scholarly journals Circuits of Surveillance?

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Williams ◽  
Paul Johnson

This paper examines the increasing police use of DNA profiling and databasing as a developing instrumentality of modern state surveillance. It briefly notes previously published work on a variety of surveillance technologies and their role in the governance of social action and social order. It then argues that there are important differences amongst the ways in which several such technologies construct and use identificatory artefacts, their orientations to human subjectivity, and their role in the governmentality of citizens and others. The paper then describes the novel and powerful form of bio-surveillance offered by DNA profiling and illustrates this by reference to an ongoing empirical study of the police uses of the UK National DNA Database for the investigation of crime. It is argued that DNA profiling and databasing enable the construction of a ‘closed circuit’ of surveillance of a defined population.

Author(s):  
Roberto Puch-Solis ◽  
Susan Pope

Forensic DNA provides a striking contribution to the provision of justice worldwide. It has proven to be crucial in the investigative phase of an unsolved crime where a suspect needs to be identified, e.g. from a DNA database search both nationally and internationally. It is also a powerful tool in the assignment of evidential weight to the comparison of a profile of a person of interest and a crime scene profile. The focus of this document is the evaluation of autosomal profiles for criminal trials in the UK. A separate review covers investigation and evaluation of Y-STR profiles, investigation using autosomal profiles, kinship analysis, body identification and Forensic Genetic Genealogy investigations. In less than 40 years, forensic DNA profiling has developed from a specialist technique to everyday use. Borrowing on advances in genome typing technology, forensic DNA profiling has experienced a substantial increase in its sensitivity and informativeness. Alongside this development, novel interpretation methodologies have also been introduced. This document describes the state of the art and future advances in the interpretation of forensic DNA data.


October ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 151 ◽  
pp. 128-150
Author(s):  
Martin Blumenthal-Barby

Harun Farocki's 2004 installation Counter-Music explores the issue of surveillance. It probes different kinds of surveillance and, in so doing, delineates historical trajectories, juxtaposing, for instance, state surveillance under Louis XIV in late-seventeenth-century France (through public streetlights) with more recent modes of observation via surveillance cameras (through closed-circuit-television systems). The tacit epicenter of Farocki's installation is the novel form of surveillance in which cameras are linked with automatic-recognition systems that no longer rely on human beings as observers: Human beings have been replaced by software designed to surveil. This new kind of surveillance, in which images are recorded and then “viewed” by automatic “eyes”—that is, analyzed by algorithmic software—generates what Farocki calls “operational images” to be used within systemic surveillance operations.


Robotica ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 169-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Fleck

SUMMARYThe technical, managerial, organisational, economic and labour factors found to be important in an empirical study of more than forty firms adopting or considering robots, are outlined. Specific problems, arising from the requirements for managing integrated mechanical, electronic and computational systems, and the novel choreographic approach to production embodied in robots, are posed by the introduction of this new technology. For their effective solution, these problems demand an increased level of competence and expertise, at all levels from the managerial to the technical. But robots are just one part of modern automation, and in the future programmable automation – the integration of computer technology, robotics and conventional automation – will increasingly become the competitive standard in manufacturing industry. The introduction of such new technological standards, though forced by competitive pressures, will, however, require extensive institutional, organisational, and disciplinary adaptation if their full potential is to be realised and the UK is to remain one of the leading industrial nations.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Rana Sağıroğlu

Margaret Atwood, one of the most spectacular authors of postmodern movement, achieved to unite debatable and in demand critical points of 21st century such as science fiction, postmodernism and ecocriticism in the novel The Year of The Flood written in 2009. The novel could be regarded as an ecocritical manifesto and a dystopic mirror against today’s degenerated world, tending to a superficial base to keep the already order in use, by moving away from the fundamental solution of all humanity: nature. Although Atwood does not want her works to be called science fiction, it is obvious that science fiction plays an introductory role and gives the novel a ground explaining all ‘why’ questions of the novel. However, Atwood is not unjust while claiming that her works are not science fiction because of the inevitable rapid change of 21st century world becoming addicted to technology, especially Internet. It is easily observed by the reader that what she fictionalises throughout the novel is quite close to possibility, and the world may witness in the near future what she creates in the novel as science fiction. Additionally, postmodernism serves to the novel as the answerer of ‘how’ questions: How the world embraces pluralities, how heterogeneous social order is needed, and how impossible to run the world by dichotomies of patriarchal social order anymore. And lastly, ecocriticism gives the answers of ‘why’ questions of the novel: Why humanity is in chaos, why humanity has organized the world according to its own needs as if there were no living creatures apart from humanity. Therefore, The Year of The Flood meets the reader as a compact embodiment of science fiction, postmodernism and ecocriticism not only with its theme, but also with its narrative techniques.


