[tt] Complexity Digest 2008.22 (text version -2)

Tue Jun 3 20:56:47 UTC 2008

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Complexity Digest 2008.22 29-May-2008

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"I think the next century will be the century of complexity." Stephen
Hawking, 2000
_________________________________________________________________
PDF files of our annual editions are available at
www.comdig.de/AnnualEditions.html

A letter from Gottfried Mayer to our readers and friends is at
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_________________________________________________________________

01. Language: The Language Barrier, Nature
01.01. Prior Knowledge Versus Constructed Knowledge: What Impact On Learning?,
Adv. Complex Sys.
02. Science & Music: Lost In Music, Nature
03. How A Thriving Social Life Can Boost Lifespan, New Scientist
03.01. Study Finds Big Social Factor in Quitting Smoking, NY Times
03.02. With Age Comes A Sense Of Peace And Calm: Population Research Center
Study Shows, Innovations-report
03.03. When Your Memories Can No Longer Be Trusted, ScienceDaily
03.04. Eyewitness Identification: Line-Ups On Trial, Nature
04. Global Report On Conflict, Governance And State Fragility 2008, Foreign
Policy Bull.
05. Dutch Robot Flame Walks Like A Human, PhysOrg.com
06. Religion Is A Product Of Evolution, Software Suggests, New Scientist
07. Differential Rescue of Light- and Food-Entrainable Circadian Rhythms,
Science
08. Matching Tumors To Drugs - A Clinical Trial Offers A First Step Toward
Personalizing Cancer Treatments., Technology Review
08.01. Unlocking The Promise Of Clinical And Translational Science,
ScienceDaily
09. The Inner Lives of Sponges, Science
10. Biophysics: Cells Get In Shape For A Crawl, Nature
10.01. Cell 'Organs' Get Plastic Upgrades, New Scientist
11. Confusing Kinships, Science
11.01. The Microbial Engines That Drive Earth's Biogeochemical Cycles, Science
11.02. Microbial Ecology of Ocean Biogeochemistry: A Community Perspective,
Science
11.03. Microbiology: Bacteria Are Picky About Their Homes on Human Skin,
Science
12. Linear And Nonlinear Processing In Hair Cells, J. Experi. Biol.
13. Community Ecology: All That Makes Fungus Gardens Grow, Science
14. Global Warming: Hurricanes Won't Go Wild, According to Climate Models,
Science
15. Complex Networks: from Biology to Information Technology, J. Phys. A
15.01. Mapping Global Sensitivity Of Cellular Network Dynamics, Interface
16. Epigenetic Tracking, a Method to Generate Arbitrary Shapes By Using
Evolutionary-Developmental Techniques, arXiv
17. Doughnut-Shaped Universe Bites Back, News at Nature
18. A Levy Flight For Light, Nature
19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks 
19.01. Terrorism On Decline: Canadian Study, AFP
20. Links & Snippets 
20.01. Other Publications 
20.02. Webcast Announcements 
20.03. Conference Announcements 
20.04. Other Announcements 

_________________________________________________________________

01. Language: The Language Barrier , Nature

Excerpts: Some researchers think that the evolution of languages can be
understood by treating them like genomes ¡X but many linguists don't want to
hear about it. (...) Just as species can shade off into a maddening continuum
of subspecies, populations and hybrids, languages dissolve into an untidy
collection of dialects and intermediate forms. And the rampant borrowing of
words between languages resembles, graphically at least, the promiscuous
horizontal gene transfer that microbes engage in. There are limits to the
analogy. It is unclear, for example, what the 'selection pressures' are for
language, if any.

* [4] Language: The Language Barrier, Emma Marris, 08/05/22, DOI:
10.1038/453446a, Nature 453

[4] http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080521/full/453446a.html

_________________________________________________________________

01.01. Prior Knowledge Versus Constructed Knowledge: What Impact On Learning? ,
Adv. Complex Sys.

Excerpts: The aim of this paper is to model the process of learning within a
social network and compare the levels of learning in two different situations:
one where individuals know others' competencies as given data and interact on
this basis; and one where individuals know nothing about others' competencies
but rather build this knowledge over time, according to their past
interactions. For this purpose, we build an agent-based model, and model these
two scenarios of simulations. (...) Results also show that learning is easier
when there is no prior knowledge of others' competencies. (...)

* [5] Prior Knowledge Versus Constructed Knowledge: What Impact On Learning?,
[6] W. Guechtouli, Apr. 2008, DOI: 10.1142/S0219525908001635, Advances in
Complex Systems
* Contributed by [7] Pritha Das

[5] http://www.worldscinet.com/cgi-bin/details.cgi?id=jsname:acs&type=current
[6] mailto:Guechtouli at univ-cezanne.fr
[7] mailto:prithadas01 at yahoo.com

_________________________________________________________________

02. Science & Music: Lost In Music , Nature

Excerpts: Never has so much music been so easily available. Go online, and you
can download millions of recordings, from Spanish flamenco to Inuit throat
singing. As a consequence, people are aware of the diversity of 'world musics'
as never before.  But this rich cacophony is the soundtrack to a collapse in
the diversity of musical minds. A Nigerian group might sing in Yoruba, but the
harmonies are thoroughly Western. Native American Navajo singers make valiant
efforts to preserve their traditions, but to the trained musicologist, their
singing bears the unmistakable imprint of Western scales.

