospective Evaluations Of Experiences: How You Evaluate
An Experience Depends On When You Evaluate It, D. Soman, J. Behav. Decision
Making, Vol. 16, Issue 1, pp:35-52, 2003, DOI:10.1002/bdm.431
Contributed by Pritha Das
15. Constellations In A Cellular Universe, Nature
Excerpt: First, even the most complex biological phenomena such as
development, differentiation, metabolism and memory will be explained using
known genes, their products and their interplay with the external
conditions that the organism encounters. Second, projects to discover genes
and their products in a species have defined end points. (¡K) Third, (¡K),
biological experimentation will be transformed from a discovery mode of
identifying and describing molecules, to a 'browsing' mode, in which the
universe of possible events is searched to find constellations that
correlate with a particular state or function.
Constellations In A Cellular Universe, Ruedi Aebersold, Nature 422, 115 -
116 (2003); doi:10.1038/422115a
16. To Test Evolution, Press the 'Undo' Button, NYTimes
Excerpts: Scientists working with yeast have in effect reversed the process
of evolution in the laboratory and, in so doing, found support for a
long-debated theory on the way new species can evolve.
(¡K) changes in the DNA sequences of genes can cause a population to
evolve
into a new and separate species. (¡K) new species could evolve without any
such changes, but instead simply as a result of large DNA strands' moving
from one chromosome to another within a genome, a change known as a
chromosomal rearrangement.
To Test Evolution, Press the 'Undo' Button, Carol Kaesuk Yoon, March 18,
2003 Science
17. Undercover Genes Slip Into the Brain, New Scientist
Excerpts: A molecular Trojan horse that can slip past the brain's defences
has proved to be very effective at delivering genes to the brains of
primates. It could be used to treat a host of brain disorders, from
Parkinson's to epilepsy. Treating the brain is very difficult because of
the "blood-brain barrier" created by the tight junctions between the
cells
lining the capillaries. Only molecules recognised by the cell receptors can
get in, unless they are very small. (...)"Quite frankly, the existing
delivery systems have been woeful failures," says William Pardridge of the
University of California, Los Angeles. Instead, his team has been
perfecting a way to get genes into the brain hidden inside fatty spheres
called liposomes. First the team coats the liposomes with a polymer called
polyethylene glycol (PEG), without which they would be purged from the
blood within minutes. Next, antibodies that latch on to some of the
brain-capillary receptors are tethered to a few of the PEG strands. The
antibodies trick the receptors into letting the liposomes pass, where they
can deliver their cargo to brain cells.
Undercover Genes Slip Into the Brain, 2003-03-20, New Scientist
Contributed by Nadia Gershenson
Excerpts: Researchers have found genetic mutations that contribute to
obesity by influencing how people eat, and they think these changes may be
much more common than once thought. Specifically, two articles in the March
20 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine show that mutations in the
melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) lead to uncontrolled overeating and to binge
eating. (...)"This gene influences behaviour. We tend to think in terms of
how biology [and] your metabolism are influenced by genes, but behaviour
doesn't seem like it should be. This seems to be a clear example", says Dr
Michael Devlin, clinical co-director of the Eating Disorders Research Unit
at the New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York City.
Genes Govern Overeating, Health, 24, 03/03/20,
Contributed by Nadia Gershenson
18. The Grid: Computing without Bounds, Scientific American
Excerpts: The ready availability of these resources exemplifies the concept
of virtualization, which (to computer scientists) refers to hiding useful
functions behind an interface that conceals the details of how they are
implemented. When the cafe's barista, for example, turns on a water spigot,
it is as if he taps a bottomless barrel. The same phenomenon occurs when I
plug my laptop into a wall socket. Given the huge unseen electric grid
beyond the plug, who knows how and where that power was generated?
The Grid: Computing Without Bounds, Ian Foster, Scientific American, 03/04
Excerpts: The achievement allows much larger worlds with many more players.
