Modelling What There Is: Ontologising in a Multidimensional World

The incursion of digital computing machinery into the public sphere and the return of “ontology” from philosophical exile occurred almost simultaneously, circa 1948. In this essay I ask, what do the modelling machine and philosophers’ irreconcilable accounts of “what there is” have to do with each other? Are the ontological pluralism of the former and the multi-centric multi-naturalism of the latter kin? If so, then recent anthropology has much to say to digital humanities

How to Start and Manage a BITNET LISTSERV Discussion Group: A Beginner's Guide

The following article only attempts to outline the major steps you must take in establishing a LISTSERV discussion group. It assumes that if you are in any doubt you will be able to obtain help on demand from an expert in your local computer center or from an experienced colleague. The expert may be called the "postmaster," the "LISTSERV owner," or something similar. If you are fortunate enough to find a helpful expert, cultivate him or her. The discussion lists LSTOWN-L@INDYCMS and ARACHNET@UOTTAWA are designed specifically to provide list owners with access to LISTSERV experts and experienced list owners (see Appendix A). The following also assumes that you will be in charge of the group (i.e., you will both manage or supervise the daily operations and be responsible for its success). LISTSERV groups, particularly those that are moderated, require someone who is attentive (if not devoted) to these operations and an adept editor. Note that the mechanical and the intellectual tasks required by an electronic discussion group cannot be cleanly separated; the editor/owner should be willing and able to undertake both. Keep organizational matters as simple as possible, and as loose as possible, at least until you have a sure grasp of what your group is all about. As editor/owner, you will certainly have influence, but much will be determined by the membership as a whole. In electronic communications, "vox populi vox Dei" is as good an initial motto as you can have. At the same time, total license communicates lack of attention and concern, even lack of wit. The experts, such as we have them, agree that a successful group requires an active, though not dictatorial, editorial persona

Nanomaterial-Assisted Signal Enhancement of Hybridization for DNA Biosensors: A Review

Detection of DNA sequences has received broad attention due to its potential applications in a variety of fields. As sensitivity of DNA biosensors is determined by signal variation of hybridization events, the signal enhancement is of great significance for improving the sensitivity in DNA detection, which still remains a great challenge. Nanomaterials, which possess some unique chemical and physical properties caused by nanoscale effects, provide a new opportunity for developing novel nanomaterial-based signal-enhancers for DNA biosensors. In this review, recent progress concerning this field, including some newly-developed signal enhancement approaches using quantum-dots, carbon nanotubes and their composites reported by our group and other researchers are comprehensively summarized. Reports on signal enhancement of DNA biosensors by non-nanomaterials, such as enzymes and polymer reagents, are also reviewed for comparison. Furthermore, the prospects for developing DNA biosensors using nanomaterials as signal-enhancers in future are also indicated

Nanoparticles for hyperthermia applications

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and unfortunately many cancer treatments have severe side effects. In order to avoid these, recent investigations into new oncological treatments have been carried out. In this context, composite biomaterials have been developed mainly from biopolymers or magnetic hydroxyapatite nanoparticles with the aim of directing and releasing drugs by means of an external magnetic field (hyperthermia). This chapter reviews recent advances in nanoparticle (NP) systems for hyperthermia applications with particular emphasis on the heating mechanisms of iron NPs (INPs) and their applications as composite biomaterials.Fil: Gutiérrez Carmona, Tomy José. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; ArgentinaFil: Alvarez, Vera Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; Argentin

The Residue of Uniqueness

"To build an argument for the supervening importance of agenda, the author locates the digital humanities within the context of a central human predicament: the anxiety of identity stemming from the problematic relation of human to non-human, both animal and machine. He identifies modeling as the fundamental activity of the digital humanities and draws a parallel between it and our developing confrontation with the not-us. The author then goes on to argue that the demographics of infrastructure within the digital humanities, therefore in part its emphasis, is historically due to the socially inferior role assigned to those who in the early years found para-academic employment in service to the humanities. He does not specify an agenda, rather conclude that modeling, pursued within its humane context, offers a cornucopia of agenda if only the 'mind-forged manacles' of servitude' s mind-set can be broken." (author's abstract

Modeling, ontology and wild thought: Toward an anthropology of the artificially intelligent

The question at the heart of this essay begins with a curious mid-twentieth-century co-occurrence in the Anglo-American world: on the one hand, of the invention and transformative spread of digital computing; on the other hand, the return from philosophical exile of “ontology” and its subsequent pluralization. What makes this co-occurrence interesting is, first, the machine’s requirement of a “model”—and so an ontology—of the domain to be affected, and second, the indeterminate nature of all digital models. Furthermore, as improvements in the technology have made the machine an ever more fit instrument of that “wily intelligence” (mẽtis) celebrated by Marcel Detienne and Jean-Pierre Vernant (1974), the laborious construction of models has become the agile practice of modeling—and so brought ever greater emphasis to local, experimental, shifting ontologies

1. The PhD in Digital Humanities

The dream of every cell is to become two cells.—François Jacob Overview The PhD in Digital Humanities was established at King’s College London in 2005. By 2010 experience had persuaded us that collaborative supervision of interdisciplinary work is the norm for doctoral research in our subject. This, you might think, is obvious, but we had created the PhD deliberately without constraining what students might make of it. (More on origins and developments later.) Discussion with students and col..