Gender and Technoscience: A Historical Perspective

This paper explores turning points in the historical relationship between gender and technoscience, most notably the gender parity of the 2009 Nobel Prizes; the public debate on the under-representation of women in science that raged world-wide but especially in the US during 2005-2006; and the construction of a public memory for a leading woman technoscientist in the mid-1990s. The paper situates these turning points in the context of historical events, most notably the Scientific Revolution of the 17th Century, WW2 and the Cold War, the women’s liberation movement of the 1970s that legally ended overt gender discrimination, and the rise of covert gender discrimination since the 1990s. The paper concludes by drawing attention to recent findings on new technoscientific environments, most notably biotech start ups, as innovative settings that offer flexibility, and hence a more viable route to gender parity.This paper explores turning points in the historical relationship between gender and technoscience, most notably the gender parity of the 2009 Nobel Prizes; the public debate on the under-representation of women in science that raged world-wide but especially in the US during 2005-2006; and the construction of a public memory for a leading woman technoscientist in the mid-1990s. The paper situates these turning points in the context of historical events, most notably the Scientific Revolution of the 17th Century, WW2 and the Cold War, the women’s liberation movement of the 1970s that legally ended overt gender discrimination, and the rise of covert gender discrimination since the 1990s. The paper concludes by drawing attention to recent findings on new technoscientific environments, most notably biotech start ups, as innovative settings that offer flexibility, and hence a more viable route to gender parity.This paper explores turning points in the historical relationship between gender and technoscience, most notably the gender parity of the 2009 Nobel Prizes; the public debate on the under-representation of women in science that raged world-wide but especially in the US during 2005-2006; and the construction of a public memory for a leading woman technoscientist in the mid-1990s. The paper situates these turning points in the context of historical events, most notably the Scientific Revolution of the 17th Century, WW2 and the Cold War, the women’s liberation movement of the 1970s that legally ended overt gender discrimination, and the rise of covert gender discrimination since the 1990s. The paper concludes by drawing attention to recent findings on new technoscientific environments, most notably biotech start ups, as innovative settings that offer flexibility, and hence a more viable route to gender parity

De la colaboración multidisciplinar a la objetividad transnacional: el espacio internacional, constitutivo de la biología molecular, 1930-1970

Not available.<br><br>En este artículo se exploran las relaciones internacionales establecidas por los biólogos moleculares durante las primeras décadas del desarrollo de esa área. El espacio internacional dentro del cual se han inscrito los descubrimientos de la biología molecular resultan tener una función legitimadora, desde sus inicios en los años treinta hasta los años sesenta. La resultante objetividad transnacional de nuevas realidades teóricas y empíricas, entre ellas la doble hélice y el ARN mensajero, dependieron de una serie de oportunidades de acceso por parte de esos científicos a tradiciones disciplinares externas a su país de origen y ligadas a la política científica. Precisamente ese espacio internacional les permitió superar resistencias de las escuelas experimentales locales a la recepción de esas novedades, fuera de los controles conceptuales de las tradiciones nacionales

Homologous and heterologous desensitization of guanylyl cyclase-B signaling in GH3 somatolactotropes

The guanylyl cyclases, GC-A and GC-B, are selective receptors for atrial and C-type natriuretic peptides (ANP and CNP, respectively). In the anterior pituitary, CNP and GC-B are major regulators of cGMP production in gonadotropes and yet mouse models of disrupted CNP and GC-B indicate a potential role in growth hormone secretion. In the current study, we investigate the molecular and pharmacological properties of the CNP/GC-B system in somatotrope lineage cells. Primary rat pituitary and GH3 somatolactotropes expressed functional GC-A and GC-B receptors that had similar EC50 properties in terms of cGMP production. Interestingly, GC-B signaling underwent rapid homologous desensitization in a protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A)-dependent manner. Chronic exposure to either CNP or ANP caused a significant down-regulation of both GC-A- and GC-B-dependent cGMP accumulation in a ligand-specific manner. However, this down-regulation was not accompanied by alterations in the sub-cellular localization of these receptors. Heterologous desensitization of GC-B signaling occurred in GH3 cells following exposure to either sphingosine-1-phosphate or thyrotrophin-releasing hormone (TRH). This heterologous desensitization was protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent, as pre-treatment with GF109203X prevented the effect of TRH on CNP/GC-B signaling. Collectively, these data indicate common and distinct properties of particulate guanylyl cyclase receptors in somatotropes and reveal that independent mechanisms of homologous and heterologous desensitization occur involving either PP2A or PKC. Guanylyl cyclase receptors thus represent potential novel therapeutic targets for treating growth-hormone-associated disorders

