复杂性文摘 NO：2003.24

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Complexity Digest 2003.24 June-15-2003

  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. Theories Of Complexity, Complexity
          1.1 Investigating A General Biology, Complexity
          1.2 When Can we Call a System Self-Organizing?, arXiv
     2. Self-Replicating Machines In Continuous Space With Virtual
         Physics, Artificial Life
     3. A Model For Housing Allocation Of A Homeless Population,
         Nonlin. Analysis: Real World Appl.
     4. In Ancient Skulls From Ethiopia, Familiar Faces, NYTimes
     5. 'Dual source' Caused Aids-like Virus, BBC News
     6. Sweet Revenge [Vaccines Based On Sugars], Nature
     7. The Ulcer Bug: Gut Reaction, Nature
     8. The Double Puzzle Of Diabetes, Nature
     9. Cancer: Out Of Air Is Not Out Of Action, Nature
    10. Neurobiology: All Change At The Synapse, Nature
          10.1. Single Neurons in the Monkey Hippocampus and Learning of
                  New Associations, Science
    11. The "What" And "Where" Of Object Representations In Infancy,
         Cognition
          11.1. Learning Innate Face Preferences, Neural Computation
    12. Watch How To Do It! New Advances In Learning By Observation,
          Brain Res. Rev.
    13. Development Of Interception Of Moving Targets By Chimpanzees
         (Pan Troglodytes), Animal Cognition
    14. Background Synaptic Activity As A Switch Between Dynamical
         States In A Network, Neural Computation
    15. Regulation Of Ants' Foraging To Resource Productivity,
         Alphagalileo & Biol. Lett.
    16. Insect Behaviour: Motion Camouflage In Dragonflies, Nature
          1. [24]What Really Happens When Fruit Flies Fly?, NYTimes
    17. Scaling Metabolism From Organisms To Ecosystems, Nature
          17.1. Catastrophic Desert Formation, J. Theor. Biol.
    18. Does the Trigger for Abrupt Climate Change Reside in the Ocean
         or in the Atmosphere?, Science
    19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
          19.1. War Poll Uncovers Fact Gap, The Philadelphia Inquirer
          19.2. U.S. Will Tighten Rules on Holding Terror Suspects,
                   NYTimes
          19.3. FBI Does Some Heavy-Duty Digging in Md., Washington Post
    20. Links & Snippets
          20.1. Other Publications
          20.2. Webcast Announcements
          20.3. Conference & Call for Papers Announcements
          20.4. ComDig Announcement: New ComDig Archive in Beta Test

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1. Theories Of Complexity, Complexity

Excerpts: (¡K) many intuitively complex systems share deep commonalities
although they seem very different from each other to a superficial
observer; examples of such systems are national economies, stock markets,
immune systems or social systems. In our view, the prospects of an
explanatory TOC are better than those of a universal predictive TOC. The
question is, what exactly it should explain. Rather than trying (in vain)
to offer a unified framework applicable to any specific case to explain the
particular features of the system, one could aim at identifying general
mechanisms common to all complex systems.
Theories Of Complexity, D. Chu, R. Strand & R. Fjelland, Complexity,  8:3,
2003/05/23, DOI: 10.1002/cplx.10059
Contributed by Atin Das


Excerpts: (¡K) perhaps the most important concept for complex systems is
information. And the challenge is not to explain how those systems arose,
but rather to explain the origin of the information that flows, ramifies,
and ever organizes our world into a marvel of beauty and complexity. (¡K)
our universe as an information-processing system, able to somehow
understand and react to information in physical ways and build complex,
ordered structures. (¡K) there is a new science waiting to be explored, a
general biology of information and autonomous agents that incorporates
concepts we have only begun to grasp (¡K).

Investigating A General Biology, J. Bracht, Complexity,  8:3, 2003/05/23,
DOI: 10.1002/cplx.10060
Contributed by Atin Das


Abstract: We do not attempt to provide yet another definition of
selforganization, but explore the conditions under which we can model a
system as self-organizing. These involve the dynamics of entropy, and the
purpose, aspects, and description level chosen by an observer. We show how,
changing the level or "graining" of description, the same system can appear
selforganizing or self-disorganizing. We discuss ontological issues we face
when studying self-organizing systems, and analyse when designing and
controlling artificial self-organizing systems is useful. We conclude that
self-organization is a way of observing systems, not an absolute class of
systems.

