Citizen robots : biopolitics, the computer, and the Vietnam period

The Vietnam War coincided with an intense period of technological change in the US that marked a significant turning point in the relationship between the citizen and the state. While computer technology found new and deadly uses on the field of battle, it also found its way into people’s homes, giving the state the means through which to monitor and control subjects like never before. While Michel Foucault describes Vietnam as ‘the gates of our world’, this thesis argues that Vietnam stands rather as the gates of our biopolitical world – a period in which Foucault’s original concept of biopolitics is reborn in the computer age. To this end, this thesis examines some of the early impacts and implications of the computerized biopolitical state, and the robotized human subject. It offers an exploration of the ways in which biopolitical ideas can be used alongside science fiction texts to interrogate the cultural tendencies of the USA during the Vietnam War period, stretching from the start of the war in 1955 through to the war’s end in 1975 and the shadow cast in the years that follow. In doing so, it charts how human subjects are complicit in the means of their own oppression, and the ethical implications of the blurred distinction between the human and the machine. Thus, it calls for a new cybernetic form of biopolitical insight – a techno-biopolitics – that integrates the robotic with current understandings of the human, the non-human and the animal, and how they are used as a means of discursive control

'Insularity is not the way forward': three university vice-chancellors on Brexit

First paragraph: Universities and their leaders are contemplating the spectre of a British exit from the European Union with considerable alarm. Over the last few decades, the institutional architecture of Britain’s universities has become ever more European. The threat of Brexit jeopardises a range of collaborations and research projects including the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme and the ERASMUS student exchange scheme. Universities, unsurprisingly, are worried. Access article on The Conversation website: https://theconversation.com/insularity-is-not-the-way-forward-three-university-vice-chancellors-on-brexit-6066

Noninvasive assessment of diffusion hypoxia following administration of nitrous oxide-oxygen.

The phenomenon of diffusion hypoxia is commonly believed to occur unless nitrous oxide-oxygen inhalation sedation is followed by washout with 100% oxygen for 5 minutes upon termination of the flow of nitrous oxide. When systematically studied, however, this phenomenon generally appears to be unfounded. The present study evaluated the effect of breathing room air instead of 100% oxygen in healthy (ASA 1) human volunteers following administration of sedative concentrations of nitrous oxide. The occurrence of hypoxia was determined objectively, using pulse oximetry and a standardized psychomotor skills test (Trieger test). Diffusion hypoxia was not observed using these criteria

Haystack Analysis Center

Analysis activities at Haystack Observatory are directed towards improving the accuracy of geodetic measurements, whether these are from VLBI, GNSS, SLR, or any other technique. Those analysis activities that are related to technology development are reported elsewhere in this volume. In this report, a preliminary analysis of the first geodetic sessions with the new broadband geodetic VLBI system is reported

Efficient Representations for Large Dynamic Sequences in ML

International audienceThe use of sequence containers, including stacks, queues, and double-ended queues, is ubiquitous in programming. When the maximal number of elements is not known in advance, containers need to grow dynamically. For this purpose, most ML programs either rely on lists or vectors. These structures are inefficient, both in terms of time and space usage. We investigate the use of chunked-based data structures. Such structures save a lot of memory and may deliver better performance than classic container data structures. We observe a 2x speedup compared with vectors, and up to a 3x speedup compared with lengthy lists

Identidad de orientación sexual y satisfacción con la vida en homosexuales que trabajan en empresas de Lima Metropolitana

El objetivo general de la presente investigación fue determinar la relación entre identidad de orientación sexual y satisfacción con la vida en homosexuales que trabajan en empresas de Lima Metropolitana. El diseño fue correlacional. La muestra estuvo conformada por 315 personas homosexuales de ambos sexos. Los instrumentos empleados fueron la Adaptación de la Escala de Identidad de Orientación Sexual (EDOS-LGB) y la Escala de Satisfacción con la Vida (SWLS). Los resultados indicaron niveles bajos de satisfacción con la vida e integración a la identidad, no obstante, se encontró un nivel promedio de incertidumbre y preocupación a la aceptación. En cuanto a la relación de las variables identidad de orientación sexual y satisfacción con la vida se halló una correlación baja, estadísticamente significativa. Además, se encontró que existe una correlación inversa y significativa entre la dimensión incertidumbre y preocupación por la aceptación y la variable satisfacción con la vidaTesi

Haystack Observatory VLBI Correlator

This report summarizes the activities of the Haystack Correlator during 2012. Highlights include finding a solution to the DiFX InfiniBand timeout problem and other DiFX software development, conducting a DBE comparison test following the First International VLBI Technology Workshop, conducting a Mark IV and DiFX correlator comparison, more broadband delay experiments, more u- VLBI Galactic Center observations, and conversion of RDV session processing to the Mark IV/HOPS path. Non-real-time e-VLBI transfers and engineering support of other correlators continued

A Comparison of Wolf Depredation Sites in Areas With Migratory and Resident Elk

As large carnivores recover in many wilderness areas and mixed-use landscapes, wildlife management agencies must seek ways to minimize private property damage while maintaining viable populations. Although much is known about carnivore-livestock conflicts, drivers of these processes in the Northern Rocky Mountains are still emerging amid the dynamic conditions of recovering predator populations (gray wolves [Canis lupus] and grizzly bears [Ursus arctos horribilis]), declining elk productivity, and the re-distribution of migratory and resident elk subpopulations. There has been little research to date that examines the influence of fine-scale elk distribution and movements on patterns of livestock depredation. In this study, we analyze four years of cattle depredation data, two years of summer and fall wolf predation data (n = 4 wolves), and three years of elk movement data (n= 86 elk) to assess the influence of migratory and resident prey on the location and occurrence of wolf depredations on cattle. Wolves living in migratory elk areas face low densities of their preferred prey in summer, when elk depart for higher elevations inside Yellowstone National Park (YNP), while wolves living in the resident elk area have access to abundant elk year round. Wolves living in both areas have the potential to interact with several thousand head of cattle. We used logistic regression to compare the relative influence of landscape features on the risk of livestock depredation in the migratory and resident elk areas. Locations of wolf-killed cattle showed differences between the migratory elk area and the resident elk area. Depredation sites in the resident elk area were associated with habitats closer to roads and with high elk density, while depredation sites in the migratory elk area were associated with dens, streams, and open habitat away from the forest edge. Our findings indicate that knowledge of ungulate distributions and migration patterns can help understand and predict hotspots of wolf conflict with livestock