Technoscientia est Potentia?: Contemplative, interventionist, constructionist and creationist idea(l)s in (techno)science

Within the realm of nano-, bio-, info- and cogno- (or NBIC) technosciences, the ‘power to change the world’ is often invoked. One could dismiss such formulations as ‘purely rhetorical’, interpret them as rhetorical and self-fulfilling or view them as an adequate depiction of one of the fundamental characteristics of technoscience. In the latter case, a very specific nexus between science and technology, or, the epistemic and the constructionist realm is envisioned. The following paper focuses on this nexus drawing on theoretical conceptions as well as empirical material. It presents an overview of different technoscientific ways to ‘change the world’—via contemplation and representation, intervention and control, engineering, construction and creation. It further argues that the hybrid character of technoscience makes it difficult (if not impossible) to separate knowledge production from real world interventions and challenges current science and technology policy approaches in fundamental ways

Aerobic and anaerobic biodegradability of polymer films and physico-chemical characterization

International audienceAerobic and anaerobic biodegradation of four different kinds of polymers, polylactic acid, polycaprolactone, a starch/polycaprolactone blend (Mater-bi®) and poly(butadiene adipate-co-terephthalate) (Eastar bio®) has been studied in the solid state under aerobic conditions and in the liquid phase under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions.Several standard test methods (ISO 14851, ISO 14853, ASTM G 21-90 and ASTM G 22-76 and NF X 41-514) were used to determine the biodegradability. To determine the efficiency of the biodegradation of polymers, quantitative (mass variations, oxygen uptake, pressure variations, biogas generation and composition, biodegradation percentages) and qualitative (variation of Tg and Tf, variation of molar mass by SEC, characterization by FTIR and NMR spectroscopy) analyses were made and materials were characterized before and after 28 days of degradation.After 28 days, the degradation of materials depends on the material and on the test conditions used. The degradation is better under aerobic conditions, in particular for Mater-bi and polycaprolactone. Nevertheless, we can notice that it is the amorphous part of the polymer which is more attacked by the micro-organisms but, after 28 days, they do not seem to cleave macromolecules inside the material: bacteria attack the surface of the polymer and seem to consume the macromolecules one after another (there is no significant variation in the molar mass and no difference between FTIR and NMR spectra before degradation and after 28 days of degradation)

Early IL-1 receptor blockade in severe inflammatory respiratory failure complicating COVID-19

Contains fulltext : 229588.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)Around the tenth day after diagnosis, ∼20% of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-associated pneumonia evolve toward severe oxygen dependence (stage 2b) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (stage 3) associated with systemic inflammation often termed a "cytokine storm." Because interleukin-1 (IL-1) blocks the production of IL-6 and other proinflammatory cytokines, we treated COVID-19 patients early in the disease with the IL-1 receptor antagonist, anakinra. We retrospectively compared 22 patients from three different centers in France with stages 2b and 3 COVID-19-associated pneumonia presenting with acute severe respiratory failure and systemic inflammation who received either standard-of-care treatment alone (10 patients) or combined with intravenous anakinra (12 patients). Treatment started at 300 mg⋅d(-1) for 5 d, then tapered with lower dosing over 3 d. Both populations were comparable for age, comorbidities, clinical stage, and elevated biomarkers of systemic inflammation. All of the patients treated with anakinra improved clinically (P < 0.01), with no deaths, significant decreases in oxygen requirements (P < 0.05), and more days without invasive mechanical ventilation (P < 0.06), compared with the control group. The effect of anakinra was rapid, as judged by significant decrease of fever and C-reactive protein at day 3. A mean total dose of 1,950 mg was infused with no adverse side effects or bacterial infection. We conclude that early blockade of the IL-1 receptor is therapeutic in acute hyperinflammatory respiratory failure in COVID-19 patients

Water technology, knowledge and power. Addressing them simultaneously

International audienceThis review focuses on how water knowledge and technology are linked to power relations when they shape water access, sharing and distribution. It examines how scholars have tackled this issue explicitly or implicitly. To do this, the paper first discusses the way knowledge and technology are intimately intertwined. Since knowledge and technology are never produced in a sociopolitical vacuum, it goes on to discuss how they embed and produce power relations. This article particularly highlights the way the concept of co-production has been used to address these issues by focusing on how boundaries and categories are made. Lastly, the review suggests four lines of research to further explore co-production processes: i) understanding the political construction of scales of water use and access; ii) identifying the diversity and dynamics of the relations towards water that societies deploy, iii) grasping the way framings and paradigms have been historically shaped, and iv) lastly, pursuing the simultaneous analysis of the political and material dimensions of water