When Can we Call a System Self-organizing?, Carlos Gershenson, Francis
Heylighen, 2003/06/11, DOI: nlin.AO/0303020, arXiv
Contributed by Carlos Gershenson


2. Self-Replicating Machines In Continuous Space With Virtual Physics,
Artificial Life

Abstract: JohnnyVon is an implementation of self-replicating machines in
continuous two-dimensional space. The particles are automata with discrete
internal states but continuous external relationships. Their internal
states are governed by finite state machines, but their external
relationships are governed by a simulated physics that includes Brownian
motion, viscosity, and springlike attractive and repulsive forces. The
particles can be assembled into patterns that can encode arbitrary strings
of bits. We demonstrate that, if an arbitrary seed pattern is put in a soup
of separate individual particles, the pattern will replicate by assembling
the individual particles into copies of itself.
Self-Replicating Machines In Continuous Space With Virtual Physics, A.
Smith, P. Turney & R. Ewaschuk, Artificial Life, Vol. 9, Issue 1, pp:21-40,
Winter 2003
Contributed by Atin Das


3. A Model For Housing Allocation Of A Homeless Population, Nonlin.
Analysis: Real World Appl.

Abstract: In the present work we derive and analyze a model considering
housing allocation of homeless families due to a natural disaster; we use
data from the earthquake of September 1999, in Athens, Greece. We derive a
non-linear system of ordinary differential equations and analyze the
stability of this system. Also we find an approximate solution of the model
for a case study as well as and a numerical solution. Finally we consider
possible extensions and improvements of the model making it more realistic.
A Model For Housing Allocation Of A Homeless Population Due To A Natural
Disaster, C. V. Nikolopoulos & D. E. Tzanetis, Nonlin. Analysis: Real World
Appl., Vol. 4, Issue 5, pp: 561-579, Dec. 2003,
doi:10.1016/S1468-1218(02)00078-0
Contributed by Pritha Das


4. In Ancient Skulls From Ethiopia, Familiar Faces, NYTimes

Excerpts: In the 160,000-year-old fossilized skulls of two adults and a
child found in Ethiopia, scientists think they see for the first time the
faces of the immediate ancestors of modern humans.
Except for a few archaic characteristics, the skulls are readily
recognizable. They are longer than their Neanderthal contemporaries (¡K).
Their midfaces are broad, but the nasal bones are tall and narrow. The brow
ridges are less prominent than those displayed in skulls from earlier
branches of the family tree. And the cranial vaults are higher and within
modern dimensions.

In Ancient Skulls From Ethiopia, Familiar Faces, John Noble Wilford,
NYTimes, 03/06/12


5. 'Dual Source' Caused Aids-like Virus, BBC News

Excerpts: A genetic study of SIV - the Aids-like virus that infects monkeys
- suggests that HIV - the virus that causes Aids in humans - came about
through the combination of two viruses in chimpanzees. (...) Genetic
studies have shown conclusively that HIV is a variant of the Simian
Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) that is found in wild African monkeys and
apes. At some time in the recent past, SIV entered humans and mutated to
become HIV. From this incident sprang the epidemic which has killed 20
million people and infected 15 million more. (...) The team suggests two
viruses from different monkey species recombined in the chimpanzee to form
the SIV strain that causes Aids in humans.
'Dual Source' Caused Aids-like Virus, Dr David Whitehouse, 2003/06/12, BBC
News
Contributed by Nadia Gershenson


6. Sweet Revenge [Vaccines Based On Sugars], Nature

Excerpts: Part of the problem is that many parasites are able to shuffle
their surface proteins rapidly, thereby escaping recognition by the immune
system. (¡K)
Given such constantly shifting targets, it is perhaps unsurprising that
conventional approaches to immunization - involving whole, killed organisms
or purified surface proteins - have yielded little success. So some
researchers are now plotting an alternative line of attack: they are trying
to get the immune system to respond not to proteins, but to the complex
sugars that parasites carry on their surfaces.

