Pioneers and Victims: The Birth and Death of Argentina's First Molecular Biology Laboratory

The first Latin American molecularbiology laboratory came onto the scientificscene in Argentina in early 1957, only to bedismantled in 1962, following a ministerialchange. This paper explores the social,political, institutional, and cognitiveinteractions present in this short experience,and assesses their importance in understandingthe development of a new scientific field in a`peripheral context'.     

How Persuasive Are Health Advertisements in First-Person Shooter Games? Exploring Knowledge-Activation and Thought-Disruption Mechanisms

This study examined whether persuasive health messages embedded in shooter games have broad or targeted effects on players’ willingness to engage in risk behaviors (N = 145). Participants presented with in-game health messages discouraging alcohol-impaired driving of motor vehicles showed reduced willingness to drink alcohol and to operate both motor and nonmotor vehicles, compared to those in a no-message gaming control condition. There were no spillover effects on willingness to smoke cigarettes or marijuana, thus implying targeted persuasive effects. In addition, players experiencing high instead of low cognitive load showed decreased postexperiment willingness to drink and operate nonmotor vehicles, thus suggesting that playing a game under high cognitive load can influence players’ attitudes. The findings replicate previous research and further expand on knowledge-activation and thought-disruption mechanisms underlying the persuasiveness of health messages.     

Technological research in the EU is less efficient than the world average. EU research policy risks Europeans’ future

We have studied the efficiency of research in the EU by a percentile-based citation approach that analyzes the distribution of country papers among the world papers. Going up in the citation scale, the frequency of papers from efficient countries increases while the frequency from inefficient countries decreases. In the percentile-based approach, this trend, which is uniform at any citation level, is measured by the e_p index that equals the P_{top 1%}/P_{top 10%} ratio. By using the e_p index we demonstrate that EU research on fast-evolving technological topics is less efficient than the world average and that the EU is far from being able to compete with the most advanced countries. The e_p index also shows that the USA is well ahead of the EU in both fast- and slow-evolving technologies, which suggests that the advantage of the USA over the EU in innovation is due to low research efficiency in the EU. In accord with some previous studies, our results show that the European Commission’s ongoing claims about the excellence of EU research are based on a wrong diagnosis. The EU must focus its research policy on the improvement of its inefficient research. Otherwise, the future of Europeans is at risk.     

Perceived health problems in swimmers according to the chemical treatment of water in swimming pools

The objective of this study was to determine which chemical treatment used for disinfecting water in indoor swimming pools had the least impact on users' perceptions of health problems, and which generated the greatest satisfaction with the quality of the water. A survey on satisfaction and perceived health problems was given to 1001 users at 20 indoor swimming pools which used different water treatment methods [chlorine, bromine, ozone, ultraviolet lamps (UV) and salt electrolysis]. The findings suggest that there is a greater probability of perceived health problems, such as eye and skin irritation, respiratory problems and skin dryness, in swimming pools treated with chlorine than in swimming pools using other chemical treatment methods. Pools treated with bromine have similar, although slightly better, results. Other factors, such as age, gender, time of day of use (morning and afternoon) and type of user (competitive and recreational), can also affect the probability of suffering health problems. For all of the above, using combined treatment methods as ozone and UV, or salt electrolysis produces a lower probability of perceived health problems and greater satisfaction.     

Many choices,one destination: multimodal university brand construction in an urban public transportation system

Amidst global competition in higher education, colleges and universities adopt strategies that mimic and adapt business practices. Branding is now a widespread practice in higher education; multimodal advertisement is a manifestation of emerging branding strategies for universities. While the visibility of brands in higher education has grown substantially in recent years, its empirical study has lagged. This article reports on the findings from a study that employed social semiotic and multimodal analysis to explore text and visual rhetoric as brand construction strategies in publicly displayed university advertisements. After analyzing photographs representing advertising campaigns from 16 different universities displayed in an urban public transportation system, I suggest that universities construct their brand identity through messages that emphasize multiple choices and convenience, but construct success primarily according to corporate standards and values.