International audience ; This article presents an artistic and political experiment as an effort to advance democratic transactions in the life sciences. Artists built a 'gender democratic labyrinth' in Maastricht, in which scientists, women's groups, people in general, artists, philosophers, politicians, journalists, clinical geneticists and many others interacted and negotiated on the creation of human embryos for medical-scientific research (a subject kept open in the Dutch Embryo Law of September 2002 to decide within a few years). By taking a gender perspective on the process of democratizing science, we aimed to create a space in which alterity and difference are constitutive elements in the public exchanges on science and technology. The idea to build a labyrinth was theoretically based on the notion of agonistic democracy - in which pluralism is the result of contestations and divisions - and on a notion of science and technology as being contextualized and socialized.
The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), under mandate from the federal government, supports the high level of science research in Switzerland by funding scientific projects and scientists' careers across all disciplines.
Life science and biotechnology have become a top priority in research and development in many countries as the world marches into the new century. China as a developing country with a 1.3 billion population and booming economy is actively meeting the challenge of a new era in this area of research. Owing to support from the government and the scientific community, and reform to improve the infrastructure, recent years have witnessed a rapid progress in some important fields of life science and biotechnology in China, such as genomics and protein sciences, neuroscience, systematics, super-hybrid rice research, stem cell and cloning technology, gene therapy and drug/vaccine development. The planned expansion and development of innovation in related sectors and the area of bioethics are described and discussed.
In comparison with other European countries, Switzerland is very well positioned in terms of research funding and output thanks to a large part to the approx. 7 billion CHF annually with which the Swiss Federal Government funds education, research and innovation.
Dr. Sherman P. Vinograd fulfilled the roles of Chief of Medical Science and Technology and Director of Biomedical Research at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from the fall of 1961 until the spring of 1979. In this role he shaped, organized, and directed NASA's program of medical research as a funded program of studies, which was carried out in not only NASA Center laboratories, but also in university, industry, and other government laboratories and hospitals all over the country. It produced a large substrate of information through its bed rest studies, vestibular, bone, neuromuscular, hematology, and cardiovascular researches. It also produced valuable fall-out, such as an accurate bone density measurement technique which is now in common clinical use. ; His major activities during this career were conceptualizing, establishing, and chairing the Space Medicine Advisory Group (SPAMAG) charged with defining the earth-based and space-based research and life-support requirements for a manned orbiting research laboratory. This group designed a carefully planned study utilizing highly qualified, specialized members of the scientific community. They postulated a non-existent orbiting laboratory to be designed according to the needs of future human flight crews and requirements for human spaceflight information. This would result in the creation of Skylab. ; He was also responsible for establishing the In-flight Medical Experiments Program in preparation for the Apollo series of manned space flights. This program was a series of carefully designed flight crew studies derived from proposals by qualified scientists both from within and outside NASA to evaluate human responses to spaceflight. ; In addition, Dr. Vinograd developed a supportive Research and Development Program necessary to provide pertinent ground-based data and to advance state-of-the-art medical measurement technology, a major development of which was the Integrated Medical and Behavioral Laboratory Measurement System (IMBLMS). This consisted of medical experiments and accompanying equipment necessary to perform them that was used from the Gemini through the Skylab manned space flight programs. Carried aboard virtually any post-Apollo space vehicle by virtue of its rack and module design, these designs were used well into the future. He also fostered the continuing ground-based medical research program sponsored and/or conducted by NASA. ; The Dr. Sherman P. Vinograd Aerospace Exploration collection consists of artifacts, books, correspondence, financial materials, newspapers, photographs, plaques, printed materials, and reports relating to Dr. Vinograd's early life, his career as an M. D. prior to joining NASA, his years as a physician and researcher at NASA, and the other professional organizations and projects in which he was involved both during and after these periods. ; Box 9, Folder 9
Any classification rests upon criteria that are used to determine to which class an object belongs, such as morphological characters in the case of biological taxonomy or symptoms in the case of nosology. The workshop will put forward the somewhat neglected question how those criteria are chosen, defined, individuated and represented, with a particular focus on the life sciences. From natural history and medicine to laboratory biology, specific practices have been developed to abstract from particulars to general categories while coping with the intrinsic variability and time dependency of organic beings. The choice of characters can be determined by theoretical, pragmatic or political considerations. Operations that individuate characters can range from descriptive practices and comparative strategies to manipulative procedures. The contributions will focus on practices, representations and conceptual work that are performed in order to obtain and stabilize characters and classes as objects of science. With this focus on characters some general or case specific questions concerning classification can be re-asked, for instance, whether classification constitutes a particular way of knowing, whether it is pragmatic or essentialist, how it modifies identities and power relations and how controversies about classification are settled.Programme 9:30-10:00 Arrival 10:00-11:00 Robert Meunier (ICI Berlin): The Biological Character Concept – Historical Trajectories and Conceptual Distinctions 11:00-12:00 Benjamin Dawson (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar): Hegel and the Rationality of Observation 12:00-13:30 Lunch break 13:30-14:30 Staffan Müller-Wille (University of Exeter, UK): Linnaeus and the Four Corners of the World 14:30-15:30 Mathias Grote (TU Berlin): Microbial Species as Practices – Enrichment Culture, Purification and Microbial Taxonomy Before DNA, c. 1890-1980 15:30-16:00 Coffee Break 16:00-17:00 Lara Keuck (HU Berlin): Disease Classifications as Abstractions in Practice 17:00-18:00 Final discussion ; Characters ...
