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This paper examines an episode of the history of chemistry, the campaign for the promotion of so-called "new chemistry," dating to the second half of the 1780s, to investigate the ways in which women could build their own reputation. I focus on the case of Marie-Anne Paulze-Lavoisier (1758–1836), today known as the wife and scientific associate of the French chemist Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743–1794). Drawing on a wide set of published and unpublished sources – laboratory notebooks, travel diaries, letters, and drawings – I will delve deeper into their collaboration, showing how Paulze-Lavoisier appropriated the campaign for the new chemistry to appear as a visible actor in the scientific circles of the time. I will then highlight the multiple self-representations she produced while participating in these events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A case of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in an Eritrean migrant was described to provide an epidemiological approach based on phylogenetic analysis useful in developing countries with lacking information. Migrant, positive for HBsAg and HBeAg, carried HBV at high copy number. A sequence of HBV HBsAg region was used for phylogenetic relationships and genetic variability investigation. In the phylogenetic tree, the sequence corresponded to D2 HBV genotype and the cluster root dated 7 years ago. These data compared with the date of landing in Italy, suggest that he was infected at least 7 years before his arrival. This approach by 'mirror effect' allows the reconstruction of HBV epidemiology in the country of origin, analyzing the migrant population in the host country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Recent research has suggested that serotonin may play an important role in the expression of radiation-induced bystander effects. Serotonin levels in serum were reported to range from 6-22 μM and to correlate inversely with the magnitude of cellular colony-forming ability in medium transfer bystander assays. That is, high serotonin concentration correlated with a low cloning efficiency in cultures receiving medium derived from irradiated cells. Methods: Because of the potential importance of this observation, the European Union's Non-targeted Effects Integrated Project (NOTE) performed an inter-comparison exercise where serum samples with high and low serotonin levels were distributed to seven laboratories which then performed their own assay to determine the magnitude of the bystander effect. Results: The results provided some support for a role for serotonin in four of the laboratories. Two saw no difference between the samples and one gave inconclusive results. In this summary paper, full data sets are presented from laboratories whose data was inconclusive or insufficient for a full paper. Other data are published in full in the special issue. Conclusion: The data suggest that there may be multiple bystander effects and that the underlying mechanisms may be modulated by both the culture conditions and the intrinsic properties of the cells used in the assay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brain stimulation techniques such as deep brain stimulation (DBS) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) constitute promising clinical and research tools to investigate neural mechanisms underlying neurological and psychiatric diseases. They have enormous potential in modifying brain activity and subsequent function. However, it is still a matter of debate how either of these stimulation approaches operates to produce the clinical outcomes observed in patients. The combination of these techniques with functional neuroimaging is contributing significantly to disentangle the mechanisms through which brain stimulation affects neuronal activity and related networks. In the present review we outline the research done to date on the effects of DBS and TMS on motor, cognition and behaviour in Parkinson's disease (PD) with particular emphasis on neuroimaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]