* [8] Science & Music: Lost In Music, David Huron, 08/05/22, DOI:
10.1038/453456a, Nature 453, 456-457

[8] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v453/n7194/full/453456a.html

_________________________________________________________________

03. How A Thriving Social Life Can Boost Lifespan , New Scientist

Excerpts: It has been suggested that humans and other vertebrates live longer
if they have more social interactions, and now this has been verified - in
fruit flies. (...) Mutant flies that shared a home with younger flies, or
non-mutants, lived longer and were more mobile than those sharing a home with
similar-aged flies. They were also more resistant to the effects of extreme
physical exertion, heat and oxidative stress. Impairing the movement or
activity of younger flies reduced this effect, suggesting that social
interaction with the younger flies through courtship, aggression, or grooming,
plays a key role in increasing the lifespan of the older flies. "Social
activity is the key," says Wu.

* [9] How A Thriving Social Life Can Boost Lifespan, Linda Geddes, 08/05/26,
NewScientist.com

[9]
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13971-how-a-thriving-social-life-can-boos
t-lifespan.html

_________________________________________________________________

03.01. Study Finds Big Social Factor in Quitting Smoking , NY Times

Excerpts: For years, smokers have been exhorted to take the initiative and
quit: use a nicotine patch, chew nicotine gum, take a prescription medication
that can help, call a help line, just say no. But a new study finds that
stopping is seldom an individual decision.  Smokers tend to quit in groups, the
study finds, which means smoking cessation programs should work best if they
focus on groups rather than individuals. It also means that people may help
many more than just themselves by quitting: quitting can have a ripple effect
prompting an entire social network to break the habit.

* [10] Study Finds Big Social Factor in Quitting Smoking, Gina Kolata,
08/05/22, NYTimes

[10] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/22/science/22smoke.html

_________________________________________________________________

03.02. With Age Comes A Sense Of Peace And Calm: Population Research Center
Study Shows , Innovations-report

Excerpts: Aging brings a sense of peace and calm, according to a new study
(...). Starting at about age 60, participants reported more feelings of ease
and contentment than their younger counterparts. (...) The findings reveal
aging is associated with more positive than negative emotions, and more passive
than active emotions, Ross said. Previous research on emotions associated with
aging focused on negative emotions, such as depression. However, a second
dimension underlying emotions is an active versus passive dimension, which is
less studied, but may be important in explaining how emotions shift as people
age, according to the researchers. (...)

* [11] With Age Comes A Sense Of Peace And Calm: Population Research Center
Study Shows, 2008/05/21, Innovations-report
* Contributed by [12] Atin Das

[11]
http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/social_sciences/report-110591.ht
ml
[12] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in

_________________________________________________________________

03.03. When Your Memories Can No Longer Be Trusted , ScienceDaily

Excerpts: You went to a wedding yesterday. The service was beautiful, the food
and drink flowed and there was dancing all night. But people tell you that you
are in hospital, that you have been in hospital for weeks, and that you didnt
go to a wedding yesterday at all. The experience of false memories like this
following neurological damage is known as confabulation. The reasons why
patients experience false memories such as these has largely remained a
mystery. (...) neuroimaging studies have associated memory-control processes
which are assumed to underlie confabulation with the right lateral prefrontal
cortex. (...).

* [13] When Your Memories Can No Longer Be Trusted, 2008/05/21, ScienceDaily &
Psychotherapy And Psychosomatics
* Contributed by [14] Atin Das

[13] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080520212222.htm
[14] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in

_________________________________________________________________

03.04. Eyewitness Identification: Line-Ups On Trial , Nature

Excerpts: A major, but flawed, study of identity parades, or line-ups, has set
science and the police at odds. (...) The group immediately homed in on the
fact that most line-ups are overseen by the case's investigating officer, who
knows the suspect's identity. For scientists, this is a major error: even
something as seemingly objective as a clinical trial can be affected if the
nurse who administers the injection knows whether the syringe contains a drug
or a placebo. It is all but impossible for an experimenter ¡X or an
investigating officer ¡X to avoid giving away the 'right' answer through body
language, tone of voice or other such unconscious hints.

* [15] Eyewitness Identification: Line-Ups On Trial, Laura Spinney, 08/05/22,
DOI: 10.1038/453442a, Nature 453

[15] http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080521/full/453442a.html

_________________________________________________________________

04. Global Report On Conflict, Governance And State Fragility 2008 , Foreign
Policy Bull.

Excerpts: (...) Systems analysis necessarily focuses on the complex relations
between dynamics (human agency and environmental forces) and statics (physical
and social attributes, conditions, and structures). Basic societal-systems
analysis must take into account the interconnectedness of three key, or
fundamental, dimensions: conflict, governance, and development (...). Available
technology largely determines the size and complexity of viable
societal-systems. The qualities, and prospects, of each of the three
fundamental dimensions of societal-systems critically affects the qualities of
the other two dimensions to such a degree that it is not possible to
meaningfully analyze one dimension without taking the other two into account.
(...)

