O legado de Thomas Kuhn após cinquenta anos

Neste artigo, analiso o pensamento de Thomas Kuhn à luz da ideia de que sua obra desencadeou um processo de rediscussão acerca das relações entre ciência e sociedade. De fato, A estrutura das revoluções científicas, publicado em 1962, causou um impacto que deixou marcas indeléveis nos debates arrolados sobre a prática científica. Dois efeitos colaterais decorreram desse acontecimento: um possibilitou o surgimento - talvez a concretização de uma tendência - de questões extremamente técnicas e, em alguma medida, estéreis; o outro acirrou os ânimos da querela acerca do lugar que a ciência ocupa, ou deveria ocupar, na sociedade. O argumento central desenvolvido neste artigo é o de que o segundo efeito foi engendrado por Kuhn de forma inconsciente. Em outras palavras, Kuhn pode ser visto como tendo propiciado uma liberação involuntária, no sentido de ter recolocado o debate em torno da interface entre a ciência e a sociedade, embora a sua revelia. Dessa forma, ele pode ser apontado como a grande fonte de inspiração para o programa forte e os subsequentes science studies. É necessário, portanto, uma reavaliação das suas teses principais, a fim de que se possa lançar luz sobre a questão da interação entre os fatores racionais e os valores sociais.In this article I analyze the thought of Thomas Kuhn in the light of the idea that his work has reopened discussions on the relationship between science and society. In fact, his work The structure of scientific revolutions, published in 1962, had an impact that left indelible marks on the debates about scientific practice. As a consequence, two side effects arose: One of them leading the way to extremely technical matters and, somehow, unproductive. The other intensified the discussion concerning the place that science has - or should have - in society. My main argument is that the second effect was originated unconsciously by Kuhn. In other words, Kuhn can be seen as the generator of an involuntary liberation, because, regardless of his wishes, he reopened discussion of the science/society relationship. Thus, he can be pointed to as the major source of inspiration for the strong program and, subsequently, for science studies. Therefore, it is important to reevaluate his main theses in order to cast light on issues related to the interaction between rational factors and social values

Primazia da democracia e autonomia da ciência: O pensamento de Feyerabend no contexto dos science studies

Feyerabend is, at the same time, one of the most cited and less understood philosophers of our days. There are a lot of misunderstandings around his work. Therefore, it is very important to analyze his ideas in a judicious manner, since we are convinced that they can help us to understand the place of science in our society. We do not propose a strict reconstruction of Feyerabend’s arguments in philosophy of science. Rather, we emphasize the relationship between Feyerabend’s thought and the science studies, in order to discuss his two theses concerning autonomy: both the autonomy of science and of non-scientific traditions. Although we agree that there are major similarities between Feyerabend’s thought and the science studies, we are convinced that he would not accept their political anemia. Key words: democracy, society, philosophy of science, history of science.Feyerabend é, a um só tempo, um dos filósofos da ciência mais citados e um dos menos analisados. Muitos são os mal-entendidos em torno de sua obra. É, assim, necessária uma avaliação ponderada das ideias desse que ainda pode ser um autor de relevância e atualidade inestimáveis para todos aqueles que querem pensar sobre o lugar da ciência nas sociedades pretensamente democráticas. Não nos interessará aqui, entretanto, fornecer um trabalho exegético de reconstituição exaustiva do seu pensamento – embora também visemos a desfazer o que são, a nosso juízo, alguns equívocos de interpretação – pois o que queremos é, antes de tudo, ressaltar duas de suas teses: em um primeiro momento, pretendemos sublinhar sua defesa da autonomia da ciência; em um segundo, sua defesa da autonomia de outras tradições não-científicas. Além disso, desejamos mostrar a conexão que o pensamento feyerabendiano mantém com os science studies e discutir a tarefa que ainda caberia à filosofia desempenhar nesse novo contexto. Para antecipar a substância do argumento, embora tenha dado boas-vindas a esses estudos empíricos sobre a ciência, conjecturamos que Feyerabend não fecharia com sua “anemia política”, caso ele a tivesse percebido. Palavras-chave: democracia, ciência, sociedade, fi losofi a da ciência e história da ciência

Effect of transcranial direct current stimulation combined with gait and mobility training on functionality in children with cerebral palsy: study protocol for a double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial

Background: The project proposes three innovative intervention techniques (treadmill training, mobility training with virtual reality and transcranial direct current stimulation that can be safely administered to children with cerebral palsy. The combination of transcranial stimulation and physical therapy resources will provide the training of a specific task with multiple rhythmic repetitions of the phases of the gait cycle, providing rich sensory stimuli with a modified excitability threshold of the primary motor cortex to enhance local synaptic efficacy and potentiate motor learning. Methods/design A prospective, double-blind, randomized, controlled, analytical, clinical trial will be carried out.Eligible participants will be children with cerebral palsy classified on levels I, II and III of the Gross Motor Function Classification System between four and ten years of age. The participants will be randomly allocated to four groups: 1) gait training on a treadmill with placebo transcranial stimulation; 2) gait training on a treadmill with active transcranial stimulation; 3) mobility training with virtual reality and placebo transcranial stimulation; 4) mobility training with virtual reality and active transcranial stimulation. Transcranial direct current stimulation will be applied with the anodal electrode positioned in the region of the dominant hemisphere over C3, corresponding to the primary motor cortex, and the cathode positioned in the supraorbital region contralateral to the anode. A 1 mA current will be applied for 20 minutes. Treadmill training and mobility training with virtual reality will be performed in 30-minute sessions five times a week for two weeks (total of 10 sessions). Evaluations will be performed on four occasions: one week prior to the intervention; one week following the intervention; one month after the end of the intervention;and 3 months after the end of the intervention. The evaluations will involve three-dimensional gait analysis, analysis of cortex excitability (motor threshold and motor evoked potential), Six-Minute Walk Test, Timed Up-and-Go Test, Pediatric Evaluation Disability Inventory, Gross Motor Function Measure, Berg Balance Scale, stabilometry, maximum respiratory pressure and an effort test. Discussion This paper offers a detailed description of a prospective, double-blind, randomized, controlled, analytical, clinical trial aimed at demonstrating the effect combining transcranial stimulation with treadmill and mobility training on functionality and primary cortex excitability in children with Cerebral Palsy classified on Gross Motor Function Classification System levels I, II and III. The results will be published and will contribute to evidence regarding the use of treadmill training on this population. Trial registration ReBEC RBR-9B5DH

Enteric methane mitigation strategies for ruminant livestock systems in the Latin America and Caribbean region: A meta-analysis

Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) is a developing region characterized for its importance for global food security, producing 23 and 11% of the global beef and milk production, respectively. The region's ruminant livestock sector however, is under scrutiny on environmental grounds due to its large contribution to enteric methane (CH4) emissions and influence on global climate change. Thus, the identification of effective CH4 mitigation strategies which do not compromise animal performance is urgently needed, especially in context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) defined in the Paris Agreement of the United Nations. Therefore, the objectives of the current study were to: 1) collate a database of individual sheep, beef and dairy cattle records from enteric CH4 emission studies conducted in the LAC region, and 2) perform a meta-analysis to identify feasible enteric CH4 mitigation strategies, which do not compromise animal performance. After outlier's removal, 2745 animal records (65% of the original data) from 103 studies were retained (from 2011 to 2021) in the LAC database. Potential mitigation strategies were classified into three main categories (i.e., animal breeding, dietary, and rumen manipulation) and up to three subcategories, totaling 34 evaluated strategies. A random effects model weighted by inverse variance was used (Comprehensive Meta-Analysis V3.3.070). Six strategies decreased at least one enteric CH4 metric and simultaneously increased milk yield (MY; dairy cattle) or average daily gain (ADG; beef cattle and sheep). The breed composition F1 Holstein × Gyr decreased CH4 emission per MY (CH4IMilk) while increasing MY by 99%. Adequate strategies of grazing management under continuous and rotational stocking decreased CH4 emission per ADG (CH4IGain) by 22 and 35%, while increasing ADG by 22 and 71%, respectively. Increased dietary protein concentration, and increased concentrate level through cottonseed meal inclusion, decreased CH4IMilk and CH4IGain by 10 and 20% and increased MY and ADG by 12 and 31%, respectively. Lastly, increased feeding level decreased CH4IGain by 37%, while increasing ADG by 171%. The identified effective mitigation strategies can be adopted by livestock producers according to their specific needs and aid LAC countries in achieving SDG as defined in the Paris Agreement.Fil: Congio, Guilhermo Francklin de Souza. Universidade do Sao Paulo. Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz; Brasil. Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria; ColombiaFil: Bannink, André. University of Agriculture Wageningen; Países BajosFil: Mayorga Mogollón, Olga Lucía. Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria; ColombiaFil: Jaurena, Gustavo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomia. Departamento de Producción Animal. Cátedra de Nutrición Animal; ArgentinaFil: Gonda, Horacio Leandro. Uppsala Universitet; SueciaFil: Gere, José Ignacio. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Patobiología Veterinaria - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Patobiología Veterinaria; ArgentinaFil: Cerón Cucchi, María Esperanza. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Patobiología; ArgentinaFil: Ortiz Chura, Abimael. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Patobiología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Tieri, María Paz. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Rafaela; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigación de la Cadena Láctea. - Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Santa Fe. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Rafaela. Instituto de Investigación de la Cadena Láctea; ArgentinaFil: Hernandez, Olegario. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Tucuman-Santiago del Estero; ArgentinaFil: Ricci, Patricia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estacion Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Instituto de Innovación Para la Producción Agropecuaria y El Desarrollo Sostenible. Grupo Vinculado Estacion Experimental Agropecuaria Cuenca del Salado Al Ipads | Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Innovación Para la Producción Agropecuaria y El Desarrollo Sostenible. Grupo Vinculado Estacion Experimental Agropecuaria Cuenca del Salado Al Ipads.; ArgentinaFil: Juliarena, María Paula. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigaciones en Física e Ingeniería del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Centro de Investigaciones en Física e Ingeniería del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. - Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Física e Ingeniería del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Lombardi, Banira. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigaciones en Física e Ingeniería del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Centro de Investigaciones en Física e Ingeniería del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. - Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Física e Ingeniería del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Abdalla, Adibe Luiz. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Abdalla Filho, Adibe Luiz. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Berndt, Alexandre. Ministerio da Agricultura Pecuaria e Abastecimento de Brasil. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria; BrasilFil: Oliveira, Patrícia Perondi Anchão. Ministerio da Agricultura Pecuaria e Abastecimento de Brasil. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria; BrasilFil: Henrique, Fábio Luis. Colegios Asociados de Uberaba; BrasilFil: Monteiro, Alda Lúcia Gomes. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Borges, Luiza Ilha. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Ribeiro Filho, Henrique Mendonça Nunes. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina; BrasilFil: Ribeiro Pereira, Luiz Gustavo. Ministerio da Agricultura Pecuaria e Abastecimento de Brasil. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria; BrasilFil: Tomich, Thierry Ribeiro. Ministerio da Agricultura Pecuaria e Abastecimento de Brasil. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria; BrasilFil: Campos, Mariana Magalhães. Ministerio da Agricultura Pecuaria e Abastecimento de Brasil. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria; BrasilFil: Machado, Fernanda Samarini. Ministerio da Agricultura Pecuaria e Abastecimento de Brasil. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria; BrasilFil: Marcondes, Marcos Inácio. Universidade Federal de Viçosa.; BrasilFil: Mercadante, Maria Eugênia Zerlotti. Agencia de Tecnología Agroindustrial de Sao Paulo; ArgentinaFil: Sakamoto, Leandro Sannomiya. Agencia de Tecnología Agroindustrial de Sao Paulo; ArgentinaFil: Albuquerque, Lucia Galvão. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Carvalho, Paulo César de Faccio. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Hristov, Alexander Nikolov. State University of Pennsylvania; Estados Unidos. University of Agriculture Wageningen; Países Bajos. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil. Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria; Colombi

