An analysis of citations to retracted articles in the scientific literature

When a journal article is found to contain significant errors or the experiment cannot be reproduced, it is typically retracted by the journal. Because a retraction statement appears in a subsequent issue of the journal, there is little linkage between the retraction and the retracted article. Being unaware of the retraction, researchers go on to reference retracted articles in their publications, further perpetuating this erroneous work. This study examines citations to retracted papers in the scientific literature and the context of these citations. Citations to 211 articles, published between 1996 and 2000, were analyzed; about 30% of the citations occurred after the articles had been retracted. An in-depth analysis of the context of four selected articles was conducted. Most of the citations were affirmative; only five of the 137 citations were negative. It is concluded that, with electronic publication and in electronic databases, retractions should be more closely linked with the article retracted

Rurality, Resilience, & Identity: A Soft Systems Methodology Approach to Understanding Self-Reported Issues in Rural America

This study investigates how rural communities In Oklahoma conceive of their socioeconomic position in larger systems, as well as their resiliency and ability to withstand challenges. Utilizing systems thinking and polycentricity literature, we analyze interviews to construct an understanding of how rural communities perceive themselves, and how this impacts interactions with other communities and governments. Rural communities and their associated challenges are complex and impacted by a range of factors. We find that rural residents also feel this complexity, and understand their issues as products of overlapping systems and structures, and both internal and external factors. Additionally, we observe little mention of issues defined by liberal-conservative lines, but instead as defined by the rural-urban divide, indicating these issues are defined not by political identity necessarily, but a place-based identity

Sleep and performance in simulated Navy watch schedules

The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2015.11.021To operate Navy ships 24h per day, watchstanding is needed around the clock,with watch periods reflecting a variety of rotating or fixed shift schedules. The 5/15 watch schedule cycles through watch periods with 5h on,15h off watch, such that watches occur 4h earlier on the clock each day–that is, the watches rotate backward. The timing of sleep varies over 4-day cycles, and sleep is split on some days to accommodate nighttime watchstanding. The 3/9 watch schedule cycles through watch periods with 3h on, 9h off watch, allowing for consistent sleep timing over days. In some sections of the 3/9 watch schedule, sleep may need to be split to accommodate nighttime watchstanding. In both the 5/15 and 3/9 watch schedules, four watch sections alternate to cover the 24h of the day. Here we compared sleep duration, psychomotor vigilance and subjective sleepiness in simulated sections of the 5/15 and 3/9 watch schedules. Fifteen healthy male subjects spent 6 consecutive days (5nights) in the laboratory. Sleep opportunities were restricted to an average of 6.5h daily. Actigraphically estimated sleep duration was 5.6h per watch day on average, with no significant difference between watch sections. Sleep duration was not reduced when sleep opportunities were split. Psychomotor vigilance degraded over watch days, and tended to be more variable in the 5/15 than in the 3/9 watch sections. These laboratory-based findings suggest that Navy watch schedules are associated with cumulative sleep loss and a build-up of fatigue across days. The fixed watch periods of the 3/9 watch schedule appear to yield more stable performance than the backward rotating watch periods of the 5/15 watch schedule. Optimal performance may require longer and more consistent daily opportunities for sleep than are typically obtained in Navy operations.Naval Postgraduate SchoolAward no. N62271-13-M-122

Airway hyperresponsiveness is associated with airway remodeling but not inflammation in aging Cav1(-/-) mice

BACKGROUND: Airway inflammation and airway remodeling are the key contributors to airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), a characteristic feature of asthma. Both processes are regulated by Transforming Growth Factor (TGF)-β. Caveolin 1 (Cav1) is a membrane bound protein that binds to a variety of receptor and signaling proteins, including the TGF-β receptors. We hypothesized that caveolin-1 deficiency promotes structural alterations of the airways that develop with age will predispose to an increased response to allergen challenge. METHODS: AHR was measured in Cav1-deficient and wild-type (WT) mice 1 to 12 months of age to examine the role of Cav1 in AHR and the relative contribution of inflammation and airway remodeling. AHR was then measured in Cav1-/- and WT mice after an ovalbumin-allergen challenge performed at either 2 months of age, when remodeling in Cav1-/- and WT mice was equivalent, and at 6 months of age, when the Cav1-/- mice had established airway remodeling. RESULTS: Cav1-/- mice developed increased thickness of the subepithelial layer and a correspondingly increased AHR as they aged. In addition, allergen-challenged Cav1-/- mice had an increase in AHR greater than WT mice that was largely independent of inflammation. Cav1-/- mice challenged at 6 months of age have decreased AHR compared to those challenged at 2 months with correspondingly decreased BAL IL-4 and IL-5 levels, inflammatory cell counts and percentage of eosinophils. In addition, in response to OVA challenge, the number of goblet cells and α-SMA positive cells in the airways were reduced with age in response to OVA challenge in contrast to an increased collagen deposition further enhanced in absence of Cav1. CONCLUSION: A lack of Cav1 contributed to the thickness of the subepithelial layer in mice as they aged resulting in an increase in AHR independent of inflammation, demonstrating the important contribution of airway structural changes to AHR. In addition, age in the Cav1-/- mice is a contributing factor to airway remodeling in the response to allergen challenge

Additional file 2: Figure S1. of The lung response to ozone is determined by age and is partially dependent on toll-Like receptor 4

Age-related effect of O3 on Glutathione reductase (GSR) expression. GSR expression was analyzed in lung tissue of mice (1 to 6 weeks of age) by real-time qPCR. Data are normalized to GAPDH and presented as mean ± SEM (n = 3–5 mice/group). *: p < 0.05, compared with age-matched FA-exposed controls; #: p < 0.05, compared with 1-week old group. (EPS 115 kb

Fraud: causes and culprits as perceived by science and the media. Institutional changes, rather than individual motivations, encourage misconduct

Franzen M, Rödder S, Weingart P. Fraud: causes and culprits as perceived by science and the media. EMBO reports. 2007;8(1):3-7