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by Jochen Meier, Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, Specialty Chief Editor Aloha: Thanks to the Frontiers Travel Award I am providing herewith an overview and some highlights of the Winter Conference on Neural Plasticity WCNP, Sunday January 31 – Friday February 05, Maui Hawaii. Janelle C. LeBoutillier and Ted L. Petit again did a great job and organized this conference which took place at the Sheraton Hotel Ka’anapali (see: http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~wcnp/ ). It was an intriguing international conference with approximately 75 participants from all over the world....

By Tania Fitzgeorge-Balfour, science writer Plastic pollution is not just a problem for larger marine animals. Dinoflagellates, which are single-celled marine predators, can also ingest microplastic which in turn limits their growth and consequently their overall abundance. This has implications for the larger animals that feed on these microscopic predators, in terms of available food and the transfer of energy up the food chain. Microscopic marine predators can ingest microplastic, which in turn lowers their growth and overall abundance, finds a recent study published in Frontiers in Marine Science....

Altered Amygdala Connectivity in Individuals with Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury and Comorbid Depressive Symptoms Kihwan Han*, Sandra B. Chapman and Daniel C. Krawczyk Plasma 24-metabolite Panel Predicts Preclinical Transition to Clinical Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease Massimo S. Fiandaca, Xioagang Zhong, Amrita K. Cheema, Michael H. Orquiza, Swathi Chidambaram, Ming T. Tan, Carole Roan Gresenz, Kevin T. FitzGerald, Michael A. Nalls, Andrew B. Singleton, Mark Mapstone and Howard J. Federoff* Structural Connectivity is Differently Altered in Dementia with Lewy Body and Alzheimer’s Disease Stefano Delli Pizzi, Raffaella Franciotti, John-Paul Taylor, Roberto Esposito, Armando Tartaro, Astrid Thomas, Marco Onofrj and Laura Bonanni*...

Despite a gender imbalance, there is no evidence for gender bias against women in securing tenure-track positions in philosophy — By Conn Hastings Despite being a male-dominated field, a recent study has found no evidence for gender bias against women in philosophy, in terms of securing tenure-track positions as college professors. Good news, but why aren’t there more women in philosophy? Gender imbalance is prevalent in many fields. In the humanities, one discipline stands out for its underrepresentation of women – philosophy....

By Prof Iain Stewart, Royal Scientific Society, Amman, Jordan/Colm Gorey, Frontiers science writer Prof Iain Stewart of the Royal Scientific Society in Amman, Jordan has appeared on our television screens to educate us on the fantastic field of geoscience. Now, collaborating with Frontiers, he has highlighted what role universities have in building a more sustainable world. The profound threat to the long-term wellbeing of society as a whole, both present and future generations, is arguably the most acute threat humanity has ever faced....

by Brittany Alexander, Frontiersin.org Marine fisheries catches have been drastically under-reported in the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean, threatening the marine environment and livelihoods of the local community, reveals a recent study published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Marine Science. Actual catches on the islands were an alarming 2.8 times, or 86% higher than that reported to the FAO, and this has very troubling implications. Lead researcher Aylin Ulman, recently based at the Sea Around Us, and her team call for urgent action from policy-makers to ensure the future sustainability of the fishing industry in this archipelago nation....

We are delighted to announce that the Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State) has established an institutional membership agreement for open access publishing with Frontiers. The Iowa State University of Science and Technology supports its researchers in making their research more widely available. As part of this support, Iowa State University Library has entered an institutional agreement with Frontiers. Under the terms of this agreement, eligible authors from Iowa State University may publish in any Frontiers journal at no cost to the author....

Hormone exposure in the womb potentially linked to migraine risk in later life, finds new study in Frontiers in Pain Research By Tania Fitzgeorge-Balfour, science writer Hormone levels in the womb before birth have been potentially linked to the risk of developing migraine in adulthood, reveals a new study of genetic and environmental information from the world’s largest database of twins. The research is also the first to show that genetic factors related to migraine risk may be different for men and women....

Children from high-fat diet mothers have altered brain circuitry into adulthood. Research from Frontiers in Endocrinology explains how a preference for unhealthy foods can be passed from mother to child during pregnancy. Rats that ate junk food during pregnancy had pups that preferred the taste of fat during childhood and had altered brain circuitry into adulthood. — By Conn Hastings Researchers in France found that rats who ate a junk food diet during pregnancy had heavier pups that strongly preferred the taste of fat straight after weaning....

Catch up with the most viewed articles from Frontiers in Physiology this May. All are Open Access – enjoy! Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)MoreClick to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)...

