Les arènes de la normalisation internationale à l'épreuve de la participation : le projet INTERNORM

This paper presents the results of the INTERNORM action-research designed to support the involvement of not-for-profit organisations in international standard setting bodies such as the ISO. It analyses how a participatory mechanism can influence the institutional environment of technical diplomacy, and reflects on the democratisation of the field of international standardisation. This reflection draws upon international relations literature on new forms of global governance and social studies of science and technology

Numbers of presynaptic Ca2+ channel clusters match those of functionally defined vesicular docking sites in single central synapses

Many central synapses contain a single presynaptic active zone and a single postsynaptic density. Vesicular release statistics at such “simple synapses” indicate that they contain a small complement of docking sites where vesicles repetitively dock and fuse. In this work, we investigate functional and morphological aspects of docking sites at simple synapses made between cerebellar parallel fibers and molecular layer interneurons. Using immunogold labeling of SDS-treated freeze-fracture replicas, we find that Cav2.1 channels form several clusters per active zone with about nine channels per cluster. The mean value and range of intersynaptic variation are similar for Cav2.1 cluster numbers and for functional estimates of docking-site numbers obtained from the maximum numbers of released vesicles per action potential. Both numbers grow in relation with synaptic size and decrease by a similar extent with age between 2 wk and 4 wk postnatal. Thus, the mean docking-site numbers were 3.15 at 2 wk (range: 1–10) and 2.03 at 4 wk (range: 1–4), whereas the mean numbers of Cav2.1 clusters were 2.84 at 2 wk (range: 1–8) and 2.37 at 4 wk (range: 1–5). These changes were accompanied by decreases of miniature current amplitude (from 93 pA to 56 pA), active-zone surface area (from 0.0427 μm2 to 0.0234 μm2), and initial success rate (from 0.609 to 0.353), indicating a tightening of synaptic transmission with development. Altogether, these results suggest a close correspondence between the number of functionally defined vesicular docking sites and that of clusters of voltage-gated calcium channels

How reliable are left ventricular ejection fraction cut offs assessed by echocardiography for clinical decision making in patients with heart failure?

We aimed to study the potential influence of the variability in the assessment of echocardiographically measured left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) on indications for the implantation of internal cardioverter defibrillator and/or cardiac resynchronization devices in heart failure patients. TIME-CHF was a multicenter trial comparing NT-BNP versus symptom-guided therapy in patients aged ≥60years. Patients had their LVEF assessed at the recruiting centre using visual assessment, the area-length or biplane Simpson's method. Echocardiographic data were transferred to the study core-lab for re-assessment. Re-assessment in the core-lab was done with biplane Simpson's method, and included an appraisal of image quality. 413 patients had the LVEF analyzed at the recruiting centre and at the core lab. Image quality was optimal in 191 and suboptimal in 222. Overall, the correlation between LVEF at the recruiting centres and at the core-lab was good, independent of image quality (R²=0.62). However, when a LVEF≤30% or ≥30% was used as a cut-off, about 20% of all patients would have been re-assigned to having either a LVEF above or below the cut-off, this proportion was not significantly influenced by image quality. We conclude that correlation between LVEF assessed by different centres based on the same ultrasound data is good, regardless of image quality. However, one fifth of patients would have been re-assigned to a different category when using the clinically important cut-off of 30

Disséminations expérimentales d’OGM en France et en Suisse : évolution du débat public Introduction

Bien que variable dans le temps et dans l’espace, le débat entourant la question des organismes génétiquement modifiés (OGM) est, depuis plusieurs années, très animé dans l’espace public européen. Si diverses études ont tenté d’analyser les différentes formes prises par le débat sur cette question en Europe et aux Etats-Unis sous forme d’études isolées et d’analyses comparées, la situation en Suisse n’a mobilisé que peu d’attention. Dans les deux premières parties de cet article, nous nous pr..

De la gestion à la négociation des risques : apports des procédures participatives d’évaluation des choix technologiques

1. Introduction Cet article traite de la manière dont l’approche classique en termes d’évaluation et de gestion des risques se trouve aujourd’hui mise en question, tant par l’émergence de nouveaux dangers qu’elle ne permet plus de contenir, que par le fait que ces dangers doivent être négociés dans le cadre d’une communauté d’acteurs sans cesse plus diversifiée. Nous décrirons tout d’abord le contexte dans lequel se manifeste désormais la question des risques technologiques. Nous partirons de..

Science in the Swiss public: the state of science communication and public engagement with science in Switzerland

Science communication and public engagement with science have repeatedly been called for in recent years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, die Swiss Academies of the Arts and Sciences have set up an expert group to assess the state of science communication in Switzerland, and to provide recommendations for how to improve it. The expert group report is based on a comprehensive review of the available interdisciplinary scholarship analyzing science communication and public engagement with science in Switzerland. Selectively, it also incorporates original data, international findings, and secondary analyses where little or no published scholarly work was available. The report covers a wide range of facets of science communication and public engagement in Switzerland, from public attitudes towards science over individuals and organizations engaging in science communication and engagement formats to news and social media representations of science. On this basis, it formulates 20 recommendations for improving science communication in Switzerland

mTORC1 signalling and eIF4E/4E-BP1 translation initiation factor stoichiometry influence recombinant protein productivity from GS-CHOK1 cells

Many protein-based biotherapeutics are produced in cultured Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines. Recent reports have demonstrated that translation of recombinant mRNAs and global control of the translation machinery via mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling are important determinants of the amount and quality of recombinant protein such cells can produce. mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) is a master regulator of cell growth/division, ribosome biogenesis and protein synthesis, but the relationship between mTORC1 signalling, cell growth and proliferation and recombinant protein yields from mammalian cells, and whether this master regulating signalling pathway can be manipulated to enhance cell biomass and recombinant protein production (rPP) are not well explored. We have investigated mTORC1 signalling and activity throughout batch culture of a panel of sister recombinant glutamine synthetase-CHO cell lines expressing different amounts of a model monoclonal IgG4, to evaluate the links between mTORC1 signalling and cell proliferation, autophagy, recombinant protein expression, global protein synthesis and mRNA translation initiation. We find that the expression of the mTORC1 substrate 4E-binding protein 1 (4E-BP1) fluctuates throughout the course of cell culture and, as expected, that the 4E-BP1 phosphorylation profiles change across the culture. Importantly, we find that the eIF4E/4E-BP1 stoichiometry positively correlates with cell productivity. Furthermore, eIF4E amounts appear to be co-regulated with 4E-BP1 amounts. This may reflect a sensing of either change at the mRNA level as opposed to the protein level or the fact that the phosphorylation status, as well as the amount of 4E-BP1 present, is important in the co-regulation of eIF4E and 4E-BP1

Social science and conservation in Madagascar

INTERVIEW MADAGASCAR CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMEN