What senior academics can do to support reproducible and open research: a short, three-step guide

Increasingly, policies are being introduced to reward and recognise open research practices, while the adoption of such practices into research routines is being facilitated by many grassroots initiatives. However, despite this widespread endorsement and support, open research is yet to be widely adopted, with early career researchers being the notable exception. For open research to become the norm, initiatives should engage academics from all career stages, particularly senior academics (namely senior lecturers, readers, professors) given their routine involvement in determining the quality of research. Senior academics, however, face unique challenges in implementing policy change and supporting grassroots initiatives. Given that - like all researchers - senior academics are in part motivated by self-interest, this paper lays out three feasible steps that senior academics can take to improve the quality and productivity of their research, that also serve to engender open research. These steps include a) change hiring criteria, b) change how scholarly outputs are credited, and c) change to funding and publishing with open research. The guidance we provide is accompanied by live, crowd-sourced material for further reading

Finding maxmin allocations in cooperative and competitive fair division

We consider upper and lower bounds for maxmin allocations of a completely divisible good in both competitive and cooperative strategic contexts. We then derive a subgradient algorithm to compute the exact value up to any fixed degree of precision.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figures. This third version improves the overll presentation; Optimization and Control (math.OC), Computer Science and Game Theory (cs.GT), Probability (math.PR

Linear regression for numeric symbolic variables: an ordinary least squares approach based on Wasserstein Distance

In this paper we present a linear regression model for modal symbolic data. The observed variables are histogram variables according to the definition given in the framework of Symbolic Data Analysis and the parameters of the model are estimated using the classic Least Squares method. An appropriate metric is introduced in order to measure the error between the observed and the predicted distributions. In particular, the Wasserstein distance is proposed. Some properties of such metric are exploited to predict the response variable as direct linear combination of other independent histogram variables. Measures of goodness of fit are discussed. An application on real data corroborates the proposed method

Weight loss and clinical characteristics of young adults patients seeking treatment at medical centers: Data from the QUOVADIS Study

OBJECTIVE: To compare clinical characteristics, attrition, weight loss, and psychological changes of obese young adults and obese adults seeking treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 1530 individuals seeking treatment in 18 Italian medical centers were evaluated. 382 cases (25%) were classified as young adults (age≤35 years), 1148 (75%) as adults (>35 years). Psychological distress, binge eating, body uneasiness, and attitude towards eating were evaluated, at baseline and after a 12-month weight-loss program, together with BMI changes. Weight-loss expectations and primary motivation for seeking treatment were also recorded. RESULTS: At baseline, young adults reported significantly higher BMI at age 20, weight loss expectations and body uneasiness scores than adults. A significantly higher percentage of young adults also reported improving appearance as primary reason for seeking treatment. The attrition rate was significantly larger in young adults. Among completers, the mean percent weight loss at 12 months and improvement of psychosocial variables were significantly higher in young adults than in adults. By intention to treat, BMI changes were no longer significant between groups. DISCUSSION: Obese young adults lose more weight and considerably improve psychological distress, but show a higher attrition rate after 12 months of continuous care in a real world medical setting

The Interplay between Magnesium and Testosterone in Modulating Physical Function in Men

The role of nutritional status as determinant of successful aging is very well recognized. There is recent evidence that nutrition may exert its beneficial effects through the modulation of the hormonal anabolic milieu. Under-nutrition and anabolic hormonal deficiency frequently coexist in older individuals determining an increased risk of mobility impairment and adverse outcomes. Mineral dietary assessment has received attention as key component of the nutritional modulation of anabolic status and physical performance. There is evidence that several minerals, including magnesium, exert a positive influence on Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) secretion in both sexes, and Testosterone (T) in men. In this review we summarize the existing knowledge about the mechanisms by which magnesium can affect T bioactivity in older men. Particular attention will be also devoted to the preliminary observational and intervention studies addressing the relationship between magnesium and T in adult and older individuals. We believe that, if larger studies will confirm these pivotal data, hormonal and mineral strategies might be adopted as synergistic treatment to approach the multifactorial nature of accelerated aging