Game developers who host their games on the Butterfly.net grid can use the
system like a utility, using more or less of the grid's power based on the
number of players online.
In another change for the industry, the distinction between PC games and
console games was blurred. Several PlayStation 2 consoles in a back room
inserted into the game characters who could interact with characters from
the personal computers in the booth.
Video Game Experiences To Be Expanded By Grids, Grid today, VOL. 2 NO. 11,
03/03/17
Excerpts: Computer software has been used to predict hurricanes and
financial markets, and now IBM says it has come up with a way to predict
what is about to happen next with the computers themselves.
(¡K) computing technology that allows systems to automatically react to
unexpected surges in demand and turn on additional computers on the network.
The technology is part of IBM's efforts to develop computers that adapt
themselves to changing conditions and can fix themselves in the event of
failure, what is known as autonomic computing.
IBM: Software Can Regulate Grid, Grid today, VOL. 2 NO. 11, 03/03/17
Excerpts: Taiwan's great outdoors is getting some preservation help from
the international community with a research project in Fushan. This project
allows ecologists to link their information and ideas with others.
The recent completion of the first ecology-grid system at the Taiwan
Forestry Research Institute's (IFRI) Fushan Research Station in Ilan
County, makes it possible for Taiwan to contribute its ecological data to
the international community. (¡K), Taiwan can help ensure the future of
its
biodiversity and at the same time contribute to the increasing global
debate on ecological issues.
Ecology-Grid Contributes To Taiwan's Outdoors, Grid today, VOL. 2 NO. 11,
03/03/17
19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
Excerpts: On three continents, Al Qaeda and other terror organizations have
intensified their efforts to recruit young Muslim men, tapping into rising
anger about the American campaign for war in Iraq, according to
intelligence and law enforcement officials.
(¡K) evidence that militants within Muslim communities are seeking to
identify and groom a new generation of terrorist operatives. An invasion of
Iraq, the officials worry, is almost certain to produce a groundswell of
recruitment for groups committed to attacks in the United States, Europe
and Israel.
Anger on Iraq Seen as New Qaeda Recruiting Tool, Don Van Natta Jr., Desmond
Butler
Abstract: The September 11 terrorist attack against [United States of]
America has caused a lot of concern to the American public and the entire
world, which is suspecting a new attack sooner or later. The most
frightening scenario is the one involving the detonation of a nuclear
device at the heart of a large metropolitan city. Unless the terrorists are
in possession of a fully assembled modern nuclear weapons it is very likely
that they will possess a crude nuclear device which has been assembled in a
terrorist camp by people with relatively limited technological resources.
It well known that the Oppenheimer team, which designed and tested the
first nuclear weapon (the gadget), had a lot of reservations as to whether
the first test at Alamogordo would produce any yield at all. Therefore, the
most likely scenario is that the terrorists will achieve either a nominal
yield or no yield at all (Fizzle). In this study we will investigate all
those parameters that play a decisive role in the number of casualties
after such an attack so that we can propose effective means of avoiding
mass destruction.
The Effects of Nuclear Terrorism: Fizzles, Theodore Liolios, 2003-03-13,
DOI: physics/0212002, arXiv
Contributed by Carlos Gershenson
Excerpts: Army researchers are laying the groundwork for what one day could
be a test to identify individuals who have been exposed to biological
agents. After exposure to a biological agent an individual's cells begin to
react almost immediately. This reaction is characterized by a unique
combination of genes activated or expressed in response to the organism.
(¡K) have identified the unique gene expression patterns from human cells
induced in response to 8 different biothreat agents. "The overall objective
has been to create a library of host gene expression responses typical of
various biological threat and infectious agents and to begin to correlate
gene patterns (¡K)."