* [16] Global Report On Conflict, Governance And State Fragility 2008, M. G.
Marshall ,  B. R. Cole, Dec. 2008, online 2008/04/17, DOI:
10.1017/S1052703608000014, Foreign Policy Bulletin
* Contributed by [17] Pritha Das

[16]
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=6&fid=1814672&jid=FPB
&volumeId=18&issueId=01&aid=1814668&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S1052703608000014
[17] mailto:prithadas01 at yahoo.com

_________________________________________________________________

05. Dutch Robot Flame Walks Like A Human , PhysOrg.com

Excerpts:     TU Delft is leading in constructing walking robots which are
based on the way humans walk. Credit: TU Delft     TU Delft is a pioneer of the
other method used for constructing walking robots, based on the way humans walk
.
This is really very similar to falling forward in a controlled fashion. Adoptin
g
this method replaces the cautious, rigid way in which robots walk with the more
fluid, energy-efficient movement used by humans. PhD student Daan Hobbelen has
demonstrated for the first time that a robot can be both energy-efficient and
highly stable. His breakthrough came in inventing a suitable method for
measuring the stability of the way people walk for the first time.

* [18] Dutch Robot Flame Walks Like A Human, 08/05/22, PhysOrg.com

[18] http://physorg.com/news130672678.html

_________________________________________________________________

06. Religion Is A Product Of Evolution, Software Suggests , New Scientist

Excerpts: By distilling religious belief into a genetic predisposition to pass
along unverifiable information, the program predicts that [19] religion will
flourish. However, religion only takes hold if non-believers help believers out
- perhaps because they are impressed by their devotion. "If a person is willing
to sacrifice for an abstract god then people feel like they are willing to
sacrifice for the community," says [20] James Dow, (...), who wrote the program
- called Evogod [21] (download the code here).

* [22] Religion Is A Product Of Evolution, Software Suggests, Ewen Callaway,
08/05/27, NewScientist.com

[19] /channel/being-human/mg19526190.400-what-good-is-god.html
[20] http://personalwebs.oakland.edu/~dow/ target=ns
[21] http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/11/2/2/sim4.sce.html target=ns
[22] http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13983

_________________________________________________________________

07. Differential Rescue of Light- and Food-Entrainable Circadian Rhythms ,
Science

Excerpts: When hungry, rodents may optimize their chances of finding food by
engaging a food-entrained circadian clock in the brain that takes over from the
light-driven clock. When food is plentiful, circadian rhythms of animals are
powerfully entrained by the light-dark cycle. However, if animals have access
to food only during their normal sleep cycle, they will shift most of their
circadian rhythms to match the food availability. We studied the basis for
entrainment of circadian rhythms by food and light in mice with targeted
disruption of the clock gene Bmal1, which lack circadian rhythmicity.

* [23] Differential Rescue of Light- and Food-Entrainable Circadian Rhythms,
Patrick M. Fuller,  Jun Lu,  Clifford B. Saper, 08/05/23, Science : 1074-1077.

[23] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/320/5879/1074

_________________________________________________________________

08. Matching Tumors To Drugs - A Clinical Trial Offers A First Step Toward
Personalizing Cancer Treatments. , Technology Review

Excerpts: "The ultimate goal is to take a molecular fingerprint of someone's
tumor and assign treatment based on molecular defects."  Standard cancer drugs
are designed to preferentially kill cancer cells, but they can still be toxic
to normal tissue. But cancer researchers have been working toward the goal of
developing an array of drugs that could hit precise molecular targets in
tumors, while being less toxic to normal cells. For example, non-small-cell
lung cancer is an aggressive form of cancer that is typically treated with
chemotherapy; however, in recent years, new drugs for the disease have been
developed that target a specific molecule in cancer cells, called the epidermal
growth factor receptor (EGFR).

* [24] Matching Tumors To Drugs - A Clinical Trial Offers A First Step Toward
Personalizing Cancer Treatments., Courtney Humphries, 08/05/27, Technology
Review

[24] http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/20822/

_________________________________________________________________

08.01. Unlocking The Promise Of Clinical And Translational Science ,
ScienceDaily

Excerpts: If you were sick, wouldnt you prefer a customized medical treatment
that works specifically for you? Or a treatment that prevents you from ever
getting sick in the first place? The emerging field of clinical and
translational science provides the bridging force that transforms lab
discoveries into customized, patient-specific therapy. (...) Diseases
ultimately originate from abnormalities in the individual molecules controlling
the function of normal cells. Defining those molecules and their normal and
abnormal interactions for each disease state creates opportunities to repair
malfunctions and restore cells to normal health,?explains Waldman. (...)

* [25] Unlocking The Promise Of Clinical And Translational Science, 2008/05/25,
ScienceDaily & Wiley-Blackwell
* Contributed by [26] Atin Das

[25] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080522145200.htm
[26] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in

_________________________________________________________________

09. The Inner Lives of Sponges , Science

Excerpts: Symbiotic ties, bioactive compounds, and mysterious distributions of
bacteria characterize these ancient invertebrates (...)  One of evolution's
more ancient animals, sponges at first glance seem quite simple--little more
than loose consortiums of semiautonomous cells, stuck in one place filtering
food from the water column. But a closer look reveals a surprising twist. "With
many species, under the microscope you see almost exclusively bacteria" among
the cells, says Piel, an organic chemist at the University of Bonn in Germany.

