Medicina e Enfermagem saberes e práticas incomensuráveis? Uma abordagem à luz da hermenêutica e dos science studies

Esta dissertação é fruto de uma pesquisa realizada em uma enfermaria feminina de clínica médica de um hospital universitário público da cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Nesta pesquisa, busquei uma compreensão sobre as relações e articulações do trabalho médico e de enfermagem. Partindo da perspectiva hermenêutica, busquei estabelecer conversações com, e entre, sujeitos de pesquisa, grupos profissionais, o próprio estabelecimento hospitalar, a biomedicina - seus fatos e artefatos. Ademais, foram inspiradores para a desejada compreensão os science studies e seus exemplos de como acompanhar e interpretar especialistas em seus campos de prática. A pesquisa, especificamente, foi construída e desenvolvida com o uso de métodos qualitativos, como a observação etnográfica e entrevistas semiestruturadas, tendo a primeira servido de fundamentação para a segunda. O exercício interpretativo posto em curso desde a projeção da pesquisa não se esgotou com o seu término: teve continuidade e se fez presente na produção desta dissertação, ao modo de uma narrativa. Para sustentar a opção pela narrativa, assumo-a como um relato de risco, da maneira como sugere Latour para se descrever as redes e seus atores. Assim, pretendi incluir no texto a intensa movimentação e toda a sorte de eventos que se colocam como desafio às práticas destes profissionais, além de conferir agência aos sujeitos e às coisas. Dentro desta proposta, a narrativa traz um prólogo em que se posiciona entre os trabalhos do campo da Saúde Coletiva; em sua introdução, oferece um resumo ampliado de sua construção; no capítulo um, discorre sobre como o pesquisador negociou a existência da pesquisa com a instituição hospitalar, e trata também de um de seus fundamentos, a hermenêutica filosófica, em conversações com Rorty e Ayres. No segundo, traz um relato sobre a constituição coletiva de médicos e enfermeiros a partir de Fleck. Convida, ainda, um dos sujeitos da pesquisa a oferecer um conceito que ilumina as tensões das relações cotidianas entre enfermeiras e médicos; apresenta, a partir do conceito oferecido, alguns retratos destas relações. No terceiro, o caso de uma usuária que teve o prolongamento de sua vida decidida em uma reunião e um telefonema, é usado com o conceito de paradigma, em Kuhn, para dizer sobre as visões de mundo de médicos e enfermeiras. No quarto, tenta tornar dinâmica a constituição coletiva de médicos e enfermeiras ao relacioná-la às suas visões de mundo, aos processos de enculturação dos dois grupos profissionais; para isso recorre ao conceito de conhecimento tácito e às distintas categorias de expertise, como desenvolvidas por Collins e Evans. Diz sobre o que médicos e enfermeiras sabem do que estão falando/fazendo. Por fim, propõe duas possibilidades de desfecho para a dissertação: a primeira, que as práticas de médicos e enfermeiros são incomensuráveis entre si; a segunda, que médicos e enfermeiros dividem uma zona de troca forçada. Há ainda um encerramento. Nele, através da descrição de uma médica virtuosa, convida os leitores a uma conversa sobre os sujeitos contemporâneos e sobre o mundo em que vivemos.

Surface science studies of strong metal-oxide interactions on model catalysts

The strong metal support interaction (SMSI) was first described in 1978 by Tauster [1-4]. The effect was observed as a severely negative effect on CO and H2 uptake on the catalyst after high temperature calcination under reducing conditions (heating above ~ 700 K) [1,2]. It also had a negative effect on the reaction rate for reactions, such as alkane hydrogenolysis [5,6]. It appeared that the effect occurred for catalysts comprised of reducible supports which were treated at elevated temperature in reducing conditions [2-4]. A classic support which has manifested this behaviour in many studies is TiO2. Over the years following the first discovery of SMSI it has been recognised that the effect is not always negative – for instance for the CO-H2 reaction for which it appears to have a positive effect [5,6]. Further it was noted that hydrogen reduction was not necessary to observe the effect of CO adsorption suppression, it also occurs by vacuum treatment [7], though it should be noted that vacuum treatment at elevated temperature is, in effect, a reducing environment.

