Public perception of laboratory animal testing: Historical, philosophical, and ethical view.

The use of laboratory animals in biomedical research is a matter of intense public debate. Recent statistics indicates that about half of the western population, sensitive to this discussion, would be in favor of animal testing while the other half would oppose it. Here, outlining scientific, historical, ethical, and philosophical aspects, we provide an integrated view explaining the reasons why biomedical research can hardly abandon laboratory animal testing. In this paper, we retrace the historical moments that mark the relationship between humans and other animal species. Then starting from Darwin's position on animal experimentation, we outline the steps that over time allowed the introduction of laws and rules that regulate animals' use in biomedical research. In our analysis, we present the perspectives of various authors, with the aim of delineating a theoretical framework within which to insert the ethical debate on laboratory animals research. Through the analysis of fundamental philosophical concepts and some practical examples, we propose a view according to which laboratory animals experimentation become ethically acceptable as far as it is guided by the goal of improving humans and other animal species (i.e., pets) life. Among the elements analyzed, there is the concept of responsibility that only active moral subjects (humans) have towards themselves and towards passive moral subjects (other animal species). We delineate the principle of cruelty that is useful to understand why research in laboratory animals should not be assimilated to a cruel act. Moreover, we touch upon the concepts of necessity and "good cause" to underline that, if biomedical research would have the possibility to avoid using animals, it would surely do that. To provide an example of the negative consequences occurring from not allowing laboratory animal research, we analyze the recent experience of Covid-19 epidemic. Finally, recalling the principle of "heuristics and biases" by Kahneman, we discuss why scientists should reconsider the way they are conveying information about their research to the general public.

"The Noblest Roman of them all?" Professional versus Popular Views of America's Country Doctors.

This essay studies the images, perceptions, and values of the professional medical journals, as well as popular sources such as magazine and films, to show that the country doctor was a contested figure in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The country doctor's image embodied competing ideals of a racialized professional and masculine identity that included both place as well as visions of science. Medical professionals pressed an image in their journals and professional advice books that mapped a celebration of science and its predictive value onto urban places that were enshrined in hospitals and laboratory facilities. The public, while embracing this image, also embraced a second one shown in popular media that glorified the self-sacrificing rural solo practitioner. This practitioner's wisdom came from long contact with patients, he was dedicated to seeing patients in their homes, and his identity was based in the larger needs of the entire community.

Gender stereotypes have changed: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of U.S. public opinion polls from 1946 to 2018.

This meta-analysis integrated 16 nationally representative U.S. public opinion polls on gender stereotypes (N = 30,093 adults), extending from 1946 to 2018, a span of seven decades that brought considerable change in gender relations, especially in women's roles. In polls inquiring about communion (e.g., affectionate, emotional), agency (e.g., ambitious, courageous), and competence (e.g., intelligent, creative), respondents indicated whether each trait is more true of women or men, or equally true of both. Women's relative advantage in communion increased over time, but men's relative advantage in agency showed no change. Belief in competence equality increased over time, along with belief in female superiority among those who indicated a sex difference in competence. Contemporary gender stereotypes thus convey substantial female advantage in communion and a smaller male advantage in agency but also gender equality in competence along with some female advantage. Interpretation emphasizes the origins of gender stereotypes in the social roles of women and men. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

[Early attitudes to X-rays in Buenos Aires, 1896-1897: medicine, esotericism and popular fantasies]. / La temprana recepción de los rayos X en Buenos Aires, 1896-1897: medicina, esoterismo y fantasías plebeyas.

The goal of this article is to document early attitudes to X-rays in scientific culture in the city of Buenos Aires. Using various types of periodical sources, the text explores the different reactions to the novelty among different actors in the literary world. Newspapers and weekly magazines for the general public quickly broadcast the discovery, stressing its marvelous or prodigious nature. Meanwhile, physicians in the city took contrasting positions, ranging from mistrust to enthusiasm. Lastly, spiritualists in the city wrote numerous texts about the innovation, and reinterpreted it in accordance with their strategies for self-legitimation.

El objetivo de este artículo es documentar la recepción temprana de los rayos X en la cultura científica de la ciudad de Buenos Aires. Haciendo uso de fuentes periódicas de diversa índole, el texto explora las diferentes reacciones despertadas por la novedad en distintos actores del mundo letrado. Los periódicos y semanarios generales difundieron rápidamente el hallazgo y se encargaron de subrayar su naturaleza maravillosa o prodigiosa. Por su parte, los médicos de la ciudad asumieron posiciones contrastantes que iban desde el recelo hasta el entusiasmo. Por último, los espiritistas de la ciudad escribieron numerosos textos sobre la innovación, y la reinterpretaron en función de sus estrategias de auto-legitimación.