* [27] The Inner Lives of Sponges, Gretchen Vogel, 08/05/23, DOI:
10.1126/science.320.5879.1028, Science: Vol. 320. no. 5879, pp. 1028 - 1030

[27] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/320/5879/1028

_________________________________________________________________

10. Biophysics: Cells Get In Shape For A Crawl , Nature

Excerpts: A cell's shape changes as it moves along a surface. The
forward-thinking cytoskeletal elements are all for progress, but the
conservative cell membrane keeps them under control by physically opposing
their movement. The ability of living cells to move affects the way our bodies
develop, fight off infections and heal wounds. Moreover, cell migration is an
extremely complex process, which explains why it has captured the collective
imaginations of a variety of fields, from the biological and the physical
sciences.

* [28] Biophysics: Cells Get In Shape For A Crawl, Jason M. Haugh, 08/05/22,
DOI: 10.1038/453461a, Nature 453, 461-462

[28] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v453/n7194/full/453461a.html

_________________________________________________________________

10.01. Cell 'Organs' Get Plastic Upgrades , New Scientist

Excerpts: Meier says the artificial organelles would also work in other human
cells, opening up the possibility of a new cancer therapy that tricks diseased
cells into poisoning themselves from the inside out. An advanced chemotherapy
technique involves giving patients a harmless "prodrug" that only becomes toxic
in the presence of a particular enzyme. This enzyme bonds to an antibody that
seeks out cancer but ignores healthy cells - this means the drug will only
become active around cancerous cells.

* [29] Cell 'Organs' Get Plastic Upgrades, Tamsin Osborne, 08/05/23,
NewScientist.com

[29]
http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn13967-cells-organs-get-plasti
c-upgrades.html?feedId=online-news_rss20

_________________________________________________________________

11. Confusing Kinships , Science

Excerpts: Understanding microbial evolution and ecology rests on a solid
classification system, but coming up with one is difficult. (...) Not only are
bacteria and their ilk amazingly diverse, but genes cross species lines so
frequently that researchers argue whether microbial species exist at all. At
stake is much more than the esoteric record-keeping of taxonomists, (...):
"This is about our fundamental understanding of evolution." Without rigorously
categorizing diversity, "we're really stuck."

* [30] Confusing Kinships, John Bohannon, 08/05/23, DOI:
10.1126/science.320.5879.1031, Science : 1031-1033

[30] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/320/5879/1031

_________________________________________________________________

11.01. The Microbial Engines That Drive Earth's Biogeochemical Cycles , Science

Excerpts: Virtually all nonequilibrium electron transfers on Earth are driven
by a set of nanobiological machines composed largely of multimeric protein
complexes associated with a small number of prosthetic groups. These machines
evolved exclusively in microbes early in our planet's history yet, despite
their antiquity, are highly conserved. Hence, although there is enormous
genetic diversity in nature, there remains a relatively stable set of core
genes coding for the major redox reactions essential for life and
biogeochemical cycles.

* [31] The Microbial Engines That Drive Earth's Biogeochemical Cycles, Paul G.
Falkowski,  Tom Fenchel,  Edward F. Delong, 08/05/23, Science: 1034-1039.

[31] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/320/5879/1034

_________________________________________________________________

11.02. Microbial Ecology of Ocean Biogeochemistry: A Community Perspective ,
Science

Excerpts: The oceans harbor a tremendous diversity of marine microbes.
Different functional groups of bacteria, archaea, and protists arise from this
diversity to dominate various habitats and drive globally important
biogeochemical cycles. Explanations for the distribution of microbial taxa and
their associated activity often focus on resource availability and abiotic
conditions. However, the continual reshaping of communities by mortality,
allelopathy, symbiosis, and other processes shows that community interactions
exert strong selective pressure on marine microbes.

* [32] Microbial Ecology of Ocean Biogeochemistry: A Community Perspective,
Suzanne L. Strom, 08/05/23, DOI: 10.1126/science.1153527, Science : 1043-1045

[32] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/320/5879/1043

_________________________________________________________________

11.03. Microbiology: Bacteria Are Picky About Their Homes on Human Skin ,
Science

Excerpts: Julie Segre is touring the microbial landscape of our body's biggest
organ, the skin. In anticipation of a $115 million, 5-year effort by the U.S.
National Institutes of Health (NIH), she's traveling from head to toe,
conducting a census of some of the trillions of bacteria that live within and
upon human skin. Although their project is just getting off the ground, Segre,
a geneticist at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) in
Bethesda, Maryland, and her colleagues have already uncovered a surprising
diversity and distribution among skin bacteria.

* [33] Microbiology: Bacteria Are Picky About Their Homes on Human Skin,
Elizabeth Pennisi, 08/05/23, Science : 1001.

[33] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/320/5879/1001

_________________________________________________________________

12. Linear And Nonlinear Processing In Hair Cells , J. Experi. Biol.

Excerpt: Mechanosensory hair cells in the ear are exquisitely responsive to
minute sensory inputs, nearly to the point of instability. Active mechanisms
bias the transduction apparatus and subsequent electrical amplification away
from saturation in either the negative or positive direction, to an operating
point where the response to small signals is approximately linear. An active
force generator coupled directly to the transducer enhances sensitivity and
frequency selectivity, and counteracts energy loss to viscous drag. Active
electrical amplification further enhances gain and frequency selectivity. In
both cases, nonlinear properties may maintain the system close to instability,
as evidenced by small spontaneous oscillations, (...).