Sweet Revenge [Vaccines Based On Sugars], Carina Dennis, Nature 423, 580 -
582 (2003); doi:10.1038/423580a


7. The Ulcer Bug: Gut Reaction, Nature

Excerpts: Excerpts: H. pylori's fate has been easy to track, because it is
by far the most dominant bacterium in the stomach. But many of the other
500 or so species of bacteria in our gut might be experiencing population
changes without our knowledge. (¡K) For instance, could shifts in our gut
flora have anything to do with the Western world's epidemic of chronic
conditions such as allergies and asthma? "Our indigenous organisms are part
of our own physiology," (¡K). "Their extinction may play a role in some of
our post-modern diseases."
The Ulcer Bug: Gut Reaction, John Whitfield, Nature 423, 583 - 584 (2003);
doi:10.1038/423583a.


8. The Double Puzzle Of Diabetes, Nature

Excerpts: The leading evolutionary theory for the possible benefits of
genes predisposing to type 2 diabetes is James Neel's 'thrifty gene'
hypothesis. (¡K) existence of metabolically thrifty genes: these permit
more efficient food utilization, fat deposition and rapid weight gain at
occasional times of food abundance, thereby making the gene-bearer better
able to survive a subsequent famine. (¡K) Such genes would be advantageous
under the conditions of unpredictably alternating feast and famine that
characterized the traditional human lifestyle, but they would lead to
obesity and diabetes in the modern world (¡K).
The Double Puzzle Of Diabetes, Jared Diamond, Nature 423, 599 - 602 (2003);
doi:10.1038/423599a


9. Cancer: Out Of Air Is Not Out Of Action, Nature

Excerpts: Starving cancers of oxygen would seem to be a good way of killing
them, but the presence of oxygen-deprived areas in tumours appears to
correlate with poor prognosis. A molecular explanation for this has now
been found.
When cells are starved of oxygen, they usually die. This is why numerous
anti-cancer treatments aim to prevent the growth of blood vessels in
tumours, thereby cutting off their oxygen supply. (¡K) it seems that
tumours may in fact turn a lack of oxygen to their advantage.

Cancer: Out Of Air Is Not Out Of Action, Donald P. Bottaro, Lance A.
Liotta, Nature 423, 593 - 595 (2003); doi:10.1038/423593a


10. Neurobiology: All Change At The Synapse, Nature

Excerpts: Two groups, (¡K), have provided the first quantitative evidence
that neurotransmitter release in the brain often occurs by a long-sought
'kiss-and-run' process.
In one mode, the vesicles remained open for only a few hundred
milliseconds. The authors found that this mode involved a kiss-and-run
mechanism - that is, the formation of a small fusion pore rather than full
vesicle collapse. They discovered this by using two different proton
buffers, one that could enter the open vesicle through the narrow neck of
the fusion pore, and one that could not.

Neurobiology: All Change At The Synapse, Silvio O. Rizzoli, William J.
Betz, Nature 423, 591 - 592 (2003); doi:10.1038/423591a


Excerpts: The medial temporal lobe is crucial for the ability to learn and
retain new declarative memories. This form of memory includes the ability
to quickly establish novel associations between unrelated items. (¡K) we
recorded the activity of hippocampal neurons of macaque monkeys as they
learned new associations. Hippocampal neurons signaled learning by changing
their stimulus-selective response properties. This change in the pattern of
selective neural activity occurred before, at the same time as, or after
learning, which suggests that these neurons are involved in the initial
formation of new associative memories.

Single Neurons in the Monkey Hippocampus and Learning of New Associations,
Wirth, Sylvia, Yanike, Marianna, Frank, Loren M., Smith, Anne C., Brown,
Emery N., Suzuki, Wendy A., Science 2003 300: 1578-1581


11. The "What" And "Where" Of Object Representations In Infancy, Cognition

Abstract: Four-month-olds' memory for surface feature and location
information was tested following brief occlusions. When the target objects
were images of female faces or monochromatic asterisks infants showed
increased looking times following a change in identity or color but not
following a change in location or combinations of feature and location
information. When the target objects were images of manipulable toys, the
infants showed increased looking times following a change in location (¡K).
This evidence is consistent with the idea that young infants are unable to
maintain the information processed separately in both the dorsal and
ventral visual streams (¡K).
The "What" And "Where" Of Object Representations In Infancy, D. Mareschal &
M. H. Johnson, Cognition, Vol. 88, Issue 2, pp:259-276, Jun. 2003,
doi:10.1016/S0010-0277(03)00039-8
Contributed by Atin Das


Abstract: Newborn humans preferentially orient to facelike patterns at
birth, but months of experience with faces are required for full face
processing abilities to develop. We propose a general mechanism by which
genetically specified and environment-driven preferences can coexist in the
same visual areas. In particular, newborn face orienting may be the result
of prenatal exposure of a learning system to internally generated input
patterns (¡K) combination of learning and internal patterns is an efficient
way to specify and develop circuitry for face perception. This prenatal
learning can account for (¡K) how genetic influences interact with
experience to construct a complex adaptive system.