First Step Towards Detecting Exposure To Biowarfare Agents, ScienceDaily,
2003/03/13
Contributed by Atin Das
20. Links & Snippets
20.1 Other Publications
The European Network, devoted to 'the Intelligence of Complexity" ,
(Modeling and Thinking Complexity, mainly French speaking for the time
being ), will be glad to get and to dissseminate the informations
dispatched by ComDig
Move To The Rhythm, J. J. Collins reviews Sync: The Emerging Science of
Spontaneous Order by Steven Strogatz, Many systems, from pendulums to
fireflies, work in synchrony, Nature 422, 117 - 118 (2003);
doi:10.1038/422117a
All In The Mind?, Walter A. Brown reviews Placebo: The Belief Effect by
Dylan Evans, Nature 422, 118 - 119 (2003); doi:10.1038/422118a
Hormone Evolution: The Key To Signalling, Tetsuo Kushiro, Eiji Nambara &
Peter Mccourt, Nature 422, 122 (2003); doi:10.1038/422122a, The similarity
of hydrophobic hormones in plants and animals suggests that once you make a
good key, with occasional filing it can be used in many different
developmental locks.
Gigantic Cannibals Driving A Whole-Lake Trophic Cascade Lennart Persson,
Andre M. De Roos, David Claessen, Par Bystrom, Johan Lovgren, Stefan
Sjogren, Richard Svanback, Eva Wahlstrom, Erika Westman, PNAS published 19
March 2003, 10.1073/pnas.0636404100
Convergent Evolution of Perenniality in Rice and Sorghum, F.Y.Hu, D.Y.Tao,
E.Sacks, B.Y.Fu, P.Xu, J.Li,Y. Yang, K.McNally, G. S. Khush, A. H.
Paterson, and Z.-K.Li, PNAS published 17 March 2003, 10.1073/pnas.0630531100
Genetic Architecture and Evolutionary Constraint When the Environment
Contains Genes, Jason B. Wolf, PNAS published 14 March 2003,
10.1073/pnas.0635741100
Motion Generation by Drosophila Mechanosensory Neurons, M. C. Gopfert, D.
Robert, PNAS published 17 March 2003, 10.1073/pnas.0737564100
Pressurized Pregnancies: Schizophrenia Linked to Fetal Diuretic Exposure, A
Danish study has found that pregnant women who take diuretic medication for
high blood pressure during the third trimester substantially raise the
chances that their unborn children will develop schizophrenia by age 35.
Further Proof Of The Plasticity Of Adult Stem Cells And Their Role In
Tissue Repair, Darwin J. Prockop, J. Cell Biol. 2003 March 17; 160(6): p.
807-809
Tuning The Free-Energy Landscape Of A WW Domain By Temperature, Mutation,
And Truncation, Houbi Nguyen, Marcus Jager, Alessandro Moretto, Martin
Gruebele, Jeffery W. Kelly, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA published 21 March
2003, 10.1073/pnas.0538054100
Interface Between Neurology And Psychiatry In Childhood, Gillian Baird and
Paramala J Santosh, J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 2003 March 1;
74(90001): p. 17i-22i
Digital Divide: Determinants And Policies With Special Reference To Asia,
M. G. Quibri, S. N. Ahmed, T. Tschang & M. L. Reyes-Macasaquite, J. of
Asian Econ., Vol. 13, Issue 6 , pp:811-825, Jan. 2003,
doi:10.1016/S1049-0078(02)00186-0
Can East Asia Rise Again?, T. S. Yu, J. of Asian Econ., Vol. 13, Issue 6,
pp: 715-729, Jan. 2003, doi:10.1016/S1049-0078(02)00182-3
A First Approach for a Possible Cellular Automaton Model of Fluids
dynamics, Gianluca Argentini, 2003-03-06, arXiv
Flicker Noise in a Model of Coevolving Biological Populations, Per Arne
Rikvold, R.K.P. Zia, 2003-03-06, arXiv
Detectability of Non-differentiable Generalized Synchrony, Nikolai F.
Rulkov, Valentin S. Afraimovich, 2003-03-11, arXiv
Correlations in Scale-Free Networks: Tomography and Percolation, R.