* [34] Linear And Nonlinear Processing In Hair Cells, [35] W. M. Roberts,  M.
A. Rutherford, 2008/06/01, online 2008/05/19, DOI: 10.1242/jeb.017616, Journal
of Experimental Biology
* Contributed by [36] Pritha Das

[34] http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/abstract/211/11/1775
[35] mailto:billr at uoregon.edu 
[36] mailto:prithadas01 at yahoo.com

_________________________________________________________________

13. Community Ecology: All That Makes Fungus Gardens Grow , Science

Excerpts: Fifty million years ago, while the earliest primates were still
scurrying from tree to tree, scrounging fruits and insects, attine ants were
growing their own food. They were so adept at domesticating mushrooms that
hundreds of species have descended from the original farmers, all of them
cultivating fungi. Humans could learn a lot from the ants' success. Over the
past 10 years, researchers have come to realize that the fungus gardens thrive
because of an intricate web of bacteria and fungi that includes both pests,
such as a newly discovered black yeast, and partners, including bacteria that
keep pathogens in check.

* [37] Community Ecology: All That Makes Fungus Gardens Grow, Elsa Youngsteadt,
08/05/23, Science: 1006-1007.

[37] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/320/5879/1006

_________________________________________________________________

14. Global Warming: Hurricanes Won't Go Wild, According to Climate Models ,
Science

Excerpts: Two new model studies project a modest increase or even a decrease in
the frequency and intensity of Atlantic tropical cyclones. (...) But even some
of those involved in the studies urge caution in interpreting the results. "I'm
much less sanguine about models solving the problem," (...). There's still too
much messiness beneath the surface of all such studies, he says. Using two
different approaches, both model studies tweak the big global climate models to
simulate tropical cyclones. Global climate models can't form tropical cyclones
because their picture of the atmosphere is too fuzzy. (...)

* [38] Global Warming: Hurricanes Won't Go Wild, According to Climate Models,
Richard A. Kerr, 08/05/23, Science: 999.

[38] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/320/5879/999a

_________________________________________________________________

15. Complex Networks: from Biology to Information Technology , J. Phys. A

Excerpt: The field of complex networks is one of the most active areas in
contemporary statistical physics. Ten years after seminal work initiated the
modern study of networks, interest in the field is in fact still growing, as
indicated by the ever increasing number of publications in network science. The
reason for such a resounding success is most likely the simplicity and broad
significance of the approach that, through graph theory, allows researchers to
address a variety of different complex systems within a common framework.

This special issue comprises a selection of contributions presented at the
workshop 'Complex Networks: from Biology to Information Technology' held in
July 2007 in Pula (Cagliari), Italy as a satellite of the general conference
STATPHYS23.
See Also: [39] SPECIAL ISSUE: PAPERS FROM THE STATPHYS23 SATELLITE MEETING ON
COMPLEX NETWORKS: FROM BIOLOGY TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (PULA (CAGLIARI),
ITALY, 2?? July 2007) 

* [40] Complex Networks: from Biology to Information Technology, A Barrat, S
Boccaletti, G Caldarelli, A Chessa, V Latora and A E Motter, 2008/06/06, DOI:
10.1088/1751-8121/41/22/220301, J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 41 220301
* Contributed by [41] Carlos Gershenson

[39] http://www.iop.org/EJ/toc/1751-8121/41/22
[40] http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/1751-8121/41/22/220301
[41] http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~cgershen/

_________________________________________________________________

15.01. Mapping Global Sensitivity Of Cellular Network Dynamics , Interface

Excerpt: The dynamical systems arising from gene regulatory, signalling and
metabolic networks are strongly nonlinear, have high-dimensional state spaces
and depend on large numbers of parameters. Understanding the relation between
the structure and the function for such systems is a considerable challenge. We
need tools to identify key points of regulation, illuminate such issues as
robustness and control and aid in the design of experiments. Here, I tackle
this by developing new techniques for sensitivity analysis. In particular, I
show how to globally analyse the sensitivity of a complex system by means of
two new graphical objects: the sensitivity heat map and the parameter
sensitivity spectrum. (...)

* [42] Mapping Global Sensitivity Of Cellular Network Dynamics: Sensitivity
Heat Maps And A Global Summation Law, D.A. Rand, 2008/05/15, DOI:
10.1098/rsif.2008.0084.focus, Interface
* Contributed by [43] Atin Das

[42]
http://journals.royalsociety.org/content/4h207q74k2310431/?p=72dcd9d254c3404cb1
5da62ba080f7f4&pi=3
[43] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in

_________________________________________________________________

16. Epigenetic Tracking, a Method to Generate Arbitrary Shapes By Using
Evolutionary-Developmental Techniques , arXiv

Excerpt: This paper describes an Artificial Embryology method (called
``Epigenetic Tracking'') to generate predefined arbitrarily shaped
2-dimensional arrays of cells by means of evolutionary techniques. It is based
on a model of development, whose key features are: i) the distinction bewteen
``normal'' and ``driver'' cells, being the latter able to receive guidance from
the genome, ii) the implementation of the proliferation/apoptosis events in suc
h
a way that many cells are created/deleted at once, in order to speed-up the
morphogenetic process. iii) the presence in driver cells of an epigenetic
memory, that holds the position of the cell in the cell lineage tree and
represents the source of differentiation during development.