La temprana recepción de los rayos X en Buenos Aires, 1896-1897: medicina, esoterismo y fantasías plebeyas / Early attitudes to X-rays in Buenos Aires, 1896-1897: medicine, esotericism and popular fantasies

Resumen El objetivo de este artículo es documentar la recepción temprana de los rayos X en la cultura científica de la ciudad de Buenos Aires. Haciendo uso de fuentes periódicas de diversa índole, el texto explora las diferentes reacciones despertadas por la novedad en distintos actores del mundo letrado. Los periódicos y semanarios generales difundieron rápidamente el hallazgo y se encargaron de subrayar su naturaleza maravillosa o prodigiosa. Por su parte, los médicos de la ciudad asumieron posiciones contrastantes que iban desde el recelo hasta el entusiasmo. Por último, los espiritistas de la ciudad escribieron numerosos textos sobre la innovación, y la reinterpretaron en función de sus estrategias de auto-legitimación.

Abstract The goal of this article is to document early attitudes to X-rays in scientific culture in the city of Buenos Aires. Using various types of periodical sources, the text explores the different reactions to the novelty among different actors in the literary world. Newspapers and weekly magazines for the general public quickly broadcast the discovery, stressing its marvelous or prodigious nature. Meanwhile, physicians in the city took contrasting positions, ranging from mistrust to enthusiasm. Lastly, spiritualists in the city wrote numerous texts about the innovation, and reinterpreted it in accordance with their strategies for self-legitimation.

Looking into the Test Tube: The Birth of IVF on British Television.

The birth of Louise Brown, the world's first 'test-tube baby', has come to signify the moment at which technologically assisted human reproduction became a re ality. This was a highly mediated and visible reality, as this article explores through the example of a British television documentary about Louise Brown broadcast when she was just six weeks old, 'To Mrs Brown… A Daughter' (Thames Television, 1978). In the article, I discuss the programme alongside data from an interview with its producer, Peter Williams. Williams sought to convince the public that IVF was morally acceptable and to cultivate sympathy for the infertile through this film. I will consider how he went about this by focusing on the programme's visual presentation of Louise Brown, Peter Williams' aims in making the film and his sympathetic relationship with the 'pioneers' of IVF, gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe and physiologist Robert Edwards. I will conclude with a discussion of the political implications of this film and how it contributed to the normalisation of IVF at a pivotal moment in its history.

The ecology of empire The dynamics of strategic differentiation-integration in two competing Western European biocultural groups.

We tracked the relative integration and differentiation among life history traits over the period spanning AD 1800-1999 in the Britannic and Gallic biocultural groups. We found that Britannic populations tended toward greater strategic differentiation, while Gallic populations tended toward greater strategic integration. The dynamics of between-group competition between these two erstwhile rival biocultural groups were hypothesized as driving these processes. We constructed a latent factor that specifically sought to measure between-group competition and residualized it for the logarithmic effects of time. We found a significantly asymmetrical impact of between-group competition, where the between-group competition factor appeared to be driving the diachronic integration in Gallic populations but had no significantly corresponding influence on the parallel process of diachronic differentiation in Britannic populations. This suggests that the latter process was attributable to some alternative and unmeasured causes, such as the resource abundance consequent to territorial expansion rather than contraction.

Gaydar, Marriage, and Rip-Roaring Homosexuals: Discourses About Homosexuality in Dear Abby and Ann Landers Advice Columns, 1967-1982.

Over the past 70 years, the history of acceptance of the lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) community within the United States has seen much change and fluctuation. One of the places that this dialogue has been preserved is through the syndicated advice columns of Dear Abby and Ann Landers, in which individuals in the United States were writing in for advice to deal with their anxiety over a newly emerging and highly visible new community of individuals once considered to be mentally ill and dangerous. Using discourse analysis, this article traces the evolution of public and scientific opinions about the LGBT community during the years leading up to the Stonewall riots all the way to right before the AIDs epidemic. This analysis sheds light on several moral panics that emerged regarding this newly visible population, especially in regard to disturbances within the domestic sphere and a stigmatization of bisexuality.

["Conquer public opinion!:" Latin American eugenics as seen in the magazine Viva Cien Años, Argentina, 1934-1947]. / "A la conquista de la opinión pública!": eugenesia latina a través de la revista Viva Cien Años, Argentina, 1934-1947.

Eugenics arrived in Argentina as a discipline at the beginning of the twentieth century. It was widely embraced by intellectuals and healthcare professionals, in the midst of a series of actions undertaken to strengthen networks within the academic and political worlds. One of those initiatives was the magazine Viva Cien Años, founded in 1934 as a popular science publication. This article presents the possibilities of the body of documentation relating to the magazine, which was published in Argentina until 1947. The central thesis argues that the appearance of this publication shows the impact of eugenics in the 1930s in Argentina, and its strategies for conquering public opinion.

