Showing papers in "Science and technology studies in 2004"
TL;DR: Information is provided on how to identify the wood of several species common to the Northern Hemisphere using a hand-magnifying lens, as well as some techniques used in the study of Japan.
Abstract: Section (CRN) Meets in: Instructor: Office Ofc Hrs. STSH1110-01(60478) Carnegie 102 Jeanette Simmonds (simmoj@rpi.edu) Sage 5706 TBA STSS1110-01 (60138) Carnegie 205 Selma Sabanovic (sabans@rpi.edu) Sage 5703 Tue 4-5p IHSS1963-01 (62348) Sage 2701 Atsushi Akera (akeraa@rpi.edu) (see above) IHSS1963-02 (62349) DCC 236 Meredith Wells (wellsm@rpi.edu) TBA TBA IHSS1963-03 (62350) Sage 4203 Camar Diaz (diaztc@rpi.edu) Sage 5710 Tue./Fri. 4-5p IHSS1963-04 (62351) Carnegie 208 Lorna Ronald (ronall@rpi.edu) Sage 5706 TBA IHSS1963-05 (62352) Sage 2112 Jeffrey Hannigan (hannij@rpi.edu) Sage 5202 TBA *office hours also by appointment.
225 citations
192 citations
TL;DR: In this article, six local experiments are tried out the possibilities of utilising ICT to fulfil the needs of old people, and the results of the program are presented. But the authors do not consider the impact of ICT on senior citizens in Denmark.
Abstract: Senior citizens have not been amongst the first to start utilising Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Thus there is a danger that they will be excluded from the growing Information Society. In a Danish program, six local experiments are trying out the possibilities of utilising ICT to fulfil the needs of old people. This article will present some of the results of the program. First, I will present the Danish ICT-policy, which shapes the political background for the program. Second, I will present the program. Third, I will give a brief presentation of the methodology and the theoretical framework the study is based on. Through an analysis of two of the local experiments I will show how ICT becomes a part of old people’s everyday life. Finally, I will conclude as to whether or not old people in Denmark are becoming part of the Information Society through these local development projects. *Key words*: social experiment, information society, digital divide.
29 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine to what extent social science research exists in the field of ageing and technology and where we can find the interface between technological and social science expertise, and the role of the elderly as being regarded as objects or subjects, and if technology is called into question in any respect.
Abstract: Background: Despite the fact that old people´s technological needs have been payed much attention to in the last decennium, especially old users of information- and communication technology, technology has not found its natural place in research on ageing in modern societies. Purpose: This article examines to what extent social science research exist in the field of ageing and technology and where we can find the interface between technological and social science expertise. Method: Scientific publications during the period 1983-2002 are analysed in terms of theoretical content, the role of the elderly as being regarded as objects or subjects, and if technology is called into question in any respect. Result: Scientific well-grounded knowledge exist besides less well-substantiated assumptions regarding the effects of technology and a premature body of thoughts on the relationship between technology and the elderly.
23 citations
TL;DR: The argument of the essay is the following: the power to raise hopes for new cures and better life in people is a crucial characteristic of today's high-tech medicine and it is the people living in such a hope who provides uel for both technological progress and profitseeking in today’s medicine.
Abstract: In this article, high-tech medicine is approached as life enhancement technology. Today, the most advanced medical technology operates on the level of cells and molecules, thus opening unprecedented prospects not only for curing and preventing illness but also for shaping of life itself. Thus, high-tech medicine seems to offer more efficient means to remove the restrictions of physical abilities and to improve and ‘repair’ vital processes. It promises to enhance life. The essay focuses on two aspects of this development. The first issue analysed is the tendency in high-tech medicine to connect medical progress to augmentation of personal choices on health and life improvement. Further, also the economical side is discussed by focusing on the role the patients’ activism in high-tech medical business. The argument of the essay is the following: the power to raise hopes for new cures and better life in people is a crucial characteristic of today’s high-tech medicine. Consequently, it is the people living in such a hope who provides uel for both technological progress and profitseeking in today’s medicine.
