The Localization Hypothesis and Machines

In a recent article in 'Artificial Life', Chu and Ho suggested that Rosen's central result about the simulability of living systems might be flawed. This argument was later declared ''null and void'' by Louie. In this article the validity of Louie's objections are examined

Book review: Taiwan’s democracy challenged: the Chen Shui-bian years edited by Yun-han Chu, Larry Diamond and Kharis Templeman

In Taiwan’s Democracy Challenged: The Chen Shui-bian Years, editors Yun-han Chu, Larry Diamond and Kharis Templeman provide a reassessment of Taiwan’s political landscape between 2000 and 2008: the years in which Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan’s first non-Kuomintang president, was in office. This new systematic, impartial and evidence-based evaluation of Chen’s presidency is a must-read for students and scholars researching contemporary Taiwanese politics, finds M. Bob Kao

An exotic shuffle relation of ζ({2}m)\zeta(\{2\}^m) and ζ({3,1}n)\zeta(\{3,1\}^n)

In this short note we will provide a new and shorter proof of the following exotic shuffle relation of multiple zeta values: \zeta(\{2\}^m \sha\{3,1\}^n)={2n+m\choose m} \frac{\pi^{4n+2m}}{(2n+1)\cdot (4n+2m+1)!}. This was proved by Zagier when n=0, by Broadhurst when $m=0$, and by Borwein, Bradley, and Broadhurst when m=1. In general this was proved by Bowman and Bradley in \emph{The algebra and combinatorics of shuffles and multiple zeta values}, J. of Combinatorial Theory, Series A, Vol. \textbf{97} (1)(2002), 43--63. Our idea in the general case is to use the method of Borwein et al. to reduce the above general relation to some families of combinatorial identities which can be verified by WZ-method.Comment: 5 page

Operative mortality in resource-limited settings: the experience of Medecins Sans Frontieres in 13 countries.

OBJECTIVE: To determine operative mortality in surgical programs from resource-limited settings. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A retrospective cohort study of 17 surgical programs in 13 developing countries by 1 humanitarian organization, Médecins Sans Frontières, was performed between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2008. Participants included patients undergoing surgical procedures. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Operative mortality. Determinants of mortality were modeled using logistic regression. RESULTS: Between 2001 and 2008, 19,643 procedures were performed on 18,653 patients. Among these, 8329 procedures (42%) were emergent; 7933 (40%) were for obstetric-related pathology procedures and 2767 (14%) were trauma related. Operative mortality was 0.2% (31 deaths) and was associated with programs in conflict settings (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 4.6; P = .001), procedures performed under emergency conditions (AOR = 20.1; P = .004), abdominal surgical procedures (AOR = 3.4; P = .003), hysterectomy (AOR = 12.3; P = .001), and American Society of Anesthesiologists classifications of 3 to 5 (AOR = 20.2; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Surgical care can be provided safely in resource-limited settings with appropriate minimum standards and protocols. Studies on the burden of surgical disease in these populations are needed to improve service planning and delivery. Quality improvement programs are needed for the various stakeholders involved in surgical delivery in these settings