Nobel Prizes: Contributions to Cardiology

The Nobel Prize was created by Alfred Nobel. The first prize was awarded in 1901 and Emil Adolf von Behring was the first laureate in medicine due to his research in diphtheria serum. Regarding cardiology, Nobel Prize’s history permits a global comprehension of progress in pathophysiology, diagnosis and therapeutics of various cardiac diseases in last 120 years. The objective of this study was to review the major scientific discoveries contemplated by Nobel Prizes that contributed to cardiology. In addition, we also hypothesized why Carlos Chagas, one of our most important scientists, did not win the prize in two occasions. We carried out a non-systematic review of Nobel Prize winners, selecting the main studies relevant to heart diseaseamong the laureates. In the period between 1901 and 2013, 204 researches and 104 prizes were awarded in Nobel Prize, of which 16 (15%) studies were important for cardiovascular area. There were 33 (16%) laureates, and two (6%) were women. Fourteen (42%) were American, 15 (45%) Europeans and four (13%) were from other countries. There was only one winner born in Brazil, Peter Medawar, whose career was all in England. Reviewing the history of the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine area made possible to identify which researchers and studies had contributed to advances in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Most winners were North Americans and Europeans, and male.

O processo de avaliação em ciência e a indicação de Carlos Chagas ao prêmio Nobel de Fisiologia ou Medicina

Uma das maiores realizações na história da medicina foi a descrição da doença de Chagas pelo médico e cientista Carlos Chagas. Ao completar 100 anos da descoberta da doença de Chagas, permanecem ainda especulações a respeito das duas indicações oficiais de Carlos Chagas à maior premiação mundial em ciência, o Nobel, em 1913 e 1921. Admite-se que a não premiação do genial cientista possa ter ocorrido em razão da forte oposição que enfrentou no Brasil por parte de alguns médicos e pesquisadores da época, que chegaram mesmo a questionar a existência da doença de Chagas, influenciando a decisão do Comitê Nobel para não premiá-lo. A análise do banco de dados dos arquivos do Prêmio Nobel, com a revelação dos nomes de indicadores, indicados e ganhadores do prêmio, cobrindo o período 1901-1951, trouxe informações não apenas sobre o que era considerada realização científica na época, mas também sobre quem eram os cientistas importantes e quais eram as relações entre eles. O não reconhecimento das descobertas de Carlos Chagas pelo Comitê Nobel parece ser mais corretamente explicado por esses fatores do que pelo impacto negativo da oposição local.

The noble enigma: Chagas' nominations for the Nobel Prize

Carlos Chagas, a Brazilian physician, discovered the American trypanosomiasis in 1909. Like other remarkable discoveries of those days, his work helped to articulate the insect-vector theory and other theoretical guidelines in tropical medicine. Unlike all other discoveries, all the stages of this work were accomplished in a few months and by a single man. Chagas' discovery was widely recognized at home and abroad. He was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize - in 1913 and in 1921-, but never received the award. Evidence suggests that the reasons for this failure are related to the violent opposition that Chagas faced in Brazil. The contentions towards Chagas were related to a rejection of the meritocratic procedures that gave him prominence, as well as to local petty politics.

Prêmio Nobel de Química em 1998: Walter Kohn e John A. Pople

A résumé of the evolution of quantum chemistry methodologies is presented. The pioneering contributions of John A. Pople and Water Kohn, the 1998 Nobel Prize Laureates in Chemistry, to the development of quantum chemistry computational methods for studying the properties of molecules and their interaction is discussed.

O modelo de precificação de ativos de capital: teoria e evidências

Distante quatro décadas de seu aparecimento, o modelo de precificação de ativos de capital proposto pelo Nobel William Sharpe e por John Lintner, conhecido como CAPM, é ainda o modelo mais amplamente utilizado na estimativa do custo de capital de empresas e na avaliação de carteiras. O fato se deve às poderosas previsões permitidas pelo modelo sobre a medida do risco e a relação entre risco e retorno. O objetivo deste artigo é mostrar que o CAPM apresenta algumas falhas empíricas associadas a simplifi cações teóricas e difi culdades de implementação de testes que sejam válidos para o modelo. A conclusão do artigo é que as limitações do CAPM representam desafi os a serem explicados por modelos alternativos.

Um sobrevôo no "Caso Marie Curie": um experimento de antropologia, gênero e ciência

O presente artigo visa fazer uma releitura do "Caso Marie Curie" sob o signo do acontecimento. O intuito, assim, é explorar relações constituintes da controvérsia que se desdobrou no prêmio Nobel de 1903, que laureou a descoberta da radioatividade e de elementos radioativos. A porta de entrada, para tal empreitada, serão as mediações entre as relações de gênero e os não-humanos mobilizados nos laboratórios. Baseado nessas mediações, descrevo a diferença de possibilidades masculino/feminina em fazer-existir a Natureza em relação ao poder que a definição de gênero dá a uns em detrimento de outros, mas também como ao fazer-existir a radioatividade constituiu-se um devir, que fez essa relação gaguejar, mudando-a de sentido. O "Caso Marie Curie" torna imediatamente inseparável dois domínios: tanto o envolvimento das relações de gênero na produção científica quanto o envolvimento da ciência nas relações de gênero. Esse acontecimento ressoa para abordagens antropológicas e feministas da ciência. Assim, coloco-as em discussão na medida em que as relações de poder fizeram-me respeitar o devir que o ofício da cientista pôs em cena: a radioatividade.