History, power, and electricity: American popular magazine accounts of electroconvulsive therapy, 1940–2005

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment that has been in use in the United States since the 1940s. During the whole of its existence, it has been extensively discussed and debated within American popular magazines. While initial reports of the treatment highlighted its benefits to patients, accounts by the 1970s and 1980s were increasingly polarized. This article analyzes the popular accounts over time, particularly the ways in which the debates over ECT have revolved around different interpretations of ECT's history and its power dynamics. © 2008Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57903/1/20283_ftp.pd

Virology Experts in the Boundary Zone Between Science, Policy and the Public: A Biographical Analysis

This article aims to open up the biographical black box of three experts working in the boundary zone between science, policy and public debate. A biographical-narrative approach is used to analyse the roles played by the virologists Albert Osterhaus, Roel Coutinho and Jaap Goudsmit in policy and public debate. These figures were among the few leading virologists visibly active in the Netherlands during the revival of infectious diseases in the 1980s. Osterhaus and Coutinho in particular are still the key figures today, as demonstrated during the outbreak of novel influenza A (H1N1). This article studies the various political and communicative challenges and dilemmas encountered by these three virologists, and discusses the way in which, strategically or not, they handled those challenges and dilemmas during the various stages of the field’s recent history. Important in this respect is their pursuit of a public role that is both effective and credible. We will conclude with a reflection on the H1N1 pandemic, and the historical and biographical ties between emerging governance arrangements and the experts involved in the development of such arrangements

Tumor-Associated Macrophages (TAMs) Form an Interconnected Cellular Supportive Network in Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma

BACKGROUND: A relationship between the increased density of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and decreased survival was recently reported in thyroid cancer patients. Among these tumors, anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is one of the most aggressive solid tumors in humans. TAMs (type M2) have been recognized as promoting tumor growth. The purpose of our study was to analyze with immunohistochemistry the presence of TAMs in a series of 27 ATC. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Several macrophages markers such as NADPH oxidase complex NOX2-p22phox, CD163 and CD 68 were used. Immunostainings showed that TAMs represent more than 50% of nucleated cells in all ATCs. Moreover, these markers allowed the identification of elongated thin ramified cytoplasmic extensions, bestowing a "microglia-like" appearance on these cells which we termed "Ramified TAMs" (RTAMs). In contrast, cancer cells were totally negative. Cellular stroma was highly simplified since apart from cancer cells and blood vessels, RTAMs were the only other cellular component. RTAMs were evenly distributed and intermingled with cancer cells, and were in direct contact with other RTAMs via their ramifications. Moreover, RTAMs displayed strong immunostaining for connexin Cx43. Long chains of interconnected RTAMs arose from perivascular clusters and were dispersed within the tumor parenchyma. When expressed, the glucose transporter Glut1 was found in RTAMs and blood vessels, but rarely in cancer cells. CONCLUSION: ATCs display a very dense network of interconnected RTAMs in direct contact with intermingled cancer cells. To our knowledge this is the first time that such a network is described in a malignant tumor. This network was found in all our studied cases and appeared specific to ATC, since it was not found in differentiated thyroid cancers specimens. Taken together, these results suggest that RTAMs network is directly related to the aggressiveness of the disease via metabolic and trophic functions which remain to be determined