Humanistic science education : moves from within and challenges from without

For a number of years now it has been evident that the major issue facing science educators in the more developed countries of the world is the quantitative decline in enrolments in the senior secondary sciences, particularly the physical sciences, and in the number of higher achieving students applying for places in universities to undertake further studies in science. The deep malaise in school science to which these quantitative measures point has been elucidated by more qualitative studies of the students’ experience of studying science in secondary school in several of these countries (Sweden, Lindahl (2003); England, Simon and Osborne (2002); and Australia, Lyons (2005)). Remarkably concordant descriptions of these experiences can be summarized as: School science is: • transmission of knowledge from the teacher or the textbook to the students. • about content that is irrelevant and boring to our lives. • difficult to learn in comparison with other subjects Incidentally, the Australian study only involved consistently high achieving students; but even so, most of them found science more difficult than other more interesting subjects, and concluded that further science studies should be avoided unless they were needed for some career purpose. Other more representative confirmations of negative evaluations of the science curricula across Australia (and in particular states) are now available in Australia, from the large scale reviews of Goodrum, Hackling and Rennie (2001) and from the TIMSS (2002). The former reported that well under half of secondary students find the science at school relevant to my future, useful ion everyday life, deals with things I am concerned with and helps me make decisions about my health.. TIMSS found that 62 and 65 % of females and males in Year 4 agree with I like learning science, but by Year 8 only 26 and 33 % still agree. Students in Japan have been doubly notably because of (a) their high performance in international measures of science achievement like TIMSS and PISA and (b) their very low response to items in these studies which relate to interest in science. Ogura (2003) reported an intra-national study of students across Years 6-9 (upper primary through Junior High); interest in a range of their subjects (including science) that make up that country’s national curriculum. There was a steady decline in interest in all these subjects which might have indicated an adolescent reaction against schooling generally. However, this study went on to ask the students a further question that is very meaningful in the Japanese context, If you discount the importance of this subject for university entrance, is it worth studying? Science and mathematics remained in decline while all the other subjects were seen more positively. It is thus ironic, at a time when some innovations in curriculum and other research-based findings are suggesting ways that these failures of school science might be corrected, to find school science under a new demands that come from quite outside science education, and which certainly do not have the correction of this malaise as a priority. The positive curricular and research findings can be characterized as moves from within science education, whereas the new demands are moves that come from without science education. In this paper I set out these two rather contrary challenges to the teaching of science as it is currently practised, and go on to suggest a way forward that could fruitfully combine the two.

Science and subjectivity

Science has been under attack in the last thirty years, and recently a number of prominent scientists have been busy fighting back. Here, an argument is presented that the `science wars' stem from an unreasonably strict adherence to the reductive method on the part of science, but that weakening this stance need not imply a lapse into subjectivity. One possible method for formalising the description of non-separable, contextually dependent complex systems is presented. This is based upon a quantum-like approach.

Risk and school science education

In this paper I consider a role for risk understanding in school science education. Grounds for this are described in terms of current sociological analyses of the contemporary world as a ‘risk society’ and recent public understanding of science studies where science and risk are concerns commonly linked within the wider community. These concerns connect with support amongst many science educators for the goal of science education for citizenship. From this perspective scientific literacy for decision making on contemporary socioscientific issues is central. I argue that in such decision making risk understanding has an important role to play. I examine some of the challenges its inclusion in school science presents to science teachers, review previous writing about risk in the science education literature and consider how knowledge about risk might be addressed in school science. I also outline the varying conceptions of risk and suggest some future research directions which would support the inclusion of risk in classroom discussions of socioscientific issues.

The spatial turn: geographical approaches in the history of science

Over the past decade or so a number of historians of science and historical geographers, alert to the situated nature of scientific knowledge production and reception and to the migratory patterns of science on the move, have called for more explicit treatment of the geographies of past scientific knowledge. Closely linked to work in the sociology of scientific knowledge and science studies and connected with a heightened interest in spatiality evident across the humanities and social sciences this ‹spatial turn’ has informed a wide-ranging body of work on the history of science. This discussion essay revisits some of the theoretical props supporting this turn to space and provides a number of worked examples from the history of the life sciences that demonstrate the different ways in which the spaces of science have been comprehended.

Studies on acyl pyrrolidine inhibitors of HCV RNA-dependent RNA polymerase to identify a molecule with replicon antiviral activity

The SAR development is described for a series of N-acyl pyrrolidine inhibitors of the Hepatitis C virus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, NS5B, from tractable Delta 21 enzyme inhibitors to an example with antiviral activity in a cellular assay (HCV replicon). (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sediment Budgeting Studies for the Kollam Coast

The Sediment budgeting studies are done to bring out the coastal processes at work, to understand the beach-innershelf sedimentary dynamics and to assess the stability of any coastal stretch. There is a dearth of such studies as far as the Indian coast is concerned. The Chavara coast of Kollam district, Kerala, is world famous for its rich heavy mineral resources. These mineral resources are being commercially mined by the Indian Rare Earths Ltd. (IREL) and Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd. (KMML), two Public Sector Undertakings located in the area. The impact of mining on stability of the beach has been a point of debate among the local people as well as researchers. The coastal stretch of 22km length from Neendakara to Kayamkulam which is referred to as the Chavara coast. The tidal, wind driven and continental shelf currents, there could also be the contribution of coastal trapped waves and baroclinic flow associated with the plumes of fresh water coming from the estuaries. The main objectives of the study are the hydrodynamic processes and mechanism involved in the sediment movement along the Chavara coast, Identify the different sources and sinks of beach sand along the coast, Quantify the sediment input/output into/from the coast and assess the erosion/accretion scenario of the coast.