Learning Innate Face Preferences, J. A. Bednar & R. Miikkulainen, Neural
Computation, Vol. 15, Issue 7, pp:1525-1557, Jul. 2003
Contributed by Pritha Das


12. Watch How To Do It! New Advances In Learning By Observation, Brain Res.
Rev.

Abstract: Recent data demonstrate that the cerebellum contributes to the
internal representation of action. This representation is used not only to
generate motor actions, but also to understand and learn the actions and
skills of others by imitation. The finding that the cerebellum is involved
in procedural acquisition and in observational learning allowed us to
dissect a complex behavior into single behavioral units forming a complete
procedural sequence, demonstrating that such behavioral units do exist and
can be independently acquired.
Watch How To Do It! New Advances In Learning By Observation, L. Petrosini,
A. Graziano, L. Mandolesi, P. Neri, M. Molinari & M. G. Leggio, Brain Res.
Rev., Vol. 42, Issue 3, pp: 252-264, Jun. 2003,
doi:10.1016/S0165-0173(03)00176-0
Contributed by Atin Das


13. Development Of Interception Of Moving Targets By Chimpanzees (Pan
Troglodytes), Animal Cognition

Excerpt: The experiments investigated how two adult captive chimpanzees
learned to navigate in an automated interception task. They had to capture
a visual target that moved predictably on a touch monitor. The aim of the
study was to determine the learning stages that led to an efficient
strategy of intercepting the target. The chimpanzees had prior training in
moving a finger on a touch monitor and were exposed to the interception
task without any explicit training. With a finger the subject could move a
small "ball" at any speed on the screen toward a visual target that moved
at a fixed speed either back and forth in a linear path or around the edge
of the screen in a rectangular pattern. Initial ball and target locations
varied from trial to trial. The subjects received a small fruit
reinforcement when they hit the target with the ball. The speed of target
movement was increased across training stages up to 38 cm/s. Learning
progressed from merely chasing the target to intercepting the target by
moving the ball to a point on the screen that coincided with arrival of the
target at that point. Performance improvement consisted of reduction in
redundancy of the movement path and reduction in the time to target
interception.
Development Of Interception Of Moving Targets By Chimpanzees (Pan
Troglodytes) In An Automated Task, Iver H. Iversen, Tetsuro Matsuzawa,
Animal Cognition, Special Issue of International Primatology Society Conf.,
Adelaide Australia, 2001, to appear.


14. Background Synaptic Activity As A Switch Between Dynamical States In A
Network, Neural Computation

Abstract: A bright red light may trigger a sudden motor action in a driver
crossing an intersection: stepping at once on the brakes. The same (¡K) may
be entirely inconsequential if it appears, say, inside a movie theater. How
does the nervous system enable or disable whole networks so that they are
responsive or not to a given sensory signal? (¡K) networks of neurons have
a built-in capacity to switch between two types of dynamic state: one in
which activity is low and approximately equal for all units, and another in
which different activity distributions are possible and may even change
dynamically.
Background Synaptic Activity As A Switch Between Dynamical States In A
Network, E. Salinas, Neural Computation, Vol. 15, Issue 7, pp:1439-1475,
Jul. 2003
Contributed by Pritha Das


15. Regulation Of Ants¡¦ Foraging To Resource Productivity, Alphagalileo &
Biol. Lett.

Abstract: The black garden ants adjust the number of foragers collecting
honeydew to the aphid colonies productivity. The ant¡¦s decision to recruit
nestmates is governed by a rule of thumb in which the ant must meet enough
aphids to reach its own desired volume. As the searching time increases
(due to a low honeydew production or a large number of searching foragers),
more ants will stop the search and will not recruit. This rule based on
local information, without any counting, optimises the recruitment and
adjusts the collective foraging response to the honeydew production.
Regulation Of Ants¡¦ Foraging To Resource Productivity, A. C. Mailleux, J.
L. Deneubourg & C. Detrain, Alphagalileo & Biol. Lett., 2003/06/09
Contributed by Atin Das


