RESUMO
Worldwide, parenthood remains a major driver for the reduced participation of women in the job market, where discrimination stems from people's biases against mothers, based on stereotypes and misconceptions surrounding the vision of motherhood in our society. In academia, parenthood may be perceived as negatively affecting scientists' commitment and dedication, especially women's. We conducted a survey amongst Brazilian scientists and found that mothers self-reported a higher prevalence of negative bias in their workplace when compared to fathers. The perception of a negative bias was influenced by gender and career status, but not by race, scientific field or number of children. Regarding intersections, mothers with less than 15 years of hiring reported having suffered a higher rate of negative bias against themselves. We discuss implications of these results and suggest how this negative bias should be addressed in order to promote an equitable environment that does not harm women in science.
RESUMO
Despite the progress observed in recent years, women are still underrepresented in science worldwide, especially at top positions. Many factors contribute to women progressively leaving academia at different stages of their career, including motherhood, harassment and conscious and unconscious discrimination. Implicit bias plays a major negative role in recognition, promotions and career advancement of female scientists. Recently, a rank of the most influential scientists in the world was created based on several metrics, including the number of published papers and citations. Here, we analyzed the representation of Brazilian scientists in this rank, focusing on gender. Female Brazilian scientists are greatly underrepresented in the rank (11% in the Top 100,000; 18% in the Top 2%). Possible reasons for this observed scenario are related to the metrics used to rank scientists, which reproduce and amplify the well-known implicit bias in peer-review and citations. Male scientists have more self-citation than female scientists and positions in the rank varied when self-citations were included, suggesting that self-citation by male scientists increases their visibility. Discussions on the repercussions of such ranks are pivotal to avoid deepening the gender gap in science.
Assuntos
Publicações , Brasil , Feminino , Humanos , MasculinoRESUMO
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is altering dynamics in academia, and people juggling remote work and domestic demands - including childcare - have felt impacts on their productivity. Female authors have faced a decrease in paper submission rates since the beginning of the pandemic period. The reasons for this decline in women's productivity need to be further investigated. Here, we analyzed the influence of gender, parenthood and race on academic productivity during the pandemic period based on a survey answered by 3,345 Brazilian academics from various knowledge areas and research institutions. Productivity was assessed by the ability to submit papers as planned and to meet deadlines during the initial period of social isolation in Brazil. The findings revealed that male academics - especially those without children - are the least affected group, whereas Black women and mothers are the most impacted groups. These impacts are likely a consequence of the well-known unequal division of domestic labor between men and women, which has been exacerbated during the pandemic. Additionally, our results highlight that racism strongly persists in academia, especially against Black women. The pandemic will have long-term effects on the career progression of the most affected groups. The results presented here are crucial for the development of actions and policies that aim to avoid further deepening the gender gap in academia.
Assuntos
Infecções por Coronavirus , Mães , Pandemias , Poder Familiar , Pneumonia Viral , Pesquisadores , Mulheres Trabalhadoras , Betacoronavirus , COVID-19 , Emprego , Feminino , Humanos , Políticas , SARS-CoV-2 , Equilíbrio Trabalho-Vida , Local de TrabalhoRESUMO
The development of high-frequency endoscopic ultrasound for the investigation of models of esophageal disease may offer insights for future translation to human imaging. With respect to small animal models of esophageal diseases, ultrasound imaging instrumentation must employ frequencies scaled up to maintain the compromise between image resolution and inspected region. In this sense, a 40-MHz endoluminal ultrasound biomicroscopy (eUBM) system and an endoscope were tested as diagnostic methods of imaging rat esophageal lesions in the acute and chronic phases caused by sodium hydroxide. Although endoscopy allowed grading of the esophagus in accordance with a classification specific to the epithelial alterations and including hyperemia, edema, exudates, fibrin and superficial and deep ulcerations, the eUBM images yielded the detection of superficial and deep ulcerations, as well as wall alterations caused by edema and inflammatory infiltrate in the submucosa. Additionally, eUBM enabled wall thickness measurements, which were statistically significantly increased (p < 0.05) in the acute phase.