The Circumgalactic Medium in Massive Halos

This chapter presents a review of the current state of knowledge on the cool (T ~ 1e4 K) halo gas content around massive galaxies at z ~ 0.2-2. Over the last decade, significant progress has been made in characterizing the cool circumgalactic gas in massive halos of Mh ~ 1e12-1e14 Msun at intermediate redshifts using absorption spectroscopy. Systematic studies of halo gas around massive galaxies beyond the nearby universe are made possible by large spectroscopic samples of galaxies and quasars in public archives. In addition to accurate and precise constraints for the incidence of cool gas in massive halos, detailed characterizations of gas kinematics and chemical compositions around massive quiescent galaxies at z ~ 0.5 have also been obtained. Combining all available measurements shows that infalling clouds from external sources are likely the primary source of cool gas detected at d >~ 100 kpc from massive quiescent galaxies. The origin of the gas closer in is currently less certain, but SNe Ia driven winds appear to contribute significantly to cool gas found at d < 100 kpc. In contrast, cool gas observed at d <~ 200 kpc from luminous quasars appears to be intimately connected to quasar activities on parsec scales. The observed strong correlation between cool gas covering fraction in quasar host halos and quasar bolometric luminosity remains a puzzle. Combining absorption-line studies with spatially-resolved emission measurements of both gas and galaxies is the necessary next step to address remaining questions.Comment: 29 pages, 7 figures, invited review to appear in "Gas Accretion onto Galaxies", Astrophysics and Space Science Library, eds. A. Fox & R. Dave, to be published by Springe

Perfluoroalkyl substances, sex hormones, and insulin-like growth factor-1 at 6–9 Years of age : a cross-sectional analysis within the C8 health project

Background: Exposure to some perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), such as perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), may alter levels of sex hormones and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in animals. Human studies on this topic are scarce and none have been conducted in young children. Objectives: To investigate the relationship between levels of PFAS and estradiol, total testosterone and IGF-1 in 2,292 children (aged 6-9 years) from the C8 Health Project living near a chemical plant in the Mid-Ohio Valley (USA) with local contamination from PFOA. Methods: Serum samples were collected in 2005-2006 and analyzed for PFAS, sex hormones and IGF-1. Results from regression models were expressed as the adjusted percentage difference (95% CI) per sex-specific interquartile range (IQR) increment of each PFAS serum concentration. Analyses by PFAS quartiles were also conducted. Results: Median concentrations of PFHxS, PFOA, PFOS, and PFNA were 8, 35, 22, and 1.7 ng/mL in boys and 7, 30, 21, and 1.7 ng/mL in girls. In boys, PFOA concentrations were significantly associated with testosterone levels (-4.9% [-8.7, -0.8%]); PFOS with estradiol (-4.0% [-7.7, -0.1%]), testosterone (-5.8% [-9.4, -2.0%]), and IGF-1 (-5.9% [-8.3, -3.3%]); and PFNA with IGF-1 (-3.5% [-6.0, -1.0%]). In girls, significant associations were found between PFOS and testosterone (-6.6% [-10.1, -2.8%]) and IGF-1 (-5.6% [-8.2, -2.9%]); and PFNA and IGF-1 (-3.8% [-6.4, -1.2%]). In both sexes, the magnitudes of the associations decreased monotonically across quartiles for testosterone and PFOS, and for IGF-1 and both PFOS and PFNA. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study suggesting that PFAS are associated with lowe

A multi-disciplinary perspective on emergent and future innovations in peer review [version 2; referees: 2 approved]

Peer review of research articles is a core part of our scholarly communication system. In spite of its importance, the status and purpose of peer review is often contested. What is its role in our modern digital research and communications infrastructure? Does it perform to the high standards with which it is generally regarded? Studies of peer review have shown that it is prone to bias and abuse in numerous dimensions, frequently unreliable, and can fail to detect even fraudulent research. With the advent of web technologies, we are now witnessing a phase of innovation and experimentation in our approaches to peer review. These developments prompted us to examine emerging models of peer review from a range of disciplines and venues, and to ask how they might address some of the issues with our current systems of peer review. We examine the functionality of a range of social Web platforms, and compare these with the traits underlying a viable peer review system: quality control, quantified performance metrics as engagement incentives, and certification and reputation. Ideally, any new systems will demonstrate that they out-perform and reduce the biases of existing models as much as possible. We conclude that there is considerable scope for new peer review initiatives to be developed, each with their own potential issues and advantages. We also propose a novel hybrid platform model that could, at least partially, resolve many of the socio-technical issues associated with peer review, and potentially disrupt the entire scholarly communication system. Success for any such development relies on reaching a critical threshold of research community engagement with both the process and the platform, and therefore cannot be achieved without a significant change of incentives in research environments