I Shop, Therefore I Am

The Shopping Experience. Pasi Folk and Colin Campbell eds. London: Sage, 1997. 212 pp.
. Theory of Shopping. Daniel Miller. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998. 180 pp.
Shopping, Place and Identity. Daniel Miller. Peter Jackson. Nigel Thrift. Beverly Holbrook. and Michael Rowlands. London: Routledge, 1998. 214 pp.     

Jon Widom,the Scientist

Abstract

The structure of base non-specific ribonuclease Ms from Aspergillus saitoi was predicted by sequence similarity to guanine-specific RNase T1 of known structure. In this paper the interaction pattern of binding site of RNase Ms with differnt nucleic acids bases is analysed using model building and energy minimisation techniques. It is shown that unspecificity of this protein can be explained only when taking into account flexibility of the base recognition loop.     

Individual Differences in Inhibitory Control,Not Non-Verbal Number Acuity,Correlate with Mathematics Achievement

Given the well-documented failings in mathematics education in many Western societies, there has been an increased interest in understanding the cognitive underpinnings of mathematical achievement. Recent research has proposed the existence of an Approximate Number System (ANS) which allows individuals to represent and manipulate non-verbal numerical information. Evidence has shown that performance on a measure of the ANS (a dot comparison task) is related to mathematics achievement, which has led researchers to suggest that the ANS plays a critical role in mathematics learning. Here we show that, rather than being driven by the nature of underlying numerical representations, this relationship may in fact be an artefact of the inhibitory control demands of some trials of the dot comparison task. This suggests that recent work basing mathematics assessments and interventions around dot comparison tasks may be inappropriate.     

An ontology for a Robot Scientist

MOTIVATION: A Robot Scientist is a physically implemented robotic system that can automatically carry out cycles of scientific experimentation. We are commissioning a new Robot Scientist designed to investigate gene function in S. cerevisiae. This Robot Scientist will be capable of initiating >1,000 experiments, and making >200,000 observations a day. Robot Scientists provide a unique test bed for the development of methodologies for the curation and annotation of scientific experiments: because the experiments are conceived and executed automatically by computer, it is possible to completely capture and digitally curate all aspects of the scientific process. This new ability brings with it significant technical challenges. To meet these we apply an ontology driven approach to the representation of all the Robot Scientist's data and metadata. RESULTS: We demonstrate the utility of developing an ontology for our new Robot Scientist. This ontology is based on a general ontology of experiments. The ontology aids the curation and annotating of the experimental data and metadata, and the equipment metadata, and supports the design of database systems to hold the data and metadata. AVAILABILITY: EXPO in XML and OWL formats is at: http://sourceforge.net/projects/expo/. All materials about the Robot Scientist project are available at: http://www.aber.ac.uk/compsci/Research/bio/robotsci/.     

Bill Arnold: Scientist, philosopher, friend

Bill Arnold is a great scientist in whose laboratory I was privileged to work during the years he discovered the thermoluminescence and the electroluminescence of green plants. I reminisce about Bill's influences on me, scientific and otherwise, during those years.     

"You Are a Number, Not a Human Being": Israeli Breast Cancer Patients'' Experiences with the Medical Establishment

In the course of interviews with Israeli women who had recently been treated for breast cancer, we found that our informants tended to offer us "treatment narratives" rather than, or sometimes in addition to, the "illness narratives" made famous by Arthur Kleinman. For the women we interviewed, treatment narratives constitute verbal platforms on which to explore what it means to be human during a period in which one's body, spirit, and social identity are undergoing intense transformations. A central theme in these narratives is the Hebrew word yachas, loosely translated as "attitude," "attention," or "relationship." The women consistently contrasted the good yachas of medical staff who treated them "like humans" or like "real friends" with the bad yachas of staff who treated them like numbers, machines, or strangers. We argue that the women used language (in various contexts) as a means of resisting the medical culture's pattern of treating patients as "nonhumans."     

Philosophy, Instinct, Intuition: What Motivates the Scientist in Search of a Theory?

This article questions whether philosophical considerations play any substantial role in the actual process of scientific research. Using examples mostly from the nineteenth century, it suggests that scientists generally choose their basic theoretical orientation, and their research strategies, on the basis of non-rationalized feelings which might be described as instinct or intuition. In one case where methodological principles were the driving force (Charles Lyell's uniformitarian geology), the effect was counterproductive.