Design and self-assembly of information systems

ABSTRACT

The existence of biological information systems is generally taken as given in discussions of their function. However, any theory of such systems must be considered incomplete unless it can also explain how the system comes to exist. This article describes the ways in which complex functional systems in general can be created through design, self-assembly and evolution. The differences and relationship between physical and informational entities, organization, processes and dimensionality are also discussed. Through comparison with information technologies, whose origins we understand, conclusions are drawn concerning the creation of functional biological neural networks: specifically, that this involves the self-assembly of information entities into a number of strongly emergent levels of organization. Finally, potential approaches are considered to overcome the hurdles to scientific investigation of emergent information-based systems and the processes by which they are created.     

D’Arcy Thompson’s On Growth and Form and the Concept of Dynamic Form in Postwar Avant-Garde Art Theory

Abstract

The impact is considered of D’Arcy Thompson’s notion of biological form as set out in On Growth and Form on postwar avant-garde experimental art practices associated with the Independent Group, Nigel Henderson’s photography, and László Moholy-Nagy’s post-Bauhaus art theory. How Thompson’s insistence on the importance of physical forces in shaping biological form, and of distortion as a component of symmetrical systems, influenced the writings and practices of these artists, is explored, linking abstraction to legacies concerned with materiality and technique encountered earlier in Constructivism. Henderson’s photograms and ‘stressed photography’ are shown to be directly inspired by Thompson’s conception of form as a diagram of forces, and attest to a novel understanding of rules of symmetry in abstract form that may be seen in the dynamic processes at play in complex natural phenomena. How Moholy-Nagy explored these notions theoretically is examined, for example in his definition of drawing in Vision in Motion, which cites Thompson directly as a source of inspiration.     

History and Anthropology: A Dialogue

Abstract

Mainstream geographical information systems techniques and packaged geographical information systems software are often inappropriate in historical contexts because they use geographical coordinates as a framework around which all other information is organized as “attribute data,” whereas in history locations are often the least certain part of our knowledge. A new and general architecture for documenting administrative units and organizing historical statistics is detailed, which prioritizes named entities and explicit semantic relationships such as “IsPartOf,” while holding coordinate data where available. This architecture is easily aligned with the recent development of geo-semantics by information scientists, meeting the formal requirements for a geo-spatial ontology, but was originally developed to enable the systematic computerization of traditional historical reference works, notably Frederick Youngs’ Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England.     

‘Well,Sextus, what can we do with this?’ The disposal and use of insect-infested grain in Roman Britain

Abstract

Beetle (Coleoptera) pests of stored products such as the granary weevil may have entered the archaeological record by various routes, including: (1) deliberate dumping, and usually burial, of spoilt grain with the aim of preventing further infestation of grain in storage; (2) the use of infested grain as human and animal food; (3) the incorporation of infested grain and living or dead grain pests into deposits by accident and by reworking. It is suggested that these routes, although outlined specifically for beetle grain pests, can stand as a model for the way other insects and biological remains became incorporated into the archaeological record. It also is suggested that the identification of these different depositional routes depends strongly on taking a multi-proxy (‘indicator group’ or ‘indicator package’) approach to the archaeological and biological record of urban sites.     

Own-child estimates of U.S. white fertility, 1886–99

Abstract

The collapse of empires is exceedingly difficult to understand. The author examined the distribution of imperial lifetimes using a data set that spans more than three millennia and found that it conforms to a memoryless exponential distribution in which the rate of collapse of an empire is independent of its age. Comparing this distribution to similar lifetime distributions of other complex systems—specifically, biological species and corporate firms—the author explores the reasons behind their lifetime distributions and how this approach can yield insights into empires.     

Environing technologies: a theory of making environment

ABSTRACT

The central proposal of this article is that environing technologies shape and structure the way in which nature becomes environment, and as such used, perceived and understood. The argument builds on the understanding that environment is the result of human intervention. Technology is here understood broadly as a terraforming practise, materially and conceptually. We suggest that the compound environing technologies enable us to see environmental change on multiple scales and in new registers. That technologies alter the physical world is not new; our contribution focuses on the conceptual, epistemological, economic and emotional appreciation of systems and aggregates of technologies that is part and parcel of material change. The environing technologies that enable such articulation and comprehension hold potential in the future transformation that our societies need to undergo to overcome the crisis of environment and climate.     

Domestic opposition to Byzantium's alliance with Saladin: Niketas Choniates and his Epiphany oration of 1190

Abstract

The alliance between Isaac II Angelos and Saladin at the time of the Third Crusade has received much attention from Western and Islamic contemporaries, yet the Byzantine sources are oddly silent. This article teases out a negative reaction in Byzantium to the alliance, a reaction found in an oration delivered by Niketas Choniates on 6 January 1190. The article concludes that Choniates opposed the alliance and tactfully urged Isaac II to turn his attention towards redeeming Jerusalem, then under Saladin's control. The conclusion is set within the larger framework set by other scholars, such as Magdalino, Angold, and Hamilton, who see the Holy Land as an important factor in Byzantine policy before 1176.     