16. Insect Behaviour: Motion Camouflage In Dragonflies, Nature

Excerpts: Optic flow - the apparent movement of objects as perceived using
the retina - is a primary cue for detecting predators and prey.(¡K) Motion
camouflage can be achieved if one animal (the shadower) moves in such a way
as to produce the same image motion on the retina of another animal (the
shadowee) as would a stationary object in the environment. We reconstructed
15 three-dimensional flight trajectories of interactions between
conspecific dragonflies, of which six showed clear evidence of active
motion camouflage.
Insect Behaviour: Motion Camouflage In Dragonflies, Akiko Mizutani, Javaan
S. Chahl, Mandyam V. Srinivasan, Nature 423, 604 (2003); doi:10.1038/423604a


Excerpts: "We're really interested in how flies' brains work,".(¡K), he
started out as a neurobiologist and was drawn to flight behavior because of
the complexity of the action and the relatively small number of neurons
involved.

"Brains evolved integrally related to bodies, and bodies evolved in the
physical world," (¡K).

Part of the goal of the research is to build better robots, and insects are
fascinating neurological machines. The insects themselves are not important
to war or transportation. (¡K). But as robotic models, they may have great
significance.

What Really Happens When Fruit Flies Fly?, James Gorman, NYTimes, 03/06/10


17. Scaling Metabolism From Organisms To Ecosystems, Nature

Excerpts: Understanding energy and material fluxes through ecosystems is
central (¡K) critical component of the carbon cycle and might be important
in regulating biosphere response to global climate change. Here we derive a
general model of ecosystem respiration based on the kinetics of metabolic
reactions and the scaling of resource use by individual organisms. The
model predicts that fluxes of CO2 and energy are invariant of ecosystem
biomass, but are strongly influenced by temperature, variation in cellular
metabolism and rates of supply of limiting resources (water and/or nutrients).
Scaling Metabolism From Organisms To Ecosystems, Brian J. Enquist, Evan P.
Economo, Travis E. Huxman, Andrew P. Allen, Danielle D. Ignace, James F.
Gillooly, Nature 423, 639 - 642 (2003); doi:10.1038/nature01671


Abstract: Feedback between life and its environment is ubiquitous but the
strength of coupling and its global implications remain hotly debated.
Abrupt changes in the abundance of life for small changes in forcing
provide one indicator of regulation, for example, when vegetation¡Vclimate
feedback collapses in the formation of a desert. Here we (¡K) show that
catastrophic collapse of life under gradual forcing provides a testable
indicator of environmental feedback. When solar luminosity increases to a
critical value, a desert forms across a wide band of the planet. The scale
of collapse depends on the strength of feedback.

Catastrophic Desert Formation, G. J. Ackland, M. A. Clark & T. M. Lenton,
J. Theor. Biol., Vol. 223, Issue 1, pp: 39-44, 2003/07/07,
doi:10.1016/S0022-5193(03)00069-9
Contributed by Pritha Das


18. Does the Trigger for Abrupt Climate Change Reside in the Ocean or in
the Atmosphere?, Science

Excerpts: Two hypotheses have been put forward to explain the large and
abrupt climate changes that punctuated glacial time. One attributes such
changes to reorganizations of the ocean's thermohaline circulation and the
other to changes in tropical atmosphere-ocean dynamics. (¡K) The first
involves the timing of the freshwater injections to the northern Atlantic
that have been suggested as triggers for the global impacts associated with
the Younger Dryas and Heinrich events. The second has to do with evidence
for precursory events associated with the Heinrich ice-rafted debris layers
(¡K).
Does the Trigger for Abrupt Climate Change Reside in the Ocean or in the
Atmosphere?, W. S. Broecker, Science Jun 6 2003: 1519-1522


19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks

Excerpts: Before the war, half of those polled in a survey said Iraqis were
among the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001. But most of the Sept. 11
terrorists were Saudis; none was an Iraqi.
(¡K) How could so many people be so wrong about information that has
dominated news coverage for almost two years? (¡K)

He added: "Given the intensive news coverage and high levels of public
attention, this level of misinformation suggests some Americans may be
avoiding having an experience of cognitive dissonance."