Xulvi-Brunet, W. Pietsch, I. M. Sokolov, 2003-03-16, arXiv
Multiplicative Point Process as a Model of Financial Markets, Vygintas
Gontis, Bronislovas Kaulakys, 2003-03-05, arXiv
Interwoven basin structures of double logistic map at the edge of chaos,
Gyu-Seung Shin, 2003-03-15, arXiv
Techniques and Applications of Computation Slicing, Neeraj Mittal, Vijay K.
Garg, 2003-03-15, arXiv
Bose-Einstein Condensation in Financial Systems, Kestutis Staliunas,
2003-03-14, arXiv
Sex and recombination in the Hotzel aging model, A. O. Sousa, 2003-03-14,
arXiv
Paint Instead Of A Thermometer, O. Maksimenko, Alphagalileo, 2003/03/14
US Looks To Nazi Germany As Model For Regime Change In Iraq, P. Dunn,
Alphagalileo, 2003/03/19
Baboon Behavior Offers Clues In The All-too-human Battle Of The Bulge;
Don't Be Too Quick To Blame Your Diet, New Research Suggests, ScienceDaily,
2003/03/13
Chimpanzees With Little Or No Human Contact Found In Remote African
Rainforest, ScienceDaily, 2003/03/14
Study Of Monkey Species That Fights Off AIDS May Lead To New Treatments For
Humans, ScienceDaily, 2003/03/18
Women Smile More Than Men, Except When They Are In Similar Roles,
ScienceDaily, 2003/03/19
Neural Mechanisms And Behaviors For Acoustic Communication In Teleost Fish,
A. H. Bass & J. R. McKibben, Progress in Neurobiol., Vol. 69, Issue 1,
pp:1-26, 2003/02/28, doi:10.1016/S0301-0082(03)00004-2
Static And Dynamic Properties Of Small-World Connection Topologies Based On
Transit-Stub Networks, C. Aguirre, F. Corbacho & R. Huerta,Complex System,
Vol 14, No 1, 2003
Speeding Chemistry Along, Robert Coontz, Julia Fahrenkamp-Uppenbrink, and
Phil Szuromi, Science 2003 299: 1683
20.2 Coming and Ongoing Webcasts
New: Autonomous Agents, Stuart Kauffman, FRIAM Group sponsored Applied
Complexity Lecture Series at the Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, 03/03/13
New Trends In Industrial Partnership And Innovation Management At European
Research Laboratories, CERN, Geneva, 03/03/19 (with webcast)
CERN Webcast Service, Streamed videos of Archived Lectures and Live Events
"New Frontiers of Neuroscience" Symposium, Taipei, Taiwan, 03/03/07
Television & Children's Media Policy: Where Do We Go From Here?,
Washinghton, DC, 03/02/28, c-span, (clip12657), 1:35
INSC 2003, International Nonlinear Sciences Conference, Vienna, Austria,
03/02/07-09
World Economic Forum Meeting "Building Trust", Davos, Switzerland,
03/01/23-28
2002 Financial Management Conference, 02/10/16-19
Artificial Life Conference (A-Life 8), Sydney, Australia, 02/12/09-13
Dean LeBaron's Archive of Daily Video Commentary, Ongoing Since February 1998
20.3 Conference Announcements
3rd World Water Forum and Ministerial Conference, Kyoto/Osaka/Shiga,
03/03/16-23
Fourth International Conference on Intelligent Data Engineering and
Automated Learning (IDEAL'03), Hong Kong, 03/03/21-23
2003 AAAI Spring Symposium Series, Computational Synthesis: From Basic
Building Blocks To High Level Functionality, Stanford, 03/03/24-27
Jahrestagung 2003 des AKSOE (Physics of Socio-Economical Systems), Dresden,
Germany, 03/03/24-28
Design and Product Complexity Meeting, Open Univ, Milton Keynes, UK, 03/04/07
Explorations of Complexity - A Science of Qualities: A Conversation with
Brian Goodwin, Open Univ, Milton Keynes, UK, 03/04/07
Uncertainty and Surprise: Questions on Working with the Unexpected, U. of
Texas at Austin, Texas, 03/04/10-12
7th Annual Swarm Researchers and Users Meeting (SwarmFest2003), Notre Dame,
IN, 03/04/13-14
