George Sarton (1884-1956)

George Sarton (1884–1956

Clinical performance and radiation dosimetry of no-carrier-added vs carrier-added 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) for the assessment of cardiac sympathetic nerve activity

Purpose We hypothesized that assessment of myocardial sympathetic activity with no-carrier-added (nca) I-123-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) compared to carrier-added (ca) I-123-MIBG would lead to an improvement of clinical performance without major differences in radiation dosimetry. Methods In nine healthy volunteers, 15 min and 4 h planar thoracic scintigrams and conjugate whole-body scans were performed up to 48 h following intravenous injection of 185 MBq I-123-MIBG. The subjects were given both nca and ca I-123-MIBG. Early heart/mediastinal ratios (H/M), late H/M ratios and myocardial washout were calculated. The fraction of administered activity in ten source organs was quantified from the attenuation-corrected geometric mean counts in conjugate views. Radiation-absorbed doses were estimated with OLINDA/EXM software. Results Both early and late H/M were higher for nca I-123-MIBG (ca I-123-MIBG early H/M 2.46 +/- 0.15 vs nca I-123-MIBG 2.84 +/- 0.15, p = 0.001 and ca I-123-MIBG late H/M 2.69 +/- 0.14 vs nca I-123-MIBG 3.34 +/- 0.18, p = 0.002). Myocardial washout showed a longer retention time for nca I-123-MIBG (p <0.001). The effective dose equivalent (adult male model) for nca I-123-MIBG was similar to that for ca I-123-MIBG (0.025 +/- 0.002 mSv/MBq vs 0.026 +/- 0.002 mSv/MBq, p = 0.055, respectively). Conclusion No-carrier-added I-123-MIBG yields a higher relative myocardial uptake and is associated with a higher myocardial retention. This difference between nca I-123-MIBG and ca I-123-MIBG in myocardial uptake did not result in major differences in estimated absorbed doses. Therefore, nca I-123-MIBG is to be preferred over ca I-123-MIBG for the assessment of cardiac sympathetic activit

A History of Universalism: Conceptions of the Internationality of Science from the Enlightenment to the Cold War

That science is fundamentally universal has been proclaimed innumerable times. But the precise geographical meaning of this universality has changed historically. This article examines conceptions of scientific internationalism from the Enlightenment to the Cold War, and their varying relations to cosmopolitanism, nationalism, socialism, and 'the West'. These views are confronted with recent tendencies to cast science as a uniquely European product

Waardevolle wetenschap. Bespiegelingen over natuurwetenschap, moraal en samenleving in de aanloop naar de Doorbraakbeweging

Value-laden science. Reflections on science, morality and society at the onset of the Dutch Breakthrough movement At the close of the Second World War, a group of Dutch intellectuals devised a blueprint for a planned society. Although this scheme was highly technocratic, it was more than that in the task which it attributed to scientific experts, for their function was to check not only the efficiency of plans but also their general desirability. In this paper, I show how this peculiar formulation of the expert's role was the result of a series of debates on the (extent of the) moral character of science and its place in society, that had taken place in the Netherlands since the mid-i930s. Starting with a scientists' response to the rise of fascism, these discussions took shape in conjunction with the Breakthrough movement and its anti-positivist desires for engaged knowledge and a synthesis of intellectual and ethical concerns. The physicist J.M. Burgers, who had been involved in many of the debates, finally found a solution for the problems in A.N. Whitehead's philosophy. On the basis of this, he developed a moral epistemology and the plans for a science-led society mentioned above. Although these plans found much support in the post-war Breakthrough government, they were never realized

Hooge school en maatschappij. H.R. Kruyt en het ideaal van wetenschap voor de samenleving

' University and Society' H.R. Kruyt and the ideal of science for society In this article the ideology of science for society that was propagated by Dutch scientists around the turn of the century is investigated, focusing on the ideas and activities of H.R. Kruyt, one of its foremost spokesmen in the inter-war period. Unlike most of his colleagues, Kruyt developed his views from a socialist position, that saw science as the principal driving force behind social progress. For that purpose, research had to remain strictly pure, for pure science eventually provided the greatest societal benefit. Members of the Dutch Academy, including Kruyt, took the initiative to establish an Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), that should form the bridge between science and society. The establishment, however, turned out to be more complicated than expected, because the needs of the leaders of industry were quite different fi'om what scientists like Kruyt had expected. Another expression of the ideology of science for society was Kruyt's own research programme, for the problems he investigated and the kind of knowledge he aimed to produce, were closely connected to his conception of what 'pure science' should be

Science, Fascism, and Foreign Policy: The Exhibition “Scienza Universale” at the 1942 Rome World’s Fair

This essay analyzes the exhibition “Scienza Universale,” which was to be a central part of the 1942 world’s fair in Rome. Although in the end World War II kept the fair from happening, the plans for the exhibit were finished, and they allow for an in-depth analysis of the propagandistic uses of science in fascist Italy. The essay investigates what the regime sought to accomplish with a public display of science, why it chose to stress science’s universal character, and how various stakeholders’ motives played out in the exhibit design. Although fascism is not generally known for either its embrace of science or its internationalism, in this instance both played a major role in the way the state presented itself. “Universal Science,” as depicted in the exhibit, carried messages that were meant to promote a fascist conception of civilization and world order and to stake out Italy’s position vis-à-vis Nazi Germany in particular