Honorary and ghost authorship in high impact biomedical journals - a cross sectional survey

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• Honorary and ghost authorship in high impact biomedical journals - a cross sectional survey
• Rutgers professor uses lichen to help cities go green
• That's gross!: Study uncovers physiological nature of disgust in politics
• University of New Hampshire scientists land roles in European and Japanese space missions
• Dividing corn stover makes ethanol conversion more efficient
• Chain hotels lead the way in going green
• Independent review of NHS breast screening underway, reveals top cancer doctor
• Teen sleep deprivation related to weight gain

Honorary and ghost authorship in high impact biomedical journals - a cross sectional survey Posted: 26 Oct 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Just over one in five (21%) of articles published in six leading medical journals in 2008 have evidence of honorary and ghost authorship, finds a study published today. These results demonstrate that inappropriate authorship remains a problem in high impact biomedical publications, say the authors. Inappropriate (honorary and ghost) authorship and the resulting lack of transparency and accountability have been important concerns for the academic community for decades. In the 1980s, the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) developed guidelines for responsible and accountable authorship. These criteria are updated regularly and have been adopted by more than 600 biomedical journals. However, studies have found the prevalence of honorary authors to be as high as 39%, and ghost authors as high as 11% across a range of journals. So a team of US researchers compared the prevalence of articles with honorary and ghost authors published in six leading general medical journals in 2008 with that reported by authors of articles published in 1996. A total of 630 authors responded to the survey. The overall prevalence of articles with honorary authorship, ghost authorship, or both was 21%, a decline from 29% in 1996. They found no change in the prevalence of honorary authors relative to 1996, but found a significant decline in the prevalence of ghost authorship. The highest prevalence of both types of inappropriate authorship occurred in original research articles, as opposed to editorials and review articles. These results demonstrate that inappropriate authorship remains a problem in high-impact biomedical publications, say the authors. They conclude that "increased efforts by scientific journals, individual authors, and academic institutions are essential to promote responsibility, accountability, and transparency in authorship, and to maintain integrity in scientific publication." These... http://www.rxpgnews.com

Rutgers professor uses lichen to help cities go green Posted: 25 Oct 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) CAMDEN -- In this era of environmental consciousness, many buildings are being outfitted to go green. A Rutgers-Camden professor is taking the term quite literally. Elizabeth Demaray, an associate professor of fine arts, is cultivating lichen on the sides of New York City skyscrapers to counteract the lack of native vegetation found in the city. Her Lichen for Skyscrapers Project was featured as part of New York's Art in Odd Places Festival from Oct. 1-10 and is currently on view as a site-specific installation on 14th Street between Union Square Park and the Hudson River. Metropolitan centers figure into local temperatures in an interesting way, Demaray says. They are sometimes referred to as 'urban heat islands' because they create heat and they trap heat. A large part of this process is due to the materials that we build with and the actual architecture of the buildings that we create. Demaray says one of the ways to reduce heat in these cities is to cultivate lichen, which forms a protective barrier, insulating its supporting building from harmful elements. It can lower cumulative temperatures by absorbing sunlight and reflecting heat due to its light color palate while making oxygen and creating green space on the sides of buildings. A versatile combination of fungi and algae, lichen does not have roots and grows vertically on porous surfaces. It thrives at high altitudes, where it is often the only form of vegetation and can withstand extreme periods of draught by absorbing water out of the air. Demaray plants the lichen by painting lichen slurry, a watery mixture, on the sides of the buildings in patterned, geometric shapes. These plantings allow viewers to watch the organic lines of the lichen slowly outgrow the manmade lines of the patterns. A lot of my work sort of deals with American culture in one way or another and a number of the pieces often end up in the category of art and science collaboration, Demaray says.... http://www.rxpgnews.com