Agent-Based Simulation 4, Montpellier, France, 03/04/28-30
2003 O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, Santa Clara, CA, 03/04/22-25
NAS Sackler Colloquium on Mapping Knowledge Domains, The Beckman Center,
Irvine, CA, 03/05/09-11
The Opening of Systems Theory, Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, DK,
02/05/23-25
SPIE's 1st Intl Symp on Fluctuations and Noise, Santa Fe, NM, 03/06/01-04
21st ICDE World Conf on Open Learning and Distance Education, Hong Kong,
03/06/01-05
17th Workshop on Parallel and Distributed Simulation (PADS 2003), San
Diego, California, 03/06/10-13
2003 Summer Computer Simulation Conference (SCSC '03), Montreal, Canada,
03/06/20-24
5th Intl Conf "Symmetry in Nonlinear Mathematical Physics", Kiev,
Ukraine,
03/06/23-29, Mirror
47th Meeting of the Intl Soc for the System Sciences: Conscious Evolution
Of Humanity: Using Systems Thinking To Construct Agoras Of The Global
Village, Iraklion, Crete, Greec, 03/07/07-11
9th International Conference on Auditory Display, Boston, MA, 03/07/07-09,
Wkshp on Assistive Technologies for the Blind, 03/07/06
2003 Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO-2003), Chicago,
IL,03/07/12-16
2nd Intl Joint Conf on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems
(AAMAS-2003), Melbourne, Australia, 03/07/14-18
7th World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (SCI
2003), Orlando, Florida, 03/07/27-30
Intl Conf on Socio Political Informatics and Cybernetics: SPIC '03,
Orlando, Fl, USA, 03/07/31-08/02
13th Annual International Conference, Soc f Chaos Theory in Psych & Life
Sciences,Boston, MA, USA, 03/08/08-10
1st German Conference on Multiagent System Technologies (MATES'03), Erfurt,
Germany, 03/09/22-25
7th European Conference on Artificial Life (ECAL-2003), Dortmund, Germany,
03/09/14-17
2003 IEEE/WIC Intl Joint Conf. Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agent
Technology, Beijing, China, 03/10/13-17
ICDM '03: The Third IEEE International Conference on Data Mining,
Melbourne, Florida, USA, 03/11/19-22
3rd International Workshop on Meta-Synthesis and Complex System, Guangzhou,
China, 03/11/29-30
2nd International Workshop on the Mathematics and Algorithms of Social
Insects, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; 03/12/15-17
20.3.1 Public Conference Calls
Complexity And Medical Practice, Pat Rush & Bob Lindberg, PlexusCalls,
03/01/10, Audio File Available Now, mp3
John Holland in Conversation, PlexusCalls, - Audio File Available Now, mp3
Are Disease and Aging Information/Complexity Loss Syndromes?, PlexusCalls,
02/11/08, 1 - 2 pm EST (To learn more about Ary Goldberger¡¦s work
and
HeartSongs, Music of the Heart.) Audio File Available Now, mp3
Brenda Zimmerman in Conversation, PlexusCalls, Audio File Available Now, mp3
The Complexity of Entrepreneurship: A Launchcyte Story, Tom Petzinger,
PlexusCalls, 02/11/22, Audio File Available Now, mp3
A Practical and Appreciative Approach to Complex and Chronic Challenges,
Keith McCandless, PlexusCalls, Jan 2003, Audio File Available Now, mp3
20.4 ComDig Announcement: New ComDig Archive in Beta Test
We are in the process of upgrading the Complexity Digest archives to a
format with improved search capabilities. Also, we will finally be able to
adequately publish the valuable feedback and comments from our knowledgable
readers. You are cordially invited to become a beta tester of our new
ComDig2 archive.
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