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Frontiers Communications
Editor
1,343 news posts
Frontiers news
12 Feb 2014
Frontiers releases new Interactive Review Forum
Frontiers is pleased to announce the release of its new, revolutionary Interactive Review Forum with enhanced features and upgraded software to enhance and ease the collaborative dialogue between authors and reviewers. The Review Forum is part of the Frontiers Open Science platform that empowers scientists to advance the way research is evaluated, communicated and shared in the digital era. Introduced in 2007, Frontiers’ peer review enables a collaborative dialogue online in real-time between authors and reviewers, with an associate editor as moderator. The final decision is based on consensus about objective issues between reviewers and editors, who are named on the final publication to acknowledge their valuable contribution and ensure transparency. Acting like a personal Web 2.0 assistant, the Review Forum guides authors, reviewers and editors smoothly through the process and alerts them when action is required. The system minimizes delay and speeds up the review, shortening the average time to only 84 days. Handy new features make it easier to manage the review process and ensure that it progresses smoothly. Editors can easily browse the most relevant reviewer profiles based on keywords, and send invitations with the click of a button. A timeline reassures authors by keeping them informed on […]
Frontiers news
09 Feb 2014
Call for Associate Editors of ‘Radiation and Health’
It is my great pleasure to announce imminent launch of a new, high quality open-access, ‘Radiation and Health’ specialty of the Frontiers in Public Health, publishing research on the effects of exposures to radiation on human health and studies on the development of risk communication and regulatory policies to protect human population. The specialty ‘Radiation and Health’ will be published as a part of the Swiss open access journal ‘Frontiers in Public Health’. The scope of the specialty will be broad and will cover all radiation types and all types of research studies. It will be a very comprehensive approach to health policy research and publication of it. An important task of Chief Editor of specialty ‘Radiation and Health‘ in the Frontiers in Public Health is to appoint a top class and enthusiastic Associate Editorial Board of 15-25 editors to represent all the facets of specialty. These are leading scientists that will oversee the review of manuscripts. As per requirements of Frontiers publisher, Associate Editors need to be researchers with a proven track record. They are generally Associate Professors or more senior. After appointments, Associate Editors are to: submit an inaugural article to set the standard for your specialty within 4 months […]
Frontiers news
17 Jan 2014
Frontiers in the News: 2013
From the domestication of dogs to the medical benefits of yoga, Frontiers articles regularly receive media coverage from top news outlets. Here we showcase some of the biggest stories in 2013. Enjoy the read! January 2013: Medical benefits of yoga Video credit: CBS News A systematic review of yoga on psychiatric disorders revealed positive effects on mild depression and sleep disorders and symptoms associated with schizophrenia and ADHD. The paper, “Yoga on our minds: a systematic review of yoga for neuropsychiatric disorders,” published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, was covered by CBS, TIME, CNN, the Huffington Post and The British Psychological Society. February 2013: Hands-free isn’t brain-free Image credit: Schweizer et al. / Frontiers in Human Neuroscience Put down that phone! Part of the brain needed to make safe left-hand turns largely shuts off during a mobile phone conversation and this occurs even if a hands free device is used. Results in the paper “Brain activity during driving with distraction: an immersive fMRI study,” published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, were reported on by the CBC and CTV News. February 2013: Tweet, Screech, Hey! Image credit: Thinkstock Human language is a critical aspect of everyday life, but how did it first develop? According to the paper titled “The emergence of hierarchical structure in human […]
Health
28 Nov 2013
World AIDS Day 2013
World AIDS Day, held every year on 1 December, is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV and AIDS. In this first of two blog posts dedicated to World AIDS Day, Frontiers presents a selection of articles on HIV and AIDS research. Eradication of HIV and cure of AIDS, now and how? Frontiers in Immunology (Jielin Zhang and Clyde Crumpacker) This paper proposes novel strategies to combat HAART (Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy)-resistant HIV and reviews current HIV treatment strategies and their limitations. Association Study of Lipoprotein (a) Genetic Markers, Traditional Risk Factors and Coronary Heart Disease in HIV-1-infected Patients Frontiers in Immunology (Lander Egaña-Gorroño, Esteban Martínez, Tuixent Escribà, Marta Calvo, José M. Gatell and Mireia Arnedo) HIV and HAART drugs can interact with the body in many different ways. This paper examines how coronary heart disease affects HIV-infected patients compared to uninfected individuals. Immune activation and collateral damage in AIDS pathogenesis Frontiers in Immunology (Frank Miedema, Mette D. Hazenberg, Kiki Tesselaar, Debbie van Baarle, Rob J. de Boer and José A. M. Borghans) The body’s immune system response to HIV is the main driving factor behind the development of AIDS. This review lays out how a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of immune activation may help facilitate […]