* [44] Epigenetic Tracking, a Method to Generate Arbitrary Shapes By Using
Evolutionary-Developmental Techniques, Alessandro Fontana, 2008/05/16, DOI:
0805.2522, arXiv
* Contributed by [45] Carlos Gershenson

[44] http://uk.arXiv.org/abs/0805.2522
[45] http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~cgershen/

_________________________________________________________________

17. Doughnut-Shaped Universe Bites Back , News at Nature

Excerpt:      Mmm... Universe. Calculations show it really might be shaped like
the snack favourite.     The CMB [cosmic microwave background, Ed.] is made up
of hot and cold spots that represent ripples in the density of the infant
Universe, like waves in the sea. An infinite Universe should contain waves of
all sizes, but cosmologists were surprised to find that longer wavelengths were
missing from measurements of the CMB made by NASA?s Wilkinson Microwave
Anisotropy Probe.

* [46] Doughnut-Shaped Universe Bites Back, Zeeya Merali, 2008/05/23, DOI:
10.1038/news.2008.854, News at Nature
* Contributed by [47] Carlos Gershenson

[46] http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080523/full/news.2008.854.html
[47] http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~cgershen/

_________________________________________________________________

18. A Levy Flight For Light , Nature

Excerpts: Transport based on Levy flights has been extensively studied
numerically, but experimental work has been limited, and, to date, it has not
seemed possible to observe and study Levy transport in actual materials. For
example, experimental work on heat, sound, and light diffusion is generally
limited to normal, brownian, diffusion. Here we show that it is possible to
engineer an optical material in which light waves perform a Levy flight. The
key parameters that determine the transport behaviour can be easily tuned,
making this an ideal experimental system in which to study Levy flights in a
controlled way.

* [48] A Levy Flight For Light, Pierre Barthelemy,  Jacopo Bertolotti, 
Diederik S. Wiersma, 08/05/22, DOI: 10.1038/nature06948, Nature 453, 495-498

[48] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v453/n7194/full/nature06948.html

_________________________________________________________________

19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks 

_________________________________________________________________

19.01. Terrorism On Decline: Canadian Study , AFP

Excerpts: Researchers at Simon Fraser University (SFU) said in an annual Human
Security Brief that terrorism fatalities were down by some 40 percent in late
2006 compared to 2001, and according to preliminary data, dropped even further
in mid-2007. The study pointed to more widespread and coordinated
counterterrorism efforts, "bitter doctrinal infighting" within the global
Islamist networks, and Muslims' rejection of terrorists' "indiscriminate
violence, extremist ideology and harshly repressive policies" for the
downswing. As well, it specifically acknowledged a "dramatic collapse in
popular support throughout the Muslim world" for Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda
network.

* [49] Terrorism On Decline: Canadian Study, 08/05/22, AFP

[49] http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ha-9pTu_47bMMDgpKEqorfFTzZhQ

_________________________________________________________________

20. Links & Snippets 

_________________________________________________________________

20.01. Other Publications 

- Steel Toughened by Pancakes, 2008/05/22, News at Nature, DOI:
10.1038/news.2008.851
- How Low Can Life Go?, 2008/05/22, News at Nature, DOI: 10.1038/news.2008.850
- Assessing Random Dynamical Network Architectures for Nanoelectronics,
2008/05/17, arXiv, DOI: 0805.2684
- At The Synapse: Gene May Shed Light On Neurological Disorders, 2008/05/26,
Innovations-report
- Why Do Astronauts Suffer From Space Sickness?, 2008/05/23, Innovations-report
- Bone Repair Using Patient's Stem Cells Comes Closer: Enzyme Induces Adult
Stem Cells To Grow Bone, 2008/05/26, Innovations-report
- Evolution Of Cooperation With Shared Costs And Benefits, 2008/05/20,
Proceedings B: Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2007.1685
- Sensitivity To Reward Loss As An Indicator Of Animal Emotion And Welfare,
2008/05/20, Biological Letters, DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2008.0113
- Mathematicians Reveal Secrets Of The Ancient And Universal Art Of Symmetry,
2008/05/24, ScienceDaily & University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
- Brain's 'Trust Machinery' Identified, 2008/05/23, ScienceDaily & Cell Press
- Modeling How We See Natural Scenes, 2008/05/22, ScienceDaily & Cell Press
- Historical Simulation: A Study Of Civil Service Examinations, The Family Line
And Cultural Capital In China, Apr. 2008, Advances in Complex Systems, DOI:
10.1142/S0219525908001568
- Evolution: Hard Facts About Soft Animals, 08/05/23, Science : 1014-1015. The
contributors combine data from anatomy, ecology, paleontology, and genomics to
provide a summary of what we do and do not know about the evolutionary
relationships of molluscs
- Insects (The Original White Meat), 08/05/24, Science News, Dining on insects,
usually more by choice than necessity, occurs in at least 100 countries ¡X and
may be better than chicken for both people and the environment.
- It's The Network, Stupid, 08/05/24, Science News, The complexity of humans
may lie not in genes but in the web of interactions among the proteins they
make.
- Sharing Valuable Real Estate, 08/05/24, Science News, Human brains rewire
when people lose a sense, but a new study of people who have regained vision
shows that the rewired areas retain their old abilities.