An analysis of vaginal bacteria could help identify those at risk of giving birth prematurely: Frontiers in Microbiology — by Tania Fitzgeorge-Balfour, Frontiers Science Writer Pregnant women who deliver early are more likely to have a diverse community of vaginal bacteria, finds a new study published in Frontiers in Microbiology. These findings also highlight specific bacteria associated with premature birth and could help identify the women most at risk of giving birth prematurely....

Throughout the United States, undergraduate programs in public health are rapidly expanding. Dr. Connie Evashwick is involved with Frontiers as co-Editor of Frontiers in Public Health Education and Promotion. Given the growth of the number of programs and students in this field, she and colleagues Dr. Cheryl Addy, Dr. Daniel Gerber, and Dr. David Dyjack suggested creating a Research Topic on Undergraduate Education for Public Health in the United States....

Recent study challenges the view that the negative side effects of these drugs can be cancelled out when they are taken together Recent study challenges the view that the negative side effects of these drugs can be cancelled out when they are taken together. — By Radhaika Kapur French novelist Honore de Balzac described coffee’s effect as: “Ideas begin to move like the battalions of the Grand Army on the battlefield, and the battle takes place....

Converging social inclusion, climate change and economic development: Giuseppe Carrus leads Environmental Psychology “Environmental psychology, together with many other disciplines, can offer its contribution to tackle the big societal challenges that we currently face at the global level, such as climate change and global warming, resiliency of ecosystems and humans, health and wellbeing, education, social inclusion, economic development,” says Giuseppe Carrus, new Chief Editor of Environmental Psychology. For Giuseppe Carrus, the increasing complexity of human societies in the globalized and digitalized era represents a scientific challenge, so that environmental psychology might need to go beyond its traditional thematic interests and research methods....

For nearly 30 years, Eleanor Selfridge-Field has been working in the field of Digital Musicology. She’s currently a Consulting Professor of Music and Symbolic Systems at Stanford in California and an Associate Editor for the Digital Musicology section of Frontiers in Digital Humanities. But the journey into her amazing career was one of serendipity. By Michelle Ponto, science writer For nearly 30 years, Eleanor Selfridge-Field has been working in the field of Digital Musicology....

To coincide with the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, Frontiers has today launched a brand new blog series focusing on just that. To coincide with the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, Frontiers has today launched a brand new blog series focusing on just that. Over the next year, we will be interviewing and publishing a series of Q&A style interviews with inspiring female researchers from within the Frontiers community about their careers, roles, and views of science....

By Laura E. Perlini, Frontiers The first evidence of the capacity of the human being to conceive and manufacture an object that could replace a malfunctioning part of the body is dated between 1295 and 664 B.C. It is the “Greville Chester Great Toe”: a prosthetic toe made using linen, glue, and plaster. It was supposed to aid people who had lost their toe to walk or balance. From ancient Egyptian times, much progress has been made, and nowadays, we are able to make devices that replace or supplement the input and/or output of the nervous system and could ideally bypass neural deficits caused by a disease....

Under the terms of Luxembourg’s new national publishing agreement with Frontiers, the Luxembourg National Research Fund will cover Article Processing Charges (APCs) for eligible articles centrally for their eligible authors, benefitting from a 7.5% membership discount per this agreement. For more information on Luxembourg’s national publishing agreement with Frontiers, please see the announcements by the National Library of Luxembourg (BNL) and Frontiers. Information for authors: Authors should submit their FNR-funded manuscripts through ChronosHub to have the eligible APC amount directly paid by the FNR....

A recent study, published in Frontiers in Chemistry, examines how fungal infections affect the aroma of wine reveals they do in fact change the aroma of wine. Fungal infections affect the aroma of wine reveals through changes in chemical aroma substance composition — By Anna Sigurdsson, Frontiers science writer In a research article recently published in Frontiers in Chemistry, a team of researchers investigated the effects of fungal infection on wine produced from the grape varieties White Riesling, Red Riesling and Gewürztraminer, and the effect of powdery mildew on wine made from the unsprayed hybrid grape type Gm 8622-3....

Augmented IFN-γ and TNF-α Induced by Probiotic Bacteria in NK Cells Mediate Differentiation of Stem-Like Tumors Leading to Inhibition of Tumor Growth and Reduction in Inflammatory Cytokine Release; Regulation by IL-10 Vickie T. Bui, Han-Ching Tseng, Anna Kozlowska, Phyu Ou Maung, Kawaljit Kaur, Paytsar Topchyan and Anahid Jewett* Bad News: Analysis of the Quality of Information on Influenza Prevention Returned by Google in English and Italian Ali Maki, Roger Evans and Pietro Ghezzi*...