Co-evolution of physical and social sciences in synthetic biology.

Emerging technologies research often covers various perspectives in disciplines and research areas ranging from hard sciences, engineering, policymaking, and sociology. However, the interrelationship between these different disciplinary domains, particularly the physical and social sciences, often occurs many years after a technology has matured and moved towards commercialization. Synthetic biology may serve an exception to this idea, where, since 2000, the physical and the social sciences communities have increasingly framed their research in response to various perspectives in biological engineering, risk assessment needs, governance challenges, and the social implications that the technology may incur. This paper reviews a broad collection of synthetic biology literature from 2000-2016, and demonstrates how the co-development of physical and social science communities has grown throughout synthetic biology's earliest stages of development. Further, this paper indicates that future co-development of synthetic biology scholarship will assist with significant challenges of the technology's risk assessment, governance, and public engagement needs, where an interdisciplinary approach is necessary to foster sustainable, risk-informed, and societally beneficial technological advances moving forward.

The Practicalities and Perils of Ambulatory Assessment's Promise: Introduction to a Special Section.

Ambulatory assessment (AA) offers one of the most exciting approaches for opening the dynamic "black box" of adolescents' daily lives. In this introduction, we spotlight AA's surprisingly restricted market share within adolescent scholarship. We describe thorny challenges these intense methods can pose when conducting adolescent research "in situ" and underscore that capturing quality AA data means placing adolescents' developmental stage at the forefront. The novel research reported in this special section speaks to these challenges and underscores the promise of AA for conducting developmentally salient science. The nine articles included in the section span multiple disciplines (Sociology, Psychology, Public Health) and reflect diverse viewpoints, approaches, and theories. All provide multiple novel best-practice strategies for conducting AA scholarship with adolescents.

Conception through a looking glass: the paradox of IVF.

As we enter the fifth decade of human IVF, this technique presents a paradox. On the one hand, IVF has become more regular and ordinary, even a new norm of social life. On the other hand, it has arguably become, as Alice might have said, 'curiouser and curiouser', with the development of its applications such as intracytoplasmic sperm injection, preimplantation genetic diagnosis and gestational surrogacy, as well as human embryonic stem cell derivation. Five million miracle babies later, in the midst of 'the age of biological control', IVF can be seen as the source of important changes in how reproductive biology is understood - socially, ethically, medically and in terms of basic science. This article reviews three decades of social scientific research into IVF and suggests that, while the passage of time may have allowed IVF to become more 'routine', the opposite is also true. With hindsight, some of the more radical changes to the understandings of parenthood, kinship, fertility and technology to which IVF has contributed can be appreciated. Learning from this paradox must be part of the legacy of IVF's first half-century if its future evolution is to be directed wisely, safely and conscientiously.

The sociology of medical screening: past, present and future.

Medical screening raises fundamental issues for sociological inquiry, but at present a well-developed sociology of medical screening is lacking. This special issue on the sociology of screening brings together an exciting collection of new work that tackles medical screening from a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches. In this opening paper, we begin by explaining what we mean by screening, and why we believe screening merits sociological attention. Secondly, we reflect on the sociology of screening to date and provide an introduction for those new to this area. We then provide an overview of the papers in this collection, highlighting links and contrasts between papers. We conclude by reflecting on sociology's potential contribution to wider debates about screening, and propose future research directions.

[Perspectives of studies about physicians and medical students]. / Az orvosokkal, orvostanhallgatókkal kapcsolatos vizsgálatok távlatai.

INTRODUCTION: The fundamental purpose of sociological studies is to explore social problems which should be also in focus when examining doctors and medical students. In addition to fact findings, published reports may raise awareness toward these issues. AIM: The authors formulate a possible change of the research approach exploring possibilities to move forward with special focus on the health status among doctors, the role-conflict among female doctors and the professional socialisation among medical students. METHODS: Secondary analysis of published studies among health care professionals. RESULTS: Almost all published papers convey the conflict of being a physician in some aspect, but they fail to explore issues related to professional success, protective factors, resources and conflict management modes. CONCLUSION: In addition to exploration of risk factors, future studies should promote medical identity, should call attention to existing positive examples and should provide hints to cope with challenging issues in order to achieve a successful medical career.