_________________________________________________________________

20.02. Webcast Announcements 

 7th Intl Conf on Complex Systems (ICCS), Boston, MA, 07/10/28-11/02

 [50] 
Reseau Nationale des Systemes Complexes , (in French), 2007

 [51] World Economic Forum , Davos, Switzerland, 08/01/22-27

TED Talks, TED Conferences LLC , since 2006

Talking Robots: The PodCast on Robotics and AI, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de
Lausanne, Switzerland, 06/11/03

Potentials of Complexity Science for Business, Governments, and the Media 2006,
Budapest, Hungary, 06/08/03-05

 6th Intl Conf on Complex Systems (ICCS), Boston, MA, 06/06/25-30

Artificial Life X, 
10th Intl Conf on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems, Bloomington,
IN, USA. 2006/06/03-07

6th Understanding Complex Systems Symposium, Urbana-Champaign, Il, 06/05/15-18

Ralph Abraham on Complexity Digest, , Calcutta, India, 05/12/27
 [52] An Afternoon with Michael Crichton, Washington, 05/11/06
 [53] 
Illuminating the Shadow of the Future, Ann Arbor, Mi 05/09/23-25

 [54] 
Open Network of Centres of Excellence in Complex Systems - Brainstorming
Meeting, Paris, France 05/09/19-23

 [55] 
Complexity, Science & Society Conference 2005, U. Liverpool, UK 2005/09/11-14

 [56] 
ECAL 2005 - VIIIth European Conference on Artificial Life, 
Canterbury, Kent, UK 2005/09/5-9

 [57] 
T. Irene Sanders, Executive Director and Founder, [58] The Washington Center
for Complexity & Public Policy, 05/08/27, QuickTime video (10:38 min), [59]
Podcast 

 [60] North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity
2005 Conference, Virtual Conference Network, St. Pete's Beach, Florida,
05/06/09-11

 [61] Understanding Complex Systems - Computational Complexity and
Bioinformatics, Virtual Conference Network, Urbana-Champaign, Il, UIUC,
05/05/16-19

 [62] Nonlinearity, Fluctuations, and Complexity, with a celebration of the
65th birthday of Gregoire Nicolis. , Complexity Session, Universite' Libre de
Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium, 05/03/16

 [63] 
1st European Conference on Complex Systems, Torino, Italy, 04/12/5-7

>From Autopoiesis to Neurophenomenology: A Tribute to Francisco Varela
(1946-2001), Paris, France, 2004/06/18-20

Evolutionary Epistemology, Language, and Culture, Brussels, Belgium,
04/05/26-28

International Conference on Complex Systems 2004, Boston, 04/05/16-21

Nonlinear Dynamics And Chaos: Lab Demonstrations, Strogatz, Steven H.,
Internet-First University Press, 1994

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

[50] http://webcast.in2p3.fr/RNSC/ target=new
[51]
http://gaia.world-television.com/wef/worldeconomicforum_annualmeeting2008/Targe
t=new
[52] http://www.complexsys.org/news.htm target=new
[53] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/05ISF/index.html target=new
[54] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/ONCECS05/ target=new
[55] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/CSS05/ target=new
[56] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/ECAL2005/ target=new
[57] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/Sanders0508/Sanders0508.mov target=new
[58] http://www.complexsys.org/ target=new
[59] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/Sanders0508/Sanders.mp3
[60] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/05NASPSA/ target=new
[61] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/05UCS/ target=new
[62] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/Nicolis05/Target=new
[63] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/ECCS04/Target=new

_________________________________________________________________

20.03. Conference Announcements 

[64] 
CHAOS2008
Chaotic Modeling and Simulation International Conference, Chania, Crete,
Greece, 08/06/03-06

Creating Cultures of Engagement in Health Care: New Models for Addressing
Conflict, Disruption and Avoidance in Health Care, Omaha, Nebraska,
08/06/03-05

[65] International Conference on Chaos, Complexity & Conflict, Omaha, NE,
08/06/05-07

[66] 
4th Organization Studies Summer Workshop: Embracing Complexity: Advancing
Ecological Understanding in Organization Studies? Pissouri, Cyprus,
08/06/05-07

Cambridge Healthtech Institute's Tenth Annual... Applying Systems Biology, San
Francisco, CA, 08/06/09-11

AUTOMATA 2008, EPSRC Workshop Cellular Automata Theory and Applications,
Bristol, UK, 08/06/12-14

Intl Summer School on
"Modelling and Optimization in Micro- and Nano- Electronics" - MOMINE 2008,
Ragusa, Sicily, Italy, 08/06/14-28

NECSI Summer School, Cambridge, MA, 08/06/16-07/04, 

[67] 
9th Intl Mathematica Symposium, Maastricht, The Netherlands, 08/06/20-24

 [68] 
The 14th Intl Conf on Auditory Display (ICAD), Paris, France, 08/06/24-27

8th Intl Conf of Sociocybernetics - Complex Social Systems, Interdisciplinarity
And World Futures, Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico, 08/06/24-28

"Is complexity the new framework for management and public policy in the 21st
century?"
Complexity Society Workshop, Manchester, UK, 08/06/26