Health
28 Nov 2013
Professor John de Wit discusses HIV research and self-regulation
Frontiers presents an exclusive interview with Professor John de Wit, director of the Centre for Social Research in Health, Sydney, Australia. He recently joined Frontiers as an associate editor for the HIV and AIDS editorial board. What drove you to focus more on the social aspects of HIV rather than the biomedical? When I was a psychology student, at what is now called Radboud University Nijmegen (the Netherlands), my interest was in understanding and changing the factors that shape people’s experiences and behaviours. I was in particular fascinated by theories of attitudes and attitude change, through communication. When I became aware of the HIV epidemic in the 1980s and had to decide on a topic for my master’s thesis, it seemed logical to look at the efficacy of HIV education in schools. This first research experience made me realise just how difficult it is to change people’s beliefs, attitudes and practices. My research over the 20 years since that early experience has been concerned with what I consider not only the most fascinating riddle of them all, but also a key component of an effective HIV response: the question why we do what we do, even if it can put us in harm’s way, and […]
Frontiers news
25 Nov 2013
Prof. Alex Hansen shares his vision for revolutionizing scientific publishing in Physics
Alex Hansen is professor of theoretical physics at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. His main research interests are complex transport processes in disordered media. He is Field Chief Editor of Frontiers in Physics. What excites you about working as a Physicist? Nature in all its complexity is understandable – this never ceases to amaze me. The truth is often very subtle and the way there is typically quite frustrating, but with hard work one eventually gets there. Whodunits are very popular with the general public. Doing physics is solving mysteries and the excitement in doing so is that of the whodunit. Why did you join Frontiers in Physics as Field Chief Editor? I first heard of Frontiers in Neuroscience through a colleague a couple of years ago. He liked it a lot. When I heard that Frontiers were to start a corresponding journal in physics, I seized the opportunity and applied for an editorial position. I see the position as Field Chief Editor as a great challenge. Frontiers with its unique structure has given me – and all the other physics editors – the tools to create a great journal. It is our job now to succeed. How do you see Frontiers in […]
Health
30 Oct 2013
Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2013
Breast Cancer Awareness Month is organized every October, intended to raise awareness of breast cancer and help raise funds for vital research into its prevention, diagnosis and cure. As the month draws to a close, Frontiers presents a selection of articles on cancer research. Breast cancer stem cells Frontiers in Physiology (Thomas W. Owens and Matthew J. Naylor) The recent discovery of cancer stem cells (CSCs) has prompted new research and discussion. This review summarizes what is currently known about the origins of breast CSCs, their role in disease progression and ways in which they may be targeted therapeutically. The impact of cancer therapy on cognition in the elderly Frontiers in Pharmacology (Victoria Mandilaras, Doreen Wan-Chow-Wah, Johanne Monette, Francine Gaba, Michèle Monette and Linda Alfonso) Despite the improving rates of cancer survival little is known about how cancer therapy impairs cognition in elderly patients. This clinical case study outlines two patients who may have suffered cancer treatement-related cognitive decline and reviews the literature on this complex phenomenon. Breast cancer: from “maximum tolerable” to “minimum effective” treatment Frontiers in Oncology (Umberto Veronesi, Vaia Stafyla, Alberto Luini and Paolo Veronesi) Medical science has gone through an important evolution in the past century that was based on […]
Frontiers news
28 Oct 2013
Dr. Martin Klotz discusses his role as Field Chief Editor of Microbiology