Author(s):  
Yuval Jobani ◽  
Nahshon Perez

Contested sacred sites pose a difficult challenge in the field of toleration. Holy sites are often at the center of intense contestation between different groups regarding a wide variety of issues, including ownership, access, usage rights, permissible religious conduct, and many other aspects. As such, they are often the source of immense levels of violence, and intractable, long-standing conflicts. Governing the Sacred profiles five central contested sacred sites which exemplify the immense difficulties associated with such sites: Devils Tower National Monument (Wyoming, U.S.), Babri Masjid/Ram Janmabhoomi (Uttar-Pradesh, India), the Western Wall (Jerusalem), the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Jerusalem), and the Temple Mount/Haram esh-Sharif (Jerusalem). The in-depth, contextual and casuistic study of these sites, which differ in spatial, cultural, and religious settings, enables the construction of a novel, critical typology of five corresponding models or ways of governing the sacred. By telling the fascinating stories of five high-profile contested sacred sites, Governing the Sacred develops and critically explores five different models of governing contested sacred sites: “non-interference,” “separation and division,” “preference,” “status quo,” and “closure.” Each model, in turn, relies on different sets of considerations, central among them trade-offs between religious liberty and social order. Beyond its scholarly contribution, the novel typology developed in Governing the Sacred aims to assist democratic governments in their attempt to secure public order and mutual toleration among opposed groups in contested sacred sites.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomas I. Gonzales ◽  
Kate Westgate ◽  
Tessa Strain ◽  
Stefanie Hollidge ◽  
Justin Jeon ◽  
...  

AbstractCardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is associated with mortality and cardiovascular disease, but assessing CRF in the population is challenging. Here we develop and validate a novel framework to estimate CRF (as maximal oxygen consumption, VO2max) from heart rate response to low-risk personalised exercise tests. We apply the method to examine associations between CRF and health outcomes in the UK Biobank study, one of the world’s largest and most inclusive studies of CRF, showing that risk of all-cause mortality is 8% lower (95%CI 5–11%, 2670 deaths among 79,981 participants) and cardiovascular mortality is 9% lower (95%CI 4–14%, 854 deaths) per 1-metabolic equivalent difference in CRF. Associations obtained with the novel validated CRF estimation method are stronger than those obtained using previous methodology, suggesting previous methods may have underestimated the importance of fitness for human health.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hashom Mohd Hakim ◽  
Hussein Omar Khan ◽  
Siti Afifah Ismail ◽  
Nurul Hazirah Mat Lazim ◽  
Japareng Lalung ◽  
...  

Abstract Background DNA profiling has proven to be a valuable technique for identification of individuals in crime. Currently, the technique targets several short tandem repeat (STR) regions in human genome. However, increasing number of samples submitted for STR analysis may lead to delays due to the limited number of experienced analysts who might be available at any given moment and the time taken to complete lengthy DNA profiling procedures. This study was conducted to test the specificity, repeatability, reproducibility and robustness of Investigator® 24plex GO! kit for genotyping of reference samples submitted to the Royal Malaysian Police Forensic DNA Laboratory for DNA database. Material and methods In this study, Investigator® 24plex GO! kit was used to directly amplify STR loci from buccal swab cell of reference samples that had previously been STR typed using GlobalFiler™ Express kit. Capillary electrophoresis was carried out on a 3500xL Genetic Analyser using POP-4® Polymer. Amplified products were assigned to particular STR alleles using the GeneMapper ID-X version 1.4 software. Results Our study shows that STR profiles generated using Investigator® 24plex GO! gave concordance results with those previously obtained using the GlobalFiler™ Express kit. In addition, quality sensors included in the kit are of particular importance for determining the effectiveness of the PCR reaction and help to indicate the nature and quantity of DNA template for PCR amplification. Conclusion The Investigator® 24plex GO! kit is reliable for STR typing of reference samples.


JURNAL SPHOTA ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 22-31
Author(s):  
I Wayan Sidha Karya ◽  
Ida Bagus Adhika Mahardika

Long and short sentences affect the reader’s pace of reading story since they have to farce the complexity of the sentences and words used in it. In this study the impact of the use of long and short sentences on the pace of the story as implemented by Anthony Horowitz, a novelist, in his novel Raven’s Gate, is being explored. Especially the researchers looked at what types of long and short sentences were being used in the novel and how they were building up the story line and their effect on the pace of the story. A sentence with the length of up-to fourteen (14) words is considered to be short and the one over 14 words is considered to be long in spite its grammatical form, whether it is simple or complex. The criteria are based on empirical study as mentioned by Casi Newell in the AJE (American Journal Experts) retrieved from https://www.aje.com/en/arc/editing-tip-sentence-length/, that “the average sentence length in scientific manuscripts is 12-17 words,” with JK Rowling—the writer of Harry Potter—who can be considered to be representative of a modern English writer with a general audience, having the average of 12 words. For convenience we take the liberty of taking 14 words for the longest sort sentences and those which have 15 or more words are considered to be long sentences


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