That's gross!: Study uncovers physiological nature of disgust in politics Posted: 25 Oct 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Most likely, you would be disgusted if confronted with a picture of a man eating a mouthful of writhing worms. Or a particularly bloody wound. Or a horribly emaciated but still living body. But just how much disgust you feel may lend important insight into your personal political proclivities. In a new study, political scientists closely measured people's physiological reactions as they looked at a series of pleasant and unpleasant images. Participants who identified themselves as conservative -- and, in particular, those who said they were against gay marriage -- had strong physiological reactions when shown the gross pictures. The study, the latest to examine the connection between political differences and humans' built-in physiological traits, was co-authored by University of Nebraska-Lincoln political science professors Kevin Smith and John Hibbing and was published this month in the Public Library of Science One. This is one more piece of evidence that we, quite literally, have gut feelings about politics, Smith said. Our political attitudes and behaviors are reflected in our biology. Researchers worked with 27 women and 23 men who were chosen from a larger pool of participants who also underwent thorough political questioning. The subjects were shown a series of disgusting and also relatively pleasant images while electrodes on their skin measured subtle skin conductance changes, which indicated an emotional response. As predicted, conservatives responded to the pictures with much more intense disgust than did liberals. Attitudes in opposition to same-sex marriage were highly connected. The results add to a growing area of research that suggests biology plays a larger role in influencing political orientation than many might think. Recent UNL work has produced findings in this area, including a 2008 study that found people who are highly responsive to threatening images were likely to support defense spending, capital... http://www.rxpgnews.com

University of New Hampshire scientists land roles in European and Japanese space missions Posted: 25 Oct 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) DURHAM, N.H. -- Scientists and engineers from the University of New Hampshire's Space Science Center (SSC) have been selected to provide instruments for two upcoming satellite missions led by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The successful proposals draw upon the long history of work done at UNH for other satellite missions, including NASA's Solar-Terrestrial Observatory (STEREO) that was launched five years ago today. The ESA Solar Orbiter mission will carry the Heavy Ion Sensor, which includes an ion composition telescope being built at UNH by a team led by research professor Antoinette Galvin of the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS) and the department of physics. Solar Orbiter will venture closer to the Sun than any previous mission. It is designed to make major breakthroughs in our understanding of how the Sun influences its environment, in particular how it generates and propels the flow of particles, known as the solar wind, in which the planets are bathed. Launch is slated for January 2017. The Ion Composition Time-of-Flight/Energy Telescope we're building for the satellite's solar wind composition instrument will do the actual particle measurement, says Galvin. So it's an essential role and one we're playing due to similar instrumentation we provided on NASA's STEREO mission. At this time we're the only U.S. institution still active in this particular field building this type of solar wind composition instrument. The STEREO spacecraft, launched October 25, 2006 carries the UNH-built PLAsma and Supra-Thermal Ion Composition (PLASTIC) instrument. Galvin is the principal investigator for the PLASTIC instrument, which measures characteristics of protons, alpha particles and heavy ions. STEREO has dramatically improved our understanding of the powerful solar eruptions that can send more than a billion tons of the Sun's outer atmosphere hurtling into... http://www.rxpgnews.com

Dividing corn stover makes ethanol conversion more efficient Posted: 25 Oct 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Not all parts of a corn stalk are equal, and they shouldn't be treated that way when creating cellulosic ethanol, say Purdue University researchers. When corn stover is processed to make cellulosic ethanol, everything is ground down and blended together. But a research team found that three distinct parts of the stover the rind, pith and leaves break down in different ways. Michael Ladisch, a distinguished professor of agricultural and biological engineering and director of Purdue's Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering; Eduardo Ximenes, a Purdue research scientist in LORRE; and doctoral graduate student Meijuan Zeng are trying to determine if there is a better method to process corn stover and optimize efficiency. Cellulosic ethanol is created by using enzymes to extract sugars from cellulosic feedstocks, such as corn stover, grasses and woods, and then fermenting and distilling those sugars into fuels. Today, researchers grind the parts together and treat it based on what's needed to get at the hardest part, Ximenes said. We show that there are major differences in degradability among the tissues. Stover's pith, the soft core that makes up more than half the weight of a corn stalk, is the easiest for enzymes to digest, according to the findings in two papers published in the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering. Rind is the most difficult, while leaves fall in between. Significant amounts of lignin, the rigid compound in plant cell walls, make the cellulose resistant to hydrolosis, a process in which cellulose is broken down into sugars. Ximenes said converting the rinds only adds about 20 percent more ethanol while requiring 10 times more enzymes, driving up the price of the process. Is that extra 20 percent worth the added cost? asked Nathan Mosier, associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering and co-author of the study. Because if there is a way to separate out pith,... http://www.rxpgnews.com

