last updated by Pluto on 2024-04-17 08:14:20 UTC on behalf of the NeuroFedora SIG.
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Emily Beswick reviews 'How the Brain Lost Its Mind', which challenges our misunderstanding of brain disease and mental illness. Explore the overlooked history of neurosyphilis, "the Great Imitator", which swept through European society in the nineteenth century, affecting many famous names including Vincent van Gogh and Al Capone.
What does it mean to be ‘mad’? In ‘How the Brain Lost its Mind’, the authors delve into the history of madness and how its definition has been constructed by society. They provide stories of the first neurologists, psychiatrists and alienists who attempted to find the causes and cures for madness. Through an exploration into neurosyphilis, this book encourages readers to consider how a disease of the brain affects a person’s mind and sanity.
The co-authors, Dr Allan H. Ropper, Professor of Neurology at Harvard University, and Brian David Burrell, mathematician at the University of Massachusetts Amhurst, bring contrasting and unique viewpoints to the narrative. Ropper and Burrell have previously co-authored ‘Reaching Down the Rabbit Hole’ together, an exciting collection of unusual cases from the neurology clinic, exploring what different symptoms can teach us about the journey towards a medical diagnosis.
Ropper and Burrell present a brief history, explanation, and exploration of neurosyphilis. They examine the mysterious cases of historical figures who were, likely, affected by the condition and the stories of doctors who sought to better understand these, often odd, presentations. Syphilis, itself, was known as ‘The Great Imitator’ because its myriad of symptoms could easily impersonate those of other conditions. This book primarily focuses
on neurosyphilis, a manifestation of the disease that attacks the central nervous system, potentially damaging the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. This results in the symptoms of psychosis, that have often been misdiagnosed as hysteria, or mislabelled as madness. I particularly enjoyed how the authors brought these patients to life, giving them stories and personalities, based on information from case notes and clinical records. I found myself engaged in the patients’ lives and what their delusions can tell us about them, often hoping for a resolution of their symptoms.
Of course, Jean-Martin Charcot, the ‘father’ of clinical neurology, makes an appearance. We are transported off to late 1800’s Paris, where the authors reimagine the scenes of Charcot bringing his ‘star’ patients, from the University Hospital, onstage to demonstrate hysteria and hypnosis. The added historical context from Ropper and Burrell, throughout the book, explores how these conditions were understood and viewed, as neurology and psychiatry emerged in medicine. Ropper and Burrell’s insights into the lives and attitudes of key historical figures provides an entertaining narrative of medicine in the 19th century.
As syphilis is a bacterial infection that was primarily, but not exclusively, transmitted through sexual contact, a significant amount of social stigma was attached to it. This shame, the lack of treatment options, and the fact that syphilis can also lay dormant in the body for decades without symptoms, meant many people did not seek medical intervention. The patients in this book represent the more extreme behavioural presentations because their neurosyphilis was advanced - they likely died soon after they were provided with medical care. The authors present the patient’s cases respectfully, whilst ensuring that the reader remains entertained and engaged.
Ropper & Burrell also explore some important ongoing discussions about the differing ways that mental illness, with a known biological cause (in this case syphilis), is managed in medicine and viewed by society. In illnesses where the biological cause is not known, or is less well understood - represented in this book by the authors’ comparison to hysteria - there can be a tendency to minimise the psychological and social determinants of disease.
The authors end with a reminder that is particularly pertinent in neuroscience: “What we tend to forget is that the brain is just a platform for the mind, not its blueprint” (Ropper & Burrell). This book is an enjoyable and informative insight into clinical neurology throughout history. The authors provide a balance of cases, biographies and stories that make for an engaging read whilst urging you to reflect on how we continually redefine ‘madness’ as a society.
This article was written by Emily Beswick and edited by Rebecca Pope. Interested in writing for WiNUK yourself? Contact us through the blog page and the editors will be in touch!
in Women in Neuroscience UK on 2024-04-15 15:07:53 UTC.
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On this week's Journal Club session, Olga Tveretina will talk about her work in the presentation entitled "Complexity of Reachability and Mortality for Low-dimensional Dynamical Systems".
Theory of dynamical systems provides a powerful framework for understanding complex dynamics, and its applications span a wide range of fields, including biological systems.