Geographic patterns of tree dispersal modes in Amazonia and their ecological correlates

Aim: To investigate the geographic patterns and ecological correlates in the geographic distribution of the most common tree dispersal modes in Amazonia (endozoochory, synzoochory, anemochory and hydrochory). We examined if the proportional abundance of these dispersal modes could be explained by the availability of dispersal agents (disperser-availability hypothesis) and/or the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits (resource-availability hypothesis). Time period: Tree-inventory plots established between 1934 and 2019. Major taxa studied: Trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 9.55 cm. Location: Amazonia, here defined as the lowland rain forests of the Amazon River basin and the Guiana Shield. Methods: We assigned dispersal modes to a total of 5433 species and morphospecies within 1877 tree-inventory plots across terra-firme, seasonally flooded, and permanently flooded forests. We investigated geographic patterns in the proportional abundance of dispersal modes. We performed an abundance-weighted mean pairwise distance (MPD) test and fit generalized linear models (GLMs) to explain the geographic distribution of dispersal modes. Results: Anemochory was significantly, positively associated with mean annual wind speed, and hydrochory was significantly higher in flooded forests. Dispersal modes did not consistently show significant associations with the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits. A lower dissimilarity in dispersal modes, resulting from a higher dominance of endozoochory, occurred in terra-firme forests (excluding podzols) compared to flooded forests. Main conclusions: The disperser-availability hypothesis was well supported for abiotic dispersal modes (anemochory and hydrochory). The availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits seems an unlikely explanation for the distribution of dispersal modes in Amazonia. The association between frugivores and the proportional abundance of zoochory requires further research, as tree recruitment not only depends on dispersal vectors but also on conditions that favour or limit seedling recruitment across forest types

Mapping density, diversity and species-richness of the Amazon tree flora

Using 2.046 botanically-inventoried tree plots across the largest tropical forest on Earth, we mapped tree species-diversity and tree species-richness at 0.1-degree resolution, and investigated drivers for diversity and richness. Using only location, stratified by forest type, as predictor, our spatial model, to the best of our knowledge, provides the most accurate map of tree diversity in Amazonia to date, explaining approximately 70% of the tree diversity and species-richness. Large soil-forest combinations determine a significant percentage of the variation in tree species-richness and tree alpha-diversity in Amazonian forest-plots. We suggest that the size and fragmentation of these systems drive their large-scale diversity patterns and hence local diversity. A model not using location but cumulative water deficit, tree density, and temperature seasonality explains 47% of the tree species-richness in the terra-firme forest in Amazonia. Over large areas across Amazonia, residuals of this relationship are small and poorly spatially structured, suggesting that much of the residual variation may be local. The Guyana Shield area has consistently negative residuals, showing that this area has lower tree species-richness than expected by our models. We provide extensive plot meta-data, including tree density, tree alpha-diversity and tree species-richness results and gridded maps at 0.1-degree resolution