In wissensorientierten Gesellschaften entsteht ein großer Bedarf an Hochqualifizierten besonders in den naturwissenschaftlichen Fächern. Es stellt sich die Frage, ob die erforderlichen Kompetenzen künftig ausreichend verfügbar sind. Um dies besser einschätzen zu können, ist es von zentraler Bedeutung, die Einflussfaktoren der Karrierepfade junger Wissenschaftler besser zu verstehen. Diese Fragen werden auf der Basis zahlreicher Interviews und einer umfassenden Befragung von Wissenschaftlern untersucht. Das Fraunhofer-Institut für System- und Innovationsforschung ISI analysiert Entstehung und Auswirkungen von Innovationen. Wir erforschen die kurz- und langfristigen Entwicklungen von Innovationsprozessen und die gesellschaftlichen Auswirkungen neuer Technologien und Dienstleistungen. Auf dieser Grundlage stellen wir unseren Auftraggebern aus Wirtschaft, Politik und Wissenschaft Handlungsempfehlungen und Perspektiven für wichtige Entscheidungen zur Verfügung. Unsere Expertise liegt in der breiten wissenschaftlichen Kompetenz sowie einem interdisziplinären und systemischen Forschungsansatz.
This article focuses on the development of soft and hard infrastructures to support a life science ecology in a peripheral European city region. Liverpool City Region has received almost £1.7bn in capital investment through EU Cohesion Policy to redevelop the city region and reinvigorate its economy towards knowledge based industries. The analysis of the city regions life science ecology highlights the uneven development of hard and soft infrastructures. Due to the diversity of firms within the region it has proven difficult to establish soft infrastructure related to scientific knowledge. The outcome has led to soft infrastructures being more business support orientated rather than scientific knowledge based, reducing inter-firm connections on a product or service basis. The evidence shows that not all types of soft infrastructure emerge as an outcome of investment. Hence, policy makers need to provide a clearer narrative on their investments, focusing on fewer core competencies rather than breadth of activities.
Dr. Sherman P. Vinograd fulfilled the roles of Chief of Medical Science and Technology and Director of Biomedical Research at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from the fall of 1961 until the spring of 1979. In this role he shaped, organized, and directed NASA's program of medical research as a funded program of studies, which was carried out in not only NASA Center laboratories, but also in university, industry, and other government laboratories and hospitals all over the country. It produced a large substrate of information through its bed rest studies, vestibular, bone, neuromuscular, hematology, and cardiovascular researches. It also produced valuable fall-out, such as an accurate bone density measurement technique which is now in common clinical use. ; His major activities during this career were conceptualizing, establishing, and chairing the Space Medicine Advisory Group (SPAMAG) charged with defining the earth-based and space-based research and life-support requirements for a manned orbiting research laboratory. This group designed a carefully planned study utilizing highly qualified, specialized members of the scientific community. They postulated a non-existent orbiting laboratory to be designed according to the needs of future human flight crews and requirements for human spaceflight information. This would result in the creation of Skylab. ; He was also responsible for establishing the In-flight Medical Experiments Program in preparation for the Apollo series of manned space flights. This program was a series of carefully designed flight crew studies derived from proposals by qualified scientists both from within and outside NASA to evaluate human responses to spaceflight. ; In addition, Dr. Vinograd developed a supportive Research and Development Program necessary to provide pertinent ground-based data and to advance state-of-the-art medical measurement technology, a major development of which was the Integrated Medical and Behavioral Laboratory Measurement System (IMBLMS). This consisted of medical experiments and accompanying equipment necessary to perform them that was used from the Gemini through the Skylab manned space flight programs. Carried aboard virtually any post-Apollo space vehicle by virtue of its rack and module design, these designs were used well into the future. He also fostered the continuing ground-based medical research program sponsored and/or conducted by NASA. ; The Dr. Sherman P. Vinograd Aerospace Exploration collection consists of artifacts, books, correspondence, financial materials, newspapers, photographs, plaques, printed materials, and reports relating to Dr. Vinograd's early life, his career as an M. D. prior to joining NASA, his years as a physician and researcher at NASA, and the other professional organizations and projects in which he was involved both during and after these periods. ; Box 4, Folder 9