Dr. Martin G. Klotz is Professor & Chair of Biology at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, USA, and works on the genome-informed reconstruction of key catabolic pathways in chemolithotrophs. He is Field Chief Editor of Frontiers in Microbiology. 1. What excites you about working as a Microbiologist? Microbiology has long become the testing grounds for new technologies and it has been instrumental for the emergence of hypotheses and theory. Today’s new “next-generation technologies” have afforded microbiologists (which are actually a collection of mathematicians, chemists, geologists, physicists and engineers) to stop doing what their original craft prescribes – reductionism – and to study microbes at the levels of their natural existence, namely in populations, communities and ecosystems. This has led to spectacular insight and the recognition that bacteria and archaea are facultative multi-cellular organisms with chemical and social lifestyles that are the foundation for a functioning Biosphere on planet Earth. Hence, humankind’s quality of life and its sustainability will always demand continued pursuit towards a better understanding of microorganisms. 2. Why did you join Frontiers in Microbiology as Field Chief Editor? I immediately saw the possibility to create cross-disciplinary platforms of communication for colleagues that rarely “reach across the isle” […]
Frontiers news
22 Oct 2013
Open access and the Science “sting”
Open Letter to the Frontiers Editorial Boards On October 4, Science magazine published a news item describing the submission of a fake research article to more than 250 open-access journals, resulting in 60% of journals accepting the article after virtually no peer review. The study aimed at representing a “first global snapshot of peer review across open-access”: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/342/6154/60.full The fake article was also submitted to Frontiers. In our case, the Specialty Chief Editor of the relevant section rejected the article the same day it was submitted following an initial scan for content, exactly in keeping with the high-quality control that Frontiers has put in place. Indeed, one of the reasons why Frontiers was founded was to fix the many problems of traditional peer review, which we achieve by: 1. Appointing only top-notch researchers and clinicians to our boards to ensure quality; 2. Introducing standardized review questionnaires that enforce in-depth and rigorous reviews; 3. Creating the interactive “Review Forum” which opens a direct dialogue between authors, reviewers and editors, allowing not only the editor, but also the reviewers to see and participate in each other’s reviews; 4. Requiring reviewers and editor to reach a consensus and take a unanimous decision; 5. Publishing the names of the reviewers […]
Frontiers news
29 Aug 2013
Frontiers in the News: How often do you recall your dreams?
Those who often recall their dreams respond more strongly to their name, finds new study (Wired Magazine) – How often do you remember your dreams? For some people the answer can be as little as once or twice a month, whereas others can recollect their sleeping thoughts almost every day. Little is known about what causes people to remember dreams, but a new study has linked a propensity to remember dreams to a stronger neurological reaction to hearing the sound of first names — both when you’re awake and asleep. Researchers at the Lyon Neuroscience Research Centre divided 36 subjects into two groups — high dream recallers who frequently remembered their mental nighttime escapades, and low dream recallers who only remembered their dreams once or twice a month. For every participant, brain activity that occurred when they heard their first name and an unfamiliar first name was recorded both during sleep and while they were awake. Continue reading the Wired magazine news report.The study titled Alpha reactivity to first names differs in subjects with high and low dream recall frequency was published in Frontiers in Psychology as part of a Frontiers Research Topic on Contrasting Dreaming and Wakefulness: Frontiers in Consciousness Research. Follow the research activity of lead author, […]
Frontiers news
27 Aug 2013
Frontiers in the News: A Novel Case of Musical Hallucinations
Two neurologists from Illinois report a unique case of musical hallucinations that they say raises “intriguing” questions regarding memory, forgetting, and access to lost memories. The 60-year-old woman, with a history of bilateral sensory-neural hearing loss and tinnitus, reported hearing music one night while trying to fall asleep. She said it was like a radio playing at the back of her head. Within 4 months, she was hearing music all the time. She would hear 1 song over and over for 3 weeks, than another song. What’s novel about this case, say Danilo Vitorovic, MD, and José Biller, MD, from the Department of Neurology, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University, Maywood, Illinois, is that the songs she heard were popular tunes that her husband recognized when she sang or hummed them, but she herself could not identify them. “She could actually hum the tunes and retrieve the lyrics to an extent of nonrecognizable songs,” Dr. Biller noted in an interview with Medscape Medical News. “That to us was unique.” Read the Mescape news report here. Media coverage also includes a blog post from Scope Medical Blog, published by Stanford Medicine, and Discovery News. The clinical case study, published in Frontiers in Neurology, can […]
Frontiers news
30 Jul 2013
Frontiers in the News: Why are menthol cigarettes more addictive?
