Posts

In the office today we are making snow with a sodium polyacrylate superabsorbent polymer. by Laura Smart Based in Switzerland, the Frontiers team are pretty familiar with snow. On clear days we can already see snow gathering on the nearby mountains and many of us are have started planning our winter ski, snowboarding and snowshoeing trips. However, in lots of places, including my native country, Scotland, snowfall is occasionally desired but unreliable....

Frontiers has published eBooks for the month of may, eBooks are open access research topics compiling articles in Science, Health & Engineering Below is a list of Frontiers eBooks published in April 2017. All Frontiers eBooks are free to download, share and distribute. Science: Health: Microbial and Environmental Factors in Autoimmune and Inflammatory Diseases, hosted by Marina I. Arleevskaya, Gayane Manukyan, Ryo Inoue and Rustam Aminov Engineering the Plant Factory for the Production of Biologics and Small-Molecule Medicines, hosted by Domenico De Martinis, Rosella Franconi, Eugenio Benvenuto, Edward P....

A process oriented teaching approach to improvisation in music opens new perspectives for education and enhances creativity. — By Fabienne Eckert World Music Day took place on 21 June, and many were looking forward to the musical events in the streets or parks and the atmosphere it brings with it. Watching musicians perform can be impressive, even more so when they improvise. The performers produce their works in real-time and while improvising, they manage several processes simultaneously including generating melodic and rhythmic sequences, coordinating performance with other musicians in an ensemble and evaluating internal and external stimuli....

By K.E.D Coan, science writer There is still much to learn about how Arctic migratory birds adjust their physiology during different phases of their life. For example, between winter and summer habitats, or during migration. A recent study published to Frontiers shows the first evidence that snow buntings keep their winter traits through migration. These findings may help researchers understand why snow bunting populations are declining, as well as expanding what is known about how buntings, and other species, endure Arctic weather....

We are delighted to announce that University College London has joined the national open access deal agreed between Jisc Collections and Frontiers. This landmark deal provides a simplified and streamlined route to open access publishing for researchers in the UK, who publish 7% of the world’s research. The JISC UK National Open Access Agreement with Frontiers allows discounts on Article Processing Charges (APCs) for eligible articles. As part of this arrangement, eligible authors may publish in any Frontiers journal at no cost to them and with a simplified process....

While female participation in science has increased, STEM is still largely male-dominated, and a lot more needs to be done to shift the balance. Join our celebration of women and girls in science by lending your voice on social media While female participation in science has increased, STEM is still largely male-dominated, and a lot more needs to be done to shift the balance The 2018 McKinsey report Delivering through diversity found that “companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on their executive teams were 21% more likely to experience above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile....

Media coverage of research published in Frontiers. Drinking water is good for you. But did you know it can boost cognitive performance? Caroline Edmonds and colleagues from the University of East London and the University of Westminster report that reaction times were up to 14% shorter after drinking water. As part of a study, they tested 34 adults, who had not eaten or drunk anything overnight, for memory, attention, learning, and reaction time....

Professors Marcia Ory and Matthew Lee Smith lead new specialty on Aging and Public Health There are more adults age 65 years and older on the planet than ever before and this number is only set to increase. Aging and Public Health a new section in Frontiers in Public Health led by Specialty Chief Editors Professor Marcia G. Ory and Professor Matthew Lee Smith, Texas A&M University aims to advance the scientific basis of knowledge and action to improve the health and quality of life for older adult populations and to enhance the research, practice and policy related to aging....

Matthew Farrer leads the new specialty section on Neurogenetics in Frontiers in Neuroscience, which aims to explore new opportunities in the field and support understanding of brain function at molecular and physiologic levels. Specialty Chief Editor, Matthew Farrer, on how to unshroud brain mysteries and accelerate the field of Neurology by Rossella Rebecchi It minimally takes about 20,390 genes to make us human, genes that are written in the letters of the bases of our DNA, that provide information and instructions to our bodies, that make our component parts....

A Frontiers white paper on the impact of transformative agreements in the transition to open access publishing A Frontiers white paper on the impact of transformative agreements in the transition to open access publishing. The substantial benefits of open access (OA) publishing are within our reach, but legacy publishers are employing commercial tactics to delay the necessary transition. This paper exposes several of the negative, often unintended, consequences of “transformative agreements” (TAs)....