[Social anthropology and anthropologists of the past and present: from exoticism and the imagined reciprocity to everyday inequalities]. / Antropología social y antropólogos de ayer y de hoy: del exotismo y la reciprocidad imaginada a las desigualdades cotidianas.

In this article we examine two moments in anthropology. First we characterize anthropology as a subject specialized in the study of "the others", which developed in those countries that led the European and North American colonial expansion. We underline the links that existed between this historical context, the features of ethnography -the theoretic-methodological approach developed by anthropologistsand the concept of culture, that became the core of this discipline. Secondly, we intend to further the understanding of some trends of contemporary anthropology: the fact that nowadays anthropologists work on the societies they belong to, their operations (documenting the undocumented, unveiling dayliness, de-naturalizing), which find their roots in earlier anthropology. It also highlights the shift of focus from reciprocity relations to power and inequity relations. Finally it sheds light on some original developments in Latin American anthropology, considering some cases in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.

Gerotechnology: a new kind of care for aging? An analysis of the relationship between older people and technology.

Healthcare systems in aging societies need to find new solutions in the provision of care and treatment of older people. Gerotechnologies play a crucial role in the "aging-in-place" process. This article offers a critical overview of gerotechnological studies and will suggest a new approach in the study of the relationship between aging and technologies. Some trajectories of analysis and theoretical models are presented to underline the different perspectives in the discipline. Critical positions highlight the lack of theoretical analysis, mainly in relation to the complex social phenomenon of aging related to technology. Conclusions outline a relational approach to gerotechnologies: an analysis of the interactions between technological artifacts, users, and the context in which technologies are used. This approach expands the view from the technical potential of the technology to the way elderly people use technology, and suggests innovative care and cure strategies for aging.

The Resurgence of Medical Education in Sociology: A Return to Our Roots and an Agenda for the Future.

From 1940 to 1980, studies of medical education were foundational to sociology, but attention shifted away from medical training in the late 1980s. Recently, there has been a marked return to this once pivotal topic, reflecting new questions and stakes. This article traces this resurgence by reviewing recent substantive research trends and setting the agenda for future research. We summarize four current research foci that reflect and critically map onto earlier projects in this subfield while driving theoretical development elsewhere in the larger discipline: (1) professional socialization, (2) knowledge regimes, (3) stratification within the profession, and (4) sociology of the field of medical education. We then offer six potential future directions where more research is needed: (1) inequalities in medical education, (2) socialization across the life course and new institutional forms of gatekeeping, (3) provider well-being, (4) globalization, (5) medical education as knowledge-based work, and (6) effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sociology: a view from the diaspora.

From the vantage point of criminology, one of sociology's main export subject areas, the present and future of sociology appear a good deal more promising than John Holmwood's essay on the discipline's misfortune would suggest. Sociology remains in high demand by students and faculty hiring remains strong, even in its more critical sub-fields, such as race and ethnicity, sex and gender, and social inequality. Holmwood is correct that sociology is vulnerable to external pressures to demonstrate its relevance to social practice, but those pressures come from left-wing social movements as well as from centres of power. He is also correct that external pressures contribute to internal disagreement, but sociology has been at war with itself since the 1960s, with little evident decline in its academic standing or intellectual vitality. Those of us on the discipline's diaspora, who depend on sociology for both support and light, must remain hopeful about sociology's continued good fortune.

Sociological dimensions of marital satisfaction in Romania.