The reachability problem involves determining whether a given state or configuration of a system can be reached from another state through a sequence of transitions or actions. It is a fundamental question in computer science and has numerous applications across various domains. Thus, reachability analysis applied in systems biology helps to model and analyze biological networks such as gene regulatory networks, protein interaction networks, and metabolic pathways.
The mortality problem can be stated as follows: given a dynamical system, is it the case that all trajectories of the system are mortal? The mortality problem is relevant to the field of program termination, and it has been studied in different contexts and in different variants.
In this talk, I will present my current work on the computational complexity of reachability and mortality for specific classes of low- dimensional dynamical systems. Areas where variations of such systems arise include, among others, biological systems (gene regulatory networks), robotics (the configuration space of a robotic arm), and learning algorithms (finding a low-dimensional parameterization of high-dimensional data).
Papers:
Date: 2024/04/19
Time: 14:00
Location: C258 & online
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Applying to university can be daunting, especially when you are the first in your family to pursue higher education! Christabelle Asamoah brings us along on her journey, from her initial discovery of neuroscience, to experiencing it first-hand whilst studying at the University of Warwick.
Neuroscience - an unheard word, course, or career for me, up until 16 years of age. Finding a career choice that encapsulated all of my interests and desires was definitely the hardest decision for 16-year-old me. Unlike many others my age, I wasn’t fortunate to have parents who had undergone higher education, nor were knowledgeable about life science courses. However, I have always been fortunate to have an inquisitive mind – an inquisitive mind that wasn’t afraid to ask questions, wasn’t afraid to be wrong and learn from others, which guided me towards science and research. It was a surprise to realise that the inner workings of my brain - arguably the most important organ in my body, the coordinator of all my emotions and feelings, and the controller of all of my vital bodily functions - was a mystery to me. This curiosity is what led me to begin my exploration of the innovative field of neuroscience.
My Journey of Sixth Form and A- Levels
I altered my A-level subjects 3 times before my initial sixth form induction! The first combination was Maths, Economics & Sociology, but once I had discovered the content in the second year of A-level Maths, I decided it would be too complex for me. Subsequently, I changed my A-levels to Economics, Psychology and Sociology. Psychology was always a subject that I knew was commonly chosen and, after watching ‘crash courses’ on YouTube, attracted me to choose it. Although I study a STEM degree now, sciences had always frightened me during my secondary education, which is why I didn’t initially choose any of them at sixth form. However, my friends and family persuaded me to choose a more ‘facilitating’ subject - they were seen by Russell Group Universities as more desirable - so I switched Sociology for Biology. This persuasion worked in my favour - it is funny how a subject that I didn’t initially choose became my favourite out of the three, and ultimately led me here to my neuroscience degree today.
Eventually, I was definite about my choices and commenced sixth form with Biology, Economics and Psychology. Everyone always questions my choice of Economics as it seems to be an outlier in comparison to my other subjects. Economics was always the subject I struggled with the most, yet I don’t regret choosing it. It broadened my insight into world politics and economics and helped me to become the critical thinker I am today.
My A-level subjects were not conventional choices for the path to a Neuroscience degree, but it is important to do subjects that you enjoy and will inspire you (as long as they don’t close doors of interest to you!).
Choosing Universities
Once I decided to study BSc Neuroscience, the following difficulty was deciding which universities to choose. Unfortunately, I was exempt from many London universities, since many required Chemistry A level which I did not do. Many also required A*AA and so would not be an option, as I was predicted AAA. Rejection from these London universities was a blessing in disguise, although it didn’t seem like that at the time; living in London my whole life, I now believe it was important for me to experience another city/environment.
I had chosen 5 universities, ranging geographically from London to the midlands, with grades ranging from AAA to AAB. I was fortunate enough to attend the Warwick Summer School Sutton Trust, a programme centred around first generation or state school students, exploring the University of Warwick on a 5-day residential programme, free of any cost! This residential programme was instrumental in enhancing my understanding of what higher education would be like and the independence alongside it. The Sutton Trust was my first experience of higher education, its platform motivates state students, like myself, to feel more confident about our futures and aspire to access leading universities. I always recommend the Sutton Trust to first generation sixth-form students.