Estudo de 7 cultivares de gladíolos (Gladiolus grandiflorus L.) em duas profundidades de plantio

Bulbos de 2º ciclo dos , cultivares: Havaii, Snowprincess, Han Van Megeren, Alfred Nobel, Aristocrat, Happy end e Rosa de Lima, foram cultivados a 5 e 15 cm de profundidade em latossol vermelho escuro de boa fértilidade na ESALQ - Piracicaba, SP. Os resultados foram analisados para: quantidade e peso médio dos bulbos e cormilhos; quantidade e qualidade das hastes e espigas florais. Verificou-se que: a profundidade de 15 cm foi a melhor; a profundidade de 5 cm causa excessivo tombamento; apresentou alguma vantagem somente na produção de cormilhos; é significativa a diferença de performance entre os cultivares .

Portraying innovation in the public service of Brazil: Frameworks, systematization and characterization

ABSTRACT Innovation is essential for improving organizational performance in both the private and public sectors. This article describes and analyzes the 323 innovation experiences of the Brazilian federal public service that received prizes during the 16 annual competitions (from 1995 to 2012) of the Award for Innovation in Federal Public Management held by the Brazilian National School of Public Administration (ENAP). It is a qualitative and quantitative study in which were employed as categories for analysis the four types of innovation defined in the Copenhagen Manual: product, process, organizational and communication. The survey results allow us to affirm that there is innovation in the public sector, in spite of the skepticism of some researchers and the incipient state of theoretical research on the subject. It was possible to observe that organizational innovation was the one with the highest number of award- -winning experience, followed respectively by process, communication and product innovation, with citizen services and improvement of work processes being the main highlights. The results showed that, although the high incidence of innovation occurs at the national level, a significant number of innovations also occur at the local level, probably because many organizations of the federal government have their actions spread only at this level of government. Concerning the innovative area, health and education predominate, with almost 33% of initiatives, which can be explained by capillarity of these areas and the fact that both maintain a strong interaction with the user. The contributions of this work include the use of theoretical model of innovation analysis in the public sector in Brazil still upcoming, and the systematization of knowledge in empirical basis for this innovation. In this sense, it also contributes to the development of the theory with the presentation of evidence that the characteristics, determinants and consequences of innovation in the public sector differ not only from innovation in the industry, but also from innovation in services in the private sector.

Irving langmuir: o milagre da ciência

Irving Langmuir received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1932 "...for his outstanding discoveries and investigations within the field of surface chemistry", according to the Swedish Academy. However, few people know that his work comprises other very important contributions, and not only for chemistry, such as the discovery of plasma, the atomic hydrogen, the pure thermoionic phenomenon, the development of the cloud seeding technique for weather modification, among many others. This paper summarizes Langmuir's most important discoveries and theories, with an especial mention for his practical inventions and his work on the atomic theory.

Vladimir Prelog e a estereoquímica das moléculas orgânicas: um centenário de nascimento

The Croatian chemist Vladimir Prelog shared in 1975 the Nobel Prize in chemistry with J. W. Cornforth for his research into the stereochemistry of organic molecules and reactions. His studies gave new horizons to the comprehension of steric effects on the reactivity of medium-sized rings, to conformational analysis and to the stereospecificity associated to asymmetric syntheses. Prelog made important contributions to enzyme chemistry and to the structure elucidation of alkaloids and of antibiotics from microorganisms, but probably his most famous work is the CIP system for assigning the stereochemistry of chiral centers.

Aspectos históricos da visita de Marie Sklodowska Curie a Belo Horizonte

In the year 2011 it is celebrated the Marie Sklodowska Curie Nobel Prize centenary and the International Year of Chemistry. However, it is not generally known that Marie Sklodowska Curie, one of the greatest scientists of all time, visited Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. She arrived by train at Belo Horizonte city on 16 August 1926, coming from Rio de Janeiro and accompanied by her daughter Irène Joliot-Curie. The scientists visited the Institute of Radium of Belo Horizonte. The approach in this work emphasizes the presence of Marie Sklodowska Curie in Belo Horizonte, exploring the admiration and respect that people had for her.

Alfred Werner e Heinrich Rheinboldt: genealogia e legado científico

The centenary of Alfred Werner's Nobel Prize in Chemistry has prompted this retrospect on his important contributions for the development of stereochemistry and for the understanding of the nature of the coordination compounds. His genealogy has been described, including a discussion on the famous Jørgensen-Werner controversy. As an extension, it has also been reported the German biography of Heinrich Rheinboldt, the founder of the Chemistry School at the University of São Paulo, and his relation with Werner's scientific heritage.

Química na poesia e poesia na química

Goethe's novel 'Elective Affinities', published in 1809, uses Bergmann's concept of 'Elective Attractions', from 1775, as a metaphor for social relations. Its analysis demonstrates the possibility of describing chemical theories, characterised by an anthropomorphic language, using poetic means. Due to the inherently poetic nature of chemical language, Nobel Laureate Roald Hoffmann (2002) suggests relaxing strictures against expressing emotions and personal motives in scientific publications, thus enabling the use ofing poetry to understand and communicate science. Based on the analysis of Goethe's novel and Hoffmann's essay, this article discusses the possibility of using poetic means to help understand chemistry and communicate its research results.