The 3rd Intl Symp on Knowledge Communication and Peer Reviewing: KCPR 2008,
Orlando, Florida, USA, 08/06/29-07/02

The 3rd Intl Symp on Knowledge Communication and Conferences: KCC 2008,
Orlando, Florida, USA, 08/06/29-07/02

[69] 
7th Intl Summer School and Conf "Let's Face Chaos through Nonlinear Dynamics",
Maribor, Slovenia, 08/06/29-07/13

The 12th World Multi-Conf on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics: WMSCI
2008, Orlando, Florida, USA, 08/06/29-07/02

>From Animals To Animats 10 - The 10th Intl Conf on the Simulation Of Adaptive
Behavior (SAB'08), Osaka, Japan, 08/07/07-12

[70] 
Complex Systems and Social Simulations, CEU Summer University, Budapest,
Hungary, 08/07/07-18

2008 Gordon Research Conf on Oscillations & Dynamic Instabilities
in Chemical Systems, Waterville, ME, 08/07/13-18

Nonlinear Fracture Mechanics Models, Udine, Italy, 08/07/14-18

[71] 
1st Intl Workshop on Nonlinear Dynamics and Synchronization 
(INDS?8), Klagenfurt, Austria, 08/07/18-19

[72] 
Scratch at MIT,Cambridge, MA, 08/07/24-26

[73] 
8th Intl Conf on Epigenetic Robotics:
Modeling Cognitive Development in Robotic Systems, Brighton, UK,
08/07/31-08/02

On the Edge: Healthcare in the Age of Complexity,
Kansas City, MO, 08/08/03-05

Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology & Life Sciences 
18th Annl Intl Conf, Richmond, Virginia, USA, 08/08/08-10

Stochastic Resonance 2008, Perugia, Italy, 08/08/17-21

4th Intl Conf on Natural Computation (ICNC'08) - 5th Intl Conf on Fuzzy Systems
and Knowledge Discovery (FSKD'08),
Jinan, China, 08/08/25-27

Intl Conf DEscribing COmplex Systems (DECOS), Zadar, 
Croatia, 08/09/03-07

BICS Conference - Emergence in Complex Systems, 
Bath, UK, 08/09/09-11

5th European 
Conference on Complex Systems, Jerusalem, Israel, 08/09/14-19 

EPOS 2008, III Edition of Epistemological Perspectives on Simulation, Lisbon,
Portugal, 08/10/02-03

International Congress on Complex Thought, Hermosillo , Sonora , Mexico,
08/10/21-24

2nd Intl Congress of Complex Systems in Sport (2nd ICCSS) and 10th European
Workshop of Ecological Psychology. (10th EWEP), Funchal, in Madeira Island,
Portugal, 08/11/05-08

COMPLEX'2009, First Intl Conf on Complex Systems: Theory and Applications,
Shanghai, China, 09/02/23-25

[64] http://www.asmda.net/chaos2008/ TARGET=new
[65] http://law.creighton.edu/wernerInstitute/complexityconference/ TARGET=new
[66] http://www.egosnet.org/journal/os_summer_workshop_2008.shtml TARGET=new
[67] http://www.ims08.org/ TARGET=new
[68] http://http://icad08.ircam.fr TARGET=new
[69] http://www.camtp.uni-mb.si/chaos/2008/ TARGET=new
[70] http://www.sun.ceu.hu/complex-systems/ TARGET=new
[71] http://inds08.uni-klu.ac.at/ TARGET=new
[72] http://scratch.mit.edu/conference/ TARGET=new
[73] http://www.epigenetic-robotics.org TARGET=new

_________________________________________________________________

20.04. Other Announcements 

 A short notice from Dean LeBaron
Dear ComDig Readers,

Our editor, Dr. Gottfried Mayer, is affectionately esteemed by many of you --
as readers, you know he devotes himself unselfishly to widening our knowledge
of complexity science. He was recently diagnosed with advanced colon cancer and
given a timetable of a very few years. Knowing Gottfried, you can imagine that,
in addition to the customary processes of chemotherapy, he would explore other
frontier therapies, especially those arising out of interdisciplinary
applications of complexity. These are expensive ... if he can find them.

Many of you have sent your good wishes and indicated your desire to assist.
With Gottfrieds permission, I am posting this note with information, below,
about how to send contributions to him. Please indicate the source since
Gottfried will want to express his warm gratitude.

I know that Gottfried, the good scientist that he is, will explain from time to
time what he is doing and what the results are ... and we will follow his
progress with great interest and hope.

Dean LeBaron

Publisher, Complexity Digest

Bank Information:

If your contribution is made by check:

Please mail the check, payable to Gottfried Mayer? to:

Manufacturers & Traders Trust

2080 Western Avenue

20 Mall

Guilderland, NY 12084 USA

(on the back of the check, please write: For Deposit Only: Account # 983 338
3814?

If your contribution is made by wire:

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2080 Western Avenue

20 Mall

Guilderland, NY 12084 USA

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UID: 209 791

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Account # 983 338 3814

Ref. Gottfried Mayer

_________________________________________________________________

[74]Complexity Digest is an independent publication available to
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[78]Gottfried J. Mayer.
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[74] http://www.comdig.org/
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