17 citations
TL;DR: Particular emphasis is laid on distributed and collective aspects of implementation and adaptation of new technology: networks of utilization and activities are discussed as pools of resources and interests for sustaining and shaping technology.
Abstract: Elderly care has become an increasingly appealing market for technology producers. Design for the elderly, however, often entails the meeting of two different worlds, one of young male high-tech professionals and one of elderly people and elderly care. This paper focuses on what happens to a new security technology making the transition between the two. Particular emphasis is laid on distributed and collective aspects of implementation and adaptation of new technology: networks of utilization and activities are discussed as pools of resources and interests for sustaining and shaping technology. *Key words*: implementation, networks, elderly care
16 citations
TL;DR: In this article, it is argued that scrutiny of this conflict provides a chance to understand the emergence of delineated entitlements in material contained in Swedish biobanks, and that internal disagreements concerning dispositional rights in the biobank resulted in court appeals, critical newspaper articles and mutual threats among parties with different interests in the Biobank material.
Abstract: In 1999, a biotech company was established in Vasterbotten County, in Sweden, and given what was termed ‘all commercial rights’ to a major research biobank containing blood samples of the majority of the adult population. It was predicted that the company would place the otherwise rather marginalised community at the centre of international life-science research. International investments failed to appear, however. During the spring of 2002, internal disagreements concerning dispositional rights in the biobank resulted in court appeals, critical newspaper articles and, more informally, mutual threats among parties with different interests in the biobank material. In this article, it is argued that scrutiny of this conflict provides a chance to understand the emergence of delineated entitlements in material contained in Swedish biobanks.
16 citations
TL;DR: This work looks at how the model of genetic causation of disease or what I have called the ‘gene model’ is becoming dominant and how this underlines a process of geneticisation, which does not seem to have stopped under the genomic perspective.
Abstract: For many years the rhetoric of the new genetics have been criticised for their inherent determinism, especially in the area of health. The move from genetics to genomics has meant that more than just individual genes will be looked at in the causation of disease. At the same time, the findings from the Human Genome Project have challenged the deterministic assumption of the one gene – one trait tenet. The concept of genetic disease, however, is still predominant and still expanding to include more conditions every day under its name. Here, I look at how the model of genetic causation of disease or what I have called the ‘gene model’ is becoming dominant and how this underlines a process of geneticisation, which does not seem to have stopped under the genomic perspective.
14 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors studied two processes of commercialisation of scientific knowledge, and found that pioneer knowledge networking dominated and commercialization unfolded more smoothly than for modular networking, where modular networking prevailed.
Abstract: To learn more about the formation, transformation and interaction of knowledge networking, we studied two processes of commercialisation of scientific knowledge. Both involved a Lactobacillus strain ‐ Lp299v, in Sweden, and LGG, in Finland ‐ and two different companies. The first, a small science company, was established expressly to commercialise Lp299v, while the other, a large dairy company, sought to develop new functional food products from LGG. Both were successful, but differed in knowledge networking in the research, commercialization and stabilization phases. For Lp299v, pioneer knowledge networking dominated and commercialization unfolded more smoothly than for LGG, where modular networking prevailed. This indicates that, in science-based innovation, the balance between pioneer and modular modes of knowledge networking must be considered, and that there is a relation between modes, and the structure of the problems. New questions are raised about the challenges that various kinds and sizes of companies experience in different stages of innovation.
9 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify a three-part structure shared by every formulation of the precautionary principle and argue that two particular criticisms do not lead to abandonment of the principle.
Abstract: The precautionary principle is presumed to provide guidance when our scientific knowledge of the harmful effects of a proposed activity is significantly incomplete. In this paper, I will identify a three-part structure shared by every formulation of the precautionary principle. Second, the paper claims that the implementation of the precautionary principle has to deal with many currently open questions and problems. Third, I argue that two particular criticisms do not lead to abandonment of the
8 citations