We are living nowadays in a social paradigm characterized by a high degree of fluidity. From professional career to leisure, from family patterns to neighborhood relationships, from cultural consumption to domestic technology, almost all the components of social reality have changed during recent decades. A given couple's experience is not insulated from these dynamics, or at least from the pressure that new trends constantly put on it. How can functional relationships be preserved in a continuously changing world? What possibilities are there for couples to sustain viable relationships in the face of all the waves of change, involving as they do new content, new rules, and, in many cases, new values? This paper sets out to analyze how the main factors related to marital life interact and what their impact is on individual satisfaction in the dyadic experience. To this end we planned and applied a sociological survey to a national sample (N = 455 participants, error limit 4.7) using a questionnaire focusing on an evaluation of dyadic life experience that included the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS). The major finding is that more liberal sexual attitudes and people's high view of the importance of money are the strongest predictors of a low-quality dyadic experience. The patterns observed also raise the possibility that positive perception of the parental model may serve to compensate for a couple's relatively shorter period of marital experience.

The "fashion-form" of modern society and its relationship to psychology.

In this work, we present a new way of understanding psychology, which emerges as a result of relating it to the three principles of the theory of fashion of Gilles Lipovetsky: "the principle of the ephemeral," "the principle of the marginal differentiation of individuals," and "the principle of seduction." We relate the first principle to the plurality of the diverse and changing "schools and systems" that have existed throughout the history of psychology. We apply the second to the figure of the psychologist, considered individually, revealing his or her leading role in the generation of the changing plurality of the systems. By means of the third principle, we point up that the diverse psychologies are forms of seduction. We conclude by stating that psychology has the form of fashion and we analyze how this form can help us to better understand it.

[Technological transformations and evolution of the medical practice: current status, issues and perspectives for the development of telemedicine]. / Mutations technologiques et évolution de la pratique médicale: état des lieux, enjeux et perspectives de développement de la télémédecine.

The technological innovations of this past century have shattered the underpinnings of the traditional medical practice and require the opening of new theoretical reflections to take the changes these innovations have introduced into consideration. While it is undeniable that telemedicine contributed to the improvement of the prevention, diagnostic and treatment of disease, as well as the access to health care, it must be underlined that the enthusiasm and the infatuation it arouses hide a sad reality. Indeed, it is not enough that things are technically possible and medically desirable to be simple. Telemedicine faces, as do most other radical technological innovations, cultural, structural, economical, organizational and legal obstacles that undermine its full deployment.

Definition and diagnosis of sexuality in the XXI century.

BACKGROUND: Regardless of the relationship between aging and sexual dysfunction, most adults continue to be sexually active in their later years. Conditions such erectile dysfunction or hypoactive sexual desire disorder present one of many barriers to maintain a healthy sex life. OBJECTIVE: This article links the concurrence between the social, cultural, political, and economic changes on a worldwide and historical level and the changes observed in sexuality. This review comprises from medical, biological and behavioral concerns to those of rights and social justice. To give an idea about the interests and trends of modern research on sexuality, the manuscript includes a review on the impact of contraception, public advertising, mass media and new technologies on sexuality and introduces the concept of sexual dysfunction. DISCUSSION: Data suggest that broader cultural beliefs about appropriate sexuality are evident in general practice. Asking about sexual health remains a low priority for many doctors, particularly when it comes to older patients. CONCLUSION: The influence of all these previous concerns on the field of sexuality notion is particularly apparent in the development of concepts such as sexual health and sexual rights. These new concepts had an effect on researchers allowing them to describe connections between highly limited occurrence and global systems. Further education is needed to raise professional awareness about the importance of healthy sexuality in aging.

Disseminating and Implementing Trauma-focused CBT in community settings.

Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) is an evidence-based practice (EBP) for children. TF-CBT is being disseminated and implemented through a variety of strategies, including distance learning/ Internet training, live training + ongoing phone consultation, a learning collaborative model, and mixed models. Each dissemination and implementation model is described, examples are provided of how it has been used to spread the TF-CBT model among community clinicians treating traumatized children, and data regarding its use are presented. Quality and quantity of data from these dissemination/ implementation models varies, but overall they supports the effectiveness of both the TF-CBT model in treating traumatized children and a variety of dissemination and implementation models. More research is needed to learn about optimal strategies for disseminating and implementing EST for traumatized children, and to explore novel methodologies (e.g., including training in EST for traumatized children in graduate programs).