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Growing up in stimulating environments causes epigenetic changes to genomic regions important for cognitive mental health: Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Scientists use a swathe of modern techniques to map, in unprecedented detail, the molecular changes in the brain of mice that grew up in stimulating surroundings. These can be pinpointed to specific ‘epigenetic’ modifications to the genome within neurons and glia cells. These then regulate the activity of a minority of genes, especially within genomic regions implicated in cognitive mental health in humans....

This institutional agreement means that researchers affiliated with the University of Münster may publish in any Frontiers journal at no cost to them and with a simplified process. The university also benefits from a 10% membership discount. The university library supports its researchers in making their research more widely available. This agreement will further encourage them to publish open access, increasing the volume of research openly available. While this reduces costs for the researcher, it also benefits the wider research community and the public at large....

Wolves pursue a high-risk, all-or-nothing strategy when gambling for food, while dogs are more cautious, shows a new study. This difference is likely innate and adaptive, reflecting the hunter versus scavenger lifestyle of wolves and dogs. Would you rather get 100 euros for certain, or have a fifty-fifty chance of receiving either 200 euros or nothing? Most choose the first, as humans tend to be “risk-averse”, preferring a guaranteed pay-off over the possibility of a greater reward....

We dive into the Early Career Insights section with a triple interview with particle physicists: Dr. Andrew Laing, Dr. Paola Ferrario and Dr. Justo Martín-Albo. We dive into the Early Career Insights section with a triple interview with particle physicists Dr. Andrew Laing (Scottish, doing his second postdoc), Dr. Paola Ferrario (Italian, doing her first postdoc) and Dr. Justo Martín-Albo (Spanish, recently graduated PhD). They work together at IFIC in Valencia (Spain) searching for neutrinoless double beta decays in the NEXT experiment....

Spatial and Temporal Variation in Selection of Genes Associated with Pearl Millet Varietal Quantitative Traits In situ Cédric Mariac, Issaka S. Ousseini, Abdel-Kader Alio, Hélène Jugdé, Jean-Louis Pham, Gilles Bezançon, Joelle Ronfort, Luc Descroix and Yves Vigouroux* Genetic Diversity and Molecular Evolution of a Violaxanthin De-epoxidase Gene in Maize Jing Xu, Zhigang Li, Haorui Yang, Xiaohong Yang, Cuixia Chen* and Hui Li* Analysis of Variance Components for Genetic Markers with Unphased Genotypes Tao Wang*...

By Pascal Rocha da Silva, Frontiers analyst Frontiers in Physiology was launched in 2010. In just 4 years, it has become the second largest and the 4th most cited Physiology journal in the world. The impact factor (IF), defined as the total number of citations divided by the number of citable articles over a two-year period, is the gold standard of journal quality (not of an individual scientist). It was formally established by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) in 1975....

Contrary to popular belief, sex before sport doesn’t have a negative effect on the athlete and could even benefit performance. — By Tania Fitzgeorge-Balfour, science writer Over the course of the Rio Olympics, 450,000 condoms were distributed around the athlete’s village. This may be surprising considering the common view that abstinence from sexual activity can boost athletic performance. These long-standing views have now been challenged by a recent analysis of current scientific evidence, published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Physiology....

Scientists re-purpose wasted bread as a more sustainable starter for the food industry: Frontiers in Microbiology — by Peter Rejcek, Frontiers Science Writer As much as a third of food produced for human consumption is wasted or lost globally every year. New research published in Frontiers in Microbiology suggests one way to take a big bite out of food waste is to use bread destined for the dumpster as a medium for cultivating microbial starters for the food industry....

Robots can replace animals to teach us more about biology: Frontiers in Neurorobotics By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer / Toyoaki Tanikawa, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Osaka University In the young discipline of robotics-inspired biology, robots replace experimental animals, allowing researchers to learn about animals under a wider range of conditions than exist in nature or the laboratory What is the secret behind the steady but oh-so-elegant way in which cats move?...

By Tania FitzGeorge-Balfour, Frontiers science writer Several species of mammoth are thought to have roamed across the North American continent. A new study in the open-access journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, provides DNA evidence to show that these mammoths, which should only mate within their species boundaries, were in fact likely to be interbreeding. A species can be defined as a group of similar animals that can successfully breed and produce fertile offspring....

