A novel lossless source coding paradigm applies to problems in which a vital message needs to be transmitted prior to termination of communications, as in Alfréd Rényi’s secondhand account of an ancient siege in which information was obtained to prevent the fall of a fortress. Rényi told this story with reference to traditional prefix coding, in which the objective is minimization of expected c...

The understanding of severe sepsis and septic shock could be on the verge of a breakthrough, in view of research overturning the long-held belief that the conditions are caused only by Gram-negative bacterial infections. The implications—and potential treatments—could be huge, as severe sepsis and septic shock affect 3 people in every 1,000 and kill at least 135,000 Europeans each year, about t...