Engineering as a Source of Scientific Ideas

Abstract

Engineering has discovered some laws of nature as limits to what can be done, from which have developed the sciences of thermodynamics, information theory and cybernetics. Considered as a science, engineering lies between physics and biology, because its machines have physical structures and properties but biological organizations and functions. The old idea of the living body as an engine retains its power in modern biology; and the reconsideration of various natural non-biological processes in terms of engineering and biological concept reveals inadequacies in modern physical theory.     

Relevance of soil biology and fertility research to archaeological preservation by reburial

Abstract

This paper discusses how soil biological information can help to improve understanding of, and possibly inform decisions about, preservation of organic archaeological remains by reburial. A brief summary of the properties of the soil biological community is followed by an outline of results from recent biological investigations following the recovery of archaeologically relevant materials that had been buried for thirty-three years in one of the experimental earthworks in England UK. Examples from the soil biology and fertility literature are discussed to illustrate the effects of fluctuations in soil wetness and aeration, and of nitrogen availability on decomposition. Finally, the impact of soil handling and physical disruption on biological processes in soil are discussed, as they influence whether soil functions can be restored at a reburial site once the archaeological resources have been ‘protected’ beneath.     

The Norse settlers in Greenland: The physical anthropological perspective

Abstract

Recent studies of the Norse settlements on the west coast of. Greenland, which point to theories of biological adaptation, have emphasized the need for a comprehensive physical anthropological investigation of the Norse skeletal material, especially along the lines of paleodemography. The material, comprising the remains of app. 350 individuals, is presently stored at the University of Copenhagen. As the first step in a major investigation, the material has been incorporated into a computer database, linking anthropological and archaeological data. The aims of such a major physical anthropological investigation are presented here.     

Kelp Highways,Siberian Girls in Maui,and Nuclear Walruses: The North Pacific in a Sea of Islands

ABSTRACT

Epeli Hau‘ofa's definition of the Pacific as a ‘sea of islands' should be extended to the Indigenous history of the North Pacific Ocean. Several themes prominent in the history of Oceania – such as humans' orientation towards the ocean, the complex ways in which European and Indigenous histories mixed in the colonial era, and the notion of vast, interconnected spaces – apply to North Pacific history as well. This essay looks at the ways in which the history of the Russian Far East and Alaska could be written as Pacific history and integrated into histories of Oceania. Such an integration would provide numerous benefits for historians and activists in the North Pacific. Some important topics in the history of these northern regions, such as the interdependence of human and natural systems, could also enrich historiography in Oceania.     

D’Arcy Thompson’s Legacy in Contemporary Studies of Patterns and Morphology

Abstract

D’Arcy Thompson’s views on the forms of biomaterials are assessed in the light of current thinking on biomorphology in selected areas of biology. It is clear that his guiding concepts — that biological materials are structured in response to physical forces, and that the biological and abiotic realms share many common features — remain valid. Advances in the physical and biological sciences are discussed, from quantum mechanics and molecular biology to liquid crystalline materials and macroscopic forms. These reveal Thompson’s clear-sighted view of the role of physical and mathematical sciences in biology, as well as his blind-spots.     

New perspectives on forced migration in the history of twentieth-century neuroscience

ABSTRACT

This special issue of the Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, comprised of six articles and one commentary, reflects on the multifold dimensions of intellectual migration in the neurosciences and illustrates them by relevant case studies, biographies, and surveys from twentieth-century history of science and medicine perspectives. The special issue as a whole strives to emphasize the impact of forced migration in the neurosciences and psychiatry from an interdisciplinary perspective by, first, describing the general research topic, second, by showing how new models can be applied to the historiography and social studies of twentieth-century neuroscience, and, third, by providing a deeper understanding of the impact of European émigré researchers on emerging allied fields, such as neurogenetics, biological psychiatry, psychosomatics, and public mental health, etc. as resulting from this process at large.     

Knowledge-Intensive Business Services as Knowledge Intermediaries in Industrial Regions: A Comparison of the Hsinchu and Tainan Metropolitan Areas

Abstract

The literature repeatedly stresses the role of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) as a provider of knowledge and information to other businesses and organizations. KIBS simultaneously promotes, mediates and enables client innovation. This investigation mainly seeks to link KIBS to the analytical structure of concepts, including regional innovation systems, knowledge exchanges and innovation patterns. This investigation interprets the role of KIBS as that of a knowledge intermediary that mediates and transmits knowledge among actors. This study also clarifies the mechanism of knowledge exchanges in different geographic innovation systems. The analytical results obtained by this investigation are applied to analyse the intermediary functions of KIBS in various metropolitan areas in southern and northern Taiwan. This investigation demonstrates variations in how KIBS act as knowledge intermediaries, and that these variations depend mostly on industrial cluster patterns, the dominant innovation patterns at their locations and the birth of sustainable KIBS. KIBS in large/core metropolitan regions, thus, are initially based on science, technology and innovation industrial activities, and further closely resemble doing, using and interaction industrial activities. Consequently, more informal learning processes, such as local buzz and discussion/competition relations, tend to develop in such regions.     