Dr. Sherman P. Vinograd fulfilled the roles of Chief of Medical Science and Technology and Director of Biomedical Research at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from the fall of 1961 until the spring of 1979. In this role he shaped, organized, and directed NASA's program of medical research as a funded program of studies, which was carried out in not only NASA Center laboratories, but also in university, industry, and other government laboratories and hospitals all over the country. It produced a large substrate of information through its bed rest studies, vestibular, bone, neuromuscular, hematology, and cardiovascular researches. It also produced valuable fall-out, such as an accurate bone density measurement technique which is now in common clinical use. ; His major activities during this career were conceptualizing, establishing, and chairing the Space Medicine Advisory Group (SPAMAG) charged with defining the earth-based and space-based research and life-support requirements for a manned orbiting research laboratory. This group designed a carefully planned study utilizing highly qualified, specialized members of the scientific community. They postulated a non-existent orbiting laboratory to be designed according to the needs of future human flight crews and requirements for human spaceflight information. This would result in the creation of Skylab. ; He was also responsible for establishing the In-flight Medical Experiments Program in preparation for the Apollo series of manned space flights. This program was a series of carefully designed flight crew studies derived from proposals by qualified scientists both from within and outside NASA to evaluate human responses to spaceflight. ; In addition, Dr. Vinograd developed a supportive Research and Development Program necessary to provide pertinent ground-based data and to advance state-of-the-art medical measurement technology, a major development of which was the Integrated Medical and Behavioral Laboratory Measurement System (IMBLMS). This consisted of medical experiments and accompanying equipment necessary to perform them that was used from the Gemini through the Skylab manned space flight programs. Carried aboard virtually any post-Apollo space vehicle by virtue of its rack and module design, these designs were used well into the future. He also fostered the continuing ground-based medical research program sponsored and/or conducted by NASA. ; The Dr. Sherman P. Vinograd Aerospace Exploration collection consists of artifacts, books, correspondence, financial materials, newspapers, photographs, plaques, printed materials, and reports relating to Dr. Vinograd's early life, his career as an M. D. prior to joining NASA, his years as a physician and researcher at NASA, and the other professional organizations and projects in which he was involved both during and after these periods. ; Box 4, Folder 42
The fiber optic communications industry has undoubtedly revolutionized the information and telecommunications technology (ICT) offering higher-performance and more reliable telecommunication links with ever decreasing bandwidth cost [1]. Simultaneously with these developments, fiber optic sensor technology has been associated with the optoelectronic and fiber optic communications industry, and many of the components associated with these industries were often developed for fiber optic sensor applications [1]. Fiber optic sensors take advantages of the exceptional characteristics of the optical fiber, which include compactness and small size, fast response, high resolution and sensitivity, good stability and repeatability, multiplexing capabilities, remote sensing, high flexibility, low propagating loss, affordable fabrication costs, simultaneous sensing ability, and resistance to electromagnetic interference [2–5] [1]. As optics and fiber optics component prices have fallen and quality has improved, the competence of fiber optic sensors to displace traditional sensors has increased [1], [6]. Nowadays, sensors rule the world. Sensors play a fundamental role to control and predict different products and systems, from consumer electronics to industrial environments, passing by the weather monitoring and biological and healthcare diagnosis. Those applied to health care monitoring have many benefits: minimize the cost per analysis, easy access to remote places without laboratory facilities such as vulnerable populations, reduce the treatment time and optimize the resources of the government health care system, among others [7–10]. In Colombia, for example, some transmissible diseases most frequently affect the most vulnerable populations. Since the Ministry of Health and Social Protection in Colombia should guarantees free diagnosis and treatment, and many of Colombia's rural areas have no access to adequate health services due to geographical and demographic 26 Optical Fiber Sensors for measurements in Life Sciences characteristics, along with the difficulties caused by the armed conflict, and other situations of violence; the priority must be given to those rural areas. One of the main purposes of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection is to carry out continuous and systematic monitoring of the epidemiological behavior in transmissible diseases. This monitoring should be performed in accordance with processes established that allow the notification, collection, and data analysis. Thus generating valid and reliable timely information to guide prevention and control measures for those diseases [11]. However, achieving this purpose is very complicated if conventional methods used for the detection of the diseases fail to reach the population affected. Therefore, it is essential to adapt and improve the technology used to detect those diseases when it is required to collect information at the remote zones with difficulties in accessing health services. The optical fiber biosensensing technology exhibits a good promising future to solve the issues that the conventional diagnosis methods used present such as: long procedures, expensive equipment and reagents, specialized personnel, lack of portability, low sensitivities, and need of biomarkers. In addition to the