Misconduct, Not Mistakes, Causes Most Retractions of Scientific Papers

Misconduct, Not Mistakes, Causes Most Retractions of Scientific Papers


Scientific misconduct, and not honest mistakes, account for more than two-thirds of retractions, a paper published today online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) suggests. The authors, microbiologists and journal editors Arturo Casadevall and Ferric Fang, set out to classify the errors that prompt researchers to yank published work—and came up with what they say is a surprising result.



Casadevall and Fang, who are fascinated by scientific integrity in publication, wanted to follow up on work published last year. Medical writer R. Grant Steen had reported in the Journal of Medical Ethics that 73.5% of 742 papers retracted between 2000 and 2010 were pulled because of errors. "What I was interested in was to see if we could understand the sources of error," says Casadevall, who runs a lab at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, and is editor-in-chief of mBio. That way, he and Fang thought, "we may find a way to improve science" by giving researchers a heads up about where the most common pitfalls lie.

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Research on supernova explosion revealed

BRITISH FESTIVAL OF SCIENCE: THIS SUMMER we waited for final word that the Higgs particle exists. Now scientists have come up with yet another particle that may help solve one of the greatest mysteries of the universe.
This as yet unproven particle only exists on paper, the result of intense mathematical computations that describe its behaviour. And as with the discovery of the Higgs boson, Cern – Europe’s nuclear research centre – has stepped forward, offering help to prove that the particle exists.

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Clinical trials for foods and supplements - guidance for industry

University College Cork in partnership with the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, Eldermet, Enterprise Ireland, Atlantia Food CRO, Teagasc and The Food Industry Training Unit, UCC are pleased to announce the following symposium

Clinical trials for foods and supplements - guidance for industry

Where: Thomond Park Stadium, Limerick
When: Friday, 28 September 2012

Introduction:
Using health claims to market functional food products has become increasingly common in recent years, but has also become increasingly regulated by agencies such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Many food companies are embarking on dietary intervention studies in order to develop validated health claims for their target healthy population, be that infants, elderly, overweight or people with mild health issues such as elevated cholesterol or digestive discomfort.
This symposium will address issues of relevance to anyone who would like to know how to go about conducting a trial including where to start, how expensive will it be, how do I choose my target group and what type of study. It will also overview current regulations in Europe and the USA and present case studies from companies who have conducted trials.

Target Audience: Anyone with an interest in learning more about how to go about conducting a human dietary intervention study; researchers and marketing personnel from food, beverage and supplement companies; academic researchers; state agencies

For programme and registration details see http://www.ucc.ie/research/apc/content/foodsymposium

University College Cork in partnership with the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, Eldermet, Enterprise Ireland, Atlantia Food CRO, Teagasc and The Food Industry Training Unit, UCC are pleased to announce the following symposium

Programme
Session 1: How to conduct a clinical trial
Chair: Prof Gerald Fitzgerald, APC & UCC
9.00am Introduction to clinical trials Dr Sally Cudmore, APC
9.15am Clinical trials – from design to affordability Ms Andrea Doolan, Atlantia Food CRO
9.40am Overview of cognition studies Prof Ted Dinan, APC & UCC
10.05am Food interventions in the older adult Dr Paul O’Toole, Eldermet & UCC
10.30am Coffee break

Session 2: Regulation of health and nutritional claims
Chair: Prof Ted Dinan, APC & UCC
11.00am EU regulations on nutrition and health Dr Edel Keaveney, FSAI
11.30am Assessment of health claims by EFSA Prof Patrick Wall, UCD
12.00pm Comparison of Europe and U.S.A Dr Mary Ellen Sanders, ISAPP
12.30pm EFSA winners and losers Dr Fiona Lawlor, FHI UCD
1.00pm Lunch

Session 3: Industry case studies
Chair: Prof Paul Ross, APC & Teagasc
2.00pm Provexis plc, UK Mr Steve Morrison
2.30pm Alimentary Health Ltd Dr Eileen Murphy
3.00pm Danisco Health and Nutrition Dr Arthur Ouwehand
3.30pm Coffee

Session 4: Case studies and supports
Chair: Mary Ellen, ISAPP
3.45pm General Mills Bell Institute of Health Dr Ravi Menon
4.15pm R&D Fund and Innovation Partnership Programme Mr Garrett Dee, EI
4.30pm Overview of GMP Facility, UCC and MTL, Teagasc, Moorepark
Prof Gerald Fitzgerald & Prof Paul Ross
5.00 Close of Symposium Prof Gerald Fitzgerald

For programme and registration details see http://www.ucc.ie/research/apc/content/foodsymposium

Cope Library: Get Googling - A Slidshare Presentation

Cope Library: Get Googling - A Slidshare Presentation: without wishing to give away all the arcane secrets of the librarian's trade I thought you might like to see this presentation on Top Google...