Strategic spatial planning – a missed opportunity to facilitate district heating systems based on excess heat

ABSTRACT

Strategic spatial planning is important for developing long-term visions and strategies towards regional and local sustainability. This paper explores if and how strategic spatial planning could be useful for overcoming some barriers related to new sustainable ways of heating residential areas, using district heating systems based on industrial excess heat. This longitudinal study builds on interviews with municipal and private actors in six Swedish municipalities. It highlights that important barriers can be overcome by influencing the design and location of residential districts and industrial activities. Further, it identifies missed opportunities in local spatial planning practice as stakeholders are involved late in the planning when much is set, leaving little space for stakeholders to have an impact. Consequently, there might be a lack of knowledge and expertise in how such issues could enhance planning. Strategic spatial planning could facilitate conditions for excess heat-based systems of district heating as it implies a broader systems perspective which could enhance a broader planning scope. Plan programs could bring about more strategic spatial planning processes as these require early stakeholder involvement. If taking stakeholder involvement one step further to stakeholder collaboration or co-production, an even broader planning scope would be achieved.     

Exaptation and synanthropic insects: A diachronic interplay between biology and culture

Abstract

Since 1982, Stephen J. Gould and Elisabeth Vrba's concept of exaptation has been adopted, to varying degrees, by a number of biological and social science disciplines. However, it remains a missing term in the study of archaeologically recovered insect remains and entomologically related artefacts. Exaptation refers to the process by which a characteristic acquires a function for which it was not originally adapted. The application of Gould and Vrba's concept to the field of archaeoentomology could enhance our perception of past social, environmental, and climatic conditions as well as interactions. Herein, biological and technological examples of the enduring relationship between synanthropic insects and humans are explored using the concept of exaptation.     

Craft Specialization and Adze Production on Hawai'i Island

Abstract

Archaeological models of economic organization in complex societies frequently hinge on indications of craft specialization. Interpretations of such specialization in the Hawaiian islands often involve large-scale production of basalt adzes at Mauna Kea, the largest known quarry in the Pacific region. The recent discovery of expedient non-specialized production of adzes at Pohakuloa outside the main quarry of Mauna Kea, illustrates another dimension of Hawaiian economic systems. The identification of both small-scale and large-scale adze production has important implications for archaeological studies of craft specialization. The Hawaiian example illustrates that some aspects of production, such as context scale, and intensity, may vary within a single technological tradition. This study also suggests that previous interpretations of craft production that have emphasized differences across time — or across different categories — must also address variation among individual groups of contemporary materials.     

Smart specialization as a strategy to develop early-stage regional innovation systems

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the role of smart specialization in catalyzing the development of early-stage regional innovation systems in less advanced regions, either by facilitating the emergence of some defining elements that were lacking or accelerating the development of others, such as: a regional knowledge base and a dynamic learning process, institutional structures, network integration mechanisms among key innovation actors, regional industrial specializations, and collective identities. The paper exemplifies this process with the case of Romania, a country where the research and innovation system is centralized at national level and regional innovation systems are in the early days. The transformations taking place in the Romanian regions within the process of implementing smart specialization, assisted by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre in the project “Targeted Support to Smart Specialization in Romania”, suggest a dynamic coagulation of institutional, financial, policy, and human factors that catalyzed the development of regional innovation systems in the country and introduced a novel approach to innovation policy.     

Lowland Floodplain Responses to Extreme Flood Events: Long-Term Studies and Short-Term Microbial Community Response to Water Environment Impacts

Abstract

Targeted studies of waterlogged burial environments allow researchers to gain holistic insights into the physico-chemical and biological condition of wetlands that have the potential to contain organic remains of both anthropogenic and biogenic origin. Recent research has shown that microbial community diversity and functioning are intimately linked to physical and chemical parameters, such that environmental perturbations may have the potential to enhance the effectiveness of microbial communities in the degradation process. Our studies have shown that, as a consequence of the 2007 floods which impacted upon many British lowland rivers, a rapid microbial response to environmental perturbations can be demonstrated within the wetland deposits being monitored. As such, a quantification of the latent functionality of micro-organisms in a soil profile may be of fundamental importance for our understanding of potential in situ degradation processes; and, as a consequence, the likelihood for the biodegradation of sensitive archaeo-organic remains; a factor which is of primary importance for both ongoing and future mitigation strategies, and attempts at managing the cultural resource of wetlands.

This paper will present a consideration of the effectiveness of a long-term research project in a lowland wetland at Newington, Nottinghamshire, England, studied between 2004 and 2008; and evaluate the efficacy of this study in relation to the significant impacts that occurred as a result of the severe floods in 2007. We conclude that the data generated after the floods necessitated a total re-evaluation of the first approximately two years of environmental monitoring, and that the impacts throughout the sediment profile continued for some time after the initial flood event. These observations potentially have far-reaching implications for future in situ monitoring as disruptions to weather patterns influence the various environmental impacts on the wetland resource.