Assuntos
Endoscopia/métodos , Esofagite/diagnóstico , Esôfago/diagnóstico por imagem , Microscopia Acústica/métodos , Animais , Modelos Animais de Doenças , Esofagite/diagnóstico por imagem , Esofagite/patologia , Masculino , Ratos , Ratos WistarRESUMO
AIM: To evaluate the potential use of colonoscopy and endoluminal ultrasonic biomicroscopy (eUBM) to track the progression of mouse colonic lesions. METHODS: Ten mice were treated with a single azoxymethane intraperitoneal injection (week 1) followed by seven days of a dextran sulfate sodium treatment in their drinking water (week 2) to induce inflammation-associated colon tumors. eUBM was performed simultaneously with colonoscopy at weeks 13, 17-20 and 21. A 3.6-F diameter 40 MHz mini-probe catheter was used for eUBM imaging. The ultrasound mini-probe catheter was inserted into the accessory channel of a pediatric flexible bronchofiberscope, allowing simultaneous acquisition of colonoscopic and eUBM images. During image acquisition, the mice were anesthetized with isoflurane and kept in a supine position over a stainless steel heated surgical waterbed at 37 °C. Both eUBM and colonoscopic images were captured and stored when a lesion was detected by colonoscopy or when the eUBM image revealed a modified colon wall anatomy. During the procedure, the colon was irrigated with water that was injected through a flush port on the mini-probe catheter and that acted as the ultrasound coupling medium between the transducer and the colon wall. Once the acquisition of the last eUBM/colonoscopy section for each animal was completed, the colons were fixed, paraffin-embedded, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Colon images acquired at the first time-point for each mouse were compared with subsequent eUBM/colonoscopic images of the same sites obtained in the following acquisitions to evaluate lesion progression. RESULTS: All 10 mice had eUBM and colonoscopic images acquired at week 13 (the first time-point). Two animals died immediately after the first imaging acquisition and, consequently, only 8 mice were subjected to the second eUBM/colonoscopy imaging acquisition (at the second time-point). Due to the advanced stage of colonic tumorigenesis, 5 animals died after the second time-point image acquisition, and thus, only three were subjected to the third eUBM/colonoscopy imaging acquisition (the third time-point). eUBM was able to detect the four layers in healthy segments of colon: the mucosa (the first hyperechoic layer moving away from the mini-probe axis), followed by the muscularis mucosae (hypoechoic), the submucosa (the second hyperechoic layer) and the muscularis externa (the second hypoechoic layer). Hypoechoic regions between the mucosa and the muscularis externa layers represented lymphoid infiltrates, as confirmed by the corresponding histological images. Pedunculated tumors were represented by hyperechoic masses in the mucosa layer. Among the lesions that decreased in size between the first and third time-points, one of the lesions changed from a mucosal hyperplasia with ulceration at the top to a mucosal hyperplasia with lymphoid infiltrate and, finally, to small signs of mucosal hyperplasia and lymphoid infiltrate. In this case, while lesion regression and modification were observable in the eUBM images, colonoscopy was only able to detect the lesion at the first and second time-points, without the capacity to demonstrate the presence of lymphoid infiltrate. Regarding the lesions that increased in size, one of them started as a small elevation in the mucosa layer and progressed to a pedunculated tumor. In this case, while eUBM imaging revealed the lesion at the first time-point, colonoscopy was only able to detect it at the second time-point. All colonic lesions (tumors, lymphoid infiltrate and mucosal thickening) were identified by eUBM, while colonoscopy identified just 76% of them. Colonoscopy identified all of the colonic tumors but failed to diagnose lymphoid infiltrates and increased mucosal thickness and failed to differentiate lymphoid infiltrates from small adenomas. During the observation period, most of the lesions (approximately 67%) increased in size, approximately 14% remained unchanged, and 19% regressed. CONCLUSION: Combining eUBM with colonoscopy improves the diagnosis and the follow-up of mouse colonic lesions, adding transmural assessment of the bowel wall.