sensitivity and selectivity, one of the fundamental characteristics that makes most biosensors so potential is the possibility of performing the analysis of the substance to be determined directly, i.e. without the need for a marker, and in real time. These two characteristics give biosensors the possibility to perform not only a qualitative and quantitative analysis, but also the possibility of evaluating the kinetics of the interaction (affinity constant, association and dissociation, among others) and, therefore, elucidate the fundamental mechanisms of such interaction. In this thesis it is studied a novel biosensing technology applied to immunoassays (detection of an antigen/antibody binding) based on the single-mode-multimode-single mode (SMS) fiber optic structure. This structure consists of optical fiber that relies on a multimode interferometry operating principle. Optical fiber SMS immunosensors here studied present several advantages: Optical Fiber Sensors 27 • The proposed structure has biosensing parameters comparable to those achieved by more complex structures like long period grating and surface plasmon resonances, which places this immunosensing device as a very promising option for biological and medical applications where high sensitivities, high selectivity and compact structures are required. • The sinusoidal spectrum of the SMS sensors proposed allows a sharp peak corresponding to the fundamental frequency to be observed. Consequently, it is possible to obtain a phase sensitive device by tracking the phase of this fundamental frequency as a function of the parameter to detect. FFT analysis technique is shown to have advantages since it could simplify the detection system making unnecessary the use of sophisticated optical interrogators. • The proposed structure and the bioassay performed is a label free assay, which implies that detection molecules are not labelled or modified. This means easier and lower cost procedures. The main results obtained using this concept of biosensors will be presented along this thesis as is described. First, Chapters 1 and 2, include an overview of the optical fiber sensors field, mainly focused on optical fiber biosensors. The sensors developed as a result of this thesis are presented as contributions in Chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6. These contributions were submitted to peer-reviewed top scientific journals and conferences. Finally, Chapter 7 presents and discusses a series of conclusions, current work, and future perspectives derived from this thesis. ; Doctorado
Dr. Sherman P. Vinograd fulfilled the roles of Chief of Medical Science and Technology and Director of Biomedical Research at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from the fall of 1961 until the spring of 1979. In this role he shaped, organized, and directed NASA's program of medical research as a funded program of studies, which was carried out in not only NASA Center laboratories, but also in university, industry, and other government laboratories and hospitals all over the country. It produced a large substrate of information through its bed rest studies, vestibular, bone, neuromuscular, hematology, and cardiovascular researches. It also produced valuable fall-out, such as an accurate bone density measurement technique which is now in common clinical use. ; His major activities during this career were conceptualizing, establishing, and chairing the Space Medicine Advisory Group (SPAMAG) charged with defining the earth-based and space-based research and life-support requirements for a manned orbiting research laboratory. This group designed a carefully planned study utilizing highly qualified, specialized members of the scientific community. They postulated a non-existent orbiting laboratory to be designed according to the needs of future human flight crews and requirements for human spaceflight information. This would result in the creation of Skylab. ; He was also responsible for establishing the In-flight Medical Experiments Program in preparation for the Apollo series of manned space flights. This program was a series of carefully designed flight crew studies derived from proposals by qualified scientists both from within and outside NASA to evaluate human responses to spaceflight. ; In addition, Dr. Vinograd developed a supportive Research and Development Program necessary to provide pertinent ground-based data and to advance state-of-the-art medical measurement technology, a major development of which was the Integrated Medical and Behavioral Laboratory Measurement System (IMBLMS). This consisted of medical experiments and accompanying equipment necessary to perform them that was used from the Gemini through the Skylab manned space flight programs. Carried aboard virtually any post-Apollo space vehicle by virtue of its rack and module design, these designs were used well into the future. He also fostered the continuing ground-based medical research program sponsored and/or conducted by NASA. ; The Dr. Sherman P. Vinograd Aerospace Exploration collection consists of artifacts, books, correspondence, financial materials, newspapers, photographs, plaques, printed materials, and reports relating to Dr. Vinograd's early life, his career as an M. D. prior to joining NASA, his years as a physician and researcher at NASA, and the other professional organizations and projects in which he was involved both during and after these periods. ; Box 4, Folder 10