Chain hotels lead the way in going green Posted: 25 Oct 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) PULLMAN, Wash. -- Chain hotels are doing a better job of going green than their independent competitors, according to a new analysis by Washington State University researchers. The study, which started as an undergraduate honors project, found chain hotels are more likely to use energy efficient light bulbs; train staff to turn off lights, heaters and air conditioning in unoccupied rooms; buy in bulk to reduce packaging; use safer cleaners and chemicals; and give guests tips on how to save water and energy. As a result, independent hotels may be losing a competitive advantage in drawing customers, says Dennis Reynolds, Ivar B. Haglund Endowed Chair in the WSU School of Hospitality Business Management. I don't know if independents are as aware of the importance of being green today, he says. If you have two hotels in a city at the same room rates, but one is green, are you going to pick it because it's green? Is that important to you or not? The preliminary research suggests that it is, he says. I suspect a lot of independents haven't realized that yet in terms of the marketability, the importance, of attracting customers. Hotels have the largest environmental footprint in the hospitality industry, using large amounts of water and cleaning chemicals and, unlike restaurants, keeping lights on through the night. But starting in the '90s, the concept of the green hotel began to spread through the industry, encouraging practices that saved energy and water, managed waste and educated guests about ways to help the environment. It's a smart practice for hotels, says Reynolds. When it started, no one acknowledged that. They said, 'This is a green practice. We're doing it for the environment.' That caught on very quickly because, yes, it's good for the environment but it's also good for the bottom line. Some hotels found greener building designs alone could cut 30-50 percent of their energy costs, a savings that for a full-service... http://www.rxpgnews.com

Independent review of NHS breast screening underway, reveals top cancer doctor Posted: 25 Oct 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) An independent review of the NHS breast cancer screening programme is under way, Professor Sir Mike Richards, National Cancer Director, told the BMJ today. His announcement follows an open letter from Professor Susan Bewley, Consultant Obstetrician at King's College London, urging Professor Richards to initiate a review of the evidence in light of growing uncertainty over the benefits and harms of breast screening. Evidence from the Nordic Cochrane Centre suggests that the harms of breast screening may outweigh the benefits and that screening information should be more balanced. Professor Bewley agrees, saying she found the NHS leaflets exaggerated benefits and did not spell out the risks. She adds: The oft repeated statement that 1400 lives a year are saved has not been subjected to proper scrutiny. When she expressed her misgivings to Professor Richards, he replied that the large majority of experts in this country disagrees with the methodology used in the Cochrane Centre reviews of breast screening. But Professor Bewley says this argument is inadequate and unpersuasive. She writes: In the past few years, British women have not been told about the genuine doubts, and warns that the new leaflet is still not good enough. I am not convinced that you have challenged your experts competently and mercilessly, rather than hidden behind them. Thus I support the calls for an independent review of the evidence - a review that will not be kicked into the long grass, whose findings will be widely and properly disseminated, and that will adjust screening policy appropriately and will lead to proper pursuit of the research implications. In his reply, Professor Richards says that he believes screening programmes should be based on the best available evidence, and based on current advice, including that of the World Health Organisation, breast screening saves lives and the benefits considerably outweigh the harms. However the ongoing... http://www.rxpgnews.com

Teen sleep deprivation related to weight gain Posted: 24 Oct 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) (HONOLULU, HAWAII, OCTOBER 24, 2011) -- Sleeping less than 8 hours a night may be linked to weight gain in teens, shows a new study presented at CHEST 2011, the 77th annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP). Furthermore, obesity was linked to short sleep duration in teen males, with the fewest hours slept linked to the highest BMI levels. Sleep is food for the brain. When teens do not get enough sleep, they fall asleep in class, struggle to concentrate, look and feel stressed, get sick more often, and do not meet their obligations due to tiredness, said study author Lata Casturi, MA, RPSGT, Baylor College of Medicine Sleep Center in Houston, TX. Teens who sleep fewer than eight hours may also consume more calories than those who sleep more than eight hours. Therefore, they have a higher risk for obesity and associated health problems, including high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. Ms. Casturi and colleagues, including coauthor Anita Rao, presently a 10th grader at Dawson High School in Pearland, TX, surveyed 255 teens (108 males and 147 females) in high school to obtain self-reported measures of height and weight (used for BMI calculation) and both weekday and weekend quantity of sleep. Among males, results indicated the average sleep time on weekdays was 6 hours 32 minutes and on weekends 9 hours 10 minutes. Among females, the average weekday sleep time was 6 hours 30 minutes and the average weekend sleep duration was 9 hours 22 minutes. Teen males who slept 7 hours or less on weekdays had an average BMI that was 3.8 percent higher than those who slept more than 7 hours. Likewise, teen females who slept 7 hours or less had a BMI that was 4.7 percent higher than females who got more than 7 hours of sleep per weekday. But how does lack of sleep really affect weight gain? According to researchers, hormones leptin and ghrelin work in a checks and balances system to control feelings of hunger and... http://www.rxpgnews.com

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