How the Discovery of the Higgs Boson Could Break Physics

If gossip on various physics blogs pans out, the biggest moment for physics in nearly two decades is just days away. The possible announcement on July 4 of the long-sought Higgs boson would put the last critical piece of the Standard Model of Physics in place, a crowning achievement built on a half-century of work by thousands of scientists. A moment worthy of fireworks.
But there’s a problem: The Higgs boson is starting to look just a little too ordinary.
As physicists at Europe’s Large Hadron Collider prepare to present their latest update in the hunt for the Higgs boson — the strange particle that exists everywhere in space and interacts with all other elementary particles, giving them their mass — other physicists are preparing for disappointment.
That’s because scientists have been secretly hoping all along that, when they finally found the Higgs, it would be an interesting particle with unexpected behaviors — even somewhat unruly. A perfectly well-behaved Higgs leaves less room for new, exciting physics — the kind that theorists have been wishing would show up at the LHC.
The current situation has some physicists starting to worry and, if coming years fail to turn up interesting results, the field could be headed for a crisis.
Since the mid-20th century, particle physicists have been developing a theory known as the Standard Model, which accounts for all the known forces and subatomic particles in the universe. While this model has proven time and time again to be extremely good at predicting particles and forces that were later discovered experimentally, it is not the final theory of everything. The Standard Model still has various problems that stubbornly refuse to cooperate.
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How to argue with a scientist: A guide.

http://scienceblogs.com/confessions/2011/12/friday_fun_how_to_argue_with_a.php

OK, the blog post in question isn't actually that funny. But the title is. And, it's really worth reading for the seriously intentioned message it contains.

Laughter helps blood vessels, aids heart health

To protect your blood vessels, try having a few good laughs, researchers say.
Watching a funny movie or television show aids vascular function, while a stressful or scary movie narrows blood vessels, according to research presented today at the European Society of Cardiology's conference in Paris.
The findings confirm previous studies that suggested a link between mental stress and the narrowing of blood vessels, said the lead researcher, Michael Miller of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. A separate study today showed that survivors of heart attacks are more likely to experience a new cardiovascular event if they are angry or stressed out compared with those who aren't.
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"The take-home message here is laughing is great for your heart," Miller said in an interview in Paris.
When volunteers watched parts of a stressful movie, the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan, their inner blood vessel lining, known as endothelium, developed a potentially unhealthy response called vasoconstriction, reducing blood flow, according to the study. After watching some of a funny movie such as There's Something About Mary, their blood vessel lining expanded.
"Everybody we tested to date, with the exception of one person, had dilation of their blood vessel" after watching bits of a funny movie, Miller said. The study was conducted on 30 healthy people aged from their 20s to their 50s.
More than 300 measurements were conducted on the arms of the volunteers, showing a 30 percent to 50 percent difference in blood vessel diameter between the expansion due to laughter and the constriction caused by stress, according to the researchers.
The experiment has since been conducted also on a person suffering from heart disease, with striking results, he said.
"It suggests that if you are having a really bad day, and you are having a lot of stress, you can reverse that in a matter of minutes," he said. "It's not only reversing your mood, it's reversing your vascular function. That's great news for the heart."
The change in the endothelium caused by laughter appears to be consistent and similar to the benefits from aerobic exercise or the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs such as statins, Miller said. The difference is that laughter has an almost immediate effect, he said.
Researchers are increasingly focusing on the link between emotions and cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide. In a third study presented at the conference session titled "Don't Worry, Be Happy!," job strain and long working hours were associated with higher heart disease and mortality.
Positive feelings, such as the ones induced by laughter and listening to relaxing music, are believed to release endorphins that are recognized by the endothelium, leading to the release of nitric oxide, according to researchers. Nitric oxide is a chemical that protects the heart by leading to vessel expansion, better blood flow, inflammation reduction and the prevention of cholesterol plaque formation. On the other hand, negative emotions such as hostility, anger, depression, anxiety and social isolation have shown to be toxic for the heart.
More research is needed to assess whether laughing on a regular basis may reduce the risk of heart attacks, Miller said.
Meanwhile, it may help to incorporate laughing on a regular basis as part of an overall healthy lifestyle, he said.
"Prescription for health should include laughter " Miller said. "In other words, eat your veggies, exercise, don't do unhealthy things like smoking, and get a good belly laugh every day."Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/life/laughter-helps-blood-vessels-aids-heart-health-20110828-1jgkf.html#ixzz1XGPbCDph