Dr. Sherman P. Vinograd fulfilled the roles of Chief of Medical Science and Technology and Director of Biomedical Research at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from the fall of 1961 until the spring of 1979. In this role he shaped, organized, and directed NASA's program of medical research as a funded program of studies, which was carried out in not only NASA Center laboratories, but also in university, industry, and other government laboratories and hospitals all over the country. It produced a large substrate of information through its bed rest studies, vestibular, bone, neuromuscular, hematology, and cardiovascular researches. It also produced valuable fall-out, such as an accurate bone density measurement technique which is now in common clinical use. ; His major activities during this career were conceptualizing, establishing, and chairing the Space Medicine Advisory Group (SPAMAG) charged with defining the earth-based and space-based research and life-support requirements for a manned orbiting research laboratory. This group designed a carefully planned study utilizing highly qualified, specialized members of the scientific community. They postulated a non-existent orbiting laboratory to be designed according to the needs of future human flight crews and requirements for human spaceflight information. This would result in the creation of Skylab. ; He was also responsible for establishing the In-flight Medical Experiments Program in preparation for the Apollo series of manned space flights. This program was a series of carefully designed flight crew studies derived from proposals by qualified scientists both from within and outside NASA to evaluate human responses to spaceflight. ; In addition, Dr. Vinograd developed a supportive Research and Development Program necessary to provide pertinent ground-based data and to advance state-of-the-art medical measurement technology, a major development of which was the Integrated Medical and Behavioral Laboratory Measurement System (IMBLMS). This consisted of medical experiments and accompanying equipment necessary to perform them that was used from the Gemini through the Skylab manned space flight programs. Carried aboard virtually any post-Apollo space vehicle by virtue of its rack and module design, these designs were used well into the future. He also fostered the continuing ground-based medical research program sponsored and/or conducted by NASA. ; The Dr. Sherman P. Vinograd Aerospace Exploration collection consists of artifacts, books, correspondence, financial materials, newspapers, photographs, plaques, printed materials, and reports relating to Dr. Vinograd's early life, his career as an M. D. prior to joining NASA, his years as a physician and researcher at NASA, and the other professional organizations and projects in which he was involved both during and after these periods. ; Box 12, Folder 16
Twenty-first century life sciences have transformed into data-enabled (also called data-intensive, data-driven, or big data) sciences. They principally depend on data-, computation-, and instrumentation-intensive approaches to seek comprehensive understanding of complex biological processes and systems (e.g., ecosystems, complex diseases, environmental, and health challenges). Federal agencies including the National Science Foundation (NSF) have played and continue to play an exceptional leadership role by innovatively addressing the challenges of data-enabled life sciences. Yet even more is required not only to keep up with the current developments, but also to pro-actively enable future research needs. Straightforward access to data, computing, and analysis resources will enable true democratization of research competitions; thus investigators will compete based on the merits and broader impact of their ideas and approaches rather than on the scale of their institutional resources. This is the Final Report for Data-Intensive Science Workshops DISW1 and DISW2. The first NSF-funded Data Intensive Science Workshop (DISW1, Seattle, WA, September 19–20, 2010) overviewed the status of the data-enabled life sciences and identified their challenges and opportunities. This served as a baseline for the second NSF-funded DIS workshop (DISW2, Washington, DC, May 16–17, 2011). Based on the findings of DISW2 the following overarching recommendation to the NSF was proposed: establish a community alliance to be the voice and framework of the data-enabled life sciences. After this Final Report was finished, Data-Enabled Life Sciences Alliance (DELSA, www.delsall.org) was formed to become a Digital Commons for the life sciences community.
International audience ; This article describes how methodologies of EU-funded research within the life sciences and biomedicine have recently become more gender sensitive. This transformation is the result of the Gender Impact Assessments of the EU Fifth Framework Programme, commissioned in 2000-1. The authors assessed the research programme for life sciences, which includes a large health-related component. The new guidelines for research emphasize the need for clear terminology for concepts of sex and gender and for a distinction to be made between the two, for both life sciences and health research. Attention to possible sex differences, even in preclinical research, as well as to effects of gender, will lead to more adequate research data that serve the health of both men and women. The transformation to research becoming more gender-sensitive is further discussed in the context of feminist theory on the body. Being fully aware of the fact that what is happening in bodies is mediated by particular technologies, the authors make an appeal to invest in concepts that take the living and changing body into account.