Media coverage of research published in Frontiers Menthol cigarettes appear to be more addictive and pose a greater health threat than unflavored tobacco, an FDA report says. The agency plans more studies and will ‘explore all potential options,’ reports the LA Times. LA Times also features a Frontiers in Pharmacology review paper titled Not so cool? Menthol’s discovered actions on the nicotinic receptor and its implications for nicotine addiction that contributes to the mounting suspicion that adding menthol to tobacco causes it to behave differently in the human body.The paper, authored by Nadine I. Kabbani of George Mason University, focuses on menthol’s effects on the acetylcholine nicotinic receptors found throughout the body, including in the brain. It finds that menthol may directly promote nicotine craving because it binds to a particular type of nicotinic receptor within nerve cells, the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, and impairs its response to nicotine. In the longer term, menthol seems to promote the expression of other nicotinic receptor genes in regions of the brain that process pleasure, reward, and addiction. Dr. Kabbani concludes that it is time to re-examine rules and regulations on menthol cigarettes. Read more LA Times: FDA moves toward restricting menthol in cigarettes Frontiers in […]
Frontiers news
19 Jul 2013
Frontiers in the News: Drinking water can boost cognitive performance
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. Subjects were tested on two mornings: once after they had consumed a cereal bar and water, and once after eaten a cereal bar only. Reaction times were up to 14% shorter after drinking water, especially for those who felt thirsty. Unexpectedly, performance on a complex-rule-learning task became slightly worse after drinking. Future research will have to determine why drinking water can be beneficial for some cognitive tasks, but not for others, say the authors. The results are published in a paper titled Subjective thirst moderates changes in speed of responding associated with water consumption in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. The research was covered by CTV, The Telegraph, Daily Mail, Yahoo, Medical Dailyand the Huffington Post. Read the open-access paper here.
Frontiers news
12 Jul 2013
Frontiers in the News: Melody modulates choir members’ heart rate
Media coverage of research published in Frontiers. When people sing in a choir their heart beats are synchronised, so that the pulse of choir members tends to increase and decrease in unison. This has been shown by a study from the Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg that examined the health effects for choir members. Researchers at the Academy are studying how music, in purely biological terms, affects our body and our health. The object is to find new forms where music may be used for medical purposes, primarily within rehabilitation and preventive care.In the latest study titled “Music determines heart rate variability of singers” published in theFrontiers in Psychology, the research group is able to show how the musical structure influences the heart rate of choir members. The study received widespread media coverage from BBC, CNN, New Scientist, Scientific American (and there is a podcast here), TIME magazine, CBC, The Times, Der Spiegeland many more. A video of the researchers performing their research live is available below. The paper is available to read here (open-access, of course!).
Frontiers news
10 Jul 2013
Frontiers in the News: How well do you see what you hear?
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. Its performance is even better than the current invasive techniques for vision restoration, such as stem cell implants and retinal prostheses, says Dr. Proulx. The findings are reported in the paper “How well do you see what you hear? The acuity of visual-to-auditory sensory substitution,” published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, as part of a Research Topic in Cognitive Science on synaesthesia research. Dr. Proulx appeared on BBC Radio 5, BBC World Tonight and other radio channels to discuss his research. Many leading media outlets also featured the news, including, TIME,CBC, Sky News, Engineering & Techology magazine, Nursing Times and many more. The paper is available to read here (open-access, of course!).