Phonetics attempts to describe and understand how speech is produced and perceived; phonology attempts to understand the patterning—in general, the behavior—of speech sounds in particular languages and in all languages. Is phonetics part of phonology? This straightforward question has received various answers at different points in the history of linguistics. In this paper I attempt to document...

T development of a systematic design process for synthetic gene regulatory networks is an intriguing prospect that could improve both our understanding of regulatory motifs and our techniques for constructing novel applications. Such a design process would entail analysis tools capable of reliably predicting the in vivo behavior resulting from a given regulatory architecture. As with the proces...

M ultivesicular bodies (MVBs) are specialized endosomes that promote the degradation of membrane proteins by delivering them to lysosomes. This process is regulated by a series of endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRTs) (1). The ESCRT-0,-I, and-II complexes sequester ubiquitinated membrane proteins and recruit the ESCRT-III complex to drive the invagination and release of ca...

Many real-world analytics problems involve two significant challenges: prediction and optimization. Due to the typically complex nature of each challenge, the standard paradigm is to predict, then optimize. By and large, machine learning tools are intended to minimize prediction error and do not account for how the predictions will be used in a downstream optimization problem. In contrast, we p...

CA) reveal that DNA is synthesized when it is least likely to be hit with oxidative damage. Damaging oxidizing agents are produced by respiration. In yeast, respiration is periodic—it alternates in ‫ف‬ 40-min cycles with a stage of non-respiration called the reductive phase. This oscillation was detected decades ago, but it was never thought to be connected to cell cycle progression. Now, Kleve...

DEVELOPING a softwareintensive system is like raising a child. As Will PleasantRyan observed, both babies and code have smells, you get used to changing requirements, you have to take the long view, you can’t do it alone, and eventually you have to let go.1 I would add to Will’s most excellent simile that, although you might think you know everything up front, you certainly don’t, and therefore...