We invite you to read the compelling story of Ibn Sina – the remarkable polymath Canons of medicine book | Public Domain Frontiers for Young Minds is diving into the archives to introduce you to scientists you may not have heard of before, but definitely should have! Today, we will be telling the story of the praiseworthy Persian polymath (try saying that 3x times fast!) responsible for some of the methods doctors and governments have used throughout the pandemic to help keep us safe – Ibn Sina....

Selected news, views and information on Open Science and scholarly publishing from the past week Wiley Exchanges Trust and transparency in peer review [webinar] Wiley Exchanges The good, the challenging, and the rewarding: perspectives on peer review by discipline Wiley Exchanges Top tips for peer reviewers Wiley Exchanges Peer review around the world Wiley Exchanges Peer review – a discussion Sage Connecting with the community: Sense About Science and the value of peer review...

Frontiers is the 4th most cited publisher amongst the 20 largest publishers, ranked by average citations over a three-year period (2015-2017). The same analysis also reveals a citation advantage of Open Access journals over subscription journals in the last three years. https://blog.frontiersin.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/scimago-header-image-2.jpg — by Mirjam Curno and Stephanie Oeben In 2017, 16% of peer-reviewed papers worldwide were published in fully Open Access journals according to SCImago (2018). After over two decades of the Open Access revolution, this is a far cry from the aspired 100%....

We are pleased to announce that the University of Lincoln has joined the UK 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. The University of Lincoln supports its researchers in making their research more widely available. As part of this deal, eligible authors may publish in any Frontiers journal with a discount of 10% on Article Processing Charges (APCs) for articles....

Huan Liu, Chief Editor of the new Data Mining and Management section of Frontiers in Big Data, gives his insights on value and privacy implications associated with big data and data mining In the wake of recent controversies over data mining, Huan Liu — one of the people behind ground-breaking TweetTracker technology — gives his insights on value and privacy implications associated with big data and data mining. — By Louisa Wood...

We are delighted to announce that the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf (Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf / UKE) has established an institutional membership agreement for open access publishing with Frontiers. The University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf supports its researchers in making their research more widely available. As part of this support, the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf has entered an institutional agreement with Frontiers. Under the terms of this agreement, eligible authors from the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf may publish in any Frontiers journal at no cost to them and with a simplified process....

Professor David Jay Segal joins Frontiers in Genome Editing in a new capacity as Field Chief Editor. Frontiers in Genome Editing is an open access journal dedicated to ensuring genome editing becomes an accessible and transformative tool with a spectrum of applications from human health to plant sciences. Professor David Jay Segal joins Frontiers in Genome Editing in a new capacity as Field Chief Editor alongside his Specialty Chief Editor role for the Genome Engineering and Neurologic Disorders section....

Many undocumented health problems discovered among those exposed to bushfire smoke, finds new study in Frontiers in Public Health By Tania Fitzgeorge-Balfour, science writer The physical and mental burden of prolonged exposure to bushfire smoke is vastly underestimated by official statistics that are based upon admissions into the health system, finds a large survey of residents affected by the widespread bushfires close to Canberra, Australia’s capital city, in the summer of late 2019 and early 2020....

Frontiers in Physiology an Impact Factor of 4.031 and is the #1 most cited open-access Physiology journal. Coming soon: 2017 analysis based on the most recent Journal Citation Reports by Clarivate Analytics (formerly published by Thomson Reuters). In June 2016, Frontiers in Physiology, received the official Impact Factor of 4.031 — up from 3.534 in the previous report. Since its launch in 2010, it has become the #1 most cited and 2nd largest open-access journal in Physiology, and the #2 most cited amongst all journals in Physiology....

Robotic Control Systems is a new specialty section available through the community-run open-access journal Frontiers in Robotics and AI. The new section Robotic Control Systems is led by Specialty Chief Editor Prof Gianluca Antonelli from the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Italy. This section addresses control aspects of robotic systems. “Robots” and “Control”, both interpreted in a wide sense, are fundamental actors of multiple aspects of our life, and the applications of robotic control systems are wide....