Grégoire Millet and Richard Giulianotti lead Frontiers in Sports and Active Living — Emma Overmaat Sports permeate all aspects of our lives – as leisure, an important part of the economy, a way to create social identities, and a paramount factor of physical and mental health. But the World Health Organization estimates that 1 in 4 adults and more than 80% of adolescents are not physically active enough worldwide. Tackling problems in daily life through sport research...

Robust Brain Hyperglycemia during General Anesthesia: Relationships with Metabolic Brain Inhibition and Vasodilation R. Aaron Bola and Eugene A. Kiyatkin* Overexpression of Striated Muscle Activator of Rho Signaling (STARS) Increases C2C12 Skeletal Muscle Cell Differentiation Marita A. Wallace, Paul A. Della Gatta, Bilal Ahmad Mir, Greg M. Kowalski, Joachim Kloehn, Malcom J. McConville, Aaron P. Russell and Severine Lamon* Exercise Decreases Lipogenic Gene Expression in Adipose Tissue and Alters Adipocyte Cellularity during Weight Regain After Weight Loss Erin D....

Some men taking the highest recommended dose of sildenafil reported blurred vision, light sensitivity and color issues: Frontiers in Neurology — by Conn Hastings, Frontiers Science Writer Sildenafil is commonly used to treat erectile dysfunction and is generally regarded as safe with limited side effects. However, a recent study in Frontiers in Neurology has highlighted the risk of persistent visual side-effects, such as light sensitivity and color vision impairment, in men who have taken the highest recommended dose of sildenafil....

Integration with two leading grantee and pre-publication platforms further simplifies the submission process for Frontiers’ authors. Integration with leading grantee platforms and pre-print servers further simplifies the submission process for Frontiers’ authors. Authors can now easily and quickly submit manuscripts directly to Frontiers from two platforms: Chronos — a platform that enables researchers, research organizations, funders and publishers, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to easily comply with funder publishing mandates — and pre-print repository bioRxiv....

Harmful deep sea mining could be avoided altogether if humanity moves towards a “circular economy” that focuses on reuse and recycling of metals, reduces overconsumption and limits built-in obsolescence of technology; Frontiers in Marine Science Harmful deep sea mining could be avoided altogether if humanity moves towards a “circular economy” that focuses on reuse and recycling of metals, reduces overconsumption and limits built-in obsolescence of technology — by University of Exeter, UK...

By Conn Hasting, science writer Colorful virtual reality cityscape. Image credit: A. Batistatou, F. Vandeville, and Y.N. Delevoye-Turrell Urban environments can be drab and stressful, but introducing vegetation or colorful designs could improve the wellbeing of city dwellers. A new study investigated the potential of these simple interventions using a virtual reality simulation. It found that green vegetation was pleasurable for volunteers, whereas colorful designs increased curiosity and fascination. The virtual methods could be useful for urban planners in testing new methods to improve wellbeing....

Media coverage of research published in Frontiers. A device that trains the brain to turn sounds into images could be used as an alternative to invasive treatment for blind and partially-sighted people, researchers at the University of Bath have found. A research team, led by Dr Michael Proulx, from the University’s Department of Psychology, looked at how blindfolded sighted participants responded to an eye test using the vOICe sensory substitution device....

Not all people have equal access to science. In places where funds are particularly scarce, open access to science could bring fortune. Defining fortune The development of a country is officially measured with statistical indexes such as income per capita, gross domestic product, life expectancy and literacy. Science literacy is more subjective and is not normally considered a basic need; it is nonetheless, of great value for development of a country....

Research Topics are peer-reviewed special issues, uniting the world’s leading experts around the hottest topics. Research Topics are peer-reviewed article collections, uniting the world’s leading experts around the hottest topics. Many Research Topics are multidisciplinary so papers can be submitted to any participating journal. Open for submissions: Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence | Frontiers in Big Data Reimagining Health Systems: leveraging AI/ML for Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs)Edited by Alain B Labrique, Wojciech Samek, Valérie D’Acremont, Richard Ribon Fletcher...

The integration of AIRA — Artificial Intelligence Review Assistant — into Frontiers’ digital peer-review platform enables faster, more efficient quality control and manuscript handling In an industry first, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being deployed to help review research papers and assist in the peer-review process. The state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence Review Assistant (AIRA), developed by open-access publisher Frontiers, helps editors, reviewers and authors evaluate the quality of manuscripts. AIRA reads each paper and can currently make up to 20 recommendations in just seconds, including the assessment of language quality, the integrity of the figures, the detection of plagiarism, as well as identifying potential conflicts of interest....