António Carvalho

Health-related quality of life in Portuguese psoriatic patients: relation with Psoriasis Area and Severity Index and different types of classical psoriatic treatment.

Dear Editor, Psoriasis vulgaris deeply affects the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of the patients. 1 Indeed, a major component of the psoriasis assessment is the HRQOL measurement, because improving the patient’s life is the primary goal of therapy. We aimed to assess the impact of psoriasis and of the most used therapies ‐ topical, narrowband ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) and psoralen and ultraviolet A therapy (PUVA) ‐ on the HRQOL of Portuguese patients. Another purpose was to evaluate how psoriasis severity, assessed by Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), can define HRQOL.

Imaginaries of nuclear energy in the Portuguese parliament: Between promise, risk, and democracy

This article explores the evolution of the nuclear energy debate and its associated controversies in the Portuguese parliament. The analysis focuses on the dictatorial regime of the New State (from the beginning of the nuclear program in 1951 until the 1974 revolution) and on the democratic period (post-1974). Portugal, as an exporting country of uranium minerals, significantly invested in the development of a national capacity in nuclear research, but never developed an endogenous nuclear power infrastructure. Through the analysis of parliamentary debates, this article characterizes the dynamic evolution of the Portuguese sociotechnical imaginary on nuclear energy and technology interlinked with ambivalent representations, including the promise of nuclear energy as key for the constitution of a technological Nation or as prompting new sociotechnical risks.

A emergência do sujeito participativo: interseções entre ciência, política e ontologia

Nas ultimas decadas, os dispositivos de participacao publica tem registado um crescimento exponencial. Estes procedimentos podem assumir uma diversidade de configuracoes, gerando um numero de questoes teoricas e praticas. A partir da analise de dois estudos de caso – grupos de discussao sobre nanotecnologias em Coimbra, Portugal, e Conselhos de Saude em Belo Horizonte, Brasil – este artigo oferece uma reflexao sobre as questoes politicas e metodologicas relacionadas com a concecao e implementacao de procedimentos participativos. A analise explora a emergencia do cidadao participativo, associado a capacidades e formas de conhecimento que permitem a intervencao em espacos deliberativos. Argumenta-se que os dispositivos participativos e os processos de subjetivacao estao interligados, dialogando-se com as reflexoes de Foucault sobre subjetividade e com abordagens pos-humanistas no âmbito dos Estudos Sociais de Ciencia e Tecnologia. Os dois estudos de caso ilustram como os procedimentos participativos geram novas capacidades epistemicas, retoricas e normativas associadas a habilitacao e subjetivacao dos participantes. Dessa forma, o artigo explora os aspetos politicos das praticas, metodologias e processos que suportam o envolvimento de cidadaos em ciencia, tecnologia e saude, contribuindo para a desnaturalizacao do sujeito participativo e para o reconhecimento da dimensao performativa das ciencias sociais.

Towards equity in global health partnerships: adoption of the Research Fairness Initiative (RFI) by Portuguese-speaking countries

Research partnerships between high-income countries (HICs) and low- and medium-income countries (LMICs) often display a set of asymmetries that hinder the development of science, technology and health systems in the LMICs. In practice, this means that research partnerships, instead of addressing local priorities, often result in the appropriation of local data, the relegation of southern scientists to the category of ‘field experts’, the publication of research papers in high-impact journals without LMIC partners as coauthors and the tokenisation of LMIC partners and institutions to obtain competitive funding.1 2 There are numerous studies on power imbalances pertaining to research partnerships, often calling for general or specific interventions to improve them, but without apparent actual change in practice.3–5 Over the past 20 years, only two explicit guidelines have been developed to tackle these imbalances. The Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research (CCGHR) developed a set of recommendations, focused on six main principles, to promote ethical partnerships, including the use of innovative methodologies.6 The Commission for Research Partnerships with Developing Countries (KFPE)7 has also advocated the use of 11 principles which deal with a wide range of issues, from agenda setting to dissemination. The work of KFPE is 20 years old, but it is not well known outside Switzerland; moreover, it does not provide a practical framework to assess how these principles are implemented in research projects and actual collaborations. Other agencies involved in the advocacy of ethical research partnerships include the United States Agency for International Development, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the International Development Research Centre (Canada) and the Norwegian Programme for Development, Research and Education (NUFU).8 The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17 is focused on partnerships as means to achieve the other SDGs, recognising that joint research in health and other fields is essential. …