War Poll Uncovers Fact Gap, Many mistakenly believe U.S. found WMDs in
Iraq, Frank Davies, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 03/06/14


Excerpts: Excerpts: In one important change, immigration officials said
they were no longer waiting for the F.B.I. to let them know if they could
release or deport an illegal immigrant "of interest" in a terrorism
investigation. (¡K)

Illegal immigrants taken into custody "will no longer automatically be
considered a special interest case just because they happen to go to the
same flight school or register at the same Department of Motor Vehicles
office as one of the hijackers," a senior immigration official said.

U.S. Will Tighten Rules on Holding Terror Suspects, Eric Lichtblau,
NYTimes, 03/06/13


Excerpts: The FBI has been unable to solve the baffling "Amerithrax" case,
one of its highest priorities, after 18 months of rigorous investigation,
using virtually every known modern law enforcement technique. Searches were
mounted of homes, outbuildings and rented storage sheds. In military
research labs, considered the most likely source of the anthrax bacteria
used in the mailings, FBI polygraphs became commonplace. Hundreds were
interviewed, and thousands more were asked for leads. (¡K) top FBI
officials would head to Capitol Hill to report their progress, offering
little hope of an imminent arrest.

FBI Does Some Heavy-Duty Digging in Md, Washington Post, 03/06/13


20. Links & Snippets

20.1 Other Publications

New Theory On Human Hairlessness, E. Calvert, Alphagalileo & Biol. Letters,
2003/06/06
Drift As A Mechanism For Cultural Change: An Example From Baby Names, M.
Hahn & R. Bentley, Alphagalileo & Biol. Lett., 2003/06/09
Male-Female Synchrony And The Regulation Of Mating In Flowering Plants, M.
Herrero, Phil. Tran: Biol. Sc. 2003/04/15, DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2003.1285
Abstraction And Reformulation In Artificial Intelligence, Holte & Choueiry,
Phil. Tran: Biol. Sc., 2003/06/10, DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2003.1317
Researchers Use Numerical Models To Examine Blood Flow In Artificial Heart
Valves, ScienceDaily & Georgia Inst. Of Tech., 2003/06/09
Neural Stem Cells Take A Step Closer To The Clinic, ScienceDaily & Univ. Of
Wisconsin-Madison, 2003/06/10
Who's In The Loop? USC Tool Maps The Email Labyrinth, ScienceDaily & Univ.
Of Southern California, 2003/06/11
Researchers Combine Electronics With Living Cell To Create Potential
Toxicity Sensor, ScienceDaily & Univ. Of California-Berkeley, 2003/06/11
A Molecular Perspective Of Human Circadian Rhythm Disorders, N. Cermakian &
D. B. Boivin, Brain Res. Rev., Vol. 42, Issue 3, pp: 204-220, Jun. 2003,
doi:10.1016/S0165-0173(03)00171-1
Is Synchronized Neuronal Gamma Activity Relevant For Selective Attention?,
J. Fell, G. Fernandez, P. Klaver, C. E. Elger & P. Fries, Brain Res. Rev.,
Vol. 42, Issue 3, pp: 265-272, Jun.2003, doi:10.1016/S0165-0173(03)00178-4
A Real-World Rational Agent: Unifying Old and New AI, Paul F. M. J.
Verschure, Philipp Althaus, 2003/06/07, DOI: 10.1016/S0364-0213(03)00034-X,
Cognitive Science, Article in Press, Corrected Proof
Bayesian Information Extraction Network, Leonid Peshkin, Avi Pfeffer,
2003/06/10, DOI: cs.CL/0306039, arXiv, IJCAI 2003
The Open Language Archives Community: An Infrastructure for Distributed
Archiving of Language Resources, Gary Simons and Steven Bird, 2003/06/10,
arXiv
Learning a World Model and Olanning with a Self-organizing, Dynamic Neural
System, Marc Toussaint, 2003/06/11, arXiv
Structured Psychosocial Stress and Therapeutic Intervention: Toward a
Realistic Biological Medicine., Wallace, Rodrick, 2003/06/06, CogPrints
Toward an Ecological Aesthetics: Music as Emergence, Oliveira, A. L. G.,
Oliveira, L. F., 2003/06/02, CogPrints
Goodness Through Optimal Dynamics Of The Wealth Of Nations, E. N. Chukwu,
Nonlin. Analysis: Real World Appl., Vol. 4, Issue 5, pp: 653-666, Dec.
2003, doi:10.1016/S1468-1218(02)00055-X
Interpreting Time-Series Analyses For Continuous-Time Biological
Models¡V¡VMeasles As A Case Study, K. Glass, Y. Xia & B. T. Grenfell, J.
Theor. Biol., Vol. 223, Issue 1, pp: 19-25, 2003/07/07,
