Trust in Nanotechnology? On Trust as Analytical Tool in Social Research on Emerging Technologies

Trust has become an important aspect of evaluating the relationship between lay public and technology implementation. Experiences have shown that a focus on trust provides a richer understanding of reasons for backlashes of technology in society than a mere focus of public understanding of risks and science communication. Therefore, trust is also widely used as a key concept for understanding and predicting trust or distrust in emerging technologies. But whereas trust broadens the scope for understanding established technologies with well-defined questions and controversies, it easily fails to do so with emerging technologies, where there are no shared questions, a lack of public familiarity with the technology in question, and a restricted understanding amongst social researchers as to where distrust is likely to arise and how and under which form the technology will actually be implemented. Rather contrary, ‘trust’ might sometimes even direct social research into fixed structures that makes it even more difficult for social research to provide socially robust knowledge. This article therefore suggests that if trust is to maintain its important role in evaluating emerging technologies, the approach has to be widened and initially focus not on people’s motivations for trust, but rather the object of trust it self, as to predicting how and where distrust might appear, how the object is established as an object of trust, and how it is established in relation with the public

Predicting developmental dysplasia of the hip in at-risk newborns.

BACKGROUND: The development of developmental dysplasia of the hip can be attributed to several risk factors and often in combination with each other. When predicting the likelihood of developing this condition, clinicians tend to over and underestimate its likelihood of occurring. Therefore, the study aim is to determine among at-risk newborns how to best predict developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) within 8 weeks post-partum. METHODS: Prospective cohort study in secondary care. Patient population included newborns at-risk for DDH - we assessed 13,276 consecutive newborns for the presence of DDH risk factors. Only newborns with at least one of the predefined risk factors and those showing an abnormal examination of the hip were enrolled (n = 2191). For the development of a risk prediction model we considered 9 candidate predictors and other variables readily available at childbirth. The main outcome measure was ultrasonography at a median age of 8 weeks using consensus diagnostic criteria; outcome assessors were blinded. RESULTS: The risk model includes four predictors: female sex (OR = 5.6; 95% CI: 2.9-10.9; P  4000 g (OR = 1.6; 95% CI: 0.6-4.2; P = 0.34), and abnormal examination of hip (OR = 58.8; 95% CI: 31.9, 108.5; P <  0.001). This model demonstrated excellent discrimination (C statistic = 0.9) and calibration of observed and predicted risk (P = 0.35). A model without the variable 'hip examination' demonstrated similar performance. CONCLUSION: The risk model quantifies absolute risk of DDH within 8 weeks postpartum in at-risk newborns. Based on clinical variables readily available at the point of childbirth, the model will enhance parental counselling and could serve as the basis for real time decisions prior to discharge from maternity wards

Opening up the participation laboratory: the co-creation of publics and futures in upstream participation.

How to embed reflexivity in public participation in techno-science and to open it up to the agency of publics are key concerns in current debates. There is a risk that engagements become limited to “laboratory experiments,” highly controlled and foreclosed by participation experts, particularly in upstream techno-sciences. In this paper, we propose a way to open up the “participation laboratory” by engaging localized, self-assembling publics in ways that respect and mobilize their ecologies of participation. Our innovative reflexive methodology introduced participatory methods to public engagement with upstream techno-science, with the public contributing to both the content and format of the project. Reflecting on the project, we draw attention to the largely overlooked issue of temporalities of participation, and the co-production of futures and publics in participation methodologies. We argue that many public participation methodologies are underpinned by the open futures model, which imagines the future as a space of unrestrained creativity. We contrast that model with the lived futures model typical of localized publics, which respects latency of materials and processes but imposes limits on creativity. We argue that to continue being societally relevant and scientifically important, public participation methods should reconcile the open future of research with the lived futures of localized publics

An interdisciplinary cruise dedicated to understanding ocean eddies upstream of the Prince Edward Islands

A DETAILED HYDROGRAPHIC AND BIOLOGical survey was carried out in the region of the South-West Indian Ridge during April 2004. Altimetry and hydrographic data have identified this region as an area of high flow variability. Hydrographic data revealed that here the Subantarctic Polar Front (SAF) and Antarctic Polar Front (APF) converge toform a highly intense frontal system. Water masses identified during the survey showed a distinct separation in properties between the northwestern and southeastern corners. In the north-west, water masses were distinctly Subantarctic (>8.5°C, salinity >34.2), suggesting that the SAF lay extremely far to the south. In the southeast corner water masses were typical of the Antarctic zone, showing a distinct subsurface temperature minimum of <2.5°C. Total integrated chl-a concentration during the survey ranged from 4.15 to 22.81mgchl-am–2,with the highest concentrations recorded at stations occupied in the frontal region. These data suggest that the region of the South-West Indian Ridge represents not only an area of elevated biological activity but also acts as a strong biogeographic barrier to the spatial distribution of zooplankton

An interdisciplinary cruise dedicated to understanding ocean eddies upstream of the Prince Edward Islands

A detailed hydrographic and biological survey was carried out in the region of the South-West Indian Ridge during April 2004. Altimetry and hydrographic data have identified this region as an area of high flow variability. Hydrographic data revealed that here the Subantarctic Polar Front (SAF) and Antarctic Polar Front (APF) converge to form a highly intense frontal system. Water masses identified during the survey showed a distinct separation in properties between the northwestern and southeastern corners. In the north-west, water masses were distinctly Subantarctic (>8.5°C, salinity >34.2), suggesting that the SAF lay extremely far to the south. In the southeast corner water masses were typical of the Antarctic zone, showing a distinct subsurface temperature minimum of <2.5°C. Total integrated chl-a concentration during the survey ranged from 4.15 to 22.81 mg chl-a m[superscript (-2)], with the highest concentrations recorded at stations occupied in the frontal region. These data suggest that the region of the South-West Indian Ridge represents not only an area of elevated biological activity but also acts as a strong biogeographic barrier to the spatial distribution of zooplankton

Novel and Recurrent Mutations of WISP3 in Two Chinese Families with Progressive Pseudorheumatoid Dysplasia

BACKGROUND: The WNT1-inducible signaling pathway protein 3 (WISP3), which belongs to the CCN (cysteine-rich protein 61, connective tissue growth factor, nephroblastoma overexpressed) family, is a secreted cysteine-rich matricellular protein that is involved in chondrogenesis, osteogenesis and tumorigenesis. WISP3 gene mutations are associated with progressive pseudorheumatoid dysplasia (PPD, OMIM208230), an autosomal recessive genetic disease that is characterized by the swelling of multiple joints and disproportionate dwarfism. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Four PPD patients from two unrelated Chinese families were recruited for this study. The clinical diagnosis was confirmed by medical history, physical examinations, laboratory results and radiological abnormalities. WISP3 mutations were detected by direct DNA sequence analysis. In total, four different mutations were identified, which consisted of two missense mutations, one deletion and one insertion that spanned exons 3, 5 and 6 of the WISP3 gene. One of the missense mutations (c.342T>G/p.C114W) and a seven-base pair frameshift deletion (c.716_722del/p.E239fs*16) were novel. The other missense mutation (c.1000T>C/p. S334P) and the insertion mutation (c.866_867insA/p.Q289fs*31) had previously been identified in Chinese patients. All four cases had a compound heterozygous status, and their parents were heterozygous carriers of these mutations. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The results of our study expand the spectrum of WISP3 mutations that are associated with PPD and further elucidate the function of WISP3