I was in awe of Warwick’s campus university, the greenery, and its sophisticated buildings, and this convinced me to ‘firm’ the University of Warwick - they even lowered their preferred grades to ABB for Neuroscience for me as I achieved a contextual offer. At the end of sixth form, I achieved AAB - the As in Psychology and Biology, exceeding my Warwick offer!
Delving into the UCAS application
As a first-generation university student with no older siblings, the UCAS process was novel to my parents and I. How do I write a personal statement? How do I compare universities? How do I apply for student finance? These were some of the questions I battled daily during this process. I didn’t want to bother my parents, knowing that this process was foreign to them too. It almost felt like I would endeavour this overwhelming process alone, until I was introduced to some sites which are still valuable in my educational journey.
ZeroGravity website was one of them; this website successfully paired me with a mentor, who was in her 3rd year of her Neuroscience degree. This platform, alongside LinkedIn and Black Excellence Network (BEN) mentorship encouraged me to communicate with mentors who were currently studying Neuroscience, or had recently graduated, and ask them questions about the modules of the degree, the UCAS process and future career prospects. They proof-read my personal statement multiple times, aided my comparison of university choices and ultimately supported my decision in firming the University of Warwick. The guidance and support from my mentors were unmatched. My advice, for other first-generation sixth form students, is to not “suffer in silence”. There are resources out there for you! Being inquisitive, curious and unafraid to ask for support and guidance led me to these resources, and these are characteristics that you should employ throughout higher education.
My Experience of Neuroscience
Initially, attending the University of Warwick for a STEM degree made me anxious. As Warwick is renowned for its economics and politics courses, I was afraid that, as a STEM student, I would be forgotten, or wouldn’t have the same exceptional learning experience as my social sciences friends. But, as my first year of university is quickly coming to an end, I can happily say I wouldn’t want to study anything else, anywhere else. It has been intriguing to learn and understand the brain.
But, what does a neuroscience degree actually entail? - this is a common question asked by my non-STEM friends. As it is classified as a biological science, we cover molecular biology and biochemistry in much greater depth - deeper than A-level Biology, which I didn’t even think was possible! Understanding the fundamentals of biology and chemistry is essential for all life science degrees.
In my first year, many of my modules have overlapped with the adjacent life science degrees, such as Biomedical Science and Biochemistry. Initially, learning in bigger lecture halls of 400 students was daunting, however, it has quickly become a community. It has been exceptional making friends and studying together with different life-science courses. It is always fascinating to hear about their own journeys into life sciences, many of which were different to my own. We also have our core Neuroscience module, “Cell Biology of Neurons”, which consists of novel information, fascinating research and provides a good foundation to the course. For example, we have been studying navigation systems in the brain, which asks questions like: How do we perceive time and the use of our cognitive maps to navigate locations, using different cells in our brains? The Neuroscience research conducted at Warwick always exceeds my imagination.
My Future
Although many perceive Neuroscience as a niche degree with narrow career prospects, it has already taught me many transferable skills, which make this degree very employable. I am excited to become more immersed in my University community and find life-long friends. Ultimately, I am excited to achieve more than I could ever imagine.
At the moment, I’m not entirely sure what I would like to pursue in the future, be it academia, industry, or healthcare etc. But platforms, like WiNUK, are so helpful to me and other unsure neuroscience students. I am excited for the upcoming years of my degree, engaging in innovative and evolving neuroscience research and discoveries.
But for now, I’m going to leave you with my top tips:
Changing your mind, changing your passions and changing your career options is normal - you are not expected to have your life meticulously planned
Outsourcing to social mobility platforms is essential - seek advice and access career opportunities from these platforms, especially as a first generation student
Connect with individuals who have been in the same position as you - foster a community with those that share similar goals to you, as they can offer valuable information and resources that can help you navigate your own goals
Be inquisitive and curious - no-one will shame you for asking questions, if you are unsure of a process, ask questions and seek solutions
Choose a degree that fascinates you always - this is 3-4 years of education and learning, it is vital to choose a degree that engages your mind
This article was written by Christabelle Asamoah and edited by Rebecca Pope. Interested in writing for WiNUK yourself? Contact us through the blog page and the editors will be in touch!
in Women in Neuroscience UK on 2024-04-13 09:32:03 UTC.
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The week at Retraction Watch featured:
Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up past 400. There are more than 48,000 retractions in The Retraction Watch Database — which is now part of Crossref. The Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker now contains more than 250 titles. And have you seen our leaderboard of authors with the most retractions lately — or our list of top 10 most highly cited retracted papers? What about The Retraction Watch Mass Resignations List — or our list of nearly 100 papers with evidence they were written by ChatGPT?
Here’s what was happening elsewhere (some of these items may be paywalled, metered access, or require free registration to read):
Like Retraction Watch? You can make a tax-deductible contribution to support our work, subscribe to our free daily digest or paid weekly update, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, or add us to your RSS reader. If you find a retraction that’s not in The Retraction Watch Database, you can let us know here. For comments or feedback, email us at team@retractionwatch.com.
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An academic editor at Wiley who vowed to “uphold publication ethics” is being investigated by the company for allegedly publishing three of his papers twice, in violation of journal policies, Retraction Watch has learned.
One of the duplicates, which appeared last year in Nurse Education in Practice, an Elsevier title, has already been slated for retraction, according to emails we have seen. The other offending articles were published in Wiley journals.
The editor, Daniel Joseph Berdida, is a nurse and faculty member at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, the Philippines. He joined the editorial board of Wiley’s Journal of Nursing Management four months ago, announcing on LinkedIn that he would “be serving with integrity and uphold publication ethics.”
After being confronted about the duplicate publication by Roger Watson, editor-in-chief of Nurse Education in Practice, Berdida acknowledged his transgression, explaining he had been “on health leave” for the past eight months and “a breakdown in communication” with his research assistant had “led to the current situation.”
“I fully acknowledge my responsibility in this matter,” Berdida wrote in a March 13 email. “If it is within your discretion, I would appreciate it if you could consider retracting the manuscript from your journal, given the circumstances.”
But Berdida had made the same excuse to one of the Wiley journals, and Watson was unconvinced.
“As with all violations of publication ethics, this is a most unfortunate set of duplications,” he told us. “It is doubly unfortunate for the author that the editors-in-chief of three of the publications involved are very close colleagues and regularly consult one another for advice. In this way we were able to tie the three incidences of duplication together. Let’s hope there are no more.”
The three duplicate articles are:
On March 20, Watson wrote to Berdida:
This is to inform you that Elsevier will be retracting your article in Nurse Education in Practice and due to the fact that we are aware of further duplications in other journals we are not satisfied with your response. Under these circumstances we consider that it is necessary to inform your dean.
Mark Hayter, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Clinical Nursing, in which one of the duplicate papers appeared, confirmed his publication was “involved in this matter,” adding, “It is currently being investigated by the Wiley publication ethics team.”
Berdida has not responded to our request for comment. The dean of his university’s College of Nursing, Rowena L. Escolar Chua, declined to comment, explaining, “I do not know the full story and the matter is still being investigated.”
Like Retraction Watch? You can make a tax-deductible contribution to support our work, subscribe to our free daily digest or paid weekly update, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, or add us to your RSS reader. If you find a retraction that’s not in The Retraction Watch Database, you can let us know here. For comments or feedback, email us at team@retractionwatch.com.
in Retraction watch on 2024-04-10 16:36:11 UTC.
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BMC Genomics – Exploring the ageing methylome in the model insect, Nasonia vitripennis
Epigenetic changes, based on dynamic DNA methylation patterns, have been consistently associated with aging processes. However, much about aging is currently based on two model organisms, Drosophila and C. elegans, that lack detectable DNA methylation. This study introduces Nasonia vitripennis, the jewel wasp, as an innovative model for the epigenetics of aging. Like current model organisms, Nasonia is easy and cheap to keep in a laboratory, has a short, characterized life cycle, and a sequenced genome. In addition, it features a functional DNA methylation system, although it has not been studied in the aging process.
To fill the gap, the authors measured for the first time its methylome using whole-genome bisulfite sequencing followed by methylation analysis. They identified several sites that are age- and sex-specifically methylated and they constructed an epigenetic clock containing 19 sites correlating epigenetic changes and chronological age. Contrary to mammalian aging, in Nasonia DNA methylation increases with age; females, generally living longer than males, display lower methylation levels as they age.
Although there is no direct correspondence between epigenetic clocks in Nasonia and humans, some intriguing functional overlaps exist, delivering Nasonia a first success as a model organism. Only time will tell if the jewel wasp can help suggest potential anti-aging interventions.
BMC Public Health – Differences in children’s exposure to television advertising of unhealthy foods and beverages in Spain by socio-economic level
Spain has one of the highest prevalence of obesity in Europe, mainly affecting lower class people. Socio-economic inequalities regarding eating habits and obesity are linked to the influence of advertising on food preferences and consumption. In this study, the exposure to advertising of foods and drinks is measured using a remote control device among 1590 Spanish children and adolescents, and crossed with the nutrient content profiles defined by the World Health Organization.
The results show an average of 10 commercials received per day, with most food and drink commercials being about unhealthy products and occurring within the evening, the peak child-audience time in Spain. The exposure of lower class participants to unhealthy products was double compared to higher social ones.
The observed exposure to unhealthy food and drink advertising is accounted for by the absence of regulation in Spain: there is nothing more than a voluntary code of conduct on food advertising targeting under-12 children, and it does not regulate the nutrient profile of the advertised products nor the broadcasting frequency. A recently proposed statutory regulation has been opposed by food and advertising industries, while civil society organizations are concerned not only to protect Spanish children from exposure, but also to reduce health-related social inequalities.
BMC Biomedical Engineering – Needle artifact reduction during interventional CT procedures using a silver filter
Metal surgical devices such as trocars can generate metal artifacts in interventional procedures guided through computed tomography, used for example in biopsies. This makes the detection and visualization of target elements more difficult, which is a problem especially in operations where precise positioning is essential. Recently, specific proprietary algorithms have been proposed for metal artifact reduction, but these may modify the non-artifactual image data while processing the artifact area and are not always available for real-time application, required in interventional imaging.
In this study, the authors investigate the use of a 0.5 mm silver filter to reduce metal artifacts The proposed method is based on the already known capacity of silver, similar to tin, to harden the X-ray beam, increasing the effective beam energy. A number of parameters were evaluated at different locations and different beam energies on an anthropomorphic phantom, describing image quality and the significance of the artifact along the trajectory of the needle.
The study shows that the use of a silver filter can significantly reduce metal artifacts, improving the visibility and the correct location of target structures without changing the overall image quality.
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth – Equity in prenatal healthcare services globally: an umbrella review
Higher risks of complications during and after pregnancy are associated with inadequate prenatal care, often rooted in systemic factors such as institutional racism, and social and economic inequities. Equity, conceptualized as the absence of differences in access and use among population groups, should be the ultimate goal of consistent health policies.
This umbrella review, including 68 quantitative and qualitative systematic reviews, aims to explore barriers and facilitators of equity in prenatal care. While the first authors of the systematic reviews were mainly from the UK, Canada and US, those of the studies included in those reviews were mainly from Africa and Asia. Although patterns are not always generalizable, similar determinants were found across countries and contexts, with pregnant women belonging to socially disadvantaged groups experiencing difficulties in accessing or receiving care in a wide range of prenatal services. Individual and social factors such as education level, socioeconomic status, rigidity of traditional gender roles led to a greater risk of adverse outcomes and lower utilization of care. Discrimination related with race, ethnicity, culture, language and religion was more common in North America, Europe, and Oceania.
Such a global perspective suggests the need to overcome barriers implementing specific interventions to favor inclusive access to health services. This includes awareness: the authors report that, ironically, the majority of studies did not define equity nor use any conceptual framework.
BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making – Communicating the results of risk-based breast cancer screening through visualizations of risk: a participatory design approach
Visualization of risk, although it seems trivial, is a hard task. To be effective, it should simplify complex information, be intuitive, and take into account people’s beliefs and experiences. For example, regular breast cancer screening offered at the population-level can cause false positives, overdiagnosis, and overtreatment. According to the experts, the benefit-harm trade-off might be improved by screening women at high risk more frequently than women at medium risk. However, the idea of potential harms in preventive health can be counterintuitive and women in lower risk categories may experience anxiety or feelings of unfairness due to a lower screening frequency.
In this participatory study, women’s perspectives are investigated to develop an effective quantitative and qualitative visual strategy to best inform on risk categories and breast cancer risk-based screening. The involved women wanted to understand their assignment to a certain risk category, preferably visualized in an icon array, and to get advice on risk reduction and self-examination; there was a general misconception that most risk factors are modifiable, while women tended to be unaware of breast density as a risk factor. Therefore, the resulting visual emphasized that risk is given by a combination of factors, including breast density. Similarly, the presented information sheets, reviewed by a board of experts, communicated risk to answer counterintuitive questions and reassure concerned women.
This work is a successful example of how non-specialists can help improve communication in the context of preventive health.
in BMC Series blog on 2024-04-10 10:52:29 UTC.
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Earlier this year, a group of lecturers in Malaysia received a WhatsApp message from a colleague who had made a disturbing discovery.
The colleague, who wished to remain anonymous for this story, was looking through Google Scholar and noticed their name, and many others from their department, repeatedly appeared alongside that of an unfamiliar author: Kumba Digdowiseiso, dean of the economics and business faculty at Universitas Nasional in Jakarta, Indonesia.
“We didn’t even know who this person was,” said Safwan Mohd Nor, an associate professor of finance at the university, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, adding that he was “extremely angry” when he first found out his name had been used.
Nor received unwanted bylines on four papers published in journals not indexed by Clarivate’s Web of Science. The journal editors have not responded to requests for comment. “It seems that this is like fraud or predatory journals,” Nor told Retraction Watch.
At least 24 staff at the university have been unwittingly added to the list of authors on the dean’s papers, Nor said, citing an internal survey documenting the extent of the issue that faculty have not made available despite several requests. Digdowiseiso has been in contact with one lecturer at the university and told Retraction Watch that the matter has been resolved, but many of the staff’s names still remain published online.
The university’s Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Development, where the affected staff are based, declined to comment.
Digdowiseiso has published at least 160 papers in 2024 alone, according to his Google Scholar profile, which casts a wider net for publications than other indexing services such as Web of Science.
The dean had visited the Malaysian university last year, according to the deputy dean of Academic and Student Affairs, Azwadi Ali. Ali said Digdowiseiso met with management to discuss student mobility, guest lectures and potential research collaboration. “But we did not know that this might happen,” Ali said.
But according to Nor, Digdowiseiso did not meet with the faculty lecturers and a collaboration was never agreed upon. “He just came to visit and suddenly we noticed our names in those papers,” Nor said.
His name has since been removed from one of the papers, but the remaining three still list Nor as an author. “I have never been involved in any of these papers, never consented to the use of my name without my direct research involvement, and never collaborated with Kumba Digdowiseiso or his co-authors my whole life,” Nor said.
He added that some of the staff’s names have been removed from the main page of the paper, but remain in the PDF versions and are still indexed by Google Scholar.
Nor, Ali and Fahirah Syaliza Mokhtar, another lecturer in the faculty and the university’s legal advisor, said they have attempted to contact Digdowiseiso but have not received a response. Mokhtar requested that he “ensure that our names would be retracted from the article, and that the article should be retracted from the journal,” she told us. “If [Digdowiseiso] wants to proceed with the journal publication, we have no problem with that, but we want to ensure that our names have been retracted from the journals.”
Ali said Digdowiseiso is in contact with Jumadil Saputra, one of the lecturers at the Malaysian university, who has not responded to our requests for comment. “When we asked him to retract our names, he actually replaced the names with [Saputra’s],” Ali said. Saputra is listed as an author on six publications alongside Digdowiseiso since the start of 2023, according to his Google Scholar profile.
Nor said Saputra told him Digdowiseiso is in the process of deleting the names. “Our names, however, are still there in the system, and deleting them later does not change the fact that Kumba Digdowiseiso has committed a serious academic offence,” Nor wrote in an email.
In response to our questions, Digdowiseiso wrote that the matter was “already resolved” between the faculties, but did not respond to follow-up questions.
“That’s weird, many of our names are still used illegally and displayed in those journal websites and Google Scholar,” Nor said of Digdowiseiso’s response. “Also our faculty is planning to organize a meeting with him, so how come he claimed the issue is resolved?”
Like Retraction Watch? You can make a tax-deductible contribution to support our work, subscribe to our free daily digest or paid weekly update, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, or add us to your RSS reader. If you find a retraction that’s not in The Retraction Watch Database, you can let us know here. For comments or feedback, email us at team@retractionwatch.com.
in Retraction watch on 2024-04-10 05:53:31 UTC.
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in Science News on 2024-04-09 19:51:19 UTC.
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in Science News on 2024-04-09 12:00:00 UTC.
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The amount of biological data stored on both local storage systems and online platforms and databases is as large as ever. With the constant increase in the use of data for both digital health and research purposes, ethics and data privacy are important consideration in this increasingly digital world. Matters such as the implications for future generations of storing genetic information, transparency when it comes to consent, human bias when handling data and considerations on benefits versus risks of storing certain types of information are some examples. Solutions for and conversations about cyber security and local storage vs online databases come into play.
The Collection Bioinformatics ethics and data privacy welcomes submissions on new computational approaches, tools, and databases to address issues and open questions in bioinformatics ethics and data privacy, including anonymization, encryption and data deposition.
In alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal SDG 16, which seeks to promote just, peaceful, and inclusive societies, this collection emphasizes the importance of respecting and upholding the right to privacy and access to information.
Vasiliki Rahimzadeh, PhD, Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Baylor College of Medicine, USA
Dr Vasiliki Rahimzadeh is an assistant Professor in the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy. She earned her PhD degree in biomedical ethics from McGill University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University with support from a National Human Genome Research Institute Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications Program training grant. Dr Rahimzadeh’s NIH-funded research centers on the ethical, legal, and social issues of health data sharing across emerging computing environments and how to embed stakeholder values into responsible stewardship systems for genomic data. She is a member of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health, where she contributes to developing worldwide policies on genomic data sharing.
This Collection welcomes submission of original Research, Software and Database articles. Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you have read our submission guidelines. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, SNAPP. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select [“Bioinformatics ethics and data privacy”] from the dropdown menu.
Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.
The Guest Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Guest Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.
If accepted for publication, article processing charges applies. Please click here to find out about our standard waiver policy.
The Collection is now open for submissions! The submission deadline is December 13th 2024.
in BMC Series blog on 2024-04-09 09:53:49 UTC.
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in For Better Science on 2024-04-09 05:00:00 UTC.
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in WIRED Science on 2024-04-08 20:59:34 UTC.
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On this week's Journal Club session, Na Helian will talk about "Attention in Neural Networks".
Based on the following papers, I will introduce different types of attention techniques for natural language and image processing applications.
Papers:
Date: 2024/04/12
Time: 14:00
Location: C258 & online
in UH Biocomputation group on 2024-04-08 11:20:04 UTC.
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in Science News on 2024-04-08 09:00:00 UTC.
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Toxicologic Pathology – a Sage title – has issued expressions of concern for six papers that were among the subjects of an investigation by Azabu University that concluded in November 2022.
The expression of concern, dated March 7, 2024, includes a list of the six articles and reads:
Toxicologic Pathology was contacted by the author, Shin Wakui, requesting retraction of these articles. Despite multiple attempts at gaining further information on the reasons for retraction, we have not received anymore communication regarding this case.
This expression of concern will remain in place until further evidence is provided to Sage.
The university issued a report about the misconduct findings in November 2022, which Lemonstoism, author of World Fluctuation Watch, sent us at the time and which we forwarded to Sage once we saw the expressions of concern. The university investigated 31 papers, of which at least two have been retracted.
The authors did not share that report when they contacted the journal in November 2023, a Sage spokesperson told Retraction Watch. “At this point it’s too soon to say how the report might impact any future action with the article,” Sage told us.
Wakui’s Azabu email address bounced, and we were unable to find other contact information for him.
Here are the six papers:
Collectively, the papers have been cited just shy of 100 times, with just a handful of those citations coming after the university report was published in 2022.
Like Retraction Watch? You can make a tax-deductible contribution to support our work, subscribe to our free daily digest or paid weekly update, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, or add us to your RSS reader. If you find a retraction that’s not in The Retraction Watch Database, you can let us know here. For comments or feedback, email us at team@retractionwatch.com.
in Retraction watch on 2024-04-08 08:49:43 UTC.
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in WIRED Science on 2024-04-07 11:30:00 UTC.