doi:10.1016/S0022-5193(03)00031-6
19 Monkeypox Cases Detected in 3 Midwest States Over Weekend, Lawrence K.
Altman, Jodi Wilgoren, NYTimes, 03/06/08, A viral disease related to
smallpox but less infectious and deadly has been detected for the first
time in the Western Hemisphere.
Barrels Looted at Nuclear Site Raise Fears for Iraqi Villagers, Patrick E.
Tyler, NYTimes, 03/06/08, International inspectors are looking into the
loss of control of a nuclear plant that allied forces bypassed on the way
to Baghdad.
Widespread Looting Leaves Iraq's Oil Industry in Ruins, Neela Banerjee,
NYTimes, 03/06/10, Iraq's oil industry, once among the best-run and most
smartly equipped in the world, is in tatters.
Determine Takes Complexity Out Of Document Modeling, Information Week, 13
Jun 2003, Beth Bacheldor. Determine Software Inc. has released a new
version of its contract-management software designed to make it easier ...
Britain Underscores Complexity of Euro, Times Daily, AL, 10 Jun 2003, David
McHugh. Sputtering growth and Britain's decision to hold off joining the
euro underscore the difficulty of making Europe's ...
Purple Patch: Socratic Search for Absolute Definitions, Daily Times,
Pakistan, 13 Jun 2003, Find ourselves - as if trapped in a metaphysical
maze - coming back century after century, though in a spiral of increasing
sophistication and complexity
TEA Proposes To Lower Houston School District's Rating, Austin American
Statesman, TX - 7 hours ago... to review. Superintendent Kaye Stripling on
Friday partially blamed the TEA's complex system of counting dropouts. "The
district ...
Monsoon Makes No Progress, Times of India, India, 12 Jun 2003, Subramanian.
The monsoon is a complex system, just about any kind of variability is
possible. And, it's just a few days-old ``baby''. ...
Brides And Prejudice, Hindustan Times, India - 13 Jun 2003, Centred
institutions in an overwhelmingly patriarchal and agrarian society", put
together by women over numerous years, and paid for through a complex
system ...
Convention Agrees On Draft Constitution - - For Now, TruthNews.com - 13
hours ago, Under the chairman, a complex system of rotating national or
team presidencies will be instituted, one for each of the EU's spheres of
activity. ...
'Isaac Newton': Do Sit Under the Apple Tree, New York Times - 22 hours ago,
The comparative lack of personal detail and the complexity of his thought
have thwarted potential biographers: Richard Westfall, who in 1982 produced
what ...
Elementary Schools Improve Test Scores, Staten Island Advance, NY - 13
hours ago, Adding to the complexity is a new law that mandates all students
in the school system for three years must take the state test. ...
Delays Due to 'Complexity' of Electoral Laws, AllAfrica.com, Africa - 10
Jun 2003, ... Commission (CNE), Rev Arao Litsuri, on Tuesday said the
delays experienced in organising this year's local elections are largely
due to the complexity of the ...
Put the Blame on Methylation, This gene-silencing mechanism, not
necessarily mutation, is often found culpable in creating cancerous cells,
Jim Kling, The Scientist, 2003/06/16
Patterns - Newsletter of the HSD Institute, Volume 1, No. 6, June 6, 2003
Equatorial Retention of the Contractile Actin Ring by Microtubules During
Cytokinesis, Mercedes Pardo, Paul Nurse, Science 2003 300: 1569-1574
Effects of Gaze on Amygdala Sensitivity to Anger and Fear Faces, Reginald
B. Adams Jr., Heather L. Gordon, Abigail A. Baird, Nalini Ambady, Robert E.
Kleck, Science Jun 6 2003: 1536
Some Say 2 Staffers In 'Exile' Because Banned Weapons Not Found, San
Francisco Chronicle, 2003/06/14


20.2 Coming and Ongoing Webcasts

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
Uncertainty and Surprise: Questions on Working with the Unexpected and
Unknowable, The University of Texas Austin, Texas USA, 2003/04/10-12
New Trends In Industrial Partnership And Innovation Management At European
Research Laboratories, CERN, Geneva, 2003/03/19 (with webcast)
CERN Webcast Service, Streamed videos of Archived Lectures and Live Events
Dean LeBaron's Archive of Daily Video Commentary, Ongoing Since February 1998