La eugenesia como disciplina desembarcó en Argentina a principios del siglo XX. Contó con una amplia recepción entre intelectuales y profesionales de la salud, en medio de una serie de acciones tendientes a fortalecer redes tanto dentro del mundo académico como político. Entre las iniciativas surge, en 1934, la revista Viva Cien Años, como una publicación de carácter científico y popular, en intenciones. Este artículo presenta las posibilidades del corpus documental referido a la revista, publicada en Argentina hasta 1947. El eje central propone vincular la aparición de la publicación con la impronta de la eugenesia de los años 1930 en la Argentina y las estrategias tendientes a la conquista de la opinión pública.

Mistrust in Medicine: The Rise and Fall of America's First Vaccine Institute.

In 1813, the American government passed An Act to Encourage Vaccination, the first federal endorsement of a medical practice in American history. The law tasked a federal agent with maintaining a supply of the smallpox vaccine and distributing it nationwide. James Smith, a well-respected physician and proponent of vaccination, was appointed as vaccine agent. Smith was skeptical of claims that only well-trained physicians should be allowed to perform vaccination; he felt it was a simple procedure that should be available to all American citizens. In 1822, he made a tragic error that caused several deaths and left him vulnerable to criticism from political opponents and his medical peers. This ended Smith's professional career and led to the repeal of the act itself. In this article, we use the rise and fall of James Smith to provide a historical perspective on contemporary debates surrounding delayed vaccination schedules. We explain how physicians-in the 19th century and today-have worked to build public trust in vaccination in an American culture suspicious of medical expertise.

El Hospicio Nacional de Alienados en la prensa de Río de Janeiro (1903-1911) / The National Asylum for the insane in the Rio de Janeiro press (1903-1911)

Este trabajo analiza la forma en que la prensa de la capital republicana difundió informaciones durante la primera década del siglo XX, contribuyendo a la formación de opiniones acerca del Hospicio Nacional de Alienados (HNA), primera institución psiquiátrica brasileña que abrió sus puertas en la ciudad de Río de Janeiro en 1852. Para esta investigación hemos analizado las noticias sobre el Hospicio en dos diarios: O Paiz y Correio da Manhã. Hemos seguido en ella tanto la historiografía brasileña más reciente, como la referente a la historia de la psiquiatría en Iberoamérica, con objeto de relativizar la relevancia otorgada a la psiquiatría y al manicomio en su función de control social, así como de apuntar su carácter híbrido y polifacético en las noticias que se publicaron en la prensa de la capital federal. En los dos periódicos, el conjunto variado de menciones sobre el HNA pone en juego tres puntos de vista: los dos primeros se centran en la descripción y el retrato de la vida institucional, llevado a cabo por prensa, en sus diferentes aspectos (administrativo, asistencial, científico); mientras que el tercero analiza aquellas situaciones en que el Hospicio se contempla como una solución para acontecimientos que perturbaban la vida de la ciudad (AU)

During the first decade of the twentieth century, the press of the republican capital disseminated representations and helped to form opinions about the National Hospice of Alienated Persons (HNA), the first Brazilian psychiatric institution, which began to function in the city of Rio de Janeiro in 1852. For this investigation we have analyzed the news about the hospice in two newspapers - O Paiz and Correio da Manhã. We follow here the most recent Brazilian historiography, as well as the history of psychiatry in Ibero-American countries, to discuss the emphasis given to the social control function of the asylum and to point out its hybrid and multifaceted character in the news that circulated in the press of the federal capital. In the two newspapers, the varied set of references to the HNA puts into circulation three points of view: the first two express how the institutional life, in its different aspects (administrative, welfare, scientific) is described and portrayed by the press; while the third point of view brings together the situations in which the hospice is considered as a solution for events that disturb the life of the city (AU)

[50th Anniversary of Psychiatric Attitude Research in Germany]. / 50 Jahre psychiatrische Einstellungsforschung in Deutschland.

Objective Analysis of the development of psychiatric attitude research in Germany over the past 50 years. Methods Historical overview based on systematic reviews of population-based studies. Results In the beginning, public attitudes towards people with mental disorders and towards psychiatry were studied from a sociological perspective, later on research was guided by a social psychological or individual psychological approach. This provided important insights into processes underlying the stigma of mental illness (e. g., role of labeling, causal attributions, beliefs into a continuum between mental health and illness, prevalence estimates etc.). Substantial contributions have also been made as regards the study of time trends in public attitudes and beliefs about mental illness, the investigation of the impact of the media on public attitudes, and the evaluation of the effectiveness of anti-stigma and awareness programs. Conclusion Despite these undisputable advancements it is about time to compliment the individual by a societal perspective. This appears particularly necessary in view of current trends in Germany towards sociopolitical radicalization.