20.3 Conference Announcements & Call for Papers


One-Week Intensive Course: Complex Physical, Biological and Social Systems,
UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 2003/06/16-20
2003 Summer Computer Simulation Conference (SCSC '03), Montreal, Canada,
2003/06/20-24
5th Intl Conf "Symmetry in Nonlinear Mathematical Physics", Kiev, Ukraine,
2003/06/23-29, Mirror
The 2003 World Technology Summit & World Technology Awards, San Francisco,
03/06/24-25
Workshops of Dynamical Systems with Applications to Biology, Hsinchu,
Taiwan, 2003/06/24-28 (Postponed!)
NKS 2003 Conference & Minicourse, Boston, MA, 03/06/27-29
The 2003 World Technology Summit & World Technology Awards, San Francisco, CA
UQAM Summer Institute in Cognitive Sciences 2003: Categorization In
Cognitive Sciences, Montreal, 2003/06/30-07/11
9th International Conference on Auditory Display, Boston, MA,
2003/07/07-09, Wkshp on Assistive Technologies for the Blind, 2003/07/07-09
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, 2003/07/07-11
2nd International School Topics In Nonlinear Dynamics, Siena (Italy),
2003/07/09-11
2003 Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO-2003), Chicago,
IL,2003/07/12-16
2nd Intl Joint Conf on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems
(AAMAS-2003), Melbourne, Australia, 2003/07/14-18
7th World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (SCI
2003), Orlando, Florida, 2003/07/27-30
BIFURCATIONS 2003, Southampton, UK, 03/07/28-30
Intl Conf on Socio Political Informatics and Cybernetics: SPIC '03,
Orlando, Fl, USA, 2003/07/31-08/02
13th Annual International Conference, Soc f Chaos Theory in Psych & Life
Sciences,Boston, MA, USA, 2003/08/08-10
Call for Papers on Dynamical Hierarchies, Special Issue of Artificial Life,
Deadline: 2003/09/05
7th European Conference on Artificial Life (ECAL-2003), Dortmund, Germany,
2003/09/14-17
A Dual International Conference on Ethics, Complexity & Organisations &
Creativity, London WC2, UK, 2003/09/16-18
1st German Conference on Multiagent System Technologies (MATES'03), Erfurt,
Germany, 2003/09/22-25
Dynamics Days 2003, XXIII Annual Conference, 4 Decades of Chaos 1963-2003,
Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 03/09/24-27
Improving The NHS Through The Lens Of Complexity, U Exeter, UK, 03/09/24-26
Emerging Technologies Conference at MIT, Cambridge, MA, 2003/09/24-25
Intl School Mathematical Aspects of Quantum Chaos II Quantum Chaos on
Hyperbolic Manifolds, Schloss Reisensburg (Gunzburg, Germany), 03/10/04-11
2003 IEEE/WIC Intl Joint Conf. Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agent
Technology, Beijing, China, 2003/10/13-17
American Society for Cybernetics (ASC) 2003 Conference (H.v.Foerster),
Vienna, Austria , 2003/11/10-15
Trends And Perspectives In Extensive And Non-Extensive Statistical
Mechanics, In Honour Of The 60th Birthday Of Constantino Tsallis, Angra Dos
Reis, Brazil, 2003/11/19-21
ICDM '03: The Third IEEE International Conference on Data Mining,
Melbourne, Florida, USA, 2003/11/19-22
3rd International Workshop on Meta-Synthesis and Complex System, Guangzhou,
China, 2003/11/29-30
2nd International Workshop on the Mathematics and Algorithms of Social
Insects, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; 2003/12/15-17
4th Intl ICSC Symposium Engineering Of Intelligent Systems (EIS 2004),
Island of Madeira, Portugal, 04/02/29-03/02
Fractal 2004, "Complexity and Fractals in Nature", 8th Intl
Multidisciplinary Conf , Vancouver, Canada, 2004/04/04-07
Fifth International Conference on Complex Systems (ICCS2004), Boston, MA,
USA, 2004/05/16-21
International Symposium on HIV & Emerging Infectious Diseases, Toulon,
France, 04/06/03-05


20.3 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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